L o u ' s B l o g ! ! !

(last edited January 21, 2016)

    Well - you hear about this blog and that blog - so I decided to start one of my own. I am going to go way back to the early 60's when I first started to play and tell you about my history in the biz, good friends (and some not so good friends) that I met and worked with along the way and just some observations. This will probably bore the hell out of most but if you were around back then or at any time since then you may find some things interesting - probably not though. I would love to hear from any of my friends from across the years that I have met or worked with - please let me know how you are doing - e-mail me ===>>> Lou DeAdder

    It is quite amazing how things have changed in the music business since the 60's. It is like everything else - you have to constantly prove yourself - until the day you die or until you give up - whichever comes first. I started to play in July, 1964 - I was 12 years old at the time - almost the stone ages you say??? I always wanted to play something when I was a kid - I remember bugging my parents to buy me a banjo, guitar, drums - it was always something different. When I was in grade 7 I walked down to the Sears warehouse in Rexdale every Saturday morning to look at the instruments there. They had a little stage set up with mostly guitars and drums on display. I decided that I really wanted a snare drum for passing that year. My parents said okay but I had to wait til July to get it. When the time came we went to Sears and lo and behold all the drums were gone - they sold them all. They did, however, have lots of guitars left. So I bought a geetar instead. It was a Beltone - an acoustic that actually played more like a tree stump now that I think about it. After the third fret the strings were about 3 inches off the fret board - seemed like it anyway. This magnificent machine was obtained at the grand price of $21.95 after taxes. My dad drove me around a few weeks later to see if we could find an instructional book on guitar - ended up buying a Mel Bay book at Bus Lee Music on Jane Street in the west end of Toronto. I was living in the big old white house on the corner of Irwin and Islington in Rexdale at the time. That first guitar ended up with a fellow guitar picker from Rexdale - Ian Young - can't recall why but I wonder if he still has it? One thing I remember was just after buying the Beltone my mum and I were sitting down trying to figure out how to tune the thing - I would give almost anything to have a video of that!!

    I worked from my Mel Bay book diligently and forever it seemed. The very first person to show me anything on guitar was my cousin Steve Rhynold. I had my guitar for only three days when we went to Steve's house in Humber Summit for a visit. He showed me some of an old standard tune called Long, Long Ago - I gotta tell you - I was impressed with Steve. He had only been playing a little while and never pursued it for long but for someone playing only three days I had a guitar hero right off the bat.

    Paul Rhynold was my mum's cousin and I learned quite a bit from Paul. A lot about chords and chording - a few single note type stuff also. Paul showed me a bunch of chords and eventually we worked on instrumental tunes like Wildwood Flower - Wheels - Frankie and Johnny - Paul was a very good player and quite an impressive country singer also. There was one instrumental tune that I always asked him to show me but he said it was too hard for me at the time - never did learn that tune. I had grown up listening to country - my parents and relatives were all from Nova Scotia and country music was their thing - plain and simple. My mum was from Canso and my dad from Kentville. I have fond memories of going out on my grandfather's fishing boat (not a rowboat but a fishing rig) when I was 6 years old - a great adventure. My first taste of seawater happened around that time while swimming in the ocean - awful stuff!!

    Most of my friends in grade 8 and beyond were also players - we couldn't really play but we sure thought we could. The Beatles came out when I was in grade 7 and the Rolling Stones in grade 8. There was always a battle over which band was the best and all that but they were different from each other and just blazing the way for all others to follow. My buddies at that time were Tony Nijhuis, Steve Simon, Mick Spillane, Dave Fraser, Terry Proctor and a few other names that sorta escape me now. There were many bands in the beginning that weren't really bands but we just got together cause we were major music fans. One of the first real bands we had was called the Robe (Tony tells me it was called R.B. Michaels and the Robe) - Tony, Dave, Terry, Mick and I plus a singer that lived around the Yorkdale area - I believe his first name was Ron. We played at the local high school a few times (Thistletown) and also at this community centre in the subdivision behind Yorkdale - made $30.00 for the night for a 6 piece - not bad for a bunch of 16 year olds. We were heavily into the Toronto R&B type of sound that was happening in Toronto in the 60's. I remember seeing bands like the Five Roques (later as Mandala), Roy Kenner and the Associates, Grant Smith and the Power, the Shays ( my guitar buddies and I were huge Fred Keeler fans), Jon and Lee and the Checkmates and a whole raft of other great bands from that era.

    I have to take this opportunity to mention many other musician friends that I knew and/or played with in the early days: Chris Yost, Wayne Buttery, Mike Kamino, Bob Kamino, Pete Mercer, John Gardiner, John Panchyshyn, George Hurlbut, Kent Chilibeck, George Wolf, Don Skally, Steve Cassini, Mark McGillen, Doug McCoy - I'll be adding to the list as I go.

    I left high school when I was 15. I wanted to get a job so I could buy some better musical equipment. I started to play a lot more and met up with some great players in the area. When I was about 17 I joined a band with Tony Wansborough, Marty Kolesnyk, Al Marnie and Jack Procher. We were doing stuff like Steve Miller, Traffic, Crosby Stills and Nash, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin - it was then that I really got the blues-rock bug. I think the band was a little more inclined to go the softer rock side of things. This was the band that I played my first bar in. It was at the Dardanella in Wasaga Beach - Tony wasn't singing in the band at that point - we were backing this guy named David Jansen. We worked for a few months then went our separate ways. There were other players in that band - I recall Wayne Wilson (drummer - Whisky Howl) rehearsing with us for a time. Many players use to hang around the Y in those days. Mike Pickett was one - don't think he remembers me though. There were many jams at the Y in Thistletown which I was the main organizer - quite a few Toronto players would show up - many I can't remember but I do recall Tony Flaim coming in a couple of times and ripping the place apart - great voice. We played in the village in downtown Toronto with this band a few times. One job was at a t-shirt store in the backyard. Another time was on the second floor balcony of a restaurant - the street was absolutely packed as always and I remember a police sergeant coming up the stairs and telling us he was going to arrest us if we didn't stop playing.

    That same year (I was still 18) I formed a blues band with Sy Potma (Manta Sound), Al Marnie (Chris DeBurgh) and Jack Procher (not sure what Jack did after that) - Al was replaced by Don on bass - last name escapes me (have since found out from Sy Potma that Don's last name was Steel). It was called the Blueberry Hill band and we rehearsed every day of the week in the basement of the Y in Thistletown. We played the village in downtown Toronto with this band also - the Cafe El Patio and a few other joints. We did a lot of original stuff in Blueberry Hill - a great little outfit - I was writing quite a bit then and the tunes were more along the line of what I am writing now to a certain extent - probably a little more blues oriented though. The players left the band one at at time and I replaced them with others and the band turned into more of a commercial unit. We did a lot of top 40 crap so we could get some work. We did a lot of traveling and basically just got worn out doing so (I think this was around the time I started to lose my musical soul so to speak - not writing anything and just playing a lot of CRAP). My great friend Steve Simon ended up playing bass in the band.

    I met my lovely wife Gail while on the road with Blueberry Hill. We were playing in Kapuskasing in Northern Ontario at the time (yup - hit all the hot spots). She had just turned 17 two weeks before that - I was 19 then. Gail and her friend Jane got on the train in New Liskeard that Steve and I were riding - we were traveling home from the big gig in Kap. Steve and I were quite the partakers of the alcohol beverage in those days. We were sitting there in the car when these two girls walked on. They were sitting on the other side of the car just down a bit. Steve and I were drinking Southern Comfort straight from the bottle but we had this bottle of Derby 4 Aces wine that we kept for emergency situations (just horrible stuff). I said to Steve "let's get these two teenyboppers over here and give them our bottle of Derby 4 Aces" (we kept the good stuff for ourselves). Steve says "Sure" - so I went over and invited these two young ladies to sit with us - Jane was only 15 I believe. Well - Gail drank the whole bottle of Derby gut rot - wow - I couldn't believe it - we've been together ever since (she doesn't drink - just wanted to meet me - cool!!!).

    My brother Dave hitched all the way to Timmins when we were playing at the Mattawa Hotel with Blueberry Hill - we left just before he arrived - bummer - we didn't know he was coming!! I have to say that brother Dave and sister-in-law Chich have been Gail and my best friends since way back. We have pretty well spent every New Years together - didn't matter where I was playing - they were there. I remember doing New Years in Elk Lake one year - go to New Liskeard and make a left. My van broke down in North Bay on the way home - alternator and starter - spent all of my new years pay on that one.

    Did a brief stint in a band called Music Box after Blueberry Hill - George, Patty, Terry Elvins, Dave Kellington, Terry Stevens (great drummer), Steve Simon, Glen on drums also (before Terry) - can't recall Glen's last name (I believe it was Brown) - he was the singer-frontman for a well known Toronto band around that time. Steve, Glen and myself also did a brief trio around that time - Glen was a great singer so we usually went over well when we played.

    Went from Music Box to a band called Brandy. I had been playing full time since I was 18 and had the good fortune to audition and join this band (20 at the time). The players were Wally Zwolinski (Brutus, Zwol etc), Bill Wade (later with Moxy), George Collins, Terry (bass - can't recall last name - was replaced by Donny Underhill who went on to play with Trooper), and a couple of horn dudes - Jim and Henry. Jim Monaco was the manager. Played a lot of Chicago and so on and so on. Wally use to jump around the stage with me on his shoulders while I was doing guitar solos - scared the hell out of me. We played the Mad Mechanic in the west end of Toronto quite a bit back then - fabulous times. My parents lived in Hockley Valley at the time and we use to go to the Loretta Tavern for a few wobblys here and there. One time we walked in and a table of people stood up and toasted Brandy - wow - that was a great feeling!!!!

    One of the major things that happened with Brandy was when we were playing the Speakeasy - above the Blue Orchid - around Bathurst and Bloor if I remember correctly. We played six nighters back then - almost exclusively. Not much (if any) of that going on nowadays - it's basically all one nighters in the clubs. Anyway - we finished the Friday night and went home as usual. I went to the club a little early on the Saturday and everything was closed down - lights were out and all that. Noone was around so I went up the stairs and it was pitch black inside. I walked very slowly across the length of the room til I reached the stage - the floor was crunching beneath my feet. I couldn't believe my eyes - they had had a fire in the early morning hours and our equipment was burned to a crisp. I had a double stack of Marshalls - nothing left. The keyboard player had a B3 - it was charred. I never left my guitar at the gig - ever - but I left it at the Speakeasy that Friday night - I found it behind the stage where I left it. All that was left was a little piece of charred wood about 8 inches wide. We were playing in London that following Monday so we all met at Long and McQuade that Monday morning and rented-purchased everything we needed to keep going. We apparently needed to sue the owner of the club just to look at his insurance policy - not sure if we received any monies from that afterwards. We went our separate ways shortly after that. Brandy sort of mutated into Outlaw Music.

    I started to take guitar lessons from the great Hank Monis when I was 20 years old. This went off and on til I was 25. I learned a lot from Hank - a fabulous player!!!

    At some point around this time period I was in a band called Air Castle - Terry Elvins, Dave Kellington, Jim Harding and myself. We were together I believe for about six months or so. Interesting thing I remember about this band was when we were booked into a club in Wallaceburg - we had to take back pop and beer bottles in order to get enough gas to make it to the gig. When we arrived at the club the owner said he wasn't going to pay us the agreed amount. Typical music biz shenanigans. A price was finally agreed upon and we played there for the week - good thing because we had no money at all - for food or for gas to get back home. I just received a call last night (December 28, 2006) from one of our good friends from those days - Paul Green. It was talking to Paul that made me realize that I had neglected to write about the days with Air Castle. We practiced (like so many bands did in those days) at an old rehearsal hall at Sherbourne and King. Played at the old Carlin in Oshawa with this band - two of the band members went into Toronto one day during the week and were late for the gig on the Wednesday night due to a snow storm - the owner docked us some money and said he gave us rooms so he fully expected us to be there and playing on time - snow storm or not. I agreed with that one. I think also this was the band that played a Friday and Saturday at a club in Richmond Hill - the fee was $400.00 - not bad in those days. The guy gave us a cheque and declared bankruptcy thereafter - played all weekend for nothing. Some people are so sleazy!!!!

    Next project I was involved in that worked pretty good was a band in the Oshawa area called Whip (around 72) (there were many short-lived bands and attempts at forming bands throughout the years). Players were Mike Rogers, Steve Sporina, Finlay Smith and Pete Bailey. We were together for about six months and booked through Barry Cobus. This was one of the last bands that I had to actually back up a stripper on stage. Strippers were dancing mostly to the jukebox after this. The first time we backed up a stripper was with the Blueberry Hill band in Haileybury - in Northern Ontario. Our agent at the time said we were going to be giving the stripper a ride with us. She used the name Silver Doll on stage - we played 20 minutes and she (danced???) for 20 minutes - every set!!! This went on for the whole six nights we were there - what a grind. Another bout with a stripper was in Hearst - also in Northern Ontario. Turns out she (he???) was not really a she - we picked her? up in Kirkland Lake on our way to Hearst. She got in the back seat of the car and said - I want to get one thing straight right from the start - I use to be a guy - I have had two operations - one for my genitals and one on my throat. Hey - it's the music business - you never know what the hell you are going to run into. Well - turns out she/he had one operation alright but it wasn't on the genitals. Said she/he took speed pills to keep the guy down when dancing at night. Made more money on the side as a prostitute than with dancing (they didn't take it all off in those days). She had a boyfriend in North Bay and the pay phone was right outside my door - many arguments and loud conversations through the night were had with he/she and said boyfriend.

    Whip was an interesting band. We played a lot of great stuff including Steely Dan and the Allman Brothers. It was driven mostly by Mike Rogers (the late and great) and myself playing guitar - a lot of harmony guitar work - great stuff. Played the Circle Electrique ( the Electric Circle) in the old part of Quebec City for a week - it was very strange being somewhere that noone seemed to know what you were saying - everyone spoke French only - twas an experience.

    Auditioned for a band called Biggy Twiggy Band when Whip met it's demise. Joined this unit in Toronto (around 73) although they were from out west. They played basically Thunder Bay to Vancouver - back and forth continually. They needed some new blood in the band and most were from the Toronto area. Players were Skip Pollard (singer and leader), Jimmy Payne (played with many great players including King Curtis and Albert Collins - Jimmy left us in December, 2006 - he will be missed), Nick Urech, and various horn players (the late and great trumpet player Dennis Friesen being one - also - Frances - Grant - Larry). This is where the mighty Leo Sullivan and I met. Leo was only 19 and fresh out of high school. Leo plays sax in The Lou DeAdder Band when we expand from a three piece. There were many adventures to be had - played 6 nighters every week and spent Sundays traveling from job to job. We recorded a 45 (remember those) in a studio in Calgary - the A side was written by an American artist - I wrote the music for the B side - Skip wrote the lyrics. The single made it onto the charts in Calgary and Edmonton - somewhere around the 30 mark. It was exciting. One thing that sticks out in my mind was when we were playing the Landmark in Thunder Bay - the band van was repossessed and Gail and I were elected to stay in Thunder Bay until it was released (Skip had to pay his bills). We stayed with the next band until the following Friday - slept on the couch in their room. We finally got the van back and drove to Winnipeg the next day.

    After a year with Biggy Twiggy Gail and I took a bus from Calgary back to Toronto. I looked around forever it seems and joined a band called Mother Nature. This was a disco band!!! As a full time player you do what you have to do to survive - disco was the happening thing at this point (around 75 or so). I replaced Steve Shelski on guitar who was attending the music program at Humber College - Steve went on to play with numerous bands including Coney Hatch and is currently with Robbie Lane. Players in Mother Nature were drummer Joe Rigon (currently with Robbie Lane), Meek and Luba, Gary Dixon, Lynn Mulhall, Brigitte, and a couple of different bass players - Louie Fortin and Brent Eikhard. We did a tour of the east coast and played all over Southern Ontario - wore some funny clothes and had a really good time. I have to mention that with the Biggy Twiggy band we wore many strange outfits - Skip would see something in a magazine or catalogue and send the picture to this woman in Thunder Bay that made us all costumes - that's what they were - costumes - not clothes. Another story from out west - we were playing a club in Edmonton called the Firehall - Gordon Lightfoot was sitting right in front of me one night and his roadie came backstage after a set and said that Mr. Lightfoot would like to play drums with us. Skip said "in an R&B band? No way" - well - I would have let him play spoons with us if he wanted too - that was disappointing. Lightfoot was fairly popular in the early to mid 70's. Anyway - back to Mother Nature - the band changed it's name after awhile to Mason-Dixon Line and we carried on. Joe left the band to play with his brother Jim in a band called Function (later called Star City) and a young guy named Gary Craig joined the band. Wow - what a player. Gary used to practice in the hotel room for four hours every day. He eventually ended up in Ann Murray's band and is probably top call for studio work in this country at the moment. Gary played drums on our first disc "Lou D".

    My next musical outing was a stint with Shirley Eikhard. I was 25 at this point - around 1976. Players were Mike Hefernan (went on to work with Gordon Lightfoot - still does I believe), Lonnie Glass on bass and Marv Kennerick on drums. I met Shirley from working with her brother Brent in Mason-Dixon Line. This lasted for 3 months - we did some interesting things during that time. We traveled to Winnipeg in the dead of winter - took us 30 hours to drive there. I slept for 18 hours upon arriving. During our 5 days in Winnipeg we played every night at one of the local bars, played two afternoon concerts at the local colleges and a concert at the local university. We also did a TV show for CBC - we were guests on the Rick Neufeld show - great times. We also played a concert at Convocation Hall in Toronto, did a 30 minute TV show for Global called Caught in the Act - I remember Peter Appleyard played with us and he was right in front of my amp. I apologized to him if the guitar was too loud and he said it was exactly what was called for for what we were doing - that made my day - a very professional gentleman. I also remember drinking so much coffee waiting to record that show (10 cups??) that I was actually shaking.

    Shirley's record company did not want her to have a band so that ended after three months - the whole band stayed together and joined forces with a singer by the name of Chris Hall. We called the band 100 Proof. Lonnie and Marv left the band shortly after that and Steve Sporina (my bud from Whip) joined as our bass player and a drummer from Quebec who could barely speak any English joined us - can't even remember his first name let alone his last. We played a 6 nighter downstairs at the El Mocambo with this unit. Memorable thing about that job was that the Rolling Stones had just finished playing upstairs and Billy Preston's gear was on the stage downstairs when we got there. This was in February of 1977. I remember that date well cause we recorded the Tuesday night on a little shoebox tape recorder. Gail was pregnant with our first youngster - Chris - at the time - and I wasn't making ANY money at all (daughter Kim was born two years later).

    It's funny how having a youngster and having to provide can wake you up a tad. At this point I decided that music was not a really great financial outlet for me. I decided to go back to school - be an accountant or computer programmer or something like that (yikes!!!). We moved to Whitby in 77 - been here ever since. I went to Durham College for three years (September, 1978) - seemed like bloody forever. I joined a band called Lockerbie in Oshawa in January of 1978 - also did a very short stint as a guitar teacher in Oshawa at the Music Lesson Place. Players in Lockerbie were Brian Twaites, Cam Kingelin, Orrin Baird, Brian McCarthy, Larry played trumpet for awhile, Gary Getz replaced Cam on vocals for about 6 months then Cam returned, Mark Konaroski played drums at first then Randy Begg (Wednesday) joined. Stan Kuzma was our sound guy with a few that helped out over the years including Russ Gordon (bass player and country singer). A few other players joined as we were about to dis-band - had a great time in Lockerbie.

    Lockerbie broke up in January, 1981 and three of us started a country band called Hickory Creek adding Gord Donnelly on bass. Myself, Cam, Brian and Gord - now there was a combination. I remember saying to Brian McCarthy when he approached me with the idea of starting a country band - I said something like "that'll be the day!!!" We were together for a year and a half and played the area quite a bit. I graduated from college during this time and was employed by the Hudson Bay Company as a systems programmer - was hired in May of 1981 - this job lasted for just over 6 years - I couldn't take it anymore. A memorable job we did every Sunday with Hickory Creek was the Sports Station in Oshawa - I think it was Station - not sure. It was sports something. Donna was the lovely proprietor of this establishment - Cam and Donna were married a short while after that and are together to this day.

    Cam and I left Hickory Creek and started a duo (around 1982 - called it Mellow Rock County). I picked up some bass pedals which I played with my feet (what the hell was I thinking????) and along with my guitar pickin' and Cambo on drums we had a unit. Cam did most of the lead vocals and I sang a few tunes and did a bit of harmony. Cam left to play with Shotgun after 5 months and I tracked down Dan Chaisson from the Oshawa area to play in the duo. I started to do a lot more lead vocal stuff at that point - Dan was a lead vocalist/drummer so we were in business. Dan currently has a band called Kaos which has been together for something like 20 years now. Dan and I did the duo thing for awhile and I decided that I wanted to try my hand at doing a single (called myself Lou West - West being my middle name) (again - what the hell was I thinking????).

    Sitting on a stool, playing bass with my left foot, drum machine in tow - I did a single for 12 years (worked through the Ron Albert agency with agent Dave Blum)!!!! After about 5 or 6 years I traded in the bass pedals and drum machine for a midi system - this had a pretty good sound and all - I could actually stand up and play some stuff. Some people are very strange to say the least - all I ever really got were comments like "hey - that's cheating - using a computer." There was the ever present comment that people used to throw at me "have you ever thought of playing in a band" - they think because you are doing a single that you can't or have never played in a band. I was playing at a very small club in south Oshawa called My Sister's Place once (played there many times actually). There was a guy at the bar one night that I was talking to and he thought that players doing a single just couldn't play at all. He says to me something like "There was a really great band a few years back called Hickory Creek - man could those guys play - you ever see them???" Well - when I told him I was the lead geetar picker in that band it didn't phase him at all - I think he thought I was lying or something - incredible. One thing of note during the single era was the release af a 45 - two original tunes - received some airplay in Canada and was an incredible learning experience. This was in the mid 80's time frame. Musicians on the 45 were Dan Chaisson and George Wilshire.

    Lots of stories I could tell you about doing a single. I did the single thing like I said for 12 years - on a full time basis for the most part. I also did guitar lessons out of my home to supplement my income. If you are a player reading this I can tell you from very personal experience that if you think you are working hard in the music biz - you ain't done anything until you've done a single - the hardest by far I have ever worked while playing. I wanted to get out of the single thing for years. If it wasn't my equipment breaking down it was my van. I snared a gig at the Oshawa Senior Citizens Centre on a Wednesday afternoon. It was from 1 til 3 PM and was called the Peach Social. I was 44 years old - it was the last job I did as a single - yup - the seniors did it to me. I couldn't take it anymore. I taught guitar for quite some time after that.

    There was a band that I played in off and on during the single years - a trio called Level Crossing. Bill Hall on bass and Ron Hooper on drums. We played around the area for about two years (a few jobs here and there) - it was a nice diversion. I had to eventually go back to just doing a single - mostly for financial reasons.

    The Martial Arts were always something I was interested in. I started training in Karate in the early 80's and it always seemed to keep my head together. As I started to move away from the single thing the martial arts started to take over as my full time occupation with music as a part time endeavor. I did not play live for 6 years after stopping the single - I never wanted to see another stage again. It was turning 50 that opened my eyes up a bit. I decided that I better get moving and do something if I was going to do anything at all in the music business. I met up with long time buddy Randy Begg (from the Lockerbie days) - Randy was playing in a blues band and I had decided that I wanted to play what I had originally started to play way back - rockin' blues. We are what we are - plain and simple. Randy and I along with Brett Piekarz started a band called Start It Up in 2002 - we are still together after 5 years. Randy left after two years - Franko Woodcock played drums with the band for a few years and current drummer is Enrique Loyola - the band is now called The Lou DeAdder Band.

    We have recently released two CD's - "Lou D" in January, 2005 and "Slow Down" in April, 2006. Work is currently being done on CD's three and four (CD number four will be an all instrumental offering). The music is all original - as it should be. Am I a blues guitar player? - I play some blues - am I a more rock-oriented player? - I play a lot of stuff in that vein - how about the funky R&B stuff? - I play that also - bottomline is I do a lot of things - have played a lot of styles - it's really a fusion kind of thing - jazz flavours also - has to do with the scale choices I make. Brett Piekarz and I spent a full year working on "Lou D' - our first disc. It was released January 1, 2005 and received quite a bit of airplay around the planet - about 150 stations worldwide played tracks from it (still are). It wasn't just one tune - it was all the tunes - stations played stuff according to their format (or what they liked). The internet has opened up incredible promotional opportunities for the independent musician.

    CD number two - "Slow Down" - released April 19, 2006 - much better production wise and the playing is also much, much better than the first disc. I'm talking mostly about my own playing - all players are just fabulous on both CD's. We received more airplay in the U.S. with this disc - a little less in Australia and Europe. Not a lot of play in Canada for both discs!!! Bob Putignano - DJ in the New York City area - became interested in Slow Down. He played many tunes often on his Sounds of Blue program. Brett and I journeyed to New Jersey to do a live radio interview with Bob in August, 2006 - had a great time. We plan on going again when disc three is released. I have entered Slow Down into the 2006/2007 Juno awards in the best blues album category - the 5 nominees will be announced in February, 2007. All songs from the disc are also entered into the International Songwriting Competition (Nashville) in many categories - finalists will be announced again in February, 2007. Any recognition at all will be fabulous.

    A major, major shift in the band/players/members thing since awhile back is the pickup/jobber type of situation. Can't believe it actually. I go to see a band and half the members are different and just filling in. I was away from the band thing for about 20 years - 2 years in a duo - 12 years as a single and 6 years just teaching - much had changed upon my return. Many players are in 4 or 5 bands and more. A lot of the CD's being recorded nowadays have this very loose quality about them also. The digital versus analog (disc vs tape) recording methods is another major area of contention. I find it quite amusing also to hear so many so called self-proclaimed aficionados out there whether it be blues - rock - or whatever!! Many of these people are not players - have never been what I call "in the trenches" and have not actually experienced even a fraction of what the players have gone through in the music biz. They do, however, all have opinions on how things should be done!! I guess my biggest surprise (or disappointment really) is that anyone even listens to them at all.

    Back to the internet as a promotional tool - this incredible communications network was not available in the past. The world is basically available to you at your fingertips. DJ's all over the planet have been spinning tunes from our CD's - literally everywhere. It is quite an exciting situation. My original material (that is all that we record - no covers) is a bit of an eclectic mix of styles - I like to think of it as originality (hey - that isn't blues - nope - you guys aren't a rock band - nope - not that either) our band and music cannot be pigeonholed into just one style - this is exactly what I strive for. I believe that traditional blues has been changing quite a bit lately. The more eclectic approach is the direction I think that music and bands will be taking in the future. It has been happening for awhile now. Artists such as Robben Ford play a mix of blues, rock, R&B and other styles to create an original offering of their music. Our musical approach is much the same.

    Lots of people out there that just talk and talk and talk. I'm not sure why but maybe they are trying to show us how much they know or it could be a bit of an insecurity thing. We finished band practice last night and then went out for a couple of wobbly pops. We were sitting there and this guy that runs a local club here in town comes in and sits down with us. He starts talking about all the different acts he has and this person and that person - we've all been in the music biz for a long time and also live in the Whitby-Oshawa area - never heard of any of these people he was talking about - all local players apparently. Drummer playing on suitcases and such - couldn't make a lot of sense out of it. Many people continually talk about how great this person is and how great that person is - they would be much better off focusing on where they are rather than where they would like to be. They would be much more centered as a result and could then move forward toward the goals they would like to accomplish.

    Seems to be the measure of success for a musician (in some eyes) is how often you play. There really comes a time when you may not want to play all the time - every week - all over the place. I.E.. I played so many New Years gigs - every year - as a single - with bands - that I just wanted to be able to enjoy the festivities rather than working all the time. Playing clubs gets to be like a dog chasing it's tail. We still play - the line up I have in the current band is really, really quite exceptional - all very professional players. The main focus these last few years has been in the writing and recording end of things. If you are a full time player there is not much choice - you have to play when and wherever you can (and with anyone that offers you a job - good or bad). Been there and done that - now I get to zero in on what I want to do.

Just received an e-mail (February 1, 2007) from an old friend from back in the 60's - Dave Templeton. Wow - things I haven't thought about since way back - friends I use to have such as Steve "Tex" Beesley (passed on in 2005), Bonnie Bray, and Bill Reid (passed in 72 - a very young man). Talking about the problems we use to have in the 60's with long hair and those that chased us around because they didn't like it. Thistletown Collegiate - there were four in the whole school with long hair - myself, Tim and Chris Mason and the 4th I can't recall - maybe it was Dave or possibly Steve Simon. I remember Tim Mason being a major Who fan - I didn't really like them that much til I seen them live at the Rockpile down on Yonge Street - I was standing in front of Pete Townsend - been a big fan ever since. Dave mentioned the old house on Irwin Road - still standing I believe - memories, memories. Hanging out at the Y in Thistletown and all those adventures in Yorkville!!! It was fabulous hearing from you Dave.

Ahh - the power of the internet!! My good friend and major musical buddy Jack Procher just contacted me (February 22, 2007). Jack and I go back way back to Blueberry Hill band days and before that even. Jack was/is a fabulous jazz drummer. He tells me he has traveled all over North America with several bands including Shirley Eikhard right here from Toronto (I worked with Shirley also) and with a latin/funk outfit called the Paul Christopher band out of Los Angeles to name just a few. Jack started composing music for film and television around 1989 and has been very successful in doing so ever since.

No luck on the Juno nomination thing - you never know about these things until you try. No bites on the songwriting situation either. I plan on entering the next two CD's into the Junos also. One for Instrumental album and possibly one into the Blues category again. We shall see!!

About 5 years ago (2001 - 2002??) Gail and I were at a very short-lived blues club here in Whitby called Roxy's. A trio called the Beat Heathens were playing and the guitar picker had the same last name as me. I went up and introduced myself to Wayne DeAdder and when he found out we had the same last name I thought he was going to do a back flip over the drums. Turns out that Wayne and I are related - not first cousins but cousins just the same. We have kept in touch over the years - the Beat Heathens are still going strong and Wayne also plays bass in the Jimmy Bowskill band - he's a busy guy. If you get a chance to see either band then please do so - good stuff all way round. I have adopted Wayne as my little bro' - all 6 feet plus of him!! (posted February 28, 2007).

I have been e-mailing back and forth with Wally Zwolinski - haven't heard from Wally since the Brandy days. Yikes - that would be about 35 years ago!!! Wally was informed by a friend about my blog and he decided to contact me (March 9, 2007). It's great to see that he has been playing all these years and continues to do so. He has a band called Naked Brunch that plays the Toronto area here and there. I still remember quite well when Wally use to dance around the stage with me on his shoulders while I was doing a solo - scared the shit out of me but it was fun!!! Wally is one of those one of a kind type of characters - go and check it out.

Gail and I went to see Wally's band "Naked Brunch" at the Bier Mkt in Toronto last night (March 23, 2007). Wow - that place was smokin' - Wally is still one hell of a front man - lots of range on the voice and versatile - a major treat. It was like going through a time portal seeing Wally jumping around and cavorting on stage. There was a certain amount of nostalgia happening for Gail and I but Wally is really quite good - an entertainer - plain and simple!!!

The music biz - what a wonderful thing!! We were booked into MacGregor's Pub in Cobourg this Saturday (April 14, 2007). Brett and I went out there this past Monday to drop off some posters and there was another band listed on the board as playing there on the 14th. If you have been a player for any length of time you will know that this kind of stuff is common in the biz. We talked to the owner that night (Mr. MacGregor hisself) and he had nothing concrete to say about anything. He was bobbin' and weavin' and not coming up with any answers at all - said he would call us back the next day (Tuesday, April 10). He did not call back and would not take our calls. It is hard to understand why anyone would do this kind of stuff - how can you run a business like this??? We had previously played there February 10, 2007 and booked the date to come back in on April 14 at that time - there was no question as to who was booked first. If we had not found out about this beforehand then both bands would have shown up for the gig - that would have been a problem!! Anyway - players out there that stumble across my blog can keep this in mind about MacGregor's Pub in Cobourg - also - any patrons that might decide to attend the club for a drink or dinner may be better served if they went to the Oasis about two or three doors away.

Received an e-mail (April 15, 2007) from another of my Thistletown Collegiate friends from way back - Bonnie Bray. Bonnie tells me she is involved in the following hobbies (in her own words) - "I am a civil war re-enactor, an 1812 re-enactor and lately I have been doing some runnin' with the buckskinners" - hmmm - interesting stuff!! This blog has worked out exceptionally well - it is so fabulous to hear from the friends I had back in the Thistletown days. Great to hear from you Bonnie. You and Dave Templeton must come down and hear the band soon - I would love to see you again.

Here's something I have been thinking about for awhile. When we released our first CD "Lou D' back in January, 2005, I sent out quite a few copies for promotion. I put the CD on CD Baby and Amazon.com and a few other online establishments. Even before any copies were sold (and that was minimal at best) there were copies of the CD showing up in places like Amazon.com for sale as used copies. Huh!!!! What is the deal there??? You send a CD out for promotion and it ends up for sale somewhere else? I was floored the first time I seen that. The same thing has happened with our second CD "Slow Down." CD's going out at the musician's expense so someone can make a few (very few) dollars selling it at a discount. Sleeeeeeezy!!!

The beat goes on - received an e-mail from Lonnie Glass (April 27, 2007). Lonnie was the bass player in Shirley Eikhard's band when I worked with her. He has a ZZ Top tribute band called Tres Hombres in which he plays bass and sings - they have been together since 1983 - traveling all over the countryside - the U.S. - Europe - Canada - Russia and other places. Lonnie has also been doing quite a bit of songwriting these past 5 or 6 years - has three CD's to his credit and also does an acoustic act. He tells me that drummer Marv Kennerick from Shirley's band moved to LA and ended up doing some Vegas gigs with the likes of Cher. I remember we traveled to Winnipeg with Shirley - in the dead of winter - I believe there were 6 of us - the band plus a sound guy. Took us 30 hours to drive there. The 5 days we were there we played a bar in town at night - did college and university concerts during the day and also did a TV show for CBC - the Rick Neufeld show - then drove all the way home. Lonnie reminded me of the journey back when - while I was driving - the van started to fishtail - now that woke everyone up!!! We also did a half hour TV show for Global called Caught in the Act - would love to see those shows again. I remember Lonnie and I going to the gym and working our asses off in the weight room - great memories.

Reviews, reviews, reviews - very interesting stuff. If you want to stir up some interest in your recording projects then having people review your tunes is a must. You have to, however, take the bad with the good and roll with it. We have had some tremendous reviews for both of our CD's so far but also some very detrimental ones. Well - we did ask for an opinion!! I very much like the review of Slow Down by New York City area DJ Bob Putignano - take a look.

Played Jack's Fillin' Station in Oshawa this past Saturday (July 7, 2007) - we haven't played there for about three years. I was setting up the gear and I looked around and my old bud Steve Sporina was standing there - didn't recognize him right off. It was fabulous talking and reminiscing with Steve - we go way back to our later teen years - lots of history. Steve and I played in two bands - Whip and 100 Proof. I was also in a band with Steve before that (for a few weeks) in Whitby with Doug McCoy, Walt Young and Brian Bremner. Steve is one of those guys with an endless well of energy and holds onto an idea like a bulldog (never gives up). I hope Steve gets it together some day soon - I think the product would be very interesting.

Went to see Tres Hombres tonight (August 10, 2007). My old bud Lonnie Glass - wow - growls like a bear on stage - I was impressed - Gail and I had a fabulous time. Got up and did a few tunes with the band which I enjoyed a lot. There aren't too many still playing from back in the 60's and 70's - not to any great extent anyway. Lonnie is still giving it his all and it shows.

Received nominations for the 2007 Durham Region Music Awards for "Instrumental Recording of the Year" and "Blues Recording of the Year." The awards show was on Wednesday, Sept 19, 2007 here in Whitby. Didn't win but it was an honour to be nominated. We will try again next year. Our new CD called "Altered Reality (the instrumentals)" will be entered into the Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2008 Junos which will be held in Calgary this time around. Will be interesting to see what happens - exciting times.

Received an e-mail from Ken Williams (around the third week of Sept, 2007 or so - can't recall the exact date). Ken along with Don Peterson were the two responsible for running the Y in Thistletown back in the 60's. I can't recall Ken and Don but it was great to hear from Ken just the same. He ran across this blog while looking for one of the regulars from the Y days - Sax player John Panchyshyn. He reminded me of the fact that they had to brick up one of the basement windows at the Y so our equipment wouldn't get stolen. Great times and fond memories - thanks Ken!!

Wow - received an e-mail (November 11, 2007) from Noreen McCallum - a very good friend from the Y days. Haven't seen Noreen since way back. She tells me that quite a few from Rexdale still hang out from time to time - a bunch of Rowdy girls from Rexdale get together on a yearly basis - watch out - could be trouble!! Teenyboppers at heart. Gotta love the teenyboppers. Noreen has had her own SignShop for the past 32 years - that's a little odd seeing as how she is only 29 - not sure how she managed that?? Noreen has asked me not to call the Y the YMCA but rather "the Y intersection coffee house." There you go Noreen - hope that works for the Rexdale Y girls. A "Y" reunion would be fabulous. I think we should get everybody together that we can - bring them all out to the Whitby-Oshawa area in a few months when my band is planning on doing a CD release party/concert. What do you think Noreen - would be a blast!!

Just received an e-mail from John Gardiner (February 6, 2008). John is a drummer friend from back in the Rexdale/Thistletown days. What a blast!!! John and I played together in many bands and outings - jam sessions - all that kind of stuff. He stumbled across this blog while looking around the net for a few musician type guys that he came into contact with over the years. An old retired guy now and living in Vancouver since around 1980 - right John? Great to hear from you - please keep in touch.

Peter Pitoscia - drums!! Peter contacted me around mid-April 2008 - we worked together in the Blueberry Hill Band in the very early 70's - around 70 or 71. We also jammed quite a bit during our teenage years. I had totally forgotten about that time with the band. Peter also reminded me of our singer - we called him Rico but his real name was Joe - can't recall the last name. A couple of things about that time in the band makes me laugh just thinking about them. We were playing the Kap Inn in Kapuskasing - it was Peter, Rico, Steve Simon and myself. Rico had a toy gun in his room and the management somehow thought it was real. They wanted to fire us and get us out of there. I had to go to the manager's office and plead with them not to can us - I was the leader of the band and finally convinced them to let us stay. Rico quit the band eventually and we were booked into a club in Brantford. The three of us split the vocal duties with Peter doing the majority - we made it through - a total bluff. One thing that really sticks in my mind is that we had no money at all when we arrived in Brantford - a friend of either Peter's or Steve's drove us there. We had a dry loaf of bread for dinner that first night with water - believe it or not. I had to go to the manager and ask for an advance on our pay. There was an after hours club next door that wanted us to play after we finished one night. We carted our gear over there and while we were playing all of a sudden I couldn't hear any bass stuff at all. Steve was lying on the stage in a fetal position - he was so drunk he just decided to lay down on stage and take a nap - hilarious. Thanks for contacting me Peter.

Life sure has a way of taking control sometimes. My lovely wife and companion of 37 years Gail passed away on Thursday, May 22, 2008 a few minutes after 8 PM. Gail was in the Ajax-Pickering hospital just into her 5th week. She had been diagnosed with cancer - it was everywhere in her system and spreading fast. The doctors told us there was no cure and that their main objective was to get her pain under control for the best quality of life they could give her. She will be greatly missed by her kids, grandkids, relatives and friends. I will never forget you Gail and will always love you.

One very big surprise for me was seeing Mike Kamino at Gail's visitation. I haven't seen Mike for over 30 years and although I wish the circumstances were better it was really great to see him there. Mike is still playing and recording CD's of his own material. Mike and Chris Yost have been good friends since the old days and I have also been in contact with Chris via e-mail - he has been living out in Vancouver for quite some time. I received Chris' address from Al Marnie who is operating a bar/restaurant in Florida. The person who initially gave me the contact info for some of these old friends was Wayne Buttery - also at Gail's visitation.

We opened for Johnny Winter last night at Johnny B's in Whitby (July 4, 2008). Gail would have really enjoyed the show - she was there though in our hearts and minds. It was fabulous playing in a concert setting - an all original set - the band was smokin'. More of that coming up in the future for sure. Watch for CD number 4 set to be released September 1, 2008 - it's gonna be a good one. I also just found out yesterday that there is a fan club for the Lou DeAdder band on facebook - check it out!

Many have asked me about the whereabouts of Tony Nijhuis - well - I finally tracked him down (July 17, 2008). Tony sent me an e-mail from one of my CD Baby pages. Tony was one of my very best friends back in our teen years in Rexdale. He lives out in Campbell River, BC now on Vancouver Island and runs his own landscaping business. Tony is going by the name of Anton and tells me his real name is Antonius. Well - he reminded me of the time back in the old days when we got into some wine one night and ended up getting busted by the cops. Spent a few hours at the police station - around Jane and Sheppard I believe - that scared the crap out of me. Thinking back though it was a blast - ended up in court shortly after that - we had long hair and I think I was wearing an army jacket that night. When I was in court I had my hair clipped short and was wearing a suit - yikes. Great to hear from you Tony - hopefully we can hook up at some point in the future.

One of my Blueberry Hill Band cohorts, Sy Potma, read this blog and contacted me August 7, 2008. Sy was our singer in the band and also played harmonica. He worked at Manta Sound in Toronto for many years until the business was sold and now works out at Fanshawe College in London. We use to practice everyday in the basement of the Y in Thistletown - quite a few original tunes - creative stuff. We hardly ever played anywhere other than the Y but had a great time with the music. One thing that comes to mind now that I think about it was that Jack could play guitar and bass to a certain extent and wanted to get out from behind the kit. Al Marnie was playing bass in the band at that point and it was a battle between Al and I to see who would play drums in place of Jack - didn't work out too good cause we both kind of stunk. Fabulous hearing from you Sy.

It has been over a year since posting anything on the blog here (this is November 21, 2009). We have been hard at it in the studio recording CD number 5 - that is the actual name of the disc "Number 5." This is probably the best line-up players we have had in the studio to date. The bed tracks were recorded this past July, 2009 - myself, Brett and Gary Craig on Drums - what a great player Gary is - we spent three days solid in the studio laying the bed tracks down for all 9 songs - I am very happy with the outcome of those sessions. At this point we are finishing the lead vocal tracks and will be editing down all the guitar stuff which I recorded in August. Once that is finished we can get Horns, Keyboards etc in and the disc will start to take shape - exciting times! The CD will be ready during the first 6 months of 2010 - these things can't be rushed - it will be ready when it's ready. I have four songs written for CD 6 so far with a planned release date of 2011.

Mister Eclectic has been entered into the current Juno awards which will take place in St. John's, NF in April 2010 - sure would be nice to receive a nomination. I spent a week in St. John's this past July, 2009 - I ended up writing a song called St. John's which I plan on recording for CD 6 - a very interesting place.

I was a guest at Cheerleaders Sports Bar and Grill in Wasaga Beach on Wednesday November 4 2009 - my good friend from way back in the Thisteltown Y days Wayne Buttery was celebrating the one year anniversary of the jam he has been hosting there with his band the Groove Project - great bunch of individuals. The place was packed all night - a rare treat to play to a full and very appreciative house.

We have almost finished (January 17 , 2010) the tracking (recording) for CD number 5. Planned release date is now May 1, 2010. I am now working on song number 6 for CD 6. We have our fingers and toes crossed for the upcoming Juno awards.

The Lou DeAdder Band played the Northumberland (Cobourg) Ribfest this past August 22, 2010 - what a blast. We played as a 5 piece - guitar, bass, drums, sax and trumpet - we are booked in again next year. We also played at the 2nd anniversary of Wayne Buttery's jam in Wasaga Beach on October 20 - this we did as a trio - very nice playing to a packed house. It was also my birthday - 29 and trying to hold on - what a great time!

We received many nominations in the latest music awards for the Durham Region Music Society. Brett and I went to the awards show here in Whitby on Wednesday October 27, 2010. We won the "Best Blues Recording" for 2010 - I am very happy about that. I also have CD "Number 5" entered into the Grammy's, Junos and IMA's (Independent Music Awards). A couple of songs have been entered into the International Songwriting Competition out of Nashville - we shall see how it all goes. Work continues on CD 6 - it will be finished in 2011 sometime. I have a CD project in the works called "Ballads." The plan is to have 10 songs (I am in the process of writing song number 9) - 4 songs will be included from our previous discs - "My Baby Blue" from "Lou D", "Believe" and "Comin' Home" from "Slow Down" and "Share My Life" from "Mister Eclectic." I have received many complements on our ballads over the years - this will be a very interesting CD.

Time sure marches on - my last post was November 7, 2010 and here it is February 1, 2014. The writing and recording continues - at last entry I was working on CD 6 called Headlights which was released in 2011. I have also released two more albums since then - "Ballads" in 2012 and "Riding A Bicycle" in 2013. My next project called "Acoustic Pathways" is all written and I am about to start recording it in a few weeks - planned release date April 15, 2014. "Riding A Bicycle" and "Acoustic Pathways" are both instrumental albums featuring acoustic guitar only - quite a switch from the first 7 albums. It is extremely tough to record a full album with only one instrument - it has worked out well. The actual song "Riding A Bicycle" received an Honourable Mention in the 2013 Mid Atlantic Song Contest out of Washington DC - I was very happy about that. There have been many other instances where I have placed as a finalist in various contests but the award of note was in placing first - Instrumental category - in the 2012 Great American Song Contest for song "Jazzy" off the "Number 5" album. As always I have also entered into all the competitions and awards shows that I can - I have two entries in the upcoming Junos - Ballads in the Adult Contemporary album and Riding A Bicycle in the Instrumental category - nominations will be announced this Tuesday Feb 4th.

"Acoustic Pathways" will be my 9th album since 2005 - all in all a very expensive ride. I decided that I would try and receive some financial support from some of the government programs available. First up I checked out Factor - wow what a ride that is. I spent at least a week on the application and decided that Factor wasn't really going to work for me - it seems that they go for the more commercial and market driven projects rather than the artistic approach. I then tried the Canada Council for the Arts - they have two deadline dates each year and any expenses incurred before those dates for your project will not be covered - the rep there that I was in contact with said that if part of my project was completed before the deadline date then it would be considered a partial project and would receive much less weight when being decided which projects would receive a grant. Basically - if I had waited another three months before recording then I could apply. The third option was the Ontario Arts Council - it was the same idea with the deadline dates as with the Canada Council for the Arts - they told me I was not eligible. So... back to square one - looks like I am paying for the project as I have always done. Some advice to those of you that are considering a government grant - don't be too caught up with your album having to be completed by a certain date - as long as you follow their dates it should be fine. Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council state that they are both more artistically driven whereas Factor is more commercial and market driven.

Time to do a little reminiscing - Friday August 14, 2015. Sometimes it seems like only a few days ago that my parents bought that first guitar for me - a Beltone acoustic geetar for $21.95 - that was a lot of money back in the early 60's. I was 12 then - I went on to a two pick-up Harmony electric and a few other machines til I ended up with a 1966 Fender Telecaster - sold that and bought a Les Paul which I played for many years til buying my 1968 Gibson 335 in 1972. Anyway - been thinking about the days in the village - was hangin' out down there for years. I remember playing the Cafe El Patio a few times (Blueberry Hill Band) - also in the backyard of Crazy David's t-shirt store (I think that was the name) and most notably was playing on the second floor balcony of a restaurant/bar on Yorkville Avenue (not sure of the band's name for the Crazy David's gig or the restaurant on Yorkville but we were backing up a singer named David Jansen who had a few singles out at the time). The traffic became so congested on Yorkville Avenue that a police seargeant came up the stairs and said he was going to arrest us if we didn't stop playing - that sadly was the end of that gig.

The days at the Y in Thistletown were happening then also. I was just reading about Whisky Howl and a few other bands from back then. I auditioned to play guitar for Whisky Howl at that time - I believe it was to replace Peter Boyko - it was a good audition but I was a little too messed up and more into the rock/blues stuff rather than the straight ahead blues style of Howl at that time - I am not sure but I think it was Dave Morrison that joined the band then. We were playing and jamming constantly at the Y - many Toronto players showed up - I remember Tony Flaim coming in and just rippin' the place apart with that big voice of his - Wayne Wilson of Howl played in our band for a short while also. Mike Pickett hung around the Y quite a bit - great harp player - he joined Howl not long after that. I got my head screwed on straight soon after and went on to play with horn band Brandy - worked with Shirley Eikhard for a time - Blueberry Hill Band, 100 Proof, Mother Nature, Mason Dixon Line, Biggy Twiggy Band (based in Calgary), Whip, Lockerbie, Start It Up and a raft of other bands - the times were good - tons of work all over the place. I also auditioned for Martha and the Vandellas upon my return from out west - it was at Kelly Jay's place in Ancaster I believe. If I remember correctly I think it was Sax man Peter Mifsud who lined that audition up for me. I did a duo for two years then on to playing as a single for 12 years.

Now with 10 albums of all original music under my belt I am still going strong and working on album 11. It is fabulous to still be in the game after all this time. My tunes have been getting quite a bit of radio airplay around the planet - quite an honour!!!

I have been meaning to write about this topic for quite some time now (January 21, 2016). Many place themselves way up on this high horse of theirs - way way up there!!! It is quite incredible actually!! I guess they feel that they have witnessed enough in the music biz and now they are lord ruler over all that they see and hear. What a pile of crapola!!!!!! I just want to say to all of those that have had bad reviews from those that feel they have to give a review - don't take it to heart. You have to take it all in and process the comments that you receive and move forward with a positive attitude - but don't dwell on the negative - get what you can out of them and move on. The fact about it all is that these people are basically a-holes - no question - they are stagnant where they sit and will never move forward! Once they reach the high horse stage it is game over.

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Original and Eclectic, (04/25/07)

From Canada comes guitarist Lou DeAdder, who's impressive Slow Down may not be considered a true Blues recording, but it certainly has Blues roots and a lot of tasty licks, too! This is DeAdder's second release, which follows on the footsteps of his 2005 release LouD.

Eclectic would be the appropriate word to describe DeAdder's all-original music, but it all has soul and passion and stands out as one of the better self-produced recordings I have heard in some time.

This guy can rock out and blasts out with some very hot and creative guitar playing. For example check out "Ain't Got Two Nickels," the title track "Slow Down," the explosive "Without You," and the appropriately-titled instrumental "The Funky Strudel," which all show that DeAdder is reaching out to explore his roots, yet his music sounds very new and contemporary. All in all there are eight vocal tracks and two instrumentals. The music contained is a righteous mix of rocking Blues, ballads, some good Funk and R&B tunes. I repeat, this is not just a Blues album nor is it just a Rock album; it is much more than that. DeAdder also surrounds himself with a good crew of supporting musicians, most notably co-producer Brett Piekarz on rock-solid bass, Franko Woodcock on drums, Leo Sullivan on all horns and arrangements, John Marmora and Steve O'Connor on various keyboards, Steve McDade on trumpet, and Doug Johnson on pedal steel, all of these musicians stand tall in their accompaniment of DeAdder's often driving and complex guitar playing.

In the conversations I had with DeAdder it's no surprise that he looks up to the guitar playing of Robben Ford and Albert Collins as his main influences. See for yourself on Slow Down as he gets very unique sounds from his guitar just like his heroes. DeAdder also told me he is working on his next, not one, but two new CDs, so stay tuned as I suspect you will be hearing a lot more strong and original music from Lou DeAdder.

Bob Putignano is a contributing editor at BluesWax