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and trivia:
Overheard recently: "What's the difference between a singer-songwriter and a puppy? Eventually the puppy stops whining."
March 2014 - Wow! I had a great time playing at both the at the Tongue on the Post winter music festival in January 2014 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and the Uptown Winterfest in Edmonton in February. Fantastic people, music and venues warm up the cold winter nights.
Christmas 2013 - I am so excited! I am getting an Advanced Audio CM87se microphone for Christmas! This awesome mic will be a great addition to my studio that I plan to use on all the acoustic stuff, from vocals to acoustic instruments. Yay!
December 2013 - Hey! I have been booked to play at the Tongue on the Post winter music festival in January 2014 in Medicine Hat, Alberta! I will be playing a cafe concert on Friday (at the Inspire cafe at 2 pm), and at the festival proper on Saturday. See you there!
November 23/13 (yes, I know that I am not very diligent about keeping this up to date!) - I just found out that my song "Here I Go Again" was broadcast as part of the MTV series "True Life" in an episode that has aired several times called "I am Supporting my Man". Also, my song "Forever Yours" has been used on another episode of "Bad Girls Club" on the US Oxygen network, this time an episode called "Beach Blanket". Awesome!
September 30/13 - Last Saturday I played a new song for the Alberta Heritage Song Project, about the trade in buffalo bones in Alberta in the 1880's. It was an interesting show, with about 15 different songwriters all bringing their own perspective to events in Alberta's past, sponsored by the Provincial Archives. Check out my song on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQUgxHxnh_g&feature=youtu.be
May 3, 2013 - been a while - Yay! My crutches are gone and I am walking around now after my surgery to repair a broken ankle. It looks like I will be "back on my feet" real soon!
August 13, 2011 - I played with the Big Rubber Band (I am the sax player) at the first Edmonton Rocks festival, featuring Jefferson Starship and a bunch of other classic rockers. It was loads of fun, and we were treated very well. We got a great response from the audience and positive coverage in the local radio media. Hopefully we can do it again next year!
May 14, 2011 I played as a finalist for the Calgary Folk festival songwriters competition on May 14, 2011 at the Ship and Anchor Pub in Calgary . I didn't win, but got a very positive reception and had a lot of fun.
April 2011: Check out my new song "Highway of Tears", on the Highway of Tears website at http://www.highwayoftears.ca/ . It will soon be available on my other websites as well.
February 3, 2011 - the new CanIndie website has added me. Thanks guys!
Here is their website:
February 2, 2011 - I see that Celtic Roots Radio has put me on their play list, with "Round Round" and "The Family of Man". I also did a short promo spot for them. Their website is here: http://www.celticrootsradio.com/
November 8, 2010 - Wow, the Homefest was a blast! Brad and I played on a stage with Dennis Lakusta and Paul Lepage, and their backup players. It turned into a big jam with some cool performances, especially on my song "the Family of Man". A great time for a worthy cause.
September 7, 2010 - More interesting things are happening. I now have an agreement with MTV to use some of my acoustic instrumentals in upcoming documentaries. They are starting with "Donna's Morning Air" and then some more as things move forward.
I have also been selected to do a return performance at the Homefest, an annual one day festival supporting the homeless in Edmonton in November. I played there two years ago with Brad and enjoyed it a lot.
Also, I will be doing a couple of radio throws for Bertwin 'blues' Bijleveld for his station in the Netherlands, where they are playing my songs.
August 28, 2010 - as noted on the front page of my website, I have a song (an instrumental version of "Forever Yours") placed in a TV show, "The Bad Girls Club", airing on August 31, 2010 on the Oxygen Network in the USA. This is the fifth episode of the fifth season for this reality show, and I am looking forward to hearing what they do with my song.
Also, I am in talks with MTV in New York to use some of my songs in upcoming documentaries they are producing. Should be fun.
May 30, 2010 - Well, it has been a while, and a few interesting things have happened lately. I have recently signed a non-exclusive licencing deal with Musync in the USA. They will be looking to place some of my songs in TV and movies, and that sort of thing. That would be great. I am also talking to a couple of other sources about radio and similar placements worldwide and in the USA specifically. We will see what happens, but it looks like fun. 5 of my songs have also been selected for TV show placements by companies through Broadjam.
I was particularly thrilled to get an email from a woman on the UK. She found "The Wedding Vow" on a wedding website, and wanted an instrumental version. She wanted to have her friend sing it at her wedding. Fortunately, I have an instrumental version of that song available for download at my Broadjam website at http://www.broadjam.com/artists/home.php?artistID=50273 . I was touched that she would want to have my song at her wedding.
I was also recently asked to write a song for the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Senior Slow Pitch Association. This is my baseball league for the past couple of years, and I was glad to do it. I used the tune from an old children's song that I wrote many years ago but never recorded, and added in a bunch of photos for a short video. Due to a lack of time, I used electronic drums, but it is still fun. We played it at the anniversary dinner and it was well-received. You can see the video and hear the song at the ESSPA website at http://www.esspa.ca/
March 20, 2010 - Normally I don't put open stage performances on my list, but last week I had two interesting experiences. First, I was down in Calgary on a Wednesday night, so I went and played at the Ironwood Stage and Grill weekly open stage that night for the first time. They have a pub-type atmosphere and I enjoyed playing for a new audience.
Then, on Friday night, I played at the Uptown Folk Club monthly open stage, as I do most months of the year. This time was different because I played a solo banjo set, with a home made stomp box subbing in as a kick drum. In more than a thousand live gigs (not counting open stages and such) over the past 30 years, I have never played a solo banjo show before, so it was exciting for me. It was also my first time trying out the stomp box, which I made at home about a week ago. I was short of banjo songs and didn't want to do all bluegrass, so I wrote two songs in the three days before the show and played them too (which made it even more intimidating). It went over very well, and I will now have to give serious thought to making a banjo portion of my regular sets in gigs. The stomp box also added a lot, as it gave me a steady pulse that I could work overtop of. Life on the edge, but it worked out.
January 25, 2010 - What a great time! Last Saturday I played at the Tongue On The Post festival in Medicine Hat, Alberta. We were warmly received while a snowstorm raged outside, along with some other truly fine performers. I was a bit worried about it because I didn't know whether my recent stomach surgery would cause problems, but my wonderful Donna helped me with everything I needed to be able to perform. The festival website is here: http://www.mhfolkmusic.com/topfest.htm
January 18, 2010
Well, last week I had an operation to correct a hiatus hernia. They took part of my stomach and wrapped it around the esophagus, then tied it in place. The idea is to help the stomach acid stay in the stomach where it belongs. It was quite painful for a few days, but it is getting better everyday and I hope to be back to normal (but better!) in a few weeks. The doctors say everything went well.
Debora from Abaca Entertainment in Vancouver is taking my songs over to the MIDEM show in France next week, and we hope to get some publishing interest. I am excited, and we will see what happens.
Also this week, I am scheduled to play at the Medicine Hat Tongue on the Post winter festival next Saturday. Although it is a bit dicey because of my surgery, it looks like I will be able to make it and hope to make new friends when we are down there.
October 16/09 - hey, I will be playing a few songs at the Prickly Pear Cafe in Medicine Hat, as an audition for their winter "Tongue on the Post" festival. Come out and say hello if you are in the area!
August 5/09 - I spent a great week in Saskatoon for the national slow pitch championships over the August long weekend. Our team came in third in our division, which was not bad, and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and new friends we made while camping in our little Boler trailer. Lots of fun!
June 3/09 - News Flash!! The new CD, titled "the Family of Man", is off to the production house- it will be ready around June 24 - stay tuned...
Yay! We recorded another short interview and song for SHAW-TV In May. They aired it on May 7 - 8, 2008. It is posted on Youtube here.
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Update November 2008 - I see that the CD is now getting some airplay in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, the UK, the USA, Poland, and Belarus, among others. Awesome!
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Update February 2008 - I see that CBC Radio in Saskatchewan has played "Sail Away" this month. Thanks, that means a lot to me.
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Update December 2007: You can DOWNLOAD individual songs from many services worldwide, including Itunes, eMusic, Napster and Puretracks. Go to the Download Songs page to get your favourite songs.
Also, I see that a couple of my songs from the CD, "Forever Yours" and "Evolution", were played on the CKUA radio network in Alberta, and CBC has been playing the Betty and the Bobs version of the "I Love You Rag" on several shows in the past few months. Yay!
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Update July 15, 2007: I see that the album is on the June play list for CKMS-FM in Waterloo, Ont. Thanks folks, that's very cool.
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One of the songs on this CD, the "I Love You Rag", was recorded last year and released in December 2006 by Betty and the Bobs in Toronto. It is a great jazzy version of the tune. You can link to their website here: http://www3.sympatico.ca/woodway/BettyandtheBobs.html
CONTACT RICK: click here to email me at ricgarvin@gmail.com