As part of being an elementary (K-6) music teacher in Calgary, I showcase a different composer each month. So far it's been the Great Old Dead Guys: Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven. You know, the Biggies! In January, I decided to…
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Oct 10 2022
BV's Blog, October 10, 2022: Artists Who Make Music, Musicians Who Make Art
I am one of those people who makes music and also makes art. All my life I have done both and in fact both have been inextricably linked for me. At the age of about 10 I began drawing album…
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Jan 8 2022
BV's Blog, January 8, 2022 - A New Year: "As long as the sun is shining..."
Forgive me folks, it has been eight months since my last blog entry!
A lot has happened in the past eight months. Musically, I put out an album (Acres of Chrome) and have been performing at numerous venues in person…
Read moreJun 30 2021
BV's Blog - June 30, 2021: Summer's Here
"Summer's here, I'm for that! Got my rubber sandals, got my straw hat! It's my favourite time of the year and I'm glad that it's here, yeah!"
Thus sang James Taylor in his song "Summer's Here". I've always liked that…
Read moreNov 29 2020
BV's Blog - November 29, 2020: Who indeed, is Bob Calls?
In my last blog (or is it blob?) I told the story of how when I was a kid, I invented a rock star named Bob Calls. Don't ask me where I got the name from! According to the album…
Read moreNov 16 2020
BV's Blog - November 16, 2020: Who's Bob Calls?
Who's Bob Calls?
Why, he's the imaginary rock star I told you about last blog. I made him up when I was about nine years old.
I had a thought the other day - I get them now and again…
Read moreOct 31 2020
BV's Blog - October 31, 2020: Made Up Superstars and Imaginary Alter-egos!
Bob Calls and the Beat Boys. Anybody ever heard of them? No? Probably only two people in the world have heard of them: my cousin Ken Volke and I.
Bob Calls was an imaginary rock star I made up. I…
Read moreOct 21 2020
Why Write?
Why write indeed? I've been writing songs for a little over fifty years. I started when I was in Grade Six with my first band. We were called the First Million Megaton Explosion, a title that I stole from a…
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BV's Blog - October 8, 2020: Songwriting Inspiration
I belong to a group here in Calgary called the Cornerstone Songwriters' Cooperative. I've been part of this group for a number of years and I cannot say enough about it.
During the last session one of my fellow songwriters…
Read moreSep 26 2020
BV's Blog - September 26, 2020
These days I've been hit with the double whammy of COVID isolation and recuperating from heart surgery (see my previous blog post). It has left me with time to indulge my love of Star Trek (Sci-Fi Channel: Classic Trek) and…
Read moreAug 12 2020
Brand new never before written blog, August 12, 2020.
As I write this I'm listening to Richard Thompson's 2007 album "Sweet Warrior" and a song called "Dad's Gonna Kill Me". Of course "Dad" refers to the city of Bagdad and the song is written from the point of view…
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