Welcome Back????

Well...it's been about a year.... a lot of changes - a few things I'd rather not talk about...but so be it.

Out of interest I 'Googled' myself last night. I hadn't done it for a while and was quite shocked by the content out there involving my name. All of it good (except for one bad review about me singing on a cd I don't remember singing on...could there be another Mick Dalla-Vee? - But I digress...)

Because it's very late as I write this I don't want to say too much - just to say that I'm back and will try to do the odd Blog, and possibly even do the odd sound byte as well.

For you Randy Bachman fans (http://www.randybachman.com), the DVD that we made for 'Jazzthing' is about to be released in April finally. It is supposed to be excellent and I can't wait to see/hear it for myself.

For you Cease and Desist fans (http://www.ceaseanddesistband.com) overseas, we are coming back for the first three weeks of May. For our old friends in Indianapolis, we'll be seeing you for the 500 again this year at the end of May.

Atlantic Crossing (http://www.atlanticcrossing.ca) will be developing it's show to new heights this year and I'm really very excited about the future with this project. We've recently made some great connections with some very influential people in the business and this year will prove to be a big one for the show.

The studio is very busy as of late (http://www.millenniasounddesign.com). Producer Ron Briggs (who also is the drummer for Aaron Pritchett...oh should I...? Oh what the heck.... (http://www.aaronpritchett.com) has been working in the studio whenever I'm not, so it's been a pretty busy little enterprise, and I'm thrilled at the results Ron is getting producing the band 'Shine' (http://www.shinemusic.ca). I believe it will be a great release....

So - back to the Googling...I found this article that I was featured in regarding a fundraiser that Atlantic Crossing did late last year. I never saw this article and barely remember doing the interview, as I was in the middle of a Randy Bachman Tour in Sweden and Denmark at the time and plenty tired - but I thought it was pretty good and I'm including it here.

Cheers everybody...and by the way, yes I am still running although not as much as I should. I will be in the Vancouver 10k Sun Run on April 23rd...

The Article from The Langley Advance:

Fundraiser: Atlantic Crossing aids tsunami victims

What drives a guy from the Soo playing a gig in Denmark to offer to perform free for a Thailand tsunami fundraiser spearheaded by the Garber family of Langley? Try loss and love.

By Karen Kersey

Like many musicians, Mick Dalla-Vee is inundated with requests for benefits and causes.

"But Kevin Garber's story was one that put me right on the pulse of the tsunami and its victims," he told the Langley Advance from Denmark where he was touring with the Randy Bachman Band. "It's an amazing story, and he definitely piqued my interest in making sure an orphanage was built."

Garber and his wife Susan are selling tickets, at $100 a pop, to the Nov. 18 event which will feature Dalla-Vee and his British pop cover band Atlantic Crossing at Langley's Casino Ballroom.

The Garbers are still recovering from the events of Dec. 26, 2004, when a tsunami swept the couple, their three daughters, and their daughters' two friends into a maelstrom of mud, debris, and water, depositing them, shaken and traumatized, after what seemed like a lifetime later on the Thailand beach turned vacation wasteland.

The couple returned to the area in April of 2005 with as many relief goods as they could pack, and determined that they would raise money in Canada to help restore some quality of life to the islanders.

Half of the population of 1,000 on Koh Kor Khao Island was dead, with 18 children orphaned, according to Susan Garber.

Dalla-Vee, a Coquitlam resident, offered to bring his show to Langley as a fundraiser, at the same time getting support from the techies required to mount the production, all at no charge. Net proceeds will go to rebuilding the island community.

"Pain is no stranger to my family," Dalla-Vee said. "We lost our daughter in November of 1999 and the musical community in Vancouver rallied such support for us, it inspired the Caroline Foundation, which has helped musicians in strife in the Lower Mainland for the past six years."

Dalla-Vee's mom died when he was nine and living in Sault Ste. Marie, and that's when he turned to music to soothe his grief, learning to play the guitar by watching his musician brothers. He credits a great music teacher who ignored the fact that he couldn't read music and gave him an A anyway.

The Dalla-Vee band Cease and Desist played the Toronto Maple Leafs home opener this season, and he's taking the Atlantic Crossing shows to Europe next spring.

Dalla-Vee is also working on a plan to have a memorial concert on the beach at Koh Kor Khao this Dec. 26.

And he's working with one of the Garber daughters, Sara.

"She's quite a talented, up and coming singer/songwriter," he said. "Her songs written since her tsunami experience have touched a few lives."

Dalla-Vee said he's not worried about donation fatigue when it comes to selling tickets to the Langley event. He has pledged the remaining funds in the Caroline Foundation to the Garber effort.

"I have found that, when push comes to shove, people are still 'barn-raisers' like they were in the old days," he said. "People are mostly good in their hearts; I really believe that."

Like his friend Randy Bachman, for instance.

"I was asked to record at his studio in 1998, and he asked me to join him back then, but I couldn't, due to a prior engagement," Dalla-Vee says. "Then he asked me again in 2002 and I jumped at it. He's been an idol of mine for years. It's been a thrill, and he's a really good person who's so unaffected by how much he's accomplished. He still has the drive and determination of a young kid with music. Very humbling. When I feel jaded in my career, I look at him and curb it quickly."

Although the Beatles are by far his strongest influence, Dalla-Vee says his tastes have changed somewhat.

"You pretty much run the gamut in this business; if you can't adapt, you're hooped," he noted.

Still, when asked what CD he has bought most recently, it's back to the Beatles.

"Paul McCartney's 'Chaos and Creation in the Backyard,'" he said. "I had heard that it was his best album in years, and quickly got it."

How is Canada viewed from the countries where Dalla-Vee performs?

"With tons of admiration and respect," he said from Denmark. "People the world over love us and our culture and our foreign policies. Very proud of that. Canada negotiates, unlike some other places in the world_ahem_"

Tickets for the Atlantic Crossing event in Langley are available on line at LeadersNowBC.ca or from Kevin Garber at 604-805-1154.

Published on 11/11/2005