Notes from the Road - 2001

02-NOV-01 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia writes...

Hi Folks - Sorry it's been so long since my last entry, but hey, I plead musician! Highlights lately have been participating in the opening of The NEW VI Television where I was asked by Terry David Mulligan to put together an allstar band made up of local musicians. The band ended up being Bill Henderson (Chilliwack), Mae Moore, Tom Hooper (Grapes of Wrath), Vince Ditrich (Spirit of the West), and myself. We performed Fly at Night and Baby Blue, both Chilliwack numbers. The show was great, and it was an interesting group of people. I especially enjoyed spending the day with Bill. He's an amazing talent, and a great guy.

I've been doing a lot of acoustic shows lately, which are fun and really improve my chops. I've also been writing for the new album which I hope to record early in the new year. Anyway, I've gotta go. I'm going to play guitar for Big Dave McLean tonight - should be fun!

06-SEPT-01 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia writes...

Hey everybody - Just getting ready to pull the reigns in somewhat this month. After such a tremendous summer, I need some time to get my office work done and catch up on some other projects. The Blues Bash in Victoria was a great way to end the festival season. The weather was perfect and the crowd was rocking. After all the gigs this summer, the band was firing on all pistons.

As much as I hate to stop the live band work right now, I'm really looking forward to getting songs written and sleeping in my own bed for a change!

Lethbridge rocked as well. A sold out show, and a great line-up. A hell of a drive home, though! My only regret is not getting to see Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Oh, well, maybe next time. See Ya - Gogo

21-AUG-2001 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia writes...

Hey Everybody - It's been a crazy couple of weeks in the rockin' blues world. Sorry for not writing from Ontario last week, but everyone's computer was down!

Had a great time seeing Tony D again, as well as Philip Sayce, who is a great player. I hope to be back in Ontario and Quebec in a couple of months.

Last weekend was insane. I have a side project band called Junkyard Angels that I put together to play old traditional blues by people like Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters etc. It's a fun switch from my regular stuff, and we play every couple of months or so locally. We started pretty casually on Thursday at Mt. Washington on a bill with Long John Baldry. This was the second festival I've played with him this summer, and I'm happy to say he is in fine form.

On Friday we played the Pig and Fin in the thriving metropolis of Coombs, renowned for the goats that live on the roof of the local market (more about that later). This is a weekend camp-out event that raises money for injured motorcyclists. We set up outside in the rodeo grounds, and as soon as people started dancing, the dust started flying! Imagine 800 Pigpens from the Peanuts cartoon, and you'll get the idea. It was a great event , and we've been invited back next year.

No rest for the wicked, though, and the next day we played a matinee set on the Coombs Market with the goats. I must say it was a far cry from opening for Buddy Guy at a sold out Orpheum Theatre, but the tourists seemed to like it. The goats, on the other hand, were non-plussed.

This was just the beginning of our day, however, and we headed to French Creek harbour to play Lasqueti Island. Because of the ferry strike , we hand loaded all our gear onto what was essentially a pirate ship and hit the high seas. I guess I don't have to go to India now to experience this kind of transport. As we loaded our equipment onto the waiting pick-up trucks on the other side I thanked the Russians for the sunny weather.

The gig rocked. A great community hall dance in the great west coast tradition. We stayed in a cabin that wouldn't be too out of place in a horror film, but we were quickly whisked away in the morning (in the back of a pick-up) to a lovely local home where beautiful women cooked us breakfast.

The pirate ship was virtually empty on the way back, so we took the opportunity to sun ourselves. This bliss was short lived as we arrived to find the dock at an almost impossible angle to load gear.

After an afternoon show in Ladysmith, I finally got to go home. It was a great adventure this weekend, but it will be nice to get back to the land of hotels and indoor venues again this week. See ya - Gogo

02-AUG-2001 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada writes...

Well, well, well! It's been a kooky but fun summer so far! Highlights being opening shows for Buddy Guy, Double Trouble and Johnny Winter and the Back to Back Guitar Attack with Tony D. The support for Halfway to Memphis has been very encouraging, and it's been great playing electric with the band after all the acoustic shows this past winter. Make sure to check out the tour schedule on our website for new dates at the end of summer and the fall. You never know where I might be next!