GBlog

Hey everyone,

Well, my cabaret with Steven Heisler went really well and was very fun.  Many, many thanks to Sarah Richardson, Josh Kogon, and Peter Ferguson for helping myself and Steve with the show. Also, thanks to Jim Petrie for putting us in the Petrie’s Halifax Feast Cabaret Series.

So, I’m involved in a few more upcoming events which I shall plug in this email:

- Hansel and Gretel is being performed by Maritime Concert Opera.  I was the rehearsal accompanist for the children’s chorus.  They performed in Liverpool the other day, and will be at St. Andrew’s United in Halifax on Friday evening and at the Pearl Theatre in Lunenburg on Saturday evening.  More details here: http://maritimeconcertopera.com/wordpress/

- I’ll be playing a number (“In Dreams” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) in Phantoms of the Pipes XII at Fort Massey United Church in Halifax on Friday, October 30th.  More details at the end of this email.

- I’ll be accompanying Jim Petrie in his cabaret at the Halifax Feast on November 3rd.  Jim is the owner/operator/artistic director of the Halifax Feast and will be drawing on other talented Feast cast and alumni for duets and musical backup; it is sure to be a great show. Details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152026623652

- Finally, November 17th I will be performing original material of my own and my dad’s at the Lunenburg Sessions’ Songwriters’ Circle. (More on this to follow in a November email.)

Hope your Fall is going well.  Happy Halloween!

Cheers,
Gus
gnote.ca

PHANTOMS OF THE PIPES XII – The RCCO is presenting an evening of wild and wonderful organ music for the season interspersed with vocal and instrumental pieces and amusing skits that are sure to entertain. Proceeds go to the Scholarship Fund encouraging young piano students to study the organ. Come in costume if you like. Guests include the St. Margaret’s Bay Boys Choir. MC: Dr. Walter H. Kemp. Friday, October 30, 2009 – 7:30 p.m. Fort Massey United Church, corner Queen and Tobin in downtown Halifax.  Admission: $5 & $2

Hey all,

I’m back from an awesome rehearsal with Steve, and we’ve got the band back together!  So, I just wanted to send a quick reminder that our show is on 7pm tonight (Tuesday!) at the Halifax Feast, corner of Barrington & Salter (in the Maritime Center attached to the giant Aliant building), only $10!  Be there or be square! (The kids still say that, right?)

Excelsior,
Gus
gnote.ca

Gus & Steve! Photo by Peter Ferguson

Hey everybody,

I hope everyone had a good summer, and is having a good start to the fall.  My entrepreneurial pursuits in technology and music are going well, and of course with fall and the start of school comes the start of piano lessons, for which I am fortunate in having a number of bright piano students to teach.

So, last email I wrote about the show I was doing in May at the Halifax Feast, Menopositive: The Musical.  It had a great run, and now
I am heavily involved with accompanying (and even headlining in one case!) in the Halifax Feast Cabaret Series.  Starting tomorrow, for the next five Tuesdays at 7pm there will be a one-night-only cabaret show.  Unlike the normal dinner theatre, these are cabaret style, so there will not be food but the bar will still be open.

The series starts tomorrow, October 6th, with “Celebrating Kim”, a memorial and fundraiser featuring a variety of talent, some of whom I’ll be accompanying in addition to performing a number myself.  The proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “Kim Jenkins was my musical director and a well-loved performer at The Feast” notes Feast owner Jim Petrie. “It was her cabaret ‘Out Here on My Own’ back in 1994 that started the cabaret series”.

October 13th brings Sarah Richardson’s “Soul and Sass”.  It’s going to be a great show, and as the piano accompanist, I should know. The rest of the pit band includes Josh Kogon on guitar/bass and Steven Heisler on drums.  The show also features guest performer Cadance Macmichael (Miss C of Pink Velvet Burlesque).  ”There’s something for everyone! A little brassiness, a little brashiness, a little broadway, and even a little burlesque!”

October 20th “The Adventure Continues” with myself and my friend Steve Heisler.  We have a lot of fun numbers planned.  I can’t speak for others, but there’s numbers we’ll be performing that I haven’t seen anyone try to do live before.  I’ll also be world premiering a couple of original songs! “When last we saw our intrepid performers, they were battling doldrums at a rural Nova Scotian university. Now, they have hit the city, ready to bring their own brand of music, comedy, and justice* to the streets**. Fun and adventure for all ages!”
*The show may not include justice.
**The show will be in a building.

October 27th is tenor Derrick Paul Miller’s show. I’m not involved in this one, but I’ll be in the audience so I can get my perfect attendance record.

Finally, November 3rd is “The Winner Takes It All” with Feast owner/operator/artistic director Jim Petrie himself.  Once again I am the piano accompanist, and Jim has a fantastic program planned with which to finish the series.

So, that is what I’m up to these days.  Hope you’re all well, and hope to see you at some shows if you can make it out.  Facebook event links follow.  You can reserve tickets by calling the Feast at 420-1840.

Cheers,
Gus
gnote.ca

Facebook Event pages for the shows:

Kim’s Cabaret
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137840873110

Soul & Sass
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125536728891

The Adventure Continues (Mine!)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139492433829

Derrick Paul Miller
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140818748292

The Winner Takes It All
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152026623652

Hi all,

I have exciting news to relate in this mass email.  The first item is that I am going to be following entrepreneurial pursuits full-time! This will include tech support, websites, tutoring, piano lessons, music gigs, etc. Which leads into the second item…

Throughout May, I will be the pianist for “Menopositive! The Musical” at the Halifax Feast Dinner Theatre, as well as a few other venues around the Maritimes (Pictou, Truro, and Georgetown, PEI) (Schedule follows below).  Menopositive! is a musical comedy/drama with both hilarity and serious drama.  I should note that, if it was on TV, it would have one of those warnings – This show contains strong language and mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised.  (Those are the best shows, of course).

Menopositive! stars Catherine McKinnon, Bev Burrows, Pam Lutz and Pam Stevenson, who sing amazingly as soloists and as an ensemble. They’re accompanied by band members Gavin Tucker on guitars and bass, Steven Heisler on drums (who some of you may recall from 15 Minute Musical fame), and myself on piano.

I hope you are all well and enjoying the start of summer (as, much like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, winter has given spring a miss and gone straight on into summer).

Cheers,
Gus
http://www.gnote.ca/

Menopositive! Schedule:

At Petrie’s Halifax Feast
(http://www.feastdinnertheatre.com/index4.htm) For Reservations Call
(902) 420-1840
May 1, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 and the 19 – 25

May 2 – The DeCoste Centre in Pictou

May 15 & 16 – The Kings Playhouse in Georgetown, PEI

May 27 & 28 – The Marigold Theatre in Truro

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season.

The Christmas Concert I plugged in my last email went very well. Attendance was lowered by a giant rainstorm and rounds of sickness, but those who braved the storm really enjoyed the show.  I’m still getting compliments about it over a week later.  Special thanks to soloists Johnson Romkey, Willie Richards, and Bruce Oakes, and extra special thanks to soloist Stacie Dunlop who came through a rainstorm all the way from the Valley!

The Christmas/New Year time brings special gigs.  Christmas Eve I can be found playing the Christmas Eve Service at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lunenburg.

New Year’s Eve, I’m playing at the Tin Fish Restaurant in Lunenburg, as background music for their buffet dinner.  Details here: http://www.eden.travel/?q=node/35

And finally, New Year’s Day, I’ll be playing from 2-4pm as background piano at the K. C. Irving Centre in Wolfville for Acadia’s New Year’s Levee (as long as I’m not trapped home by a blizzard or something – let’s hope for good weather!).

As for the rest of the time, I hope to be spending time with family and friends, relaxing, watching tv and playing copious amounts of video games!

Merry Christmas (or other holiday of your choice) and Happy New Year!
Gus

Hi everybody,

I hope you are all having a good holiday season so far, and buying lots of Christmas or other holiday presents to stimulate the economy!

I’m writing to tell you about a Christmas concert I’m organizing at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church here in Lunenburg, where I am organist. It will have secular and sacred music, sing-alongs and solos. Christmas music is one of my favourite parts of the season, and I’m happy to have the chance to set up, emcee, and perform in a concert with great music and the chance for everyone to sing-along.

The concert is on Friday the 12th at 7pm.  It’s free-will offering, so it’s easy on the bankbook… er… debit card*.  Full details from the poster below.

Your friendly neighbourhood Christmas music enthusiast,
Gus

*The Church can’t actually process debit cards at the concert.
Putting the debit card in the collection plate is not recommended.

ST. ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
LUNENBURG, N.S.
PRESENTS
” A CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL OF MUSIC ”

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12TH. 2008

AT 7.00 P.M. IN ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

111 TOWNSEND STREET, LUNENBURG

FEATURING
A VARIETY OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC
BOTH SACRED AND SECULAR
———————————————————————
“POPULAR SOLOISTS”— “ST. ANDREWS CHOIR”
———————————————————————
“INSTRUMENTAL RENDITIONS”
———————————————————————
“AUDIENCE SING ALONG”
———————————————————————
Free Will Offering Accepted — Doors Open 6.15 p.m.

Hi everybody,

Hope you had a good summer.  Tonight, I’m just sending a quick email
to plug my entry into CBC’s Hockey Anthem Challenge.  Take a listen at
the link below, and if you are so inclined, log in and vote

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/329009

Party on,
Gus

Hi Everybody, and Merry Christmas,

It has been a long time since I have sent one of my infamous mass emails, as I’ve been really busy. So, what’s been happening, you might ask.

I sent my last email in April, and was plugging the Acadia Music Theatre show “Working” (which went well), a recital with Susan Dworkin (which went well), and a gig during the summer playing background keyboard at the Spanish Galleon (which went well). My favourite customers at the Galleon were the British tourists who came in on the last night and recognized a lot of the stuff I played, including the Star Wars and Star Trek tunes. Yet, despite being British sci-fi fans, they weren’t into Doctor Who!! Wild.

Mid-summer brought a huge development – I started working at Nancy Peers’ Law Office in Bridgewater, aka The Firm. (I had to watch the Tom Cruise movie after getting the job). The website (which I maintain) is at http://www.thefirm.ns.ca/ . I do reception, legal assistance, and tech support. It’s a great gig, and I get to learn all sort of lawyery speak to baffle people with. For example: The migration was almost done but their was a hiccup with the easement/right-of-way, meanwhile the otherside isn’t in funds anyway so we’ve had to extend closing till next week. I can say stuff like this completely seriously (never with names or identifying details of any kind, of course, confidentiality is key in the lawyer biz!), and even forget non-legal people don’t have a clue what I’m talking about

I’ve been extra-lucky in that Nancy is supportive of my bizarre schedule this year while finishing the last year of my BAM! (Bacherlor of Arts in Music, concentration Music Technology) I was full-time in the summer and nigh-full-time this term (commuting up to Acadia for Romantic Music History Tues/Thurs afternoons). Next term I’m at the office Mon/Wed/Fri while commuting up to Acadia Tues/Thurs to take Digital Media Production and 20th Century Music History. In winter. At least I have Michelin X-Ice snow tires.

Keyboard-wise, I’m playing at the Simple Moments Cafe here in Lunenburg next Tuesday at ~6:30pm. I’ll be playing Christmas tunes, jazz, and other odds and ends likely, so if you’re in the area and want some food and tunes, check it out. Details below the signature.

In other arts recap news, I did rehearsal accompaniment again for the Maritime Concert Opera Chorus to prepare for their Gilbert and Sullivan show. Plus, I sang in a concert that featured Faure’s Requiem (which I knew thanks to David Buley and the Acadia Chorus), as well as blasting people on the organ with In Dreams from Lord of the Rings. I still play church organ for St. Andrews’ Presbyterian, of course, and do my sideline tech support stuff. (Note to self: slow down.)

So, that’s all the news for now. I hope you’re all having a happy December, and staying safe on the roads.

Cheers,
Gus
http://www.gnote.ca/

Cafe gig details:

Simple Moments Cafe
Corner of Lincoln & King St Lunenburg
640-3331
Hot Tuesday
Join us Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. for Soup and your choice of either Beef
Chili, Chicken Curry, or Vegetable Curry
$9.95
Music at 6:30pm
December 18, 2007
Gus Webb – Keyboard

Hi everybody,

Well, the Acadia Music Theatre production of “Working” opens tomorrow (Thursday). I have a big ol’ media release copied at the bottom of this email. I’m excited to see it… I’m not able to be in it after all, since my schedule got in the way of making any band practices, but I know it’ll be a good show from helping out earlier.

Of course, sometimes not practicing with a group works out, too. At the Chorus/Vocal Ensemble concert on Monday, I stepped in to play the piano part of Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder for the Vocal Ensemble, as their accompanist was sick. Luckily I already know it for the recital with Susan Dworkin on the 15th.

In old news – the Sonic Lab show went well, and emceeing it was a blast. Hopefully it will be on the MusicTech website
(http://musictech.acadiau.ca/) at some point in the not too distant future (along with the Chorus/Vocal Ensemble concert from Monday). The Colby Ale House gig with Susan Dworkin also went well.

In new news – I have a steady gig for the summer playing at The Spanish Galleon in Lunenburg, on Thurs, Fri, and Sat nights, starting sometime soon. It has awesome food and is a nice place; playing there will be good times! It’s also conveniently right across the street from Elizabeth’s Books (run by my Dad). Both are on Montague St, one street up from the harbour. Feel free to email me for more specific directions to books and/or food/music if you’re headed Lunenburg way at some point.

That’s it for me,
Party on,
Gus
http://www.gnote.ca/

Media Release

“I would like to see a building…I would like to see one side of a foot-wide strip from top to bottom with the names of every bricklayer, every electrician – all the names. So when a guy walked by, he could take his son and say, “See – that’s me up there on the forty-fifth floor. I put that steel beam in”. Picasso can point to a painting, a writer can point to a book. What can I point to? Everybody should have something to point to.”

The Acadia Music Theatre program presents it’s second production of the 2006/2007 season, Working: the Musical. Based on the Studs Terkel novel, composer Stephen Schwartz explores the existence of the average working man. Stephen Schwartz is well known for his musicals Wicked, Godspell, Pippen and The Bakers Wife. Working won Schwartz a Drama Desk Award as director. With song contributions from Craig Carnelis, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor, the stories of everyday workers are told using folk, rock, Motown, and Broadway styles.

The artistic team consists of Director Robert Seale, who has worked internationally from Australia to Norway and the USA as actor, director, educator and Fight Master; Musical Director Lisa St.Clair, ECMA nominee, teacher, musical director, sound designer and performer who works Nationally and Internationally On board also are Choreographer Mary Lou Martin, who has been choreographing and directing in Canada for many years; and Associate Musical Director Paula Rockwell, a well known performer and educator with the Acadia music department and abroad. Lighting and sound design and live band are provided by students of Acadia.

The Musical is being presented at the Al Whittle Theatre April 5th – 8 pm opening, April 6th – 8 pm, April 7th – 2pm and 8 pm with a special student preview being offered April 5th at 1 pm. Tickets are $10, $8 for students and seniors and are available through the music department (585-1512) and at Box of Delights in Wolfville, as well as at the door.

Hi everybody,

Hope you’re well, and not going too crazy with end of the school term (if you’re in university, otherwise, hope your April/May isn’t too crazy, I guess). If you have a chance, though, might I recommend attending one or more of the gigs plugged below (all of which make my end of term crazier… one month to go!)

First up is Sonic Lab this Friday at 8pm in Denton Auditorium, for which I am the emcee. If you’ve ever wondered what us MusicTech types get up to, this is a good chance to find out (well, find out about some aspects, anyway). The show will feature a variety of music, from traditional music played in new ways (ex. Mozart played by an electric string quartet) to brand new pieces created for the show, using various forms of technology.

The following Friday, March 30th, at 8pm, Susan Dworkin (soprano) and myself (keyboard) will be at the Colby Ale House in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, performing some jazz. I presume they have ale, and the menu on their website looks good (http://www.colbyalehouse.ca/), so stop by if you’re in the area.

April 5th – 7th is the Acadia Music Theatre production of “Working”. I’m playing second keyboard and it’s looking like an awesome show. I’ll send another email when tickets go on sale.

April 15th is the new date for the recital with Susan Dworkin and myself. (It was previously set for April 1st). There are still a few seats left if you want in, but as it is a fundraiser seats are $40.

Whew! That’s it for this email.
Party on everybody,
Gus
http://www.gnote.ca/