A Date with a Magical Night



thanks to everyone who made saturday's record launch show at the dom polski in ottawa an incredible success.

the beau's flowed, year zero rocked and davie spun the turntables (everything from ELO to gaunt, natch!)

pals jill zmud, doug macpherson, jim bryson, dave draves, jon bartlett and scott terry all joined me on stage for a couple of super fun sets.



thanks to jb for once again pulling the kelp magic out of his energetic indie rock top hat.

you can check out some amazing photos of the evening (including these here) by andrew neville.




next stop: calgary! see you out west...

A Date with a Smoke Machine - LAUNCH TIME!



**** this saturday is the big record launch show here in ottawa to launch 'a date with a smoke machine'. the show is at the dom polski (MAP IT HERE) and doors are at 8pm. CKCU, beau's beer and kelp records are co-sponsoring. come on out, have a few beau's and help send this pop nugget into the stratosphere.

tix are 8 bucks advance at all compact disc locations and $10 at the door.

8pm: doors
9pm: year zero
10pm: chris page w/special guests
11pm: camp radio w/special guests

**** the vinyl is out and it looks and sounds amazing! we'll have it on sale at the show. of course it contains download cards so you can grab the mp3s from the kelp web site while you spin this slab o' glory on your fave turntable!

leila's art is stunning on 12"!

thanks to our amazing friends at saved by vinyl for making this happen!

**** we've had countless terrific reviews for the record so far...check out the fakebook page as we'll keep posting them there.

**** if you want to get a head start, listen and buy it online here:

**** oh yeah...i did this pod-kelp-cast for kelp records last week: what's in that smoke machine, anyway! check it!

rock. on. have. fun.

A Tribute to Sandy



It is with great sadness that I write this post.

Doug's dad, Sandy MacPherson passed away yesterday.

Sandy was a super guy who touched everyone he met. He was a jokester and true entertainer with a huge heart. He always had that sparkle in his eye and a mischievous grin that gave away the fact he was up to no good.

I have many great memories of this good ol' farmer.

Sandy let The Stand GT take over his house and farm one day to shoot a video. Always the sport, he also agreed to let these nutty young kids cast him as the drummer in some strange story that had him in a band featuring Doug's family. The plot unfolded: the boys in The Stand GT were trying to get to the 'show' to see this band.

But when we finally got there it was too late.

The final scene is of Sandy with that telling smirk, reading the paper.

The show was over. Or was it just a dream?




Sandy, you'll be greatly missed.

Our thoughts are with Doug and his entire family tonight and for the coming days.

a date with a smoke machine


.: owen and dawn from SBV! :.


we're still a month away from the release of 'smoke machine' and show details are starting to come together. check back here for the full scoop on the bash soon.

here are a couple of early reviews in the meantime...

Chris Page
A Date With A Smoke Machine
(Kelp Records)
*****
Not only will the sexy, tormented voice of Chris Page make you melt, but that guitar work of his is pure greatness. A Date with a Smoke Machine is haunting. The songs cling to you as the memories that made them must cling to Page. And there isn’t a single letdown in the bunch. It’s poetic and moving and constantly surprising you with lyrics like, “I creep into your sleep with panic stricken song.” Page even provides the back story for each song, revealing that even his point of view is poetic. He borrowed a friend’s guitar while on tour and used it to write the introduction to a song. He admits, “I’m not sure if taking songs out of someone’s guitar is fair game.” All’s fair in love Chris, and I love this CD. It’s a new staple for road trips and lazy Sundays.
STACEY LAWRENCE
See Magazine, Edmonton
January 2010

"Coax the Ending Day"
This standout from an upcoming solo album by one-third of the underappreciated Ottawa pop-punk band Camp Radio is so propulsive, it's a shock to belatedly realize that the arrangement has no drums. If you can imagine a cross between Billy Bragg's "Levi Stubbs' Tears" and The Shins' "Kissing the Lipless," you'll be about halfway there. (From A Date With a Smoke Machine, out Feb. 16, http://chrispage.bandcamp.com)
John Sakamoto
Anti-Hit List
January 2010
Toronto Star

you can get the CD now from kelp or this weekend in wakefield when i play with micarza camaro at the awesome kaffe 1870!

see you in the mountains.

> cp

waiting for the great leap forward


.: thinking about the year. the new year. :.

so it's now 2010 and i'm thrilled this decade is starting off on a friday. it feels much more stabilizing to know you've got a couple of days to get your act together before being thrown head first into the new year.

i reviewed my dorky 'revolutions' from last year on here and i think i did pretty well. i failed at spending less time in vintages and recording junior farmer songs, but i did manage to bike through the winter and, for the most part, keep my shit together. i'm still not on facebook though kelp plans to set me up with an artist page soon. *shudder* maybe i'll see some of you then.

i'll lay off the resolution list this year and only say that my plan is to play and record as much music as possible. the new record is out next month and camp radio mixing of the brand new full length is well under way. i've got solo shows booked and more plans to play with the wonderful jill zmud, so i guess i'm off to a pretty good head start 12 hours into the year.

as i look down the calendar i realize that march 15th is the 25th anniversary of the stand gt plugging in amps for the very first time. interesting. more on that to come i'm sure.

check back here soon for some demos and covers i'll be releasing in advance of 'smoke machine' seeing the light of day. show dates are hopefully coming soon as well.

i've got the test presses for the vinyl and they sound pretty hot. you can get the cd now and the records should be along via saved by vinyl in a month or so.

i'm going to go and watch the hangover now (yes, the movie). ;)

all the best to you and yours for 2010. see you down the line and/or on twitter!

let it slide, let it snow, let it die


.: what is she doing with those scissors? :.

for a limited time, i've uploaded 4 versions of 2 original christmas songs.

'the minor crime at christmastime' is a brand new track i concocted in my basement inspired by a new vintage guitar and the fact my neighbours are in competition to out-christmas-light each other.

i didn't like the first version originally so i cooked up a take that's a bit more raw...they're both here so you can choose your poison.

the second track is an acoustic version of the stand gt song 'stocking stuffer'. a wonderful and bitter little christmas tale about trimming trees with contempt!

i like that i managed to fit the grinch, my pal mike enberg and shane macgowan all into one song! and remember that good ol' shane was born on christmas day!

i recorded this a couple of years ago...i don't remember when. the original stand gt version is here too...recorded directly from the 7" vinyl. snap! crackle fan!

band camp is a super great site and you can pick any format you want. these holiday numbers are free for downloading, so grab them while you can. i'd love to share in your christmastime playlists.

have a happy and safe festive season. :)

hello, back catalogue


.: photo by Stephanie Montreuil :.

as we ramp up to officially release 'a date with a smoke machine', there are a bunch of activities underway. i've put up all my solo records on a really cool site called 'band camp'. so far you can listen to the entire back catalogue and soon you'll be able to purchase tracks in any format imaginable.

you can download the first track from smoke machine, 'two twenty twos' for free at the moment, so dig around and be sure to grab that. check back often as more stuff will be coming online and you'll be able to get the entire new record here shortly.

if you haven't seen it, the new video for 'coax the ending day' has been released. i remember when putting out a vid meant a ton of work, money and energy only to cross your fingers with bleak hope that it would show up once on the 'the wedge'. so thank you, youtube:




thank you to stephanie montreuil for the really nice live pics she took at a recent show. she kindly allowed me to use them for promo purposes so i thought i'd include a couple in this post.



.: photo by Stephanie Montreuil :.

next up: video for two twenty twos and show bookings. want me to play in your town? get in touch. believe it or not, i'll actually be heading out on the road soon. where i play is completely up in the air at the moment.

cheers.

Labels: band camp, coax the ending day, smoke machine, two twenty twos, video