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April 22.10 Thanks to everyone who came out to my shows this month. The band and I had a blast performing for you all! We started our little maritime tour in Saint John NB, in my hometown, at my favourite live music venue in the city, the . Because the tour was in support of my new DVD, “Good Things From the Stage”, Lauchlan Ough, from Hemmings House Pictures, was kind enough to put together a 2 minute trailer of the DVD which was projected onto a large screen for everyone at the show to see. Check it out! My good friend Clinton Charlton, along with a few of his musician friends, started off the evening with a great set of original songs. I joined him on harmonies of one of his songs “Til We've Both Said Goodbye” and he joined the band and I at the end of the night with his harmonica on “Running for the Door”. Lots of energy that night, lots of fun. Next stop was Springhill at the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community Centre. , a talented local Springhill musician, opened the show for us performing songs from his new release “The Brown - Found in the Woulds”. The room was set up cabaret-style with tables and candles. The audience was lovely and full of new faces with a fun energy. Hope to get back to Springhill again soon. We really enjoyed ourselves that night. Then it was back to NB for a show in Sackville at the Live Bait Theatre ... sounds like a stage Bob Dylan would play :) This was my first time at LBT. What a nice room. It was set up like an amphitheatre ... I personally really like this kind of set up for a stage ... this coming from a short person who always seems to get seated behind the tallest person in the audience. The view is so much better, you're not struggling to see behind the person in front of you. , a young talented singer/songwriter from the Sackville area, started the evening off. I really enjoyed her performance, especially her last song, “Quiet People Are Better in Bed” ... Have a listen to this song on her Myspace page. It will make you smile :)  Live Bait Theatre in Sackville NB - Photo By Mark Marshall The Carleton in Halifax NS, was our next stop. The band and I always have fun performing at this venue. Mike Campbell and his staff always take good care of us and the sound is incredible. Because there were so many friends and family who came out to the show I thought it would be OK to discuss the new band name we have been throwing around inspired by one of the songs we do in our set ... “Jessica Rhaye & The 4 Strong Winds” ... and I am not referring to the weather :) – I was on a bit of a roll that night and mentioned other silly band names as well... felt a little embarrassed actually, I still can't believe I shared this with the audience ... hope I did not offend anyone :/ The RAC was the final show with the band before I headed to Newfoundland for a solo performance at Junofest. Because this was the venue where we filmed and recorded the new DVD, I gave away a free copy to everyone who came out to the show. It was great to work with Peter Brzezicki again, the sound engineer for the theatre. He worked his magical sound engineering skills that night making our job effortless on stage. Clinton Charlton joined us that evening as well kicking off the show with a brilliant solo acoustic set.  Clinton Charlton at the RAC in Riverview NB - Photo By Jessica Rhaye  The RAC in Riverview NB - Photo By Mark Marshall The next day I was up bright and early to catch a flight to NL with my sister in-law Tracey, who is originally from NL. We stayed the weekend with her parents who live in St. Johns. I played a solo acoustic set at O’Reilly’s as part of Junofest. The last time I was in this pub, I was kissing a cod fish and reciting a Newfoundlanders poem! I was actually a bit nervous playing without the band, thinking it might be a rowdy and loud crowd, but it turned out to be a nice, attentive audience who were just out to hear some music. I felt relaxed and had fun with my solo set. Tracey and I went to the Juno Awards show Sunday evening. The line-up to get into the show was miles long with young screaming Justin Bieber fans. I was impressed with Metric and Blue Rodeo's performances as well as the finale song by K’naan “Wavin’ Flag” ... it gave me goose-bumps it was so awesome ... my favorite part of the show. Unfortunately the weather was not great in NL. The fog was so thick it made Saint John NB's fog seem like nothing in comparison. We were lucky enough not to get stranded in NL as not only was the fog and unexpected snowstorm causing flight delays and cancellations but there were threats of the ashe cloud from the volcano eruption in Iceland causing major problems with flights, leaving people stranded for days. I am glad to be home, but am anxious to play music again with the boys and for new audiences. Special thanks to Mike Purdy (Sandpiper Productions), Mark Marshall, Clinton Charlton, Chris Brown, Virginia Tingley, Laughlan Ough, Hemmings House Pictures, James Boyle, Tantramar High School Students, Blue Olive, The Anne Murray Centre, Live Bait Theatre, Mike Campbell, The Carleton, RAC, Brad Lane, Roy and Jeanette Saunders, Kelda Smith, my band mates (The 4 Strong Winds :) - Chris, Jon, Mike and Matt and to all who attended the shows and support my music! Until next time, Yours truly Jessica Rhaye March 3.10 I am so proud to be a Canadian!!! I have never been so involved in watching sports as I have been the past couple of weeks! My band and I just got home from a whirlwind tour to Memphis and Vancouver for the Olympics. We were in Memphis showcasing at the Folk Alliance Conference. Out of all the conferences I have ever attended I would have to say that this was the best as far as audience attendence goes. There are usually so many people showcasing over 4 days or less that it is next to impossible to get out to see every single arist/performance. This time, however, I had a good crowd and I made some contacts for other festival bookings which was my main goal on attending the conference. While my band and I were in Memphis, we made sure to visit Graceland and Sun Studios. It was like stepping back in time. Graceland was smaller than I had expected. A very modest mansion for the King of Rock and Roll. It was quite the experince though...emotional even...a must see for Elvis fans. Vancouver was our next stop. It was crazy! A zoo of happy people rooting for thier country's team and athletes. It was beautiful. Spring was in full bloom, cherry blossoms, tulips, green grass and warm weather. I LOVE spring! It was hard to come home to winter here in the maritimes where everything is still brown and white and cold. Yuck...spring is just around the corner though... My band and I performed on the Granville Island stage as part of the Atlantic Canada House concert series. We shared the stage with 3 other Atlantic Canadian Artists/Groups - Classified (Rap/HipHop), Chuck and Albert (Comedy Duo) and the Irish Decendents (Celtic Group). All afternoon during our sound checks you could hear people lining up for the FREE concert that started at 8pm that evening. The line up was so crazy (1200+ people - the theatre only holds 400) that they had to call in extra security. It was obvious that the majourity of the people waiting in line were there to see Classified. They were a young and very rowdy crowd...I was pretty nervous. My band and I were first up. It was like being thrown into a den with a pack of wolves!!! It was nuts! The theatre was jam packed and very loud, lots of whistling, whoohoos and funny lines being shouted around like "I like to party!!!"..my palms were sweaty, which is rare cause my skin is always so dry, and my legs were shaking...I am no Classified...just a little folk singer from NB!!! Anyhoo, the band and I went out on the stage and started our first song, Good Things...a hush fell over the crowd, then they started clapping along and then they started to whistle like they finally got it...it was the craziest audience I've ever played in front of, but probably the most fun! In the end we won them over. The band and I were tight and solid as a rock...we didn't give them the opportunity to bite or dislike us. We cranked up our sound a little and I sang with a little more grit, giving them everything I had...felt like an alt country set instead of a sweet folky set. It was soooo much fun! Lots of energy. Check out a backstage clip of our opening song Good Things to get a feel for the rowdy crowd! Chris and I caught a flu bug our last day in Vancouver. It was a long flight home with body aches and chills. I have been resting up the past few days trying to get my voice back in shape for the ECMA's this weekend. We travel to Sydney Cape Breton tomorrow morning in a snow storm...typical forecast...seems to snow everytime I go to CB :/ the band and I have a few performances over the next few days including a concert series performance at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavillion Friday evening. I am up for 3 ECMA awards this year (Female Artist, Folk Recording and Visual Artist of the Year). My producer Ed Woodsworth is also up for Producer of the Year for the work he did on my new CD Good Things. I am super excited for his nomination as he is a brilliant producer/musician and it is so wonderful to see he is being recognized for his work :) I'll post some pics of the ECMA's as soon as I get home, in the meantime check out the photos from our Memphis/Vancouver trip on the Visuals page. Wish me luck! xo JRhaye |
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