It’s been a month, in mostly good ways over here.
As mentioned back in April (note: I just realized that I DIDN’T PROMOTE IT ON THIS BLOG–JESUS CHRIST, CAHILL), I hosted a workshop at The Tranzac called The Writers’ Voice, something I’ve been cooking up for more than a year, the idea being to help writers who are either emerging or established with their public reading skills–something that no one else seems to have offered, which was sorely needed in the community (in case you’ve never felt your soul leave your body when someone at a reading series goes so over-length in their presentation). I’m proud to say that it was a success! There was so much interest, and the event itself produced so much interesting discussion, that I’ve decided to make it a semi-annual event. To make it more accessible to the greater writing community (hint: not everyone is easily able to make it downtown) I’m looking at rotating the venue. I’m still undecided about where the autumn event will take place, but am currently looking at Scarborough and North Toronto. Stay tuned! But also, I’m so happy that there was interest in this, and that those who showed up brought their A-game.
My review of Robert Palmer’s Deep Blues was more abbreviated than I would’ve liked, but this is what happens when you’re pressed for time and juggling making space for revising other works. To add some flavour, I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my favourite musicians focused upon, namely the likes of lesser-known guitarists such as Otis Rush (the Muddy Waters shout-out to Rush’s authenticity is something you couldn’t pay enough money for). It’s allowed me to give a closer listen to artists who I might’ve never given a second thought to checking out. One being Snapper Blackwell, whose formidable technical chops add such a depth to what would otherwise be par-for-the-course Delta acoustic blues. Most recently, I gave a listen to Junior Wells and the Aces–a live recording from 1966 in Boston which blew my mind. I’m not a harmonica guy typically, and truth be told I was more interested in the backup band (based on Palmer’s attestation), and it’s so rewarding. As I wrote on BlueSky, there’s something about listening to live recordings of blues artists that can be uniquely revealing of their quality and technical chops that is sometimes lost in their studio work (especially given that sometimes the “studio” is a hastily arranged hotel room in those days). This also goes for the works of previously mentioned Otis Rush–the 70s may not have been good to him otherwise, but his live work from that era just sizzles.
I hope you’re doing well in these turbulent times xo
