Ken Tizzard: Blogstuff

Hey there everybody,

For anybody in the GTA - just a quick note that I will be slinging the old bass and hitting the stage with my old buddies THORNLEY for two nights. We will be playing a surprise gig at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto this Thursday (May 8th). On Friday we are doing a show at the New Palace in Halifax for anybody out that way.

On Thursday we will hit the stage @ 11:30 & tickets can be purchased @ the door.

Watch this show and more at SyncLive.com
Live from the Supermarket last week. I think the start of Hollis Brown may be chopped but still...technology.

Cheers
ken

This just in...
Ken Tizzard's Thursday performance from the Supermarket in Kensington Makret, Toronto will be broadcast online for everybody around the world. Just click on this link for the 10:00 performance and you can check it out. No signup required just visit this link...
Thursday, April 17th @ 10pm Toronto time
www.synclive.com
cheers
Ken

Watchmen and Thornley combined.

Canadian rock band manager turned super celebrity Jake Gold celebrated a birthday recently and thanks to some people close to him a surprise party was planned with some very special guests. With an audience full of ‘who is who’ in the Toronto music and television community, bands from Jake’s past and present performed with select speakers delivering witty anecdotes about Jake Gold’s character. Although known for his fierce business practice Jake is also branded for loyalty and a great sense of doing the right thing. This was echoed throughout the evening. Musicians included Chris Koster, The Cliks (with Moe Berg), Sass Jordan, and a Watchmen/Thornley combination.



It was really great to play Stereo and All Uncovered again. Grooving to Sammy’s rock steady foundation with Danny piping away up front and Ian Thornley playing guitar was a pretty special moment. Joey was out of town on business, unfortunate to miss him but a great time nonetheless.

I do know that I owe this guy a lot. We have had our differences over the years, but that is what happens when you are in business together, however the reality stands that Jake Gold contacted me and was impressed enough with me to sell me to the Watchmen, and the Watchmen to me. I have no idea what creative lines he fed to the guys prior to them meeting with me, but I do know he convinced me that these guys were everything that I was looking for in a band. And he was right. Yes, Jake Gold was right. And for years he stood by me as a friend and in business and I can never argue the fact that Jake Gold made a huge impact on my life. Thanks and happy birthday.

So I have secured the Supermarket in Toronto for my cd release party on Thursday May 29th. This is a great room and Johnny is an amazing soundguy. In the last few years one artist, named NLX, has consistantly inspired me and impressed me every show. I have invited NLX to perform as well this evening and it should be a great night. Hope to see you out...

On the drive home I came across a herd of deer, a few racoons and a red tailed fox. I guess the new glasses work. The birds were loud in the neighborhood this morning. I guess Spring is really here.
Thanks for those of you who came out to the Spill tonight to the show. Had a great time and really enjoyed McKenna and Opus. Three more to go - every monday.

I remember when the Watchmen were shooting the video for "Boneyard Tree." We were stuck in the heat of a dry day in Orangeville Ontario. We had been shooting since early morning and we were all pretty tired. The Edge (CFNY) had decided to premier the first single from the record and I can still see us all huddled in the van sweating in the heat waiting to hear our song on the radio for the first time.
Today I did an interview with Diesel at Rock 107 and happened to be tuned in at the end of the interview and catch "Cover Me" on the radio for the first time... memories relived.

Cheers

Strange, but I find the harder I work the less gets done in my cramped office.

The last few weeks have been a little crazy. Strange but this seems to be a common thread in a lot of my posts. I guess doing everything myself just takes up a lot of time. From booking shows and researching venues to dealing with paperwork, press, radio, updating and maintaining a few websites, rehearsing, performing and trying to be creative – I guess it all just adds up.
Now that I have the spring pretty much booked I can really focus on the summer tour. For two months I am will be touring across Canada and down into parts unknown in the US. The new cd is very stripped down and will be a lot of fun to tour on as a solo artist. I have been performing a lot lately to get all of this new music broken in. Last night I played at the Dobro in Peterborough and had an interesting time. I had the chance to try a few new songs out and aside from being wrought with technical issues (2 broken strings and a few cable / di problems) the night was a lot of fun. For the next month I am doing shows at the Spill in Peterborough every Monday at 9pm. If you are around feel free to drop by.
More new dates can be found in the tour section of the site. Stay tuned for more information… the cd is at the printer.

Since returning from the studio a few weeks back I have been swamped with a bunch of work. Between booking the summer tour, preparing the new material, getting mixing and mastering organized and of course designing the CD artwork I have been going pretty non-stop.
I did have a chance to get together with some friends and play at the local pub here in town for St.Pat's Day. Ken Layton, Dave Mowat and myself met up after dinner and hunkered down in the small space of the Stinking Rose here in Campbelllford and just played music all night. No set list, no rehearsal and really no knowing what song the other person was going to pull out of the air. From 8-12 we worked our way through a bunch of stuff and had a great time.
Last night I drove into Peterborough for a set at the Spill. Josh Gontier and Stacy Burke were on the bill as well and it was a great opportunity for me to see and hear the room. April is my "work new music in" month and I will be doing every Monday night at this venue so for anybody in the area it is a great chance to come out and hang.
The artwork for the CD is finished. I decided to go with the 12-page booklet using a lot of pics from last year’s tour. Below is a rough of the cover art. Chat soon.

A few years back I met a guy named Phil Packman. Over time we became buddies and workmates. He always came out to shows and helped with the lugging of gear and splicing cables when needed. He never left a gig until the last piece of gear was loaded, even when he was not working. After shows and at the pub we drank and swapped road stories. A regular on the scene up here I never thought much about him not someday being there.
Phil Died last week. I just got back from the funeral home and am still sort of in shock. Love to his two teenage kids and family.

So Long Phil...

A few years back I met a photographer named Roland Wilhelm. I guess it was during the Thornley period when we first crossed paths. He has been a good buddy ever since and his photography is absolutely great. Roland took the photo for the back cover of the "Quiet Storey House" cd and when I mentioned that I was in recording again, he offered to drop by and snap a few pics of the session. Below are a few of the pics from last week.

Visit Roland Online

It is early Saturday evening and the snow is piling up high at my doorstep once more. I have been either sleeping or in a state of waking slumber for the last 24 – 36 hours. My physical body hurts and my forearms are starting to cramp up from so much playing this week. Recording this record with John Whynot was an absolutely wonderful experience. Just two guys in a studio with a bunch of songs, a loose idea of how things should sound made for an exciting journey. Sixteen-hour days and an overnight mixing session on Thursday had put me in a state of confused fatigue that I am just now starting to emerge from.
Four and 1/2 days and 15 songs later with mixing included is where we ended up. John and I decided early on to take a very relaxed approach to this recording. The only thing we were certain of was that we were going to do a lot of work in a short period of time. Worst case scenario it would be a great sounding acoustic guitar and voice record. Lucky for us this relaxed low pressure direction allowed for so much more at just the right times. Having great gear around us in the studio really helped as well.

I have known John for some time now, but we have never had the opportunity to physically work in the same space together. On every level I found working beside him to be positive. When vibe searching he would always pull out the greatest musical inspiration. During breaks he would noodle his way through some Chopin or Bach which was great for finding clarity when things seem overwhelmong. As a general person we are very alike. I cannot remember one moment where there was an uncomfortable silence or a lack of interesting conversation. As well, the guy is a bit of a musical genius in his own right.


I have to send out a special thanks to a good buddy Dave Mowat who dropped by to play some beautiful harmonica on two songs. His beautiful playing act as such a great contrast to my atrocious harp playing that it al seems to balance. Great work John.


And of course I have to recognize Mocha Mocha(great lunch stuff), Omonia(unbelievable Greek food) and Tim Horton’s on the Danforth for providing sustenance during the long days. There were other restaurants in the area but these were the mainstays for fuel.
I will get more in depth with the session but must get some rest.

Cheers
Ken

BTW, there are lots of new submissions for the Lost In Awe Photo Contest. I will get them uploaded soon - sorry for the delay. Cheers
ken

Finally I have a brief moment betweek takes to sit and clear my head. Things here are going great. John is a genius in so many ways that I feel consistantly in awe. I love watching a ProTools master at work. Nothing better than hearing the clicking of a keyboard similar to that of a overworked data analyst and then hearing the musical interpretation of the changes made. Yesterday we spent the day choosing mics, pre's and other studio bits and tracked four songs. We started the day today with Safe Little Houses and got it complete by the third take. Great start to the day. Four more to go and then sleep tonight. More details when more time finds me. Cheers
Ken

Tomorrow is the start of the recording process. Well not actually the start, the beginning was long ago. However, tomorrow John Whynot gets in from LA and we start hanging and getting all the catching up out of the way before hitting the studio on Sunday. I am looking forward to some time in Toronto, time locked in a studio with somebody who really knows what he is doing. While I was recording “Quiet Storey House” I wore a lot of hats: writer, producer, engineer, singer, all instruments and so forth. It really is going to be great to only have to worry about performing, and of course footing the bill.
John has worked at the Woodshed before and assures me that we can get the results that we want from this room. This will be my first time at this studio but I have heard a lot of the stuff that has come out of here and feel good about our decision.


Yesterday I went to Peterborough to have the wondrous Wayne O’Connor work his magic on my guitars and bass in preparation for the studio. Wayne has a shop called Hank To Hendrix and as well as selling used and rare instruments on consignment Wayne also builds custom instruments and as well does a lot of awfully cool restoration stuff. His clientele speaks for itself and his work is fantastic.

Click here to go to Hank To Hendrix

By the way, thanks to everybody who are sending in photos for the LIA Photo Contest.