Dec 3, 2004

Journal

We’re back…

Hi gang,

I write this as we travel west on the #1 from Winnipeg (aka Winterpeg aakkaa Summerpeg, today very warm) to Brandon for a play at The 40 tonight. Like the unconditional love of a best friend, the good souls of Manitoba’s capitol were out in full force at the McPhillips Station Casino last night. [...]

“Give me a sound warning. Give me a trace of love. Give me Hell for effort. Listen to the crows cry for sustenance – they know more than we give them credit for.
My story is a long time coming…”

I’ve been AWOL for some time now and I promise that I will try to give a [...]

Dec 2, 2003

I’ve not written for sometime - not sure what happened though… When we played in Saskatoon last week, I went out a few days early to hang with Don and Jacque at their new house north of the city, which, by-the-way, is fabulous. Very private and very quiet. We ate and drank and watched movies [...]

Sept 19, 2003

Iron Horse, Kingston. We’ve had a hit and miss history with Kingston. I remember some great gigs and a couple of disasters and some strange, “coming of age” times as well. Lakeview Manor was an early show experience here—and my first exposure to bill sharing with women who wear little-to-no clothing. We played a show [...]

Sept 18, 2003

I love my cowboy suit. I love the hat. I feel like Tim McGraw when I put it on. I feel like a mysterious, dangerous character. I feel like a fun-loving redneck ready for a rock’n good time.
The first few numbers in the set are very upbeat and with the cowboy suits it’s like HeeHaw [...]

Sept 17, 2003

Cambridge. Fiddler’s Green. Some shows are difficult to describe only because I can’t remember anything of any real significance happening. We played and it all came together nicely. I think we have mastered the ability of putting on a solid show that continually builds through out the night. When you have as many relatively recognized [...]

Sept 12, 2003

Every now and then, we play a gig that’s a bit of a freak show. The venue or the audience or a certain combination of both qualify the gig to “freak status”. Enter the Brampton Fairgrounds. This one was certainly hovering close to freak status. We were picking up after the demolition derby and the [...]

Aug 4, 2003

Right: The Pikes and Rob Wells aka Ricky from Trailer Park Boys
This is arguably the tastiest date on this little tour - figuratively and literally. The Marquee club is owned and operated by one of the coolest guys in town: Victor Syperek. The host of hosts makes us feel like royalty when we are there. [...]

Aug 3, 2003

Last night we played a private party in Fredericton. Super-fans Krista & Geoffrey Downey celebrated their recent marriage (together 12 years before tying the knot - heads up to all of you twenty somethings wanting to get married!!!) by throwing an amazing bash at a beautiful hotel on the outskirts of town. Two tons of [...]

Aug 2, 2003

OK Enough loafing around. Time to get back to work. New Glasgow’s Jubilee Festival last night. Pretty typical show for us. Several thousand people seemed to have a good time. Weather was perfect. Patrick was a great help. And a fantastic venue! Thank you Emma.
Got back to the hotel in time to see the second [...]

July 29, 2003

Left: Jay, Merl, Jeffrey Liberty, Don & Bryan
Good morning Fish-Heads. O’Leary’s in St. John last night. Absolutely amazing. A small club filled to the rafters. The best kind of shows. The audience was so much fun to play for. Hot, sticky, sweaty fun. Steve, Craig, Sherrie and Stephanie were all very kind and generous. Tech-extrordinaire and [...]

July 28, 2003

Greetings from Eastern Canada. We’re en route to St. John NB this morning. Last night’s gig in Port Hawkesbury was interesting. Temperamental weather played havoc on the set and things got pretty wet up there - I hope the gear works tonight! Do you know how cool Don looks when water is pouring down from [...]

July 28, 2003

Dec 3, 2004

“Give me a sound warning. Give me a trace of love. Give me Hell for effort. Listen to the crows cry for sustenance – they know more than we give them credit for.

My story is a long time coming…”

I’ve been AWOL for some time now and I promise that I will try to give a little more than I have been. I must admit that my absence has more to do with laziness than it has having nothing to say. On the contrary, I have plenty to say. Whether it’s worth reading is an entirely different story…

I guess we’ve come full circle, haven’t we? When the Pikes began some 20 years ago, it was four people, some musical equipment, a vehicle (not always the most reliable type) and some songs. We sang and played primarily for our own amusement but not unlike other performers, we were looking for an audience. Usually we had something constituting an audience. However, there were a few times when I could not even say we had that.

During those “lonely” times on stage we would turn to one another and amuse ourselves. I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way but deep down I think playing for ourselves is probably the fundamental reason we do this. It’s pretty much impossible to connect with an audience if the musicians on stage are not first connecting with each other.

I can’t say that I’ve played with very many other musicians in a live setting before but I know this: when the four of us get together and play music, it’s effortless. Perhaps that has something to do with the modest success we experienced or perhaps it’s the infamous intangible: chemistry. I’m sure that time has played a big part as well. We read each other with a natural ease and it’s a bit like ESP. No words are spoken (it’s too noisy for that!). Hell, eye contact is not even made most times.

These guys are my friends. I like eating dinner with them or drinking beer with them or telling stories and laughing with them as much as I like playing music with them. Music is just one facet of our relationship.

Hence, the full circle comment earlier. At one time we had a dozen or so people on payroll, crew, managers, lawyers, agents, independent promotion people, record company folks all relying on us to help feed them and their families. And not unlike every young band slugging it out in clubs and concert halls everywhere, we too had dreams of world domination.

I’m not embarrassed at all admitting that dream and I’m proud of the inroads and subsequent accomplishments we made. But that was a long time ago. We are once again four guys, some gear, a van and some songs driving around this country looking for an audience (but mostly interested in amusing ourselves first). There is one big difference though twenty years later. We are confident that no matter who is in the room when we take the stage, we can connect with them, we can rock the house. Time is really the only teacher. That is the twenty year difference.

We broke up once before and I’m pretty sure that will never happen again. But the truth is we are getting older and I would expect that we will be performing less and less as time goes on. We are in a place that would be best described as our “twilight”. And there is a perception in the pop culture world that this is a less than desirable place to be but I have to admit, I quite like it. In conjunction with my age, it all kinda makes sense. We have substantial lives outside of the Pikes, which wasn’t the case “back in the day”. For the first ten years we slept, breathed and ate Pike. It was easily the most important thing in our young lives.

Yet the craving to make good art has not left us. On the contrary, I think the last two records we made are arguably our best. Recording has become somewhat of a vanity for us – it certainly isn’t going to make us rich. In fact, I can honestly tell you that making music for financial reward was never the reason why we did in the first place. But to take your career to the next level we had to begin incorporating a vast array of support (i.e. the previously mentioned list of industry types).

So, gone is the pressure of producing for mass market. Gone is the pressure of delivering “a hit” (whatever that is). Gone is the constant scrutiny of critics (shadow artists… well, most of them). Gone are the endless touring schedules. Gone is wondering what it would be like to live a “normal life’, waking in the same bed every morning…

Most importantly, I have no regrets.

None.

I would think that audience members who are fans of the band would feel some nostalgia when seeing us live now. Certain songs will jog certain memories, taking them back to pivotal moments in their lives. Yet our hope is that they will always remember we are artists who feel a need to continue to create new music despite our stature in current pop circles, whatever that may be.

There seems to be a lust for fame today that I don’t recall existing 10 or 15 years ago. People desire fame at any cost. In fact, celebrity has become a full time occupation for some people, who upon closer inspection do not appear to do anything that really warrants the attention they receive. Clever publicists and the right stylist can do wonders for anyone. I could start listing names here but that would be crass and immature. I can clearly state that in our circumstance “recognition was not our ignition”. Notoriety was a by-product of our work as musicians. Promotion and publicity was a necessary evil for us to attempt to make a living at recording and performing music. I found attention outside of a concert setting embarrassing. I very quickly grew to dislike interviews and I was equally uncomfortable with bad reviews and good reviews, eventually giving up paying attention to our press all together. I was never in this to be popular. All I ever really wanted was to express myself and have some people understand what I was feeling. And I wanted to jump around on stage with an electric guitar and make a racket.

It was that simple.

So if you happen to find yourself at a Pikes gig in the future, be rest assured that the musicians you hear that night are trying to make an honest connection with you. And an honest connection with each other.

Thanks.

Posted Friday, December 3rd, 2004 at 2:26 am.