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! 
Deception is the Abbotsford-based blues band formed in the mid-90s by guitar player Art Panchishin.