It’s a beautiful day in Windsor. Victoria Day. The unofficial kick off to Canadian Summer. And what a start! We are halfway through our latest tour of Ontario. Five shows down, five to go, with a few surprises left up our sleeves. Such as …
Despite a scheduling error, we ended up booking a tenth show. On Tuesday May 22 come see us at the Dakota Tavern. We will be opening up for The Swamp Yankees, and City TV will be there to film us. I’m still not sure when the footage will air, but as soon as we find out we will let you know.
On Wednesday we drive back to Kitchener to film a spot for the regional CTV program The Beat which will air on Saturday May 26 at 6:30 pm in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.
And don’t forget to come see us at the Double B Ranch in Woodstock on Friday May 25, and at The Toucan in Kingston on Saturday May 26. The other shows we’re playing in Toronto are still listed on our Shows page.
And in case you’re wondering how we’ve been doing so far through the first five shows, here are a few videos taken at the Elmdale House Tavern in Ottawa, and at the Phog Lounge in Windsor (there will be photos uploaded to our Facebook Page upon our return):
Have a great week everybody!
P.S. We have an incredible team working with and supporting us over the course of this tour, and we cannot thank them enough. First and foremost among them is the fifth Jimmyrigger, working the phone lines behind the scenes, contacting all of the media and press on our behalf. He even drove out to Ottawa to see us at the Elmdale last Thursday night. I can’t name him just yet, but he knows who he is and we want to let him know how appreciative we are of all his hard work.
Some people we can thank by name are:
- In Peterborough: Matt and Trevor at the MoHo, Kendall Sullivan for sharing the stage with us, and our old friends Jessica, Steve, and Marty for keeping us company post-show, and the staff at Trent Radio;
- In Ottawa: Nat, Ginette, and Mike at the Elmdale House Tavern, and Kat for being so inviting to both us and Miss Quincy, and Martha and Richard at CKCU;
- In Kitchener: Alan and Joseph at the L Lounge, the Steves and Graeme, and the ol’ standbys Mary and Marty;
- In Sarnia: Leo and Bobi-Jo at Coffee Lodge, Mary-Helen at John’s Diner, and Jennifer at Ups and Downs, you were all incredibly hospitable and sold us on Sarnia, and Matt McNeill on K106.3;
- And in Windsor: Tom and Joe at The Phog, every member of The Locusts Have No King, particularly Tara Watts for being such a wonderful hostess (our doors are always open to you in Montreal), and Allison Brown on CJAM.
Not unlike any of our previous tours, there have been some last minute additions and cancellations on this latest trip of ours. We added a night in Sarnia on Saturday the 19th, but a scheduling error has forced us to cancel our spot at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on Tuesday the 22nd. Not to worry though as we are working around the clock trying to book that date and I’m confident we’ll find something.
Our one day off is Victoria Day, Monday the 21st, coincidentally the day after our very own Kevin Moquin’s 24h birthday. He says he wants to go go-karting. I say the race is on…
And now, without further ado, here are the details of where and when we’ll be playing over the next ten nights in Ontario.
We haven’t been to Peterborough since that ill-fated trip with the Nickelback-loving drummer three years ago. Enough said. It’s the first show of the tour, so there probably won’t be any post-show late-night / early morning jamming with our friends from Tarantula. I guess we’ll just have to get all our energy out during the show. Opening the show is local songstress Kendall Sullivan.
The Montreal House is located at 282 Aylmer North. Show time is 10 pm.
We’ve spoken before about the Elmdale and how great a venue it is, so this time we’ll just tell you about Miss Quincy, who we’ll be opening for.
Click to visit MissQuincy.net
Like The Devil Does, Miss Quincy’s second full length album is a moody collection of songs filled with dirty guitar licks, sweet gospel harmonies, swampy grooves, and stories of old time deal breakers. Miss Quincy and producer, Canadian roots & blues legend Tim Williams, set out to create an album with the gritty sound of tube amps, a tight rhythm section, and a band playing live-off-the-floor. Good musicians playing good music, it’s the oldest trick in the book. A natural evolution from her debut album Your Mama Don’t Like Me (Folk/Traditional Recording of the Year, 2011 BC Indie Awards), this new record takes Miss Quincy’s signature vocal prowess, her love affair with the electric guitar, and songwriting skills into new-found down and dirty territory. Like The Devil Does is both 4am at the whorehouse and the Sunday morning after.
The Elmdale is located at 1084 Wellington Street West. Show time is 9:30 pm.
Since this is a coffee house we will be playing unplugged (it seems to happen at least once every tour – there are greater tragedies in the world). From speaking with the folks at the Coffee Lodge I can tell that they’re really excited about having us play, so it’s up to us to match that enthusiasm. I don’t think they’ll be disappointed.
The Coffee Lodge is located at 400 Exmouth Street. Show time is 8:00 pm, while the patrons enjoy their desserts!
Why would anyone want to play anywhere else? The Phog was voted “Canada’s best live music venue” by Exclaim! and is the only place we’ve ever played in Windsor. Not surprisingly, we’re sharing the bill with The Locusts Have No King. We seem to have some kind of gig-share program with them. I don’t think we’ve ever not played a show together in either Windsor or Montreal when the other has traveled.
Click to visit TLHNK on CBC Music
“Like being aged in casks of oak, this is a sound that incorporates classic country-folk, acoustic-ladened soul, and jaunty rock energy. Weaving bluesy roadworn vocals with gritty roots serenades, shuffling forward in a rousing song of salvation. Americana, alt-country, whatever you want to call it, these are twang-infused gems ready to rock your world, like a gale force wind kicking up dust on a distant plain.”
The Phog is located at 157 University Avenue West. Show time is 9:00 pm. And even though this is a Sunday night show, there are no excuses – Monday is Victoria Day.
Monday May 21 in Somewhere between Windsor and Toronto
Technically a day off for us, but we’ll be out and about, riding the go-kart tracks in the Second Annual Jimmyrigges Go-Karting Championship. Follow us on Twitter @thejimmyriggers to find out who wins, and who has to pack the van for the remainder of the tour.
Okay, so technically the Jimmyriggers aren’t performing this night, we’re just backing up our friend Geoffrey Glen as The Marshalls. But we’re counting it anyway.
Click to visit Marshall country
Geoffrey Glen Marshall began his career at the tender age of 5, harmonizing with his brothers and sisters on the stage of the Ouppik Carnival in his hometown of Greenwood Nova Scotia. The Marshalls is a return to the songs he loves and has sang all his life. He is an iconic figure on the Ontario music scene with his Toronto-based psychedelic rock band Antimatter, a legendary grunge production of Jesus Christ Superstar, a foray into drum ‘n bass with FinalProgram, a tenure in the reggae band of King Shadrock, and leading Montreal’s Angry Parrots. Geoffrey Glen is rolling back to page one of the songwriting bible to connect to his roots, the tradition of early country, folk and blues, and the audiences who love these songs as much as he does.
Graffiti’s bar is located at 179 Baldwin Street in Kensington Market. Show time is 9:30 pm.
In case you don’t remember what you were doing on this date last year, May 24th is Bob Dylan’s birthday. So I don’t think we could ask for a more approrpiate supporting artist on this gig than prolific songwriter James Clark. If you’re lucky, we may decide to let James sing a few Dylan favourites with us to close the night.
Click to visit The Clark Institute
Mitzi’s Sister is located at 1554 Queen Street West. Show time is 9:30 pm.
The best part about closing the tour in Kingston is how short the drive home will be the next day. As for the sharing the stage with The Tom Savage Trio, our friend Marc Audet from Ottawa’s Still Winter Hills summed it up nicely: “Great match”.
Click to visit the Tom Savage Trio
With the release of Tom Savage’s fourth studio album, we are witness to the continuing evolution of an artist. However, there is an important distinction to be made between Savage’s earlier solo records, and this new release under the Tom Savage Trio banner. For this record, the Kingston, Ontario-based songwriter has all but abandoned his acoustic guitar, in favour of a raucous, electrified sound. Backed by bass (Geoff Chown) and drums (Sandy Mackenzie), “Savage replicates the live bar-room feel that lends itself well to his music”. – Scott Chomistek, Beatroute magazine
So there’s the tour! After spending the last hour or so typing this up, I’m already looking forward to our day off on Victoria Day. Tell us about it, Melissa …
So other than the occasional show here and there in Ottawa and Toronto, we really haven’t spent all that much time in Ontariosince we released “I Stand in the Weeds“. I think it’s about time we fix that.
From May 16th to the 26thwe’ll be playing almost every night in Peterborough, Ottawa, Windsor, Toronto, Woodstock, Kingston, and a couple of other cities to be named later (or sooner).
The details are up on our Shows page and will remain there throughout the tour, but we’ll post them here for good measure. So without further ado, or much fanfare, here’s our tour schedule:
Click to RSVP on Facebook
We’re very excited to be going out on the road again. We’ve been having a lot of fun on our recent road trips to Sherbrooke, Ottawa, and Toronto, and are looking forward to being back in some fantastic venues like the Phog, Mitzi’s Sister, and the Elmdale. We have some pretty amazing supporting acts too, including The Locusts Have No King in Windsor, The Tom Savage Trio in Kingston, Miss Quincy in Ottawa, and in Toronto, a certain little classic country outfit known as The Marshalls…
We also can’t wait to take to the stage at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern, where so many of our favourite artists have performed, most notably The United Steel Workers of Montreal, and Bob Log III, to name but a few that come to mind … Oh, and Blue Rodeo.
So there you go. We’re touring through Ontario as of next week! Please let everyone you know in the cities listed above that we’ll be visiting them real soon.
Have a great week everybody!
—–
PS – Last week we played at Hurley’s Irish Pub at an event called “An Evening for Gary Carter“. A lot has been said about it already on Facebook and Twitter, so there really isn’t much more to say. But it must be acknowleged here on our blog. We would like to congratulate Dave Kaufmanfor organizing such an amazing event. We helped him surpass his goal of $10,000for the Sarah Cook Fundat the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Thank you, Dave, for all of your hard work, and for letting us close the night with Jeremy Taggart of Our Lady Peace playing drums with us. And thank you to everyone who came out and took part in the silent auction and the raffle. It would not have been a success if not for you.
Hey trespassers, this here’s the latest Jimmyriggers blog. The sun’s beating down, won’t beat for long, so let’s hit the pile.
May 2 – Divan Orange – The Jimmyriggers + The Dirt Cheap Winos + No Family
We got word last night that No Family had broken up, citing either irreconcilable differences or lack of federal orphanage funding. And while the breakup is no longer a mere rumour, they have nevertheless decided to take the stage one last time. Good on them! Their bluegrass stylings are the perfect intro for what will surely be as complete a roots rock show as you will ever see.
The Dirt Cheap Winos put the blues in bluegrass, with tasty riffs that counterpoint Aly Neumann’s melancholic melodies. With the just right touch accordion, and a solid backbeat provided by one of Montreal’s best batteries in Mat Lacombe and Andrew Blakney, this band has a license to write nothing but ear worms.
The show will close with our own brand of electric rock twang. We’re going to headline with an all-original set this time. Not a single cover song. Think we can do it? Of course we can, don’t be ridiculous. We’ll also be filming this show with the help of our friend Roy. Come be a part of it. The doors open at 9:30 and the show starts at 10:00.
Click to RSVP
May 3 – Hurley’s Irish Pub – An Evening for Gary Carter
Event organizer Dave Kaufman of TSN 990 has put together a great line up of bands that includes Annakin Slayd, The Blushing Brides, Joseph Kearns, and Kristen Bussandri. While that alone is worth the price of admission, there will also be a silent auction. The big prize up for grabs is a package that includes two return trip tickets to Toronto courtesy of VIA Rail, tickets to see the Blue Jays face the Yankees, and a night at the four-star Grand Hotel. Sounds tempting, but I’m pretty sure that we’re going to pool our band money and bid on the keg being offered by Hurley’s Irish Pub.
Tickets cost $30 and there are still some available at the downstairs bar at Hurley’s. The party starts at 7:30 pm and ends when they kick us out.
Our sincere thanks to the Montreal Gazette for promoting this event on their blog. Click the image to below to read the article.
Click to read the Montreal Gazette feature
May 4 – Cabaret du Mile End – Ol’ Savannah CD Release
Our friends Ol’ Savannah have finished their new album, Underneath the Old Red Barn, and are set to launch it into the ether this Friday night at Cabaret du Mile End.
There’s really nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said by the band in their recent interview with MontrealLive.ca. Click hereto read it.
Special guests include Richard King Rigby, Gern f and Felicity of the former United Steel Workers of Montreal, and The Unsettlers. Considering how much whiskey the aforementioned have been known to drink at such events, this night will most likely be nothing short of legendary. Click the image below to RSVP.
Click to RSVP
For the time being, Underneath the Old Red Barn can only be purchased at the CD launch. Though I’m sure it will soon be up on Ol’ Savannah’s Bandcamp page. It’s a beautiful record, and worth your time to listen to it.
Enjoy your week everybody, and see you at the shows!
As usual, there are some people we want to thank after a great weekend in Toronto. In no particular order, thank you to Dan Burke and the staff at the Silver Dollar, Tina Fitzgerald for throwing the party (happy birthday Tina!), Lee Mellor and his band as well as The Key Frames for putting on a great show, Kanae Doi from Music Psychos, Neil Muscott for snapping some photos that we’ve posted to our Facebook page (Neil, you’re welcome to shoot us any time), Hugh Reilly and Daniel Katz for having us on Liquid Lunch, our close friendsand familyfor putting us up and putting up with us, and finally thank you to everyone who came out to see the show. You know who you are.
We’ll be back in Ontarionext month for a ten day tour that we’re still putting the finishing touches on. The dates we have booked are listed on our Shows page.
But before then we’ve got back to back shows in Montreal next week.
May 2 – Divan Orange with The Dirt Cheap Winos
Hey, The Dirt Cheap Winos took our advice and made a website! And it looks like when it’s finished it’s going to put this one to shame. They put on a great show too. Created by singer/songwriter Aly Neumann and guitarist Mark Komorowski the Dirt Cheap Winos are best described as folk with tasty blues riffs and only the catchiest of jug band melodies. The band’s line up is completed with Mat Lacombe on the upright bass and backing vocals, and recent additions Pion accordion and Andrew Blakney on drums.
Opening the show will be No Family. I’ve never seen them before so, I’m not going to lie, I can’t tell you much about them. But I’m listening to their music on their Bandcamppage, and it sounds like some good ol’ bluegrass.
This concert will show you the evolution of roots music, from the country bluegrass of No Family, to a taste of the blues influence in the Dirt Cheap Winos, and the driving rhythm of rock country with us. Definitely not to be missed.
Divan Orange is located at 4234 Saint-Laurent. The doors open at 9:00 pm and the cover is a mere $10. Click the image below to RSVP on Facebook.
Click to RSVP
May 3 – Hurley’s Irish Pub – An Evening for Gary Carter
We are honoured to be a part of this event which will include live performances from us as well as Kristen Bussandri, The Blushing Brides, and Annakin Slayd.
There will also be a silent auction with prizes that include:
2 Via Rail return tickets to Toronto along with 2 Blue Jays tickets and a night at the 4 Star Grand Hotel on Jarvis Street
Just For Laughs tickets
A Keg from Hurley’s
A signed Jonah Keri book
Artwork by Dwight Baird
A rare collection of Denis Brodeur Expos photographs
A Pete Rose bat
Bookstore and restaurant certificates
And many more special auction items still to be announced.
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at Hurley’s Irish Pub, located at 1225 Crescent Street.
Toronto: Post Script
In case you weren’t at the Silver Dollar last Friday, we closed the night by having all three bands gather on stage to sing The Weight. It was our own send off to Levon Helm. We’re still waiting for the video to make it to YouTube, so while we wait, let’s enjoy Levon singing it one more time with The Band.
Last month I drove to Torontowith some friends to play at the Dakota Tavern during CMW. When we pulled into town one of my fellow passengers (I’m going to keep him as anonymous as possible) let slip that, to put it mildly, he didn’t like Toronto. I’m going to have to be honest and admit that I don’t get it – I like Toronto. We’ve played about a half dozen shows there at a number of different venues, and I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad time.
Except for the time the bass amp crapped out halfway through song two at one of our CMW sets at The Hideout … or the time the drums didn’t show up at Mitzi’s Sister until very, very late and the crowd got a little impatient … or the time we drank too much before playing the Cameron House because we found out that the drummer we were traveling with liked, among other things, Nickleback …
Regardless! We’re happy to be going back this coming Friday April 20, because we’ll finally get to play at the Silver Dollar Room, one of the premier venues in the city. We’re opening the show for two great local bands, The Key Frames, and our good friend Lee Mellor.
Click to RSVP
The Key Frames have spent years honing their craft. They light up the dance floor with playful bluegrass-tinged ditties, reminiscent of “Blue Rodeo with a banjo.”
Lee Mellor is a fiery bearded troubador who ranked #3 singer-songwriter in a Montreal Mirror reader’s poll. He has been compared musically to Steve Earle and Tom Petty, and lyrically to the authors Ernest Hemingway and Timothy Findlay.
The Silver Dollar Room is located at 486 Spadina near College. The doors open at 9:00 pm and we’ll hit the stage at 9:30 pm.
Alright, so we’re back from Sherbrooke, and spending the long weekend away from each other. A much needed rest, I must say. Encore une fois, merci Guillaume, Jessieet Anniechez CFLX, thank you Sheilaat CJMQ, et merci André Laroche pour la critique dans La Tribune (click here to read a portion of it).
Best of Montreal – It’s time to vote
It’s time once again to vote for the best of what Montreal has to offer in… everything: City life, Media, Nightlife, Food, Drink, and of course Music.
I’m going to borrow a line from our old friend Gern f of the former United Steel Workers of Montreal and ask you, before you fill in the answer form with big names like “McDonald’s” for best late-night eats, or “HMV” for best record store, to think about the little guys, the independents who work tirelessly to make their restaurants and shops special.
Same thing with music. There are many outstanding bands and talented songwriters in this city who’s music you won’t hear on the radio, and who have yet to play at Metropolis. If somebody has blown your socks off at Barfly, why not vote for them? I know I did.
Click the image below to vote in this year’s Best of Montreal:
