photography by elisa sherman

And all through New Glasgow…the music was flowing……….

****photos up on offical site****

I swear it must be like a religion there…GREAT music, hot and talented musicians are apparently born and bred in Eastern Canada’s Atlantic Time Zone.

Who knew?

Well, I suspected.

I am a unabashed fan of one Mr JD Fortune…that hot tall dark drink of water that won the dramatically Burnett produced reality series Rockstar INXS…thus sending him on promotional and album tour spanning about two years…

I went to a few of their shows(lol)…INXS perhaps the most entertaining live band out there…them Aussies, now plus one Canuck…bring it each and every time.

Anywho…now that the Switched On Tour is over, everyone has returned home……….even me:)

JD retreats back to home waters of the Maritimes…specifically the far east Canadian province of Nova Scotia…I remember sitting one night with him and a friend, discussing the proper strategies of a 3-card poker game–a forgettable speck on his endless tour journey of memories…where he told us about where he was from…he said it was beautiful………..and that they even had electricity and running water…in Canada…how advanced we joked.

Having been north of the border a few times myself, I was confident he wasn’t just floating dreams in this estimation…Canada is lovely. But I had never contempleted visiting Nova Scotia myself. I didn’t even realize until recently it is FOUR hours ahead of the west coasts pacific time, in what is the Atlantic Time Zone. Holy criminy!

So…one ponders, what to do with oneself now that INXS is off tour? Well…hmmm, what is that? Mr Fortune is putting out a solo album? Hmmm… Ooh, the Eastern Canadian Steven Bowers promotes the 2nd annual benefit concert: One Night in January………..and gets JD signed up to top off a listing of already extremely talented set of Eastern Canadian musicians…

What is a bored girl to do? Go to the beach? If only…really JD, why do you not live in say…Maui?!? or perhaps, Cozumel?!?! The Greek Isles? Erm no…the Batshit come Twig zooms around the crisply cool(brrr) town of New Glasgow in the freakin Tundra…..well, ok, not Tundra…but…sheesh!??! Pipe dreams of tropical drinks drift away. A musical groupie of the purest form—massive appreciator of awesome music…I figure…what the hell…this event is close to my 35th birthday…one only lives once, and no regrets, right? For sure.

Not to mention, its somewhat frigid destination…pretty damn cheap to wing ones way to…just sayin;)

So off I found myself, winging my way via red eye to meet up with a bunch of fellow Twig worshipping friends to check out this one cold night…this bevvy of beaming talent that would perform for us, this one lovely night on the 13th of January…2008…

I went, because I knew we would hear JD…catch some new news…I leave the great north…in awe of the water these people must drink to produce such inspired talent. There was so much goodness…the following artists all really stood out for me…

Not least of all we got to hear folks like the catchy Slow Coaster…a mix of rythms and catchy lyrics that make you want to search out their most recent CD….

The funky Blues guy with his steal guitar and more, John Cambelljohn…get out my boogie shoes…

The quirky scene stealing Kev Corbett…he is charming on stage…in a sort of beatnik funny way…and in person, just as cool. He will stop and listen to whomemver approaches and truly listen. And as so many others, I see this night endlessly talented…not sure…but pretty sure I saw him play about 3+ instruments this night…both during the main event, and at the after party down the street at one of the main sponsors, Fibbers.

The quirky but oddly interesting sounds of Rebekah Higgs…her voice was often sharp and lilting…but altogether, a pleasant turn…

The hot, did I mention HOT Jon Landry of Folds of Policy…..clapping your hands so long, they start to sting to his band ribald fun tunes…oh, and I might have to ‘dump’ JD……….yes, he IS that hot…slurp, thud, etc etc…yummy. Tall strapping and cute…on top of talented and entertaining…a killer combination for sure…

The singing about dead people(according to the joke stealing Mr Bowers) fabulously talented and successful David Gunninng…quite the charming entertainer, even if you are not a huge folk fan…

And really…Steven Bowers, the heart of this event…making it happen to support the IWK Health Centre Foundation…Steven is a bit of a cherub cheeked hottie himself. So adorable, nice, funny, and fucking talented. I am for sure going to be ordering all of his cd’s…no joke. His music goes beyond the clips you may hear…I will for sure be talking him up to everyone I know. His show set both at lead vocals and in support of others was awesome…and well, his rousing barn burner bah-bah-bah! version of Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline towards the end of the post show at the after party…was so fun…he is just cool fun personified…embodied in pure talented Canadian musical goodness.

And of course…the ever obsessed about Bat himself…the still quite Twig-ish JD Fortune…His performance was the closing to this great night both at the main show and the after party…During the main event…he kicked out a strangely familiar yet indescernible new tune…I am not sure it was my favorite, but I would bet that it’s instant familiarity will bode it well on the way to possible hit potential…never underestimate tunes that folks think they already know! And a totally reworked Pretty Vegas where JD and co, put a cool rock come Nova Scotia vibe on this now very familiar tune…he repeats often “It ain’t Pretty”…well JD, I beg to differ…especially in that so familiarly wafting open button up shirt, bearing belly that the fans still so obsessed, just want to reach out and touch……………lol;) The hair, dirty greasy hot rocker boy…the sides falling down on his cheeks the back chignoned back into a bit of a cue pony/bun …but alas, it is not all about the looks…eh? Twas the final tune, another new original…I think Steven later mentioned the working title was perhaps “Tension” but JD hasn’t really settled on a name…this was my favorite tune…I can’t really describe it other than to say…I loved it. If all the rest of the show had sucked, but I was able to get a sneak preview of this, it was all worth it…

But alas, the entire night was magical…the friends, the awesome community coming out for the cause, the fabulous and hot peeps over at Fibbers…who put up w/my crowd for 2 days…made sure we had the best spot in the house…and served the best cosmos………..well, it can’t get much better.

After this weekend…I want more for sure…Obviously, the upcoming album from JD…Death of a Motivational Speaker…the CD collection from Steven Bowers…and probably going to look up the others I have mentioned as well…

Such good good times…I want to start planning to attend for this event next year…I don’t really care who is on the bill…I somehow, only imagine…it is a show that will be more than worth catching a peek to…

Steven Bowers and New Glasgow, and all the surrounding musicians and community…have great hearts and great spirit. They make you fall a little in love with them for sure…

Can’t say I blame JD for revving his Bat mobile engine around this lovely town…zoom zoom…

For sure…the talent, hotness, and utter goodness runneth over…

Scenes from the weekend…

>H

ot Bartender come Break dancer, Drew…laid out in all his splendor with my girls…

Squeaky Squeak……..(photo courtesy of Norskanne)

Bond, Derek Bond and us girls…….

Dave Gunning head to head…photo courtesy Norskanne

Steven Bowers and company at after party

*video removed on request*

JD at Fibbers after party

A super short clip of the cover that JD started the final bit of the night at from the after party…
*video removed on request*

ONIJ, Fibbers will put up official photos soon, as well as a 2008 CD of the live show set to be available in February…They asked attendees of the official show to forego their own tries at photographs, etc, to preserve the recordings, etc. As well, when JD came on at the after party, and went into his yet unreleased work,they asked to please not record, etc…the crowd, with much love, I would say complied. The least we could do, respecting their wishes for such a great night in return.

www.onenightinjanuary.com
www.fibbersmusic.ca
www.forums.fibbersmusic.ca
www.rockbandlounge.comforum ONIJ thread

…maybe more, maybe not! 😉