10 Apps Every Gigging Urban Musician should have! PT.1

So, having an iPhone, and grabbing apps, I've found a few useful ones that I want to pass along...

I'm all about networking, I'm really excited about "Just Gig It":

Everyone who's a musician and wants to get gigs or needs to hire players should have this app! For example, I need a keyboard player to cover a gig in a couple of weeks, I load the deets into Just Gig It (venue, artist, pay rate, date and time) I click send, and all the keyboard players in my address book get a text message asking if they're available to take the gig, I'll get some text messages back, and the gig is booked! Works for one spot, or to hire an entire band for a show!

Next up is Trapster:

You're late for the gig, you want to avoid those speed traps, red light cameras, etc...this is the app for you. It works best when there are others in the area using it and feeding info to the system.

You can also use it to get directions to your gig, and it will also show you how busy traffic is (red is heavy traffic, green traffic is moving well...)

This is NOT an encouragement to drive like an idiot...this is an app to be used wisely, not to speed excessively and avoid getting caught breaking the law. Use with care!

Another "community" based app like it is Zero Fine:

Living in Burlington ON, my experience with Parking By-Law enforcement has been less than positive (that's a whole other blog post) Zero Fine lets you keep track of Parking Enforcement, so you can move before your time is up, run out and put more cash in the meter, and take other actions to avoid running out of time and getting a fine, or worse having your car towed and being stranded at the gig!

HeyTell is like the "Mike" network, only for iPhone:

Texting while driving is illegal where I live (Ontario, Canada), and I must say rightly so...using your cell is illegal at all unless it's a totally handsfree operation, so use this at your own risk while driving...but IMO/IME, a quick way to get in touch once you familiarize yourself with the app...

...I include this on my list because instead of texting, I can push and hold one "button" and send a voice message to band members rather than texting or dialling numbers...and getting stopped for a ticket...again, making me late for the gig!

We'll round off part one with TimmyMe:

Several times, I've gone to the venue and loaded in, set up, sound check, and then have an hour or two to kill before people arrive and/or we start the first set...always good to know where the local Tim's is to grab a quick coffee or snack...if I'm not familiar with the neighbourhood, I can always ask...but I value my independence, and we (KeysNKrates) did almost drive off the end of an unfinished road due to local directions in Quebec (see previous blog post from 2009), so this is an app I use hard when I'm jonesing for a coffee before go time!

Stay tuned for Part II, where I'll concentrate on Apps (and an iPhone accessory or two that you can use either preparing for a gig, or actually you could USE on a gig!

Until next time, peace!

Rev. Groove

Support YFC/Youth Unlimited in Waterdown

Hey guys, from time to time I'm going to devote this space to a good cause. This time out it's YFC/Youth Unlimited, an organisation that works with students in the local high school (in this case Waterdown District High School and the Waterodown community). I've known Marcel for almost ten years; he's a great friend, and a wicked drummer (and everyone knows I'm super picky about drummers!)

A big part of of his outreach is the music studio run out of the basement at his home which also doubles as the Ministry Centre for YFC...until the Waterdown Youth Centre is built. This grant would go a long way to helping establish this centre.

Please register, and vote once a day...and otherwise, please consider donating to the cause, thanks!

Hello all,

Waterdown YFC Youth Unlimited has just submitted an application to the Aviva Community Fund, a competition that makes funds available of up to $1,000,000 to create positive change in communities across Canada. If our application receives enough votes, it could share in that prize as much as $100,000 which we could use toward the ministry Youth Centre. We would really appreciate your vote.

1. Each person is allowed 10 votes per round

2. You can only vote once per day per idea submitted (please start today).

3. you will need to register your name and email address the first time only.

4. please click on the link below and vote each day to show your support of upto $100,000 being given to the Waterdown YFC Youth Centre.

5. Please pass this to all your friends and have them vote for us, the most votes wins.

Please vote for my idea at http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf6501?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4caca7e018496e4b,0

Share this email with your friends or anyone else you know who might want to help bring my idea to life.

Thanks in advance,

Arlene Reemeyer-Nagy

Waterdown YFC/Youth Unlimited

Satellite Director

www.yfcwaterdown.com

Marcel Knot

Campus Life Director

YFC/Youth Unlimited - Waterdown

Phone:289-439-3411

www.yfcwaterdown.com

we see the hope and potential in every young person

"We see the hope and potential in every young person"

Peace.

I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. —John 14:27 NLT

Brooke Nicholls and da Boyz at the Rivoli this Saturday night!

Hey, check it out:

We're probably going to be going on about 8:30ish, and there's some other cool bands on the bill...look forward to seeing you there!

What's new...

Man, I need to start blogging more than once a month! @jomarbassman is cranking them out once almost every other day it seems, and it's all ways fresh! Follow his Twitter and check his blog, it's good stuff!

On the music front: Brooke Nicholls' Set at The Opera House August 7th was off the hook...so much that they asked us to come back Sept. 3rd (all ages, $15 in advance, $20 at the door)) and Sept. 4th at the Rivoli (+19, no advance sales, $10 at the door) We're working on an arrangement where you may be able to purchase one ticket for both shows, more on that later!

Really having a fun time with this band BTW...great bunch of guys (and gal!), and we're having a great time putting together the live show and playing off each other's strengths...that aforementioned Aug. 7 show won us some free recording at Chalet Studio (a division of Chalet Communications); looking forward to spending some time there banging out Brooke's next hit tune!

Checked in with my old pal Matisse this past week (on Facebook, natch); he's a busy guy, not only working on new solo material but simultaneously working on a new mixtape with Keys N Krates; hoping to get a chance to work with either or both acts sometime again, those were good days that I hope will come around again!

Still no luck on locating my missing ZX, or the other three instruments and the pedals that went with it...I've taken up the Electric Upright Bass (EUB) to "comfort" myself in my time of loss...did I say comfort? Let's correct that with CHALLENGE myself! It's a different mindset and a totally different set of finger muscles that are used. I've messed around with EUBs and 3/4 acoustic uprights at the store, but not over any length of time, like now. So glad I started using the SIMANDL method of fingering (1-2-4) over OFPF (one finger per fret) on electric bass awhile back, it's made the transition a LOT easier than what I hear it would have been...however, it's a great stretch (no pun intended, though the term is quite accurate), and I'm looking forward to adding that skill-set to my palette...gotta get a bow and start working on that too!

Capstone Recording Studios is up and running (please note that while it housed in the same building, it is a separate entity of Capstone Lesson Studios, so no worries/concerns about conflict with my day gig, okay?) Contact me at 905-320-3593 or by e-mail for rates and availability, I think you'll be happy with what we can accomplish there!

Continuing to work on stuff for the fall with 24/7...the summer rock series is going really well, come out this Sunday Aug. 22nd, the cover tune is "My Generation" by The Who; immediately after the service, we're going to have a coffee house in the Upper Room Cafe with Bianca Bernardi of Burlington, ON bring us an acoustic set! Don't miss it, this young lady is awesome and you want to say twenty years from now that you were there!

More stuff coming this fall, including a project that I'll give more details on next time around...really excited!!!...until next time, hopefully it won't be too long this time!!!

Long overdue update...

Wow, it's been a minute, eh? Okay by the numbers...

...got the Wyres Strings on my MTD Kingston Z5...went with an uncoated set for the first time since I switched from SloWounds about 4 years ago (still don't get why D'Addario stopped making them, it sez right here that D'Addarios are NOT the same!); so far, so good! Like the feel of them, they sound solid...longevity will be the next test! I've been charting for some sessions, I have a rehearsal and show Thursday and Friday respectively (see below) and possibly a session on Saturday, I'll post an update after playing in a real life situation!

Did a session with Vic Crowl at Smile Studios in downtown Toronto and almost got stuck in the G20 madness...despite that, it was a great experience, looking forward to working with Vic and his clients again soon!

Friday night (July 16th), doing a set with Brooke Nicholls at the Hollywood in Toronto (1184 The Queensway between Kipling and Islington), event is by Steve Denyer's North Shore Entertainment Group . Tix are $10 at the door. We're on at 9 PM sharp, there's other great acts on the bill including Adam Cooke, Mark Cowie, Modify, The Waxmen, and Alright Alright...c'mon on down and check it out!

Then Sunday night (July 18), we're going acoustic with Brooke Nicholls in the URC (Upper Room Cafe) in the former Kingdom/NRG venue, now 24/7 Church, set time at 8PM. Cafe (non-profit) will be open, proceeds go towards supporting a mission in Membres, Mexico. We have a team down there right now helping with flood relief, come and enjoy some great music and support the cause! I'll be rockin' Breen's fretless Dean 6 for this show, looking forward to it!

(BTW, I'm now in charge of booking/renting 24/7 for events, if you want to hold a concert or show in Burlington's best live venue, give me a holler at 905-320-3593 and I'll hook you up!)

Next month, I'm playing with Brooke again Aug. 7th at the Opera House for another label showcase, details to follow! Sid's expanded his script, we're pulling the band back together to work on the musical! And Katelyn Dawn's eponymous EP is available for purchase and download, the lead single "Rescue Me" is already starting to get radio play!

Now a bit of sad news: some of you may have heard by now that one of my MTD ZXs, MTD Kingston ZX Ltd. Edition #31/30 (Trans black with a rosewood fretboard) was stolen from Capstone Music in Burlington during a smash and grab June 28th. I'd appreciate all eyes out for this one. This is not only part of a limited run, but a bit of an oddity due to the way the numbering went down. I have to two other MTDs, but it's still a loss, I'd love to get her back! The invitation is open to just bring it into L&M at 3180 Mainway Drive in Burlington, leave it on the front counter, and walk away. In fact, you can probably do that at any L&M in the GTA, they'll run the serial number and get it back to me...also stolen at the same time were a 4 string Ernie Ball MM Sub4 bass guitar in black finish (missing the preamp, no less,) also in Black Finish, a Stagg LP in Black Finish, and a Stagg Strat in Black Finish (see the theme here?) Thanks!

So, looking for students, gigs, session work, charting and arranging gigs...that number again is 905-320-3593! I'll keep you all posted, peace!

Rev. Groove

Wyre's Strings, Katelyn Dawn EP, Auditions...

Quick update:

-I've just joined the Wyres Strings family as an endorsing artist. Thanks to Nick and the rest of the Wyres team! I did a set up using their strings on one of my student's instruments, played them, fell in love with the sound and feel of them! Started asking questions, sent some e-mails back and forth, and the rest is history...in progress! Looking forward to working with them and playing their strings on my MTD Kingston Basses, as soon as my tech is free and my shipment arrives, they're going on and tracking on my solo EP will commence!

Speaking of solo EP's Katelyn Dawn's project is either about to go to final mix and master or possibly that's being done as I type this. I heard the second set of mixes and I'm pretty impressed at what's coming your way soon! Very excited to start playing some live shows! Also, Katelyn taped a segment for a show with The Discovery Channel this past fall, so be sure to watch the Discovery Channel on April 17^th at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Discovery HD.

I'll write more on this next week, but I'm auditioning for a pretty kicking GTA Corporate band next week. Hopefully I won't overbook myself this summer (potentially two bands, possibly more...recording studio project...EP...booking/managing...and most importantly my wife and four kids)...you know how they say "it's feast or famine?" I have a feeling the drought is over...let the feasting begin!

G.A.S. has reared it's ugly head...

So, as I sit down to write this, it's with a belly full of cake from my youngest's 3rd Birthday...Happy Birthday Riley! You're an awesome little kid! Daddy loves you!

Yeh, so I did a session week before last with Katelyn Dawn for her new E.P. ...pretty cool tunes, be sure to check it when it comes out! A couple of tunes needed something a little...different...so my good buddy Free from Forevertree lent me one of his axes, a Dean 6 string fretless with a an EMG45HZ in the neck spot, and a Seymour Duncan "Basslines" pickup at the bridge. I think the song and a half I used it on (one song has it all the way through, the other I played the chorus and bridge with my MTD Kingston Z5, the verses and the intro and outro were fretless...)

It really made a difference, thanks Free (AKA Geoff Breen!) I had a fretless previously, but I sold it along with some other axes to make room for my MTD Kingstons, of which i now have three...the pre-production rehearsals (glad we did those) and the session (nailed everything first take, just had to do some punchins on the fretless parts) made me realize it may be a good idea to have a fretless about on the regular...while I appreciate the 6 and I'll play it as long as I'm allowed, my fingers ain't long enough to really do it justice...reading up on Andrew Gouche's philosophy I flirted with the idea of a fretted six for a bit...but it just isn't ergonomically feasible (besides, you've probably heard the old saw: "what do you call a 6 string bass player? You don't...well, I guess you do if it's Gouche!!!)

So, I'm in the market for a 5 string fretless. The buyer of my old fretless bass, which indeed is a fine bass and modded with active electronics, has offerred to sell it back to me...however, I find that I'm spoiled by the assymetrical necks on my 'Kingstons(the ergonomic thing again! ). So I've politely declined and started looking about...it'll be awhile before I actually pull the trigger, but I figure I should do the research now rather than last minute!

So I was looking at a fretless MTD Kingston Z5 in Natural Finish at The Perfect Bass (was gonna post the pic, I'm sure James would be cool with it, but thought I better hold off on that for now...if he's cool with it, I'll edit it in later!)

Then though, I heard about the MTD Kingston Saratoga coming out of NAMM...I was super stoked...I had wanted to get one of the MTD J5s (Norm Stockton has number two, the model was later changed to Saratoga 5), but the price would have had me sleeping on the couch or in the car per Ms. Groove! So, here was a chance to get a Saratoga, and (hopefully!) still get tosleep in my nice, warm, quilt top mattressed bed!

The only things that gave me pause was the 34" scale. and the passive electronics...I haven't played a passive axe in over 20 years! Also, I'm pretty used to the 35" scale on my three current basses...going back and forth may not be so cool, y'know?

So I contacted the man himself to see what he thought...in his usual fashion, Mike Tobias was only too gracious and kind enough to take the time to respond to my question: Can you give me an idea of what I could expect tonally from the basswood used in the Saratoga vs. the mahogany/burled maple top in the Z5?


His reply: "The basswood will have a warmer smoother bottom end. The mahogany will have more mid range and a bit more focus on the bottom end."

Thanks Mike!

Still not quite sure...the Saratoga will be at a better price point (which Ms. Groove will appreciate!), but is it the right axe for me? No, don't suggest it...I did consider getting both, but I don't do enough fretless work to justify it...though if that changes, well, yeh sure I will! The goal is to pick the right axe to compliment my two ZXs and my Z5...

...aesthetically, the natural gloss Z5 will be a reverse mirror image of my ZX #26; an translucent black 'Saratoga would be a dark fraternal twin to ZX #31...but the sounds...and Long & McQuade doesn't carry MTDs currently, so I can't try before I buy...I gotta pick right and then live with it...

...so...what do YOU think? Aesthetics? Sound? Pricing? Give me your thoughts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or respond here in the comments section, or send me an e-mail...even if you're not a musician, give me your opinion please!

Rev. Groove

(P.S.)Working on a new long term business venture...details to follow soon!

----------------
Now playing: Jarvis Church - Who Will Be Your Man
via FoxyTunes

Just a quick update...

Okay, by the numbers...

...working on pre-production for Katelyn Dawn's next EP, it's going to be pretty cool! Lot's of great players on this one, John House (percussion) and Adam Mainse (keys/piano) from the Heaven's Rehearsal Band, Josh Harris (drums) from the Trevor Howard Band (and tons of other great projects!), as well as Katelyn on acoustic guitar and vocals, and "Deadly" Tom Hamilton on lead guitar. I'm just playing bass on this one, it's being recorded and engineered at Brilliant Red Studios by Colin Lindgren and Rob Weaver, should be awesome! Contact Katelyn at katelyndawn@gmail.com (check out her YouTube channel as well!

Our MLM system, is growing steadily still...I'm now helping out with Communications and Public Relations so Ms. Groove can concentrate more on systems and generating more revenue streams. It's never too late to sign up, check it!

Working on set lists for different artists for live shows. Send me your set list, I'll learn it, and be ready to sub in on a gig or play that last minute show! Subbing in for regular bass players in their band is now by bread and butter as far as gigs go, so the increased time I have from not doing a steady gig is going into working on Norm Stockton's "Grooving for Heaven" DVD series (still dreaming of Berkleemusiconline.com's Bass Professional Certificate Program) and learning (quite literally!) HUNDREDS of songs! Thankfully, there's some overlap! So if you need a sub, call me! Also, if you're looking for a band to do a show or play an event, I can hook that up, so reach out and hit the digits! (905-320-3593)

Last note...I'm working on a recording studio venture with a very good...I'd say possibly my best/like a brother...friend...details to come in the coming weeks as we firm up the details, but I'm very excited about doing this! I'll definitely keep you posted on that, but expect killer gear, killer production values, and awesome rates!

Okay, back to learning tunes...peace!

The Rev