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Hoping to see you at my "Celebration of Life (while I'm Still Here to Enjoy It)". Not to be morbid, but as I went through my Facebook to invite people I kept running into friends who are no longer with us - and all younger than me (except for Her Majesty, who had a good run).
For the covid-cautious (of which I am one) the venue has brand new air-conditioning and lots of space for social distancing. I mean, we have to start getting out, don't we - I'm off to see Sue Foley at the Elmo as soon as I hit send, but I will be wearing a mask.
There is a bar featuring reasonably priced craft beers and many fine Indian restaurants in the hood - and a great sushi place on the corner.
A lot of great musicians will be joining me to celebrate my 30+ years making music in this town - players who encouraged me and helped this blues newbie from the hill country of Quebec navigate my way through the Toronto blues scene. Lorraine Ingle was half of Blue Willow, the first band to hire me as a sideman. There was not a gig or a rehearsal with Terry Wilkins that did not teach me an important lesson. Roberta Hunt's love of New Orleans music infected me, Raoul Bhaneja invited me to be part of one his theatrical projects, and Son Roberts and Ric Levenston were great jamming buddies in the "Campfire" era. Paul Reddick played on "Overqualified for the Blues" CD and Steve Marriner played on the title track of my most recent CD, "I'm Not Fifty Anymore." I'm sure there will be a few surprise guests, too. I have an extra guitar standing by for any walk-ups. The rhythm section is my dream team - Michelle Josef on drums and bassmeister George Koller who just mentioned to me that he'll be playing with the Eagles at the Budweiser Stage for the two nights before our party (as part of their string section). Gab Lavoie and my son the DJ, Joel Blain, will join me at the end to demonstrate some of the ambient electronic music I've been messing with in my new incarnation, Stringbuster. We will provide the "exit music"
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See you out there (eventually)
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Thanks for reading this far. I see that the Blainletter gets opened by hundreds of people but not sure how many read through it. But I always seem to hear from someone or other that they enjoyed it and that's what keeps me going. Feel free to forward this to any friend you think might enjoy my occasional ramblings (and maybe my music, too). These bits and more are always available on my blog, www.torontobluesdiary.com.
See you out there, eventually...
BrianB, aka Butch, Nappy, Shaker, Two-Lane Blain, Colorblind Brian, Stringbuster, Buddha of the Blues
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