HomeEmail me at jeffstonemusic@yahoo.com
Jeff Stone
PO Box 7156
Station A
Toronto, ON
M5W 1X8
Canada
Dear Friends,
What follows is a continuation of notes I made on my coast-to-coast travels.
Edmonton
We drove all night, taking shifts. The highway from Saskatoon to Edmonton is called the Yellowhead. So we followed the Yellowhead road. Followed the Yellowhead road. Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the Yellowhead road...yeah, whatever.
We arrived at the door of my Aunt Marnie's house at 5:45 AM. Tom and Leela then drove to Leela's brother's place, also in Edmonton. I sat on the doorstep and got barked-at by Holly. Holly is one of the weirdest people I have ever met.
I took the weekend off. (Took the weekend off? But Jeff, you've taken every day off, haven't you? I mean, all you are doing is travelling around and playing music, right? Well, it would certainly seem that way. However, the truth is that focusing on travelling and attempting to get gigs and contacting media and playing, etc., is very exhausting, especially when it is the umpteenth day in a row. And to those crying mock crocodile tears, may I remind you that I, too, have had a regular full-time job for almost four years, so keep it to yourself, PUNK!)
Leela secured us a gig at Muddy Waters'. I thought that it was a pretty good gig, except that we didn't have a very good sound system, and the cough that had been going on for two weeks was ruining the low notes on "Asleep Beside Me" (and the whole thing is low notes).
Early the next morn, Tom called with the news that he had gotten us an interview at CJSR-FM (University of Alberta's over-the-air radio station). I rushed down for 10:00 AM and we went on the air (without Leela-she didn't want to take part) live at 10:30.
The microphone had been set up to face more towards Tom, which was not a problem at first when Tom did the first bit of talking. However, when I went to answer a question, and the mic was not facing my way, I instinctively (as a musician) reached for the mic, started pulling it toward me, and had Tom reach for my arm, causing me to back off. After Tom gave me a really dirty look, he answered the question. You see, I had forgotten my radio and television training for which I earned a B.A.A. from Ryerson Polytechnic University in 1993. One does not touch a live microphone when on radio. Static occurs, and loudly.
So my first words on CJSR were "Do not touch the mic". I was sort of talking to myself. It is too bad Tom jumped in on me, actually. If I screw up, I am good at making light of the situation and carrying on and actually coming across better for having made the mistake in the first place. But my recovery had to be delayed.
I did recover, though. It was a good interview. Tom and I have a good give-and-take repartee. We each played live (Tom two songs, myself: "Let's Just Be Enemies"). CJSR had a magazine that we both grabbed on the way out. The magazine was full of reviews of live gigs and we thought that it was too bad that we didn't have more notice to give of our live show that night at the Sugarbowl.
Our next stop was CKUA-FM. Eclectic to the core, we felt we had a chance to be interviewed there. We just popped in, waited for the music director, and when it became apparent that he wasn't there (taking CKUA's word for it). I left them a copy of my CD and had Tom request a track off of it, which I believe they played a day or two later.
We continued our walk, and we starting noticing posters for a concert the next day (Canada Day). Bionic and Tricky Woo.
Tom and I went to the A-Channel to meet with Christine. The A-Channel is a WIC-owned television station. Its overall format is similar to CITY-TV in Toronto, for those of you who know Toronto television very well. I had called the A-Channel the day before to let "The Edge" (a show, I guess) know about Tom, Leela, myself, and my CD. After leaving a message on someone's machine at a big TV station, I figured that was that.
Until my next letter,
Jeff Stone