During the late eighties and early nineties The Northern Pikes and The Grapes Of Wrath, strangely enough, only played one show together.  It was a festival date, and our respective show times were far enough apart that we never crossed paths that day.  Many years later, in the 2000's, we would share the bill on a club show.  But again, due to travel schedules, we would hardly spend any time together that night.

Fast forward to 2013: I walk into my favorite guitar shop in Toronto, Capsule Music, and there I find Kevin Kane, who is building lovely electric guitars for the store.  I try a few out, buy one and Kevin and I, through our dicussions, discover that we live about 3 blocks from one another.  After some hanging out and a bit of jamming, we thought we should probably try playing a gig or two and see how that goes.  Fast forward again to the summer of 2014 and Kevin & Bryan show hit the road in the Okanagan Valley for a series of performances.

First up was the Bench 1775 Winery in Naramata.  Crazy hot evening with forest fire smoke from nearby blazes gusting through our open air event that night.  Val & Ian were so good to us - thank you.  And mucho praise goes out to Paul Crawford for letting us couch surf at his place.  Interesting and lovely human being - thanks again Paul.  

Next we played The Minstrel Cafe in Kelowna - great fun, nice room and very warm audience.  Thanks to Clare for hosting us.

Back to Naramata the next night for a 50th birthday bash for my buddy Robert Ott at the Poplar Grove Winery.  K & I played a very short set that night which was highlighted by Robert joiing us on stage with Aaron Pritchett's band to sing Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down".  I won't forget that moment for a long time :-)  Many thanks to Rob's delight other half - she knows how to throw a party...

Kevin Kane and I were contacted by Luke Jackson to perform at the 5th annual "Roncy Rocks" in the Roncesvalles area of Toronto.  It's a great event that features multiple stages with numerous acts spread out through the neighbourhood.  The weather was perfect and the audience appreciative.  The only issue Kevin and I came up against was that we underestimated the length of our setlist.  We'd come to end of the performance only to learn we still had several minutes to fill.  I leaned into Kevin and whispered "what if we play "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC?  I got a somewhat unsure response from him but convinced him that I thought this was a good idea.  So we launched into it - and to our surprise Tyler Stewart of Barenaked Ladies jumped on stage to join us.  The only problem was there were neither drumsticks or a kick drum pedal.  If you check out the video from my YouTube channel you'll see Tyler waiting patiently for someone to hand him some sticks.  That someone would be Cleave Anderson, the original drummer of Blue Rodeo, who was playing with the band following Kevin and I.  What resulted was a delightfully fun way to end a great day of music for Kev & I - an eclectic collection of musicians playing something nobody would have predicted they'd hear that day, particulary from us.  

Many thanks to Luke - such a wonderful host.  I hope we get invited back again.  Roncy does indeed Rock...

For some time I had been hearing about house concerts hosted by a fellow named Andy in Victoria B.C.  Musicians I know well have praised the man, the venue (his home), the vibe and enthusiasum of his patrons.  And I can now attest that this is indeed a unique and highly enjoyable experience, not only from a performer's stand point, but judging from the reaction, the audience's stand point as well.  

Also on the bill was J.P. Maurice, who in his quick wit compared the house concert performance experience (i.e unplugged and very intimate, maybe 125 square feet and 40-odd in attendance) akin to "stripping".  And yeah, I get what he said.  It's raw and unabashedly honest.  But the group of people assembled there to hear our songs were dishing out a lot of love and trust, which certainly encouraged us along and made it safe for J.P. & I to unpeel our souls...  

Many thanks to R. Andrew, Brian & Andrea Raine, Kimmer Eagletron Hogg Cameron and Alison Dacia Brown for getting the ball rolling.  Hope to see you all again soon...

The seond in what will likely be a series of Kevin Kane / Bryan Potvin duo shows took place at a cozy little joint in St. Catherines called Mahtay Cafe. Thank you all for coming down to this gig - it was great fun - Kevin and I are truly enjoying each other's company on stage.  More dates this summer including a run through BC.  See www.bryanpotvin.com/tour for more info.