"Folk Songs & Sea Shanty's"

Well here you go folks!!! For some, this will be your first look at our new CD cover, which we're actually very proud of... Ray and I just spent the past week, including many long hours, in the studio with our Producer Christian Gay, and we pretty much completed recording our vocal tracks... And I say "pretty much completed", as we have an added bonus which some Mizzen Men fans will appreciate... Chris is coming home from Ontario for a week, during the first week of April, and will be adding some harmony vocals to a few of the tracks... I'm really excited about that, as Chris (as you all know) was an original "Mizzen Man", and will be until the end of time... So it's great to have the opportunity to include him in our new recording...

As deaf as I'm rapidly becoming, ha!!!, I'm still very pleased with our recording effort, and I'm confident that the finished product is going to sound great... I also had an awesome solo gig on St. Patrick's Day last Saturday, at The Delta in Saint John, along with New Brunswick ECMA nominee's Shanklin Road, (the girls were a riot as always, ha!!!) (thanks Dawn, Lisa, and Joyce...) and I even made a few "Festival" contacts with folks who had come to specifically catch my show... So now t'is all in the hands of our more than capable Producer Chris Gay, at The Sound Expression Studio's in Lake Utopia, NB, who is confident that he'll have the "Mastering", paper work, and finished product in our hands by May 1st... And Tom, Ray and myself have a busy summer of performing ahead of us, so there's little doubt we'll sell a million copies, ha!!! Hey!!! It doesn't cost 5 cents to dream, ha!!!

I just got home to PEI late yesterday, and look forward to a week of just "kicking back"... Chat Soon Everyone and as always, "Slainte"...

Wayne

March Month In At The Burke's

This months many escapades start for our family on March 3rd, this being mine and Darlene's (28th) Wedding Anniversary... On March 9th, Leah will turn 24yrs; March 10th, Donald turns 15yrs; March 14th, t'is the big '48' for moi; March 17th is of course St. Patrick's Day, and always a big time of the year for me, as I'm usually booked to play somewhere, this year at The Delta in Saint John... And in the spirit of "Paddy's Day", thus the attached pic of myself and The Godfather of Irish music, Tommy Makem... This pic was taken at the After Hours Musicians Party, at The Stan Rogers Folk Festival a few years ago... And finally, on March 19th, (as I've documented in previous Blog entries), The Mizzen Men will be back in The Sound Expression Studio's in Lake Utopia, NB, completing our new CD, "Folk Songs & Sea Shanty's"...

So hopefully by March 26th, give or take, I should be back home in beautiful Murray River, recovering, resting, and getting myself Pysched up for the upcoming golf, and Folk Festival seasons which are just around the corner, not to forget of course the release of the new CD, on or about May 1st... "Slainte All"...

Wayne

Back Stage With Matt Minglewood

Matt Anderson, Joey Kitson, (former Rawlin's Cross Frontman), and of course Matt Minglewood, all performed at The Charlottetown Civic Centre last night, (February 24th), at Matt's 60th birthday bash... I had the pleasure of working back stage, and with Security, with some of my "Bud's" from last years ECMA's in Charlottetown... Thanks to Mac Campbell for the invite!!! So that permitted me the luxury and pleasure of being back stage to get a few pics, and have a few chats. Matt can still "Rock it Out", and likely will until the day he leaves planet earth, ha!!! I also chatted with Matt Anderson, who knew The Mizzen Men are presently in the studio, and he asked me how the new CD was coming along... "Gonna be a million seller", I told him, ha!!! (hey, it doesn't cost 5 cents to dream, ha!!!) He "wowed" the crowd as usual, with his incredible one man show... There were folks in attendance in their 70's, which shows Minglewood's longevity in the music business... Anyhoo, all hands (close to 2000 folks give or take...) seemed to have a grand time, with no incidents requiring any sort of police intervention, at least that I saw... HA!!! Me and my poor hearing don't really fit into a rock concert atmosphere, but I stuck'er out... All the same, I'll take my stool, guitar, and a quiet crowd of "Folkies" singing along to a Stan Rogers, or Mizzen Men tune, ha!!! I then had to drive home in the wee hours, in what was basically our first really bad snow storm of the year in these parts... A little snifter of Irish Mist helped to relax the stress from the long, slow drive!!! Next stop for me, my solo gig at The Delta Saint John, NB on "Paddy's Day"....... "Slainte All"

Wayne

"Paddy's Day 2007"

Well t'is pretty much official, as of earlier today... Appears I'll be doing a solo gig on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th), at The Delta Hotel in Saint John, NB... And an added bonus being, for the 5th or 6th time, (I've lost track!!!) I'll be sharing the stage with the Shanklin Road girls, formerly known as Blacks Mountain... So t'will be a combination of Irish/Celtic/Country/Bluegrass for Paddy's Day this year... I know the girls very well, and they're all sweethearts, so I can't wait to do the gig...

So anyone who might be in the Saint John area on March 17th, the gig is from 2 - 6PM at The Delta in Saint John, the added "kicker" being, this gives us the rest of the evening to check out all the other great music around Saint John... And for those who may not be aware, Saint John is also known as "The Biggest Little Irish City In North America", and as such, the festivities are always on par (or even more exciting...) with New Years Eve celebrations... "Slainte"

Wayne

"The Mizzen Men In The Studio"

After performing on New Years Eve in Sydney, and a week later doing a three night gig at The Old Triangle Pub in Moncton, Tom, Ray and myself headed to The Sound Expression Studio's in Lake Utopia, NB, with our producer, Christian Gay... We recorded all our music tracks during the week of January 15th to 20th, and we're really pleased with the outcome... Now for the downside!!!

Around December 20th, I came down with strepped throat, courtesy of my boys bringing a "bug" home from school... My 'Doc' had me on antibiotics, and although they helped a little, I was still well "under the weather" for the New Years Eve and Moncton gigs... So to make a long story short, we put the recording of our vocal tracks on "pause", and will get back at it, hopefully in mid March sometime... No sense in ruining what's going to be a great CD, with poor vocals... And I must have given the "bug" to Tom and Ray, as both of them were far from 100% as well with their vocals... HA!!! Sorry Guys!!!

So don't fret folks!!! Our new CD, "Folk Songs & Sea Shanty's" will be completed, just a little later than sooner... "Slainte"...

Wayne

"Off To Moncton & Saint John"

My trip back home to Cape Breton proved to be a great time, aside from battling strepped throat and the flu, ha!!! The Mizzen Men (Wayne, Tom & Ray) performed at The East Bay Legion, (just outside Sydney) on New Years Eve, and although it was a struggle for my voice, we ended up having a pretty good gig, and "all hands" seemed to have a grand time...

The attached is a picture of my new 2006 Pontiac Torrent, which I bought a few weeks ago... She and I will be enroute to Moncton bright and early tomorrow morning, for a three night Mizzen Men gig at The Old Triangle Irish Ale House... I'll also be doing a solo spot on Saturday afternoon... Then on Sunday, we're off to Saint John, and The Sound Expression Studio's in Lake Utopia on Monday, (with our Producer Chris Gay), to start recording our third and new CD, "Folk Songs & Sea Shanty's"... So keep us in your thoughts and prayers everyone, and I'll see you in a few weeks, when I get back home to Murray River... "Slainte"...

Wayne

"T'is The Season"

T'is our "Victorian" looking Christmas tree, in our Victorian parlour... (Actually our TV room, ha!!!) My job is/was (as per every year...) to get the tree up, and the lights on and working... Darl, Dawn, Donald and Robert did the rest of the decorating, and a grand job indeed... And the Christmas spirit was in the air, with John Gracie's 1996 Christmas CD playing in the background, and a few "wee drams" of Egg Nog on the go, ha!!! Leah will be home for Christmas, and we're hoping that Darlene and Dawn's dad, (my father-in-law) Carmen might make the trip up from Nova Scotia... And unlike most men, aside from one more item I have to pick up, (doing that on Friday) my Christmas shopping is actually done early this year...

Tomorrow I'm playing at the Perrin Villa Senior's complex in Montague, for their annual Christmas party, and then on Christmas Day at 5:30PM, I'll be playing at "The Upper Room" in Charlottetown, for their annual Christmas supper... I really enjoy playing music this time of year, as Christmas music really seems to make folks sincerely happy... We held our Food Bank Christmas concert on Sunday evening in our church, (Murray River Church of Christ), and everyone had a grand time, including Premier Pat Binns who attended... Mr. Binns actually lives just 5 minutes or so outside of "The River" as it's known locally, and he's a great supporter of community events... And I've also golfed with him a few times, enjoying his company very much...

So all is well here in "The River", and I'll try to be a little more diligent with my entries, but don't necessarily count on it, ha!!! I've a lot on my plate these days, with the commencement of our new Mizzen Men CD recording only a few weeks away on January 15th... "Slainte"...

Wayne