Blackie misses the boat
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings knew they were cutting things close trying to get to the Junos this weekend. They had a gig in Scotland on the Friday night, but were still hoping to fly into Saskatoon Saturday in time to make the Juno gala, win an award or two and then perform a midnight show at Saskatoon’s Broadway Theatre (a venue with wonderfully manicured sound ... I saw the African Guitar Summit perform there Friday). Blackie, however, missed a connection in the U.K. and failed to make it in time for both the dinner and concert. The group, which features Hamilton’s Tom Wilson, also missed the boat in the roots and traditional (group) category at the awards banquet, losing the Juno to The McDades. Blackie member Stephen Fearing did win a Juno in the roots solo category for his album Yellowjacket (Wilson co-wrote the title song). Unfortunately, Fearing wasn’t able to pick it up in person. True North label chief Bernie Finkelstein accepted on his behalf.
Celebrity menu
Musicians don’t necessarily eat well when they’re on the road. They tend to grab stuff on the run or off backstage tables where it’s probably been sitting out in the open for way too long.
They dined well Saturday at the gala banquet at Saskatoon TCU Place, however. Here’s the menu:
Starters — Prairie Style Tiger Shrimp (with Saskatoon berries.
Salad — Mesculin and Velvet Sterns, field greens and enoki mushrooms.
Entree — Chateaubriand con Vino Brodo, oven roasted garlic baby potatoes, sugar snap peas and sweet peppers
Wine: Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (with a hint of peach and gooseberry) or Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon (voted ‘best cabernet on the planet’ by Decanter magazine)
Cell phone blues
Cell phones are big at the Junos. Think of it. You win an award, run up to the stage to huge applause, blubber out your thankyous and then stumble back to the table to help your buddies slurp up the rest of the Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc.
The next thing you do is pull out the cell phone to call your mother, lover, husband, sister, son or Grade 4 music teacher to spread the good news.
In 2005 at the Winnipeg Junos, country star George Canyon even dialed his wife from the podium. A few hundred assembled guests were able to hear his wife sleepily answer the phone as he told her of his surprise victory. The stunt was sappy, but real cute.
Yesterday, the stars had to run a bit further to make a phone connection. TCU Place sits in one of those cellular black holes. You have to be standing in the right hallway at the right time, leaning in the right direction to make a connection. And then only with an easterly wind blowing.
So when Canyon won his second Juno Saturday night, it was only natural to ask him if he had made the call to his wife yet.
“My cell phone isn’t working in that area (of the TCU Centre),” Canyon said. “I’m going to have to call her from outside.”
Alexisonfire lead singer Dallas Green managed to get a call out to his mother after winning a Juno for his album City and Country, but he wasn’t looking forward to the next call he had to make.
“I’m going to have to sit down in front of my girl friend and say sorry because I didn’t thank her (from the podium).”
When asked to comment about the contribution his Hamilton-based producer Julius Butty had made to the album, Green replied: “Oh, no. I forgot to thank, Julius. There’s another person I’m going to have to call.
Where there’s a vote, there’s a Calvert
Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert has been everywhere at the Junos this weekend. He even made it to the podium of the Juno banquet to crack a few one liners.
Welcome to Saskatchewan,” Calvert said. “It’s the hardest to spell but the easiest to drive.”
The premier, obviously a fan of Sarah Harmer’s I Am A Mountain CD, “Welcome to the province where our mountain removal project was completed a long time ago.”
Okay, Lorne. We get it. You’re province is flat. Thank you. Now sit down.
Thanks from Sarah
Smart Juno winners never forget to thank their record labels when accepting their trophies. Sometimes they even mean what they say. Like Sarah Harmer. She’s got this neo-hippy anti-corporate tree-hugger thing going on, so it’s kind of hard to connect her with a big label like Universal Canada. It’s not very indy. Universal isn’t the kind of label you go to and say, ‘hey I want to go hiking for a few weeks along the Bruce Trail with my band, play some gigs in tiny places you’ve never heard of, save the planet and stop the expansion of a quarry near my mother’s farm in north Burlington. Oh, and by the way, we’re going to make a record and film a documentary while we’re doing it.’
“I’d like to thank Universal for putting the DVD out,” Harmer said in accepting a Juno for her musical DVD Escarpment Blues. “It helped spread the word about protecting important areas of our country. I really means a lot to us.”
Next time sit with somebody else
Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy was up against some tough competition in the adult alternative category. His solo CD The Light That Guides You Home was competing with albums by Ron Sexsmith, Neil Young and Sarah Harmer.
“That was tough,” Cuddy joked after winning. “I’m actually sitting with Ron Sexsmith. He’s pretty pissed off. I thought he’d be cool but he’s not.”
