Wow, after a night like tonight it feels good to be in this business. I live for new discoveries and crave originality and on those fronts I scored large tonight, finding some
exciting new finds to add to the roster and who have the
talent to go places. I also found some other role players who came out to the open stage formatted night to fill some theme nights upcoming, and the atmosphere in the room was absolutely electric as the
Good Times Bar & Grill staff scurried to keep up with the windfall of business!
I'd popped in to
Good Times early first to check in and remind owner
Nawal about extra staffing for that night in between placing the sandwich board sign out for them. Doh! I'm old school when it comes to promotions and believe in optimizing every tool available, so even the sandwich board sign - to me - makes a difference, especially when you're trying to help establish an ongoing event.
The
opening country band was already playing upon my return to an attentive audience and the place was a buzz with activity - the wafting aroma of
Good Times wings and nachos platters filling the air. Meantime the father of some new talent I was hoping to see,
GEORGIE, approached me to let me know they were there and not long after
Ray Yap from
The Yappers arrived as well who I was meeting in person for the first time. I need to do that to get a feel for potential talent because you have to know they are passionate and dedicated and he sure is.
The Yappers, have a very
unique sound and in fact may indeed have their own genre. It can best be described as
reggae-rock with a country twang - even some blues overtures - but definitively not
ska and certainly not just
reggae as it contains often the guitar solos of a rock performer or blues player, jumping to bass lines conducive to reggae and back again, and as ray told me, getting used to singing when you're on an upstroke of the guitar, such as the reggae beat, is not an easy task and something other musicians can appreciate. Ray was excited about the fact that they had some airplay and exposure on British radio that day and indeed they are beginning to amass a considerable following considering they've been performing live together only since January! People are really digging it - especially the
University set - and bookers can't get enough of them. There is something here. I feel it. This could be one that goes to another level.
 |
| The Yappers CD |
Ray seemed surprised when I pointed out his music influence / style seemed somewhat connected to Sting's The Police - like a revelation had just gone off - and he grew animated replying, "You know something you're absolutely right. No-ones pointed that out before." Anyway, they excite me and so I may take on a bigger role than promoter because of that, as well
Georgie too is an exciting find. She is a prolific writer of her original works and the feeling oozed from the young lady during her performance this night. To me that makes all the difference - the passion. The crowd lapped her up and exploded in applause after each song as her proud mom and dad sat stoically at the back looking on. Good job!
I came across
Georgie after someone recommended I take a listen on one of my online postings to which i replied that I give opportunities to talent but I wont chase them - they have to want it themselves - and she did! I'm looking to put both into
Good Times on dates in
October so watch for that and as well, meantime, if you happen out to the
Hope Festival in
Pefferlaw for
Sick Kids on
Sept 14 you can catch her there too.
Cover bands / tunes have their place too and to that end another excellent performer, a local legend,
Freedom Chuck known as the
Man of a Thousand Songs, also came out and in talking, discussed an idea for him to do a
Doors tribute night which is a cool idea. He's a good fit for the place too because as a one man show so to speak - well - frankly he's
affordable. Ha. He's also talented and been involved in a number of shows with me before. Ironically as I mentioned
The Doors Night theme to
Ray he laughed and said you're not going to believe this but one of my biggest influences was my uncle
Phil Chen who is
currently plays bass for
......The Doors! The Chines-Jamaican bassist has also played with
Bo Diddly, Rod Stewart, Pete Townsend and Jeff Beck among others! Wow..you can't make this stuff up. And, yes, Ray's uncle loves the music he's making!
Regular
Good Times Thursday Night Open Stage hosts,
Steve, Doug & Wayne, took it home on the night with accompanying players rotating in and out to round out a spectacular evening of entertainment and banter! My buddy
Brad dropped in as well who I hadn't seen in quite some time, and who now hosts an internet radio show
Out & About and once co-hosted an entertainment show with myself for
Shaw and
Rogers cable tv, interviewing the likes of
Mike Bullard,
The Good Brothers, various Comedians, Music Producers etc. and hooked him up with some talent for his radio show too!
So as I said it was a great night for music, conversation, connections and friends.Stay tuned for more or join us on
Facebook or
Google+ and get in the game!!
TP Out!
