Thinking Outside the Box

Spent some time this week out and about...gittin' me sum culture! Well, CULTURE depends on your opinion on the matter I suppose. Sunday night Wes and I headed down to the Palomino Smokehouse to catch Jim Byrnes play some old-time blues and country tunes. I've had the good fortune of seeing Jim play a few times before (which I believe I wrote about on this very blog). The crowd was pretty thin, which was disappointing to me, but didn't seem to phase Jim at all. His regular partner Steve Dawson wasn't able to join him, but the fellow he brought along to help out was no slouch either! In between sets I made sure to go pick up a copy of Jim's new CD, I Hear The Wind in the Wires , chat with him for a few minutes and get a signature. The show was really entertaining and both Wes and I thoroughly enjoyed it. You can easily see just how much Jim loves what he does when he's on stage, because he's smiling the whole time. I haven't had a chance to sit down w...

Congratulations to Jim Byrnes on winning Blues Album of the Year at the 2007 Juno Awards for his latest album, House of Refuge . Jim is one of the most entertaining and friendly performers I've ever had the chance to see. For more of my thoughts about Jim and his music read my concert review here . If you want to check out Jim live he'll be in Calgary in July for the Folk Music Festival, July 27th - 29th. I know I'll be there! Other tour dates and info can be found on his label's website http://www.blackhenmusic.com/

Yet another forgotten event popped into my head this afternoon: a concert I went to the night before my company Christmas party back in November. It was sheer luck that I happened upon the show actually, and if one were a believer in fate this is as close as I've ever seen to it. Anyway, at work that day I had been talking about music with a couple of co-workers, and had mentioned one of my favorite blues artists during our chat. I had heard he had a new CD coming out and was sad that I had missed his show a few months previous, which had been a week or so before my return from Japan. When I got home I was just settling in for what looked to be a quiet Friday night at home, and started flipping through the free entertainment paper. Nearing the last few pages I saw a picture of a guy who looked familiar, stopped, then stared, and finally clued in. It was Jim Byrnes, the guy I'd been talking about that very same afternoon. "When oh when was this concert?" I thought,...