Upcoming shows I will be playing:

July 4 - The Chip Gall Band - Grand Bend Desiree Benefit [Special guest drummer Chris Spiers from Brother My Enemy]
July 11 - Solo Acoustic - Private Party

August 7 - Solo Acoustic - Academy of Music Woodstock - Sidewalk Days 5pm - 6pm
Sept 26 - SYRE Cambridge - Benefit
Oct 9th - SYRE Brantford Benefit
Oct 17th - The Chip Gall Band - Private Party @ The Moose Woodstock

Full Band Rehearsal....

We had out first full band rehearsal last night for the July 4th benefit show in Grand Bend July 4th.

I was very happy with how well it went considering I am breaking in a new guitar player [Chris Armstrong] and using a fill in drummer [Chris Spiers - Brother My Enemy].

It was cool to see Chris Spiers play music that was some what out of his element as BME's music is quite a bit heavier than my tunes. Chris did a GREAT job and add his own
chops to some of the songs which was refreshing.

It's always nice to play with guys that have a professional attitude and can come in an do a gig with only a week or so notice.

Chris Armstrong is also adding his unique chops to my songs. His Van Halen style guitar playing fit right in to my style of music so it is no surprised that Chris found his pocket very quickly within my band.

Being a bit of a worry wart myself it was big relief to finally get together with all of the guys and hammer out the tunes...my mind is at ease now about playing the show on the 4th.

Actually I am really looking forward to it....this version of the live band is really gonna smoke!

Chip jams with HELIX!!!!!!

Over the weekend I had a opportunity to jam with two musicians I have the utmost respect for....Brian Vollmer and Brent Doerner of Canadian rock icons HELIX.

I have known both Brian and Brent since the early days of SYRE and had the privilege of opening for HELIX at the Sault St. Marie Gardens several years ago.

This weekend we met up again at a close friends' private birthday party where I was performing acoustically as an opening act for The Ugly Step Sisters [Rick Mead - SYRE, Chris Caron - SYRE, Rob MacEachern - HELIX / THE CHIP GALL BAND]. I brought along my "electric" gear as I knew the night would consist of some preplanned and off the cuff jams.

The night started out as planned with me churning out acoustic versions of song from Me, Myself & You! [as well as some covers tunes].

Brian [unexpectedly but most appreciated] joined me for an impromptu jam of Alice Coopers "18" and "Be My Lover" as well,as CCR's' "Traveling Band". Brian was his charismatic self and belted out the tunes with the vocal power we have come to know him for.

After my set The Ugly Step Sister's were to take the stage....but not before a wicked jam of HELIX's "Dirty Dog". On bass guitar was my old friend Chris Caron - SYRE and on drums was HELIX / THE CHIP GALL BAND's drummer Rob MacEachern. Brent jammed on Rock Meed's rig, Brian grabbed the mic and off we went.

This was particularly a thrill for me as I have never played this song with Brent & Brian together before. We rocked it out as hard and heavy as humanly possible....it was awesome! That guitar riff is the coolest ever written.....I was in awe playing one of my fav tunes with two of my rock idols.

The crowd went wild snapping pics and rocking out to one of Helix's top rock anthems and I was proud to be part of it [and I manage not to screw it up too badly either!!!].

Michael Jackson - R. I .P.

With the sudden death of Michael Jackson... so died the era of "entertainers" in the music industry.

Like him or hate him Michael Jackson was the consummate performer and entertainer. He represented what music and the music industry is all about....entertainment. MJ was the entire package...great songs, vocals, stunning live performances and yes personal controversy.
He became bigger than the industry itself and more than likely new he could never live up to that monarchy. The stress of his career, legal battles and financial challenges had obviously taken it's toll on him both mentally and physically.

Michael was more than a product of the music business....he was the music business. The world will never see another talent such as Mr. Jackson and despite all of the controversy surrounding his life...his music touched each and every one of ours in some way.
R.I.P MJ
CG

What I wouldn't do to find a full time job doing something I love [preferably related to music].

Not that don't appreciate the current full time job I have had for the last 15 years...it has been very good source of income for my family. However, it is a "pay the bills" kind of job...get up go to work...do what ya gotta do and go home... and hate every minute of it! I regret that I didn't have enough foresight [at a younger age] to pursue music on a full time basis. Yeh I toured Canada and US for about 15 years full with SYRE but when that slowed down and eventually stopped...for all intensive purposes I left the music biz. Instead of sitting back and making a plan for my next music biz move, I did what most people do when suddenly finding themselves out of work....panic and take whatever job comes their way. This is what I did and haven't changed jobs for the last 15 years. I have climbed the company ladder over the years but it has never been enough for me. Music is the only profession I truly love.

What I have come to realize recently is there is more personal satisfaction in doing something you are passionate about rather than something out of convenience. Maybe it's my age [47] but now I look back and wish I had done things differently and really pursue what I love....music, both from a performance standpoint and a business standpoint. It the only thing I really know how to do. [lol] I have had a passion for music since a very young age....it is in my blood. Why on earth I didn't re-organize myself [until now] after SYRE and start a solo career is a mystery to me. Even on the business end I could have managed artists after accumulating a wealth of experience from years of road work and surviving every possible situation an artist can be confronted with. Maybe I didn't want to be part of the music biz leaches we experienced....always "painting the garbage can gold" and doing what was good for them and not for the band....would I have turned out like them???

I now realize life is not about 9 - 5 punching a clock and doing something you hate for 8 - 10 hours a day. It's about pursuing your dreams and making them a reality. As corny as that sounds it is very, very true....Would you rather make $50,000.00 8 hours a day doing something you hate day in and day out or $30,000.0 14 hours a day doing something you love....I should have opted for the latter....but I didn't.

Today, I find myself playing catch up with my music career. Not many musicians are starting their solo career so late in life however what I have found is that I have garnered a lot of respect over the years from musicians and music biz people. This surprised me to some degree...lol...maybe they are just humoring me, but their interest in what I am doing seems genuine. I still have that burning in my gut about writing and recording music...more than that ever. But I look at it differently than I did in the SYRE years. Those days were all about the party. We were young, naive and more worried about partying than really writing great music. the down side to this new found passion for music is that I hate my day gig even more...feeling like I am wasting 8 hours a day that I could be spending writing and recording new music or working on various music based business opportunities. This eats at me every minute of the day.

The reality is... I am way too old for major labels [but it's hip to be indie anyway...] and too stubborn to quit performing, recording and writing music. My personal goal was to still be performing live shows and recording new music at the age of 50...I am approx. 2 years and 5 months away from reaching that goal. The lesson for you younger artists out there is to persue your dreams to the fullest....do not quit and settle for a mundane day job you despise. Create your own business....network...do everything you can to reach your potential at something you are passionate about. Don't spend you life making someone else rich...spend it making you happy.

"Bratt" - Me on the far left... [sometime around 1984.

Hey thought some of you local musicians [Southern Ontario] may find this link useful. Looks like a sweet place to rehearse. Cheers Chip

http://www.rehearsalfactory.com/

The Chip Gall Band - Desiree Benefit 1

Shows this weekend and beyond....

Beautiful summer day here in Woodstock Ontario Canada...

Can't give you too much detail about the show this Saturday June 27 except it is a b-day party at The Moose Hall in Woodstock Ontario. I am playing an acoustic set to open the show and The Ugly Step Sisters will be belting out all your fav cover tunes. The Step Sisters consist of Rick Mead from Syre, Chris Caron - Syre and my drummer Rob MacEachern - Helix & The Chip Gall Band. There will also be a "surprise" jam ...all I can say is don't miss it. Doors are at 8pm and the "mystery" guest of honor is arriving at 8:30pm.

On Saturday June 28th I will be performing an acoustic set at a BBQ for my day gig Vuteq Canada. They are holding an open house for friends and family members to come and see what we do all day. lol
Lots of stuff for the kiddies at this one so it should be a real fun day....p.s. I hear some of the bosses are getting dunked in the dunk tank so I am lining up for that one!! lol

Rehearsals for the upcoming July 4th show in Grand Bend Ontario are going well considering I am breaking in our new guitar player Chris Armstrong and working with a fill in drummer Chris Spiers from indie sensations Brother My Enemy. As much as I love playing guitar it will be nice not to have to try to play and sing through and entire show...lol Chris is doing a wicked job on the tunes and adding in his own Van Halen'esque fills....it is really adding some additional excitement to the live show. His guitar sound is killer!

I'm really looking forward to playing with Chris Spiers....I have witnessed his awesome power with BME and it will be the first time my tunes have been played live by a drummer other than Rob MacEachern [Rob double booked the gig by mistake...thus the need to a replacement drummer for the show]. Chris is learning the songs at a frantic pase and will only have two full band rehearsals beforte the show...hey that's what make rockin roll so exciting!

That's all for now peeps.

Chip

feeling better after a pep talk from Darren....

the more I struggle with the DIY concept of writing, recording and producing music.

As I get deeper into the recording of my new CD "BELIEVE"...the more I struggle with the DIY concept of writing, recording and producing music.

With my debut solo CD "ME, MYSELF & YOU!" I was very excited to be doing it all myself...recording , producing performing.....I did it all. This time around I am finding it harder to be happy with the results. Part of that is listening back to my first record and hearing all the things I felt were acceptable then, that I can't accept this time around. I guess that's all part of the learning curve particularly when you are doing it all yourself.

The other part of that discontent is listening to some of the new releases by major label artists....for example the new Chris Daughtry song "No Suprise". I listened to that song last night and then to my demos for my new CD and immediately got depressed. Now I know that is a multi-million dollar production and I am comparing it to my home DAW demos and it's not a real comparison. However, I also know when music fans are listening they really don't know the intricacies of the recording process [no disrespect to the fans...but most don't] nor do they care...they just know that Chip Gall's CD sounds shitty and Chris Daughtry's sounds great.

So how does someone like me compete with the Chris Daughtry's of the world. Well I am finally starting to realize in order to compete even close to that level you have to do some of the things the "big boys" do. So this time around my demos will be done in my home studio on a DAW, however the final product will be recorded at Big Room Studios in London Ontario. Big Room is also a home project studio but with much better gear than I use on my demos. Darren Morrison is the owner of the studio and is a solid engineer/producer in his own right. So that is how I am trying get the sound quality closer to the major players.

So the challenge now is to get the songs and performances up to a major label level. My first thought is what don't I like about my music. This is not a tuff call for me as I am very critical of my own work however I tend to settle on things just out of the need to "get it done". One part of that is becoming board with my own performances....solos start to sound the same....parts become to familiar and easy to write because they are all similar. To address some of this I am soliciting the services of a couple of my good friends who are incredible musicians and have played at the level I am trying to achieve. An old friend of mine [who will remain nameless for the moment] currently plays on many major label releases....the latest being Chris Daughtry's new CD [hey ya gotta go to the source]. I was chatting with him on Facebook about the Daughtry tune "No Suprise" and I told him I was working on my next CD. I mentioned it would be great to have someone like him play on my material....and his response was "shit man send me the rough mixes and let me know what you want". Needless to say I freaked...here is a guy getting paid big bucks to play on major label recordings, willing to lay parts down on my "Indie" tracks for nothin' else but the fun of it! The lesson I quickly learned was "just ask"...all anyone can say is no. I plan on putting this to the test with a few more of my musical friends and see what I can dig up.

My other internal fight is producing the CD myself. This [I have learned] is an impossible chore....you just cannot be objective when it comes to your own writing and performances. This time around Darren Morrison will Co-Produce the CD and I am considering soliciting the input of another friend who is a well know Canadian major label producer...again applying the "just ask" concept.

By giving up a little control and applying the "just ask" concept, I believe I can start to take my music and the CD to the next level...will I be in Chris Daughtry's league....certainly not! But it will be closer to giving me some sort of personal satisfaction that the CD will be better than the first and closer to what music fans expect for their hard earned cash.

Every day I get e-mails, blog posts, Facebook comments etc...about the latest and greatest places on the web to host and promote your music. Most of which do what they say they do...allow you to upload your music and create an artist page. That is all well and good...I have several of them myself and they look great when I google my name and it comes up with 530,000 results [most of which are not related to me whatsoever...lol]. I agree every artists should promote their music wherever and whenever they can....however the disturbing thing is the emphasis these days seems to be on how many artist pages you create on the web rather than getting out there and playing live shows.

For the most part many of these pages generate very little to zero digital sales unless you are with a major label [that's an entirely different blog post...lol]. That's just the way it is my friends. Myspace for example...has millions of indie artist all following the same "internet music guru" advice and setting up these pages all over the net. It easy to get lost in the crowd and have very little sales results let alone anyone actually hit on your artist page. The other pit falls of these types of sites is that many artist don't take the time to read the fine print and may inadvertently sign their digital right away!

I will guarantee you that you will sell more music playing live show regularly than you will by having artist pages all over the internet. By playing live you create a "captive" audience paying all of there attention to you for the time you are performing. Not surfing through millions of bands on the net....actually watching and more importantly listening to you! It may only be 100 people on a Friday night in Woodstock Ontario but I will bet the farm as an indie artist you will sell more music in that one night than in 6 months of digital download sales on the net if you market yourself correctly to those 100 people.

My point is...don't rely solely on those internet net distributors to sell your music. Get out there and play live...meet for fans [yes shake their hands in person]...win over new ones...make then feel like they are part of something special.

Hey my friends...just wanna update you on what's been going on with The Chip Gall Band and the recording of my new CD "BELIEVE"...the last few months have been hectic for a very unfortunate reason...

As most of you know on April 8th, 2009, 8 year old Victoria "Tori" Stafford from my home town of Woodstock was abducted and ultimately murdered on her way home from school. Since that day I have been involved in many of the vigils' and other activities to help bring Victoria home. My involvement started by my personal dedication of my song "COME HOME" [a very personal song for me] to Victoria's safe return. The organizers of the first candle light vigil heard the song and asked if I would perform it at the vigil which I was happy to do.

Performing at the vigil itself was the absolute highlight of my musical career. I have never been moved so much by an event and the heart felt love from the thousands of citizen's of Woodstock who attended the vigil in support of the families. Local radio station 104.7 Heart FM hosted the event and asked if they could play my song COME HOME on their station. I agreed as long as it was dedicated to Tori's safe return. The song became their most requested song over the weeks that it was played and in some way seemed to bring some comfort to the community. I also did an interview at the station talking about my musical career and the how the back ground of the song COME HOME...

To date Tori has never been found and 1st degree murder charges have been laid against two individuals from our own community. The families and the community is torn apart by the tragedy and I have been personally scared such a senseless loss on innocence. I continue to pledge my support to the families and the community in any way I can. The goal now is to bring Tori home to her family and ensure the two people responsible for this pay the appropriate price.

Needless to say I have not been able to get too much recording done over the last few months setting my release schedule back... However, I have been inspired by my brief involvement in Tori's life and I am dedicating my next CD "BELIEVE" to Tori's memory. Two songs on the CD "Final Last Good-bye" & "One More Lonely Day" will be dedicated individually to both Rodney Stafford and Tara McDonald [Tori's parents].

On to the "Live " band business....I have added Chris Armstrong [13 Aces] to The Chip Gall Band line up. Chris is great talent and will be taking over most of my "live" guitar chores, freeing me up to concentrate on singing and putting on a show for you wicked rock fans! I'm really excited to have Chris in the line up as he is a great guy and will help take the band to a higher performance level. I will still strap on the old "Wolfgang" for a couple of tunes and be playing some acoustic guitar as well...so I ain't hangin' up the axe just yet!

Other projects I am working on..I am also still planning on releasing an acoustic version of Me, Myself & You! entitled "Chip Gall - Stripped"...and hope to have that completed in the next few months. I also intend on starting a [better late than never...lol] Chip Gall - News Letter and also hope to have that up and running in the next few months.

Busy days ahead...thanks for your ongoing support and I look foreword to seeing you all soon!

CG

Hey peeps....check out my new "guestbook" here http://ping.fm/lHHG9 drop by and try it out!