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HEY EVERYBODY

So I've been doing occassional news-style updates on this blog and they seem so far to be an efficient and relatively non-intrusive way of getting the word out about various things in one fell swoop. So I'm going to continue doing it this way for now.

As is becoming customary of these posts I'm going to begin with some new music I just released. Now you can listen to it while you read the rest of this! So efficient.
Summer 2010 Original Mixtape by DangerLegs

Here is a 22-minute mix of some synth loops I programmed in a couple different locations. It's a little more restrained than some of the crazy Synthosaurus stuff. Let me know what you think!

Emu Butte by Beautiful Unicorn

THIS GUY is a single, I made it last night when I was hanging out with my buddy James. Pretty 80s!

-anyway-

ON WITH THE NEWS

So there are quite a few things happening in the next few months that I'm rather excited to talk about. Let's start with the most immediate:

August/September Calgary Shows!
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For those who were confused, yes, I'm back in Calgary again! I'll be here until Sept 5, after which I'll be shipping off to Vancouver to practice the accordion for an upcoming theatre project in November. More on that in a second.

I'll be playing a string of shows in Calgary before I take off and I'd love to invite you to some or all of them!

- Thursday, August 26 (today I guess!) I'll be guesting with Lark Hill again up in Beddington at Paddy O'Leary's Irish Pub. If you live in the Northeast, come on out, there's no cover and a special on boneless ribs, if you're into that sort of thing. Plus, we play rip-roarin' celtic music. Cheap thrills and even cheaper eats on a thursday night.

- Next Wednesday (Sept 1) I'll be doing a free jazz show at Kawa Espresso Bar, with trumpeter Andre Wickenheiser, guitarist Carl Janzen, and drummer Holly Magnus. It's going to be UNREAL and full of original music. Show starts at 8:30pm. Awesome. That will most likely be my last show in Calgary before heading off to Vancouver!

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Upcoming Albums!
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I'm going to be playing on some albums coming up! Here is some info on that.

The Buccaneers
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September is going to be kind of a crazy month for me, but crazy in a good way! I'm extremely excited to have been asked by Calgary music veterans the Buccaneers to play double bass on their new album - the album is being produced at Lava Tracks Recording Studio in Kamuela, Hawaii. We're still sorting out the logistics of the actual recording, and at the moment there is a possibility I will be going to Hawaii to lay down the tracks, which would of course be unreal. If so, I am bringing a camera. That's for sure. Anyway, moving on...

The Pollution
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For the past few years I've been involved with a long-distance collaborative project called The Pollution, which includes London-based trombonist Dan West (awesome dude and amazing musician/songwriter) and Halifax bro Cody Harper (also an awesome dude, also an amazing songwriter). Basically it is a band of awesome dudes! Up till now our recording endeavours have been limited to us sending tracks to each other using THE INTERNET, but this september, we're all going to be in Calgary for a few weeks and we're going to use the opportunity to finally record our debut album! With a lineup like this I can't imagine how the recording project could be anything but awesome, so I'll be sure to update when the tracks are available for listening. Woop!

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Oh, ALSO, if anyone is a fan of the fabulous Jack Marks (Toronto singer/songwriter), he has a new album in the works that so far sounds just outstanding! I ended up getting to spend an afternoon with Jack in the studio a few months ago and played on a couple tracks. Apparently they're going to use the bass tracks I put down so I'm uber thrilled about that! If you check out his myspace, I'm on the track "Sweet Patricia". Neato!

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Outside of these albums, I've got a few other things coming up that I'm pretty thrilled about:

The Blue Room - Sage Theatre

've had the great fortune of enjoying a wonderful creative relationship with Sage Theatre over the last 3 years. Since my first show with them in 2007 I have had the opportunity to work them as a sound designer, composer and musical director, and I'm super thrilled to have been asked back to write music for their second show of the upcoming theatre season! The show is called The Blue Room, and you can read all about it here. I don't want to give too much away about what the show will involve, but let's just say it's going to involve me playing some fun new instruments! Sweet!

Synthosaurus Music Video
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If you are a fan of my ultra-silly dinosaur-keytar crossover act, Synthosaurus, than this piece of news will most likely interest you. This February I'll be partnering with Joel Goundry and Dan Perrot of RoadWest Pictures to produce a brand new music video. Joel and Dan have a long history of producing outstanding work, including an entry for the Big Rock Eddies that made it to the finals! So needless to say I'm pretty thrilled to have them on board to take Synthosaurus to the next level.

THAT'S ABOUT IT FOR NOW. As always I'll be doing my best to overload the information highway with rad updates about new releases, shows etc. on my twitter account (as well as accounts for Synthosaurus and DangerLegs) and facebook (did I mention there is a facebook page for Synthosaurus now?). Thanks for reading and see you on the road!