I’ve also got numerous private shows lining up during Stampede – so although the public can’t attend, look at it this way — it does mean I do private shows — so feel free to book me for one your own, especially if you’ve Stampede party around the corner, and need some authentic Calgary western live music!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t already connected with me on Twitter or Facebook, please do!  I like to put my eccentric thoughts there, and it’s a fun way to get to know you better.  Links are at the top left of this web page.

I’ve been asked to come back to Rawlco Radio’s studio and record a couple of tunes for their roots program.   In case you didn’t know, they own Up 97.7.  They’ve asked for an original song, and a shortened version of a classic roots tune…I’m going to try “You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King.  That was my wedding song, actually!  I usualy play it on piano, but I’m working out a pretty guitar version of it, and it gives the song quite a different character.

In my last coaching session with Brian Farrell, he seemed really happy with the version of Ode to Billie Joe I’d worked up.  Also loved two other songs I’ve recently added to my repertoire – that I’m considering recording.  Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman” and Ron Hynes’ “Where Does Love Go Wrong?”  They are simply killer songs.  Ron Hynes and I met at ECMA’s a couple years ago, when I did a showcase.  His daughter Lori and I played together as kids (I lived in Newfoundland for a few years) and it made for an easy introduction.  Ron and I jammed all night, and he played my guitar and we harmonized. When he gave me his most recent CD (trading CDs is common at these events!) at the time, that song was on it, and I’ve been hooked on it since.   Last year, I asked him if anyone else had recorded it yet.  He said, “No, you do it!”  You may know Ron as the “Man of a Thousand Songs” as they call him in Newfoundland, because he was the first Newfie to record an album of entirely original songs.  His best known is “Sonny’s Dream” – which is like an anthem in Newfoundland.  “Sonny don’t go away, I am here all alone…and your daddy’s a sailor who never comes home…”  Ring a bell?  YouTube it!

In other news,  I’ve started working with a new guitarist who came over for a first rehearsal last night.   Brad Perrin (who plays occasionally with Allen Christie) is a lead guitar player who also plays mandolin, dobro and pedal steel.  And he can sing too!  The best part is he’s keen to work all the instruments into our upcoming shows.  We’re starting regular rehearsals to get ready for several upcoming shows, and of course a busy Stampede week.

Meanwhile, I’m continuing to take my vocal/performance coaching with Brian Farrell.  Last week he and I talked a lot about repertoire.  He thinks that story songs suit me well…i.e. since I’m a good articulator (most people can make out the words when I sing), that this lends well to the story-song format.  So anyway, he’s suggested a few doozies, such as Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry, which I’ve been working on all week.  It’s a little like learning Harper Valley PTA  because there are just mouthfuls of words to cram into each line, and it’s not all even, so it takes a while to find the fit.  The intriguing story of that song is really cool. I also recently learned American Pie – it’s not in my classic country kind of vein, I know, but I just really like the song, and love the story/metaphors woven into it.    It’s fun to take songs like that and then when you sing them, you get to make them fresh again.   Learning really unique cover tunes like that also inspires me in my own writing.

You know, most of the covers I’ve done (I think almost all of them) have come from people at my shows saying “you should learn this”!  While not all of them are a fit, many, many of them are.  If you have any ideas for me, let me know.  I write, but I also love to learn new tunes.   Hope to see you Saturday!

Jacq

I especially enjoyed meeting really interesting people this week – like Jean Prescott (awesome yodeller), Mike Fleming (amazing songwriter) and Liz Masterson (cowgirl singer/emcee – a real charmer!).  I even met very cool lady name Donna who’s in her late 60′s and sings just like a bird….but what really also amazed me was that she was building her own home and doing all the carpentry herself – and she’s a tiny little thing!    These Western-music people are sure good and tough!

I also have to say it was the first time I’d spent any length of time in Kamloops, and I think it’s a really cool place.   The geography is so unusual…dry brown desert-like mountains.  Everywhere you go, you’re on a hill.  As a person more accustomed to the flat prairie land, I did get really lost though, because there’s no grid-arrangement of the streets!   I’m used to lefts and rights,  but not ups and downs….every road is weirdly twisty and diagonal…and the views are spectacular!

While I’m at it, I want to commend the festival organizers for the excellent treatment of the artists!  They had shuttles for us wherever/whenever needed (literally several of them were waiting to be beckoned – one even ran me to the drug store, and waited while I shopped!) and the rooms they provided here at the Coast Hotel are top notch.  They didn’t even bunk me in with the guys in Allen’s band (whew – ha ha!  No offence guys!).    And, not only that, I sold out all the CD’s I brought because they had volunteers manning the merchandise wherever we went – and the emcees (thanks Liz!) made sure to tell everyone there to buy them.

Anyway, thank you to everybody who bought my music this weekend – I hope you’re not expecting accordion tunes – ha ha – but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!   Hope to be back next year!  Yodelllaaaaaeeeeeeooooooo…..  Jacquie Drew (maybe next year I’ll get to sing you my Yodel tune –:), I just can’t yodel and accordion at the same time.  Now, If Ed Peekeekoot heard that I bet he’d say “you just didn’t try, candy-ass!”  Tonight I saw that fella play a banjo and guitar at the same time!!   Yes, Western folk are tough indeed!

Next week, Brian has asked me to bring in a list of all the cover tunes I do.  They’re on this website, but I’ve added a few new ones, and I’m thinking about what else I could add.   I have generally stayed in the classic country realm, but I also find I like good story-telling songs that might not fit into that box…like Piano Man and American Pie…these are also fun for house parties.   And then, I like a few funny little tunes that I’ve picked up because of specific people I’ve known or occurrences in my life – like Delta Dawn, Gordie Sampson’s “Paris” or Feels Like Home…  how do I try to knit these together…anyway!  Oddly, I have stayed away from new, Nashville country – it this a good thing or a bad thing?  Would love to hear your thoughts!  Will keep you posted!

In other news, I’ve been taking workshops in professional speaking – I think this will really help my show- and in tying the song messaging together into a better “show.”  I am planning to tie together the ideas of strategic planning (which I do in my consulting work during the day) with songwriting (yes, the speaking seminars are for my consulting business as well).   You see, strategic planning can  be a very difficult concept for people to grasp – so I think if I use songwriting as a metaphor, it will help people understand the elements.  There are very interesting similarities!  I was going to use well-known songs as examples, but the people in the workshop thought I should write some sort of original song that could reinforce the strategic planning concepts.  After screwing up my face with an expression that said, “Uh, like that would be a song anyone would want to hear,” I promised I would “try” – and then of course I got fried for that comment…so I said I “would”  write the song – “no matter HOW BAD it is!”  So, now I have TWO possibly impossible songwriting tasks to try to accomplish within the next couple weeks.   Eek.

I’ll go with the assumption that this is all good for me- I’ve been too busy lately to really do much songwriting, so having a reason to write songs is a good thing.  Stay tuned!

First, it turns out the kid has a good sense of rhythm, and can really get that baby Taylor pounding loud!  She decided she didn’t want to work on her own song at this point, and so I taught her the first few chords of a pop song she really likes.  Now she can’t put the guitar down!

Meanwhile, I had my second vocal lesson with Brian Farrell today.  Brian experimented with my range a little more, and had me play him some of my songs.  He asked very unusual questions:  wanting to know the context that I’d be performing the songs in, and what the intended audience was.  He asked about the meanings of the lyrics, and encouraged me not to structure my vocal rhythm exactly to the guitar rhythm I was using. The essence of it was to get me to sing the meaning out of the words, and make it very personal.   Further, he suggested many minor tweaks to help me sound more confident.  I think I can tell where this is going — which is exactly where I need to go – more time, more conviction, and more authority on stage.  In other words, don’t just sing through stuff in a hurry…milk it for all its worth.   He’s definitely on the money…. I would agree 100% I can use a little more ego (though not DIVA sized) and to relax and take my time more.   Looking forward to where this is going!

Brian has a lovely home in Bearspaw, with a big grand piano, and a keyboard+large-screen computer setup. There was a beautiful view of the snowy foothills out the big windows as we worked.   The lesson started out by talking about my goals for the process. Mainly, I’m looking to improve my range, my confidence throughout the range, and my endurance. I had just sung a 5-6 hour house party gig on Saturday night, and although I managed to sing through it, my voice was thinning out at the end, and really tired the next day. I’ve also found that I since I’ve been trained by different teachers in different ways (classical vs. pop), I didn’t really know what sort of vocal exercises I should be doing to improve things….I usually just try not to burn out my voice when performing…but I don’t really warm it up or do anything to exercise it.

I asked what was probably a dumb question for a singer: Were vocal cords muscles that should be exercised or tissues that should be used sparingly? He showed me some videos of vocal cords in action, and explained that they were definitely muscles that should be exercised, stretched and toned. That was a relief…and then he began giving me a bunch of weird-sounding vocal exercises that would stretch them in different ways. I was really surprised to hear that he could reach the very end of the notes on the piano keyboard (BOTH ENDS) with his own voice!! Oddly, he explained that hitting low notes meant “aiming” them high, and that hitting high notes meant aiming them low in the throat. This was news to me, as I had always strained my neck and leaned upwards to hit higher notes….it will be very interesting to see what he says about this as time goes by!

On the drive home I popped in a DVD of vocal exercises he gave me. It was kind of tough – like going to a first workout at a gym. I couldn’t do all the exercises or hit the end of the range. I think the gal on the CD he gave me was a serious soprano, and I’m more of an alto, but I did the best I could. Not sure I was doing everything with proper technique, but we’ll see how it goes through the next couple weeks of using it, and if he sees any improvement when I return…..good thing I’m keeping those windows rolled up!

In all, this is very exciting…if any of you hear improvements in my voice in the next few months – please let me know!! My mission in this musical adventure isn’t to be perfect, but to at least be a moving target…