For you songwriters out there, here is a little lesson I learned in Nashville. Write for the waste paper basket. I’ve been working on some new songs and as I work through ideas, new themes and bits arise. They don’t fit the song but some I like. In a songwriting class I remember the teacher suggesting to follow through with those bits and phrases and try to complete them as if you were going to throw them away afterwords. He gave some amazing examples of hit songs that people had written because they followed through with an idea and actually completed it instead of putting the piece on the shelf.

My latest CD, “First Set” is a compilation of songs from my previous 3 CD’s and is almost SOLD OUT. I will have have to order another shipment soon which is a good thing. The cool thing is I am going to add a different BONUS track to the next pressing.

“First Set” included my previously un-released song “Work To Live” which features Jerry Doucette (Mama Let ‘Em Play) playing some amazing, blistering blues guitar. The track doesn’t really fit with mood of “First Set” so I am re-mixing an unreleased track from the “Livin On Dreams” sessions produced by Randy Bachman. I hope to have the bext pressing done for the upcoming summer tours.

The Canadian Cancer Society held their annual fund raiser this past weekend and because I was booked in Calgary I was not able to perform this year. In past years I have opened the event with a selction of songs including “Ride Of Your Life” a song specifically written for the “Cops For Cancer, Tour For a Friend” event.

I had the privilege of introducing Colin James as the feature entertainment this year. Colin and his band rocked the place with familiar hits plus, some dance tunes from his Little Big Band 3 CD.

Imagine, me playing a concert for hundreds of women. Well, that’s exactly what I did this past weekend. It was held in the Telus Convention Center in Calgary and it was a wonderful experience. The IMAGINE Conference was designed to refresh and revitalize women - body, soul and spirit. There were 11 seminars presented by amazing speakers on everything from health and relationships to stress management, financial investing, and fashion.

I met some wonderful ladies and sat in on some of the sessions. Laura-Lynn Tyler was the MC and she had me laughing so hard because being the only guy in the room, I was the brunt of her jokes. She is so talented and funny that I hope I can do another gig with her again.

A big thank you to Karen Taylor and Judy Rushfeldt for inviting me to perform at such a great event. The best part of the day was helping to get 30 or more kids sponsored for Compassion Canada. I feel so motivated knowing that helping in a small way can change the lives of kids living in extreme poverty.

Allie’s team just won the Coastal Cup for the second year in a row. That’s in girls soccer. I was not expecting that I would ever become a soccer Dad. No as a matter of fact I am surprised that I would have a child interested in sports at all, let alone become an elite athlete. Check out alliewiebe.com and you can see for yourself.

If you have been wondering where I have been - I’ve been on the soccer field - in a state of discovery. More to come  . . .

The band is sitting in the airport waiting to leave for Palm Springs. We had a little setback getting our credentials but we will be flying out in 2 hours. The gig is a corporate for A&W and that is about all I know. We are staying at the Westin Mission Hills Resort which should be very nice. I wonder if we’ll get complimentary teenburgers on arrival

I was checking my website stats and noticed I was getting alot of traffic (hits). When we are on tour that is normal because after a show many people Google our names. I am not on tour right now and the hits were quite high. After further investigation it turns out people are hitting my photo page that displays the pictures of me with Pamela Anderson. That explains why I have lots of hits and few CD sales. If you haven’t seen the backstage pictures you simply must join my backstage club and have a look!

My friend TJ lives in Atlanta and I got a call from him yesterday. He wanted to get an MP3 of my song “Ride Of Your Life” to play for Margaret. Margaret is a swim coach and was just diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctor’s originally thought it was Stage 2 but they just announced it is actually Stage 4. Anyone who reads this please keep Margaret and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sylvie Fortin, a breast cancer survivor has a website dedicated to helping people like Margaret. It’s called BreatCancerVictory.com. Her husband, Michel Fortin wrote a great blog post you might want to read about my visit with him in Ottawa when I played Winterlude with Randy Bachman. He shared a bit of what it’s like to support his wife during the critical times.

I don’t know Margaret personally, but in my few years as Honourary Entertainment Chair of the Canadian Cancer Society, I have met far too many Margaret’s. The good news is that there are survivors like Sylvie Fortin providing inspiration, and prayer chains behind the scenes. It’s long ride, the ride of your life.