Lament

I have seen many atrocities involving the innocent in Israel and Palestine which have left me sickened and somewhat bereft of words to describe my feelings. One night I saw images of children burning in tents after being bombed. I felt powerless to do anything to change what I saw. As a musician, I knew that I could ‘play a prayer’ for the innocent.  I sat at the pedal steel guitar and just played my feelings out into my recorder.  The instrument lends itself to expressing mourning and sadness and what came out was a lament, an expression of identification, solidarity, sadness, and repentance. I added the other instruments afterward.

I had seen my friend Isaiah Brown at some peace rallies in our town and knew he shared my heart for the situation. Being a talented photographer and filmmaker I asked him to collaborate on a video for the music. We shared our conceptual ideas and then asked some friends to join us in the video which was filmed at Metro Hub in Kelowna, BC.

What has transpired is a beautiful haunting piece that we offer as a lament, a prayer of solidarity and peace for all who dwell in the land.


 

Graham Ord Blues Revue

A New Blues Project

If you follow my music you will know that I draw from several influences and styles including ‘The Blues’. I think of the Blues as a foundational genre of much of the music we enjoy today and it is certainly a big influence on my own musical stylings.  I have decided to put together a specific band to focus on the Blues when I want to. I have called it The Graham Ord Blues Revue.  The idea behind the ‘Blues Revue’ is for me to be able to gather specific musicians for different projects and shows. A kind of a revolving band of great friends and fine musicians where we can focus on the Blues. It is an inspiring thing for me and something I am really enjoying working on.

We have a show coming up on Friday, February 9th in Kelowna. A doubleheader with the James Hay Blues Band. For this show, My Blues Revue will feature Curtis Tulman (Cruzero’s) on harmonica, Mark Fitz on Hammond organ, Norm Strauss (The Voice Germany)  on guitar and vocals, Dave Moore – bass and vocals, and Jordan Strauss on drums. If you are in the area please come along. tickets at Metrohub.ca

I sure hope we get to play for you soon.

Thanks for your interest in my music.

Life giving music

I must say that it is so good to get back to some semblance of creative normalcy after the few years of being shut in and hardly any gigs.

Recently I gathered some good musical friends and put together a show showcasing some new songs and some past ones that I haven’t played for a while.  What a special evening it turned out to be too. A full house of enthusiastic supportive people absolutely loving what we were putting out.  It was life-giving to play like that again. It is always great to perform no matter what but to play mostly original tunes was so great as a songwriter.  I am looking to get out and play more in the coming months so please reach out if you think I would be a fit at your event.

Performing ‘Between A Boy & A Man’ in Kelowna BC

Thanks for checking out the website and for continuing to support what I do musically.  Love and good health to you all.

Performing ‘The Light of Day’ in Kelowna BC

Talkin’ ‘Bout Love – OUT NOW!

We are so pleased to announce that our brand new Blues recording TALKIN’ ‘Bout Love is now released and is available for purchase.

The pandemic hit and we both realised that we had to stay creative if we were to keep from going stir crazy, so we decided to write and record a few Blues songs together. One big hurdle was that my Dad and I were not only isolated by a pandemic, but also the Atlantic ocean!  We began sending ‘musical sketches’ back and forth by text and email, working on them till we came up with a song.  We then used the same process to record them, each adding layers over the internet till we came up with a finished recording. Over the course of a year, we wrote and recorded 14 songs together. It became even more of a family affair when some of my kids contributed their talents to the record and also my brother Gary.

I Found Love – The opening track of the album.

Juno award winner Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne played some boogie-woogie piano on a tune for us, and the multi-talented Brett ‘Grit’ Ziegler also played piano and organ on others which added so much colour.  Indigenous award-winning artist Cheryl Bear brought her soul to one of the songs and our dear friend Shamma Sabir played some tasty fiddle on a few. We were blessed to have Master sound engineer Rick Colhoun mix it for us in Vancouver, and multi-award-winning Jamie Sitar from Winnipeg mastered it.

The whole story would take us a long time to tell, but for now, we will let the music speak for its self. It has been a long road with many challenges but we are so proud to now be able to release our Blues record aptly titled “TALKIN’ ‘BOUT LOVE”. To purchase your copy CLICK HERE.