Joshua Van Tassel

I was on my good friend Alexis’s facebook today and came across this which I had totally forgotten about

I think it’s very pretty and simple and nice. Good work Alexis. The music comes from a trio I was in that started at the Banff Centre with a violinist named Claire who had never played improvised music before. I think she does it pretty damned well.

hey folks. I’m back from a successful little trip out west. The shows were great, and took place in a great theater that Michael J. fox helped build/fund. It’s nice to know that my hours watching and loving Marty McFly. and Teenwolf resulted in benefits directly to me later in life. Karmic investment perhaps

I also randomly heard and saw a 61 person Gaelic choir. It was kind of awesome and crazy. here it is from backstage –

And so Air Canada. Here’s a short version –
- my flight was scheduled for 8 am. I arrive at 6:50 because I really need to make sure I’m on this flight on time
– I wait in the domestic line for about 10 minutes, and suddenly an agent draws the rope across where myself and about 10 others are in line and walks away. As do the 2 agents behind the counter. No explanation.
- I find another line to be in after about 10 minutes of aimless wandering. This one moves fairly fast, I check in with no real issues. The woman behind the counter is actually quite pleasant and has a son who is a drummer.
– I get a coffee and head to my gate. Once I arrive and sit down, I check my boarding pass to see if I’ll be sitting close to my bass player who is on the same flight. I then notice my flight time is an hour and half later then his, and my flight number is different.
- I start to ask questions. Agent #1 says the flight was overbooked and since I checked in after 730 I got bumped. Interesting, because it says the check in time on my boarding pass was 710.
- Agent #2 tells me that there was a “safety issue” and people had to be moved. I don’t really know what that meant, but the people around me who heard it didn’t seem to be thrilled about getting on the plane at this point.
- Agent #3 tells me there are seats available and the plane ISN’T over booked, but since my luggage was already loaded on to another plane there was nothing they could do. I’m now getting frustrated. She directs me to Customer service and suggests I speak with a manager.
- At customer service, where I’m trying really hard not to be rude. Maybe I am, you tell me, but I’m suuuure not getting many answers from this person.

- This is the AC defense tactic, called ” the CS shuffle” Basically, they wind you up and let you dance around a whole series of people who pass you off in a lateral motion so you never get anywhere.
– As we’re talking, a manager happens to come out of the office and stops to check in. Here’s where things take a turn. Her name is Mary, she listens very well, and is genuinely concerned abotu what happen. She writes down what I tell, and asks if she could take my boarding pass and print me a new one so she can look into it further. She apologizes profusely on AC’s part. when she comes back, she hands me pass and says she found me a seat with a little more leg room. I think that’s a really nice gesture, and I thank her for help. It turns out her version of a little more leg room was to move me to first class, with full 3 course meal and my own crazy little sleeping pod thing. I love you Mary.

Moral of the story – My friends know me and that I worked in a customer service position for a long time, and am generally a patient person when it comes issues where there’s a problem and someone who didn’t cause it has to fix it. However, AC tests my patience repeatedly, and after the holidays this year I made a vow to myself to not get shuffled like a deck of cheap cards through their monopolizing hands. Therefore any time I get screwed around by them, they’re going to hear about it, my H4 is going to hear it, and so are you.

I’m away in Vancouver for the next couple of days, so we’ll be on a little break til Sunday. I’m out there with Jill barber and David Myles, so if you like your song writers Maritime and you’re in the west, shoot me an email and come out. Spent some more time with the tune I posted earlier, it’s coming. Not near done, but making more sense. have a good friday………..

Look yourself right in the face and say that, and it just may happen. It’s already a good day for me though, because I saw this finally -

Ooohhhhh it’s going to be great.

Also, not as exciting, but I got some good work done on some new music yesterday. Here’s a very fresh sampling of something that came out.

Every time I finish a project I always feel ready to get right back at it, which is how I feel now. I have some good people that are going to be helping me promote the Nighttimer ep ( that now has some art and is loaded and ready to go) and I’m sure it drives them crazy that I’m already on something else, but that’s how us flaky artists do it I suppose. I learn a ton from everything I work on, and I want to apply that knowledge right away. I think it makes sense.

I finally was able to steal away for an evening and go see my good friend Ieva Lucs in the Theatre Smash production of “Tijuana Cure” last night, and I’m super glad I did.

All of us have friends that are involved in the arts in one way or another, and a lot of them are performers. Sometimes it gets hard to separate the character on stage from the person you know, but in this case Ieva is such a skilled and hard working professional that from opening lines she became a character I had never met, a totally different person, a male at that. It takes the skills of a serious theater ninja to be a beautiful blonde woman and still have me completely convinced that you’re a man ( without the aid of make up/wigs/costume), and she pulled it off in such a way that the stranger in the beginning of the play becomes someone very near to your heart an hour later. It’s a beautifully told story, beautifully directed too by Ashlie Corcoran, and it’s really worth seeing.

A very hearty congrats to Ieva and the whole Theatre Smash crew.

Photo by Martha Haldenby

Here’s the done version of the remix I’m doing for my ol pal Valery Gore for the “Shoes of Glass” contest. I’m not sure how you go about winning this contest, but I sure do know I entered it. Maybe an online voting at some point? Voice of the people? A raffle? A crystal ball made of wood shaken by a monkey and an answer deciphered from his grunting? I hope so. Annnnyway, have a go….

….are fantastic. They build cool pieces of art like this chandelier that sound and look like this -

..and when I go away and come home they make me cookies and tacos and give me a hug. This big empty space doesn’t feel so empty anymore, and it actually looks like an apartment now. They also deal quite well with my constant late night comings and goings, and apparently I don’t wake them up. It’s possible that due to their niceness they’re just not saying anything though……

Anyway, here’s to great roommates, it makes a big difference.

Also, here’s a picture from one of the best shows I’ve ever been a part of, Ronley Teper’s cd release last week. It was a huge band, and everyone was listening like last words were being whispered sweet and low. Super fun.

I have a day at home today and I’m going to try really hard to make some new stuff. Wish me luck.

And we’re back. I had a fantastic weekend in Quebec, Mt. St. Anne to be precise. One of the really nice parts of it was the drive there alone. It’s so so fun to be in a car by yourself sometimes on the highway, doing literally anything you want. Singing terribly, trying to remember speeches from grade nine, picking words to spell out loud, whatever. This was first trip using a GPS device too, and it’s completely awesome, tales all the worry out of everything. Plus, mine had a saucy little way of telling me things in a cute accent -

The whole reason for the trip was that my very good friend Terah from NS was getting married. They rented a beautiful chalet just off the mountain that slept about 35 people, and everything took place there; ceremony, sleeping, dinner, you name it. It was such a nice relaxed way to do a wedding party, and there were some seriously happy people in the place all weekend long.

Hey folks. Enroute to Quebec for a wedding, I’ll try and get something French for you all to hear.
Also, I played Ronley Tepers cd release last night, and she’s my hero. Enjoy your Friday….

My good friend David Myles is a good man and a good entertainer. The true test of any musician’s gig capabilities is to be put in front of a very large auditorium full of children, and to entertain them. Here’s a video that got sent to me of David doing that and so much more. Classic.