“Nobody Knows Why” is from my 2009 EP St. Joseph Street. The title of the EP is named after a street in downtown Toronto that I lived on for over 20 years. Doing this “Live in the Studio” video and playing over the album bed tracks brings me right back to my life in Toronto around 2009. For me, music really does have a way of transporting me to a time and place. Joining me on this track are bassist Henrik Bridger and drummer Dave Patel. As always, thanks for watching/listening and I hope you like the video!
Category: Live in the Studio
Love That Can Be Me (Live in the Studio)
My latest “Live in the Studio” video is a vocal version of “Love That Can Be Me” from my 2018 album Who Said It Was Easy? After moving from Toronto to Vancouver (well, Port Moody to be exact) in 2016, Who Said It Was Easy? was the first music I recorded in my then-new hometown. I’ve often thought about how a locale changes music (or even if it does). How would this tune be different if instead of recording the track in Port Moody, I recorded it in Frankfurt? Or Tokyo? No answers here, just questions. As always, thanks for listening/watching!
Port Moody (Live in the Studio)
I don’t think it’ll come as a huge surprise that “Port Moody” (from my 2007 EP “5”) was indeed written for my current hometown of Port Moody. Now some of the music I write is specific and some more nebulous; “Port Moody” is somewhere in between. It really is about the feelings I had (and still currently have) for the area. But it’s also about the sky that can have stunning dark clouds, the incredible wildlife, and of course, the ever-present mountains.
I wrote “Port Moody” in a bedroom in my mother-in-law’s house in Port Moody and recorded the track back in my condo in Toronto. For this Live in the Studio video, I went back to the original recording to try to capture the overall mood for this now-over eighteen-year-old piece. I stuck mostly to what I recorded back in 2007, but there are a few minor changes to the guitar part.
As always, thanks for taking the time to watch the video, and I hope you like it!
Summer in the Round (Live in the Studio)
Toronto in the late seventies/early eighties was an incredible time for music. Even for someone like me, who was a little too young to get into the clubs, there was so much great live original music happening. Got to see Yes at Maple Leaf Gardens, Kraftwerk at the Masonic Temple and the Police (and a bunch of other terrific bands) at the Police Picnic.
All of that was (obviously) amazing, but what really stands out to me was the Ontario Place Forum. For just the cost of getting into Ontario Place (I think it was something like $5), I was able to hear music SO many first rate bands/artists. Like who? How about Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Chuck Mangione, UZEB, Michael Hedges and many, many more.
Which brings me to this “Live in the Studio” video of my tune “Summer in the Round”. For those of you who don’t know the Ontario Place Forum, it was an outdoor, covered venue that was built around a circular, revolving stage. Of course, being an outdoor venue, the concerts were held during the summer and the seating was festival, so it was first come, first serve. I would get to the venue crazy early to get front row seats (if they were available), and often I could listen to the bands/artists soundcheck. So… circular stage/venue, summer concerts… “Summer in the Round”… never said I was a deep thinker : )
This “Live in the Studio” version of “Summer in the Round” features Dave Patel on drums and Henrik Bridger on bass. The piece was originally on my 2009 EP “St. Joseph Street” which, in addition to Dave and Henrik, also featured the phenomenal Bill McBirnie on flute.
As always, thanks for listening/watching and I hope you like the video!
Violet Skies (Live in the Studio)
There’s just something about contrast in music that I’ve always liked. On “Violet Skies”, from my 1997 self-titled debut album, I tried to capture some of that contrast. I put percolating percussion loops right beside programmed drum machine parts, played an ambient synth pad to compliment my fast strummed rhythm guitars, and I think just as importantly, I wrote a (mostly) slower melody that floats on top of the overall “up” vibe of the track. On this Live in the Studio version of “Violet Skies”, I went back to the album track and learned the solo pretty much note for note.
I have to give a huge thanks to my brother Randy for putting together this video. He’s been an amazing help in getting me (somewhat) up to speed on the videos that I’ve edited in the past and, with his stellar work on “Violet Skies”, I know I sure have a lot more to learn about video in the future. As always, thanks for listening and I hope you like the video!
God’s Counting on Me, God’s Counting on You (Live in the Studio)
The rarest, and my personal favorite, type of protest song is a positive one. Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt’s “God’s Counting on Me, God’s Counting on You” brilliantly combines protest lyrics with a sense of community and personal responsibility wrapped in an instantly catchy melody. It’s just the kind of song I love. But, I think what drew me to this song initially was as much about the song as seeing a Pete Seeger video of him playing the tune live. He had an amazing ability to connect with the audience and was able to get everyone singing right along with him. Literally putting the folk in folk music.
I did a video of this tune years ago in a stripped down format — just guitar and voice. Sometimes all you need is three (or four) chords, the truth and a guitar (or, in Pete Seeger’s case, a long neck banjo), but I wanted to do a more arranged/produced cover of the song. So that’s what’s in this video… As always, thanks for listening and I hope you like the music.
Quiet Tones (Live in the Studio)
From my 2009 EP “St. Joseph Street”, here’s a Live in the Studio version of “Quiet Tones”. This tune features the incredible rhythm section of bassist Henrik Bridger and drummer Dave Patel. I know this tune is now 15 years old, but, like many of my other tracks, it truly feels like I was recording it yesterday. Thanks for listening and I hope you like the video!
The Blessings I Have Known (Live in the Studio)
I wrote “The Blessings I Have Known” to try, in a small way, to express how thankful I am for my incredibly fortunate life. I have someone to love me, a place to call home, pretty much every gift of convenience I could ever think of and so much more. Yes, I have days, just like everyone else, that are a long way from “perfect”. Those less than stellar moments remind me that it makes sense to step back and take a wider view of things. And that’s where I am right now and why I chose to do a live in the studio video of “The Blessings I Have Known”. A special thanks to my mother-in-law Christina for letting me film her garden for this video. Even with the drought we’ve been having here in BC, I think her garden is amazing. As always, thanks for taking the time to watch the video and listen to the music!
Mindful (Live in the Studio)
I’ve wanted to do a live in the studio video of “Mindful”, from my 2007 EP “5”, for quite a while now. Never really saw the exact imagery/vibe that I was looking for, until, a little over a week ago, the sky changed. Changed from the almost relentless sun we’ve had here in Vancouver to this way more interesting, at least to me, mix of dark and light clouds moving at a fair clip. I literally dropped what I was doing and headed outside to grab a bunch of cloud/sky shots that I knew would help tell the story of “Mindful”. I originally played the album version of this tune on a Godin Multiac Grand Concert nylon string guitar through a bunch of distortion (I know, not the most common approach). Unfortunately, that guitar was stolen back when I was living in Toronto and I think the electric works great on this live in the studio video. Anyways, as always, thanks for listening and I hope you like the music!
500 Miles (Live in the Studio)
There are songs that just seem to speak to me on an emotional level. “500 Miles” by Hedy West is exactly one of those tunes. The timeless melody coupled with the painfully poignant lyrics paints the kind of song to which I’m personally drawn. I know lots of artists have covered “500 Miles” (I love the Peter, Paul and Mary version), but I thought I’d give it a shot putting my own spin on the song. As always thanks for listening and I hope you like the music!
Jamie Bonk 