Notes from the Road - 2006

10-Dec-06 - David Gogo while in Innisfil, Ontario, Canada writes...

It's night time in the big city ..... and I've been listening to Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" like crazy. Excellent stuff!
The acoustic shows have been very cool, both solo and with M. Chill. The new material has been going over very well and it's been interesting touring like this. New towns, earlier shows, good food .... A guy could get used to this!
My Habs are looking mighty and I go home soon. Looking forward to writing up a storm when I get back.
If you get a chance request my Christmas single "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" with your local radio station. It's a solo version of the Elvis tune with just me and my 1930 National guitar.
Ran into my old friend Mark Norman and he invited me to see The Who with the Pretenders opening on a night off in Toronto. Great stuff! Hung out with my buddy Miller (former Bourbon Tabernacle Choir) and Johnny Fay from the Hip (their new album sounds HUGE!).
Have a great holiday season and I hope you get your stocking stuffed!!!

4-Oct-06 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada writes...

First of all, my apologies to everyone in Pittsburgh for not making the Robin Trower show at the Rex. I'm not one to miss gigs, but sometimes circumstances are beyond your control. Red tape & visas!! Instead, I'm home on sunny Vancouver Island preparing to tour behind my new acoustic album. Judging from the response so far, this is going to be a fruitful couple of months coming up. It will be a challenge hitting the road all by my lonesome, but an exciting one. Keep checking the tour dates and check out Acoustic if you get the chance. Time to go, but remember one thing; I want these motherfuckin' snakes off of this motherfuckin' plane!!

19-Jul-06 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada writes...

Fuck-a-luck-a-ding-dong!! What an insane tour schedule lately! Rochester, New York on Thursday, Bella Coola, British Columbia on Friday and Nanaimo Sunday. Yeesh!

Guested once again on the Brother Wease show in Rochester before opening for Johnny Winter on a gorgeous afternoon.

But then it was back in the van to drive five hours to Ottawa to find that the hotel screwed up my reservation and I had to go somewhere else, cutting my sleep time from three hours to two. If I'd known that I was gonna lose an hour I would have gone to Cracker Barrel!! Pricks!! Luckily there was an open seat between me and Miss Swan on the plane so I managed to bag a few Z's in between snippets of the Keith Moon biography I'm reading.

The flight into Bella Coola was a bit of a bum tightener, but what a beautiful spot with super nice folks. Wish we could have hung out longer, but it was back to the Island where I got to get some quality river/BBQ time in on Saturday before doing the big Blue Rodeo gig in Nanaimo on Sunday. Nice to be home and hang with some of the people I haven't seen for a while. And we managed to rock as well!

Recording acoustic stuff at home before heading back to Pittsburgh this weekend ....

12-Jun-06 - David Gogo while in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, USA writes...

The Hornby Island Blues Workshop was once again a fantastic event. I don't know how, but it just gets better every year. I'll put some photos up on the gallery soon.

I jumped in the studio right away with Becky Abbott from the Ottawa band to record some demos then down to Tacoma and back up to the Island for a couple of quick shows. I then flew out to Ottawa to meet up with the band and we headed to Washington DC to tape some live shows for Bluesville on XM satellite radio (we're # 2 on the charts this week!!). Thanks to the crew there for being so easy to work with. Host Bill Wax gave us the tour of this amazing facility. Incredible. I can't wait to hear Bob Dylan's show! We headed out to Pittsburgh in search of a good Porterhouse steak, with mixed results. Checked out Gov't Mule on a night off. We'll be playing with them soon in Buffalo. Finally got to play Moondogs and had a blast. Nice to see people so enthusiastic at a first time headlining show in a new city for us. Thanks to Ron and his crew for showing us a good time. I think I'm gonna eat some wings and watch the Stanley Cup Finals tonight...

6-May-06 - David Gogo while in Memphis, Tennessee, USA writes...

Had a fairly low key time in Nashville. Some of the folks I was hoping to write with had previous commitments, but I managed to bang a couple of songs off, including one with Tom Hambridge. Thanks to Erik Johnson and his wife Joan for once again being wonderful hosts. I had to rent a car and the fine young man at Budget gave me a Lincoln Town Car for the price of an economy vehicle. I said, "thank you, young man!" Went to Katy K's Ranch Dressing and realized that I was too fat for some of the clothes I wanted, but just fat enough for others. I soon found out that there isn't a train that goes from Nashville to Memphis and I had to take a bus. I thought that this sounded pretty "blues" and it appealed to my romantic side. This was until I realized that I was about to board the Loser Cruiser! Good God Ya'll!! I figured, "if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em!" and decided to sit next to the craziest motherfucker I could find. Hmmm.... Ah, yes! The gentleman in the soiled red blazer and scarf sucking butter and biscuits off of his long dirty fingernails was my man! Unfortunately, when we had a quick stop for smokes in Jackson (which is "Halfway to Memphis") he stood outside the bus and watched us drive away leaving his blazer, scarf and cane! (see photo gallery) When I pulled out my laptop, my fellow passengers stared at me as if I was from the future!! Anyway... Got to Memphis and headed to the Beale St. Music Festival and ran into some friends from home who were taking a Highway 61 vacation that sounded cool. Got to see a gloriously ragged performance from Big Star (Alex Chilton was acting just like Alex Chilton), Robert Randolph and B.B. King. Today it's BBQ ribs, a radio show and then The Killer -Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley. Great googly - moogly!!

2-May-06 - David Gogo while in Nashville, Tennessee, USA writes...

Did you know that Pittsburgh rocks?!? We were only there for half a day but the show opening for Johnny Winter kicked ass!! Great audience; looking forward to getting back there in June. One great thing about touring in the US is Cracker Barrel restaurants. We ate there five times in three days. We love it so much that we added it to our venacular. Here's how to use it: anything that is incredibly good is "Cracker Barrel", as in " Did you see Kovalev's goal? It was Cracker Barrel!" or "Duane , your new boots are Cracker Barrel! ". Alright! Just got into Nashville. I'll keep you posted as to what's going on .....

24-Apr-06 - David Gogo while in Québec City. Québec, Canada writes...

Wow, what a cool little city. Too bad I don't have time to explore a little bit. I was here on a high school band trip once. Guess I'll have to come back some time. The Johnny Winter shows were great. He just keeps getting better. We got to spend a little time with him last night listening to blues and chatting. The crowds were fantastic and it looked like we won some new fans. As George Thorogood told me, "My two favourite words in show business are ' Sold Out ' "! Opening for guys that do sell out is a real treat. I could get used to this!!!

6-Apr-06 - David Gogo while in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada writes...

Let's see, here... I've been writing towards a new limited edition acoustic album to be released in Canada in the early fall. The initial reaction to the release of Skeleton Key in the US has been very positive. Look for an upcoming appearance on Elwood Blues' House of Blues Radio Hour.

After a quick show back home on Gabriola Island it was out to Ottawa for two sold out nights at Tuscon's. Next was a not sold out show in Rochester!! Had fun on the Brother Wease Show with the Doo-Wops. Buffalo was next as we rocked the Tap Room. Headed up to Toronto for the Canadian Music Week schmooze and Ken Whitely's amazing gospel brunch with the Campbell Brothers and Dave Wall, then home quickly to pack for SXSW in Austin. Great town, great food, great event. Highlights were Zoe Lewis, Mojo Nixon's Jalapeno Pancake Breakfast, meeting Pamela Des Barres and Peaches!! Bummers were Betty Lavette not playing and too much to see that I couldn't make.

I got home just in time to whip down to Victoria and check out Savoy Brown and sit in! After hitting Hornby hard and fast (I'll be back soon), the Morden Mine benefit was a big success. All proceeds went to saving the last remaining coal mine tipple on the island. I like that kinda stuff.

Soon it was back on the plane after the Canadiens' thumping of the Leafs and off to Ontario for shows in Brechin and Bellville. Check out the info for the T.V. show that I did the music for on the homepage and keep checking the tour date page, it changes all the time. Looking forward to the Johnny Winter dates coming up, guaranteed to be a blast!!!

12-Feb-06 - David Gogo while in New Orleans. Louisiana, USA writes...

What an experience!! The concert was fantastic. Kudos to the CBC crew and the House of Blues for pulling it all off. It was great hanging with all the fabulous musicians from both sides of the border. Ate delicious food (of course), drank some hurricanes and bourbon. That's some of the good stuff... Then there's the reality of Katerina. Myself and a few of the fellas took a tour of the city and saw things we've never seen before (and hopefully never again ). The destruction and devastation reaches far and wide. Nothing you've seen on TV or in a magazine can capture what it's like there. Life changing...

20-Jan-06 - David Gogo while in Nashville, Tennessee, USA writes...

Nashville Snowline! That's what I arrived to last night, but it's a beautiful, crisp day today. I'll be writing and hanging with various characters all week trying to whip up some hits. If I'm lucky I'll get some good BBQ, some gaudy shirts and see a Preds game. I'm in heaven now that Gainey and Carbonneau are steering the ship for the Canadiens. The boys are back in shape now! Thanks to everyone who voted for me at the Maple Blues Awards. Although I didn't win the category that I was nominated in, my name was on the " Guitarist of the Year " award that Jack DeKeyser won!! I guess it was a screw up, but I wouldn't let Jack get away with it that easy (check out the photo gallery)! Back in December, the Johnny Winter shows went great. Anyone who has seen Johnny in recent years and was disappointed, be sad no more! It's a long story, but he's back! There is a little more recovery to go from his hip injury, but I couldn't believe the difference in his playing and singing from two years ago. It's great to see the mighty Johnny Winter back in form. Check the tour dates for more shows with him soon!!