I've had the opportunity and
pleasure to play several shows over the past month or so. Most recently
Sarah Wheeler spontaneously asked me to sit in with her for her
second set at The Empress Ale House in Edmonton (along with Tom
Murray on stand-up bass and Mike Silverman on drums). She was a
lot of fun to play with -- we had a fine old time on a beautiful
sunny Sunday afternoon on Whyte Avenue. I like these shows where
I don't know the songs too well -- it keeps me on my toes.
Meanwhile, Manraygun did a last minute gig at the Black Dog and
"The Guaranteed" (with whom I play lead guitar) played
a quaint little festival just north of Hinton called "The Wild
Mountain Music Festival". The festival was set at the beautiful
Entrance Ranch -- unbelievably serene and pristine praire landscape
complete with mountain view and a cabin for the band. Loved it!
June
18, 2008: "Misfortune Telling" cd in stores now!
Manraygun's first full-length
cd release is now available in Edmonton at Megatunes
on Whyte Avenue as well as Blackbyrd
Myoozik. To hear songs from the cd, please visit our myspace
site.
Manraygun's cd release is upon
us -- tickets are now available. $10 for an advance ticket and $20
for an advance ticket as well as a cd. If you want an advance ticket,
send me an e-mail: info@everettlaroi.com
Tickets will of course be available at the door ($12). The new full
length cd (Manraygun - Misfortune Telling) will also be available
for $15 at the venue.
Also, this just in -- The Mike
McDonald Broadband will be leading up for Summerlad this Thursday
at New City Suburbs here in Edmonton! I play lead guitar in "the
Broadband" along with Mickey Vallee on accordian, Duane Elias
on bass guitar and of course, Mike McDonald on acoustic guitar and
vocals.
Just came off a whirlwind of
gigs with the 3 bands I currently play with. Saw many old friends
and met many new people -- great fun!
The week started of on May 17 in Calgary at The Marquee Room with
my primary musical project "Manraygun"
. Deon Blyan was the warm-up
act. I know Deon from way back when he frequented an open stage
I used to host on Whyte Avenue at Mickey Finn's. He's never sounded
better -- he has a new album out titled "Lessons (and other
things I've learned)".
Sunday I was back in Edmonton playing with "The
McDonald Broadband" at Sleeman's 20th Anniversary show
at The Black Dog Freehouse.
The 5 band bill included The
City Streets, Eamon
McGrath and the Wild Dogs, The Wheat Pool as well as another
open stager, Daniel Buxton,
along with violinist Sara Hart. Daniel has come a long way. He's
always been an engaging performer, probably best known by Edmontonians
for marathon busking stints on Whyte Avenue. Daniel's experimentation
with polytonal throat singing techniques is interesting -- slightly
on the spooky side, in a good way.
The next part of the week was devoted to gigs with Darrek
Anderson and The Guaranteed, a group I've been playing with
since late 2007. Tuesday we played The Pawn Shop on Whyte Ave leading
up for Steven Kellog and
The Sixers, Thursday we played the Canmore Hotel, and finally
friday saw us leading up for The
Swiftys to a packed house at The Palamino Club in Calgary. Fresh
off the road, Swifty sounded confident and strident -- his vocals
were great. I had the pleasure of hearing and meeting steel guitarist
Roger Marin
who was sitting in with Swifty. The former guitarist for Fred Eaglesmith
was also the producer of Darrek Anderson's latest cd "Places
We Used To Go".
According
to !Earshot
Manraygun's first cd release "Twilightspeak" has moved
up to number 10 at Calgary's CJSW-FM!! That's kinda cool. We'll
be playing Calgary on May 17 at The Marquee Room (see side bar for
details).
We
are just about ready to ship off the final mixes of our upcoming
12-song cd "Misfortune Telling" to California for mastering.
The mastering will be performed by JJ Golden in Ventura, CA.
We have also confirmed the venue for our cd release party:
"Manraygun's
"Misfortune Telling CD Release
Party"
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Upstairs at Teddy's
Edmonton, Alberta
stay tuned for more information!
Manraygun's
first cd release "Twilightspeak" is now available for
purchase from Apple's
itunes music store as individual downloadable tracks or as a
complete cd. You will need "itunes" installed on your
computer to purchase the songs in this fashion.
Manraygun's
first cd release "Twilightspeak" is now available for
purchase online at cdbaby.com.
You can purchase the cd safely online and have it mailed to you,
or buy it song by song as a download.
Twilightspeak
has been receiving airplay on CJSR-FM (Edmonton), the CKUA Radio
Network (across Alberta) as well as CBC Radio ("The Signal").
To read a review of the cd from VUE Weekly, click
here.
Everett LaRoi performing live
in Edson with "The Guaranteed".
Being
a musician may be filled with a sense of foreboding about what your
future may bring. It may marginalize you into a cultural stereotype
in the minds of many. But at least it's not BORING -- that I assure
you!!
It
doesn't seem to matter where we play, whenever I play with Darrek
Anderson & The Guaranteed there seems to be many moments
of hilarity and absurdity that keep me chuckling to myself for days.
Our little road trip to Edson over the weekend was no exception.
It began the moment we stepped on stage with a group of of young
drunken ladies demanding: "take off your shirts!!" and
carried on from there. The group has some shows coming up in Edmonton,
Canmore and Calgary -- check the side bar for details and come join
the mayhem!
Manraygun
has confirmed an upcoming show in Calgary on May 17 at The Marquee
Room. It will be a double bill with Edmonton's Trent Buhler. Stay
tuned for more details.
Manraygun
has been busy putting the finishing touches on 13 new songs for
a full length cd tentatively slated for spring release. Stay tuned
for more details. In an effort to raise funds for the manufacturing,
we will be selling advance copies of the disc. If you're interested
in helping us out in this way, please send
me an e-mail.
I
will be doing some additional shows with Darrek
Anderson & The Guaranteed over the next month -- please
check the sidebar for more details. The first shows will be in Stony
Plain on February 8 & 9 at "The Early Stage Saloon".
After that we will be playing in Edson Alberta at "Castaways"
on February 29 and March 1.
Happy
belated new year! I spent new years eve this year playing with The
McDonald Broadband at Edmonton's
City Hall. We were very pleased to be inside -- there were other
bands performing at the outdoor stage in Churchill Square at -15C
-- ouch!!
This
past weekend's shows with Darrek
Anderson & The Guaranteed and Mark
Davis have come and gone, but I won't forget the road trip anytime
soon. Darrek had asked me to join his group for shows in Lethbridge
and Calgary, but then Mark Davis also asked me to accompany him
and drummer Mike Silverman for their sets as well. It's challenging
and interesting to play on songs you're unfamiliar with. Mark showcased
many new songs, and despite our long standing acquaintance it was
in fact our first time sharing the stage together. Things went well
overall -- and then of course, as always, there were many ensuing
misadventures and late night shenanigans.
The first show was at "The Slice Bar
& Grill" in Lethbridge. A fine spot for live music.
It
was a cold night with only a few hearty souls in attendance, but
our fine bartender Roxxi kept our spirits up with her sweet smile,
clever wit and trays of exotic refreshments. Here's a picture of
her from facebook (she said I could use it!).
The next night's show was in Calgary at an
extremely funky outlaw country honky-tonk named "A Bar Named
Sue":
Here's some pics: the first one is of me backing
up Mark Davis (right) with Mike Silverman on drums.
Here's
one of The Guaranteed. That's Scott Davidchuck on drums, Darrek
Anderson on guitar and vocals and Tom Murray on the bass guitar
(I'm out of this shot):
Darrek
Anderson & The Guaranteed have asked me to join the group
on lead guitar for a couple of shows on the road this coming weekend.
The first show is this Friday night (December 7) in Lethbridge at
"The Slice Bar & Grill" and the Calgary show is on
Saturday night (December 8) at "A Bar Named Sue".
Sharing
the bill with "The Guaranteed" for both shows will be
Edmonton's Mark Davis.
Friday December 7:
"The Slice Bar & Grill", 314 8 Street South
Lethbridge, AB, Canada click
here for directions
Manraygun's
first EP "twilightspeak" is out -- to listen to songs
from the cd (for a limited time), please visit the
manraygun myspace site. The cd will be available in Edmonton
at Megatunes and Blackbyrd
Myoozik on Whyte Avenue on Tuesday, November 6. Please check
back soon for additional information on retail and internet availability.
We
were in Calgary over the weekend leading up for "The Raveonettes"
and "Gliss" at Broken
City. The Raveonettes
were great -- very intentionally derivative in an almost formulaic
way, but somehow totally engaging and satisfying, at least as far
as I was concerned.
Last
night's show at The Black Dog was like a house party -- so many
folks I haven't seen in such a long while. Great to see so many
old friends and familiar faces. We were rough, ragged and ready
to celebrate the arrival of our new cd ep "Twilightspeak".
We will be posting a song from the disc on our myspace site pronto
and the cd will be available in select stores in Edmonton by next
week -- check back soon for details.
We're
looking forward to our gig with the Raveonettes in Calgary this
Friday.
Manraygun's
first cd "Twilightspeak" arrived today -- we're all very
excited!! If you're in Edmonton, we are playing a free show at "The
Black Dog Freehouse" (10425
- 82 Ave) this
coming Wednesday night (October 24) where we will be making the
cd available for the first time. If you want to come out and celebrate
with us, we'd love to see ya!
Manraygun was featured last week in an article in VUE Weekly. To
read the article, click
here!
Just
wanted to thank those of you who came out to my "solo"
gig at Cafe Select in Edmonton this past week. It was great fun
for bassist Tom Murray and myself to put
it all together -- many new songs to learn, new arrangements to
work out and so on. There's nothing like the sound of a stand-up
bass. It's almost like playing with a big drum - very deep, percussive
and rhythmic.
There's
more shows coming up right around the corner - stay tuned! I will
be playing with Mike McDonald's "Broadband" at the Black
Dog Freehouse in Edmonton on October 20 (Saturday afternoon show
-- always a fun crowd) and then Manraygun
will be at the same venue the following Wednesday evening. Check
the sidebar for details. > > >
Manraygun
will be leading up for The
Raveonettes
in Calgary on Friday, October 26 at "Broken City".
We were supposed to do this show earlier this year but The Raveonettes
had to cancel at the last minute. We're very pleased to be included
on this bill once again -- this should be a great show! Stay tuned
for more information.
I have just confirmed an upcoming solo show in Edmonton. I will
be playing at the southside "Cafe Select" on Thursday,
September 20. More details to follow!!
Manraygun
was the lead up act for Winnipeggers "Nathan"
at the Velvet Underground in Edmonton last night -- a hot day and
a sweltering gig. They are a charming group -- great vocal harmonies.
And check out dem homemade clothes!
Here's a video clip of Manraygun
performing the song "Subway Minuet" live at "Broken
City" in Calgary, Alberta on April 27, 2007:
Fort Edmonton Park has asked me to do some
more historic song interpretation on Monday, May 21. This isn't
a show, I just walk around with my guitar down at the train platform
and at the new 20s Midway playing songs from the time period. Very
casual -- a good family event. I'll be playing frontier songs, cowboy
ballads as well as vaudeville songs.
With the Raveonettes unable to cross the
Canadian border and all Canadian Raveonettes tour dates delayed
until September, the folks down at "Broken City" in Calgary
have asked Manraygun to step up to the plate tomorrow night and
be the headliner for the gig.
Manraygun
Friday, April 27
Broken City
613 - 11th Ave. S.W. Calgary, Alberta
doors 8pm show 9pm
Unfortunately, the Edmonton and Calgary shows
with the Raveonettes have been postponed until September. Sune lost
his passport and has been trying desparetely to get across the "world's
longest unguarded border" but to no avail. He's tried the embassy
route and everything. It's that messy rock star hair thing…
makes him a terrorist or something.
Sorry folks. We were really looking forward to these shows and to
seeing you all. We now turn our attention back to recording, etc.
We'll keep you all posted on upcoming gigs. Cheers.
Manraygun:
cabin fever. campfire poetry. dog-eared. old guitars. amplifier
tubes like warm chestnuts in your pockets. doghouse, double-bass
heartstrings. quiet drumbs. loud drumbs. shaky things. folkways
dust. the reverb of horsethief canyon. tremolo.
The McDonald Broadband
returned to the recording studio over this past weekend - great
fun! Mike McDonald's latest project includes Mickey
Vallee on accordian, Duane
Elias on bass, and myself on electric gee-tar. We recorded 4
songs over at producer Steve
Loree's recording studio.
If you're in Edmonton, I'm playing an acoustic solo gig at Cafe
Select (the southside one: 8404 - 109 street) this coming Thursday
night. It would be great to see you there. I saw Ben Spencer play
at this venue about a month ago and it was a really fun -- very
low key. It's nice to see a "new" singer-songwriter venue
in Edmonton. (support live music!)
The
first set starts at around 8:00 pm -- there's no cover!
We've posted another new song penned by Dennis Lenarduzzi and myself,
on the Manraygun myspace
site. The title of the new tune is "Navy Blue". This
is just a demo, but the group has been working up a full band version
of this song at recent rehearsals.
Here's a photo Fish Griwkowsky
took of manraygun playing at The Powerplant last month.That's Silas
on the left, Tom on the right, and yours truly in da middle. Fish
is a multi-talented fellow; part photographer, part journalist,
part artist. Fish took this one with a little pocket camera in between
tall pints of draught....
I have just confirmed an upcoming solo show in Edmonton. I will
be playing at the southside "Cafe Select" on Thursday,
April 5. This will be low key event with just acoustic guitar and
vocals. I am excited about playing several new compositions that
I co-wrote with Dennis
Lenarduzzi. We've been on a bit of a roll this past year.
You
can listen to a demo of the latest song Dennis and I wrote called
"Sunday Hymn" on the Manraygun
myspace site . It's just a sketch recording, so don't expect
Daniel Lanois or anything...
Dennis
and I are both members of the band Manraygun
which also
features Silas
Grenis on drums, Steve Lenarduzzi on guitars & vocals, and
Tom Murray on stand-up
bass.
Manraygun
will be the warm up band for The
Raveonettes canadian tour dates in both Calgary and Edmonton
at the end of April. The Edmonton show is on Thursday, April 26th
at "The New City Likwid Lounge" and the Calgary show will
be on Friday, April 27 at "Broken City" in Calgary.
Manraygun's
second gig was a show at" The Powerplant" on the University
of Alberta campus, here in Edmonton. We shared the bill with Vancouver's
whiskey soaked folk sensation Geoff Berner, and Edmonton's own AA
Soundsystem. It was a pretty packed house, which is always a nice
thing for any musician. Any musician who's been around has played
his fair share of empty venues -- you have to expect that sometimes
if you take on this job. Anyway, it was packed, we were stoked and
things went swimmingly. Thanks to all of the folks who came by to
say hello and wish us well. Thanks also to Mickey Vallee who joined
us for a couple tunes on accordian.
Actually
Mick and I had already played another gig earlier that day with
"The McDonald Broadband" over at "The Black Dog Freehouse"
on Whyte Avenue. What can I say? Another beer-soaked afternoon at
"the dawg" surrounded by friends -- great fun!
Check
the sidebar for 2 new upcoming gigs by 2 bands that I currently
play with: Manraygun, and The McDonald Broadband. It's a double
header!
Well,
we finally had our first official gig! Manraygun performed this
past Saturday afternoon at The Black Dog Freehouse here in Edmonton.
Gotta thank everyone who came out -- holy crow! We were overwhelmed
with the turn out and all of the encouragement from everyone. Here's
a picture from the show:
To
see more pictures of Manraygun performing at The Black Dog, click
here.
available online from CD Baby (click below)
or as a download from the Apple itunes music store:
