An Update… No We’re Not Dead
Posted by Musician | Filed under General
It seems that we’ve been fairly quiet here the last couple of months. I guess we’ve all been busy working hard on our project, and forgot that we should be writing something about it.
A few months ago I mentioned that we really need to have a demo CD for festival entries. The one that we have been using is very old, and was recorded before I joined the band, so the sound of sax is missing. Not to blow my own horn (groan) but, the sax fundamentally changed the sound of Deception, so the demo really isn’t representative of the band’s sound anymore.
Since our playing schedule got changed, we suddenly found we had 2 months instead of only 1 between shows. It was decided that now was the perfect time to do our recording.
Gary has a home recording setup that he uses with his musician friend, and children’s entertainer, Mr. I. Gary (Gary Q when he and Mr. I work together) and Yurgen (Mr. I’s real name), do all their recordings in Gary’s studio, so we thought we would see if Deception could do its recording there as well.
Well it has turned out to be much more work than anticipated, and this demo has taken on a life of its own. We decided that we would record not just 3 or 5 songs, but 20! What the f%*#! were we thinking? Anyways, that’s what we’ve been doing for the past 8 weeks.
As a band we’ve hardly seen each other at all, but we’ve played together a lot via recorded tracks. Last week we had our first rehearsal in nearly 6 weeks. Tonight and Wednesday we’ll get together again, to play through our set list for our show this coming Friday.
Another Packed House
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
Last night we played to another full house at the Gourmet Gallery. There were a lot of new faces in the audience, as well as a number of our loyal fans, and regular Friday night Gourmet Gallery music enthusiasts.
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!
A Rehearsal Before The Show
Posted by Musician | Filed under Uncategorized
This Friday evening we are playing at the Gourmet Gallery in Abbotsford. The show starts at 8 and runs until 10. It’s always really packed in there, so if you are planning to come, and would like one of the new, comfy, leather seats that Kimberly has bought for the place, my advice would be to come a bit early. 
Tonight we have our usual Wednesday pm rehearsal. We’re just going to do our last run-through of a new song we’ll be introducing on Friday. We’ve tried something different with our arrangement of the Allman Brother’s
Everybody’s Got A Mountain To Climb: the sax intros as well as ends the song.
This is a quite a departure for our band, so we’ll see how it works out live. In rehearsals it’s been good, and the Gourmet Gallery is the perfect, intimate venue to try something different like that for the first time.
Rock ‘n Blues At The Station Pub In Downtown Abbotsford
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
On February 12th, Deception, along with a number of other local bands, christened the stage at the newly renovated Station Pub in Downtown Abbotsford. This effort was led by Abbotsford’s own Paxton Bachman, whose Blues band kicked off the night as the first band on the new stage.
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.
Jammin’ At The Church Of The Blues
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
Our 2 shows at the Historic Dewdney Inn, AKA, The Church Of The Blues, were a great deal of fun, and were full of surprises.
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.
Deception is the Abbotsford-based blues band formed in the mid-90s by guitar player Art Panchishin.