Today’s blog takes on a somber note with the passing of another  dear friend.  We worked at a jingle house in the 80s in the trendy district of Yorkville here in Toronto for quite a while.  Produced a number of award winning music tracks - all the time having a GOOD time with lots of laughs.  The community will miss him as will I.  It was an aneurysm that unexpectedly took him.

GREGORY ADAMS MILTON — Singer and songwriter Gregory Adams, born on April

14, 1948, in Toronto, Canada, passed away unexpectedly on Sept. 26, 2008.

Greg fell in love with Vermont in the 1970s, and made it his permanent

home on Lake Champlain in 1986. In 2001, he found a loving friend in Karen

Cyr, and they were married on Nov. 26, 2005. He was known for his musical

and artistic talent. His creative career included song writing for Roger

Whittaker and Anne Murray, as well as composing albums of his own: “Greg

Adams“ and “Runaway Dreams.“ His hit singles included Lady Liberty, The

Way We Love, and Serene, Serene. He also did songwriting for Children’s

Miracle Network, Molson Brewery, and Air Canada. Greg had an affinity for

nature and animals, which he expressed through his vivid photography and

writing. He enjoyed visiting the home of his close friends Glen and Rose

Wright and spending time with their horses. He also enjoyed creative

collaboration with his close friend, A.J. Brightman. His quick wit and

unique sense of humor was unparalleled, and it will be greatly missed. He

always had an amusing story to share and a joke for every situation. He

was predeceased by his parents Theron and Shirley Adams. He is survived by

his sister, Lynn Wilson of Vancouver, B.C., his loving wife Karen Cyr, and

three stepchildren Aziza, Jamilah, and Sami Jadallah. His inlaws Norman

and Louise Cyr; brothers- in-law Norm Cyr Jr. and his partner Ruben

Martinez, Jean Paul Cyr his wife Joanne and their children Elizabeth and

J.P., Matthew Cyr his wife Aneta and their children Jarek and August. His

dear friends Glen and Rose Wright, A.J. Brightman, and many other close

friends and artistic alliances in the music industry. Greg was heartbroken

over the loss of his beloved “fourlegger“ friend and ever-present

companion, Red, who passed on three days earlier. One of Greg’s dreams was

to use his song writing and media experience to create a compilation of

music to promote the joy that animals bring into our lives. He wanted to

use this to start an animal rescue foundation on a grand scale. In lieu of

flowers, donations may be made in Greg’s name to the animal rescue of your

choice. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m., at

Glen and Rose Wright’s Tara North Stable, on Route 2, South Hero, Vermont.

(802-372-6640 for directions).

 The Canadian Country Music Association has been going thru some difficult times these past few years.  One would have thought they might attempt to “spruce up” their CBC Winnipeg telecast on Monday, Sept. 8th.  Such was NOT the case.  Tech problems galore,  the poor lighting especially when ever host Terry Clark was on.  Looked like something from the X Files with flashlights.   Rock acts attempting to disguise themselves as ‘country’, dreadful wardrobe on the female nominees, folks who were to introduce nominees didn’t appear to have a script and an overall lack of memorable moments.

Johnny Reid was clearly the only “hit” of the evening.

Sure it was great to see Winnipeg’s own Doc Walker win almost everything they were nominated for and luckily since they appeared to have bought all the sponsorship opportunities.

But the biggest disgrace of the evening was the lack of respect they showed the Lifetime Achievement award winners.  Having Michelle Wright announce was nice, especially for her long time manager Brian Ferriman.   Nominees Prairie Oyster were “in the house” but the sound byte announce just before a commercial was all they got.  No time for “thanks” or to even stand up and be recognized.

It is creative like this that will guarantee a long, long uphill battle to regain credibility.

Written by a true country fan since the 50’s.

Don

Hey folks;

Thanks for dropping by the “Droppings” pile again and this time we review the Ottawa Folk Festival who celebrated their 15th Anniversary in August.

 The 15th Anniversary of the Ottawa Folk Festival is now a delicious memory locked in our minds.  The weather, crowds, performances AND improvements have launched the third weekend in August to a “must attend” from now on.

A new 8000 square foot dance tent was a HUGE hit.  Wall to tent wall crowds witnessed The Sadies, D Rangers,  Donna The Buffalo, Samba lessons, the stage overflowing bluegrass jam featuring Jerry Douglas with 14 sidemen,  along with crowd favorites for the second year in a row The Carolina Chocolate Drops.  Having a spring loaded dance floor kept it filled the entire weekend.

 Including the dance tent most of the site allows alcohol and they ran out of 60 kegs Saturday afternoon.

NO signs of drunkenness were evident during any part of the festival.

The food village was similar to the Hillside Festival in Guelph (unquestionably the best) in terms of superb diversity including “Heavenly Cheese Cakes” and a peach cobbler vendor  that couldn’t be beat.

CBC Radio wisely chose the Ottawa Folk Festival to record and the positive out come will be felt and enjoyed for months to come.

The volume of “Hit acts” was astounding.  Thursday night closer Vieux Farka Toure kept the momentum at a fever pitch following Don Ross and Andy McKee blistering set.

We knew that technology had taken the next step when rather than waving Bic lighters in the air the crowd used Cell Phones after the concerts.

Predictably Autoharpist Bryan Bowers had the throngs mystified with wonder at his instrumental prowess and was even invited to join Broken Social Scene during one of their workshops on Saturday.  Conflicts unfortunately didn’t allow this but the BSS boys were knocked out by Mr. B.  As were Tao Rodriguez –Seeger (Pete’s Grandson) and old friend Odetta.

Dala took their mainstage set to another level and should be featured performers at every festival next summer – they are just that good.

Roxanne Potvin sizzled so much so that The Ottawa Citizen was quoted  “In the hours leading up to Sarah Harmer’s performance, on a bill that also included Colin Linden and Country Joe McDonald, it was Roxanne Potvin who knocked the audience’s socks the furthest. On the main stage, the gal we remember as a blues-guitar geek from Gatineau showed she has blossomed into a self-assured singer-songwriter with a charismatic presence on stage. Even with a moth in her mouth.  Blech. She spat it out and continued, tossing out a sizzling electric guitar solo before turning to the microphone and singing, her powerful pipes demanding attention. It was a stunning set, soulful and drenched in blues. With her hair up, in a little black-and-red number, Potvin sang like Amy Winehouse, played guitar like Sue Foley and showed that she can write songs as good as the best of them. “

The legendary Odetta, 77, in a wheelchair, gave a riveting performance before closer Rufus Wainwright on Sunday night.   Once known as the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement, Odetta was as feisty as ever mixing elegance and straight talk while no encouragement was needed for the large crowd to sing along with most of the set list.

Major kudos go to AD Chris White, ED Tamara Kater and team for instituting more environmental improvements.  Water stations around the festival’s site to encourage the use of reusable water containers.  Re-usable dish program including utensils – no more plastic forks.   All food scraps and preps were entirely composted.  Green printing for all festival info, banners and t-shirts.  Solar panels aided the dishwashing with hot water.

But the one time that brought the most tears thru the massive crowd had to be when The Terry Penner Choir under the direction of Andy Rush choir did a musical tribute to our fallen friend Willie P. Bennett.   “Bill” was remembered numerous times over the weekend  (as well as fiddler Oliver Schroer) including an 8 foot by 40 feet mural everyone could contribute to the ‘ParticiPaint Mural.”   It was an unforgettable moment singing along side Bennett’s Mother and Sister as we all did “Music In Your Eyes.”

Thank You Ottawa Folk Festival and we will definitely see you next year.

Hey folks;

This was picked up from the States, but a similar situation is evident here in Canada.  It is no wonder that so many of the earlier songwriters wound up with little or no money.  An example from the 70s, the “Elvis” machine demanded a share of the writing royalties if you wanted the “King” to cut your song.  Some declined and  if he felt THAT strong about the tune would record it anyway.  Buffy Stainte Marie refused to share and got all the mechanicals from “Until It’s Time For You To Go.”  A song she wrote alone.

Meanwhile check this out,,,

“By law, a songwriter is entitled to 9.1 cents for every song sold, giving him a starting point of $91,000 if an album sells a million copies. A publishing contract eats up half of that, reducing the figure to $45,500. That sum is typically split in half again because many artists won’t cut a track on their album unless they receive a co-writing credit. That money is often used to pay back the initial investment made by a record company. That now leaves the songwriter with $22,750. But included in most standard record deals is a clause that pays co-writers only 75 percent of their congressionally mandated royalties, leaving a grand total of about $17,000 in a songwriter’s pocket.” – Tennessean

Meanwhile don’t you wish you had written this??? 

 “Stairway To Heaven has been played on the radio an estimated 2,985,000 times - equal to more than 45 years of uninterrupted airtime…” - Portfolio.com

Thanks for yo attention.

Chat soon

Last night (June 12/08) another one of those magical historic music events took place at Hugh’s Room here in Toronto to a packed house.  Chris Hillman and Herb Peterson sat on a couple of chairs armed only with a guitar and mandolin – just a couple of old friends who have been together “some 45 years” doing a casual guitar pull.  The brilliant harmonies reflected sibling singing reminding one of the Everlys.  To hear Chris casually mention “This is a song I wrote with Gram Parsons for the Flying Burrito Bros. In 1968” underlines the historical influences.  His description of going to an ‘audition’ with David Crosby, Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn to eventually become The Byrds rang like a page from a music novel.  Crosby didn’t want to play bass so Hillman was asked and went out and bought a $40.00 bass and learned to play it.  Stories of the Byrds, Flying Burrito Bros, Desert Rose Band came fast and furious as well as the hits.  Herb’s contribution was no less spectacular as he mentioned songs he had written for Emmy Lou Harris, Seldom Scene, the Desert Rose Band  and his “old band The Dillards” worked their way into night including a wonderful ballad that Alan Jackson has included in one of his recent CDs. Paying tribute to a couple of Canada’s best, Chris sang a song that was included in the  Ian Tyson tribute CD as well as a great old Lightfoot song we all knew. The two hour plus concert without intermission (or merch which was the evening’s only downfall) had the crowd wondering how they would end the show.  They had already had the entire room singing Dylan’s ‘You Ain’t Going No Where” plus the Hillman/Parson song  “Wheels” but without introduction Chris quietly began “Eight Miles High” from the Byrds and the finale was complete.  A standing ovation insured that the duo will be back again and again.

Thanks again to the wonderful promoters at Hugh’s Room for sharing a part of our musical past with us.