Tag Archive - hasselbach

Performing for US Bank at the Four Seasons in Whistler

June 12, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today I’m back in Whistler for 2 performances. The first is at the Four Seasons hotel playing solo guitar for US Bank. Then the next night I’ll be playing with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach’s Zen Soundscapes quartet.

The cool thing about Whistler this time of year is that you can get some really good deals on hotels! I’m going to be staying at the Sundial Boutique Hotel. It’s one of my favorites here! The cost for the room is $119.00 that’s a really great deal!

The drive to whistler was really nice. Finally no rain! It’s been raining a lot here lately. I left at 1pm and arrived in Whistler at 4:30pm. It’s usually a 2 hour drive however I have this ritual of stopping at the Squamish Whitespot for a bite to eat to break up the drive. The food is always the same an if I don’t drive fast enough it will pass right through before you get to Whistler.

Once in whistler I checked into the Sundial. The room as expected was great! It’s big with a kitchen, living room, private bedroom, bathroom, gas fireplace, tv… Not bad for my hard earned $119 bucks! (I think they’re regular price is around $139.00 however because I’ve stayed here before I get a 10% discount)

Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures at the gig. I guess I’m a little tired these days and just got lazy however, I did take photos of my wonderful room.

The gig was great. I was performing outside in the Four Seasons Alpine Cabana. (It’s the Four Seasons fancy name for a big tent in the court yard) It was very nice with a pond and waterfalls to my left with on open pit gas fire.

I began setting up at 5:30 and began playing at 7pm then ended shortly after 9pm. Then I tore the gear down, loaded the truck and went back to the Sundial.

Not only is the room a great deal but the hotel gives you a voucher for a free beer at Blacks pub were I went after the gig to listen to Hendrix, have an amazing chicken burger and drank my beer.

Life is so good I wish T was here with me.

Performing with Zen Soundscapes

June 7, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today I’m playing with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach (horns) and Tony Chamberlin (percussion) in a group called Zen Soundscapes. The music we play is just as the band name implies. Background music to create a zen type atmosphere for a corporate event. (I hope that explanation makes some kind of sense)

For this performance there are no charts. It’s just cool zen improv. We’re starting at 7pm and ending at 10pm. I’m also back in Whistler playing at the Squamish Cultural Centre. Also not being the band leader I have no idea who we are performing for. They did have a sign carved out of wood that said “Crest 2010″ Maybe I’m playing for the tooth paiste people.

We arrived at 6pm and began setting up. This time I’m just a side player and not the band leader so I’m not responsible for setting up the sound system. So today the set up for me is quick and easy. You can see from the photo I’m not using a mic and plugging my guitar straight into the Boss T1 then direct into the PA system. I also use a Boss GE7 eq pedal as a volume cut for rhythm gtr parts. I have a lot of delay and reverb on the guitar to give it that very distant “Zen” quality.

We began playing at 7pm and took our first break around 8:30. Most of our music was ambient zen jamming over some spacey groove tracks. We also had a few Latin charts to play.

After our break we played a couple more short sets then we were done.

After our performance we were invited back to the kitchen for a bite to eat. The food was Amazing. Maui tuna, Alaskan king crab legs, roast beef, chicken, roasted potatoes and so much more.

After we enjoyed a wonderful meal it was time to hit the road. We left around 11pm and by the time I dropped Tony off I arrived home around 2am.

Whistler gigs always make for a long day however the pay is always great and the drive is beautiful. It’s always a good relaxing time. I’ll be returning to Whistler to play once again in a couple of days.

Playing guitar at the local liquor store

June 5, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Believe it or not, I’m playing at the local liquor store. Today however, I’ll be playing inside with my guitar case closed.

I don’t always know who has hired me as many of the corporate events that come from agents and once in a while the only info I have is where and when.

So today I’m playing at the Signature Liquor Store in Vancouver from 3 pm to 6 pm. I believe the event is part of a Spanish wine festival and the client that hired me is the same that hired me for my performance a couple of weeks ago in Gastown at the Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley Square.

You can read about my performance at the Salt Tasting room in a previous blog post.

I arrived at 2 pm to find my location within the venue and to get set up. I began my performance at 3 pm and 2 songs into my performance it was decided that my predetermined location just wasn’t going to work. I was blocking a lot of traffic so we decided to move me to a better location.

This kind of thing does happen once in a while and it’s no big deal. It’s all part of the job and the job description for me is “whatever it takes to keep the client smiling and to have a successful event” fortunately on this occasion the move was quick and easy.

So back to my guitar performance…

I played for an hour and 30 minutes. Then took a 15 minute break and played for another hour and 15 minutes to the end of the event. Everyone really enjoyed the music and I handed out a bunch of cards from the agent.

I was invited to enjoy a quick drink then it was time to hit the road and head home. Another successful event. I have tomorrow off then it’s back up to Whistler to perform with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach in a group called Zen Soundscapes.

Page 3 of 3«123
lite 1.4email listsadd sitesubmit website