Category: What’s New

Sixteen Different Minds “Dancing Castles” Toronto CD Release Party

Sixteen Different Minds is having a Toronto CD release party for Dancing Castles this Sunday (June 26, 2011 – 8 PM) at the Blue Moon.  We have the fantastic Henry Heillig (bassist and co-founder of Manteca) on this date.  We also have some pretty darn cool t-shirts (and fridge magnets) for sale.  If you’re in the Toronto area, please come on out and say hi!

Thanks and bye for now,

Jamie

Downbeat (August 1988)

A long, long time ago… Just cleaning up my studio and came across a couple of magazines I was in YEARS and YEARS ago. This first one is from the Auditions column in the August 1988 Downbeat. Hard to believe I ever looked that young…

A Drummer’s Dream

Just finished watching A Drummer’s Dream… Wow — what a great documentary!!  It was so nice to see all of these great drummers in such an intimate setting.  Sure wish I had been able to go to a music camp like this when I was a kid…

Long Time, No Post

Yes it’s been a long time since my last post here. A very long time. I’m not happy about that, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. We all get sidetracked/busy/complacent about things we want to or should do. This blog is a great example of that.

I had started and then stopped a number of blogs in the past for the exact thing I did here — not making the blog an ongoing concern. So bad Jamie. But I’m back now and (hopefully) I’ll be (somewhat) more consistent with my posts. That’s the idea at least.

So… what have I been up to? Well lots and lots of different stuff. I suppose the BIG news is that I formed a band with singer/keyboardist Wendy Irvine and drummer Dave Patel. We’re called Sixteen Different Minds and we’re just finishing up our debut album. The record is called Dancing Castles and stylistically it’s a mix of folk and pop. I could probably throw a few more genres in there, but I’ll let you decide exactly were to place this band. If you’re interesting in taking a listen to the band, check out the Sixteen Different Minds website.

I’ve also continued playing mandolin. I truly LOVE the instrument! I don’t have nearly the facility on the mando that I do on the guitar, but that’s okay… I’m absolutely enjoying the challenge. I’ve mainly been playing classical music on the mando and I’m currently working on Bach’s Prelude from Cello Suite #1. It’s a incredible amount of fun and I’m learning a lot.

I’ve also started thinking about my next solo record. Over the last year or so, I’ve written quite a bit of new music, but I’m not sure where I want to go in terms of a production or style point of view. For me, liking so many different styles and ways of making music is both a good and bad thing. That said, I do have an inkling of a concept of an idea of what might work for my next record. Clearly it’s not clear where I’m going musically speaking and I suppose to some degree this has always been my artistic process. And I suppose I like it that way.

Best wishes,
Jamie

This Side Up

I played on two beautiful tunes (“Green Eyes” and “After Hours”) on Barbara Jones & Henrik Bridger’s just released debut album, This Side Up. In addition to some absolutely terrific writing and playing by Barbara and Henrik, This Side Up features performances by saxophonist Eric Marienthal. Thanks to Barbara and Henrik for including me on this record — I had a great time recording my parts! If you have a moment, please head on over to BridgerJones.com

Chris Thile: Tips on how to crossover from guitar to mandolin

I’ve just started learning the mandolin and came across this great Chris Thile video on crossing over from guitar to mandolin. I think Chris is exactly right about the challenges guitarists face when making the shift from guitar to mandolin. The string spacing is definitely a challenge, but I’m finding the biggest obstacle is the tuning. Going from standard tuning on the guitar to the mandolin’s fifths based tuning is a real brain/finger tester! Still I’m absolutely loving playing the mandolin and I’m sure the instrument is going to end up on some future recording and on stage.