Donnacona au Rythme de Blues 2009

On Sunday August 16 we were invited to perform at the Donnacona au Rythme de Blues festival http://www.donnaconablues.com in Donnacona, Quebec which is about two hours from Montreal and thirty minutes from Quebec City. It was a very hot and muggy summers day, weather that we haven't had much this summer. When we arrived the festival organizers were very friendly and made us feel right at home.

Before our set, blues guitarist Shawn Kellerman of Hamilton Ontario was performing his set. Shawn blew us and the audience away with his great high energy and powerful guitar playing.

While we were waiting for sound check, Jim Zeller, Harmonica player extraordinaire dropped by to say hello and we asked if he can pose in a picture with us. We've met Jim many times before at other festivals and we also jammed with him last year at the 2008 Tremblant Blues Festival. It seems like he's playing everywhere. Must be a very busy guy.

We couldn't wait to see the last show of the evening with Steve Hill and the Majestics and we weren't disappointed. They really rocked, playing a high-energy rock with a mix of blues. The festival ground was packed with people by the time this concert started.

At our arrival at the festival, a great blues guitarist and francophone singer, Mike DeWay, who we've met before asked if we were interested in jamming with him and his band (Jeff Poirier - Bass and Phil Bernatchez - Drums) at the end of the evening. We couldn't resist. It must of been something like 11:30pm by the time we started to play. Even though it was late on a Sunday night the place quickly got packed with people. Other artists also jammed that night such as Mo Blues on guitar, Rock Laroche - Bass player for Steve Hill, and Clio - a blues singer. We had a great day but we were exhausted. :)

Thanks for reading our blog,

Justin, Adam and Matthew

www.runawayslide.com

Kitchener Blues Festival 2009

The Kitchener Blues Festival was our first performance in Ontario, Canada. It was cool to travel to this part of Canada. The people were very friendly and were certainly blues fans. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. That's been the theme of this summer here in eastern Canada. It's the worst summer ever weather wise. However, it has also been our best summer in terms of all the shows that we have done and have yet to do.

Fortunately for us and the blues fans, we performed under a huge tent for our first show and inside a Pub at our second show. Our first performance, under the Downtown Business Tent, lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. We played covers, all of our original tunes and a little bit of acoustic. After our show we spent some time talking to fans and we were happy to have also sold some of our Runaway Slide tshirts to new fans.

The Kitchener Blues Festival organisation and its volunteers were professional, friendly and supportive. They also had a chef prepare excellent food for us after the show. While we were eating we enjoyed the music of Jordan John and The Blue Angels. Great show.

At our second show, we had the pleasure to perform together with Alex Tintinalli and Colin White. Two excellent young performers. We each played a couple of tunes on our own and then we jammed it out all together. It was a really fun and memorable time. I'm sure we'll get to see them again in the future.

Thanks for reading our blog :)

Justin, Adam and Matthew

http://www.runawayslide.com/

Runaway Slide at the 2009 Tremblant Blues Festival

The weather was overcast on July 19, 2009, the last day of the Tremblant Blues Festival. It rained on a few occasions including during the sound check for the preperation of Runaway Slides 4pm show. People started to come early in order to secure their seats. By the time Runaway Slide started their show there were about 200 blues fans. By the end of their show the audience had grown to about 350 fans.

Runaway Slide were prepared for a 45 minute set but ended up taking a little over 50 minutes with their encore. Their setlist included a mix of electrifying covers and originals. For the first time they also included an acoustic set of three songs.

Wouldn't you know it, half way through their set it started to rain. The rain came down pretty hard. Some people left the their seats to go take cover nearby. Most people remained with or without their umbrella.

It was disappointing for the boys to see their fans get wet but the show must go on. So they decided to call upon the rain gods :) to help with the wet situation. Out of their arsenal of songs they pulled out George Harrisons, "Here Comes the Sun."

Wouldn't you know it, right before the end of the song the rain stopped and the sun showed it firey face bringing cheer and applause from the crowd. It was magical! The boys continued the rest of their set under the sun.

After their show the boys took the time to speak with their fans, take pictures and sign autographs.

www.runawayslide.com

A New Runaway Slide fan

Runaway Slide gets a new fan! On July 2, 2009, Runaway Slide performed in an outside venue organised by the City of Montreal. Once again, the weather cooperated. Apparently it was raining all over the island of Montreal but for some reason all we received were a few drops.

There was a good turn-out. There were at least 100 people that came out to watch the show. There was also a few people that started to dance to our tunes. :)

Also on the venue was the band Macedoine who played ambient rock music. Very talented and friendly bunch of guys. As a matter of fact, the singer of Macedoine, Mikael Thériault, played in a show back in 2006 where Runaway Slide first debut.

Our next show will be in the Tremblant Blues Festival on July 19.

Ciao,

Justin, Adam and Matthew
http://www.runawayslide.com/

Runaway Slide - Canada Day Parade 2009

On July 1, 2009 we participated in the Canada Day Parade in Pierrefonds. We had a blast! It was quite an experience. A lot of work went into the preparation of our float. Thanks to our parents, relatives and friends for a helping hand. We couldn't have done it with out them. Love you guys! A special thanks to John for taking care of our sound.

It was a two hour ride through the streets of Pierrefonds/Roxborro. We were happy to see that many people come out to watch and dance in the streets. It was a little bit of a balancing act to ride the float. We were stopping and going and that would jolt us forward or backward. We had a couple of good laughs. We're also glad that the weather cooperated. It was suppose to rain all week long. We almost decided to pull out of the parade earlier in the week. We're glad we didn't.

We have another show in the park tomorrow (July 2). I hope you can all be there.

Ciao,

Justin, Adam and Matthew

http://www.runawayslide.com/

CYSR 2009 Best Guitar Player


CYSR 2009 Best Guitar Player

Hi,

Rather than re-write this article we decided to place a link. Please click the link above to read the article.

Ciao for now.

Justin, Adam and Matthew
www.runawayslide.com

Le Festival des Guitares du Monde

Hi,

This past weekend was the start of our Festival season for the summer of 2009. We were invited to play at the (or the Guitar World Festival) in Rouyn-Noranda , a northern city that is part of Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The best way to describe this area is endless forests and countless lakes and waterways. The city is very quiet, barely any traffic. We were told that if there are four cars at a stop sign that’s peak rush hour. The people are very friendly and cultured. They definitely love all kinds of music.

To get to Rouyn-Noranda from Montreal took us about seven hours with the van. There were stretches of road where nature was all that you can see. Not even our cell phones were functional (Yikes!! No texting!!) At times when nature called and no bathrooms were in site, we had no choice but to go in the bush.

Once we arrived, we stayed at a very nice hotel. We each had our own rooms with our dads. We were able to catch some very good shows while we were there. The show’s we really enjoyed was Matt Anderson, Rik Emmette (previously of Triumph) doing Clapton and The Lost Fingers. Look these people up. You will not be disappointed.

Our show was scheduled for Saturday in a large indoor theater. Everything was professionally setup, sound, lights, stage. They even setup a table to sell our merchandise. That’s right, we now have t-shirts and posters. We believe there were over 300 people in that room. We opened with Satch Boogie – a Joe Satriani cover, and we scarred off a whole row of people. Maybe that was too hard for their taste. That didn’t matter. The majority of people stuck around and gave us a standing-O at the end. We played for 75 minutes. We also played Crossroads (Eric Clapton) and Hoochie Coochie Man (Muddy Waters) for the first time live. The organizer of this festival told us that he would try to get us to play again next year.

It was snowing the morning that we left. Good thing it didn’t stick to the floor. One of the dads is passionate for fishing. So, we stopped by a lake for about 30 minutes. Wouldn’t you know it, he caught a 15 pound Pike. That was exciting for all of us. We let the fish go after taking some pictures.

That was our experience in a nutshell. We hope it wasn’t to long of a read for you.

Talk to you next time.

Ciao,

Justin, Adam and Matthew

www.runawayslide.com