The Gourmet Gallery is really comfortable to play in. The atmosphere is welcoming and warm. I’ve always thought that the antiques, collectibles, art, and jewellery that are displayed for sale amongst and as part of the décor, add significantly to the appeal. The leather couches and chairs that Kimberly brought in also allows some lucky patrons to sit through a 2 hour show in comfort.

The Gourmet Gallery was packed full last night when our first set started at 8:00. If you weren’t there well in advance, you had to be content with a seat at the very back. At times I noticed people standing, it was that crowded.

Our sound was great last night. We managed to find the perfect balance of vocals to instruments with everyone having their own pocket of sound. For only our 2nd show as a 5 piece, we could not have asked for any better. And as Art said, it’s only to get better from here as we grow more familiar with each other as musicians.

Here are some photos of last night’s performance. It was so crowded, that our photographer had a hard time getting in close to take photos. She did the best she could though, and there are some nice candid shots here.

Oh here’s a hint for the slide show: If you hover over any photo, you’ll notice a white navigation bar pop up. Click on the last box on the right of this bar, and the slide show will open to full screen. If you click on the box again it will shrink to normal size. (Or you can simply press the Esc button on your keyboard.)

Source: M. Margison © 2010

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Last year Deception underwent a major line-up change. Our bass player Steve Fultz, left us, as did our drummer, Gary Huntbatch. Both players had been with Deception since the band began in the mid 90s. Only Art and I were left, and Art undertook the task of finding new players to fill the empty spots.

The drumming position was filled by Art’s longtime friend Randy, who Art used to play with in the 70s. The bass slot was filled by Charles, who had in the past subbed for Steve in an emergency. Then earlier in the the month, Art had the opportunity to audition a very experienced keyboard player. If all goes according to plan, Deception will be a 5 piece blues band that includes the sounds of a Hammond organ.

For our Mother’s Day jam, my friend Ray Myers came out from town, and he let another sax player know about it as well. So between Ray, Freddy, and myself, Deception had one hell of a horn section!

Here are some shots from the event. It was a lot of fun, and a really good chance for us to work the kinks out before playing our first live show with our new line-up.

Photos by: M. Margison & H. Kahlke

At the centre of the 4 city blocks that the Berrybeat Festival takes place in, sits the entertainment stage. For 2 days you’ll see and hear acts as varied as: country, opera, funk, gospel, Flamenco guitar, pop, and of course blues.

We very much appreciate & want to thank the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association for inviting us back again this year. It’s always a pleasure to play for the residents, and the visitors to the city in which we live. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, they liked what they heard.

Thanks to everyone who was there, and applauded wildly & cheered between songs. (Yes, we heard you. ) Putting together a set of music for a group as diverse as those attending a street festival is always a challenge. We’re glad that you liked what we had to offer.

A special thanks also to the combined sound crew from Tom Lee Music and A&D Music. These great folks make our job so much easier. All we have to do is show up and play. Their job is to make us sound great. Thanks to all of you. You were fantastic!

Here are some photos that were taken during our show on Sunday, July 5. The weather was quite hot, and there was some humidity. The audience was mostly sitting in the shade under the tents, or standing in the shade of the buildings to escape the worst of the heat. Luckily the performance stage has a good-sized canopy over it, so we were sheltered from the sun.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

Here is Deception’s founder and leader, Art Panchishin. Art has been well known in the musical community around these parts for many years. His blues playing is second-to-none.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

Gary Huntbatch has a most impressive resume when it comes to drumming. It goes back to his days as a young man in England, when the band he was in had its own TV show.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

Steve Fultz has been playing bass with Deception since the band started in the mid 1990s. He, like Art, has been a constant in the musical community in Abbotsford for many years.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

Saxophonist Helen Kahlke, while maybe the newest member of the band, certainly isn’t a wall flower. She has many years of pro playing experience under her belt both here on the West Coast, and in the Maritimes where she lived for 8½ years.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

This is a nice shot of Helen’s most commonly used horn: her Selmer Mark VI, tenor sax.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

This was the view the sound crew had from their vantage point.

    Photo by M. Margison ©2009

We had 2 drummers, 2 guitar players, and 1 saxophonist all come out and share their blues talents with us. It was a great afternoon that ended much too soon.

    Photos by M. Margison © 2009

There really are many talented musicians “out there”. Blues jams are often one of the only opportunities where they get to either play a different style of music, or get to play with others at all. That’s why supporting live music is so important.

If we don’t go out and support the places that offer live music, eventually those places will offer nothing but, god forbid, karaoke. And that would be a freakin’ shame!

Here are some pictures of our show on Saturday night.

    Photos by M. Margison ©2009

We had heard that the Saturday nights had been quite slow over the last few months, but the joint seemed to be hoppin’ on the night we played. It helped that a friend of Art’s decided to bring a table of 20 out to celebrate his birthday in true blues fashion.

Summertime is always a hard time to fill a club. BBQs, family vacations, perfect deck weather: these are all very good reasons why people don’t go out to the local watering hole. Any band that has been working for a while knows how tough it is to draw at this time of year.

So here’s to fall…Cheers…

Kimberley has rearranged the stage area where the band plays, which now gives us quite a bit more room.

    Photo by M. Margison

Here’s a nice shot of Gary. It’s impossible to get a photo of him playing that doesn’t have something, or someone, blocking part of his face. 

    Photo by M. Margison

Speaking of faces… It’s nearly impossible to get a picture of a sax player when they’re playing, that doesn’t look a bit “off” in some way. All those things we learned while studying seem to get forgotten when we perform. In the end, it’s all about our individual sound, and how we achieve it. 

    Photo by M. Margison

The new song we introduced, Everybody’s Got A Mountain To Climb, was extremely well received. This really was the perfect place to play it for an audience for the first time.

As usual we had a great deal of fun playing at the Gourmet Gallery. We’re really looking forward to being back on April 24. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

It was a Thursday night filled with great music, as Downtown Abbotsford was rocked by the some of this city’s most well known musical acts.

Deception was the second band up on stage that night. As you can see, the stage is actually not that small. It can accommodate a 5-piece if you don’t have too much gear…

Now poor Gary is forever having a hard time with band photos. He is always behind the front line, or behind his cymbals, or as in the case above, behind a microphone. So I decided he needed a little something “extra” to indicate just how much he means to us.

So Gary, in honour of your gold medal performances over the years, I hope you enjoy this touch of gold edging in your stylized portrait. 

On Saturday night the place was packed when we got there to set up, because a ball league had some kind of event going. There wasn’t a table or seat to be had for hours. The crowd stuck around for most of the pm, and even our last set, from midnight to 1:00 am, saw dancers on the dance floor, and patrons enjoying the atmosphere of the pub.

On Sunday, the jam started at 3:00 in the afternoon, and the visiting talent, didn’t disappoint the crowd. Again, a special event was going on. This time it was a birthday party. A table of 15 party-goers came around 3:30, and the last of them didn’t leave until around 8:15, which coincidentally, was when we started our last song! Besides the B-day party crowd, the place again was packed, and finding a table was difficult.

Here are a couple of photos I took before we started the jam. Pardon the blurriness. My camera doesn’t have an image stabilization feature, and I had a bit of a tremor yesterday. (I really need a new camera!) Just click on either image to enlarge it, and you can then scroll through both of them that way.

The musical talent that comes weekly to jam at the Church Of The Blues is varied and quite diverse. Yesterday we had a couple of harp players, a few guitar players, drummers, a bass player, and a vocalist. (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone. If I am, I apologize!)

On a personal note, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to play with Corey Lavigne & Dave Conroy again. Both of these guitar players are very different to both each other, and to Art in their playing style. Working with them gives me a great chance to try different things, and groove on different riffs.

Yesterday I also had my first opportunity to play with Gerald Charlie, on his original Blues tunes, that were featured on his CDs. That was a great experience! Again, a very different Blues guitarist, and I found myself doing very different types of licks and riffs.

We’re looking forward to our next weekend of shows at the Church Of The Blues. If you haven’t yet checked out the music at the Historic Dewdney Inn, and you like the Blues, you owe it to yourself to do so. The music is great, and so is the atmosphere & the food.

He has recently had some repairs, maintenance, and upgrades done, and also added something, that I don’t really understand, so he’ll have to write about it. It’s an amazing addition however. The sound coming out of the PA is so different, it is incredible. The clarity, crispness, and definition have never been as good. I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before.

For me, I have regular maintenance to perform as well. Saxophones have approximately 500 parts, and when they are played, the springs, rods, keys, pads, levers, and rollers are all exposed to stresses. The harder you play: the more stress they’re exposed to, & the more you need to check everything over before a show. I play pretty hard with Deception, so before a 2-day series of shows, I have to unstick sticky pads, apply tenon oil, and check everything over. This helps avoid nasty surprises on stage.

So here’s a picture of my workhorse… My Selmer Mark VI tenor, just after it got its pre-show maintenance. I love this sax. It was built in Paris, France in around 1972. I got the horn in 1981, and it has been my favourite tenor ever since. It’s travelled a lot with me; done a lot with me; played a hell of a lot of different styles of music with me; and never let me down.

Hopefully we’ll see you at one of our shows this weekend. If you can’t make it out either tonight, or tomorrow afternoon, check out our upcoming shows page, to see when and where we’re playing next.