Free show tonight at The Beaver

Tonight we will be playing a free show at the Beaver with the new band Light Fires. Who is/are Light Fires? Gentleman Reg and James Bunton. You might know James as the drummer from Ohbijou, or as producer/engineer to any number of your friends' recordings (if you live in Toronto, West of Bathurst Street, the odds are pretty high that someone you know is working with him right now.) We have been working on an EP with James as well, and he's pretty great. As for Gentleman Reg, he is a familiar face to readers of this blog. Light Fires is a departure from Reggie's usual material- more Hot Nuts* than Horseshoe Tavern- and it will be their last show for the summer, since James is touring with Ohbijou until the temperature drops and the leaves turn yellow.

Reggie will also be performing his special song "The Man in The Middle" with Betty Burke- and he's not the only special guest. We are proud to present, on vocals, for a soulful number from another (imaginary) era- Mr. Lief Mossbaugh (pictured above). Lief plays with The Hidden Cameras, and can often be heard singing falsetto harmonies on their tunes. He's also an esteemed Oboist, joining Regina's orchestra for the 2010-2011 season, after a successful run with the Saskatoon symphony. Lief will be singing a tune called "You Can't Stay Young." He may even bring along another special guest, but we'll keep that under wraps for now...

The show starts at 11 pm and it is 100% FREE. The Beaver serves dinner until 11, in case you want to come early to see our muscley arms pull the amps in. I'm sure a few of us will be tankin.'

Hope to see you tonight.
xoxo
MM


*Hot Nuts is a monthly drag party at the Beaver.
*Tankin' - wearing a tank top. Not me, but probably Reggie.

Resurrection

The last time I wrote a blog entry, it was February, and BB had just done some dates with Woodpigeon in Ontario and Quebec. There was snow on the ground, and the trees were grey and bare. Now the sun is everywhere, and Toronto's famous humidity is back to bake us all inside out.

A lot's been going on since those last few ultra-positive posts, written in the dull light of winter. On May 21st, our community lost someone irreplaceable. Will Munro was a friend, a brother, a son, an artist and a culture maker who built spaces to welcome people who'd been shut out before.

Here is a link to the memorial piece printed by Eye Magazine in Toronto.

There is a lot to be said about Will, life, death, and community, but I will allow the piece--composed of submissions by Will's friends, myself included-- to speak for itself.

Spring, the season of resurrection and renewal, was a taker and a giver. Now, the short, hot, Canadian summer is nearly here. The radio silence of the last few months will be replaced by regular posts as Betty Burke resumes the project of telling stories three chords at a time. On the agenda for the summer are a few shows, an EP (recorded with James Bunton at Angles Up) to master and release, and the coming release of "You Can't Wear Suede In The Rain," the short film we made with Joe Clement. Posts about these activities will be interspersed with the usual mini-essays about good things, strange things, and things that are hard to classify.

Thanks for visiting the site. Come back soon!

Love
Maggie