I knew Tom as a journalist when he was with the old London & Co. magazine more than 30 years ago . . . he was a good writer. Later, I’d see him making the Latin music he loved . . . a gift for words & music & and a great spirit.

A friend who told me about Tom’s death says his friends expect to gather at the London Music Club on Friday at 1 p.m. More details as they’re available.

Here are some comments Tom made about two songs from a 1994 Romeo Blanco  album. They reflect his deep love & respect for Latin culture & people (these are from chrwradio.com):

Tom, you are missed.

An undated photograph (c. June 10, 2013), of the Second World War mortar round (British) … via colleague Melanie Anderson

The image here may help anyone hoping for a closer look at the mortar bomb found at 66 Fullarton St. It was sent JBNBlog’s way by LFP colleague Melanie Anderson who was talking to people associated with the house in trying to trace details about  the mortar round (or bomb?). A comment on an earlier post suggested it might have been manufactured at GSW during the war. Not sure if there are any markings visible on this image . . . but here is some London police background from Melanie’s story.

Police sent their explosives-disposal unit to investigate. After determining the device was military, they called the Department of National Defence to the scene. Defence experts determined the munition was not live.

“We found a smoke round,” Const. Ken Steeves said. “It may have been used during training where coloured smoke may have been released from the round to notify air traffic pilots in the area that they were training.”

Back to JBNBlog …. as always, any clues/suggestions/guesses are welcome.

A detail from Ted Goodden’s Great Blue Heron Sculpture, courtesy of http://tedgooddenstainedglass.files.wordpress.com

JBNBlog is happy to pass along Summer Solstice/London’s Stonehenge joy via Cornelia Hoogland & Ted Goodden. Here is something to do on Friday afternoon, something magical . . .

Over to Cornelia passing along Ted’s reminder:

(Ted is) reminding Londoners of an entertainment
of cosmic dimensions this Friday, Summer Solstice.

At Summer Solstice, the sun will shine through the stained glass
mandala, fixed in the wing of the Great Blue Heron Sculpture, and cast
coloured shadows which will align perfectly in the patterned granite
disc below. King and Ridout, Fri June 21, 2013, 1:25 EST London, ON.

MANCHESTER, TN – JUNE 16: Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performs onstage at What Stage during day 4 of the 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 16, 2013 in Manchester, Tennessee.   Jason Merritt/Getty Images/AFP

Not sure if Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will play any or all of these songs (setlist follows) at Budweiser Gardens tonight . . . but hey, opening (!) with So You Want To Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (!!) …  was it ever mentioned hereabouts my first major rock concert was The Byrds, London Arena … June 21, 1966? Perhaps I did mention it.

Anyway. Covering The Byrds and Paul Revere & The Raiders (& The Monkees) (!!!) …. in my jumbled mind, I thought Mike Nesmith wrote Steppin’ Out & it was also covered by Paul Butterfield. No. Boyce & Hart. Nesmith did write Mary, Mary & Butterfield covered it & that definitely made Nesmith the kewlest (or only acceptable) Monkee back in the day. At least with those of us who were mocking The Monkees. For. Not. Playing. Their. Own. Instruments.

Back to the near past . . . perhaps more to  be expected are the JJ Cale, Dead and Wilburys covers. Even so, yayayayay . . .the June 8, 2013, Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood setlist is courtesy of www.setlist.fm . . .

1. So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
   (The Byrds cover)
2. Love Is a Long Road
3. Here Comes My Girl
4. Cabin Down Below
5. Something Big
6. The Best of Everything
7. (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
   (Paul Revere and The Raiders cover)
8. A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)
9. Billy The Kid
10. I’d Like to Love You Baby
    (J.J. Cale cover)
11. Tweeter and the Monkey Man
    (Traveling Wilburys cover)
12. Rebels
13. Angel Dream
14. Two Gunslingers
15. Friend of the Devil
    (Grateful Dead cover)
16. Melinda

Last week’s My London column about the late Stan Rogers & his London connections was lifted by a wondrous combination of Paul Mills’s memories, a Maitland St. address supplied by Greg Simpson & this lovely photograph — which I’m not sure was used to accompany former colleague Mike Mulhern’s story about Stan’s 1978 visit to a London classroom.

The kids’ music teacher Sharon McHale was a friend of Stan’s, Mike wrote, & so was her husband, John. That brought Stan Rogers to the school . . . & when a couple of former pupils saw the photograph and the story, they stared their memories.

Here are some happy memories from Linda (Tracey) Egan & Grant Maltman. Over to them:

English musician Billy Bragg performs at the Oya music festival in Oslo on August 9, 2012.  AFP PHOTO / SCANPIX NORWAY / Stian Lysberg Solum  ***NORWAY OUT***

In the spirit of irresponsible speculation, here are three who got away . . . Billy Braff mighta played Aeolian Hall this spring. But did not. . . . Daniel Lanois & Gordon Lightfoot might have played the 2013 Home County Music & Art festival in July. But will not.’

Lots of great acts coming our way in 2013 — but these three would have been most welcome. Has Billy Bragg ever played #ldnont. Just asking.

At last . . . Dundas St. becomes car-free & is truly a portal to another dimension. Don’t know who was running the portal on Saturday-Sunday, but 10q 10q for an out-of-this-Dundas-into-an-even-better-one experience. Taken at Nuit Blanche 2013 with trusty BlackBerry.

Jeff Werkmeister of Audioforge welds pieces of a metal sunflower together while performing in unison with a band during Nuit Blanche on Dundas Street in London, Ont. on Saturday, June 15, 2013. The annual one-night festival sees the downtown stretch of road shut to vehicle traffic and come alive with contemporary arts activities, exhibits and performers.

CRAIG GLOVER/The London Free Press/QMI AGENCY

Jeremy Hobbs, gtr, left, & Emma Wise (that is Emma isn’t it?) on cello rawk with Audioforge. Bass playere in background needs ID. Taken early Sunday morn at Nuit Blanche 2013 with trusty BlackBerry.

JBNBlog & Co. had a blast at the 2013 London Fringe . . . Nuit Blanche had crowds of scores & more all along the Dundas St. watchtower plus the weather was terrific (a key make it or break it factor). Congrats to all & who was running that portal? It was a big hulahulahula treat to step into the next Dundas/#ldnont dimension.

Loved all the pieces we saw at the Fringe . . . Colin Godbout had the Django etc going magnificently  in The Greatest Guitarist In The World & considered grad school thesis work on Canada’s mythopoeic poets like my father & Jay Macpherson (he talked about it with Jay) . . .  it was eerie to hear Dick Cavett interviewing Jimi Hendrix during one of its multi-media moments.

Sonja Gustafson loves Ruth Draper & took it to sopranoland along with ace pianist Tanya Ellis  in The Italian Lesson …  enjoyed the movement, soundtrack & message of ShapeShift. Moremoremore Mvmt! . . . a deep bow to Passionfool’ for Happy Days in the basement at The Arts Project — would also  like to see the Beckett again with that same magical/horrifying set (OK, maybe not identical, that would  be impossible) in a reconfigured space . . .  Iago vs. Hamlet — hilarious as North By Northwest . . . Anatolia Speaks — brilliant, noble & tragic & resilient & a moving audience singalong to You Are My Sunshine.

Yep, there were many essential Fringe benefits missed by JBNBlog . . . but that’s what makes #ldnont culture great — always something someone is telling you about that you just can’t miss.

Movie postcard image, courtesy of Jonathan Holiff

JBNBlog is delighted to pass along this news from Jonathan Holiff about his amazing film My Father and The Man in Black. It’s on Citytv on Sunday at 8 p.m. — wow, a father’s day flick about a conflicted father-son relationship plus remarkable true life details about Johnny Cash.  And June Carter. And many others. Wow. A lot of it is set in London, too.

Congratulations, Jonathan … over to you!

“My Father and The Man In Black”
> Father’s Day Broadcast
Sunday, June 16th on CityTv

Toronto @ 8:00pm
Vancouver @ 8:00pm
Victoria @ 8:00pm
Winnipeg @ 7:00pm
Calgary @ 9:00pm
Edmonton @ 9:00pm
Montreal @ 8:00pm
Saskatchewan @ 7:00pm

PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO WATCH!
(forward this email or invite FB friends here)
https://www.facebook.com/events/183620868466506/

MOVIE TRAILER:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/jtovAxxPo2Q

RATE IT ON IMDB (Just give them your email address):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853620/

THE VILLAGE VOICE Review:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-10-03/film/family-tradition-my-father-and-the-man-in-black/

SYNOPSIS:
Driven by newly-discovered audio diaries and telephone calls from the
1960s and 1970s, this is an act of personal archeology by
writer/director Jonathan Holiff about his father Saul Holiff who
committed suicide without leaving a note, and who managed Johnny Cash
during his crazed pill-fueled 1960s jags, triumphs at Folsom and San
Quentin, wedding to June Carter, and his conversion in the early 1970s
to old-time religion. Mixing found footage, creative re-enactments and
poignant voice-over narration, it is also a catharsis for its maker,
and engrossing journalism to boot. [Vancouver International Film
Festival]

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:

“Heart and feeling is soaked through it like the sweat in Cash’s guitar strap.”
Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice

“Imaginatively crafted, ruthlessly honest, and genuinely haunting.”
Ken Eisner, The Georgia Straight

“You can feel all the tension, and the heartbreak, rumbling beneath every frame”
Katherine Monk, Vancouver Province

“A painfully honest twin portrait of manager and artist.”
Philip Brown, Toronto Star

“A privileged perspective on crucial moments in Johnny Cash’s career”
The Hollywood Reporter

UPCOMING FESTIVALS:

Beat Film Festival (Moscow, Russia): June 9, 2013
SAFILM – San Antonio Film Festival (Texas): June 19, 2013
Shanghai International Film Festival (China): June 10 - 23, 2013
All The Right Notes Film Festival (UK): June 22, 2013
Transmissions Film and Music Festival (Spain): June 26, 2013
Madrid International Film Festival (Spain): July 1 - 3, 2013
Cinema Zuid (Antwerp, Belgium): July 5, 2013
Downtown Film Festival (Los Angeles): July 12 - 18, 2013
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (USA): August 6 & 8, 2013
Independence Film Art and Music Festival (MO): August 8 - 11, 2013
CBGB Music & Film Festival (New York): October 9 - 13, 2013
The Other Venice Film Festival (California): October 11 - 13, 2013
Houston Cinema Arts Festival (Texas): November 6 - 10, 2013

AWARDS:

WINNER “Best Documentary” at EDINDOCS Edinburgh (Scotland)
WINNER “Best Documentary” at RADAR Hamburg International (Germany)
WINNER “Best Documentary” at Available Light Film Festival (Canada)
WINNER “Best Documentary” at Lewiston Auburn Film Festival (USA)
WINNER “Best Documentary” at Buffalo Niagara Film Festival (USA)
WINNER “Best Documentary” at Memphis International Film & Music Festival (USA)
WINNER “Orson Welles Award” at Tiburon International Film Festival (USA)
TOP 10 Audience Favorite at Vancouver International Film Festival (Canada)
TOP 10 Audience Favorite at Calgary International Film Festival (Canada)

PRESS RELEASE:

For Immediate Release…

NEW FILM ABOUT JOHNNY CASH’S CANADIAN-BORN MANAGER GETS CANADIAN TV PREMIERE

“My Father and The Man In Black” to air on Father’s Day; Sunday, June
16th on CityTv

30 film festivals, 15 countries, 8 competition wins (including
Edinburgh and Hamburg)

Watch the TRAILER:
http://youtu.be/jtovAxxPo2Q

TORONTO: Before there was Johnny and June, there was Johnny and Saul.
Saul Holiff put Johnny Cash together with June Carter–but you won’t
find his story in “Walk The Line.”

A favorite on this year’s international film festival circuit (winning
competitions in Edinburgh and Hamburg) is the story of the man behind
The Man In Black–longtime manager, Saul Holiff (pronounced HALL-IF).
The film features the first new information about the music legend
since well before his death–10 years ago this year—and it’s told in
Johnny’s and Saul’s own voices!

Six years in the making, this unauthorized look at Johnny Cash,
through the eyes of his manager, is driven by newly-discovered audio
diaries and telephone calls recorded by Holiff and Cash in the sixties
and seventies. This is not a “talking heads” documentary.

And this is no ordinary music documentary either. The 35MM feature
film was written and directed by Saul’s son, Jonathan Holiff. Father
and son were estranged for 20 years when Holiff Sr. committed suicide
in 2005–without leaving a note.

An intense personal adventure with universal themes, that happens to
feature one of 20th-century music’s greatest icons, “My Father and The
Man In Black” tells the inside story of ‘bad boy’ Johnny Cash, his
talented but troubled manager, Saul Holiff, and a son searching for
his father in the shadow of a legend.

For the first time we have eyewitness contemporaneous accounts–in
their own voices–about what really happened to Johnny and Saul in the
1960s–a decade the singer admitted he could not remember–as well as
the early 1970s when Cash was “born again” (the ending missing from
“Walk The Line”).

According to Cash historian, Mark Stielper, “Holiff took on the role
of mentor, alternately cajoling and castigating his charge as they
careened through the 1960s. Holiff became Cash’s protector and
tormentor, father and brother. Their disputes were frequent; their
victories pulled from the jaws of defeat.”

Saul Holiff handled the bookings and the no-shows, the divorce and the
marriage, the arrests and the trials. He was there for the absolute
worst of times. Holiff was also there for the best of times: “Johnny
Cash At Folsom Prison,” “A Boy Named Sue,” and Cash’s hit television
series. But in 1973, at the zenith of Cash’s career, Holiff quit. And
until now, no one knew why.

How did the serious-minded Jew from Canada get hooked up with the wild
Southern Baptist? Why had Saul quit when Johnny was on top? And why
did Jonathan’s father take his own life and not leave a note? These
are just some of the questions explored in the film.

Jonathan returned home to help his mother deal with Saul’s belongings.
That’s when he discovered his father’s storage locker. Inside were
hundreds of letters, many hand-written, between Saul, Johnny, and
June–and 60 hours of personal audio diaries Saul recorded from the
early 1960s until shortly before his death. Saul taped his telephone
calls with Johnny too!

Saul detailed their experiences-as they happened–during the singer’s
darkest days, through his meteoric rise to stardom, and finally during
their shocking break-up.

“My Father and The Man In Black” weaves together their letters and
phone calls, and Holiff’s own audio diary, to tell the story as it
should be told–by the men who lived it.  And what a fascinating story
they tell.

Canadian producer New Chapter Productions and foreign sales agent,
WIDE HOUSE (Paris), announced their first theatrical distribution deal
with Ballpark Film Distributors for release this summer in the UK and
Ireland.

The film recently won its 8th film festival competition in
Memphis–where the Q&A featured WS “Fluke” Holland, the only surviving
member of Johnny Cash’s band, The Tennessee Three. Director Jonathan
Holiff received the “Orson Welles Award” at the Tiburon International
Film Festival (California) on April 15th.

- 30 -

FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/MyFather.and.TheManInBlack

TWITTER:
http://www.twitter.com/holifffame

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST (e.g.: DVD with 20 minutes of Extra Scenes):
http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=rmwbm4dab&p=oi&m=1103785679249

Fraser Teeple, in an undated image courtesy of sonicbids.com

JBNBlog is delighted to hear a favourite London singer-songwriter Fraser Teeple is playing the Reeg 2nite. Fraser made a fine fine album House on a Hill (he was simply Fraser on that one) & was a classy Reaney’s Pick lfpress.com video star a few years ago. Hope to see Fraser at the 625 Dundas St. home of the hits 2nite.

Making it a truly fine double bill at the Reeg are The DoneFors . . . here’s the latest on the Saturday night Musical Chairs series . . . fun starts about 9 p.m. Thanks to Corinne Marshall for the following:

Toronto’s The DoneFors, masters of cheeky, eclectic folk-pop with three albums to their credit, grace the stage at this week’s Musical Chairs! joined by Old East’s own Fraser Teeple! This is a great chance to see a band that’s gotten a lot of attention in an intimate, friendly hometown setting!

The music starts at around 9 pm and continues until at least midnight. It’s “pay what you will” and you just might be our lucky Sweet Draw winner this week!

If you enjoy your evening at Musical Chairs, please consider sharing it with others by posting photos or videos on the Musical Chairs Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/253746924732569/

. . .   See you there!

If there are other #ldnont Western Fanshawe OIART connections, pls. send them along.

Hare are the details via http://polarismusicprize.ca

The 2013 Polaris Music Prize Long List has been announced.

Hosted by SiriusXM‘s Andréanne Sasseville the 40 Long List albums were unveiled earlier today at the Phi Centre http://phi-centre.com/ in Old Montreal.

2006 Polaris Music Prize winner Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), 2009 Short Listers Radio Radio, Laurel Spengelmeyer of 2011 Long Listers Little Scream and Ruby Attwood from 2012 Short Listers Yamantaka // Sonic Titan were also on hand to reveal the Long List. The celebration also included a live performance by Les soeurs Boulay, one of this year’s first-time nominees.

“This year’s Long List is all over the map, but in the best possible way,” said Steve Jordan, Polaris Founder and Executive Director. ”A lot of our jury expressed that this was the most difficult Polaris ballot they’ve ever submitted. The results of this careful and passionate deliberation will make for some truly engaging listening for music lovers.”

The 2013 Polaris Music Prize Long List:

A Tribe Called Red – Nation II Nation
Alaclair Ensemble – Les maigres blancs d’Amérique du Noir
ANCIIENTS – Heart of Oak
The Besnard Lakes – Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO
Louis-Jean Cormier – Le Treizième Étage
Daphni – JIAOLONG
Mac DeMarco – 2
Evening Hymns – Spectral Dusk
Hannah Georgas – Hannah Georgas
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
Chilly Gonzales – Solo Piano II
Jim Guthrie – Takes Time
Hayden – Us Alone
Zaki Ibrahim – Every Opposite
KEN mode – Entrench
Kid Koala – 12 bit Blues
Kobo Town – Jumbie in the Jukebox
Pierre Lapointe – Punkt
Lee Harvey Osmond – The Folk Sinner
Les soeurs Boulay – Le poids des confettis
Corb Lund – Cabin Fever
The Luyas – Animator
Majical Cloudz – Impersonator
Metric – Synthetica
METZ – METZ
Danny Michel with the Garifuna Collective – Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me
AC Newman – Shut Down The Streets
Old Man Luedecke – Tender is The Night
Lindi Ortega – Cigarettes & Truckstops
Peter Peter – Une version améliorée de la tristesse
Purity Ring – Shrines
Rah Rah – The Poet’s Dead
Rhye – Woman
Daniel Romano – Come Cry With Me
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
Suuns – Images du futur
Tegan and Sara – Heartthrob
Al Tuck – Stranger at the Wake
Whitehorse – The Fate of the World Depends On This Kiss
Young Galaxy – Ultramarine

Of the 40 Long Listed artists, 16 have been nominated in the past for their own work or as major contributors to another act. They are:

A Tribe Called Red — 2012 Long List
The Besnard Lakes — 2007 Short List, 2010 Short List
Louis-Jean Cormier — 2010 Short List, 2008 Long List (both as a member of Karkwa)
Daphni — 2008 Short List, 2010 Short List (both as Caribou)
Hannah Georgas — 2010 Long List
Hayden — 2008 Long List
Lee Harvey Osmond — 2010 Long List, plus a 2012 Long List nom as a member of Blackie And The Rodeo Kings
Corb Lund — 2008 Long List
The Luyas — 2011 Long List
Metric — 2006 Short List, 2009 Short List
AC Newman — 2006 Short List, 2008 Long List, 2010 Long List (all as a member of The New Pornographers)
Lindi Ortega — 2012 Long List
Daniel Romano — 2011 Long List
Colin Stetson — 2011 Short List
Tegan And Sara — 2010 Short List, 2008 Long List
Young Galaxy — 2010 Long List, 2011 Long List

The Long List unveiling was immediately followed by a knock down, drag-out Polaris Salon in the same venue featuring jurors Sasseville, TFO‘s Melissa Hetu and La Presse‘s Alain Brunet.

Toronto music critics will get to have their say at the Polaris Salon in Toronto on Wednesday, June 19 at the Soho House. That event will be moderated by Exclaim‘s James Keast and feature that magazine’s Stephen Carlick, Nicole Villeneuve of Aux, freelancer Melody Lau and Bryan Acker of Herohill. To attend send an RSVP torsvp@polarismusicprize.ca.

In the meantime, fans of quality music would do well to check out this weekend’s NorthbyNorthEast music festival happening in Toronto. Current Long Listers Hayden, The Luyas and Majical Cloudz will all be performing across the city. Additionally, Polaris nominees from the past like Braids, Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene), Coeur de Pirate, D-Sisive, Fucked Up, Imaginary Cities, Shooting Guns, Sloan and Wintersleep will all be getting down. For more information go here.

The Short List will be announced on July 16 at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. The Polaris Gala will be held on September 23 at The Carlu in Toronto.