Jeff Thursday Sept.06/07

Judging by the way the sky looks today I'd have to guess that the summer is just about over which means the kids are back at school(a blessing for some of you I'm sure...lol)and thoughts about winter start to creep into ones psyche and remind us of what's to come.For me it means a chance to finish projects that have been put on hold over the summer and time to begin the business of setting up next summer.Oh yeah, it also means a little down time to get some golf in during the fall when it's not so hot. If you're a golfer and I'll try not to bore the non-golfers too much here,nothing beats the fall for golf.You know,a crisp day,a few friends and a flask of single malt...FORE! I am hoping to get home to see my folks in Ontario over the next while and take in the turn of fall there with all the trees and scenery.Quite breathtakingly beautiful and it assures one that there is truly a God who is artistic and has a good sense of humour(have you ever tried to play golf?).
I've been working on a couple other recording projects as producer since I have been home that are in the very early stages.My job as producer means going through all the songs and making sure that they are all ready to be recorded(read completely written) and/or are actually worth recording.It is my responsibility to not waste peoples precious time or money so I try to decide as best as I can what will work and what won't before we actually go into the studio.It isn't an exact science but a little pre-production goes a long way towards stemming a lot of potential wasted time and artistic frustration which can be the ultimate vibe killer.I like to keep thangs fresh and moving along you know...I also did a recording session this week for Alaska DigiTel as guitarist and bassist at one of the main production studios here in Vancouver which was fun.You walk in never knowing what you are going to have to play until you hear the track then you have to come up with something...right now...oh yes,BTW,could you make it real good?Always a challenge that I like.Plus I got to work with one of the good guys in this town(Hey Murray).
Not much to report on Kenny's recording project this week but I am confident we'll be back at the final finishing stages of that CD before too long as I know a lot of you are waiting patiently... tick,tick...
Anyways kids,just wanted to let you know what's up today.See ya...J.

Jeff Wednesday Aug.29/07

Well...another summer is just about over and I wanted to say that it has been great once again. We've toured right across the country and although it's been a little crazy scheduling-wise we got through it all.We had some real highlight shows this summer that all started around May when we played the Red Robinson Theatre in Vancouver/Coquitlam.That was a great night for anyone who was there(and can still remember!) and I have the whole show on multi-track to remix over the fall which hopefully will find it's way onto a new Cd sometime soon.Remember kids,all these projects take time and the co-ordination of a lot of people so be patient...I'm just telling you what I am thinking about doing and we all know how life can be busy,just sometimes not with what we want to be busy with!
We had this amazing trip up to Kincolith BC in the beginning July which,for those of you who don't know,is north of Terrace.We drove through a 300 year old volcanic eruption site that was absolutely mind-blowing it was so huge.Like I said this volcano erupted 300 years ago and was so massive that it re-routed the Nass River and sadly took 1000 lives from the native people who lived in this area.It gives one a renewed respect for the power of nature.Our show was great and really appreciated by the extremely happy and enthusiastic crowd.It was outdoors and the view we had while playing our show of the Nass River emptying into the Pacific was stunning and unforgettable.
Oh yeah,the Grand Prix in Edmonton...I love playing in Edmonton.You guys kick ass!That was a real rock show.A nice big stage.good sound enthusiastic crowd,hot and sweaty...just perfect.Oh,and a great after show party....You guys out there are very lucky to have such a beautiful bunch of girls in your town so be nice to them lol.Speaking of good sound Minnedosa for me...the best sounding stage out there on the circuit. Punchy,powerful and clear and comes complete with its own rowdy mob!Love you guys...Minny is a weekend commitment so it is real hardcore partytime.Hope you all made it home safe and somewhat sound lol.
Oh yes... THE TRIP TO NEWFOUNDLAND. In 2 days I was at these airports... Vancouver,Ottawa,Halifax,Gander.St.John's,Did I mention Halifax?,Toronto and just for fun Vancouver again to top it all off...Well,it was hectic but worth it to do the shows and as always I am knocked out by the friendliness and unconditional generosity of the people out there on the Rock.We could learn some good lessons from them about friendship and helping each other out(Thanks Wayne,hope your grandkids enjoyed the raspberries).Both of our shows in Cornwall(Hey Ray,thanks for everything)and NFLD. went great and I was impressed with how well the people remembered our songs.Ah yes...the curious re-emergence of Streetheart.It is a real thing kids and we have you all to thank for your part in this.
We finished off our summer with a wonderful show in Saskatoon last weekend and played to about 5000 plus fans who had big fun and gave us a show to remember over the winter.We had a chance to meet with a lot of you after the show and literally had to be asked by the staff to wind things down at the end so they could go home.Sorry you guys...we got a lotta friends!Thanks to the city of Saskatoon for putting on such a good party.
So there you go.A little highlight reel or Streetheart's 2007 summer as it were.A lot of good memories for us,some laughs along the way(and some flat out sailor-like cussin' at anybody who'd listen) and as always,great music too.Hope you had some fun along the road with us.We certainly did and I am grateful for it all.See you in September...(I'm singing now)...J.

Jeff Thursday Aug.23/07

What's happening...the last few weeks have been a bit of a blur with the travel schedule that we've had.I've been out to Nfld.and back plus a trip back to Winnipeg thrown in for good measure.Needless to say I am a little crispy and looking forward to a break in the action for just a little while.I am off to Saskatoon tomorrow to do a show that is being held downtown(Kiwanis Park) tomorrow night.I'm looking forward to playing in Saskatoon again.It is really a lovely city in the summer and the people are always great to play for.I have been doing some phone interviews with the radio stations in Saskatoon that started @ 7:10am Westcoast time plus the all usual daily stuff so I've had a full day so far.Hopefully I can get my desk cleared of outstanding tasks,emails and need to be returned asap phone calls by late this afternoon and perhaps go work on my golf game a bit.For anyone who's ever played or tried to play you learn very quickly that one must practice lots in order to not look absolutely ridiculous on the course and still,that's no guarantee of anything!I play to about an 8 handicap for those who know what that means and for the rest of you it means that sometimes I can play a bit but I am not always that consistant (actually,what that means is...sometimes I stink).Ughh...I need to work in my yard and get it ready for fall as well as get the house painted before too long.Hey!...this rock star thing isn't workin' out like I planned.Where the **** is my butler,chauffer,cook and gardener?Oh right,I just looked in the mirror.
Thanks to everybody who has been coming out to the shows this summer.They've pretty much all been great and thanks as well to everyone who has worked so hard on the shows with us and helped make them happen.Yes,yes we had big fun in Portage last week.Great crowd and we got to meet a lot of you after the show and BTW thanks for being so patient and waiting in line so long.
Hey...if you've got a second there is a site called the canadianmusicscene.com and they have a poll there on their site for Canada's best band,singer,song,album,etc and I noticed we had some votes there but we could still use some of your good support.If you have a moment or two check it out and cast your vote for your favs.Uh...I have a good suggestion for best guitarist,that is,if you can't think of anybody... lol.Just something to do if you aren't too busy...like,when is that?See ya later,I have another interview to do now....J.

Jeff Tuesday Aug.07/07

Tuesday,and just a little rain to freshen up this slightly parched Vancouver.I'm feeling somewhat under the weather myself.Some kind of virus that I am sure I picked up on one of my plane flights during the week.We played Minnedosa/Rockin' the Fields this past Friday and for those of you who were there thanks for the great evening(and those cheeky flashes too,thanks girls!) and if you weren't there well....we had some large fun to say the least.It has always been a great gig and thanks to Tom Cook for inviting us to play and his event staff for a well run concert.We also got to talk to a lot of you after the show at the merch booth and take a few pix so for those of you who dropped by it was good to see you all again and I hope the rest of your weekend was fun.I got a few reports back that said we were the highlight of the weekend(it's ok to blow my own horn you guys,it's my blog,lol...)so thanks for that.We did have a solid show and all the boys in the band felt we were on top of our game so to speak.It really means something to me to be part of a band that has such an important legacy and is still relevant today.I have been doing this music thang for a few years now(hey,stop laughing...I am trying to be serious)so I appreciate that,at this point in certainly my career,I am associated with such gifted players and good men in general as the guys in Streetheart.It is a source of personal satisfaction for me and I am glad that all of you are around as well to enjoy it and be part of it with me.
I have a few days left this week to get some biz(I'm not just talkin' laundry here) taken care of then I am off Thursday to Ottawa.We have a show in Cornwall,Ontario Friday with Helix and Prism and then we travel to and play in Lewisporte,NFLD. on Saturday then I fly home next day to Vancouver.Last time I looked at a map St. John's was closer to Rome,Italy than Vancouver B.C..Sunday will be a long plane ride home so when you get up and have your coffee Sunday morning think of me...and when you go to bed Sunday night think of me again...still flying,still trying to get home,sigh(feeling so sorry for Jeff right now).
On another note I have a meeting in two weeks with our lawyer regarding all of the Streetheart back catalogue and where we stand with that,so,for all of you,"Where the ^%*$ can we get your CD's" people, perhaps I'll have a bit of an update and although probably nothing completely earth-shattering at least a current report.Thanks for being there everyone,have a great weekend and I'll let you know how it all worked out when I get home...sometime very,very late Sunday night.in a galaxy far,far away,after you are all asleep...shhh...J.

Jeff Monday July 30/07

Monday morning and back at it.Hope you all had a good weekend.Mine was the one and only free weekend this summer and basically all I did was sleep!It has been a busy year for me so far so to put my brain into cruise mode for a few days was,I think, somewhat theraputic.However today the guilts hit me and it's like... "come on you lazy bastard.let's get at it" so here I am.Lol. We are playing in Minnedosa/Rockin the Fields this Friday for those of you in the Manitoba/Sask. region.Hope some of you get out for the show.We always have a good time out there and everyone is in that crazy-eyed weekend warrior state having wild fun.Not for the faint of heart!
Is it just me or does it seem as though the band is going through a renaissance of sorts right now?We have had a series of really strong shows this year and the response has been so great and we have had such good positive vibes around the band for quite a while now.I sort of put it down to work ethic and pride in a job well done but we have been getting such good feedback from you all that I am sometimes overwhelmed by how good it all seems to be.There are certain moments during our shows where I feel like I did when I first started out,you know, with all that young,unrelenting,naive and world-changing energy.It feels like we are a new band,not simply going through the motions as I have witnessed with other acts(and I know you know what I mean)but it is more of that busting your ass attitude to prove your worth every night kind of thang.It is a very good feeling.You must know that we could never just cruise through any of our shows and we thank you all for your part in making this band such a great thing for us.
Well kids,I do have some pressing,unavoidable phone business to take care of now so I'm going to have to hit it but I was just kind of feeling like...boy Jeff,you have a good life and a lot to be grateful for.Just wanted to let you know! J.

Jeff Thursday July 26/07

Summertime...And the living is easy...well maybe easy but still,certainly very busy.We just got off the road after a couple of great shows in North Battleford and Edmonton at the Grand Prix this past weekend.Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows and helped us share some great nights.This summer has been good to us again and we will remain busy until September when I hope to get time to get back to and finish off the other Streetheart projects like recording and the process of that missing back catalogue.It requires a lot of work and it seems that once our summer schedule gets underway there is little time for anything else outside of recovering from the weekend madness(and I thank all you out there for your part in all that craziness...lol)which usually includes huge quantities of catching up sleep.I mean why do you think we got into this rock and roll band thang?Here's a few of my last weekend highlights that are printable.Thursday morming...up at 5:30 am,ok... pack,shower and out the door into Vancouver rush hour at 6:30am to make the 8:00 am flight,barely.Give the finger to about 74 different drivers who appear to have just got their D.L.'s that morning,almost get a speeding ticket,twice and make it to the airport,fight the business mob for the exit row,grab a quick Tim's and get on the plane.Arrive in Edmonton at 11:30am after losing an hour stand in line at Budget and wait..............oh,here are your cars Mr.Neill.Drive 380 kms(in 2 hours 50 minutes) to Battleford set up,sound check,eat,shower,no sleep, practice, get ready....Daryl's keyboard intro....do the show and kick butt.Have a drink after the show,talk with a few fans,sign a few autographs and then sleep for a few hours.BOOM...up at 7:00am drive back to Edmonton(2 hours 30 minutes this time,thanks Pete)and check into hotel.Not much time to spare as we have an early show and I am left with 90 minutes to eat,sleep,work out and get ready. Hmmm....something has to go...let's see,I need to work out,practice and shower. These are the non-negotiable options.So,eat or sleep....mind ticking over...if I sleep now(this time being a total of 20 minutes) I can grab some food from backstage to protein me up just before the show(followed by a couple of shots of J&B for good luck. lol.) Play amazing show at the Grand Prix for wonderful,crazy fans,sweat like I just walked into a shower,sign a few auto's and head back to hotel just in time for the after show party and realize after a few cocktails that hey...I forgot to eat.Oh well there is always tomorrow.Wake up Saturday,get guys off to airport as I am staying in Edmonton with a couple of highschool friends so we can have our 2 day hangout,golf and not sleep much weekend.(A brief excerpt from our conversation...hey you f*^"*^g pr":*^k who used all of the f'">*^#g ice.)As you can see tons of fun and joyful,caring comraderie lol!So there I am Monday afternoon headed for the plane home,falling asleep in the lineup to board,run into Boink and the 5440 boys who are also on their way home,stumble onto the plane,nod off 5 or 6 times,help passenger who gets a pressure nosebleed,get to the Vancouver airport on time(wow),secure all of my luggage(thanks West Jet)drive home in the Monday rush hour which in Vancouver is similair to a chariot race in Rome at the Circus Maximus circa 10 A.D. and finally arrive home Monday evening in time to realize I have no food in the fridge...which is when I notice the bottle of J&B on the counter...so,how was your weekend?J.

Jeff Tuesday July 17/07

Yes I am alive as some of you may have been wondering...Let me tell you a story 'bout a man named Jeff...I spent the month of June with my Mom and Dad back in Ontario which was really good for my soul.I just hung out and worked around the house,you know,doing the things that are getting a little too tough for them to do.It's the least I can do after 18 years of free food and clothing and safety.I am fortunate to have had a good family to fall back on when I need it.Not to say we don't have our stuff but all in all I consider myself lucky.Anyways the only contact I had with the Streetheart world was my cell and the library computers!You know Mom's and Dad's of my generation are not usually computer friendly...they are still working out the TV remote lol.I tried to keep up with all the email(thanks everyone)but with the library police dragging me kicking and screaming off the computer after an hour so some sweet little old lady could "surf"" for deals on Florida holidays well...I need a laptop to travel with kids.Anybody got a spare Mac Pro I can have?lol.Really I am remedying the problem soon so good for us all!I did drive out to see my folks and the trip was beautiful mostly although the prairies are a little dull after 1500 kms or so.The up side of course is being able to get away with doing 135kph without getting ticketed.Don't try this at home kids...I'm a professional. Yeah right.
The summer has been going well and we have been busy travelling and trying to stay fed and rested during our little weekend warrior trips.It has been good to see lots of old friends out there(Hey Darryl)and I have of course been getting royal crap from you hardcores out there for being slack on the blog...Sorry I have pretty lazy.I am reasonably caught up with life now so I'll have some time to keep up.We are heading out to North Battleford this Thursday at the Casino for those of you in the area and the Grand Prix in Edmonton on Friday which should be fun.When I get home next week I'll get into some detail about our Streetheart summer so far.We have already had some very interesting gigs and events that I'll tell you about later so until then thanks as always for your support and sorry for being away for so long....J.