Monthly Archive for October, 2009

CD Release Announced for November 14!

Posted by admin on October 19, 2009

11-14-09-CD-Quarter-Sheet
Hello hello WCB fhans! We are SO excited to announce that there is FINALLY
some new Wild Colonial Bhoys material for you all! Our new full-band live
album is REALLY sounding good, and we’re going to release it on Saturday,
November 14th!

Called “Live, What’s it to Ya?!”, it features a plethora of WCB classics and
new songs that were performed live in St. Paul, MN back in June. We’ve been
working with our producer and our record label ever since to mix it just the
right way so it will capture how cool that show was. We think we’ve done
it!

So, it’s time to have a party! We’ll be doing a show with Milwaukee’s
celtic rock powerhouse The Sandcarvers at The Fine Line in Minneapolis.

This is our first big band show at a venue that has hosted a ton of national
and even international artists, so we’re pretty excited as you can well
imagine.

Please spread the word, faithful fhans! We want the place to be packed
obviously, so put it on your calendars, tell all your friends, Facebook it,
Myspace it, Tweet it, Skype it, send it by pony express. We haven’t
released an album in over two years so it’s well overdue. Come help us make
this night special!

Brrr-illiant!

Posted by Geno on October 12, 2009

My fingers are starting to thaw out after the Frosty Irish Fest in Weston, MO.  Only the bravest of the brave came out in support of the 10th anniversary of the Weston Irish Fest, despite arctic temperatures.  On Saturday afternoon we took the stage at 3:00 and the temperature was down to 40 degrees!  That might be a warm estimate.  Luckily there was a big stage that left us plenty of room for jumping around to keep warm.  After about 5 songs I still couldn’t feel my fingers, but I was having too much fun to care.  Later when we played down in the pub it was nice and toasty; I’ve never been so excited to be so warm!

Another stellar performance by Corey, Mike, Larry, et al.  I don’t know how they do it year after year, but they always work their butts off to keep the Irish Fest moving effortlessly.  Their hard work was especially appreciated this year – it’s easy to have a good time when it’s 80 degrees and sunny, but having fun when it’s 40 degrees and miserable just proves that these guys know how to put together a party! 

Can’t wait for next year……..

Geno

Small World, eh?

Posted by Geno on October 6, 2009

If ever there was a guy who did it all, it was Sam Lavitt.

I just happened to be wearing my RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) t-shirt yesterday when I went to the mall in Independence, MO…

As I’m walking through the mall I pass by an older couple sitting on a bench.  I don’t think anything of it but it sounds like woman notices my t-shirt.  I glance in their direction and the lady stops me to ask if I’m with the RCMP.  I’m not, of course, but she motions to her husband and says, “well, he’s Canadian.”  It’s always nice to meet a fellow Canuck.  Naturally, we all get to talking.  Well, mostly the nice lady, Bev, gets to talking and her husband, Sam, and I get to listening.  Bev tells me that Sam’s from Winnipeg, MB, but they’ve lived all over Canada and the US:  Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Omaha, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis.  Sounds like they’ve moved around quite a bit in their lives. 

Bev says she’s from Omaha; that’s where she met Sam.  “Sam was a pilot.”  Having been to Omaha a few times, I’m thinking that maybe Sam was based in Omaha at some point.  There’s Offutt AFB, Strategic Air Command… I’m not quite sure how old these folks are, but those might be possibilities.  “Sam was in the Royal Canadian Air Force,” Bev continues.  That shoots down the Omaha idea; pun intended. ;)

Bev asks if I’ve ever heard of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  Of course I’ve heard of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ hated rival!  Sam says he used to play for the Blue Bombers but he left to fly in WWII.  His coach promised to get him excused from service, but as Sam puts it, “I had three brothers over there so I told him, ‘I’m going too.’” 

Bev keeps going.  “Did you ever play hockey?  Sam played hockey.”  I played some hockey.  It’s pretty much required when you grow up in Canada.  I broke my arm in the last game I ever played so it made retirement an easy choice.  That was in high school and I was more into music than hockey anyway.  “Sam’d never tell you this,” and by now I’ve figured out that it’s because he can’t get a word in edgewise, “but he played with Gordie Howe.” 

Omaha!  Of course!  Gordie Howe spent a season with the Omaha Knights before getting called up to the Detroit Red Wings.  I’ve already decided to do some investigating when I get home.  Right on cue, Bev spells their last name for me:  L-a-v-i-t-t.  She knows what I’m thinking.  She’s funny. 

Turns out that Sam knocked around the minor leagues for about 10 years.  That’s why they moved around so much.  he even spent a little time with the Minneapolis Millers back in the day.  I ended up sitting on the bench in the mall with these nice folks for about half-an-hour.  I bet I could’ve still been there a day later and Bev wouldn’t have run out of stories to tell.  Fantastic people!  And what a life Sam has had:  RCAF pilot in WWII, pro football player, semi-pro hockey player.  Not to mention former teammate of Mr. Hockey, himself!

Sam Lavitt Omaha Knights ca 1946

For the Omaha Knights, playing Defence, number 3, Sam Lavitt.

This photo was taken ca. 1946 when Sam played with Gordie Howe.  Small world, eh?

Geno

Celtic Lose, Steelers Win, It’s Raining Again in St. Paul

Posted by Adam on October 5, 2009

It was an interesting weekend sports-wise for me. I’m sure whomever reads this (if anyone) doesn’t really care what happened with sports teams they don’t follow, so I’ll keep it short I promise. Celtic lost 2-1 at Ibrox against hated rivals Rangers, after being down 2-0 in the first 15 minutes of play. Nice work defense. Stupid Kenny Miller couldn’t score in a whorehouse when he was with Celtic, and he netted both for Rangers.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat San Diego 38-28 Sunday night after having a 28-0 lead. This sucks because now all I’ll hear from people all week is how the Stillers “almost choked”. Well, we won by 10 so there you go, but it still feels like we lost. They need to figure out how to close out games. Can’t wait to get Polamalu back. Luckily they go to Detroit this coming Sunday, and needless to say the Lions are not going to put up 28 points against the Steelers in the late 3rd/4th quarters.

I got an iPhone on Saturday–holy coolness Batman! It’s not accurate to call it a “phone”. It’s more of a “lifestyle enabling device”. It is pretty neat, as most of you already know I’m sure. It was fun listening to Car Talk from my NPR app before the kickoff last night. Excellent. A few things to figure out yet, but I’m looking forward to being constantly attached to a digital lifelink.

In actual band news, we played Jake O’Connor’s this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun! Those shows can make me nervous because it’s a restaurant with a lot of people there to eat dinner, etc, but we went over pretty well. The crowds were great both nights.

This coming weekend we travel (we meaning Geno, Cody and me) to Des Moines for the first ever WCB gig there Friday, and then Saturday on to the Weston Irish Festival at O’Malley’s in Weston MO. I’m looking forward to both–new venues are always a good way to keep things fresh, and the festival in Weston is always a good time. We’re friends with a lot of the other bands, and I’m looking forward to meeting the ones we don’t know yet.

See you on the road!

Adam