Happy to announce the release of my new single (and video), “For All”. I’ve always loved introspective, poignant ballads that feature a blend of acoustic sounds and synth textures. This track really is defined by that blend, with my acoustic nylon string guitar floating above a slow moving, rhythmic synth pad. “For All” is available right now on just about any streaming service (I’ve included a couple links below) and/or you can check out the music right here by playing the video. As always, thanks for listening/watching and I hope you like “For All”!
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!
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.
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!
I’m playing at the Art Focus Artists’ Association Art Show & Sale this Friday (May 3rd) from 7-9 PM at Mabbett Hall, Port Coquitlam Community Centre. The Art Focus shows always feature terrific art, nice people and refreshments, so please drop by to check out this free, family friendly event!
Just released my new single (and video) “Drivetrain”! The track combines my love of melodic acoustic guitar and 80’s New Wave. Growing up, I listened to a huge variety of music — everything from fusion to classical to free jazz – with my main pop influences primarily coming from late 70s to early/mid 80s New Wave. With “Drivetrain”, I took some of the elements that were already present in my previous music and slightly emphasized them — things like synth textures and parts are more up front. Thanks for listening and I hope you like the music and the video!
You can stream Drivetrain from pretty much any service you’d like. Here are a couple links:
Last project of 2023! Put together a new acoustic pedalboard. And not without a few hiccups… I wanted to keep the small form factor of the Pedaltrain Nano+… and I wanted this combo of pedals… so, more than a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle. And to top it off I used an under the board power supply. Bit of a challenge and I’m not happy with the cabling, but the most important thing is it sounds killer! Happy New Year everyone!
The music of Jamie Bonk has been in my life as a European radio host since 2012 and the album Necessity, but the artist has been plying his trade for far longer; however I get to review his first new Christmas music in a decade, since the release of The First Noël back in 2013, and it has to be said it is one of the most charming of arrangements of Joy To The World I think I have ever heard.
The whole piece is given a total make over, and beautiful over laid vocals can be heard drifting over the snow tipped mountains of a lush and textured orchestration. Jamie’s signature acoustic guitar of course is a huge part of the composition, and one must say that his performance on it is very uplifting.
This well-known Christmas piece is now a single, and as such its potential to go all the way is real and very tangible. The overall construction and quality of this piece is incredibly attractive and has a popular quality feel to it, one could imagine with ease Jamie playing it live over this festive period, and that experience ending with a rapturous applause, as there can be no doubt that Joy to the World by Jamie Bonk is the perfect of placements on any Christmas playlist this winter.
It’s been ten years since I’ve released any Christmas music. Back in 2013, I did a single of “The First Noël“, which featured the fantastically talented Wendy Irvine on vocals. And now, a decade later, I’m happy to have just released my second Christmas single, “Joy to the World”. My arrangement of this classic tune is one the most complex of any song I’ve ever done — lots and lots of instrumental/orchestral and vocal layers intertwine with my nylon string guitar lead. I’m looking to do more productions with this sort of sound in the future — it really is fun getting to use such a huge sound palette. As always, thanks for listening and I hope you like the music!
So happy to be invited back to play The Art Focus Annual Fall Show Opening Reception this Friday, November 17 from 7:00-9:00 pm. Please stop by and support all of the incredibly talented artists!
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!
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!
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!
Sometimes it’s hard to believe how much time has gone by since I’ve released some of my music. “Within”, from my 2000 album A Perfect Tomorrow, is one of those tunes that feels like I wrote and recorded it yesterday. In some ways, A Perfect Tomorrow was a tough album to make. The building I was living in Toronto back in 2000 was having a ton of construction work done to the exterior. Basically, non-stop grinding and drilling for seven months. My studio, which was in my condo, sure wasn’t soundproofed, so I was doing guitar takes in between all of the noise. Fun times. Anyways, this track has Sonya Mitlewski on keyboards and Jack Vorvis on drums and percussion. As always, thanks for taking the time to listen and I hope you like this live in the studio version of “Within”!
From my 2007 EP 5, here’s a live in the studio version of “Week’s End”. The album version had a nylon string guitar lead, but I thought I’d mix things up a bit and play electric on this video. Moving between acoustic and electric changes a few things technically (and artistically) and can give me a new (or different) perspective on a tune. Thanks for listening and I hope you like this “electrified” live in the studio version of “Week’s End”!
Playing the Art Focus Artists’ Association’s 2023 Spring Art Show and Sale Opening Reception, this Friday (May 5th) from 7-9 PM. Please drop by and check out all of the talented artists!
