A Musical Ski Weekend in Terrace

What a great weekend. Hopped in the V-Dub van on Friday night and headed to Terrace. After a quick stop at WalMart (please don't crucify me for shopping at the cathedral of consumerism, I forgot to bring socks for the weekend!) we were off to the Kiva to do a sound check. It turned out to be a pretty quiet night due to some other conflicting events, but the crowd that was great and we had a good show. Slept in some the next day and managed to get a solid half-day in on the hill. Soft and slushy snow, bluebird skies and warm sun made for a superb ski day. Terrace has some great places to eat, we decided on the Golden Flame which happens to be across the street from my old apartment. After dinner we had a relaxing evening at Gary's while he Tarra, Alex and Andreas (who flew in from Germany) packed for their Bernie Cabin Heli Ski Trip. Sunday Morning Steve and I had breakfast with Tobi, Laura and Eric while waiting for the soundcheck at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre. At 3:00 we met at the Fenger's house and I met Thereasa Marie, local Terrace celebrity, singer and winner of the Miss International Myan pageant and David Essig, master of the blues and slide guitar. Sound check was at 4:45. The R.E.M Lee Theatre has such sweet acoustics. After sound check there was just enough time to run back to Garys, change and pack the Van and make it back to the Theatre for the start of the show. The Tsunami benefit raised $1400. The show ran 4.25 hours which is very long, but it was packed with amazing bands like the Chug a Lugs and The Red Rumour band. Bernadette Saquibal was also there from Rupert and had a wonderful performance. The moonlight drive back to Rupert after the show was spectacular.

The Kiva

I am off to Terrace tonight to play a 'double lineup' with Masala at 'The Kiva'. It should be a good night. I hope the attendance is up...I also play Sunday night at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre for a Tsunami Benefit Concert. There has been huge promotion for the Benefit Event. I hope it has not confused fans and overshadowed tonight's show. Sometimes it's hard to play two out-of-town events in one weekend in the same town. For Sunday nights show I will be sharing the stage with David Essig, Theresa Marie and local Prince Rupertite Bernadette Saquibal. Should be a good show.

Sall

Vancouver Trip Followup

Well the open mic night was good. As a baromter for Vancouverites accepting my music I would say it definitely was leaning towards positive. I signed up at the open mic at 9:00pm and was the 4th person to play. The crowd reaction was great! I heard some very talented musicians that night from pianists to percussive guitar players. The people were incredibly friendly it was a pleasure to talk to the audience. I met some people from Kispiox! When I got home a day later I found out the CBC program North by Northwest played one of my songs on Saturday morning. Lots of good exposure lately! On a more personal note my life feels suspended above reality. I am in the process of moving between two houses. I am selling most of my belonging so I can easily pick up and move in the Fall. I promise to write more in the near future. Night' All

Sall

Embarrassed In Vancouver

Well I am sitting in a neat little coffeehouse down on Grandville Island in Vancouver. I left my hotel this morning around 11:00am and started walking towards Grandville Street to catch the bus. I was a little embarrassed when the busdriver told me I was on the wrong side of the street!. Pride refound and on the right bus, I was on my way to find Long and McQuade to search for a new guitar. I played some amazing instruments today. My favorite was a $3000 Fat Body Gibson. I think I might have to buy that guitar! (when I make it big!) Another embarrassing moment I had today was when the ever so nice Technician took time out of his busy schedule to look at my guitar and to tell me what the best pickup for it would be(normally you book 2 weeks ahead). I was complaining that my intonation was off and that it buzzed like crazy. He told me that some of the problem is that my bridge was put in backwards! That is how I purchased it! He thinks that someone put it in backwards while changing the strings in the store I bought it from! Any way I am having a good day (embarrassment aside). I have about 4 hours to kill before the sign up at the Backstage Lounge. This will be my first time playing in Vancouver. It will be interesting to see the crowd reaction.

CBC Coast to Coast

Yesterday I had a my song 'Advice to a Friend' played on CBC's The Roundup! That's coast to coast! My website has been getting hits like crazy today! Steve just called and said that Frances just heard another one of my songs played on the radio this morning on the way to the skihill. I don't know what show it was on. I feel a little giddy! This is so much fun!

Oh What a Night!

What a great night! We raised $1055 in donations for Tsunami Relief and Breakers Pub is going to match that amount dollar for dollar. We started out the evening at 7:30 watching Shane Phillips from Smithers perform digery-doo wonders at Cowpuccino's Coffeehouse and then raced across the street for the soundcheck at 8:00pm. After a few equipment false starts we got the show rolling at about 8:45pm. That's what happens when you do your own sound using rented equipment. It was a good learning experience. Russell Bowers from CBC was our MC for the evening and did a superb job as always. Frances Riley, Sarah Foster and Eric wove fabulous harmonies as they performed crowd favorites such as Stayin' Alive, Sarah Harmers Basement Apartment and their original Paradise Mountain. At around 9:30 Gary and I took the stage and we had a great show! It would have been hard not to. The crowd was in great form and the energy was impossible not to catch. I will post some photos as soon as I can.

A special thanks goes to Sherrie, Gord and all the staff at Breakers Pub' Sean Pottle from Digital Printing for the posters; Sarah Foster, Francis Riley, Eric and Gary Malton for being the spectacular musicians they were born to be, Steve Barre for doing the sound, hauling the gear, putting up posters, and dealing with my pre show craziness; Russell Bowers for MCing; and Bernadette Saquibal, Shane Phillips and Chris for their guest set.

Like a Pendulum I Swing

Things are looking up this balmy rupert winterday since I decided to stop tripping over my lower lip and suck it up. It's funny how quickly we adapt to our surroundings and become acclimate to the beauty. If it was six years ago, I would be outside walking in the fog loving every minute of it. I remember when I first moved out here how different everything smelled. Low tide, Skunk Cabbage, salt water all of these things I had never experienced the scent of. I remember how every day the landscape seemed to change depending on the weather. You can see different ridges in the mountains depending on how much moisture is in the air and the angle of the sun. I am going to make a conscious effort to appreciate the rugged beauty again. Open my eyes and get outside more.

January Blues

With a title like that, and this being a music site, I bet you are expecting me to write about 'The Blues'. Today, however I feel like ranting about the late winter phenomenon that turns the 'cheeriest bloke' into a 'miserable Joe'. I am not immune to this cyclical condition, that each post Christmas season I swear I will not return to. But yet again, this mid-January I feel as blue as ever. Partly I am sure, it is due to the unsettled feeling one gets when a departure from the norm is imminent. You see for me (hmmm rhyming words) the countdown to unemployment has begun. In just less than 9 months I will be voluntarily casting myself out of the world of the regular paycheck to frolic amongst the other 'ambition-filled-stary-eyed and hungry musicians' that roam the planet in search of the elusive agent and career boosting gig. Please do not misinterpret what I am writing. On any given day I can whip myself into a euphoric frenzy discussing or dreaming about becoming a full time traveling musician. But today 5lbs of Christmas eating heavier and low in blood sugar from the abrupt departure of any glucose in my house (going cold turkey)I feel blue and unsettled. The artist in me says to 'harness the emotion''pick up you guitar and write is away' but the girl that just about died running a 5k that 4 weeks ago was a walk in the park, says hostile things that can only be described as 'bitchy'. Hmmmm I usually hate that word. But it is seeminlgy appropriate today.

Milestones

Nervous! I have to admit I was nervous walking in to the spotlight at the PAC on Thursday night. I only hesitated for a second, but it felt like a lifetime. Once the moment passed I felt right at home. Since I moved to Rupert I have wanted to perform on that stage and opening for 'The Jenny's' made it all the more memorable. Ruth, Nicki and Annabelle are super nice and I am very thankful they agreed to me opening for them. We made the front page of the Friday paper (another milestone for me). After my set I sat backstage and watched the Jenny's weave unbelievable harmonies. Apparently the girls are going to be nominated for a Juno!

Whats upcoming this month? Well there is the open mic tomorrow night (9th) at Cowpuccinos and then the Acoustic Night at Tom Rooney Playhouse on the 15th. Tickets are available at Teddy's Music. The following weekend (22nd) Frances Riley, Sarah Foster and I along with Breaker's Pub are putting on a Tsunami Relief Benefit Concert starting at 8:30. And then to wrap up the month on the 29th the Commercial Pub along with a local community group is putting on a Amateur Night Competition where those entered can win a trip for two to Vancouver. It will be my first time playing with a house band which should be a new experience.

I am in the middle of festival application time again. I have my fingers crossed for a buisy summer.

Gd' Night
Sall

Resolutions and all that Jazz

Its Jan 1st and here are my New Years Resolutions:

** Play as many places as I can - never turn down a gig
** Learn the art of busking
** Play more outside of the northwest of BC

1) Run at least 4 times a week (no excuses about the rain)
2) Practice at least 1 hour a day
3) Learn to tune my guitar on stage
4) Laugh more
5) Eat less junk and more veggies
6) Do all the touristy things that I intended on doing when I moved out here 6 years ago.
7) Learn to play the piano (not just plunk around like I currently do)
8) Learn to play the ukelali. I don't think that I spelled that right but it is great for party's and camping.
9) Travel

Christmas Concerts and Home Sweet Home

Well, I am back in the land of hydrated skin. I flew in to Rupert on last nights flight...of course my luggage did not arrive with me!

The Christmas Holidays are over and I feel blue...maybe its low blood sugar and too much eating. Ontario was great fun. In true Niagara style it snowed 15 cm the night of my Grimsby performance and then turned to freezing rain. The 30 people who braved the winter storm to attend my show at the Smiling Dog are troopers!. A special thanks to Kate for opening up her shop for me.

Parts of Grimsby have really changed. The Burgess Market is gone and there are houses being built in the 'pick-your-own-strawberry' fields along the main street of town. But Grimsby still has its smalltown flavour and the people are just as friendly as I remember.

Before I left for the holidays I had a jampacked weekend. The CBC All Point West show from Prince Rupert was entertaining. Jo Anne Roberts is a great host and knows how to make you feel at home. It was good to see Kirsty Hudson again and to put a face to James Evans name. The Christmas Carol reading the following evening was a nice way to start out the holiday season. I have to say that I will never be able to listen to James in the morning again, without hearing Bob Cratchit's wife's voice!:)

Well I am off to get organized for the upcoming year and the Jenny's Concert. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Sall

Exciting New News

Well it is official! I am going to be opening up for The Wailin Jenny's when they come to Prince Rupert on Jan 6th 2005. I didn't want to say anything until it was official, and I got the word today. They are a great band you can check them out at www.thewailinjennys.com . This is exciting for me. I have never officialy been an opening act before. At the Smithers Fall Fair I played before both Ken McKoy and Mark Perry, but I wasn't officialy there to open. This will be great! A short set but a good experience.

Tomorrow night is the CBC All Points West Broadcast and then the next night is the Charles Dickens Christmas Carol Reading. I am fully Christmas-Carol-Practiced-Up. I also have a Christmas Party and a Stagette for a friend to attend. Then Sunday at the crack of dawn I am off to TO. I have a gig planned at the Smiling Dog Cafe in Grimsby on the 22nd at 7:00pm. I am excited and nervous to be playing in my hometown. Kate the Smiling Dog Cafe owner is a rupertite and I am looking forward to meeting her. I swear some days rupert makes the world go round. A few years ago when I was back in ONT for school, someone left a note on my windshield because I had BC plates and a Prince Rupert sticker on the car. The note said 'hello fellow rupertite, you are far from home'. No name, no phone number, no indication of who this mysterious note writer was. If you read this mysterious one...Please reveal yourself to me, I was the Red Dodge Colt Hatchback in the Erin Mills Parkway Mall :)

G'd Nite

Sall

Website ups and downs

Yahoo! My website is up and running! It took me a couple of weeks to figure out how to do it all, but I am feeling pretty satisfied with the results. I hope everyone keeps checking back; there is a webdesign friend of mine that is going to do some creative stuff for me. Add some bling!. I will be adding more songs as I record them, as well as photos from recent events. There will also be a bulletin board under the Contact Page. I will be adding that tomorrow. Then you can post your comments. Although you can reply to these entry's as well.

I have been off work sick for the past 3 days and am feeling pretty blue about it. I knew something was up last week, I always feel out of sorts before a cold. I can't wait to get out of the house. Well I am off to watch more TV and stare longingly at my guitar.

Sall

Christmas Carols and other festive stuff

This past week has been packed with Christmas related stuff. I played live on the Mix 56 as they broadcast from the annual Atlin Terminal Christmas Party. I have to admit Christmas Carols are not my fav' to sing. But I muddled through and actually got a couple of Christmas Party gigs out of it.

December 18th is coming up pretty quickly and I have to brush up on 'Silent Night' and 'Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. I have been invited to sing during the CBC A Christmas Carol Reading. I will be playing a couple of other Christmas songs on CBC's All Points West as they broadcast live from Prince Rupert, Dec 17th to promote the show the next night.

I am getting excited about getting out of here for the holidays and returning to the city. Lately I have had a hankering for a Toronto Hot Dog! I hope to be playing a show or two in Ont. when I get there. I think one in Grimsby and maybe one in TO? I will post the dates as I know. Cheers and Merry Christmas! Sall

At Rosswood Music Festival 2004 

Birthdays

Yesterday was my birthday...lots of fun.....danced my face off at the Powder Pig Jig. The band (triple By Pass) tried to get me up on the stage to sing....Decided to crowd surf instead. Tequila!! If anyone reading this is ever in Prince Rupert around the 20th of November make sure you check this dance out! Held in the fishermen's Hall, I guarantee that you will not leave without a grin on your face, covered in beer and exhausted from dancing.

Websites almost done!

The beginning

Well, here goes...This is the beginning. I have spent all weekend designing my website. www.sallgibson.com I am almost there! By the time you read this first blog, it will be two or three weeks from now when I finally load my site. Things are good, I met with Russell a week ago and he thinks that my next step should be to get my website up and running and then plan a spring tour. This is pretty much on par with my own career goals. It's nice to know that I am on the right track! Well I am off for a quick run before bed. Work tomorrow...Yuck! Gd'nite all.

Sall