Wow, it's been a while since my last post......I gotta get better at this!

The songs that Kyle Lamb has been working on are in the mixing stages at Beat Productions studio and will be sent out for mastering after that. Once the songs are finished and we have a product to promote we will find some musicians and hit the road.

I am also working with some guys from Slave Lake, 40 Below is the name of the band as far as I know.... It is a great list of classic rock, blues and newer rock stuff, should be a fun time to play on stage. Great musicians and serious about making it sound as pro as possible.

My local band has pretty much detonated I think. Two of the guitar players have quit and I don't have any real leads on other local players.

My dog Tucker is 68 pounds now, he loves to hang out with me and is a lot of fun to have around.

Work is work.......and my back is the same, I need to tour. This plumbing thing is for the birds! Haha!

Rock on,
James

Well, since my last post the lineup in Kyle Lamb's band has changed a couple times. Seems like we are getting back at it again, hope we can get some shows in soon. Looking forward to performing these songs for a crowd!

My dog Tucker is 5 months old now and weighs 47lbs! He is a great work companion and is a pretty mellow dog at home, just wonderful to have around.

Keep rockin, I know I will....

James

Hey hey! Lots of action since my last post! We gained a guitar player and bass player, then lost them both 4 days before our first rehearsal. Oh MAN musicians are sometimes challenging to my patience. Just a couple days ago I met a guitar player in Grande Prairie that may be a good addition to the Kyle Lamb band, or at the very least be a contact that can lead us towards other players in the Grande Prairie area. Kyle is meeting with him on Monday evening, things are once again looking like they are moving forward....YAY!

My furry friend Tucker the Bernese Mountain Dog had is last set of shots a few days ago and is now over 25lbs! He is gonna be a monster, and he is smart too. He knows how to sit, stay, come, and shake hands. He is also crate trained and can pee on command, just like me.........hahahah!

Looking forward to the next few days and things are gelling with getting this band off the ground and work towards playing some shows this summer.

Rock on,
James

Here is a link to Kyle Lamb's Myspace page, he has put up a few of the newer tunes and they kick ass! He has been in contact with some local musicians in Grande Prairie and things are looking good for getting rehearsals going soon.

I have also been doing more recording with my friends from Before The Fire and should be getting some final mixes of a couple songs up on their Myspace page within a week or two. Life tends to get busy around here when I most need the time to be mixing! There is a rough mix of a new song called Contrite on their Myspace page. Final mix is in the works now that we have a bass line and I have had a chance to assemble my new studio computer. Check it out if you like metal

I also received probably the coolest present ever for Christmas from my family this year. They got me a purebred Bernese Mountain Dog pup.....I pick him up on the 23rd of this month!

































They are an absolutely gorgeous breed with a wonderful temperment, I am looking forward to having a  buddy to hang out and play with my family!

Rock on,
James

Well, it's been a fair while since my last post. I lost focus through the last half of 2009 with the suicide of my father, death of my grandmother and my dog. Kinda like I was living in a bad old country song for a while there.

The good news is that 2010 is shaping up to be a busy year musically for me....YAY! I have started working with a Grande Prairie area artist by the name of Kyle Lamb and that is looking like a great project with some serious goals. The new music he has shown me is damn good and has what it takes to be played alongside and top name country artist. This will be my main focus for 2010 and as time moves on and the band lineup is finalized I will have regular updates here about rehearsals and recording.

I am also working with some local musicians here in High Prairie towards having a cover band with the goal of playing locally as the chances come up. So far that is going well and we should be ready for some shows come springtime.

Thanks to a wonderful family and some counselling I am back to enjoying what my life is and looking forward to working my butt off this year with good friends in great bands!

I would imagine I would be wise to make a New Years Resolution to update this site more regularly.......haha! I am sure now that there are some musical projects on my plate there will be more regualar updates!

Rock on,
James

Just finished two days with Seven Beckham getting some amazing tattoo work started.  I will post up some photos as soon as it is healing up. Probably one of the nicest guys I have met in a LONG time. Sorta renews my faith in people. I was getting a bit jaded over the last few months with my interactions with the general public. Nice to meet a genuinely nice guy with no agenda.

It has been a totally strange, confusing year for me with the suicide of my father in the early summer knocking me for a loop. Just recently my Grandmother that raised me passed away as well. To top that off while I was at the funeral home making arrangements for her funeral our family dog of eight years died. Man, what a crazy time. I think I am on the upswing again and looking forward to getting out and doing some auditions this winter if the opportunity arises. I really do miss performing on stage, though I am having fun  recording and collabortating with fellow musicians online.

Rock on,

James

I have been recording some cover music with some friends over the internet over the last couple weeks. Doing some Dire Straits and Van Halen.....it's been fun. Maybe along the way we will start writing some original stuff too! I have certainly discovered over the last few months with regular recording time that my computer needs to be replaced! Next on the list is computer shopping.

Rock on,
James

Just back from a trip to Edmonton to see The Cult play their Love album as well as some other classic tunes. The drummer was great throughout and I had a great view! I didn't realize until Ian Astbury introduced the band that it was John Tempesta sitting behind the kit. Great show, bad sound.........as usual for the Venue at River Cree Casino. I guess it is just a big tent, probably an acoustic nightmare.

Rock on,
James

Got three drum tracks done for some sessions on Indabamusic.com last week, looks like this week will be pretty busy with work. The good thing is that I have the work I guess, and it's great money for not much time invested. Looking forward to having a few days off in a week or so to do some more recording. I am really having fun with different styles of music and learning some recording and mixing skills along the way!

Rock on,
James

My father took his own life at the end of May at the age of 59. Without music and support from my family the last couple months would have been difficult to get through. I have been going back and listening to some of the music I found comforting throughout my youth and those songs still calm and reassure me. More than anything I have realized that I should spend more time on the passions in my life and just the necessary amount to earn money.

Music=Life

Rock on,
James

Leaving town for a couple weeks of camping and travelling throughout Southern BC and Alberta. The dog is kenneled and the plants are watered! Looking forward to picking up my daughter on the 22nd and heading to Calgary for a reunion of sorts with the people we all met at Choices last summer. Hard to believe it has already been a year! I will have my phone with me and will be checking mail when I can.

Rock on,
James

Got back on my mountainbike today and put in about 13km. It kicked my ass after being so laid up over the late winter-early spring! Feels good to be able to work without too much pain, as well as having energy at the end of the day to put some time in on the drums. Looking forward to a couple weeks holidays, then back to work to earn some money so I can have some time to work on a some new musical projects. Life is grand.



Rock on,
James

P.S. Twitter me........ http://www.twitter.com/thunder_sticks

Hey hey!

It's been a wierd month or so since my last post. My father took his life and it took me a while to get my head around that. I should be posting more regularly now that I am back on track.

I finally got my tattoo started with Sean at Pagan Tatu in Edmonton! The black and the shading is done, just need the color work finished.  Hope to have that done when I get back from BC in late July-Early August.

I have been talking with my friend in Saskatoon again, hope to have a band situation rolling by the fall, I  miss the stage!

Rock on,
James

Hey hey all,

I have been talking with a tattoo artist in Edmonton for the last few months and he has drawn me a wicked cool tattoo for my shoulder. Should be getting the first visit done within the next couple weeks. The first of many tattoos I am sure!

I have been doing a good amount of practicing and am working on guitar and bass as well. I will be working out of town in Cold Lake for a month, taking the guitar with me to camp. Hopefully I will learn enough to be writing again like I was in the mid to late 80's.

Rock on,
James

Hey hey! Having struggled most of the winter with a fairly painful back and leg problem I am looking forward to the summer and exercise and fresh air. Unfortunately my travels to larger centers to have consultations with back specialists has basically ended with no help for my condition. I will have to keep moving forward with exercise and strengthening and see where that gets me by summers end. I feel stronger by the day and my spirits are high.

I have had some offers from smaller studios to produce drum tracks for varying artists, the summer looks like it will have some great opportunities to play and record.

Rock on,
James

Well, I did rehearse most of the past week with  my friends in In Chaos but at the last minute their previous drummer was able to make the gig on Saturday night. I did get to play one song, then I was soundman the rest of the night. Was an interesting night, with some gear getting wrecked by the last band........yeesh!

I have a gig coming up on March 21st in Peace River filling in for some young friends of mine. Just coming off healing up from some back issues and having to work on the double bass chops is proving to be a workout! Should be a fun time, several bands on the heavier side of metal!

It snowed about 3 inches today, YEESH! Man I can't wait until snow is a distant memory and bands start touring for the summer. I am going to be doing sound for some shows and damn I hope I am playing drums at some too.

 Hey hey all! Well it has been a hell of a start to the year. My company is rolling along fine and I am also doing a lot of sheetmetal work with a friend of mine. The downside to this is that I overdid the hours and have been pretty much off work since the third week of January. Have had a few days where I was a bit down, but overall my spirits are great and I am looking forward to finding some music to play this year. I answered a few ads, received a few replies and some did not reply at all..........must be the increasing amount of grey hair I am getting. I will find something, all good things in time.

I have been in contact with a tattoo artist in Edmonton and will be getting my first tattoo in March sometime. That should be interesting, I am sure it will the first of many.

My dear daughter is now in Quebec and still enjoying the experience, I miss her much.

I also have a couple new contacts on Indaba music.com and hopefully some new music to record soon. Probably more along the lines of straight ahead rock or country from what I can see.

Rock on,
James

Well I am coming up to the end of another year well lived! I didn't get to do as much live performance as I would have liked, but I did get to do a ton of fun things music related. I got to do a few gigs as a soundman, for both local and touring acts which was very cool. I got to see my baby girl finish high school, take control of her life and do start on a path of doing things to help her mature and gain direction. I started running my own company doing plumbing/gasfitting and started an apprenticeship as a sheetmetal mechanic with a respected friend of mine. Life is generally good, but the coming year will be GREAT! I am going to be actively pursuing finding a band to tour/write with and get involved with more online recording projects. I am looking forward to 2009 as the year I hit my stride and find some like-minded musicians to work with.

Rock on,
James

Hey hey! I have been working pretty steadily with my plumbing business the last few weeks getting some projects done before our Alberta winter kicks in for real. Business is going well and I am as busy as I would like to be.

I got a rough mix back of a song I recorded parts for way back in early September on Indabamusic.com. I have put it on the sitewide player and am looking forward to cutting the final take of it once the arrangement is finalized for sure.

Keep rockin,
James

Well, it looks like the possible cover band project with my buddy from Saskatoon is on hold. He has found a great band to do regular gigs with right from his hometown. I am still on board for the original stuff he is writing and possibly playing the originals gigs live with him, cool cool.

I have not had much for luck in recruiting musicians to play in a busy cover band. I guess I can only conclude that most musicians would rather rehearse in a small room for months at a time, rather than GIG and find out what works with a live crowd. Life is good here, work is busy and my company is as busy as I would like it to be.

Recording has been going well and I actually got to do a fill in gig with my old buddy Thomas from Midnight Thunder. It's always fun getting on stage, I had a blast!

Rock on,
James

Well, a friend of mine in Saskatoon and myself are putting together a cover band to play as many venues as possible. We are not spending $15,000 on a CD as a marketing plan. We will be getting out there and PLAYING LIVE! We have originals that will be in the mix as well. WHOOP! I can't wait to hit the stages again.

Rock on,
James

Have had some time to work on a couple initial takes of some new music. Neither song has vocals yet but they are shaping up nicely. Once I chat with the other musicians on the sessions and clear it, I will post up a couple new tunes here. I am sure enjoying working with different musicians from around the world. I think the best part is that we are all on the collaboration site to get some work done, so there is no waiting for people to pick it up on their end. It's nice to work with people that appreciate what I am capable of as well.

Rock on,
James

Met with a friend of mine today that spent a good part of the summer travelling all over Europe attending several Metal festivals along the way. Sounds like a blast! It's great to have friends that are living life and are not content with "good enough" and "comfortable", keeps me from accepting the status quo too!

Rock on,
James

I am DONE the renovation I have been working on and will be recording Friday. WOOOT! I guess the good thing about running my own company is I can set the hours....yay! Looking forward to working on some new parts for three projects from indabamusic.com.

Rock on,
James