Review by Brian Hay The great thing about Emm Gryner’s songs is the strength at their core. Her studio albums are richly arranged but the songs themselves not only hold up well under unadorned presentation, they thrive on it. Part of it’s because Gryner’s an accomplished musician and seasoned performer but a lot is due to her songs just being really good. Her set list featured several numbers from her new disc ‘Only Of Earth (Days Of Games)’ and an array of pieces from various places in her catalogue. A rendition of ’Space Oddity’ that used Bowie’s original lyrics marked her time in his band and the subsequent collaboration with Chris Hadfield was given a heartfelt reading that conveyed much of what she feels about those times. ’Summerlong’, a track from year 2000’s ‘Dead Relatives’, displayed the virtue of revisiting older pieces — that song became so fresh it seemed brand new. ...
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July First Friday at the Cheeky Monkey: Life Signs as a Three-Piece (Or Life Without Their “Fiddely-Bitter”) Written Saturday July 7, 2022 by Brian Hay Life Signs were missing their lead guitarist this time around but the change added a different element to their work. John Foster, who was unavailable due to work commitments, was definitely missed at times, as well he should have been. His kind of tasty work is hard to replace (especially when another member has to do double-duty and make things up on the fly) but being faced with situations like this often brings out things from band members that aren’t seen otherwise. That was true to the max in this instance. For one thing, the band’s rhythm section stepped things up a notch. That’s always good but when the players have the skills drummer Scott Elliot and bassist Mike Vasek bring to the fore, mesh nicely as a unit ...
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What a wonderful June First Friday it was at Cheeky Monkey thanks entirely to the local 5 piece band El Camino. I have to admit, the store was so busy, I was not able to fully listen to the band. Having said that, a few songs really caught my attention and brought back fond memories of my younger years. Music, played well has that magical ability. Two songs in particular really stood out for me. James Taylor's 'Fire and Rain' and Cat Stevens 'Wild World' were outstanding. I was evidently not alone in enjoying the band seeing how many people lingered to hear them play. It is hard to critique individual members since together they create such sweet sounds. The original core members of singer/rhythm guitarist Scott Whyte, lead/ rhythm player Marvin Eskritt and percussionist Steve Bird where enhanced by newer members Lise Jordan on keyboards/vocals and Glen Perry on bass guitar. We sincerely hope ...
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First Friday at the Cheeky Monkey: Wild Cards Cheeky-Jacked — Surprise and More and More Surprises by Brian Hay They might have been “Monkey-Jacked”. It has to be that or “Cheeky-Jacked” because there’s too many syllables in “Cheeky Monkey-Jacked and none of them are accurate anyway because (apart from being surprised hosts) the owners of Cheeky Monkey had no part in it. They were as surprised as everyone else. A good time was had by all though, and that’s what matters. With their drummer Gerry Hawley and the set-list he’d have laid out absent due to a family tragedy the members of Wild Cards were already “making do”. Singer/guitarist Renee Card and guitarists Sara Campbell and Scott Vegh played tentatively for a couple of songs while they got a sense of who’d do what to to fill the space normally held by the drums but intuition and a paying close attention to each ...
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Insights of the day by music fan and reviewer, Brian Hay... Record Store Day 2018 at the Cheeky Monkey Featuring Mike Blackmore by Brian Hay Record Store Day was a big hit. The lineups ran to the back of the store for several hours, replenishing themselves with each ring of the Till. It was fun to watch and good to see. It was more to it than just a celebratory sale though. Roland and MaryAnne have collected a lot of memorabilia over the years and much of it was on display. One piece that was particularly striking was a poster of Keith Richards that looked to be from the period where he formed the Xpensive Winos. The displays of vinyl, featured an array of albums from what’s current to one from the mid 1960’s by Bobbie Gentry and many by the late David Bowie. Those cast an eye on the impact the ...
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FRIDAY, APRIL 20 - Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY. In preperation, good friend Bill Walters is helping Roland set up the racks. There will be so many exclusives we know the racks will be jammed packed. ALSO - Listen in to CBC Radio London's Afternoon Drive to hear an interview done with Jonathan Pinto about our store and RSD. Told the segment will be aired at 5:07 pm. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 - Huge THANK YOU to Sarnia This Week for story in this weeks edition. CLICK HERE to read it. Also THANK YOU to Jonathan Pinto of CBC Radio for stopping in to interview us. TUESDAY, APRIL 17 - Deliveries of the exclusives are starting to trickle in, but we can't tell you... yet. If you want to know what we have to offer, sign up for our weekly e-newsletter to get an email the night before RSD with a list along with other ...
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April’s First Friday at the Cheeky Monkey With The Casuals Saturday April 7, 2022 Vibrant Harmony Singing Gets The Toes-A-Tappin’ by Brian Hay Solid and basically faultless rhythm playing that wasn’t quite straight out of textbooks didn’t hurt either. The Casuals found a pocket early on and projected everything clearly from its centre. It’s a guess but, as their set progressed, there was a sense the cues were being set up by guitarist Bill Hines and not their rhythm players. The concept is great … when it works. If it isn’t done perfectly the energy falls out of the music faster than a skydiver who forgot about the parachute but when it is there’s not much that can stand beside it. The Rolling Stones and the Who came up with two of the most exciting rhythm sections on record with Keith Moon taking cues from Pete Townshend while Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts wove magic ...
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First Friday at the Cheeky Monkey: Four Barrels of Blues Combines For One Sweet Sound Review by Brian Hay Describing the Four Barrel Blues Band as a class act is the best way to sum what this band has to offer. They’re all classy players, stylish but without excesses and what they form as an ensemble meshes together in much the same way. Drummer Stephen Bird is an articulate player who lays out a solid backbeat without becoming heavy. Glen Perry employs a fretless bass to reinforce the time signature and provide a melodic foundation with sustained notes that type of bass delivers. They’re harder to play than conventional models because of their demand for such an exact knowledge of where “the right” spots are on the neck but the way their notes tend to hang slightly as the next ones are being introduced gives their sound a musical sonority that’s both ...
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First Friday at the Cheeky Monkey: Fun With a Group of Wild Cards by Brian Hay The difference a change in personnel creates within a band can be amazing, especially if the musician who comes in is a strong one. That was definitely the case with Wild Cards, the group that played at the Cheeky Monkey for this month’s First Friday celebration. The playing of guitarist Sara Campbell, bass player Scott Vegh and drummer Gerry Hawley and how they meshed together was known well enough to think there might be an idea of what to expect. The first few seconds of their work proved how wrong that notion was emphatically. The entry of singer Renee Card altered things in ways that couldn’t be predicted. Part of the reason is that she’s an exceptional singer but citing that as the only factor would be an oversimplification. She brings a touch to the delivery ...
MoreReview of October 6, 2021 First Friday event featuring Missy Burgess & Sue Webber written by Brian Hay. First Friday at the Cheeky Monkey was fun and the music was great. That's sort of a "given" when the people playing are Missy Burgess and Sue Webber though. They delivered a mix of original material and covers with flair and a spirit of joy that both communicate beautifully. Originals such as 'Missy's Blues' and 'Don't Go To Cincinnati' shone. Covers such as 'Smile' were played with such warmth as to become beacons of light. That's one of the things music can accomplish though and these ladies work toward that. The sweetest moments came when they did harmony work together. That's something they'll hopefully do more of in the future. And of course there was Missy's (almost obligatory at this point and it's a great thing) nod to Tom Waits. 'Chocolate Jesus' and 'The Last Leaf On The Tree' (the piece he ...
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