working it for the weekend, backstage with LOVERBOY,

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I had an outstanding weekend & I feel like I have opened a bunch of new doors that have some pretty exciting things behind them. Now, however, after the heady excitement of the weekend has worn off, I realize that I have hours upon hours of video editing ahead of me, which is a great deal of fun, but it has me worried that I will have no time to laze around (which is quite an enjoyable thing to do if you ask me).

Sometimes you do have to be careful of what you wish for. :)



OK, I am just moaning for no good reason, I am honestly thrilled, and I 'll give you a quick rundown on the past weekend and how it all happened.

I have a personal You Tube channel which is for my rough music drafts and just, whatever I feel like filming. This year I am working on a second, new You Tube channel idea, with gal pal chick singer Kelly Brock, (pictured) who will co-host the channel with me. We are not making high end film productions, we are just using my little camera and going behind the scenes with various local personalities, to capture real life, backstage, behind the scenes, banter and happenings. We just want to share with you, make connections, pass around little glimpses and bits of insight, share links and info, as well as show a real side of who people are, and what they do that inspires us.


We have been plotting this channel ever since I shot and edited my first videos of Kelly, such as the one filmed backstage at the Red Robinson Show theatre (rehearsing with the band for the 2008 BCCMA awards show). We also shot a behind the scenes at a photo shoot video, at Rock Beach Recording Studios,. I found that I really liked filming someone else for a change (I have had my personal You Tube channel for just over a year now, and I have become quite sick of me), so having another subject to film and edit was a delight.

Which brings us to where we are today, and telling you about the shooting we did last weekend. I can'tell you too much about our first shoot, which we did we did earlier in the day, but I promise I will when I can. Lets just say that Kelly and I manged to get ourselves behind the scenes of a music video shoot (the video will be aired on CMT when it is released).

How did we manage to do this? Well, I had met this artist a few months ago, and in our talk I shared with her, ways in which I might be helpful to her, then I left her my card. Well, out of the blue last week she emailed me, turns out she had kept my card (throw yourself out there people, something may bounce back). In the email, she happened to mention her upcoming video shoot.

Well, as I frequently do, I connected the dots immediately, and while I had her attention, I told this artist about the channel Kelly and I were working on. I sent her the video clips that I had made of Kelly and she loved them, she said she would ask her manager about letting us come shoot behind the scenes at her video shoot, which was being produced by Alex Galanis of Arkadia Pictures.

So I had the artist on board, but I still knew it would be very tough to get past management, I just know this, so I decided I wasn't just going to simply leave it at that. I called Kelly to tell her about this potential opportunity, and it turns out, Kelly knows that band's manager quite well, so she got working on that end of the equation. Kelly must have some magic that follows her around, because next thing you know, we have a pass to go shoot some behind the scenes fan video footage of this wonderful country group. It was so much fun, I can't wait to share it with you all, but I won't divulge the details until the band is ready to release their video, I don't want to spoil any surprises.

So that was my daytime shoot, but it doesn't end there, we had somewhere to go that night too!


Kelly sings background vocals for Loverboy, and a few months ago we hatched this plan to ask Mike Reno if we could do one of our videos using him as a subject. Not an easy thing to ask, after all, Mike Reno doesn't really need me and my hand held video camera, lets be honest here. I was asking him to expose himself to some stranger hanging around taking videos and being in your face backstage, when you just want to chill after a show. I get that, and I respect it. Most people forget I am there (eventually), and I have never had a complaint. I am very discreet, and charming, and polite.

As luck would have it, I am acquainted with Loverboy's amazing keyboard player Doug Johnson (who knew my father before he passed away last year). Once in a while I send Doug an email to keep him in the loop of what I am up to. So here is what happened Doug, sent the clip I made of Kelly, to Mike (back when I first posted it on You Tube last fall, because the video includes us finding Mike's signature on the walls backstage at the Red Robinson show theatre), so luckily, Mike was already familiar with the sort of video I make. Which really made this all much, much easier when Kelly asked Mike if we could come do a fan/bio video of him, he decided to support us and our project, and let himself be a subject. I am humbled.

The only tricky part, was getting a media pass for inside the venue. Live Nation is serious about stuff like that, and they don't just let anyone do this sort of thing. There were hoops, trust me. I didn't even know whether I was going to get a media pass approved until the morning of the show, so I was on pins an needles until I got the word. When I did, I was thrilled, especially when I realized that it was, Mike who went to bat for me and pulled the right strings, so he really was the hero of the day. I really look foward to making a wondeful fan tribute for them.

The show rocked by the way, the band was tight, and the crowd were singing and crying and showing their boobs to the band. (It was a rock show after all). Hanging out backstage was hilarious, it always is, there is just something about the energy it takes to do a show, that makes people quicker, and faster with the funny, either that or its the booze.

I had the great pleasure of meeting the other gorgeous background singer who works alongside Kelly, her name is Catherine St. Germaine. They are affectionately dubbed, the 'Lovergirls'. I have been emailing with Catherine for months now, so I did sort of 'cyber-'know her already. As well as performing for a living in a number of different amazing local groups, Catherine also books the bands into the lounges, for the Great Canadian Casinos. It was a treat to finally meet Catherine in person, she is beautiful and talented and I admire her a great deal. If you caught the show I am sure you were fell in love with her after she sang Almost Paradise with Mike near the end of the show.

Finally, I want to say that underneath all that incredible talent and powerful voice, Mike Reno, is a really funny, nice, and genuine guy. I was a big fan back in the days when I was wearing out the grooves on my records, and I am still a fan, and I am delighted that Loverboy are still rocking up there on stage, playing the songs of our youth and bringing us back to simpler times.

They have a wicked new CD out, & I am listening to the tunes as we type, I do highly recommend you check it out, and pick up a copy. There is a reason we fell in love with these boys 30 some odd years ago, and this new CD proves they still got it!

Loverboy will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame at the 2009 Juno Awards this spring, and I applaud CMHF for honoring such a worthy band and acknowledging what a rich tapestry of music Loverboy has given us to grow up with. Judging by the fans cheering and singing along in the audience, a LOT of people feel the same way.

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what are we missing?

The following post was not written by me, I recieved it in an email.
I believe it is worthwhile sharing.








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From The Effective Club :

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the case and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents,
without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we
recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
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Kylee Epp

I thought I would post a couple of pics from my Abba-cadabra gig last December, in order to introduce Kylee Epp , my Abbalicious partner in crime in the Abba tribute I just started working in ( produced by Mooncoin productions ).

Kylee is a living doll, she is so musically accomplished, beautiful, and talented at such a young age, yet, she is extremely mature and down to earth which I really like. She has absolutely no idea how incredible she truly is.

Kylee has a new CD coming out soon, and when it is released, I will post about it here, so stay tuned. In the meantime I will link you to her website so you can read and explore as she shares her recording experiences. She also talks about some of the excting things that happen while on road with a country star. ( Oh yes, did I mention she also has a gig touring with and singing background vocals for Jesse Farrell ? )

a delicate subject

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You may have met my friend Sharon, I have posted about her blog here before. She makes me laugh out loud, often, and today I am sharing her very important PSA. Sharon has tackled a very delicate subject and shared it with all of her cyber sisters.

Sharon, you are selfless. Such an important message,..... lmao ; )

*I hope you will go visit her..........

( Sharons blog about a very delicate topic )


*if you don't have a sense of humor, or if you are squeamish when reading about er, ...ah,... 'personal recreational activities for the home and bedroom", then, take a pass.....but I suggest you get over that, and simply enjoy the fun of the post. ;)


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E! Online interview

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Well Miss 604 posted her interview of me yesterday, and it was SUCH a whirlwind day.

Seriously, I met SO many new people online and through Twitter, its been fabulous.

If you are new here, Hi! Welcome.

This is just my diary, trust me, there are funnier blogs, and blogs with useful content that you can actually learn something from, you wont find any of that here. If you want blogs like that, go check out the blogs I am following, because they are all very cool. This blog is all about me.

Luckily, for you, one big part of ME, is that I happen to like to share things about other people. It gives me warm fuzzies to post something nice about someone else, especially if something they did, inspired or touched me.

So, besides following some of my adventures, you will also find some of my favorite links, videos,and blogs posted here.

Which brings me back to Miss 604.

I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but I didn't really realize this interview was going to be put on E! online. I thought it was for the local blog (which was thrilling and exciting enough I might add). But when the interview was over and I was saying goodbye to Rebecca, I didn't quite know what she meant, when she said it will be on E! online, later today. Huh? I was a bit dazed over that, and actually thought I heard wrong.

Anyhow, when she posted the story, and I realized it was THE E! online, I just could not believe it. What am I doing up there? How freaking cool is that? I immediately wished I had at least brushed my hair or put on make up or something. LOL, what a doofus, when I told these thoughts to my pal Sharon, who called me from Toronto to congratulate me, she just laughed and told me that, 'that is what she loves about me'. So I guess it kind of all right that I am hopeless about these things.


Anyway, I can't thank Rebecca enough for contacting me and putting up such a great story. I love so much that she took an interest in some of the charitable causes I am donating my time to, and that she chose to share their information with her audience. The people from the Stupid Cancer foundation were so excited and pleased. It was a powerful day, and I am proud to share this with you all!

click link for the E! Online story

miss 604 and moi!

Well I just got back from a delightful morning coffee with Miss 604 herself, Rebecca Bollwitt. I have been following her blog for some time now, long before I ever decided to start writing my own blog.

I often will check Rebecca's blog to see whats up in Vancouver, she is always covering something interesting. Also, she takes adorable self portraits, so the stories often come wrapped in a pretty bow. Sometimes when I go to her blog, I post and join the conversation, and sometimes I just shoot her an email to let her know about upcoming events.

I guess I made enough noise, or perhaps it's a slow week and there is no one more interesting to interview (because they are all still on holidays) , but for whatever reason, Rebecca emailed me to see if I wanted to meet up and give an interview about being a singer in Vancouver.

How totally exciting, I was thrilled to accept.

Rebecca is even more charming in person, and I greatly admire how she has carved out a place for herself in the Vancouver scene. She is everywhere, supporting a large variety of local people, events and news stories, from live blogging, to social media events, to Hockey to live music, and everything in between.

I will be excited to watch her star rise along the way, you probably have seen her yourself, her picture is on the side of many Vancouver buses. Actually, its kinds cool that now I have a pic of myself and her together. One day I will be able to can say, I knew her when!

Here is a link to her blog, http://www.miss604.com/ I don't know when exactly she will have the interview up on her site, but it will probably be in the next day or two ( if not today) . She tells me she is putting something on E-Online as well (which is in my list of blogs that I follow if you want to check that out too).

The only downfall for the day........................ is that she has talked me into getting on Twitter. Rebecca insists it is the thing to do. My online pal Susan Sierra from the sueandsteveshow.com , just got onto Twitter a few weeks ago too, and she has tried to rope me in, but I managed to resist her efforts.

So today,during our meeting at the coffee shop, Rebecca gave me a surprised look when I told her I am not on Twitter. I may as well have told her I still use an outhouse for potty purposes.

She decided she was going to bring me into the future, and she showed me on her laptop, how Twitter works. She started by asking me who I wanted to look up. The first person I thought of was Susan. So we searched, and Rebecca found Susan, She her to her list, and made a Tweet about her. And within seconds, I could see Susan online responding.

OK, they got me with that little demo of Twitters connecting capabilities, it does look pretty effective. I admit that am being dragged kicking and screaming, but I am finally going there, I am finally Tweeting. The only problem, between Twitter, facebook, You Tube, my blog, and my website, I foresee having NO life. I still have to learn songs and rehearse and take care of children and everything, where will I find the time? Thanks a lot, you girls are a pain in the ass.

Hehe, pain in the butt or not, THANKS again Rebecca, for everything, for the chat over coffee, for being cool, for sharing information the way you do, and for just spreading good energy around the world. I can't wait to come play at one of your events.

Now all you Tweeters, please feel free to add me and help me take my first baby steps on Twitter!

you tube collaboration

People do collaborations all the time on You Tube.

I was asked to provide the vocal for a tribute video to John Lennon.

I had some minor but annoying challenges with this little project, the video I was to send, had to have me singing acapella, I could only use the little mic on my tiny video camera to record my voice, and of course, it all had to be done in one take. The key of the song was very awkward, too high for me to belt it out comfortably, and too low to be really dynamic at the high points, but the track was done by the time they got me on board so there was no changing the key.

After trying a number of things however, I just sat down and sang the song simply, after all, there is no point messing with John.

Lai decided to put some harmonies over my vocal, which he says he has never done before so that must have been cool for him. I am very glad I decided to play along with this, Lai has about 3 thousand subscribers to his You Tube channel, and I woke up this morning to an inbox full of subscribers and new friend requests who found me via his video, and the requests still keep coming.

I do show up in this video, for the last verse and chorus.