Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops

The Country of Miracles

2010-08-16T02:20:13-07:00

As soon as I saw the lineup, It struck me that some interesting headline choices had been made for the 2010 Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival. The act that closed out this evening - and this year's festival - Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles - is largely unknown by most of the people I spoke with at the event. And while the unfamiliar is often given a fighting chance at this festival, putting entirely unfamiliar music center stage on the last night... well, it seemed a little optimistic. Gord and his alternate touring/studio act, which includes The...

The Trolls Among Us

2010-08-15T19:54:05-07:00

I had the most interesting discussion with a troll today, at the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival. But first, I must confess how thoroughly disappointed I was with the Saturday evening show. I had been eagerly looking forward to Joan Armatrading's show. A friend turned me on to her in the late seventies, but I haven't really given her recordings much of a chance for at least a couple of decades. Prior to Ms. Armatrading's performance, Martha Wainwright brought the tempo down with a set almost entirely dedicated to the late Parisian vocalist Edit Piaf. It was interesting, and...

Cat Came Back

2010-08-14T18:32:44-07:00

Saturday afternoon at the 2010 Salmon Arm Root's & Blues Festival is a great time to either either be a kid, know one, or have been one. A superlative family-friendly daytime line-up at this event is a given. No use picking and choosing show times from the programme; just show up, grab an ice cream, set up camp in the family circle, and leave the last forty years at the door. Fred Penner was such a joy to watch, that watching wasn't enough. There were at least as many adults as children clapping, singling, and grinning ear-to-ear as there were...

Return to the Oasis

2010-08-14T12:44:29-07:00

I give thanks for the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival. The festival itself is a fantastic combination of sights, tastes, and sounds that is unique in my annual experience. But the true beauty of this weekend isn't the festival itself, but rather the oasis of calm and welcome we find here at the home of the Salmon Arm Bakers. My brother and his family live up on the hill, close to the airport and just below the wild trails of Little Mountain. The property is largely shaded by evergreens, which provide relief from the sun but also an element...

Roots & Blues Still Alive and Well

2009-08-17T02:41:51-07:00

Ears are still ringing, mind still busy after watching the Sam Roberts Band freewheel through a roller-coaster 15-minute encore set here in Salmon Arm, bringing the 17th annual Roots & Blues Festival to a close this evening. Despite the headliner's great finish, I can't stop thinking about Johnny Winter. In spite of his frail appearance, Mr. Winter delivered heavy blues licks that echoed memories of his music from my childhood. I would often listen to my older brothers' vinyl before they arrived home from high school, and so spent most of those intervening hours listening to Ten Years After, Santana,...

Let My People Go!

2009-08-16T03:06:51-07:00

Jay Malinowski may have slurred his way through the lyrics of half a dozen songs, but it was the way he slurred during Bedouin Soundclash's wind-up set at the 17th annual Roots & Blues Festival in Salmon Arm that gave the day such a rolicking finish. Shortly after taking the stage, Malinowski ordered the typically restrained crowd seated in front of him to its feat, and out from behind the barricades erected to keeping dancing attendees away from the stage. But even with his direction, the audience at this festival is so well-mannered it actually took a couple of minutes...

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Published Convergys Comment

2009-08-06T08:57:55-07:00

Some of my long-time readers might recall some eighteen months ago, when I broke the story (Will Convergys Close Kamloops Call Centre?) of comments from Convergys President and CEO David Dougherty that the company planned to move some of its Canadian operations to Asia, and questioned whether this would impact the Kamloops operations. That post generated a lot of attention both in terms of traffic to this web site, and within the local media. The latter I found rather curious, given that I hadn't actually added any value other than to discover information that was already freely available in the...

Crisis, What Crisis?

2009-07-27T23:49:49-07:00

Since we moved into our new house in 2004, I've on occasion noticed the odour of natural gas in our driveway. But various experts reasoned the smell away due to a number of factors, and so I have never vigorously pursued it with Terasen. That changed this afternoon, as I parked my Ford in the driveway. I was surprised to discover that our natural gas line had developed a loud and stinky leak, right at the meter outside the garage. So, after a quick reference to the phone book (maybe the first time I've used a phone book in the...

I, Culprit

2009-06-06T09:54:17-07:00

The only constant is change, but change is constantly hard. I say that from the perspective of having built, then lost (with much hardship and heartache), a company that employed a significant number of skilled and well paid workers here in Kamloops and across the province. Too many Canadians today, in too many industries, are experiencing change that impacts both their livelihoods and their passions. In most cases, a staggeringly complex combination of market forces are at play. Unfortunately, those who are affected by change often feel the need to cast the righteousness of their plight in opposition to a...

Be Right About What You Know

2009-05-15T14:00:00-07:00

It's been strange, being so distant from the BC provincial election this week, while attending to business on the road since Sunday. First in Winnipeg, then in Toronto (where I currently sit, waiting for my return flight back to Kamloops), it was strange to be in rooms full of people, knowing I was the only one with the election on my mind. If anything, I received more condolences about the Canuck's post-season follies than inquiries about the Grits, NDP, and electoral reform. But I couldn't help bringing it up, maybe because the people I've worked with this week didn't have...