FREE TAFFY @ GARY 17'S OPEN STAGE - CALIFORNIA PUB (T.O.) - MAR. 31

Free Taffy for all attendees at my March 31 open stage!

Yum, Taffy! Even if you don’t like the sticky confection, I guarantee you’ll love the duo that goes by that name: Ellen Carol and Colleen Costello, each an adventurous, delightful songwriter in her own right and together a fun-filled flurry of merriment.

It’s interesting how Ellen and Colleen trade off instruments throughout a typical set, with one playing guitar and doing lead vocals while the other adds backup harmonies and percussion. Although each has their own distinctive songwriting style, they’ve developed a rapport that blends together their individual sensibilities into something unique. And fun!

They’ll be doing the feature set at my weekly 8:30 – 1:30 open stage at California Pub, 914 Pape at Mortimer (Toronto), on Tues., March 31. Their showcase will start about 10:30 so make sure you get there in good time to get a good seat!

Last week was a solid night of fun and it was particularly delightful for me to finally get up and play at my own event as I teamed up with my partner in chime, Rob Minderman, to do the feature set as The Forecasters. We did several of my tunes and they seemed to go over very well with a decent-sized crowd. I just got an mp3 of one tune from Stuart Wilson of Big Fix Music, who normally appears each Tuesday to record acts on an ‘on spec’ basis, and it sounds super! (Stuart unfortunately can’t be there March 31 as he has a previous engagement, but will return April 7, when The Riverdale Kid is the feature.)

One of our reliable regulars, Roger Zuraw, kicked things off last week as he has on several occasions and shared a few Toronto-themed original tunes. Jo-Anne Park next made her long overdue debut at this event (I know she’s been busy working but finally had a few days off) and did a delightfully captivating set of instrumentals on guitar, only later picking up the bass to accompany some others.

Don Lewis was back for his second appearance doing his ol’ timey Country thing next. Then we were favoured with a set of originals by the duo 2 Guys With Guitars, who have some excellent tunes that also appear on three cds they recorded with their former band, Redhill Road. Derek Currie was also back this night and his deep baritone voice sounded great, while his playing was poised and confident.

Another duo took to the spotlights next, as The McDales did some of Herb Dale’s Country originals with Fran backing on vocals and Jo-Anne providing the bottom end. It wasn’t easy following that trio but Rob and I acquitted ourselves fairly well doing the showcase set next, I’m told.

Allan Moffat was next up. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Allan has now moved to Toronto permanently so hopefully we’ll see more of his thought-provoking originals in the weeks to come. Young Edo Peled took the room by storm next, getting people singing along to his upbeat, anthemic originals and impressing those who hadn’t heard him before with his energy and passion.

A super debut treat was in store next. Singer Carla Dees, whom many will remember as Carla LaLa when she wrote for my ‘to-nite magazine’ years ago, has been a regular attendee and gotten up on several occasions. This night she finally also made good on her promise to get her son Savvy out to share some of his original music and not only that but Savvy got siblings Shawn and Sarah to come out and get up with him, Shawn doing an interesting Rap-Hop introduction, then Savvy taking over with an impromptu but highly sophisticated and original Rap-Hip-Hop-Pop Fusion set, with Sarah providing backup vox, that had everybody in the place transfixed. (See pics of Savvy and Sarah, along with other performers, on the Gary 17’s Acoustic Open Stage group page on Facebook.)

It was nearly 1:20 by the time Savvy was finished but we were far from done. Paul Cross had arrived and favoured us with some 70s style Protest/Political songs. Rob Minderman was still there and got up solo next to keep us grooving with some of his Pop originals as well as some Beatles and Kinks, then stayed up to welcome Carla for the finale (at 1:55!) as she did “Summertime”. Another great night!

On the mp3 monster I played “Slow Drag” by Fusion-Jazz outfit The Outlanders; Tracy K’s “I’d Do Anything”; Sebastian Agnello’s “Me and God” and “All My Fault”; an instrumental tour de force by B3 master Tony Monaco from his new ‘Live At The Orbit Room’ disc; “Wind Of Change” by Lynn Harrison from her new ‘Simplicty’album; Derek Atherton’s “I Don’t Know”, “Summer Rain” from Gayle Ackroyd’s ‘Give It All You Got’ disc and Ellen Carol’s signature tune “Dirty Girl”.

If you’re coming out this week there’s no need to sign up early –just let me know when you’re there and I’ll get you on the list. It all starts about 8:30 and runs till about 1:30, with the feature set taking place around 10:30. A house guitar and small keyboard are available for performers, there’s two good mics and of course I’ll be spinning tunes by local and Canadian singer-songwriters and bands between live performances.

You’ll also want to check out the menu here –the food is home-made by Danny and Jeanette and they’re family-sized portions too. There are several draughts on tap and a fully stocked liquor and wine bar.

Getting to California is a breeze –and there’s a small parking lot for five or six vehicles behind it, while street parking is free after 9 p.m. on both sides of Pape. Several buses run by frequently, including the Mortimer bus (#62) between Broadview and Main stations and, north from Pape Station, the Thorncliffe Park (#81) and Don Mills (#25) buses –and after 1 a.m. the Don Mills 303 bus runs all night between Steeles and Queen and stops on Pape right out front of the club’s entrance at 914 Pape Avenue on the corner of Pape and Mortimer a few blocks north of Danforth Ave.


Gary 17
Publisher & Editor, to-nite magazine
http://to-nite.bigsmokemusic.com
Tel: 416-424-1743
Hear my radio show, Open Season, at
www.radiothatdoesntsuck.com
On Facebook: Gary Therealgaryseventeen-- hear Gary 17 songs on My Band tab!


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