Dr Pinkham's last ride.

Well here we are on the last day of our tour together as a trio. Tonight we play our last show at Skinny's Grille in Hope BC. We've never been there before so it will be a great evening of discovery. Adriaan has promised us good food and a great time in this gateway to the Fraser Valley. We've played bars, cafes, homes, bowling alleys and even a ghost town. We've been across the Canadian shield, the prairies, seen the aftermath of a mountain rock slide (Frank Alberta), soaked in the hot springs and swam in the Okanagan. We've had full houses, played to flood ravaged towns and had a fist fight nearly break out so that a fan could listen to our show. It's been a great journey. I counted we did 22 shows (and one songwriting workshop) in 35 days. The time off was mostly for my nephew's wedding in Manitoba. Leah and Allison got to do some tourist-ing during that time off. I mostly camped and tried to avoid mosquitoes and black flies.

As I'm thinking back over the tour I am reminded of all the great people we met along the way. Gloria in Ignace, Elmer in Selkirk, Barry and Craig in Stratford, Kate and Fred in Winnipeg Beach, Harold in Yorkton, Crisanna and Heather in Invermere, Joanne in Revelstoke, Clare in Kelowna. There are many more of you great people out there too and I'm sorry if I didn't remember you all as I write this. It's a cliche but we really do get to do this because of fans and supporters like you. Thanks for making this possible for us!

So what now? Well Leah returns to the work-a-day world at the Grand Theatre in London. Allison Brown does some shows in Vancouver and spends a couple weeks on the island. I move on to more shows in northern BC and head back east after a couple days of recording in remote campsites in BC. We've all been friends for many years and it will sure be a change after the last month of spending every day together. All the miles and sights shared. The jokes good and bad - who could ever forget Soytown? It's been quite a journey and the miles will continue after we split up but the van will feel a little too large again for one man. The silence will be a little louder and the road a little lonelier.

It's true that a whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Even though this project was a temporary band, I believe we rose above our own skills and created some magic. I think the harmonies were sweet, the music had depth, the laughter was real. It will feel strange on stage to not have these lovely people next to me as I belt out a blues song or sing some slightly inappropriate novelty number. The "low lonesome" sound that we created will ring in my head as I perform by myself and perhaps they'll each remember the show when they sing their songs as well and wonder where that ukulele solo is?  I hope, dear reader, that you will continue to follow each of us as we go on our separate ways. Leah Morise has a great website and blog. Allison Brown has a thriving MySpace page and I have www.manitobahal.com. Thanks for the ride Dr Pinkham, it's been a wonderful summer!

Roots Music Canada Reviews Our Wild Night at This Ain't Hollywood!

From http://www.rootsmusic.ca/2010/07/09/dr-pinkhams-medicine-show/

Dr. Pinkham’s Medicine Show
Author: Scott Vernon

Many Roots Music Canada readers have probably heard about Dr. Pinkham’s Medicine Show – featuring Allison Brown, Leah Morise, and Manitoba Hal – as the three artists (in this case, two) cris-cross the country. Our reviewer caught the show in Hamilton.

One week prior to the G20 Summit, I was enjoying a very average morning across the Lake—in my fair city of St. Catharines, listening to Fresh Air on CBC. My attention was grabbed by the alluring quality of London, ON singer/songwriter, Allison Brown (not to be confused with Alison Brown). Wonderful arranging, clear production, and great instrumental accompanying, including a well-played ukulele in the mix, all made her recording most noticeable. I quickly went to the web to find out more.

I learned that Allison Brown, Manitoba Hal, and Leah Morise are touring much of Canada as Dr. Pinkham’s Medicine Show, “a roots music variety concert,” and would be playing in Hamilton the following night.

So somewhat impulsively, my wife and I spent a Sunday evening in Hammer Town eager to receive some inspiration for our week.

The bar’s web site said, “doors open at 7pm, concert at 8.” We arrived at This Ain’t Hollywood —a long standing bar and eclectic live music venue in Hamilton’s north side— at exactly 8pm, hoping to find a good seat for the start of the show.

One tall, slim gentleman sat alone near the front. The bar tender was not to be seen and two ukuleles sitting on a table beside the lone individual were the only indication that we might be in the right place for a folk concert. Soon we were sitting down with Hal and Allison and a few other fans (absent Leah was reportedly testing results in Dr. Pinkham’s secret laboratory).

The stage was still filled with equipment from another band, so we couple fans relaxed and conversed with the star musicians. Eventually, the matinee band retook the stage and played an unexpected closing set.

So this was the prelude to our most recent folk concert outing: some of Hamilton’s most avid rockers screeching tunes. Little did I know at the time that these very drunk blues and rockabilly musicians were bonafide Hamilton “stars” and top session players.

The sound man asked Alison and Hal at 9:25, “do you guys want to get started right away?”

“Yeah, we should; a couple of our people need to leave at 10.”

What can I say? We had a babysitter with an 11:30 curfew. And we thought we could catch the first couple hours of their show, and leave after having had enough!

Well, we were wanting more when we were returning to St. Kits at 10:15. We had purchased two great CDs, one each from Allison and Hal.

The big sound and power of that little uke compliments very well Hal’s lithe vocals and hulking stature, and Allison’s vocal quality gave the perfect womanly feel to the duo.

I missed Leah, though. Hal’s musical manliness might be better balanced with two vocal partners rather than one.

Unfortunately, with the low numbers of listeners, the “Pinkham’s” concept was mostly lost on me, and likely on many of the mostly semi-conscious in the audience. But Allison’s acoustic, un- miked version of All the Birds was the complete elixir I needed to feel many troubles melt away.

The Medicine Show itinerary is impressive: 21 shows over five weeks across as many provinces with little time for rest, other than as that of a passenger driving from place to place. As I write this, the trio is completing travel of over 2000 Km to their 6th gig in 10 days.

The medicinal quality of Dr. Pinkham’s musical elixirs must be some powerful!

When I saw Alison and Hal in Hamilton they were none the worse for wear. I highly recommend people get out to see this trio as they head across Canada. If Dr. Pinkham’s musicianers come near to your town, don’t skip the opportunity to see what too many Southern Ontarians missed.

Allison Brown’s “Top Ten Folk Records of 2009″

Scott Vernon is a percussionist and music instructor based in St. Catharine’s, Ontario.

Popular Ontario Roadside Attraction - Kidnapped!

July 5th, 2010
A popular Ontario roadside attraction loved by many Canadiana enthusiasts from home and abroad was alarmingly reported missing late last month on June 25th. Shockingly, representatives from the Wawa tourist information bureau awoke from their afternoon nap at approximately 3:15pm to discover the infamous Wawa Goose had flown from its pedestal and was nowhere to be found. After thorough investigations at the its local haunts; the Wawa Feed & Seed, the local chip wagon and The Embassy Tavern, the bureau reported the Goose’s disappearance to the O.P.P. who then declared the Goose a missing monument.
Wawa residents reported seeing the large concrete Goose atop a Caravan with Nova Scotia plates at approximately 10:45am. The Goose was loose; and the O.P.P. was a flying V on Highway 17 to chase down the outlaws. The suspect vehicle was found by the O.P.P. later that evening, a sitting duck parked out front of the Apollo Bar on Red River Road in Thunder Bay. The vehicle revealed no traces of Goose DNA on the top or interior, or any evidence of webbed footprints on its rooftop. The two occupants of the vehicle pleaded with officers and insisted that the Goose merely landed atop the vehicle, and they didn’t notice the concrete Goose riding on the roof until it flew through the A&W Drive Through in White River to get a root beer.
Officers took the alleged kidnappers at their word and no fowl play is suspected. The Goose was found the following morning atop its pedestal overlooking the town of Wawa, a delight to travelers through the wilds of Northwestern Ontario.

Tour photos from Mike Bourgeault

Dr Pinkham's Medicine Show at Fanshawe Pioneer Village London ON

At the Boathouse in Kitchener ON with Dan Henshall on mandolin

at The Local in Toronto ON

CDs for sale or rent...

Manitoba Hal tunes up while a fan looks on

  

 

Allison Brown

 

 

Leah Morise

 

 

Manitoba Hal

Cure for Lightning and other stuff

The Dr Pinkham tour has been rambling all around southern Ontario for the past week and we've seen things and have lots of new friends and renewed old friendships. Here's a quick summary of the past 7days.

Our first show was a house concert in Moonstone, ON at the home of Pat Ives. This is a marvelous home and Pat is a fantastic host and all around swell person. Her home is a post and beam cottage style but don't think small. It is HUGE! The room we played in must have been 20 feet tall at the peak. It used to have an aviary in it but that is all gone. We played facing the audience (as is our custom) in front of a wall of glass windows that looked out into the forest surrounding the home. The acoustics were awesome and you could hear every note and string pluck. We used my little acoustic PA to make sure the vocals were heard but we hardly needed it.

From Moonstone we moved on to the Boathouse in Kitchener, ON. This cool little listening room inside Victoria Park is a real gem. The food is incredible!! I had the Paprika Chicken over Portuguese Rice (pictured left) and I was in heaven. OMG it was good. One of my favorite things about the Boathouse was there were no TVS! Kevin (our host) says that he'll never put a TV in that room. It's all about being a cool place to hang out and listen to great independent music. Way to go Kevin!  We had a friend of Allison's join us for that show. Dan Henshell is a wicked mandolin player from the Waterloo and he sat in with us all night as we brought healing harmony and medicinal music to the Boathouse.

Allison discovered a cure for lightning strike and we actually used it to heal a person from the audience. He later wrote us to thank us for healing him of his lightning strike. Folks I cannot stress enough the importance of getting cured of lightning strike. Please do not wait to attend a Dr Pinkham show for your cure. If you've been struck by lighting please see a qualified practitioner of the medical arts.

The next morning we headed out to breakfast at Cora's in Kitchener. As you can see Allison is enjoying her tea. The food at Cora's is amazing and the staff work soooooo hard,. I don't think I've ever been to a breakfast place that has a bigger line up than every Cora's I've been to across Canada. Hey maybe we should ask Cora's for a sponsorship next time? Free breakfast wherever we go for advertising on our blog and in our shows. Worth a look at I think.

Thursday night we played at The Local on Roncesvalles in Toronto. This is a cool little Toronto bar with funky decor, good food and good beer. The stage is a little small but it is a typical Toronto long thin room so I can see why it was so small. Jay (our host) made sure we had all the liquid refreshment we needed and all the staff was fantastic. This place is worth a visit if you are in Toronto and looking for a night out with good music. They hire a great mix of eclectic (mostly acoustic) music. The Local - Dr Pinkham gives it a thumbs up.

I had the blessing of renewing a friendship with someone I went to high school with. Joanna Mills of the bluegrass choir North of Queen came out to the show and gave Allison and I a bed for the night. We went to high school together and I was apprehensive about seeing her again after so many years but that proved foolish. She is a loving and caring woman with a great family. Apparently she married another of my old high school chums Alan Mills. We had a great morning visit and lunch before Allison and I headed out to Stratford. Thanks Joanna for making us feel so at home AND for contacting us in the first place to offer a bed for the night.

So by now dear readers, you've probably noticed that I haven't mentioned Leah. Leah Morise has been with us the whole time but sadly for her she has to work every day so she's been driving home after every gig no matter how far from our super secret lair. She's a real trooper and both Allison and I are lucky to have her with us on this tour. Thanks Leah for being an amazing singer and first rate practitioner of Dr Pinkham's healing harmony. Leah will be with us tonight in London, ON and for the western leg of the tour but she will not be making the trek through northern Ontario with us. We are sad about this but fear not dear readers the show will go on and the healing will continue. Our work is too important to allow our personal feelings to get in the way of delivering medicinals to every community regardless of size or economic stature.

Last night we played in Stratford at Foster's Inn. Owned by Craig Foster this place is probably my new favorite southern Ontario eatery. OMG the food was incredible. Allison had the Grilled Salmon and was almost in tears because it was so good. She kept raving about it all night. I had the 8 Oz Manhattan Steak with mashed potatoes and grilled summer vegetables. I also had the pleasure of meeting the son of the owner, Hal Foster. Hal worked busing tables and filling up water glasses. Every time they called out for him I turned my head to find out what they wanted. LOL. The staff at Foster's could not have been nicer. If you are looking for a good night out go to Foster's!! If you plan ahead too you might be able to take in their live music series.

Well that brings you up to date friends. Hopefully we'll see you along the road, either tonight in London or in one of the many shows in the west. I want to thank everyone who has been coming out and supporting live independent music! It is because of you folks that we get to do this. Thank you for everything!

Something Holy - our first video

Videography by Mike Bourgeault (http://www.mikebourgeault.com)

Friday Afternoon Photo Shoot