"If you build it, he will come..." is the famous catch phrase from Field of Dreams.
For many members of my band, this is precisely what took place when we started the final song of our 10 song set at Supermarket Restaurant and bar in Kensington market, Toronto - on an otherwise quiet Tuesday night in the city - August 12th 2014.
That was the night that 150 people came to see us release the record "Come to Life" that me and my friends spent the better part of 7 years building. That was the night that Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer Alex Lifeson came up onstage with his legendary "Hentor Sportscaster" guitar - the same one he used to play the solo on "Limelight" and so many other great Rush songs from the 80's and he gave us everything he's got.
The band of course, is no slouch - from rock guitar monsters Pete Devlin and Steve Costello to Zappa Plays Zappa's drummer Ryan Brown, or harmonica guru Marty Stelnick and bass master D'Arcy Maguire - Mr. Lifeson had a great platform to build on. This video shows just how it went down.
Alex aka Big Al aka Lerxst traded off licks with Pete and Steve and Marty in the most natural and generous way. Considering the band had ever rehearsed the song together only one time, it was an incredible give and take.
We were also very blessed to have the set mixed at the space by Josh Miles Joudrie and recorded to 16 track Pro Tools by Admiral Quality (maker of the finest music software products) also shot to video by MuchMusic videographer Hernan Morris - wow. What a team.
Keram and Josh then took the tracks and video back to the same studio in Los Angeles where the record "Come to Life" was mixed and put the pieces together, including extra video footage sent in by members of Keram's street team including Shylah Vollans, Hayley Pickford and Ronda Benjamin.
Oh and let's not forget the terrific photographs taken by Paul Reid and Christian Bobak.
We hope you enjoy this document of the night. It was one of those moments that a young musician dreams about and an older one will carry forward for the rest of her life.
Here is The Devil Knows Me Well:
Where you can get limited edition physical copies of CD with 16 pages of liner notes and full color art!