Moving is never “fun” but along the way (if you’re lucky) you find little treasures.
During our latest move, I found boxes and cases with interviews.
It got me to thinking – where is that Solomon Burke Interview?
We had talked at the Edmonton Folk Festival several years earlier and in 2010 when he was releasing a new album Nothing’s Impossible.
Produced by Willie Mitchell in Memphis. Same Studio, producer, musicians as Rev Al Green!
We had a great chat and off he went – passing away weeks later as he passed through Amsterdam’s airport.
I simply couldn’t find the heart to go back and listen to the interview. Every time I heard the first words I started to tear up.
So. I walked away from the interview thinking the day will come when I can deal with it.
Well, today’s the day.
Solomon Burke was asked in an interview “are you a gospel/church singer or a blues singer?”..Solomon’s reply was “I’m a soul singer”
He was the first artist to use the phrase.
The man was a preacher, singer, writer, mortician! When it came to the music business he was not to be messed with.
If you get a chance check out his life story. It’s a wild ride.
Solomon Burke by-the-numbers
Performed 55 years. 38 studio albums. 17 record labels. Grammy winner. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 17 million albums sold. In 2008 was #89 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 greatest singers of all time.
AND Father 21 children and Grandfather of 90 Grandkids.
Exec Director Harry Hertscheg on 43rd Van Wine Fest plus A visit with Winemakers Cut
THE SHOW
The last time VanWineFest gathered it was early March of 2020.
Days after they closed the doors, the World would be dealt a monumental blow by a global pandemic.
So, here we are two years later. Our lives have been changed in so many ways. Covid 19 has been controlled to such an extent that masks are optional and the 43rd Van Wine Fest will be allowed to open their doors once again. May 16-22.
101 wineries from 14 countries. 41 of those wineries will be from British Columbia.
Happy to say 18 producers from Italy and 14 from the USA.
. The festival has been named the #1 Food, Wine & Hospitality Event in Canada by New York’s BizBash for seven years running and was named the Best International Wine Festival – North America by LUX Life Magazine
The festival is headquartered at the Vancouver Convention Centre; in addition, restaurants and venues around the city will host winery dinners, lunches, seminars, and wine minglers. The sumptuous Bacchanalia Gala Dinner + Auction, presented by National Bank Private Banking 1859, and benefiting Bard on the Beach, will take place on Tuesday, May 17 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The heart of the festival is the Tasting Room, where all 101 wineries will gather for four International Festival Tastings and two Trade Tastings.
Tickets for the International Festival Tastings are now on sale. Ticket prices range from $109-$129 all in. Festival-goers looking to enjoy a vacation or staycation in Vancouver over the Victoria Day long weekend can get a free Tasting Room ticket if they book a downtown hotel via StayVancouverHotels.com. The promotion is available until May 6, or while supplies last.
For more information about the Vancouver International Wine Festival go to VanWineFest.ca.
As always, when we need the complete story on all things Vancouver Wine Festival we find the Executive Director Harry Hertscheg.
Harry-Hertscheg-
Harry and I did this interview days before the line up was announced. It’s one big Tease.
Kevin Hearn has released a stark album called There and Then: Solo Piano Improvisations. 3 distinct rooms, 3 pianos, and 3 days of playing, each only for 3 hours.
No demos. No rehearsal. No real conversation between himself and producer Mark Howard.
Yes. The same Kevin Hearn who was a member of the Corky and the Juice Pigs Band, bandleader for Lou Reed, and a star member of Bare Naked Ladies.
Kevin worked for years with Gord Downie. Right up until Gord was lost to Cancer.
There and Then honors Gord (Among the Stars) and Lou (Lou) and Garth Hudson (The Garth HudsonInstitute) and the basic elements of great music.
The album cover was painted by Gord’s daughter Willo. Lou Video was directed by Mike Downie.
Rather than paint a word picture I’ve decided to let Kevin tell the tale of how all this came to be.
THIS is an album that will become a balm for the World we all live in.
Well done Kevin and Mark.
It’s fair to say Keb Mo is simply one of the most popular choices for anyone’s playlist. An easy pull.
He delivers thoughtfulness, groove, and joy every time.
So imagine my delight in having him Zoom guest from his home in Nashville.
Keb’s new album is Good to be. It reflects the loss of his mother, returning to Compton to remodel and freshen up the home he was brought up in and to reconnect with “the community”. That’s one thing we talk about – I never thought of Compton as a community because everything I read and heard only referenced the toughness of the streets and what could be a hard life. (NWA!!)
Keb references and hangs with The Compton Cowboys.. real-life people. Legends in Compton history. (Check out the video below)
Speaking of video – You can see the Zoom Interview on the Terry David Mulligan YouTube Channel! His smiles and laughs make the session come alive.
Keb also talks strongly about his thoughts on Black History Month, working with Vince Gill, Old Crow Medicine Show, covering his friend Bill Withers, etc.
He answers the last question straight up – Did you find the blues or did the blues find you?
The complete audio and zoom interview drops right after The Stew. Details at www.mulliganstew.ca
8 of the finest Proseccos in the World with Treve Ring and the state of BC Restaurants with Ian Tostenson and Kelly Gordon.
Hello… Hoping you are safe and well!
Loving this show.
The feature guests are Wine Judge and Writer Treve Ring pouring 8 Prosecco’s from the legendary Conegliano Valdobbiadene region of Italy and then a check in on the state of BC’s restaurants following two years of lockdown with Ian Tostenson BC Restaurant and Food Services Assn and Kelly Gordon Romer’s Restaurants.
The amazing Treve Ring is a wine writer and editor, judge and speaker, and perpetual traveler. A certified sommelier, WSET diploma holder, French wine scholar, instructor, and Sherry instructor, she is based in Victoria, Vancouver Island, though is most often found on a plane or in a vineyard.
TD interviewing Treve Ring
Treve has been writing professionally since 2001. Her work is regularly seen in numerous publications including World of Fine Wine, Meininger’s Wine Business International, Wine & Spirits, Sommelier Magazine, Wine Enthusiast, WineAlign, The Alchemist, Quench Magazine, Vitis, Lonely Planet Travel, and others.
In addition to her role as Correspondent Anorak at WineAnorak, she is the executive editor and senior critic at Gismondi on Wine, and editor at large for SIP Northwest Magazine. She tastes thousands of wines each year, and is an established wine judge in Canada, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United States. In 2012, she co-founded Cru Consultancy, a boutique wine education, and consultation company. Though her travels take her all over the wine world, Treve has spent the last few years concentrating and researching sparkling wine globally, with a focus on Champagne.
This story began in Conegliano Valdobbiadene, a hilly area in North-East Italy, 50 km from Venice and around 100 from the Dolomites. Here, for over three centuries, people have grown the grapes that produce Prosecco Superiore, whose success began with the founding of Italy’s first School of Winemaking in 1876. The production area covers 15 communes and represents the heart of the world of Prosecco; it is one of Italy’s historic denominations, recognized in 1969. In 2009, with the reorganization of the denominations for Prosecco, the Ministry of Agriculture classified it as a Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin (D.O.C.G.), the highest level of quality for Italian wines.
Treve brings 8 Proseccos from Conegliano Valdobbiadene. The heart of Prosecco Superiore D.O C.G.
Below are the wines we tasted (with Treve’s guidance and storytelling). Surprisingly, few if any are represented in BC.
La Farra Rive di Farra di Soligo 2020 Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Extra Brut
Ian Tostenson – President and CEO of BC Restaurant and Food Services Assn
Kelly Gordon – President/Partner Extra Mile Services Assn and Romer’s Burger Bars
The 2-year lockdown and Covid Pandemic hit the restaurants of BC really hard. menus were shortened, take out became a great way to pay the bills and staff, online creative helped create new customers and everyone started eating local.
Kelly Gordon & Chef Jim Romer (Nick Procaylo -PNG)
So. Here are on the cusp of Spring 2022 at what feels like the start of a new normal.
I’ve invited two guests whose business is to read the future and guide their associations and restaurants.
From Ian and Kelly I wanted to know:
What’s the state of our restaurants in early 2022?
How did many of the restaurants survive the last two years?
The government’s role in supporting these businesses?
And what can we – the customer – do to help the remaining restaurants not only survive but thrive in the next two years.
I imagine my delight in having Keb’ Mo’ Zoom guest from his home in Nashville.
Keb’s new album is Good to be. It reflects the loss of his mother, returning home to his childhood home in Compton to remodel and freshen up the home he was brought up in and to reconnect with “the community”.
I never thought of Compton as a community because everything I read and heard only referenced the toughness of the streets and what could be a hard life. (NWA!!)
Keb references and hangs with The Compton Cowboys. Real-life people. Legends in Compton history.
Keb also talks strongly about his thoughts on Black History Month, working with Vince Gill, Old Crow Medicine Show, covering a song by his friend Bill Withers and more.
He answers the last question straight up – Did you find the blues or did the blues find you?
The complete audio and zoom interview drop right after The Stew. Details at www.mulliganstew.ca
It’s good to be a Keb’ Mo’ Fan. The music sticks to your heart and so does the man.
and Hey! Check out the rest of the Stew.
Leonard Cohen, Steve Miller Band, The Dead, Robert Plant, A Fats Domino mini-festival for his birthday, Fruit Bats, Blue Rodeo, Lucinda Williams, Amy Winehouse, Led Zeppelin etcetera!!
Kevin Hearn has released a stark album called There and Then: Solo Piano Improvisations. 3 distinct rooms, 3 pianos, and 3 days of playing, each only for 3 hours.
