Amazing turnout at the Ironwood last night! Thanks in particular to people who travelled hours from other towns, people who had to get up early the next day, people who came out for their last night in the country, people we hadn't seen in twenty years, people who brought everyone they know, and people who came out even though they've seen us eleven times already.

That show was our first time performing with the new group arrangement, and the fresh faces shone under the spotlight.  There really is another level of energy that comes through with the added musical interaction.  I know that it sure is fun for us.

Now we finally have a month off from playing shows.  This is the longest break we've had since we returned from hiatus at the start of the summer.  It's a much-anticipated opportunity to finally work out all the half-finished new songs that we've been itching to play. 

Our Mid-Hibernation Exrtavaganza will be happening at The AREA in Inglewod on January 14th.  More details coming soon.

A few days ago I got home from work and found a large envelope in our mailbox.  I noticed that it was addressed to "Locomotive Ghost" rather than to Mike, Brittany or me, which was surprising.  What made it particularly puzzling was that the return address said "Jasper, AB".  I couldn't think of anything we'd forgotten in Jasper - and there certainly wouldn't have been anything that flat.  I immediately stepped inside to the warm kitchen and dug my fingernail under the lip of the envelope to reveal the mysterious contents.

This is what I pulled out.

It was cool to see that someone had taken our coloring contest seriously enough to bring one home, finish it off, and mail it to us. 

I got really excited when I noticed this in the corner. 

So awesome!  Thanks Bryzen.  We're sending a kid-sized Locomotive Ghost shirt your way.

We are back to each of our weekly grinds again this week after a jam-packed three gigs in the past four days. We had the pleasure of playing a local gig at the Shamrock Hotel Pub in Inglewood last Wednesday with the A.D.s and Michael J Copley. One of our prospective new members surprised us at the show and ended up sitting in on almost our entire set. He threw down some tasty fiddle licks and had a great ear for when to jump into the tunes despite having never heard most of them before. Unfortunately, my bad luck with breaking strings continued at this gig as I broke a string in the first bar of the first song we played. But as luck would have it, Copley’s guitarist had an extra string on hand and kindly restrung my guitar as we recovered from my blunder. After the show we got to chat and network with the A.D.s and are looking forward to playing another gig with them.

On Friday, winter arrived in Alberta. I was up early enough to avoid most of the traffic but Calgary ground to a near standstill as the first snowfall of the season hit southern Alberta. We feared the worst, recalling our misadventures last year in touring through more blizzards than we’d seen all year that winter in Nelson in a matter of weeks. But mother nature smiled on us that afternoon as Ben and I cruised north towards Stony Plain on dry asphalt. We arrived at the Early Stage at 9 and rushed to set up and play. Cort’s family and friends came out to welcome us warmly and Amie Osness even joined us between sets. It was a calm night but lots of fun despite my breaking yet another string!

We got the opportunity to relax and enjoy our escape from the city the next day as we were afforded the luxury of staying at Sandy’s house again. “This Old House” remained as peaceful as ever while we stared out the windows of the fire-warmed cabin at the birch trees and watched dozens of varieties of birds feed from Sandy’s homemade bird feeders. Or “cat feeders” as I’ve taken to calling them. We tinkered and jammed with Sandy’s antique acoustic instrument collection all morning. I took Ben for a driving lesson (Yay!) that afternoon before we crossed the North Saskatchewan river to Thorsby. That night we were joined once again by family in the audience and on stage. Rick Osness and his band opened for us with some classic Canadian rock and we backed up Amie again between sets. I had new strings on my guitar at this point and finally got through a night without any incidents! Everybody seemed particularly attentive during the final set which felt really great. Cort’s other brother, Mike, put us up that night in the gorgeous home he has built. Seems like everyone around here builds their own houses!

It was quite the trip but well worth it. Thanks to everyone who came out. We are focusing now on playing with more potential members and can’t wait to see how the next few weeks unfold. We have numerous rehearsals coming up with musicians of all sorts. Our next gig is at the Blind Beggar in Calgary on November 18. Come out if you can! 

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/f-community-artists-musicians-W0QQCatIdZ2

Folk-rock group, Locomotive Ghost, is seeking a new fourth member. We're looking for a sensitive, considerate, and creative player who knows when to play and when to sit out. Must be able to play lead breaks and have good rhythm.

We've already recorded and released two albums and have toured quite a bit through BC and Alberta. We stripped down to a three-piece recently when we moved to Calgary, but we'd like to fill out the sound and thicken the arrangements to more closely resemble our recordings.

Can you play a melodic instrument and sing backup harmonies? Are you interested in contributing and committing to an established musical project?

If you like our music and feel you'd be a good fit, please contact us with references to your influences or recordings from your previous projects.

www.locomotiveghost.com
Email: locomotiveghost@gmail.com
Phone: Ben 587-777-2177

Locomotive Ghost is not just another rock band. It is a melding of songwriters, poets, producers, and artists that yields modern folk infused with 70’s roots-rock and galvanized by cross-decade alternatives. Each member’s unique strengths temper “a mature and confident sound that stands out from a lot of other Canadian bands right now” (Grayowl Point). The Calgary, Aberta-based group is directed by singer/guitarist Mike Buckley, powered by bassist Ben Nixon, and propelled by drummer Cortney Osness. Together they are fueled from an alchemy of influences, including Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and The Band, but the spark that’s been struck forms a fire all their own.

You know, there are a lot of really good people out there.

Halfway through our first set in Jasper last night I broke a bass string.  Actually, I didn’t break it.  Mike did while playing my bass in “Blue Eyes” (Mike!).  I always carry two extra sets of strings.  I haven’t broken a string in five years though, so as we were packing up for this trip - trying to save all the space we could - I finally took them out of my bass case.  Of course the one time I don’t have a backup it happens.  Mike picked up my ukulele and did a solo tune, while I ran through the crowd asking around for bass strings.  It didn’t seem like I was going to have any luck, so I got back on stage and played “Stop” with out a D-string.  That was humbling.  It’s astonishing to see how much I rely on muscle memory and how unfamiliar I still am with this instrument.  I didn’t suck, but I wasn’t groovy either.

As the song came to a close, one of the guys working at the venue ran in through the front door and proffered another electric bass.  Apparently he saw what happened and ran home to bring his own instrument for me to use.  I was so grateful.  I plugged that in and we kicked right into the next song while I tweaked sound on the fly.  It felt so much better to be playing with all four strings.

Then, two songs later, another guy came in through the door and placed a D-string on the stage beside me.  Apparently he had called a taxi to take him home and then rush him back to the venue just to get me a string.  Wow.

I got my bass back in shape between sets and we closed the night, reveling in the energy the audience was giving to us.  There was probably thrice the turnout that we had last time we played here.  Most of that crowd was up dancing too - even when the time signatures didn’t lend themselves to any obvious motion.

We busted our butts to get to that show.  We’d dealt with the stress of getting Mike’s car repaired, assessing our vehicular safety (no flames please!), and realizing the brand new drum kit wouldn’t fit in Mike’s car anyway.  We’d arranged logistics, adjusted work schedules, rented a car, and battled traffic.  We’d gotten up at 5am, worked all day, driven straight to Jasper, set up, sound checked and then immediately started the performance. 

The reception we got and the kindness we received made it all worth while.

...Shouted the two women in the front seat of the Honda C-RV beside us as we idled at a stop light, peering back through the billowing “steam”.  I freaked out, fumbling for the window control to try and hear them better and instead opened the door by accident while Cort yelled “Pull over!”, and Mike swerved through the red intersection, turning right into a parking lot in the outskirts of Red Deer’s commercial district.  As soon as the car was stopped we jumped out and bolted ten feet before turning to investigate the source of the smoke.  We’d already been having issues with the car that evening, with the “check engine” light acting up and the traction feeling really weird, so I was fully expecting the undercarriage of the vehicle to be in flames.  Fortunately the only glow we saw came from the red-hot rear-wheel brakes.  When the smoke died down and the freshly-forged look had subsided we were left with the pungent scent of Mike’s newly installed winter tires.

Last night we played the Velvet Olive in Red Deer.  It was a neat little restaurant/bar with an alley entrance. The venue also had the tiniest stage we have ever played on.  Thank goodness we were just a three-piece. We enjoyed the room, the attentive audience, and the staff, but we probably could have timed the performance a little better.  I was under the impression that it was an earlier venue and that we should be wrapping up around 11:00.  In fact, the friends that were called by patrons who really liked us didn’t arrive until five minutes after we started packing up.  We considered setting back up to do a few more tunes but we were just too wiped from the previous night and the knowledge that we still had to drive home to Calgary.  We’re planning to be come back though. 

It seems that the whole “car on fire” thing probably had to do with the emergency brake.  In addition to all the other weird things that Mike’s car has been doing lately, the E-brake indicator light spontaneously stopped working when we left the venue.  We were so focused on the “check engine” light and the continued weird traction (as well as the random sounds from the turn-signal indicator) that we didn’t pay it as much attention.  Most likely the brake was still partially engaged and we just had no way to know that.

I do feel sorry for Mike’s dad, Chuck, who was on the phone giving car advice while we were leaving the venue and had to hear us suddenly shouting about a fire and taking drastic action.  Thanks for your advice, your patience, and your constant care.  We’re really fortunate to have families like these behind this project.  We made it home alright, and we’ll figure out transportation plans as we go along.  We may have to rent a vehicle for next weekend’s shows in Jasper and Hinton, but after that we should be trading the VW Passat for a Subaru Forester to tide us over while we sort things out.  Whatever happens, we’ll make sure this ghost train keeps rolling.

Last night we played a set at Harvest Fest here in Calgary.  The event was held at The Area in Inglewood.  I'd heard good things about the place, but hadn't yet gotten to check it out.  The Area is a new mutli-faceted arts, community and garden space that was converted from an old junk yard.  It features a cafe area, a visual arts gallery, a community garden, and an enclosed performance space.  There weren't that many people around while we played, but they were good folk that we had the pleasure of chatting with after the show.  The atmosphere and the space are really welcoming (it's all-ages too, which is a bonus), and the owners are clearly doing this because it's something they love and believe in.  Hopefully we'll be back to play again soon.  At the least I intend to volunteer there to help with music events and gardening.  Yay permaculture!

Props to the Nix Dicksons for their engaging performance and sweet licks.

Sorry for the slow update.  Mike and I are moving houses right now, so between that and work it's tough to find enough time in a location that has internet to actually get to the blog.

This past weekend we returned to Nelson to witness the mountains, reconnect with the community, and play a couple of shows.  We left Friday evening and drove to Cranbrook where we spent the night.  Early Saturday morning we hit the road again and made good time to refresh ourselves and setup for a noon performance at Cottonwood Market.  As always, we were generously tipped through money and fantastic food.  A box of unknown, high-quality groceries is actually way more exciting to peruse than a jar of cash.  Our friends Julie Kerr and Craig Korth were down at the market with their daughters, and since Craig was going to be playing with us that evening anyway he ran home for a dobro and a banjo and joined us on stage for a number of songs.  Man, that guy can play.  Julie also took a number of excellent photos, some of which will be posted on our photos page shortly.

When we stopped in to worship at Oso Negro coffee shop I was struck by the number of smiles and the openness of interaction that I had forgotten existed in Nelson.  What really got me was that not a single person in that whole place was on their cell phone.  If it were Calgary at least half the cafe would have been texting or talking, seeming generally distracted.  In Nelson people are just so much more present in the moment.

We loaded in at The Royal well before our scheduled sound check time because we knew how complicated things would be between our massive stage setup and our recording configuration.  Craig, Tyler, and Avery all arrived, and the seven of us (including Brittany) sound checked with Wagon Wheel. Even the sound check was fun.  It was the first time we'd ever played with Avery, the first time with Tyler in eleven months, and, well, Craig Korth was still Craig Korth.  After slogging through the hours of sound check details that followed we treated all our companions to dinner, I went for a drink with Tyler, we loosened up in preparation for performance, and I discovered I'd lost an envelope full of band cash.  My stress level skyrocketed.  I tried my best to retrace my steps but I'd been so busy with sound details that I really had no idea where I might have put it.  A dozen people hadn't seen it, so I just trusted to fate and tried to put it from my mind.  Somehow that worked.

The first set went well (despite a way-too-fast rendition of our brand new song).  We brought Craig Korth up again to kick off the second set with a cover of Paul Simon's "Graceland".  From that point on he never left the stage.  Even though he was only prepared for four tunes he figured everything else out on the fly (I'm pretty sure the recording will include me shouting out chord changes to him in the background).  It was really neat to hear how the texture of the songs changed with banjo added in.  I never though I would hear rolling finger picking over top of Tyler's "Human Being".  It was sweet.  We finished our Nelson shabang with group jamouts on "Wagon Wheel" and "Cortez the Killer". 

When I was packing up all of the recording gear someone walked over to me and handed me the missing envelope.  Thank god.

The next day we drove back to Calgary.  If we'd forgotten why we left that beautiful mountain town, the nine hour drive quickly reminded us. 

We're now back in Calgary focusing on moving house, rehearsing new material and preparing video footage from the past weekend.  Keep your eye out for new live audio and/or video recordings.  From what we've seen so far it looks really good.

Special thanks to Peter Schramm for his video help, Jen for her excellent work on sound, and Brendan for housing us, feeding us and then tucking us in with blankets when we fell asleep on his sofas.  And to Craig for being amazing and positive as always.

http://www.craigkorth.com/

This past weekend we had to really be on our toes. On Thursday night we found out that Cortney would be unable to make it to our show in Creston. We certainly didn’t want to cancel, but Mike and I didn’t want to play the whole show without a drummer either. We immediately tried to contact a few friends in the area to see if they could fill in and come along for the ride. Luckily, our former schoolmate Keenan said that he’d be able to leave Banff and meet us in Creston in time for the show. Keenan is a great drummer and he likes our music, so that seemed like a perfect solution.

When I got off work on Friday evening I checked my phone and found a message from Mike saying that Keenan was no longer available. At that point we had 27 hours until the show. I went to a cafe, got out my address book, a notepad, and a pen and just started calling everyone I knew who might know a drummer. I called former teachers, acquaintances, friends of friends - I even waylaid a guy who walked through the door holding a guitar. Some of the folks I talked to were connected to really top notch session players, so I was getting to the point of having to decide whether we should pay a big chunk of money out of pocket just to make this happen. Fortunately, the friend line pulled through. I finally got a hold of another former classmate, Nathan Wilson, who lives an hour away from Creston. I’d never really played with Nate, but I knew he was a solid drummer and a considerate person, so it would be decent at the least.

Nate met us at the venue with his wife and two-year-old daughter, and we spent about twenty minutes jamming to get a feel for things. When show time rolled around we opened with just Mike and I playing The Strangers, then introduced Nate and started into Long Distance Operator, unsure of what was about to happen.

It was great. Nate was an even better player than I had remembered. I had a ton of fun interacting with him and cuing him throughout the performance. When I nodded to the snare he came in with the backbeat. When I ducked, he dropped. When I kicked my leg he followed along with the shots. When I lifted my headstock he hit the ending crash. We were really impressed. Even more than a musician’s skill or technical execution, that kind of listening and ability to follow are admirable.

The venue that housed our musical experiment was the Snoring Sasquatch, a dedicated arts space and listening room. It was a thrill to show up after our dinner break and find the couches full of people who were there for no other reason than to hear good music. We could tell by the posters on the walls that quality of performance was something they’d grown accustomed to. Thanks largely to the support of the volunteers, we were able to meet their expectations.

When we show up to a new venue we never know what we’ll find, and often have to deal with managers who really don’t care about the music. That is definitely not the case at the Snoring Sasquatch. Louise in particular was very welcoming, accommodating and committed. Despite it being the evening of her wedding anniversary, she made sure we had everything we needed before she even considered leaving for dinner. From introducing us to the audience to managing sales to helping us connect with important people she made sure that we got everything we could out of the night. Meanwhile, the audience listened quietly, sang along, joined our colouring contest and gave us valuable feedback after the show. Folks like this have built a community-minded arts venue that should make Creston proud. The Snoring Sasquatch is our favourite venue we’ve played this year.

I've posted new fan artwork from Saturday's colouring contest.  The winner, Carol Schloss, turned out to be a professional artist.  She currently has a pastel show running in Creston at Kingfisher Books until Wednesday, September 15th.  You can see more of her artwork at www.carolschlosspastels.com

No, it's not a musical side project, or a new Harry Potter book.  This past weekend we had a serious bout with performance injuries and technical difficulties. 

Gosh, sometimes It sure is handy that I'm a sound engineer.  On Friday night when we arrived at The Thirsty Bear Saloon in Waterton we discovered that the venue had no sound tech, no mics, no stands, no cables, no stage monitors - in fact no stage at all.  There was just a powered mixer and a pair of the giant Peavey speakers I battled with for two years when I worked at Finley's Irish Bar & Grill back in Nelson.  Fortunately we'd brought just enough "emergency backup gear" to make the show happen.

The room, with its high sloped ceilings, wraparound upper balcony, and mainly wood construction was actually quite nice to play.  It wasn't a super busy night, but there were enough people there to give us the energy we needed.  The first set played out pretty well and we were definitely warming into it as we went along.  We started the second set with our new cover of "Graceland", and, oh boy, was that fast.  Mike immediately broke a guitar string and had to switch to playing electric for the remainder of the night.  Then Cort's right leg just completely seized up.  When he got out from behind the kit I could immediately tell that something was wrong.  He showed me the knot in his calf and I swear it was the size of a chestnut.  He quickly tried to stretch it out some, but it didn't go away.  He had to completely change his kick drum technique in order to finish the show.  Then Mike's voice started going.  Mike's had nights where he's gotten tired before, but never like that.  Despite our tribulations we finished that second set and had fun with it, thanks largely to the handful of folks who danced right in front of us the whole time. 

Side note: If you ever feel awkward about stepping onto a sparse dance floor just know that, by doing so, you yourself are making a major contribution to the quality of the performance.

On Saturday night we played the Owl Acoustic Lounge in Lethbridge.  That venue has a really pleasant atmosphere and a genuine interest in good music.  I experienced it first hand back in February when I played a show with Myriam Parent.  Our timing wasn't particularly good to play that night because we were competing with a musical festival, Whoop-up Days, absence of students, and a million birthdays and weddings (seriously, every single person I know in that town had prior commitments).  The folks who were there made us feel welcome though.  We had to pace ourselves so that Cortney's leg wouldn't completely crap out.  Also, Mike's voice died again halfway through the first set, and he could barely speak, but for some reason he could still sing well enough that nobody else would have noticed.  That's Mike Buckley for you.  We had our Album Cover Crayon Colouring Contest again, the results of which you can see here.  At the end of the night, when we were far too exhausted to drive, we went to Mike's sister's apartment and crashed in the living room.  Thanks Natalie!

Highlights of the weekend: Donovan's sound at The Owl; me driving a car to give Cort's leg a break (only my fourth time ever); Britney accompanying us on vocals and percussion through a number of songs (she's the vocalist on our recording of "One Night Left"); the stars, lakes and mountains of Waterton (I took some photos on my iPod and posted them here); Matt Robinson opening even though he was way better than us; Mike going vintage electric guitar shopping (stop thinking and just buy that white Telecaster!); surviving the weekend!