Happy Holidays to Everyone !!!  

It’s going to be a great holiday season, filled with lots of great music (scroll down to UPCOMING GIGS for a detailed listing).

Finished a successful run of Hairspray at Meadowvale Theatre in November (playing guitar), presented by Clarkson Music Theatre.  Virtually every show was sold to capacity and the critics and crowds alike loved it.  Dare I say the band was “rockin’”.

If you missed the two screenings in October of the feature film, Black Eve (which I scored), don’t worry — there will be a special presentation of Black Eve on Friday, January 13th 2012 (yes, Friday the 13th) starting at 9pm.  It’s happening at: Projection Booth – East, 1035 Gerrard St. East, Toronto, ON M4M 1Z6   As an added bonus, the world premiere of a short film by the same director, Ryan M. Andrews, will kick off the evening.  The film is called The Devil Walks Among You and (you guessed it), I scored this short film as well.

FRIGHT NIGHTS continues in January on FRIDAY THE 13TH with a pair of films by Ryan M. Andrews!!!!
First with the WORLD PREMIERE of the short film THE DEVIL WALKS AMONG YOU featuring Sandra DaCosta, Robert Nolan and Katie Uhlmann.

Then followed by a special presentation of the new feature BLACK EVE.  After a Halloween party, a guest, with psychic abilities, wakes up to find dead bodies everywhere. With no recollection of what happened, she uses her abilities to see the last moments of the guests. Slowly as things unfold, she is able to piece together the puzzle.
Director, cast and crew will be there for an introduction and Q&A. The evening will be hosted by film writer and your master of ceremonies Kelly Stewart.
Amazing prizes will be given out courtesy of Fangoria Magazine, Suspect Video and Anchor Bay Entertainment. Prizes will include DVD’s, issues of Fangoria Magazine and limited edition AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD t-shirts.

Weathered Kings (www.weatheredkings.ca), the Blackboard Blues Band (www.blackboardbluesband.ca)  and my duo Six String Mojo (www.sixstringmojo.webs.com) have a number of gigs around the GTA this month.  Check the respective web sites for show dates and more information.

UPCOMING GIGS:

• Friday December 9: Weathered Kings (www.weatheredkings.ca) returns for their last engagement of the year at the Drake n Firkin starting at 9:30pm.  6982 Financial Drive Unit B101 Mississauga, Ontario L5N 8J4 (905) 567-9173
• Saturday December 10: Blackboard Blues Band (www.blackboardbluesband.ca) is playing at the Maple Leaf House in Etobicoke starting at 9:30pm.  749 Lakeshore Blvd. W, Toronto, Ontario
• Friday December 16: Six String Mojo (www.sixstringmojo.webs.com) returns to Lucy’s in Mississauga starting at 8pm.  6905 Millcreek Drive  Mississauga, ON L5N 1N3   (905) 567-8950   PLEASE NOTE: the SSM web site was recently (finally) launched.  Check it out!
• Saturday December 17: Weathered Kings (www.weatheredkings.ca) return to the Cock and Pheasant in Streetsville at 10pm.  63 Queen Street South  Mississauga, ON L5M 3S9   (905) 542-8741
• Friday December 23: Weathered Kings (www.weatheredkings.ca) debuts in Richmond Hill at the Crown and Phoenix.
• 9580 Yonge St  Richmond Hill, ON L4C 1V6 (905) 508-1733
• Saturday December 31: Blackboard Blues Band (www.blackboardbluesband.ca) is ringing in the New Year at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.  10268 Yonge Street  Richmond Hill, ON L4C 3B7  (905) 787-8811  Go to www.rhcentre.ca (click on TICKETS)   On the 2nd page of EVENTS and you’ll see New Year’s Eve in top left corner.  Click on “more” or “Buy Tickets” and you’ll see info:  $35 and $32 (for students & seniors)

All the best and have a happy and safe holiday !

David

August was a busy (and very musical month).  As a result, two of my performing groups, Age Of Reason and Blackboard Blues Band, appear in SNAP magazine’s September editions.

Age of Reason appears in the SNAP Mississauga North and Mississauga South editions, with an article and pictures from our August 19th “On The Verandah” concert at Benares Historic House in Clarkson.  Over 100 concert goers enjoyed hits of the last 4 decades performed by myself, Michelle Giacometti, Chris Burke and Maria Moore.  A special thanks to Rob Moore, who did a great job as our sound engineer for the evening.

David, Maria, Chris and Michelle (Age Of Reason) at Benares - Aug 19, 2011

As well, Blackboard Blues Band appears in this month’s SNAP Richmond Hill edition.  On August 12th, 2011, BBB performed as part of the Five Senses Festival in at The Richmond Hill Centre For the Performing Arts.  There’s even a video of the event with Blackboard Blues Band performing.

Stacey & Len (and David, far left) from Blackboard Blues Band on Aug 12, 2011

As some of you know, I perform in a number of different groups (a classic rock band; a 10-piece blues/R&B band; a 4-piece folk/rock group).

Well, back in April 2011, I started another group, Six String Mojo, with my buddy, Mike Robitaille, from Weathered Kings.  It’s a two-guitar, two-voice duo specializing in rock Top 40.  Although we are a duo, we’ve had Danny Serbin (drums-also from Weathered Kings) join us a few times on gigs … so he is the honourary “3rd” member of our “duo”.   The purpose of the group was to fill a need when a whole band was either not desired, or space did not permit a full band.

Six String Mojo (aka SSM) has played a number of gigs since April in/around Mississauga, most notably at Lucy’s restaurant and Ned Devine’s in Milton.  We have more dates lined up in November and December.  We’ve been having a great time and playing to receptive and enthusiastic crowds.

So, I am officially unveiling Six String Mojo — the website (version 1.0).  You can find us at www.sixstringmojo.webs.com

Please check out the web site and become a fan.  A few photos are up (including a live video performance of ‘The Weight’).  And, of course, contact information and a calendar showing dates where you can catch SSM performing live.  If you are interested in having SSM perform at your event, please contact me at 905-339-4518 or via email at: ohearn@rogers.com

Thanks!

On August 28th, I had the pleasure of attending and participating in The Guitar World 9th Annual Rock n Roll Party here in Mississauga.

I was also covering the event for Mississauga Radio (stay tuned for more coverage of the event itself).

The headliner of the show was none other than Mississauga native and guitar hero, Phil X, fresh off a recent stint touring as part of the Bon Jovi band.  Phil put on an “epic” 90-minute set starting at 5:30pm.  After autographs and pictures, Phil was kind enough to sit down with me for an interview (again, check soon at www.mississauga-radio.ca for the video of this interview).  We talked about his participation in the event, his new band, The Drills, the recent stint with Bon Jovi and his past efforts with Canadian bands such as Triumph and Frozen Ghost.

Performers were asked to donate $10 each and two electric guitars and one bass guitar were auctioned off in support of the Credit Valley Hospital Foundation.

David O'Hearn and Phil X at Guitar World (photo credit: Terry Lane)

On July 24, 2011, my daughter, Katherine, and I had the pleasure of attending the screening of the first film I scored, Severance, by Morgan Muscat & Dany Geshan as part of the Short Program C at the Mississauga Independent Film Festival (MIFF 2011) at the AMC Winston Churchill Theatres.  It was a great festival (wish I could have attended more of it).

I also had the pleasure of meeting animator/director David T. Krupicz, whose film, Tales from the Afternow: Little Rocks, was also screened that day — this film won the MIFF 2011 award for Best Animated Film.   Both Morgan Muscat & I will be working with David on his next animated feature, Origin – A Call To Minds, later in 2011.

On the red carpet at MIFF 2011 for the screening of 'Severance'

Well, FINALLY I have ordered personalized license plates for my vehicle.  My birthday is coming up (July 30) and so I treated myself.

I am also President-Elect of my local Rotary Club (Rotary Club of Mississauga-Meadowvale) for the 2011-2012 year, so I added the Rotary logo, too!

my new playD license plate (on order)

IK Multimedia has announced a new IPhone, IPad, ITouch device called IRig — it is a MIDI IN/OUT/THRU interface that connects to the 30-pin connector on your IOS device.  In addition, it ships with SampleTank FREE, an IOS version of the PC/MAC product SampleTank.  SampleTank FREE ships with 500 sounds culled from it’s big brother.

Aside from the obvious benefits of connecting a MIDI controller to IRig and running any of the IOS keyboard MIDI apps (such as SampleTank FREE and GarageBand), you can also use IRig and your IOS device to supply playback & MIDI control of external devices, such as sequencers, drum machines, even lighting boards and MIDI-capable mixers.

Check out IK’s Video Demo:

As some of you may know, I have a side-project called Six String Mojo.  SSM is made up of myself and Mike Robitaille from Weathered Kings.

We play a different repertoire — more acoustic (mostly), with a bit of crossover material from Weathered Kings.  When I got together with Mike to put this project together, we very quickly discovered we had over 60 songs to add to our set list.

Six String Mojo had its first gig in Feb 2011 at Lucy’s Seafood Kitchen in Mississauga and another gig on July 2nd at Ned Devine’s in Milton.

On July 10th, SSM played another gig from noon-4pm at Brittany Glen Plaza, as part of the Grand Opening of a new restaurant, Rib Crib, at which time, we also had Weathered Kings drummer, Danny Serbin, on-hand on his Roland TD-3 electronic drum kit. Danny also joined SSM for a return engagement at Lucy’s on Friday, July 15th.

Anyway — enough history — here is video of Six String Mojo (live) playing “The Weight” by The Band … which is becoming my new favourite song — enjoy!

Six String Mojo – The Weight (video link)

Last night (July 14, 2011), I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the dedication of Triumph Lane in Mississauga, held at the Lionheart Pub.  The street name was dedicated in honour of the rock band, Triumph.  My friend, Paul Cinelli, and I enjoyed the ceremony and the party afterwards at the Lionheart, featuring great local talent and autograph and photo opportunites with the band members. I also ran into a number of my friends, including Blair Packham (and his musical partner, Bob Reid), who performed two songs.

The evening was also a fundraiser for www.woundedwarriors.ca

I was lucky enough to have Gil Moore, Mike Levine and Rik Emmett sign the pickguard of my (current) main axe, a sunburst Fender Roland-ready Stratocaster (see picture).

Many thanks go out to event organizer, Rick Frayne, Ward 10 Councillor Sue McFadden and Mississauga MP Brad Butt.

Dave's Strat Signed By All the Members of Triumph

(l-r) Mike Levine, Rik Emmett & Gil Moore)

David is pretty happy that the members of Triumph signed his Strat!

A short film I scored called Severance, written & produced by Morgan Muscat and directed by Dany Gehshan has been announced as an official selection at this year’s 2011 Mississauga Independent Film Festival (MIFF) .  The film stars Ash Catherwood, Vanessa Burns, Paul Fowles and Ginette Gaskin and is brought to you by Moonlit Road Entertainment.

Severance is “a thought-provoking science fiction drama about a conniving advertising executive who finds himself battling for custody of his own soul after he discovers that his alter ego is physically living his life for him.“

I am very pleased to have one of my films screened at MIFF 2011 — it all happens Sunday July 24, 2011 at noon at AMC Theatres Oakville (Winston Churchill, just north of the QEW).