Nest - Lawson Hancock

Cafe' Be At Studios first recorded Lawson Hancock in our modest facility in Tallahassee. The surroundings were crude, which worked well for a neophyte songwriter and singer as an introduction to the recording process. We laid several tracks with me on keys and Lawson on guitar. If I remember correctly the first song that we recorded together was Greg Lake's "Lucky Man." At that time Lawson owned an Ovation guitar, but was just learning to play. If I'm the best guitarist in the room something is terribly wrong.

We recorded a few of Lawson's original songs while the red wine flowed and we had a great time doing it. I had no expectations of him doing much other than entertaining himself and eventually giving up. I've seen it hundreds of times.

I taught Lawson the basics of multi-track recording, proper mic techniques, building tracks, and mixing and mastering the song. Unlike all of those before him that had given up so easily, Lawson actually listened to what I was saying, asked intelligent questions, did his homework, and practiced his fingers to the nub.

Fast forward 2 years and the Cafe' Be At Workshop is thumping down in Tampa. By this time we had two state-of-the-art Alesis ADAT 8-Track recorders, a Ghost mixing console, racks of effects, keyboards everywhere, and 1100 feet of space to get weird. Lawson was ready to record an entire album at Cafe' Be At. We booked time for him and the process began.

Over the course of a few days we developed a working pattern. We'd meet at the Fox & Hound for Guinness, Jameson, and chips with the most delicious Guinness gravy to set an agenda. What songs were we going to work on? What tracks needed to be laid? What worked or didn't work from the night before. Lawson soon embraced our surroundings as another classroom where he was learning the nuances of the creative process.

My son, Redmoon Blackwater, started out engineering the project but soon I witnessed him blossoming into a producer. They connected on several songs that I wouldn't have been able to produce. I stepped back and let my son take over. Lawson was fearful at first -- Redmoon was scary Indian -- and resistant to the change. One night I got too drunk to pee straight leaving Lawson with no other alternative than work with Redmoon. What came out of that night was spectacular. The two were simpatico, of one mind on the project, and Lawson shed his misgivings and pushed on to create an amazing first album that incorporated his lyrics beautifully with his improving guitar chops. And we helped Lawson bring out the truth of his own heart.

Fast forward again 12 years and 5 albums later. Lawson Hancock is a songwriter with a clear understanding of how to emote his message through music.

Lawson's latest album is titled Nest. As a friend of Lawson, I have my own spin on what the title means, but I don't want to spoil your interpretation.

Track 1 - Coast to Coast (just guessing at the song names. I have a pre-release pressing). A very '60's sounding vocal and chord progression infused with

Track 2 - Moody Blues feel with a new hip feel.

Track 3 - Great feeling, swampy rock song

Chopped Canada - The Proof Is In The Pudding (S1-E1)

I am addicted to the show "Chopped". I was lured by Ted Allen because of this appearances on "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy".

The premise for "Chopped" is that four chefs gather to compete with mystery boxes of ingredients to create an appetizer, entre', and dessert. Some of the combinations of required ingredients would put Emeril on his knees crying for his mother. Make a dessert out of chicken livers, canned spaghetti, Gummi worms, and Funyons.

Amazingly, they avoid all of the clichés in this eponymous edition. No one says, "Eh", like we expect. None of the contestants coat their dishes in maple syrup, eh.

They don't address the eternal question of, "If Canadian bacon is actually ham what do they call bacon?" Perhaps, that mystery will be solved in an upcoming episode.

The Canadian rendition of the show lacks a major element: Ted Allen. But, I may warm up to the New-Mountie-in-town.

Rachel vs Guy - Celebrity Cookoff (S3-E2)

Hawaiian Luau

I predict Chris Katan goes home. I'm ready for Vanilla Ice to leave the planet not just the show.

Tiffany is awesome. She is my odds-on favourite to win the whole thing. But she gets in a little trouble by trying to fry won tons one at a time in the deep fryer. Pretty boy Jake needs the fryer. "Too many cooks in the kitchen,:" he says.

Pretty boy Jake doesn't know how to mix a simple Mai Thai. However Katan is mixing the drinks for his team so Jake will get a pass.

50 bites by 8 chefs and a Mai Thai from each team.

Judy Gold had to make egg rolls require non-Kosher pork and shrimp.

Florence Henderson samples the drink for quality control. Her ribs look great.

Penn is always a hoot, "The chicken tastes like it was born in the sauce."

Pretty boy Jake is flirting with gals at the bar serving drinks. Women are melting at his smile. I hate him.

Overall, the dishes look great. I don't see any glaring train wrecks, but I still favour Katan for elimination.

Vanilla Ice never shuts up. His dessert looks great, but too sweet for the judges.

Herschel Walker is delivering his chicken dish that looks great. He used peanuts in his sauce, but what I heard him say was, "My penis may just save the day." Try to get that image out of your head.

Tiffany was missing salt from her Ahi Tuna tacos according to the judges, but the diners love her dish.

All served. It's judgement time. Florence is talking smack to Herschel Walker. I love it.

Mark Murphy is the guest judge.

Vanilla Ice had the favourite dish of Team Guy. Wow, they liked Chris Katan's drink. It must have tasted better than it looked. I'm not a fan of green slime.

Now for Team Rachel. Judy Gold had the favourite dish. Penn Gillette had the lowest rated dish. He defied Rachel's advice and it burnt him.

Team Rachelle wins. Momma Brady just won MVP.

I called it. Chris Katan is eliminated. He was too busy trying to be funny (not succeeding) to cook.

Looking forward to next week. Love this show.

Rachel Vs Guy - Celebrity Cook Off (S3-E1)

Any show that features Penn Gillette and Lou Diamond Phillips has my attention from the very first promo. Add in Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady, Brady Bunch), Chris Katan (Saturday Night Live), Tiffany (singer), Herschel Walker (footballer), Judy Gold (Comedian), and Vanilla Ice (rapper?) and you've got the ingredients for an interesting show.

Episode 1 takes place in a Round Table forum. The chefs are tasked with creating a medieval feast. Out of the box the weak players are obviously Judy Gold and Chris Kagan, neither has a clue.

Penn Gillette eats fire as part of his team's presentation. Amazing.

This is going to be a fun show.

The World Entertains Me

I have been involved in the entertainment industry my entire life. My career as professional entertainer began at age 12 as organist in a local New Orleans band that performed regularly at area VFW, American Legion, and strip clubs.

The year 2015 marks my Silver Anniversary in Show Biz giving me 50 years of stories, tales, and experiences to share and an admittedly warped perspective of the world.

The world does entertain me. Travelling city to city, bar after bar, motel to motel, and a million tedious driving hours leads to boredom and hidden psychotic desires to kill the rest of the touring company. To combat the boredom I looked everywhere else for entertainment. And I found the world to be a very entertaining place, whether intentional or not.

That is the purpose of this column: to share what I find entertaining and why.

Thank you for entering my dimension.

And, it's a-one and a-two and a-three and...