Sound Gear. . .

Peja and I took back the rental sound equipment this morning -- $39 goes further than you'd think. As stated in earlier posts, I was worried as hell about the sound; we had a bit of a rough time in Inverary, but The Wilson Room was very kind and everything went together smoothly.

I got to hear most of Kyra and Tully/Me Man Jack, and I thought the sound was fantastic -- I'm not taking credit, I think most of it is just that the Wilson Room has amazing acoustics. But we kept it simple, with only vocals and a bit of Piano coming out of the P.A. -- The guitar and bass amps weren't miked, just turned up a bit. There was only one mix coming out of the main speakers (pointing at the crowd) and through the monitor. There was only one monitor, on the floor in front of the stage. Stage volume was not too loud, but I could hear everything well. We had no effects, no compression, no gates, and no feedback for the whole show.

Technical Info (because I'm always wondering. . .):
So, we had a 12 channel mixer (we used 6), a stereo power amp (300 watts?), 2 Pulse tilting monitors (used as mains), 1 mackie 12" powered monitor, 2 shure sm58's, 1 shure beta 58, 1 apex condensor mic (piano), a Blues Junior 1x12" 15 watt tube amp, a 100 watt yamaha half-stack 1x15" bass amp, and a couple of passive apex direct boxes.

It's basically a rehearsal space worth of gear, and it was totally enough for an indoor show. We could've gotten away with less than the mackie monitor, it was turned way down (it's got like 400 watts of power of something insane), and I wonder if I could just bring my little 30 watt cube amps, link them together, and point them up at the singer.

There's some talk, mostly from me, I suppose, about charging a bit more at the door in an attempt to do slightly better than breaking even (to the dollar this time). I've paid $2 for great shows and $10 for crappy ones, and I don't know if people would even blink if we asked a bit more than $5 for 2 hours of cool music. I'm trying to create a third way, besides bars and $25 concert hall shows, somewhere everyone can see cool music at a fair price.

What do you think?

-- Jay.

Post Wilson. . .

Wow, what an f'n great show.

Huge thanks to all the musicians from Kyra and Tully and Me Man Jack, who were all very very awesome. Thanks to the library for having us (alright, we paid them, but maybe they'll have us back. . .) -- the Wilson Room is a fantastic room for a concert in so many ways.

Tim Tran from the Dorian School of Music provided the sound gear at no charge, so a big thanks to him.

Our Set List:

1. City Lights
2. Sucker Punch
3. After the Fire
4. Society Dames
5. In the Shadow of the Sleeping Giant
6. The United Stars
7. Red Flag
8. It's Coming Down
9. Tryin' You On

The Barn Flyz were:
Anthony Popis - Drum
Derek Pyne - Bass

Jay was Jay.

And the biggest thanks to everyone who came to the show! We hope to see you again soon.

3 for 2!

Five days? Something like that. . . Rehearsal this Thursday with the Flyz, and meeting with Kyra and Tully tomorrow to double-check details 'n stuff.

One cool thing, the Kyra and Tully set will contain a performance by Me Man Jack -- so it's like 3 bands for the price of two at a very good price! And kids under 12 are free! Yeah! And, if you like books, it's at the library, where the books are free! It's a win win win!

Uh. . . I missed my nap. . .

Hope all is well with you,

Jay.

Travel to miss home. . .

Back from a 3 day trip to Toronto. Thanks to Kevin and Tom for hosting us! Peja and I avoided downtown - the bass amp purchase in Ottawa used up my spending money until '09, I think. . . Sienna rocked some wool stores and fabric stores while we hung out with k&t -- The parks in their neighborhood are pretty damned impressive -- tunnels and slides high into the sky.

We had a nice visit with Sienna's/our old K-town friends on Tuesday night, including 2 of the Radical Dudez, who have been one of Peja's favourite bands since she saw the great video for "The First Place". If you haven't seen it, head over to their site and check it out.

We got back to town yesterday and dropped by Sienna's folks place to drop off the van and beg/steal some awesome noodle/tofu/magic food.

Hope all is well with you,

Jay.

Inverary Post-Show

It's Sunday morning, and Sienna and Peja just headed out to hang out with some of Peja's little friends.

The Lady Racers were totally amazing, and I hope I get to play another show with them in the future. Thanks to Kyra and Tully for putting on the festivities, thanks to the Inverary Playhouse and it's operators, and thanks to Paul who rocked the bass and helped a lot with the sound. Huge thanks to everyone who came out and gave their money and their time and their applause.

The play house is a beautiful room, and our hosts gave us a great deal. The draw wasn't as big as we hoped, but if you could fill the place, it is a fantastic venue.

This was the first big show I've played without a sound-guy, and I have a new respect for the craft -- it's a real f'n hassle to be messing with unfamiliar sound gear in a short time-frame while you're trying to get ready to perform. I'm wondering if I should make a new plan for the Wilson room show -- I hadn't totally decided what to do, but I think I might check out the cost of having a sound guy who isn't me.

Saturday, 7pm, Inverary!

One more rehearsal before the Inverary Show -- (Saturday, Inverary Play House; Lady Racers, Kyra and Tully, Jay and the Barn Flyz!) The show starts at 7, so I think we're heading out there around 4:30 to set up sound gear and stuff. There's suppose to be an article in the Whig this weekend about the show, so look for that.

After this weekend, the media blitz will start for the Wilson Room show, so look for the posters all around. I'm still up in the air about the exact sound lay-out, but the room has been booked and paid for, so everything should be cool. The only sad note is that Grady Kelneck will not be gracing the stage (did I mention this before? I really have to start reading the blog. . .), so the Barn Flyz will be a trio; but that's kind of cool to.

See you in Inverary,

Jay.

Quiet Power Jam. . .

Starting jamming for the Wilson room show -- Derek and Anthony came out to Dorian last night, and although I forgot my microphone, necessitating a fairly low volume, I think it was a really productive jam. Despite a 4 month lay-off, the boys still know their parts.

Grady can't make it down for the show, so it's going to be a 3 piece special (plus Kyra and Tully on vocals and keys). The set list is up in the air, but songs that should make the cut include: Society Dames, City Lights, and Red Flag.

Derek starts at Queens in the fall, and Anthony's talking about commuting back for the occasional show, so the band should be able to keep gigging in the fall without too much trouble. Nick's back in September, so we'll have the piano man too. Tim at Dorian and I want to do a big show at the Wellington Street Theatre, so stay tuned for news about that.

This Saturday is the Inverary Playhouse show with The Lady Racers and Kyra and Tully. I'm opening with a few tracks, and with some help from Kyra and Tully and Paul (who's playing bass to my drums in Kyra and Tully this time out).

Congrats to Tara and Denton on their first house!

See you on Saturday in Inverary!

Take care,

Jay.

Basssss Ammmmmp

Drove up to Ottawa on Wednesday with Sienna, and visited songbird music, where I got this great old yamaha bass head and 1x15" cabinet that shakes the house in pretty great ways. I've been wanting a bass amp almost since I sold my old one to my cousin Tom, and this one, aside from not being tubed, is pretty perfect.

Rehearsal tonight with K&T, we're trying some of my tunes so they can back me up in Inverary and the Wilson Room show. I don't even know what instrument I'm bringing anymore. . . I'm playing drums at that show, but my stuff too. . .

Planning for the Wilson room show continues, I'm debating sound options. Tim's kindly offered me his sound gear, so I might just do a simple set-up, just mic the vocals and have everything pretty quiet -- it's a bright sounding room, so that might be the best option.

Take care,

Jay.

No Rain!!!

Like Woodstock before it, this years Elphin Roots festival nearly floated away -- right after Kyra and Tully's set. Tully's last lyrics before the deluge? -- "and it feels like it's gonna rain".

Sienna and Peja and I took off for K-town, but Kyra and Tully reported that everything was cool, and the festival continued in a nearby hall late into the night. Congrats and thanks to Jenny Whitely and all the bands who played. Thanks also to the vendor who sold me the old Ray Charles records.

We played a benefit concert today held to help a family on the island who lost their house to a fire. Despite the sullen cause, the community was out in cheerful force, and I got a good reminder what I miss about Wolfe Island. The show was great, lots of cool acts, and after a quick stop-in at a potluck, we made the 6:30 boat back home.

Busy weekend. Sleep now.