News, August 2007

Ah, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Just about everything I’m involved with has either gone into summer mode or taken a break. However, this gives me more flexibility for gigs that typically pop up more frequently in the summer than at any other time of year, such as weddings and house parties.

Hotter than Ice has gone on indefinite hiatus. Our drummer builds houses for a living, and has gotten into situations where one of his employees either doesn’t show up at a given work site at all, gets there late or doesn’t stay there for as long as he is supposed to for a given shift. The same thing has been happening with our bass players over the last year or two. Our drummer comes to band practice to relax and have fun, and he finds it stressful to find at practice the same level of unreliability he sees at work. I don’t blame him for wanting to take a break.

Soul Review Board has slowed down a bit for the summer, but still has gigs on the horizon. Our next appearance will be at the Rainbow Bistro on October 19.

With the Sparrows gone for the summer, the Ottawa branch of the Sacred Music Society has gone into summer mode with a reduced adult choir roster. We do, however, have a gig on August 15 at St. Augustine’s Parish that will involve the adult choir and the
Sparrows. It’s a special mass for the Assumption of Mary.

In September my old alma mater, St. Rita School, and quite possibly Our Lady of Fatima Parish as well, will be joining the Sparrows program. However, since we are in a provincial election year, it remains to be seen whether the schools will still have the provincial funding they need to support the program.

So the bottom line is that while it’s a slow summer, I’m hanging in there. Stay tuned.