...Collette brings you this recently unearthed treasure. It's a live version of "Midnight" taken from the CD release concert for "Zen Boyfriend." This features Canadian jazz legend Richard Underhill along with drummer Adam Warner (who will be back on Collette's forthcoming CD,) bassist Wes Neal, and producer/fall guy John Zytaruk on lap steel. Glad this one-of-a-kind version was documented!
Collette and John spent an unforgettable couple of hours the other night as the brilliant Bob Wiseman laid down some piano tracks for the new album.
Here's a little teaser to give you an idea of what Collette's forthcoming third CD will sound like. Although this won't appear on the CD, this is a cover of Collette performing Little Willie John John's classic "My Love Is." This came about at the very end of the recording sessions when, just for fun and to celebrate the completion of the last song, Collette decided to get everyone to jam on this great song which has long been a favourite in her live repertoire. Recorded in one take this shows the beautiful natural ambience of the church and the exceptional skills of acoustic bassist Brian Kobawakawa, drummer Adam Warner, producer John Zytaruk and master engineer Joe Mancuso. Enjoy!
Back in North Bay when Collette was growing up, her first big concert experience was seeing Tom Cochrane in Memorial Gardens (where John saw Rush when he was but a wee lad...) Anyway here's Collette and John doing Tom's classic "Life Is A Highway." Stay tuned for a future version of "Xanadu" or maybe "Closer to the Heart..."
This past Saturday Collette and John spent a long hot afternoon in Oakville shooting the performance portions of a music video for one of the songs from Collette's forthcoming third CD. Director Jessica Adams and cinematographer Lucas Chong deserve special thanks for their hard work and artistic vision. Collette especially was a real trouper as she performed for take after take in the stifling heat. The glamour of showbiz!
Just a quick update to let everyone know that progress is going well on Collette's forthcoming third CD. The tracks recorded in the spring are now being mixed and various overdubs of background vocals and guest soloists are being added. We're lucky to have master fiddler Saskia Tomkins return for a few tracks and are very excited that original Blue Rodeo keyboardist Bobby Wiseman will be adding some piano to one of the songs. In the meantime come on down to the Tranzac club on the first TUesday of every month to get a sneak peak at some of the new songs!
Regrettably, due to circumstances beyond their control, Collette and John will NOT be performing their monthy show at the Tranzac this Tuesday May 3rd. They will be back on Tuesday June 7th. See you then!
Come one come all down to the Tranzac Club in Toronto on March 1st to hear Collette and John perform...including songs from her upcoming CD. Things are moving along nicely with sessions booked for late March in a 160 year old church. Adam Warner will return on drums and the Creaking Tree String Quartet's Brian Kobayakawa will play acoustic bass. John will produce and award-winning engineer Joe Mancuso will take care of the sound. Thanks to all who have contributed to the advance sales-your support is invaluable in enabling this to happen with these great cats...
Collette and John ended the year on a high note when they were selected by guest host Rich Terfry (aka Buck 65) to play at Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett's annual Basement Revue, held at Toronto's very cozy Dakota Tavern on Dec. 28th. They performed three songs which will be featured on Collette's upcoming CD and then John had the pleasure of improvising some dobro behind acclaimed author Gil Adamson ("Outlander") as she read a poem about a gunslinger. Finally John joined Buck 65 onstage for a performance of "Paper Airplane" a song they co-wrote along with PEI songstress Jenn Grant and which will be featured on Buck's next CD to be released early in the new year. Other performers that night included Great Lake Swimmers' Tony Dekker as well as the Cowgirl Choir so it was a pretty special evening. The craziest part though, was what happened during paramedic/author/storyteller-extraordinaire Morgan Phillips' monologue. An audience member standing near the bar passed out and hit the floor hard, necessitating Morgan to cut short his appearance and spring into action to assist the unfortunate individual. The audience got to see first hand just how Morgan does his job but the only way to find out how the story ended was to buy Morgan's book "The Emergency Monologues" (which Collette did of course!)
We now have more details about Collette's upcoming appearance at The Cameron House next week in support of The Daily Bread Food Bank. HOTCHA has put together a stellar lineup of excellent musicians and it's sure to be a night to remember. Come on down to support a most worthy cause and to hear a ton of great songs by some fine folks!
Just two more chances to hear Collette live this year in the Toronto area-tonight at the Tranzac Club and December 21st at the Cameron House where she will appear with John to support the Daily Bread Food Bank in a benefit show. Details to follow as soon as they are available...
Just a reminder to those in the Toronto area about our next show the Tranzac Tuesday Oct. 5th at 7:30 PM. Hope to see you there!
Fresh from their Whimsical Wedding in the Woods last month up near North Bay, Collette and John are very excited about resuming their musical partnership on stage. Their monthly shows at the Tranzac Club in Toronto start up again on Tuesday Sept 7th at 7:30 PM. They will be there again on the first Tuesday of each month for the rest of the year. Come on down to hear songs new and old, hear some crazy stories and, of course, win some of the most sought-after prizes available anywhere!
...an authentic image of a three-headed ukulele ensemble! Actually it's Collette, John and special guest Steve McNie as seen at The Tranzac Club in Toronto playing Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine."
Collette and John will be at the Tranzac Club in Toronto on Sunday June 6th from 5-7 PM for the last show of their current residency there. They'll be taking a little time off this summer to do more work on the next CD and also to get married! There will be a few shows here and there and they hope to be back at the Tranzac for regular shows in the fall.
Collette and John are honoured and very excited to have been chosen to travel, later this month, to the remote northern Ontario First Nations community of Pikangikum as part of an Artscan Circle trip. While there they will conduct music workshops and teach ukulele to schoolchildren. The kids will be receiving 30 ukuleles which were generously donated by the Corktown Ukulele Jam of Toronto. Check back here later for an update on how the trip went and to see photos of what is sure to be a unique experience!
Here's a live video shot by Paul Yedema at the Tranzac Club in Toronto featuring Collette's new song "Nicer Things." Collette is playing her "Lovelele" the new custom engagement ukulele made by Dave Talsma. John is accompanying her on his dobro...
Collette and John are pleased to announce that they will have a special guest at their next show at the Tranzac on March 2nd. Steve McNie will be sitting in with them on cello, accordion and lord knows what else (he can play just about anything he picks up it seems!) Steve is the co-founder of the Corktown Ukulele Jam where John and Collette can often be found on Wednesdays down at the Dominion on Queen. Steve also plays with The McFlies and is involved in a multitude of projects at any given time. Come on down for an extra-special evening of great music (click on the poster below for show details or go to the Calendar section of the website.)
Collette and John are pleased to announce that their regular monthly shows at the wonderful Tranzac Club in Toronto have been extended to June! Come on down to the Southern Cross Lounge on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:30 PM to enjoy Collette and John playing music from Collette's last two CDs as well as material from her forthcoming third (along with the usual assortment of covers from the folk, blues, jazz and pop worlds.) Add to that Collette's uniquely entertaining stage presence and the wacky prizes and you'll be sure to have a great evening!
To celebrate the holidays Collette is posting her melancholy Christmas song "I'm So Cold." She wrote this on dulcimer last year just before Christmas and it was up on her MySpace page for a little while but, other than that, it hasn't been available until now. Feel free to download it, cry along in your eggnog with it, and share it with whomever you like!
Thanks to all who came out to see us at the Moonshine Cafe in Oakville and especially to William & Polly for sharing their fine music with everyone.
