The good news is that we had a great time with Fred D Smith and Friends at the Artword Artbar. Fred sang some great original tunes and a couple of amazing covers as well. Each member of his band took their turns at the mic as well and they blew us away. There was Midnight Jon (guitar & banjo), Pete Sisk (bass), and Karen Johnson (harmony vocals). Great job guys.

The bad news is that something went wrong with the videos I shot of the event. They just don’t seem to upload to Youtube, Facebook or MySpace. They play fine on my computer though. Only one song, with lead vocals by bassist Pete Sisk managed to actually work.

In an evening already rife with the something-new, I had already decided to finally pay my first visit to the Artword Artbar in their new premises on Colbourne Street. By stint of that slight distance from the main corridor of James North, Artword was a welcome oasis of calm away from the grind-and-thrust of the Supercrawl. Its gallery is housed in the downstairs portion of the building, and is remarkably well-finished and intimate in scale; again, a curious contrast to the rest of the Crawl, but certainly not an unwelcome one. The space was well suited to Steven McCabe€™s Sandinista Series of mixed media paintings, heavily textured things that invite and endure close scrutiny with positively sumptuous layers of red. There€™s an earnest simplicity in McCabe€™s imagery, but his application of colour and texture belies a skilled and nuanced maker at work.

For all the intensity of McCabe€™s paintings, my real preference was for the drawings displayed in a more awkward, curtained vestibule on the lower level directly at the foot of the stairs. Two narrow pen-and-ink works in particular were strikingly intense with blacks worked to a deadly density, relieved by paler passages in which unearthly caricatures move through strange architectures. The detail above also reveals a selective use of colour that restrains the wilderness of the drawings – both more elaborate and more open than any of the painted works.

Hamilton B. Lous October 6 at 10:36pm
Hi everyone,

Unfortunately, Famous Framus couldn’t make it to Rebel’s Rock for his show so we quickly picked another choice last week: Sue Sweetman and JP Riemens at the Artword Artbar.

It was our first time at the venue and it was definitely interesting. There’s an art gallery in the basement featuring local work. The mini-pizzas were delicious.

Sue and JP did a great laid back, intimate show with wonderful songs. They were joined on and off by Joe Clark (mandolin/vocals/guitar) and Rocky Hill (Bass/Guitar and vocals). The guys (and gal) even played at their table during the breaks. Owner/bartender Ronald Weihs joined in on his fiddle for a number or two as well.

Click below for the videos:
http://blueshamilton.blogspot.com/2009/10/sue-sweetman-and-jp-riemens-artword.html

http://www.jpriemens.com/
http://www.artword.net/artbar/

Congratulations on your new venture! I wish I could be there to celebrate your birthday, Ron. I’ll definitely try to get down for another occasion.

Best wishes,
Camrose