Last Wed night the screen on my mini laptop stopped working.   It’s lasted me three years so I was not entirely surprised.  The timing, however, sucked.  I rushed out Thursday, dragging my stepson with me, to buy a laptop because I was going away this week.  My friend (I call her techno-Beck in these situations) came racing out to help me set up the new computer.  Actually, she drove like a bat out of hell to get to the house before I could start trying to do it myself – knowing if I started it, it would be even more work for her to fix it.  She has known me for many years and several computers.  You’d think she’d know by now that I had no intention of even unpacking the damned thing.   She sat down and turned on the new computer and, lo and behold, the mini screen started working.   This kind of thing has happened with her before, I think maybe she’s a witch.   Everything BUT my email program went pretty smoothly – considering the computer file I handed Becky dated back to 2006 and didn’t have anything in it more recent than 2009!  During the days that followed, both Becky and Michael  confessed to me that they wanted to cry because they could not get Outlook working.  I feel this has something to do with me, somehow, because both of them have set up numerous computers – including several of mine.  Outlook is the most important program on my computer so I even spent an entire day on it (like that was going to work!)   So, this morning I got up and packed not one, but TWO, computers in my knapsack – and an external hard drive in case by some miracle I can figure out how to transfer the information from one computer to another.  Overkill, perhaps, but I’ve waited three months for a meeting with Gordie’s accountant and if I showed up and the mini screen stopped working again, I am frightened about what I might do.

So, I leave Sawdust this morning, feeling like a pack mule, headed back to Nashville where I haven’t been since the blackberry debacle in October of 2011.    I have now been travelling for 8 hours.  You would think I would be arriving now, ready for a nice glass of red wine after my journey.  But no, I am in NEWARK.  With a flight that is delayed longer every 10 minutes, stuck in a TINY TEENY lounge with a million smelly people, with no US cash and a lousy internet connection.  I considered going to the bank machine and sitting in the bar drinking bad red wine but that would mean a trip outside security.   Since there is no decent food here and it is entirely possible that I could get belligerent if I drank too much bad red wine right now , I’ve decided to stay where I am.  After all, it did take 90 minutes of standing around before I got a seat.

Oh, good.  They are making another delayed flight announcement –  a further 90 minute delay.    I am off to the bar.

Dear god, I am surrounded by so much great music right now that it is actually scaring  me.  At 8AM I received a mix for a new tune that Molly is recording with John Angus MacDonald producing – it completely takes things to another level for Molly and I CANNOT wait to see her rocking it live. Dylan Guthro dropped by late morning  and we listened to some of his amazing debut (no kidding, at least the 73rd time I’ve listened to this record and I love it more with every listen.)  Then tonight, I sat down to listen  to the two new Mo Kenney tunes that Joel sent me.  Blew me away. 

And they are all developing artists!  Proof positive that talent and creativity are alive and well and that our musical future is in very good hands.

And Joel, well he’s churning out great recordings every week right now – and every week I have a new favourite.  Super Joel is also vlogging,  tweeting, blogging and photographing the process as he goes.  Oh, and did I mention he’s also finishing the Mo Kenney record he’s producing in the midst of all of it?  Little wonder he’s so frigging  skinny!

And David.  Back from Australia for about five minutes and he booked Dave Gunning’s studio to record a beautiful acoustic version of “I Will Love You” (which we’re giving away on Valentine’s Day) and he’s started work on a Christmas record.  David has  not grasped the concept of a release every 24 months – and with his sense of musical adventure, I doubt he ever will.

Another favourite in my new cd player right now is the unmastered copy of Seinn  that Mary Jane accidentally left in my cd player – sometimes  her lovable absentmindedness  actually works in my favour.  Yes, the Gaelic
songstress is back on the recording scene and this time she’s partnering with long time musical collaborator and cohort, the incomparable, Wendy MacIsaac.  The record is all that you would expect of this musical pairing
and we hope to have it out to the world in April.

Kim is busy preparing to go out on tour in February and March in  her beloved Newfoundland.  She is now writing a storyboard for a video and mini doc of her trip.  There Kim, now it’s on the internet so there’s no turning
back!

Gordie,  thank god, is staying put in Nashville and is writing amazing songs every day – as you’d expect.  The last couple of weeks have been particularly hectic for him as he’s been hosting a group of Nova Scotia
writers.  No doubt there will be good times and great music aplenty as he, Steve MacDougall, Bruce Guthro and Carleton Stone write together and with other Nashville writers.

God,  as I’m writing this I realize it’s even more intense than I thought it was when I started this blog.  I’m exhilarated and exhausted by it all. It’s 10PM  and I’m not sure whether to go to bed or to start another
marketing plan.  Who am I kidding?  I have no time for sleep!

Thank god for Krista, Mat, Wayne,  Snickers, Lynn, Jean and Becky.  I wonder if they realized when we started working the odd contract together that it would turn into such an adventure . . .

Time for another blog. How time flies. It’s hard to believe I’m a manager – with the number of records we’re putting out and working – you’d think we were a label. Thank god for the great team we have – Lynn Daigle, Mat Dunlap, Krista Keough, Matt Charlton, Kim & Kevin at Spincount. They are all independent contractors who excel in their chosen fields. I am lucky, lucky, lucky. Great sequeway into the new amazing summer single from David Myles Simple Pleasures. Produced by Classified it is an undeniable, fun, uptempo song that everyone everywhere will immediately love.

Hot off the presses is the new Gordie Sampson record “Almost Beautiful”. It’s a country record that just had to happen. Immersed in the Nashville scene for over half a decade now, it should come as no surprise that eventually it would result in a melding of songwriter and recording artist. Never before recorded, these are songs written in fine Gordie fashion with some of his favourite co-writers. The first single Hurricane Janeis a rockin’ tune that combines country with some of Gordie’s rock roots.

Recently released in to the world is David’s “Live At the Carleton”, Joel’s “Emergencys, . . .”, Kim’s beautiful first foray into folk, “Back to the Water”, and 16 year old Molly Thomason’s second record, “Beauty Queen”.

The fall will see the release of David’s fourth studio recording “Into the Sun” and 2012 will see another innovative release by Joel Plaskett. Somewhere in between will be the debut release of singer-songwriter Mo Kenney who is poised to take her place in the Canadian music scene.

See, CRAZY amount of records.

Gotta go, too much to do. Weekends off in the summer – ha!

PS Did I miss the summer? It’s like friggin’ winter here.

Wow.  Every ECMA is a crazy time but for some reason this year felt different.

Maybe it was introducing Molly Thomason and Mo Kenney to the industry at ECMA for the first time – like taking a kid to Disneyland – it makes you look at things with a fresh perspective.  They were both outstanding.  Mo was pretty much completely unknown when she walked in to the event.  No record yet so she wasn’t eligible for an official showcase but the two smaller events she did gained her a crazy number of new friends and fans.  And Molly.  I work with Molly because I believe she has extraordinary talent but even I could not have foreseen (or hoped) that her first band show would be so stellar.  We were all blown away.  When Wayne O’Connor only has positive things to say about a live performance, you know it had to be special.

Or, maybe it was the outstanding international delegates that Shelley Nordstrom procured and hosted all week.  We did some tremendous business with the international delegates – they were a exceptionally great bunch this year.

Or, perhaps it was the fact that some of our friends (and colleagues) won very well deserved awards – most notably Slowcoaster, Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew, Rose Cousins and Spincount.

Course, it could have been getting to see Kim Stockwood perform again.  She’s been silent for far too long.  Lots of excitement surrounding her new folk record “Back to the Water”.

Might have been the opportunity to just hang out with old friends like Annie Joyce (always be Oakley to me!) and get to know people in our industry a bit better – I had no idea the Trews were such great guys.  Not exactly heavy weights in the drinking dept though

It’s always great to launch new projects and make new business contacts but when it comes to the part of ECMA that celebrates the accomplishments of the past year, the weekend really belonged to David Myles.  From his first show on Wed afternoon until he finished at the Awards Show on Sunday night, it was apparent why his work over the past year had been awarded 5 ECMA nominations.  He is a fine songwriter, an exceptional entertainer and a truly lovely guy.  Lucky me to be his manager!

Course we missed Joel, Gordie, Damhnait and Mary Jane.  Although I must say if the entire Jones & Co. roster had been there, I don’t know how I would have survived!  As it was, I couldn’t have coped without support from Krista (particularly with Mo), Shelley Thompson (the BEST momager EVER) with Molly and that beautiful man, Glen Tilley, squiring Ms. Stockwood about.

Well, enough ECMA.  Back to work!