Jeff Monday Mar.16/09

Hey Kids,

Monday morning and I'm still recovering (no worries, it's all good) from the weekend and our little roadtrip out to Alberta where we just played a couple of shows. Thursday night in High River and Friday at the Tim Hortons Brier...well, actually the Big Four building, but we and about 4,000 partying curling fans from all across Canada had some big fun there. Firstly, a couple of thanks. To Rob Rogers and his staff for doing such a good job and making the show possible in High River and thanks to everyone who came out and supported us on Thursday night including Warren Ford (thanks for the intro bro') from the Eagle 100.9. I hope we can get a return date sometime soon. AND...many thanks to our friend Roger Powell and his staff for putting on a first class show (this is the Brier I'm talkin' about now) and this includes absolutely everything. We look forward to doing it again and wish you all the best. Shouts to Stuart and Jim for their help in creating the good vibe in the big room and to the boys at All Star...well done as usual, great monitors, FOH, lighting, all top notch and always a good bunch of guys to work with. Not to mention the Alberta Men's team kicking ass (although very close on Friday!) at the Brier kinda put everybody in a good mood. If you weren't having fun on Friday then you were pretty much in the minority. BTW, Tim and Jake, our fantastic rhythm section were on fire this weekend. Thanks for kicking my ass you m#*#!)@$#ckers. FYI, that is the highest compliment possible for any player according to the Musicians/Laymans Guide to Understanding the Language and Nature of Rock and Roll. Lol.

Lizzy and I went to the Celtic Festival here in Vancouver on Sunday and had fun even though it was an unusually cold and miserable day weather wise (read as a beautiful summer day in Ireland). Liz of course, being a Red Headed Celtic Goddess herself fit right in and my Irish heritage was stirred by the parade of pipes and drums. I realize some of you may find bagpipes akin to the sound of a cat having it's tail yanked but for me and other good, crazed Celts the sound is primal and stirs something ancient and powerful and I found myself thinking about how opposing armies must have felt standing there, waiting and literally shitting themselves out of fear, hearing this unknown coming towards them out of the mist. That was the point. It was fully intended as intimidation as much as it was an inspiration for the home team. Standing there in the cold and rain with my beautiful Elizabeth Anne, listening to the pipe and drum corps marching up Georgia Street, I understood and felt, just a little, the ferocity that these men must have fought with to defend their loves and country and though in reality I only wield a guitar, my (some say overly dramatic) spirit understands and subscribes to that ancient take no prisoners attitude. But you already know that about me if you've seen me play...

Hey, I just looked outside and I tell you, for as much as I talk about how great the weather is out here in Vancouver...today is a horrible mix of cold rain and snow and chill you to the bone wind. Really, really bad. Oh sorry, that's Michael Jackson (sh'mon, hehe... grab your junk and stand on your toes now). Anyways, not good if you have to go outside. 

Thanks everybody for the comments recently and kudos to Albert Bannatyne for taking the time to get the lyrics for Teenage Rage to SF. Mariha, to answer your question, my favorite band growing up as a kid was The Beatles. They changed my life. I have had many favs over the years but The Beatles certainly were number one and always will be for me. 

Ok, lots to do today so I am out for now...oh yeah, one last thing. The Witness Inc. disc, with the help and co-operation of Universal Music Canada, will be out in a week or so with all the singles and B-sides together in one complete set so watch the website for the availability on that CD. Yes, I will catch up on the massive backlog of email as well. Take care my friends. I'm off to defend my home against the invading horde. Slan go foill... J.