LIVE VIDEO + STREAMING PLATFORMS
November 18, 2019
Good day everyone/ I played a fun little gig this past weekend and my good pal JDM was there to capture some of it. Check out this video of Boxcar Shawn and myself covering Pink Floyd’s “Goodbye Cruel World”.
I recently got Sailin’ On and Cactus Sings Springsteen back on streaming platforms. Both recordings can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Google Play/YouTube, Amazon, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Instagram/Facebook, Anghami, MediaNet, Deezer, ClaroMusica, KKBox, Napster, Saavn, Tidal, TikTok.
And finally, my new two song single for “Ship Wreck” b/w “I Hear The All” will hopefully be available this December. I’m just waiting on the guest back up vocals to be completed. Stay tuned for more details.
BACK IN THE SADDLE
October 24, 2019
Hey everyone, I’m back! I took a little time off from performing to focus on fatherhood and work. But of course I started getting that old familiar itch, and it’s time to start rocking some gigs again.
It took a little coaxing from my good friend Chris McDonald of the LeBarons. He’s been offering me shows for the last year and if I didn’t take him up on an offer sooner than later those offers would surely stop coming in. So my next gig is Friday November 15th in Toronto at the Junction City Music Hall with the LeBarons. I’ve had a few rehearsals in the last couple of weeks, and I plan to get 3 or 4 more in before the gig. It’s mostly just shaking off some rust, getting my stage legs under me again, and getting my vocals back in some form respectable shape.
I’ve been recording whenever time allows. I have a couple of songs ready to go. Just waiting to get a few guest vocal spots recorded before I release them. I also have a bunch of half finished songs in the bag. Something else exciting is that I recently discovered an entire recording session from 2007 that was I thought was lost. It was recorded during many late nights/early mornings at my rehearsal space. It’s going to take some work to get a decent mix out of it, but hopefully it will see the light of day and become available sometime soon.
POST-POUZZA BLUES
June 6, 2017
Pouzza Fest 7 was everything that is great about Punk Rock Fests! It’s awesome bands, good people, great beer, a variety of food and all happening in a wicked city.
I was fortunate enough to once again get to play twice this year. First on the Friday night with Plan 37. We played to a packed Foufs 2.0. It was only my second gig back with the band and it felt awesome. We had a few minor challenges with the back-line that was provided but like true punk soldiers we locked in on our sound and groove and delivered a solid 30 minute set. My first gig back with Plan 37 took place a few days earlier in Toronto when we supported Off With Their Heads at The Bovine Sex Club.
Saturday at Pouzza was mostly Megan and I hopping around from venue to venue catching some great bands including a stellar set from Iron Chic with guest vocals from RVIVR. I was also interviewed by the great people at Bucketlist Music Reviews.
Sunday afternoon I performed my solo set at the Foufs BBQ and Merch Tent. I had a nice crowd come out and got to perform a Leatherface cover for Graeme from Leatherface. No pressure there of course… After my set Seth Anderson did his thing. Seth was amazing as always.
By the end of the weekend Megan and I caught roughly 25 performances, ate several slices of pizza and crushed a ton of PBRs. As always its a great so amazing to get to perform at these kinds of events for such passionate people. Montreal is a beautiful and I can’t wait to return.
HBD EJV
POUZZA FEST 2017
January 10, 2017
Happy New Year! It’s been a while since my last update. I’ve been on a paternity leave from Plan 37 for the past 7 months and am due to return back soon. How soon? I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be performing at this years Pouzza Fest (May 19-21) in Montreal with Plan 37, as well as solo. This years headliners include Lagwagon, The Flatliners and The Slackers. They should be announcing more names soon. More details about the event will be released in time but for now visit pouzzafest.com for ticket info.
Montreal has always been one of my favorite cities to play. Whether it was 2-Pump Louie, Sinkin’ Ships, The Class Assassins or The Dogs, I’ve always had a blast in Montreal. Pouzza Fest is no exception as it’s constantly been one of the greatest Punk Fests to play.
The new Plan 37 record is in the final stages. We’ve recently completed the mastering & sequencing and are about to begin on the art work. No word yet on a release date. Things are moving slow but believe me it will be worth the wait. While I’ve been on my Paternity leave from the band Chris from Talk Show Host has been filling on on guitar and dong a great job. Thanks Chris!
I’ve been recording some new solo songs in my home studio and I’ve very excited for everyone to hear them. The process is rather slow as It’s been tough to make time to record. I manage to get a guitar or vocal track in here or there.
CACTUS CONTRIBUTES SONG TO HOLIDAY COMP
December 16, 2015
Toronto’s MusicSheBlogged has launched a new compilation, Ho Ho Holy Shit, It’s the Holidays. The comp features tracks from The New Enemy, Wasted Potential, Sixteen Scandals and more, and it aims to raise money for local charity Toy Mountain.
The song I contributed is “Rhythm And The Rebel” and it’s a very old recording I did on a digital 8-track recorder in the attack of a house I rented on Dovercourt Ave back in 2000. The master files were lost but I was bale to digitize the track from a cassette tape dub of the session.
Click here to listen to Rhythm And The Rebel.
PLAN 37 RECORDS NEW ALBUM
November 9, 2015
Hey everyone! Great news from the Plan 37 camp. We entered Taurus Recording Studio this weekend and under the guidance of producer Jon Drew we recorded 13 songs for our full length album. After three long days we were able to get all drum, bass and guitar tracks down. To be completely honest we did all of the rhythms live off the floor. So with the exception of vocals and my guitar leads, everything you hear on the album is totally live and raw. This process requires a little more time and patience but the end result can be something special if captured properly and the band is well rehearsed and up to the task.
Our good friend Nic Pouliot from RockPhoto.ca stopped by to document the recording session on Saturday afternoon. Nic is easily one of the best live band photographers around these days. Check out the pics on facebook at the link.
We’ll be returning to the studio shortly so Shawn get get his vocals down, followed by another session for back up vocals from all of us.
It’s my hope that this recording ends up on vinyl, but only time will tell. We have no information to share yet as to who will be releasing the record.
Our next gigs are on Friday Nov 27th in Guelph and Saturday Nov 28th in Toronto. Both shows are My Fingers My Brains showcase gigs.
CACTUS JOINS PLAN 37, STARTS ACOUSTIC BAND AND MORE
September 1, 2015
Back in June I was asked to fill in and play a few gigs with Plan 37 after they parted ways with their lead guitarist. I had two weeks to learn the 9 song set before the first show. That first gig was a supporting spot for the Ataris here in Toronto. I learned the tunes and had a killer jam session with the band. A couple of days later we rocked the Dance Cave at Lees Palace.
A few more gigs later and we decided I would stick around and continue playing guitar in the band. Since then we’ve played a handful of shows around Ontario and we’re now gearing up to record the bands first full length album this November with producer Jon Drew.
I recently formed a new acoustic band this past May. It features Cindy from Plan 37 on percussion and Matt from Whiskey Hearts on the upright bass. Our first show was the Mini-Pouzza Fest event in Toronto. We’ve recently taken it on the road and performed in Guelph as well as an opening spot for Mischief Brew last month.
Speaking of Whiskey Hearts, Ty recently moved to Mexico city to be a teacher. We played our last gig back in May opening up for the amazing Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band. It’s safe to say Whiskey Hearts are definitely on hiatus for the time being.
Cactus Vella Music 