“Chiba” is here!

Today is the day! Chiba is here! Much thanks to everyone who helped along the way.

Firstly my girl, Jen Lane, who supported me through every step of making this album and sang her heart out on it.

Barrett M. Ross, for pounding out the drums for me when I was writing these songs and taking me back to the heart of rock n roll. And of course for engineering and mixing the album.

Also, a big thank you to Josh J Palmer for cutting the original demos for us when we were just getting started.

My band, Enver Hampton and Billy Tataryn who were there from the beginning! You guys brought these songs to life for me and I am forever grateful.

Malcolm Whyte and Brynn Krysa for stepping in when I needed them the most and making sure that the ship stayed on course.

Derek Bachman, you are watching me from above. Probably hanging out with my mom. Thank you for your guidance from beyond. Without you I wouldn’t have had the amazing Terry Massey and thirteen letter helping me promote this release.

SaskMusic, Creative Saskatchewan, SK Arts, and The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR) for all the things they do for artists like me! We are lucky to have such support for art and culture and I hope that never changes.

Amigos Cantina, Capitol Music Club, The Broadway Theatre, The Cameron House, and all the venues that gave me the chance to get up on stage and play my songs. I hope we can get together to celebrate live music again one day soon!

And it’s Bandcamp day! So if you feel like ordering some music today, this is the place to do it. https://smokekiller.bandcamp.com/

Have a great weekend everyone!

John

Shows and more shows!

March is almost here and I’ve got some new shows lined up. On Saturday Feb 25th we’ll be saying “so long” to February at the Saskatoon Event Centre opening for The Northern Pikes and the Grapes of Wrath! I’ve been a big fan and good friends with Jay Semko for many years and I’m looking forward to sharing a stage with him and the band.

Jen and I met Kevin Kane from Grapes a few years ago when he kindly played on the 2010 Jen Lane album “For The Night”. Kevin also added his guitar talents to my 2012 album “Always With You” and  came to Saskatoon to play at my cd release at the Broadway Theatre! I’m very excited to see both these bands in action on Saturday, and feel blessed that I get to start the night off.

In March I’ll be heading back to Regina for a couple of great shows. On Thursday March 9th I’ll be at the Fat Badger slinging the hits and then some for your listening pleasure, but that’s just the teaser! On Friday March 10th I am very fortunate to get to open for Blake Berglund and the Vultures at O’Hanlon’s. Blake and I have been friends for sometime now and he is getting ready to release a new album this year. I know it’s going to be a gooder, and this will be a night you won’t want to miss for sure. Blake is pulling out all the stops with a full band and I can’t wait to take it all in myself.

This month I’ll also be back in the studio with Paul Kuzbik (Pistolwhips) finishing up a few tracks that I’m producing for him. I didn’t realize how much I really enjoy the process of helping another artist fulfill their vision and I hope I get to do it more often.

Life is getting pretty exciting right now and I’m lucky to have these people as friends in my life. I’ve been living the dream for so long now that I don’t remember what it was like before I dove in head first and made my dream a reality. There are going to be some big things coming this year and I’ve been working hard to get everything ready. Stay tuned and be good to each other.

On Tour in Ontario/Quebec

Had a great summer tour with Jen Lane, who released her amazing new album on 180g vinyl just in time for festival season. Thanks to all the wonderful venues and fans who came out and supported live music. We couldn’t do this without you!

We are heading back out into the wild frontier of Ontario and Quebec this November and you can check out the tour dates tab for all the show info. Really excited to be back at the Cameron House for our residency. I’ll be on at 6pm sharp every Tuesday in November and then joining the Jen Lane band for 2 sets of sweet Americana roots!

This will be our last run of shows for the year and I will be testing some new smokekiller material in their pure, acoustic form. It’ll be a great opportunity to road test a few new tunes before we hit the studio in December to record a new album! Really pumped to share the new Smokekiller material with all of you. It’s been a little too long since we rock n rolled together and I can’t wait.

See you on the road!
john

April May Tour success! Summer is here!

I had an amazing tour with the wonderful Jen Lane and her amazing band. Jen’s new album “This Life of Mine” was released on Feb 26th, 2016 and hit #1 on the National Folk/Roots/Blues charts in March. It is a fantastic record and if you haven’t heard it yet you should do yourself a solid and check it out at her website!

We embarked on a Canadian CD release tour that took us from Vancouver to Montreal and I got to open most of the shows along the way, including having a double slot for our residency at the wonderful Cameron House in Toronto. Playing a solo 6-8 spot there gave me the chance to test out some new material that I’ve been working on. I’m getting ready to record a new Smokekiller record and I’m very excited about the team we are working with.

Ryan Dahle (Age of Electric, Mounties, Limblifter) will be helping me to record my best tunes for a new album. I am over the top excited about working with Ryan and I know that he will take my stuff to the next level. The band and I have been working hard getting the arrangements down and I haven’t had this much fun playing music in a long time!

The band and I will be at the DogPatch Music Festival in Whelan, SK, August 5,6, to test out the new material live. I’ll also be playing with the Jen Lane band at Ness Creek, Gateway, and DogPatch, so there be a lot of summer fun happening around our house!

Hope to see you at a show!
john

2015 ISC SEMI-FINALIST!

Great news from the 2015 International Songwriting Competition, “The Way Home” from the album,Jen & John, is a semi-finalist in the Folk / Singer-Songwriter category. You can check out the song at this link to a Southern Souls video Jen Lane and I made in Toronto at the Cameron House! I feel very fortunate to get any recognition for song-writing as it’s why I do what I do. The ISC has been very kind to me the last few years with “Chicago” 2013 Semi-finalist, and “End of the World” 2014 Semi-finalist! I look forward to sharing new music this year but first up is a National tour with my girl, Jen Lane. Jen just released the best record ever called “This Life of Mine” and we had a couple great cd release shows in Regina and Saskatoon. You can pick up the new Jen Lane album on iTunes here and physically at CDBaby here! You can also get a copy in Saskatoon at McNally Robinson on 8th Street and the Vinyl Diner on Broadway.

Writing songs, booking tours, and in the studio!

Why hello there 2016! Figured I better get caught up and get posting on the ol’ website! It’s been a busy year so far and we are only in the middle of February! Thanks to FACTOR Canada and Creative Saskatchewan for supporting our trip into the studio at the beginning of January. I’ve been holding onto some heavy songs with a solid rock vibe and life decided that it was time for me to get them out of my head and into your ears! Thanks to Enver Hampton (bass) and Billy Tataryn (drums) for taking on the project with me. Their youthful energy is super apparent on the recordings, and they’ve inspired the hell out of me. We took the songs that we recorded and have reapplied for support for a full album. Finger crossed we can take it to the next level with FACTOR and Creative Sask, but as always, we’re going to make a record one way or another. All we really need is me, and you!

Things have been incredibly busy with my partner in life, Jen Lane, as of late too. She’s been dropping video bombs left and right and her new album is going to hit the streets on February 26th! Check out her website at www.jenlane.com for more details! I’ll be playing with Jen for her CD release shows on Feb 26th at the Artful Dodger in Regina and Feb 27th at the Bassment in Saskatoon. Click on the venues for tickets, or again, go to Jen’s website for more info! Have a great week, and we’ll talk to you soon. Lots more great news coming in the near future so stay tuned!
john