The Church Of The Blues
Posted by Musician | Filed under Uncategorized
Last weekend Art and I joined Gary & Steve on stage at the Historic Dewdney Pub, AKA The Church of the Blues, for a mini set of about 5 songs (about 30 minutes), during the 3-7 pm Sunday Blues jam. It was a great chance for us to get a feel for the place before we play there next month on the 29th & 30th.
We were joined on stage by a keyboard player named Bob, who was a wiz at figuring out our Blues numbers. So for that 30 minutes, Deception was a 5 piece band. This was also a great opportunity for us to see how the local players who come out for the jam sessions, were used to the sessions being run.
After our set, Art & I stayed for the rest of the evening and enjoyed the music & some interesting conversations with some great local Blues players.
Special thanks to Dave & the rest of the house band who let us take over the stage for a half hour. It was greatly appreciated!
New Blues Venue In The Fraser Valley
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances
We will be playing in a new Blues venue that has started up in Dewdney. I’m not sure if this is its real name, the Church of Blues, I think that’s what Gary called it, is where he and Steve have played once already a couple of Sundays ago, and will be again tomorrow between 3 & 7 PM.
On Saturday November 29th & Sunday the 30th, Deception will be playing there. On the Saturday pm, we will do a regular show. On Sunday afternoon and early pm, we will host a jam session.
Art and I are planning on going and sitting in for a few songs tomorrow, so we’ll know more after that. We’ll post more info in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, mark the 29th & 30th of November in your calendars. Hopefully you can come out & check us out in the new venue. Also, if you’re a musician and play the Blues, and would like to sit in with us, you can do so on the 30th. So dig out your axe & bring it along.
Post Show Write Up & Some Pics
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
A couple of nights ago we played our show at the Gourmet Gallery to a packed house. It was a lot of fun! The drink cooler definitely had a lot less in it at the end of the evening, than when we started our first set at 8. Apparently even our photographer had a beer or 2…
Photo by M. Margison ©2008
It was really nice to see some familiar faces that we hadn’t seen in a while. Since Diane switched the nights from Saturday to Friday for live music, some people have found it difficult to make it in. I was talking to a couple who used to come to our shows all the time, but who I haven’t seen in a while. They told me they found it really hard to get there on time from work. I’m just happy they made it in on Friday, and even happier that they stayed right through to the end. Thanks! Hope to see you again in December!
A big “thank you” to all of you who came out and supported us! There are so few live music venues in Abbotsford, so supporting live music is very important if we value it. So thanks again. You guys are great!
Now poor Gary has for a long time complained that he is always either not in a picture, or stuck behind the sax player (me), or his own cymbals, but this time, he was actually caught in the act…See for yourself….
Photo by M. Margison ©2008
Here’s one Gary should like, my head stuck behind Art’s guitar for a change. Seriously though, I like the shot. Steve’s looking happy. Art’s looking concentrative. Gary & I are still in the pic, but the focus is on the guitar and bass players.
Photo by M. Margison ©2008
We also managed to capture quite a bit of great solo videos during the evening. Once Art has had a chance to see and hear them all, he can make a decision about where and how he thinks we should use them.
Rehearsal For Tomorrow’s Show
Posted by Musician | Filed under General
Last pm we ran through our sets for our show tomorrow night at the Gourmet Gallery. It was a fun night of goofing around while Art wandered around with his new wireless unit, and I wandered around the other direction with my old one. We ended up around corners so that we couldn’t see each other anymore. (We were playing the ad lib duet conclusion to our version of the Allman Brothers tune Change My Way Of Living at the time.) Too bad only Steve saw Art end the song! Oh well, better at rehearsal than live!
We did something different for this show. Rather than do individual email-outs, we did a group mail-out from the band through our gmail account. Hopefully it didn’t end up in too many spam boxes.
Art told us last night that the Juniper Crescent crowd is coming, and when they’re out to our show, it’s always a good time!
So we hope to see you there as well!
Gourmet Gallery. 8pm. Friday, September 19th.
First Rehearsal Of The Season
Posted by Musician | Filed under General
Well tonight was our first rehearsal as a full band after taking about 6 weeks off for some much needed down time. Art & I both tried out some “toys”, but like so often happens, the guitar always trumps the sax. 
What’s up with that anyway?
After spending a week in Seattle playing a lot of sax, my facial muscles are stronger than they’ve been at any time since I got ill, so I decided to bring out my handmade R&B/Rock mouthpiece that I bought a few years ago from Charlie Andrews. He developed them just before he passed away.
The BBQ kicks some serious ass, and is intended for just this type of playing. It can be raunchy as you need it to be, but can be toned down for the occasional ballad. The sound was perfect for the band, but unless you’ve got the chops, it comes with a warning: Don’t try this a home. It is not an easy piece to play, and takes all the control your years of training will have taught you.
However, you know what they say…Timing is everything…Art got channel 1 on his Ampeg amp fixed while I was away, so he now has more distortion effects available to him…Oh ya…And did I mention…Volume? Hmm…Oh well…You can’t win them all…
So at the end of the night the score was: sax 1, guitar 2.
I’ve asked the guys to post their thoughts on the pm as well, so you get a bit of a more “balanced” perspective, since I’m obviously more biased towards the non-electric perspective…And then there’s Gary…Even though he’s acoustic, he produces enough volume to count as an electric instrument! 
We’re Baaaaack….
Posted by Musician | Filed under Uncategorized
Well it’s been a while since anyone has written anything here, and there’s a good reason for that: our blog has been off-line since August 4th, when the update to the new content management system didn’t quite go as planned. Since then our web designer was swamped with other high-priority (read paying) work that was time sensitive in nature, so we had to wait in the queue. Today she was able to get us up and running again, so I thought I should do up a quick note.
Art and Sharon are back from their well deserved vacation, so the band starts up again next week with rehearsals. Art can’t wait to try out his new “toy” with the band. He bought a wireless system for his guitar, so that means he will be able to “walk the bar” now too. More importantly, he will be able to hear the band from the audience’s perspective during sound-check, so our sound will be exactly the same each time when we have to do our own sound, since his ear for the band is way better than mine.
A Photo Of Gary…At Last!
Posted by Musician | Filed under Photos
OK, now here you go Gary…Here’s a photo for you…And when Marge took this, you hadn’t even posted your lament about your lot in life about being a drummer behind cymbals, sitting on a stool behind the sax player. 
Here you are singing at Berry Beat 2008. Now I realize that you have a microphone in front of your mouth, but heh, I think it’s pretty good, all things considered.
Maybe we need to get you a raised platform for your drum kit. That might be the answer. 
ENVISION TWILIGHT CONCERT, MISSION BC
Posted by Gary | Filed under Performances
Another great picture of the band with my head stuck behind a cymbal, again…..Ahhh well..gonna have to get some see through cymbals or the photographer (usually Marge) will have to lay down on the stage and frame me between the cymbal and bass drum. I’m beginning to feel like Tim the tool man’s neighbour with his face always behind the fence. Maybe I’ll just raise my cymbal and aim higher.
Joking aside, it was a great gig at probably one of the worlds most picturesque locations, and a lot of fun playing to such an appreciative audience. I hope we will be fortunate enough to play there again next year.
Envision Twilight Concert Series Show In Mission
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
On Friday night we played to a very large crowd, for the Envision Twilight Concert Series at Mission’s Fraser River Heritage Park.
My friend, who lives across the street from the park, said that this was the largest crowd she had seen this season for a concert in the park. That’s exciting!
Photo by M. Margison © 2008
Thank you to the audience members who came from Mission and surrounding areas to hear us play. We hope you enjoyed our music as much as we enjoyed performing it for you 
Hopefully we’ll get to do it again for you in the near future.
Thank you also to the event organizers for inviting us. It is a great venue to play. We had a great time.
Thanks also to the sound crew. You guys rock Thanks for making our lives so easy that night. You are a pleasure to work with.
Although the day started out very overcast and gray, the clouds were gone by the time we started our show at 7:00. The sun shone and weather couldn’t have been better.
We had put together a special set of music for the show, and it seemed to go over very well with the people there. The music was upbeat, and had a number of the under 6 crowd dancing up a storm. It was a lot of fun to see.
Hot Summer Nights
Posted by Gary | Filed under Uncategorized
Too bad you missed it ’cause it was a great show….both nights. I think it’s the most fun I’ve had playing at that location “The Bull and Raven” ( I prefer ‘Ravin’ ) formally The Yorkshire Rose.
The new air conditioning kicked in for a while on Friday and kept things cool but on Saturday, although we were ‘cool’, it was hot. At one point a drumstick flew from my sweaty palm and, had the acorn tip on the end have been a real acorn bass playin’ Steve might have an oak tree growing out of his leg in a month or two….. he shouldn’t be limping too long but he does have a nice rhythm to his walk now.
It’s a good job we have all been around long enough that our ego’s don’t get bruised when the audience is light but people are not too motivated to venture out and boogie on a hot hot night especially in our little city. Stay tuned.
Deception is the Abbotsford-based blues band formed in the mid-90s by guitar player Art Panchishin.