Jeff Monday Dec. 07/09

Yeah...Well, are you getting ready for Christmas? It's my duty to get outside today and put the lights up. There's big pressure in my neighbourhood to be festive...lol. Actually, we have a wonderful neighbourhood with lots of kids and families and everyone participates and puts on a good show. Perhaps a little over the top but still, in this world, a bit of Christmas cheer is certainly most welcome. Also, I plan to turn any Christmas gift money for friends, into a donation to the Union Gospel Mission (my fav charity here in Vancouver) this year. You can feed around 40 people for $100.00. Come on, like my friends need anything... they all own homes and cars, Macbooks and Blackberry's. I am hoping to give them all a card that says Merry Christmas, you are feeding 200 people today that might not get anything else. I get a little choked up just thinking about doing this one small thing and I am reminded about how fortunate I am. I can only speak for myself here but again, I am grateful for everything in my life. Family, friends, someone to love, a warm home and food. I don't even need to mention the really obvious stuff like getting to make music for a living, working with great guys and having fantastic fans to play for all the time. I know God exists because everyday He reminds me with the life that unfolds before me. For the record, I am blessed and never forget that fact. Thanks God, You rock dude...

Yeah, 2009... we have such a great band and I wish you all knew them the way I do. After so many years, to be able to work with good friends and play for our fans is my real gift. I may not be the richest guy or biggest pop star ever but getting to work with such amazing people is a blessing. Yes, it's true. I have worked with people that I literally, hated to be around, who hated me as well. Isn't it funny what kinds of misery we will put up with in our lives sometimes?

Hey, wanna see a picture of the turkey that Lizzy and I roasted on Thanksgiving? Well, apparently,

you don't have a choice, because here it is. A little back story on why we even have a picture of the turkey... Ok, I am taking the finished turkey out of the oven and our dear friend Glenda (who is of Chinese descent) comes racing into the kitchen with her camera and says, "I need to get a picture of the turkey! It's what we (as in the royal "we") do. We always take pictures of the food!" So, here it is kids, 17 pounds or so of carefully basted, butterball happiness and notorious inducer of post gastronomic naps... Beautiful really and thanks Glenda for introducing to us this fine Chinese/Canadian tradition and let's face it, how many times do you get your photo taken with a turkey? I'm guessing 1 or 2 times in your life, if you are lucky. I mean, this is better than some of the promo shots I've been in over the years. (BTW, doesn't it look like I've been basting myself with a Cab/Shiraz in this photo?) LMAO...

Anyways, just a moment today to say hello and again, I know I've been slack but after a hectic summer and all, it has been nice to take a little break. Oh, right, Liz and I did go to Maui for 10 glorious days. I'll show you photos as soon as I get some. Still waiting for those, ahem...

I'll be back before Christmas and give you a wrap up and what to expect next year from KS&S. I can confidently say it will be a great 2010 and we'll still be moving forward with lots of new stuff for you. Ok, have a great day out there my friends. Remember to be grateful for your good fortune because it can be worse. Give more and expect less...

Peace Out, J.

Jeff Monday Sept.28/09

Hey Kids,

I hope you all had a great summer out there. I have been spending the last week finally unpacking and putting away my suitcases and my guitar's (that would be Frank) travel armor and have been trying to account for the last few months. Hmmm.... let me see officer, it"s all a little blurry to me at the moment...

(ok, cue the harp glissando's and with tongue firmly planted in cheek... action!)

I remember, Once I had a house in Africa.... no, no, CUT! CUT!!!!! sorry, that's a movie I saw a long time ago...

Right, I remember, some airports and a white van. People were tossing things in and out and yelling at each other. Not fighting so much. More like dinner at your Italian friend's house. It seems to me there was a moment when a GPS started speaking in tongues to Kenny and was telling us all where to get off. There was a long train thrown in there somewhere (yeah...) and a construction site and a splinter group of crazed, rogue cars driving the wrong way down roads that were not fit for travel. I remember flying to a huge grey city shrouded in smog. It had thousands of tall glass buildings and a sad hockey team that had been cursed by an evil wizard (imagine a grainy picture of Gary Bettman wearing a pointy hat that had been poorly Photoshopped onto his head) who said they'd never win the Stanley Cup ever again. I think there were a few bottles of Scotch thrown (literally) in there somewhere as I can still hear the lonely sound of those empty bottles rolling down a long, dark hallway... ok, so it was the hallway of a Super 8, just work with me on this. There were clusters of people surrounding us and we, bravely making our last stand, Sharpies in hand and the last few copies of the Hits/Anthology (see Moose Jaw) being held above the seething masses like some kind of rock and roll Excalibur sacrifice (Hold fast Boys, no Quarter, my Sharpie doesn't work!!!!!). There were beautiful prairie sirens, bearing themselves and chanting their magic incantations (sing another prairie tune)... "Would you sign these please?" There were flashes of light and a thousand cell phones, all rising in unison like dedicated digital disciples, hanging on our every note...

Only later to be resurrected as unauthorized clips on YouTube and Facebook... yeah. There was the crushing heartbreak of Altona and that phrase, "So, Jeff, any news on the Altona gig?" which will resonate as a harsh reminder for eons. Well, at least for me and Daryl... you had to be there I guess. Somehow, we wind up at the home of Tim Horton and the great Leaf of Coffee (and I don't mean Paul) says to us, "Yes boys, I will bestow upon you all a sweet future of extra large double/doubles and Chocolate Glazed over stares from now until the end of time (or the length of your Air Canada flight delay which is, as it turns out, just slightly longer). However, you still can't get the sausage breakfast sandwich after 10:30am"... There was Lord Stanley's glorious triumph in Thunder Bay and the roars of Kehh-nee!! in Dauphin as we proved that you don't need a Cowboy hat to kick ass... although, we did get some cool hats at the end of the night! I'm wearing mine right now, BTW. Uhhh, wasn't that George Belanger waving at us through someones legs in Kenora? Maybe he was signaling for help or looking for an opener. I don't know... got any grapes?

I remember the WWF moments (in this cornerrrr, wearing the Pearl Drums t-shirt and practicing halftime paradiddles on the back of Jeff's seat... the Irish Assassin!!!!!!! Aaaannnd in this corner, representing the hopes and dreams of Eastern Canada... The Incredible... Jake the Cake!!!... ) in the aforementioned white van and I believe somebody is going to be wearing... the onion sombrero... all... day... long... senor...

Hey, wasn't Daryl telling a joke about how someone had changed and put on some weight... How did the end of that joke go again? Pete, help me out here and use your outside voice please... Oh, I thought you said goat...

There were old friends once again seen and new ones met that we will see again down the road, We have travelled what seems like 100,00 kilometers in planes, trains and automobiles. Well, no trains, but it sounded good... You that shower curtain ring feller?

Somehow, in late September, I find myself hosting a garage sale at my house on a gorgeous Vancouver Saturday afternoon. I look around to see my beautiful girlfriend Lizzy, cocktail in hand, explaining to a potential customer how, in her opinion, the iron she was selling was actually very good, however, it just didn't quite have enough steam for her... ok, are you finished smirking? (Actually, we spent most the weekend in bed watching TV and eating Chinese take away. It was my first weekend home in a few months.) It is at this moment I realize how lucky I am...

So, many thanks to everyone this summer. To all the men and women who put on the shows this year, crews, promoters, drivers and all the great bands we gigged with this summer and most importantly to you, our great fans. Thanks for being an integral part of our summer of '09. We are blessed and again, I really feel like one of the luckiest guys on the planet. We have our Streetheart Hits /Anthology CD out, the Witness Inc. is now out as well and finally in the hands of so many patient and loyal fans and Kenny's solo stuff will be available soon so watch for that. You know we will be doing more shows before the year is done so perhaps we'll see you before Christmas. I am looking forward to those cold, windy runs from van to lobby somewhere down the road soon. Not to mention the NHL regular season is starting this week. Sure am glad to be a Canucks fan. I like our chances this year (7-0-2 in the preseason BTW). Hey, you gotta admit, Gary Bettman would look pretty much at home in that evil wizard's hat...

Rock on... J. Oh yeah... almost forgot, cool photos by Gord LaMonica and David Trace. Cheers dudes.

Jeff Tuesday Aug.25/09

Hey...

A few moments to see how you're all doing out there. No twitters, tweets, chirps, barks or oinks, just good old fashioned blogging. Ahh, the good old days... hey, what the... that was only last month. Don't you just love how technology makes you feel so out of touch!

Well, summer is flying by and with sports radio talkin' Canucks here in Vancouver well, you know Christmas can't be that far off. Ok, I've still got tomatoes on the vines on my deck so let's not get ahead of ourselves too much here.

Uhh... I've been booking flights for upcoming gigs the last couple of days and generally catching up on business responsibilities and structuring some semblance of order in my office. It's still kinda early so, I am keeping myself occupied until our agent gets to work so I can begin harrassing him... again. Actually, we are lucky to have a direct line to our guy and that affords us the luxury of knowing and deciding what's going on, at least most of the time, with our lives as opposed to some cynical, bored secretary taking a message which will be passed along as soon as "he gets back from lunch". Yeah... heard that one enough . ( Hey c'mon, gettin' old over here.) Right, it's not as bad as, "If you know the extension of the person you are calling please enter that now". Uh-huh (saying with my best New York/Bronx accent) Yeah, I got your extension number, right here buddy.

Let's see... I'm taking my girlfriend to the PNE tomorrow to eat donuts, candy floss and fish and chips. She believes that it is our duty as loyal and true Vancouverites to go to the PNE every year and eat as much junk as we can and see if we survive. Are you kidding? Donuts, candy floss and fish and chips are all essential food groups right? I've been (literally) on the road most of my life and have basically lived on salt, sugar and grease. That's what keeps my hair so shiny (ok, that's actually A&G Wax). Hey, here's a big, on the road dining tip for you all. When you are far from home in a small town that you have never been to before, always order the clubhouse. Don't ask why, just do it and you'll thank me later when you're not puking. Here is a partial list of things not to order;

1) Caesar salad north of the 52nd parallel (right Daryl?)

2) Fish in any town where the main business is the oil industry

3) Don't ask for french fries in Montreal

4) Pass on any cheesecake served at a gas station restaurant

Other than that you're pretty good to go... just remember the clubhouse. Always a survivable choice. Ok, looks like I am approaching the 9:00am hour which means I can start making my calls and stuff. I'd better eat some breakfast as well since all I've had is 2 cups of coffee so far this morning. I have been using an especially good Italian Espresso blend lately which pretty much gets me so jagged that I'm usually grinding my teeth by now... So, I'm off to find food. Hmm... I wonder if that tuna casserole from last week is still good? Hey, just think of me as a gastronomic Evel Knievel sans the jumpsuit. Hopefully I'll survive breakfast and I'll be back to tell you all about it... bon (scott) appetit. J.

Jeff Wednesday Aug 12/09

Yeah...

So, it has been a busy summer (as you can tell by my absence on the blog) and I just got back from 10 days in Winnipeg. We played Harbourfest in Kenora on Aug 01 and that was such a great night. 2,200 people rockin' the house and as our good friend Howard Mandshein from 92 CITI FM said, "The place was electric!". Yes, it was great and personally, I had a gas that night. It sounded big, the crowd was terrific as expected and it really was big time rock and roll fun. Thanks to David Blake and all his staff for putting on such an excellent event and we are looking forward to playing there again. Come on Dave, lets get that return gig back in Kenora before the year is out!! Oops... did I mention I forgot to give back the dressing room key? Sorry man, I get kinda sidetracked after the shows sometimes. Too much to do I guess (I mean, where the hell was the bottle opener!). It's ok, I gave the key to Kenny last week. He'll get it back to John soon... I hope... lol. One thing I do need to mention was, I wanted to apologize to everyone who waited for the meet and greet after the show. As you well know, we didn't show up and that was because the fire marshall decided to shut things down and therefore the M&G was nixed just as we were about to go out to the table. Sorry kids, the fire marshall is king at these events and we all are subject to their decisions even if they seem unfair at the time. Next time... We had breakfast on the lake with some of our friends the next morning and if you have never been in the Kenora area, this is where God goes fishing on his holidays. I may be biased being a Northern Ontario boy and all but really, this part of the world is amazing. Thanks Chris, Big Chris, Rose and Mel for the beautiful breakfast (I ate 14 pieces of bacon Pete...jealous?) and enjoyed one of my personal favorite things, a Sunday morning beer on the dock. What a great weekend...

Last week we played a couple of shows. One in Norway House MB and one in Gillam MB. Both events were first class and we have so many people to thank for the wonderful experiences and great memories to be added to our summer of '09. First of all, thanks to Glenn Ranville for doing such a great job putting together the shows. Everything was spot on. You rock Glenn, let's keep it goin'... To Mike, George and Maria in Gillam, thank you for your generousity and for making us feel so welcome (did I mention all the great food?). We'll never forget it. Also, to Anthony, Vernon and everyone in Norway House our deepest thanks for your kindness and help as well. Thanks to NCI radio and in particular Melissa Spence for giving us some air time and for your help promoting the shows. Finally to all the great people we met who sang their hearts out, you really touched us and again, these memories will stay with us a long time... Aren't we a lucky bunch? Plus, I got to eat free cashews on our private plane... Oh, did I forget to mention our PRIVATE PLANE? Yeah, yeah, just like Led Zepplin and the Stones. We're rockin' now... So, a little catchup on the life and high flying times of Streetheart, soaring swiftly through the skies in the middle of the night... eating free cashews. Perfect really.

Ok, so you are now sorta up to date. Oh yeah, one last thing. Kenny and I were doing some remixes and tweaks on his solo CD (with award winning engineer Howard Rissen) so that project has been re-energized again and I am looking forward to a release date hopefully before years end on. It is good to have the Witness Inc. Singles CD done and we've been getting some nice feedback and response from a lot of happy Witness Inc. fans. Thanks for your patience on that everyone. Yes, I am also working on getting Live After Dark out on CD somehow due to so many requests for it's re-release. Other than Meanwhile and Streetheart, LAD seems to be (at least according to our poll and email) our most popular CD. Funny how life unfolds for us sometimes... That's it kids, I'm out for now. See you soon.... J.

Jeff Tuesday July 07/09

Hey, what's up?

Well, I have to say that Saturday in Dauphin was an absolute blast. Thanks to Rob and Shelley Woloschuk for bringing us in to do the show and to Tom and Nathan Cooke for their help during the show and thanks to all the crew for that matter. What a great night... I mean, the kind of gig I will remember when I am so old that I can hide my own Easter eggs... We have the best fans. You guys were nuts!!! From our vantage point it was a sea of rockin' faces and I am truly blessed to have had the experience once again. For those of you who were out there, you have my deepest gratitude for making this old dog feel 20 years old again, if only just for a few hours because I sure as f#*k didn't feel like it in on Sunday morning (coulda been the Ballentines)! lol. Kidding of course, it was fantastic and I wouldn't change a thing. I know we'll look back on the summer and this show will certainly be part of the highlight reel... Special shout to Pete for workin' his ass off again for us and making us sound like a million bucks after taxes. Hope you get some sleep soon bro'. And to my boys in the band...(Hey Daryl, how are them shoes doin'?) you guys are an inspiration everynight to me as players and friends although, I wish Jake and Tim would stop beating the crap out of each other in the van but hey, they are too big for me to stop!!! LMAO...Well, if there is one thing for sure about this band, we could probably take care of ourselves if a brawl ever broke out at one of our gigs... not that we worry too much with our great fans and, as I once said to some security guys who were getting a little over zealous about their jobs, "Guys, have you seen our audience? Essentially happy, attractive women and their husbands or dates or, even better, other girlfriends. I mean really what are they gonna do? Hug us to death? I think we're good..."

Well my friends, I got lots of stuff to do today and so do you so, I am outa here for now. I hope that you are good in your heart and in your soul at this moment. Be strong and live life your to the fullest today. I will be back, I promise. I remain as always, your rock and roll servant and remember, the guitar player always solos twice... J.

Jeff Thursday July 02/09

Hey there,

Happy belated Canada Day (you don't look a day over 140!) to you all. With all the crazy stuff going on out in the world and the turmoil that some people have to live with, we should feel blessed. And I mean not only this day but everyday for being able to live in such a beautiful and essentially, safe country (although, let's not get started on politics as such today, ok?...). I have travelled all around the world and have lived and worked in some great cities and for my money, there is no place better. Different and very interesting yes, but not better. So, shame on those who abuse and take for granted all the rights and freedoms that being a Canadian entitles us to everyday. With that in mind, grab a hockey stick, a cup of Timmy's and uh, let's watch opening day of the CFL (really, the Argos and Ti-Cats?)!!! Ok, maybe not that... No offence (sort of an ironic word choice here) to the CFL, but 3 downs? C'mon guys, if you wanna see a football show then really, it's the NFL. I am a loyal Canadian but there is no comparison in my mind. I know, I know, it's a pure Canadian game and I love sports but, I find it difficult to be compelled to watch a CFL game from start to finish and I watch golf... lol. Anyways, hoping the Canucks sign Marion Gaborik (I think I spelled his name correctly). Oops, hang on...

Ok, just finished a phone interview, so I am back to sign off. We are playing the Dauphin Country Fest this Saturday which I am sure will be a blast. To y'all in that neighbourhood see you there in a couple of days and for the rest of you well, we'll see you soon... Canada, what a great place to live (especially out here on the West Coast!) Lucky us... J.

Jeff Tuesday June 16/09

Hey Kids...

It is said that character is defined by who you are under pressure, not by who you are when everything is fine... fair and honest words to live by and it is the exceptional person who can have their character defined favourably under this law. Lately, I have been challenged to measure myself against this and have done, in my own opinion, ok. Nothing heroic, but I have been able to deliver on my word and stay focused under some modest pressure and in the process I have taken away an appreciation and respect for those who have maintained grace under fire during severe crisis and a careful reassessment of those who have fared... not as well under the simplest of situations. It reminds me that if you want something done then ask someone who is busy, not someone who is just hangin' out. There's a good reason for that. It is an intrinsic part of a chosen behavioural belief system that will most likely will never be turned around. At best, we can aspire to inspire people to do the right thing, you know, hopefully lead by example but, be selective on your moments my friends. Once, many years ago I told a great singer, whom I was working with at the time ( and after being berated by him on how we sucked as a band that night and did anybody have anything to say about that) that perhaps he should lead by example after a particularly flat and uncharacteristically (apparently this isn't a word in the dictionary but you know what I mean) bad show for him and he put his fist through the wall next to my head...as I said, pick your moments and respectfully assess the depth of the water before diving in kids!

The truth is I was just thinking of some people I know who have personally had to face some crushing and heartbreaking challenges lately and I know that they have moved through it all with great dignity. I wanted to let them know how much I admire their strength and courage and their ability to maintain a sound perspective. I am a lucky man and my own happiness is a cherished gift. I have friends and family and I know true love. I am part of a great and relevant band and still get to play music for a living. How cool is that? I need to express my gratitude for all of that today and extend to those brave souls out there how much I admire their strength and dignity and to let them know that they are being thought of on the highest level.

Be strong and honor your values... J.