painters and musicians

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There is a woman whom I met through You Tube last year named Amanda Delight, she is an incredible painter who films herself as she paints her masterpieces from beginning to end. She takes the footage she shoots and speeds up the film then edits it to music, sharing with the viewer her process as she creates her magic on canvas. She then posts the videos to her You Tube account and shares them on her blog.


I just came across this new video she has put up, of her painting President Obama, and thought I would share it with you ........








Sometime last year Amanda came across my song on You Tube called "Standing all the Way" ( a song about being diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and deciding to hope, fight, live and love well ), and she contacted me to tell me she was so inspired by the song that she wanted to do a painting and make one of her videos, she wanted to know if I would please let her use my song for the video. She told me that she planned to use the video to remind women not to forget to get their mammograms done. [Little side note: Amanda is not only a painter, she is a mammographer, so she is dealing with issues surrounding breast cancer on a daily basis]

I was very honored to be asked. This woman is a true artist. I was blown away by her talent as I watched a number of her previously made videos. I immediately and without hesitation said yes, and told Amanda that I would be delighted (pun intended) to give her my song. I just had to find a way to record the song (at the time the song was only in rough draft form on You Tube which is how she found it), but she also had to do the painting yet, so we had time.

Part two of this story involves the recording of the song you will hear in this video, but for now, here is the video that Amanda made to my track. The picture you will see being painted, was donated to a Charity fundraiser, and now hangs in a Hospital somewhere in the US! Nice.












It was kind of exciting to think that we worked on this from different parts of the continent at the same time, it was my first collaboration on You Tube. I lucked out big time by choosing the right person to ask to record the song. I recorded the track at Millennia Sound Design. The production, recording, mixing, engineering, instrumentation, and arrangement was provided by Mick Dalla Vee. I am forever grateful for his help with this project, I had only asked for a guitar and vocal track because that was all I could afford. Instead, Mick delivered to me, a beautiful song with full instrumentation. He said he put in the extra time, knowing this track was going to help support a cause. That's the kinda decent person he is.


Not to mention, incredibly talented. If you have ever seen the incomperable Randy Bachman in concert, chances are good that you have seen Mick Dalla Vee, as he has been playing with Randy in his band for years. Mick also has a number of different music projects which are counted amongst the country's top acts, and he also runs a rock n' school for teens, which I will be probably be blogging about in future because we are working out details for the McRockskool to open a branch in the facility where I teach the kids their dance classes.

So, in case any of you singer/songwriters/bands who are reading in the Lower Mainland are looking for a studio or a top notch producer, or, if you simply want to go see a great band, check out the links provided ( anything underlined )!



And on that note, for your rock and roll enjoyment today,....... I'll treat to to the talents of of these highly regarded, hardworking entertainers.....


When not on the road with Randy, Atlantic Crossing, or backing up other major artists and touring overseas, Mick works with his rock trio Cease and Desist, These guys are all so enormously talented, Mick can sing play and sound like anyone, Marc LaFrance is an outstanding drummer, and Brent Howard plays so clean and tasty. They all have wicked vocals, and as players they get out of each other's way. Its just a joy to watch them. If you are looking to go see some great rock and roll being played to perfection, go to one of their shows.

On the website, I found this video that I will share today, the boys are treating us to some Led Zepplin (yeah)! The following is a description taken from Mick's website:

“This is from 2006. Brent hosted a jam at The Point in Port Moody. One night I was there hanging as was Rick Fedyk (Spud). Spud is a monster drummer - especially on Led Zeppelin tunes...the guy has studied Bonham like a thesis. We decided to do Whole Lotta Love and it was caught on video...the sound isn't great, but you can tell it was pretty magic. Spud's drumming at the end is stellar.”