home of the mighty lopez

So…I spent the weekend in Mississauga….popped my OCFF cherry, the Ont. Conference of Folk Festivals…
a 3 day shmooze fest bringing together folk musicians, their publicists, festival artistic directors & all sorts of agents & what-not. Got home @ noon yesterday & am processing. It was intimidating, humbling, yet encouraging & inspiring. So many talented musicians! Loved the jamming/rehearsals in the halls….saw some great showcases. I bought into a private showcase room with Swamperella, soozimusic, Hannah Shira Naiman, & the Horables….a great line-up. There were 2 floors of private showcases going on so it was no surprise my sets were poorly attended, but it made me feel better walking past unattended performances. Hope to make it next year, & thinking about my next album.

Hey….thanx for dropping in. I’ve had this website 4-5 years now, & I really haven’t been that active on it, mostly ’cause of that lack of new music. This past year I put some effort into writing, actually completing some songs. I ended up with 6 that I like enough to want to record….a 600% increase in song-writing productivity from the previous 30 years. Let’s just say I never tried too hard.
So I recorded two live sessions towards the end of Aug……one at “The Barn” in Huntsville & one at Ghettoblaster Sound Factory” in Bracebridge. Due to sound problems, the Huntsville session was a wash, but I liked what I got in B’bridge. It will be released as “Mighty Lopez”, the premiere release on the fledgeling “Tree Ring” record label. The official launch will be held @ the El Mocambo in T.O. on Oct. 26th…..I will be doing a Muskoka launch party, most likely in conjunction with Sean Cotton’s cd release…..Tree Ring’s second offering.
So….with a cd to promote, I will be trying to get out more…expand my circle of gigs. I will also try, on a daily basis, to post my goings’ on here. Please feel free to add your 2 cents.

So here’s a sneak peak of my upcoming release….I’ve always loved the song “Benzedrine”, written by Toronto songwriter Richard Carstens. We played it together in “The Whammee”from /88-/90. “Sweet Suzanne” is a Blair Martin composition….another of my favorite Toronto underground songwriters from the /80’s. I played briefly & recorded this & other songs with the “Raving Mojos”…/92ish. Tobacco Pouch is a re write of the song which appeared on Jugheads’ 2nd cd. The other songs were written over the past year, pretty much quadrupling my songwriting output of the previous 30 years. Hope you like….

So, as a tribute to my awesome daughter Ramona, i fooled around with this remake of the Ramones classic
hope you enjoy it !

so….bev & charlie robertson are old school folkies who run a coffee house once a month through the winter at the muskoka place gallery on the foreman rd. in port carling…they’ve been bringing up some top notch musicians for the series and it is a real jewel in this northern wasteland…..i had the honor of playing there feb. 27th /10…..leah leslie opened the show, i did my thing, i got to duet with my g-friend chrystal, charlie, bev, and as if that wasn’t enough, marianne girard (i hope i’ve spelled that right!) dropped by and did a short set…..it was a great night!…. i set up my h-4 and recorded the whole thing (except for leah’s introduction and her first song “angel from montgomery”…..unfortunately the recorder was turned on a little late….my apologies)….so here is the whole show, warts and all…..what i got was a fun night of music, stories and jokes, and an audience not afraid to participate and show their appreciation.
i’ve broken the nite up into bite-size pieces….enjoy….

mike & chrystal

chrystal hates this pic, but i think it's kinda' cool

“leah leslie.mp3”
[audio:leah leslie.mp3]

“1st set solo.mp3”
[audio:1st set solo.mp3]

“mike & chrystal.mp3”
[audio:mike & chrystal.mp3]

“marianne gerrard.mp3”
[audio:marianne gerrard.mp3]

“2nd set solo.mp3”
[audio:2nd set solo.mp3]

“po’ cholly.mp3”
[audio:po’ cholly.mp3]

“bev robertson.mp3”
[audio:bev robertson.mp3]

“chrystal & mike.mp3”
[audio:chrystal & mike.mp3]

mike & chrystal

so here’s my bouzouki story….gus and jess were planning their wedding last spring….gus approached me in april and asked if i knew anything about the bouzouki and if i thought i could play one….i did a little research on-line and found out how it was tuned etc. and got back to gus, saying that yes, i could probably play one…..so he tells me he and jess wanted some bouzouki in their ceremony and so wanted to buy one and give it to me as payment to learn a couple greek folk tunes and perform during the ceremony…..what an honor!….so i spent the summer and pre-recorded some rythm tracks which i played along with….and here’s how it came off…

here’s one you might recognize…

© 1993 On Tap Records

without further ado lets get to the music…

so here’s a little ditty called “Been Away Too Long”

© 1993 On Tap Records

come on over and set a spell…we’re just gettin started

ok ok my battery just died…but soon

meanwhile…here is a little diversion…click me.

…don’t forget to post your score.