Summer dates
I’ve updated the Gigs page with the dates that are booked for Summer 2010 so far. If everything goes according to plan, it’s going to look a lot like this.
In addition to touring with Jessie Farrell, I’ll be playing a few dates with The Higgins. It’s been great to learn a bunch of Higgins tunes, some previous hits and a bunch from the upcoming record which drops on June 8. A great local Vancouver bass player and fellow Lakland-owner named Dennis Marcenko (Colin James, k.d. lang) laid down most of the bass on the record, so getting into his head with some of these bass parts has been a nice exercise. Some super slinky fretless work on a track called “Burn You Back” makes me regret the fact that I usually can’t travel with more than one bass.
There will be more shows added, and definitely a handful of local gigs around Vancouver with some different people, so other than this site the best way to keep track is to add me as a friend on Facebook, or to follow me on Twitter.
Vancouver 2010 Olympic gigs
Last night I played a gig with a great singer named AJ Woodworth. Her, with Jesse Tucker and I backing her up, played two songs at the West Vancouver leg of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. It was outside, near the rec centre, it was kinda chilly and a bit wet but not necessarily rainy, and I was impressed with how many people came out to see the torch show up. Before us, there was a all-female a capella group, a marching band, a mens’ choir (just to even it out) and a childrens’ choir.
I showed up looking forward to the gig, but when I was standing on stage just a few feet away from the fire that had made it’s way some thousands of miles (and, as I write this, continues to weave through parts of the Lower Mainland), I came to appreciate that I was in some way involved with a pretty significant event in this city’s history. It’s not as though the cynical smart-ass completely melted away, I mean, there was a mens’ choir and a bunch of trombone players to make fun of after all, but I was glad to be a part of it, more than I thought I would.
And guess what? I’m doing it again on this Saturday night, when I perform for the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad with Jessie Farrell at the LiveCity Downtown Stage at 10pm. It’s free, and it’s going to get crazy. If you haven’t done so already, it’s worth making your way downtown just to be in the mix – just so you can say you did.
Hope to see you at the show. And here’s a tip: If you want to blend in wear red and white, because everyone else will be.
Recording: Colin Bullock
A couple weeks ago I played my first gig with a talented chap named Colin Bullock, a singer-songwriter and guitar-player from Australia living here in Vancouver. Just days before the show he asked if I would be able to throw down a bass track on a new single so he could release it at the show with the launch of a new music video.
I was happy to oblige, so I recorded a bunch of solid passes with some different ideas here at the home studio. Not wanting to make any executive decisions without the artist present, I sent all nine tracks so Colin and his mixing engineer could figure out what they wanted to use. Listening to the finished track, I don’t really know if the bass part is a conglomeration of a bunch of takes or if they just took one they liked and slapped it on, but it seems to work either way.
We have another gig coming up at the Railway Club here in Vancouver on Wednesday, December 30, so I hope to see you there. In the meantime, keep up to date by checking out Colin’s Facebook Fan Page.
And here’s the video for “Something Worth Smiling For”…
Toni Childs in Sun Valley, Idaho
In late May I spent a week in Ketchum, Idaho – a swank little ski town in Sun Valley – for a gig with singer-songwriter Toni Childs (official website here).
It was a pretty short-notice gig because Toni’s usual rhythm section couldn’t make the trip from Australia, so my friend Chris Van Sickle who plays piano and B3 with Toni gave me a call, emailed me the charts and mp3s a couple days before we were set to leave. Also new to the gig was another friend of mine from when I lived in Victoria, a drummer named Tom Salter who was in pretty much the same boat. On electric guitar was Adam Dobres, also from Victoria and another guy I had played a bunch of gigs with before. On rhythm acoustic and electric guitar was a Nate, a surfer dude from Hawaii via New Jersey. A terrific sound tech named John Borys was doing sound. I worked with him when I was a teenager playing gigs in Victoria with different bands, and it was a totally rad to catch up with him after many years.
The band rehearsed in the old Opera House for 4 days leading up to the show. We were able to leave all the gear set-up all week which allowed Chris and I to rent some bicycles. The “commute” from the little condo where the band stayed to the Opera House was a nice bike path through the valley. A couple hours of tunes, a lunch break, some more tunes and then the bike ride home as the sun was getting low was just about one of the best work schedules I think I’ve ever had.
During rehearsals, Toni really knew what she wanted to hear and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. This was actually nice for me because it took some of the decision-making out of my hands and I could just play my parts as best as I could. The music was primarily world-beat pop, I suppose from Toni’s experiences writing and recording in Africa and working with musicians like Peter Gabriel, but there were also a couple numbers that were definitely more rock with a little R&B in there too.
The concert was at the Sun Valley Pavilion, a 1500-seat, $30-million venue just a couple hundred yards away from where we had been rehearsing. Toni had decided late in the week that she wanted to fly in one of her regular band members, a cellist from L.A. named Ana Lenchantin, so we brushed up on a few of the tunes at our (really long) soundcheck as the venue’s crew was getting everything together. The show started just as the sun was going down, and with the exception of a few dodgy endings, everything went off without a hitch. Toni’s fans were ecstatic and by the end of our set there was a happy group of people right in front of the stage singing along and getting into it.
The highlight for me, aside from traveling to a new place which I almost always enjoy, was getting a chance to hang out and play with some old buddies and bandmates in that new context. Sun Valley is a beautiful place, and if I ever won the lottery I might consider purchasing a small, modest chalet in Ketchum for a ridiculous sum of money in hopes of running into the likes of Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis at the local organic market.
Clockwise from left: Adam Dobres, Chris Van Sickle, Toni Childs, Tom Salter, Ana Lenchantin, Nate, me.
Go to my Flickr page to see more photos from this trip!
Winter Review
Is early February too late a date to look back at December? No? Good, I didn’t think so either.
I had a phenomenal time with the family over the holidays, and because this website is supposed to be about the musical activities I’m involved in, that’s what I’m going to talk about.
Here’s something that I’ve known for a while, but is maybe something that you don’t know: There are some very musically talented people in my family. Such talent was on display at a family event known as Nick’s Taverna – an annual talent show of sorts featuring the Haggis family and assorted friends, held at my uncle Nick’s place. Each year, some people come prepared with a song or a dance. Some people drink too much ouzo and are only able to experience their impromptu performance through embarrassing photographs. All are welcome.
What is far from embarrassing is how much fun it was to jam with my cousins and uncles and aunts. There was a fairly consistent “house band”, of which I was part, and then a steady stream of relatives singing songs, dancing, telling off-colour jokes, making stuff up. Talent isn’t a prerequisite for fun, but it is fun to see talent in my younger cousins grow every time I see them. Playing music with them is pretty cool. Hell, seeing my cousin Cody grind his way up with his hockey team to win the Macs Midget Tournament is pretty kickass, too, but that’s another story. My uncle Adrian is a piano player, and some of the first jazz I played was with him. Fifteen years later it’s just as fun to do. My cousin Ella, 13, is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist now. My cousin Reid, 16, is a singer/dancer/choreographer. One of his pieces was performed by a group of something like 90 dancers at his school. These kids are the real deal.
Photos by Sally Haggis
On New Year’s Eve I had a gig with Jessie Farrell at The Ranchmans in Calgary, AB. That was pretty cool because there was a bit of an ‘X’ factor – a wildcard, if you will. Our regular drummer Jesse Godin wasn’t on the gig because he was playing another one back home in Vancouver. Also, Kylee Epp (backup vocals and guitar) was away on another gig, too. The other act on the night (playing 6 sets, no less!) was Craig Moritz and his band, so Craig’s drummer, Ben Bradley graciously agreed to help us out by playing some drums with us. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing, Ben had known about this for a few weeks and had learned most of the material – at least everything we gave him and then some new stuff we threw at him at soundcheck. Still, you never really know what is going to happen when there’s no rehearsals and everyone is still kind of getting to know each other.
In the end, Ben is a great drummer and did a tremendous job. Bass and drums locked up really well and we crushed it. Good gig. I personally love the power-trio format: Bass, drums, guitar. It affords a bass player to fill up the space with lots of funky/wanky 16th notes, if one is so inclined, or to hold back and really use the space for effect. In other words, the trio setup lends itself well to dynamics, which is something I think we all can appreciate.
Photo by Sally Haggis
Photo by Nicole Ecarnot
(Thanks to Sally and Nicole for the use of their photos!)
A bit of Jessie Farrell news!
I’m heading to Whitecourt, Alberta (outside of Edmonton) tomorrow to play Friday and Saturday night with Jessie Farrell at the Eagle River Casino. If you’re in the area why not pop over to say ‘hi’? Heck, while you’re there you may as well laugh in the face of widespread economic crisis with a couple hands of blackjack! Come on people — ride the lightning! Don’t ask me what that means.
At about 1pm on Friday afternoon, Jessie will be performing a tune or two live on the radio on XM105 Country, so tune into that if you can’t make the show.
Also, head over to Jessie’s website to check out her newest music video for “I Guess“. It’s #13 on the video charts, but you can always do your part by requesting at CMT to give it a bump.
Looking ahead a little bit, Jessie and the band will be spending New Year’s Eve performing at Ranchmans in Calgary, AB, along with Craig Moritz. Contact Ranchmans to find out about tickets. It will be a humdinger of a night to be sure.
At about this time last year…
It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s wet: It’s winter in Vancouver!
It wasn’t always like this, however. At about this time last year myself, Jesse Tucker, and Jessie Farrell were thankfully swept off to warmer climes by CMT Canada for their annual “On The Beach” series, featuring Jessie Farrell, Johnny Reid, and Paul Brandt. Here’s a segment we taped while we were down there…
CMT On The Beach 2007: Jessie Farrell, “Fell Right Into You” from Ryland Haggis on Vimeo.
Many thanks to Joel, Dayna, Mira, and the rest of our lovely hosts for the great time we had. And thanks in advance for inviting us back to do it again next year, whenever you get around to letting us know about that. I’ll be waiting. Call anytime. Soon, please.
GM Place: Soundcheck to Showtime
Here’s a video compilation of pretty much my entire work day on October 3, the first night of the Toby Keith tour. In case you don’t watch it, I show up, walk around, other people show up, we all walk around together, set up, soundcheck, walk around, then do the set and then pack up. Is it boring? Yup. Is it also exciting? Well…yeah. The bottom line is it’s usually both. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but if you’re not the road manager or the record label rep or the artist who’s doing interviews and hair and makeup and meet ‘n’ greets, or on the crew, this is pretty much how it rolls out. If you’re me, you’re a musician who has in theory put the time in with rehearsals and practice so the work has already been done, the dominos are set up and all that’s left is to knock them down in a 20 minute set.
Whether or not I succeeded, I’ve tried to illustrate my comments above in this video, in part by including enough footage of me walking around to convey the fact that these arenas are big and so there’s a lot of walking around, if I haven’t already mentioned the walking around part, which I might have.
GM Place: Soundcheck to Showtime from Ryland Haggis on Vimeo.
You may be asking yourself then: “What do you do when you’re waiting around?”. I am able to best answer that question with the next video that I post here, so please check back or subscribe to the RSS feed using your favourite RSS reader.
Toby Keith Tour Wrap-up
I’m back. I got home last night after our brilliant bus driver Greg completed a remarkable 20-hour drive from Saskatoon. The hardest part for me was trying not to eat too much junk food (failed) and choosing between watching a zombie movie and Heroes.
Now I’m writing this and fighting off a cold that may be attributed to a bunch of late nights and the sub-zero temperatures in the front lounge of our scantily-insulated, 20-year-old bus. No complaints, though, really, because it was a good tour. Me and the rest of Jessie Farrell‘s band played our little 20-minute set for tens of thousands of people during our six shows opening for Toby Keith and his Easy Money Band. We were treated to some official after parties at local clubs in a few cities where somebody obviously thought we were cool enough to be picked up in a limo and given a bar tab. I mean, we’ve all thought we were cool enough for years and were happy to tell anyone that would listen — I guess it’s just taken a while for the news to spread.
I had a great time meeting some of the guys in Toby’s band. In particular the drummer, Dave McAfee, was just the nicest and most down-to-earth guy I’ve met given his accomplishments. He’s been playing with Toby’s band for eight years, he’s endorsed by Vic Firth and Yamaha, and he’s unbelievably forthcoming and great to talk to about music, the industry, crazy tour stories, other rad drummers, gear, life…he’s a class act and I’m glad to have met him.
It was awesome to spend some time with Aaron Pritchett‘s band again, too. Aaron’s sound crew, Scooter, Warren, and JP were doing double-duty and helping us out with our sound and stage setup as well. We didn’t have that much going on in terms of gear, but it would have been tough-going without guys as solid as them. Scooter was using a new mixing console he made from scratch using 218 broken iPods, a Sega Dreamcast, and a 3-cylinder engine from a ’97 Geo Metro. I’m afraid his tortured genius knows no bounds.
I met a good number of the other musicians on the tour, but not all. By the end of the trip you have pretty much said ‘hi’ to everyone in passing, but different folks gravitate to each other, maybe bonding over hockey or favourite albums or an unhealthy affection for boxed wine. There are so many great characters in these bands, and I think it’s because it would really suck to spend so much time working so closely with people who just weren’t that interesting. Hell, I’d take a punch to the groin if it meant making a new friend who is as crazy as shithouse rat. I didn’t, but some people in my band did, and at the end of the day those sore balls are like a badge of honor whose pain is easily assuaged by a couple dozen beers.
I could go on, but in this case I’m able to cut this post mercifully shorter than I might otherwise. That is because I have some photos to put up and some videos to throw together that will do a far better job of illustrating the tour experience than my bloated and long-winded writing ever will.
So, check back soon for more fun stuff from the last 10 days on the road.
Photos by Lisa Bettany
Quite A Summer
This post is overdue. Summer has been dunzo for three weeks now, and it’s only really because I’m sitting at my computer and my feet are cold that I’ve just now really clued in. But with such a realization comes an opportunity to give a backward glance to the music and music-related activities that kept me busy over the weeks of summer.
I toured with a country-singer from Vancouver named Jessie Farrell, playing the bass (as my large, impossible-to-ignore website header makes clear) and singing backup vocals. Behind the scenes I like to help with arranging the tunes, which the five of us do largely as a group at rehearsals. Luckily, I tend to not really care about peoples’ feelings when it comes to trying to make the show better, so the tweaking process has evolved so that when someone is doing something that I don’t think sounds good I just bring it up and we fix it. It’s not because I’m flawless – that’s ridiculous – it’s because Jessie, and Jesse Tucker (the guitarist, co-songwriter, and hobnobbing gadabout) are more than capable of envisioning and actualizing the larger arc of the songs and the show. This is where decisions are made to create a mood and a feeling, and to hopefully leave an audience satisfied and glad they showed up. Kylee, the backup singer and acoustic guitarist in the band is seasoned and skilled to the extent that she memorizes new lyrics after hearing them once or twice and instantly creates harmonies to compliment Jessie’s melodies. Jesse Godin, drummer, has emerged as the guy in charge of the shows’ pacing, guiding the band through the transitions between songs and holding the reins over the course of the set.
These are all generalizations. Each of us does more than I’ve said so far, but it’s safe to say that we each have our areas of expertise, we each have unique sensitivities to different aspects of the music, and we each contribute to varying degrees at various moments. This process of building the songs and the show has been happening for a couple years now, but this was the summer when the music started to arrive at, in my opinion, some level of maturity. For me, I think it’s a case where the show gets easier and more enjoyable – not that it wasn’t before, but there is a feeling of comfort when you’re able to trust, anticipate, and respond to the stuff that the band is playing, and when you’re able to let muscle-memory take over just a little so that you can look around at the crowd and the band and actually listen to instruments other than your own. I know from past experiences that this is something that mostly comes from playing a lot, and I suppose that’s what Jessie and her band did a lot of this summer.
I’m trying to keep in mind that this isn’t an endpoint, or even a place to have a nice little rest and to coast or to go through the motions. It’s the setting of a new standard and a new starting point for getting better individually and collectively. We have a ways to go before we’re in the same league as a band like Emerson Drive or Johnny Reid (if we’re sticking to comparisons within the same musical genre). Likewise, this idea isn’t the product of an unrealistically zealous commitment to any single project — for me it is about doing work I can be proud of, whether it’s with country music or jazz or Eurotrance Prague-rock. Playing is music is more fun when you can feel like you’re getting better at it. This summer, the Jessie Farrell band got a bit better. We played shows in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. Some shows were short, some were long (and all of them strangely coincided with local thunderstorms, which was weird). We gained some recognition from fans and recognition from our peers, which are the two best kinds of carrots-on-sticks to hold in front of our noses as we carry on into the fall.
