The Final Geoff Howe Special and Year-end wrap-up
Well, after a good 10 month run, "The Geoff Howe Special" came to an end on December 19, 2006. Due to various circumstances the Serious Coffee in Oak Bay can no longer house live music, so both my show and the Open Stage on Wednesday night had to bow out. My final performance was a good one though. The setlist was diverse and I was in great voice.
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He featured it in a computer game that he did character animation and music for called "Two of a Kind". It's quite a fun game actually. Especially if you remember all of those "Kings Quest", "Space Quest" etc. games of the 80s and early 90s.
The first time I heard "Itchy Eyes", my jaw just dropped. Made me wish Smidgen was still a proper outfit. A reunion almost happened last year. Brian was going to be visiting Victoria for a few weeks in October and he was really looking forward to collaborating on some new songs and making some new recordings. We might have been able to get a decent EP out of it. Unfortunately, October came and went and I got no answer from his e-mail or even his parents. In fact, I started writing a song called "Where Is Brian Thibodeau?", but so far it hasn't been finished, with only an unfinished demo floating around on my hard drive. Even though I'm looking forward to new projects right now, I think that a Smidgen reunion and possible album would be very cleansing for the soul. Very much like reuniting with Mel was very good for me. Last time we talked, we even started writing a new song, and we also threw around ideas for the first Waverly full-length, entitled "Waverly Hotel". Hopefully that happens this year as well.
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I would LOVE to do another Smidgen album. I love trilogies, and I think a third album is absolutely required. "In Step" represents youthful optimism, teenage love (where have I heard that before?), and bright eyed wonder. "What Time's The Wedding?" represents disillusionment, despair, depression...a lot of "D" words obviously. My head-space and my soul are in infinitely better shape than when that last album was made, and I think the time for a new Smidgen album would be now, to bring everything full circle. Brian and I would have to learn to work together again, giving some innocence back to the mix, not to mention, from what I've heard from him he's in a better head-space too...well, except for the disappearing part. I'd love to have Al on board too, but if he wasn't up for it, I'd understand. As far as I'm concerned, it's Smidgen as long as it's Brian and I. I'd want to record it quickly and sparsely. Think "12 Songs" by Neil Diamond, one of my favorites of the past couple of years. I want to make the Smidgen album that we never made: the stripped down acoustic album that reflected how we wrote the songs. Even our most stripped down songs on our two previous LPs had tons of harmonies and other overdubs lavished upon them. I'd love for there to be full collaboration with Brian, but if that didn't quite work, I have a HUGE backlog of songs written that would fit the Smidgen criteria. Hmmm...maybe I should try e-mailing him again. The time feels right.
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LOL (about your idea for the 3rd Smidgen album being a stripped down affair)! I remember thinking exactly the same thing a while ago....that if you recorded with Brian again, you should keep it simple. Just the song, 2 guitars, and 2 voices....maybe some embellishment here and there....but nothing too elaborate. Something along the lines of Gillian Welch's Revelator album.
I'm currently listening to the latest Zero 7 album, "Garden." It's taken a little while to grow on me, but I quite like it now. I'm also listening to an old Steve Perry reissue....his first album, "Street Talk." Sorry, but Steve Perry is a guilty pleasure of mine.
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