December 17th -

I'm on top of a mountain. sunpeaks, outside of kamloops in particular. playing here at a big ski bar called Masa's tomorrow. first however a day on the slopes and then an Apres-Ski set of music. last night we played in nelson at the Royal. a real nice bar, not to crowded but full of good folks. Channel Burgener was there for the show and she was a real trooper sticking around all night and then making sure Bruce and I hooked up. I stayed over at thier place along with Casey Ryder. dave and garth and casey and i are all floating around this condo where we are staying tonight, listening to Rebuilding the Wall. bob, the fellow putting on tomorrows show is taking good care of us. my feet kind of stink, but that's no real surprise. i drove the van today from nelson. the first big drive Dave drove to nelson from vancouver. we are in this GMC Safari we rented. it sort of sucks. no heat in the back row, no working cigarette lighter, no leg room. but the roads have been real good. it
didn't snow at all today. i don't know if that's good news for the snoboarding tomorrow. it been about 3 seasons since the last time i went riding and i'm pretty excited. lots of exciting things are going on by the way. more on that soon.now its hot tub time.

matt

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December 14th, 2005:

Sitting in victoria at the Last Resort, home to Western Canada's reigning queen supreme Carolyn Mark and canada's second best roofer, Tolan McNeil. sitting next to me is my new tour mate, Dave Lang. we are internet surfing while we wait for tourmate # 3 Garth Johnson to return from buying winter boots. then it's off to the ferry for us, vancouver awaits. but not actually for a show. no. we are headed there to spend the night with Paul Rigby before we drive off into the mountains bound for Nelson. Last night we three along with tour mate #4 Casey Ryder, played a odd but charming gig at a bar here in Vic City called "steamers." there was dancing, there were bobbies and there was an advertisment proclaiming a "night of smooth jazz." but really there were only a dozen or so people there. a strange beginning, but an enjoyable one. on the flightout ifound myself sitting next to Calgary Flames Alumni Mike Vernon. we chatted about real estate development and country music and the similaritites of touring for hockey and music. two rather exciting tidbits of news, one, my brother david has announced that he is getting MARRIED! in january to his long time girlfriend Mayumi. and on the same day the CBC TV called me to ask is i would be interested in appearing on the National to talk about the election on behalf of Albertans. very exciting all around. mostly, a big congratulations to Dave and Mayumi.

ok more tour news to come....

xo
matt

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September 2, 2005:

hello friends.
well hard to believe though it may be, i don't have a gig today. or tomorrow. infact, i don't have a gig until the 17th of september. what a relief. yesterday
i finished up the tour with gigs number 98, 99 and #100. i was very excited to finish. today i'm just tired. i had a great time on CKUA doing a full 45 minute broadcast with out interuption. i got to perform my centennial alberta music revue, with silly matt masters banter and all. in the afternoon i did a show at fort calgary, and then did the show number 100 at the Brilliant city festival on 8th ave and centre street. my audience was a bit small for number 100, i mean, in relative terms, there were hundreds of people around, clapping two-stepping, the whole thing. it turns out that the prime minister was two blocks away giving a speech, so i lost a bit of my audience to him. but i figure it won;t be the first time i go head to head with the PM. i'll be ready for the next round.

i want to pass on a big thanks to all of you who helped with my tour. from the organizers to the audience, everyone of you helped make my tour a success. i'll be continuing my updates now that the tour is over, but they might be a little shower inbetween.

folks i need you to keep sending me your songs of alberta. the next project is to build this centennial songbook. 100 songs by 100 albertans. so start sending
them in.

matt@mattmasters.com

also, pick up the globe and mail on saturday the 3rd.

take care,

matt

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August 31, 2005:

okay, here goes. last night before september 1st. i'll be asleep soon, and in no time summer will have ended. i'm going to go to nova scotia after spending the
weekend in toronto. i have a sweat lodge waiting for me near the bay of fundy, and a recording to make in the big smoke.

tomorrow i'll play gigs number 98, 99 and 100. finishing off my centennial tour right on schedule. the last gigs are a CKUA on air performance, (5pm MST-
www.ckua.org) a show at Fort Calgary (12pm - 2:30) and a show at the CJSW Brilliant CIty Stage. (8th and Centre st. - 3pm) i don't really know what to expect
from these lst two shows, afternoon weekday live shows, hmm. i bet they will both have pretty good attendance and i even heard that the PM will be around
town. maybe i'll get to eat a pancake with him, for Alberta. Today i played in Sundre, gig 97 at the seniors lodge there. i had a real nice time, actually i was getting a little emotional, it being my last show outside calgary on this tour.

i heard a few new songs too, and was told some interestiing stories of John Ware in particular. show 96, that was monday, and it was a monster of a good time. i was at the broken city with two other bands. first at 9:30 was Justin Rutledge, toronto based pal of mine who was out here for a weekend in edmonton and
calgary. he was great. he did a solo show, and had me sing and play guitar on "jellybean." he did matt masters impressions that had the crowd laughing pretty
good too. Local Calgary superman Chad Saunders was MCing the evening and he introduced me and the gentlemen of the rodeo and we ripped into an hour and
fortyfive miunute super set. that had the full house dancing pretty good. we kept it going with a few small breaks, where twice i played solo songs, Oh! Saskatchewan and Summer Wages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

after we were done, Peterborough Rock band The Spades took over the stage and really turned the place upsidedown. they were great, a huge sounding three-piece with great dance grooves and a great presence. between the three bands, it was probably the best show i've even been involved with. very fun. also, my set and justin's sets were live radio broadcast on CJSW. so some untold number of thousands were jamming along at home. for show 95 i had a beautiful interview/performance with daivd ward on CKUA. one of the most fun interviews i've yet done. he just led me along so well, i was relaxed, and felt real good about it. i think i played 6 songs too. 94,
was sunday in wetaskiwin, for a very musical seniors audience. adter that show was over i had been given the sheet music to three new songs and twice heard a
rendition of another. and i've been set ont he trail of a fellow named dickie dameron. a country singer from the area who i'm told i should know about. so be
it. 93 was in high river, last saturday night. now this was at dudley's pub. a place any travelling singer should know. the audience was great, really a room of music lovers. diverse too, except in one facet, every girl, every single girl there that night was a looker. i don't know what's in the high river water, but i'll be headed back to high river as soon as possible. 92 - well 92 will go down in history as
maybe the most authentic good time of the summer. a barn dance at the LJ ranch. just outside cochrane, on the top floor of the barn, we had a two stepping
party. dust was rising up so thick i thought something was burning. 91 was an instudio performance on CJSW, the final Matt Masters Round Up. i have to tell you, that summer call in show has been so much fun for me, here's a quick recap of where i called in from,

aug 26 - in studio
aug 19 - parking lot off HWY 401 near London, ON
aug 12 - calgary
aug 5 - innisfail
jul 29 - vancouver
jul 22- round hill
jul 15 - farm house inbetween nanton and vulcan
jul 8 - live from the stage at the bucket of blood
jul 1 - canada day, i forgot to call.
jun 24 - calgary
jun 17 - pincher creek
jun 10 - calgary airport
jun 3 - camrose
may 27 and may 20 - calgary

see wasn't that fun.

okay i'm fading here, so, to finish a quick recap of some the weeks best headlines.

"there was something quintessentially Albertan about Matt Master's performance at the LJ Ranch." -- the calgary herald

"he's spreading Alberta's forgotten musical heritage back to its people." -- calgary herald

"Matt Masters is what Calgary claims to be; an urban entity with an old country soul." -- Swerve Magazine

"Masters of Alberta - a genuine country troubadour." -- the cochrane eagle

"who loves alberta? we all do. but do any of us really ever do anything to prove it? just one of us - Matt Masters." -- FFWD

holy. that's a lot of press for one week. so to close off for tonight, hmm. how to end such a long entry? i swear i've been writing this for near two hours. i
guess a simple good night wish. i'm going to say a prayer for new orleans and go off to sleep.

goodnight.
matt

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August 27, 2005:

dear everyone. tonight i'm heded to high river for show number 93. amazingly, i seem to be right on target to finish up on the 1st. i'm playing in a bar that was
recommended to me by Petunia. last night i had the gentlemen of the rodeo with me at a barn dance at the LJ Ranch outside of cochrane. it was fantastic. a real
dust raiser. its media circus week here, yesterday at the ranch, i had to do two interviews with two different newspapers before i could tune my guitar. i sort of felt famous. which was nice. for the first time i'm starting to see past septemebr 1st, which for about 8 months has been my goal. i mean , just getting there has been my goal. now that it looks like i'll make it as planned, i've begun to think about the fall a little more seriously.

my two big goals for the fall include, make a record, and take a vacation. not neccessariuly in that order.

okay i have to run. high river isn't too far, but i have just stepped out of the shower and need to get out there.

see you soon friends.
matt

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August 23, 2005:

dear everyone.
i had a great night in toronto tonight. this bar, the Local, was full of friends and good folks. the music was great, Mark Roy, james Thomson, Chris quinn, Tony allen, hot stuff i tell you. i just finished at the Fred Eaglesmith charity picnic in Aylmer Ontario. it was great. there were some real sweet shows. Gurf Morlix, Audrey Auld Mazera, Carolyn Mark, and fred of course. yes the music was good. i was kind of hurting, cause of mosquitos. but still i stayed up jamming, mostly with texans. now i'm back in toronto and in the morning i'll be alberta boud, Fort Macmurray that is. i'm playing at the Book,Town Casino on wednesday night. tuesday is a travel day. toronto-calgary, calgary edmonton, edmonton-fort macmurray. quite a long haul.

Matt Master backing up Carolyn Mark at Fred Eaglesmith's Southern Picnic 2005 (with Washboard Hank and Dan Walsh)

but, speaking of long hauls, this one is actually coming to a close. my gig in edmonton on the 17th, the sidetrack cafe, was gig number 88. so, twelve left. this friday will be a real good one, at the LJ ranch near cochrane. a barn dance. then high river, saturday and wetaskiwin on sunday. monday wil be a real big day. first i have a CKUA radio Interview and then, i'll be playing at the Broken CIty for the tour wrap party (#96.) that gig comes hightly recommended. it will be broadcast live on CJSW Radio from 10pm - 12am and will feature some friends too. namely, justin Rutledge and hopefully this other band, the spades. i split the bill with them on wednesday in edmonton and they rulled. so, i want to bring them in on the gig monday. i hope you (the reader) can come to broken city on monday. it will be pretty fun i think. so, that will be my next week. probably it wil feature five airplane rides. (quite exciting.) also, it will feature a few good hours of driving. (exciting.) well friends , it is getting quite late in the morning. i must retire now. see you at the airport.

matt

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August 17th, 2005:

hello world. i am sitting in a basement at the home of my friend Gord Lynch. guitar player extraordinnaire Greg Cockerill is here with me, we are playing at the sidetrack cafe in edmonton tonight. can you believe it, this will be my 88# show in alberta this year. i
am really closing in on the big #100.
the big question for me hangs on the fate of the CBC. last week, while in vulcan, i was called up and booked to play a gig from the parliament buildings in
edmonton, Sept 1st. a show that would be broadcast nationally and for which i would be paid, and set up in a hotel room. but of course the CBC is on strike,
so all bets are off. in the meantime, i did an interview with Lionel Rault today on CKUA. that was pretty smooth. i think i will be talking to him again about the book project.
tomorrow i fly to southern ontario and travel onward to the fredeaglesmith charity picnic. i'll be there for the weekend, spend monday in toronto, play that
night and then fly to fort macmurray on tuesday.

so a busy weekend ahead, but amazingly, down to the final push. i am truly looking forward to a few days off and a bit of rest.

more to come,
matt

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August 12th, 2005:

i'm beat. yesterday i played music from 10 am until 2 am all over the lethbridge area. by the end of the night i was sleeping comfy at the house of my pals
austin and katherine with 79 snows under my belt. lethbridge it turns out is a small town. everyone knows everyone. but in a good way. number 79 was a
the tongue n groove, lethbridge's number one live music venue. check it out at www.tonguengroove.ca and ask for corrie. i was there playing with my band, the
gentlemen of the rodeo and we played well into the night. we were joined for a few songs by coalhurst area cowboy-musician Noel Burles. i met noel at the
pincer creek cowboy poetry gathering and we hit it off great. he's working on organizing the Buffalo Skull Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Coalhurst sept 30 - Oct 2
this year. i'll be there, will you? yesterday afternoon i sat in for a show at CKXU university of lethbridge radio. Station manager Mitz Set me up with
DJ supremo, Heather and we had a real good 30 minute talk. earlier in the day i did another interview with Radio 1140 AM out of High River. and before that i
played two other shows, one at the Lethbridge hospital seniors centre and another in Coaldale, (not Coalhurst,) at their hospital. busy day. and thrown
in the mix at 12:30 yesterday i was featured on GLOBAL TV Lethbridge's Noon hour show. Lethbridge it turns out is the best place for vintage clothes shopping i've fond in Alberta yet. so many stores!!! the day before, i just sort of lazed around. but tuesday, i played a gig in Vulcan. sadly on Tuesday i also missed a gig. in Clarseholm. i did a bad job on organizing in my calender and ended up four hours late. i want to apoligize to the folks who were looking forward to the show. from what i understand there was a good crowd out. this is the first gig i've missed ths summer, and i feel terrible about leaving those folks high and dry. i'll make it up though. trust me. tonight i'm in calgary and relaxing. i did drop into CBC studios today to record a song for later broadcast. and in moments i'm going
to call CJSW for my weekly "matt masters round-up." this will be my 7th radio interview this week. can you freakin' believe that!

i can't.

stay tuned, 80 and 81 tomorrow in Black Diamond and Turner Valley. Then sunday off, monday is Olds and Red Deer. Tuesday, Warburg, wednesday, edmonton, leduc and thrsday i fly to ontario for the weekend. busy little
B that's me.

xo
matt

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August 8th, 2005:

hello Alberta.
things have been real busy at matt masters headquarters. currently i've played 73 gigs. and i should hit 80 by weeks end. i'm in vulcan today. tomorrow will be lethbridge and same for thursday. as the tour enters the final quarter i find myself a bit overwhelmed. i'm trying to juggle the strange outporuing of media attention i'm getting all of a sudden. tv spot tomorrow, radio thursday, i did three interviews yesterday and have another one on friday. not that i'm complainning, its just that i have to play 10 shows each week for the next three weeks so i'm busy.

i swear to you that as soon as i have a chance i will put a recap of all of the first 73 shows on the internet, i just have to find that bit of time.

in other good news, (actually greatest news of the summer category, )
the federal department of heritage has approved my request for funding for this tour. which is great news. also they have approved funding for my plan to create an anthology of albert asongs. 100 songs written by 100 albertans, and i get to oversee the whole thing. so sweet.

the other day my dad tol dme i was "on my way." i admit that's how i'm feeling.

more to come
xo
matt

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July 26, 2005:

hello internet!.
closing in on august and the tour is 2/3 over. sunday i played the castle pub in a show with Petunia and Ronnie Hayward it was gig number 65. earlier in the day i had been at the calgary folk festival where i sang back up vocals for Justin Rutledge for a song. later that night i ended up in a hotel room jam with
the swifty's, justin, and the wailin' jennys. i was quite impressed by those jennys. top notch musicians.

saturday night i played my friends wedding at heritage park. we played in the wainwright hotel, an old hotel with a nice big dinning room. my friends Pat Horner
and Leanna Baxter got hitched and that was swell. its good to see good people find each other. friday i was at the Round Hill Hotel. that was cool. round hill is
a small community near camrose and they were celebrating their 100th anniversary as a town as well as the province's centennial.

last week i took a few days off because i needed to rest after the stampede. it really burnt me out. this week i am headed out to BC for two shows. thursday
night i'll be at the Main on Main in vancouver and then saturday i'll be at the Duncan Cultural Expo in Duncan, which is on the island. the saturday show
should be fun, it's outside on a stage right next to city hall. then on monday i'll be in calgary at Fort Calgary for heritage day. that will be a fun day and i
encourage everyone to come on down for that show.

only one month left, and still 35 shows to go. wish me luck.
matt

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July 16th, 2005:

sometimes when you don't work a nine to fiver, you find yourself referring to any given three day period as a weekend. i just spent a great weekend with
carolyn mark and tolan macneil. two shows, a road trip, hula hooping, i swear i love those two.

i left them this afternoon in a farm house on ridge road 262, 27 odd kilometers east of nanton. at the farm house of one ali riley, where we had stayed the
night before. ali used to sing in the calgary band Sacred heart of Elvis, and now lives in the country writing books. this morning i had lovely tea and cakes
with her and carolyn. there isn't much better for you than waking up to a prairie morning and following it up with tea, cakes, (well a lemon loaf really,) and
the eventual awakenings of Tolan Macneil and Andy Sparacino. it was hard to leave. andy and i had to get back to calgary, and those three, well, i heard,
thrift stores, hamburgers, and onion rings all being floated around as options.

actually they were in nanton tonight playing the auditorium hotel. which, funny enough is where i was last night. i had a show with uncle thirsty his-self,
lance loree. and what a treat it was. tolan carolyn and andy all got invloved with the show and andy's song "big testies" might have been the highlight of
the night. the night before, i had played the ship and anchor's annual stampede bash, the Hank and Patsy night. myself, carolyn, toronto's NQ arbuckle, the
agriculture club, blood dungeon, the sadlier-brown family band and the kabuki guns were all on the bill and serious ho-down i tells ya. it is a night of all covers tunes. dirty country covers really. out big one, unexpectedly was a version of I'm on fire. by bruce springsteen. for some reason, the whole place was singing along. wednesday morning i played the Norfolk Community breakfast. this was a stampede breakfast off kensington road, 10A st NW. they had the whole street blocked off, in the true fashion of a good olod calgary block party, and things were right traditional. a fun crowd of families and older folks, it was pretty cool. actually it was blazing hot. i had a tent to stand under wich saved me from deadly sunburn. my friend Jen set that show up and i think i'll do it again next year. tuesday i played my dad's company stampede breakfast for the second year in a row, there must have been 400 people through there. the best part was my dad getting up to do a few songs with me and the band. just great. he hasn't ever played with a band really, so its really fun to get him up there. then monday, well geez, monday night i played with the A-Team at broken city. so good. so different. it's one thing to be a guitar playing country singer. it's a whole other thing to play electric guitar with the ateam. but i'd do it any day.
i realize that there are a number of shows in need of mention. the gap in my journal is really something i am going to have to address. i mean nanton last night
was gig number 58 of 100. my last entry from mid june was only arounf gig 37. so i need to fill you in on those twenty gigs. and i will. but not tonight. to
tonight i am off to bed because gig number 59 happens in 11 hours. at the ship and anchor once again tomorrow afternoon, i'm playing with the gentlemen of
the rodeo and we have another band playing, called the "tragically hick" old time bluegrass i'm told, so i'm looking forward to it. then in the evening i'm playing
again with the gentlemen, at the hi-fi club opening up for the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir's CD release party. now that should be a fun time. and gig numebr
60! oh, i'm starting to feel it, past the halfway mark, really that's quite exciting. sunday i'm at the whitehorn community association's stampede breakfast, which by the way - in case you aren't from Calgary and therefore unaware of the stampede breakfast, it is an outdoor party, where country music and pancakes are the order of the day. sausages, oj and champagne, oj and vodka, or oj and gin (and beer) and you start to get the picture. usually the band starts around 7:30 am, and goes until about 10:30am. then you stumble off towards some sort of lunch/breakfast and well it doesn't really stop until the monday, (the 18th of
july in this case.) and willie nelson is in town that night, so, i think he'll be a good hangover cure.

ok i'm done.
call me back.

love matt

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July 11th, 2005:

hello loyal readers. sorry i've been so absent this past month. at least you will be happy to hear that i am keeping busy. it's stampede week in calgary so i'm
locked in town until thursday with gigs gigs gigs. today i played a quiet matinee at the castle pub in calgary, mostly it was me and this old guy but he was
loving it. yesterday was the 10th annual and final rock central breakfast. this is/was a calgary institution a free one day rock music festival that
survived unlikely odds to become a recognized cultural event on the calgary scene. i am proud to say that i was there for the first one and now that we've laid her to rest, well, there is lots to say about rock central. it was my second home throughout my 20s. rest in peace old house. the memories you built will stand forever, even if your bricks come tumbling down.

friends, i need you to do me a favour, check out this website, www.cjsw.com this is college radio calgary and what's better than that? well the fact that they
have a big picture of me on their website. very important to visit. especially on every friday at 3:30pm (MST) when i do my love call in's from around the province. this week i'll be calling in from fort macleod and the south country fair.

also check out this link to read a nice new article
about me and my summer tour. http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2005/0630/mus4.htm

and while i'm putting weblinks check out this kind bit of wording the NXNE used to describe me in my recent trip to toronto.
http://www.nxne.com/html/masters_matt.html

alright lastly, here is a review of a recording i made about a year and a half ago.
http://www.brandxmedia.ca/album_reviews.htm but i'll warn you loyal reader, while the reviewer did think that "the musicianship was excellent,," that was
bout the only nice thing she had to say. be warned! but actually i don't really mind getting a bad review.

okay i'm going to sleep now. i promise to write again and sooner.
xo
matt

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Wednesday, June 15th, 2005:

I'm in red deer. Sitting on a nice leather couch in a garage. Yesterday I played three shows in drayton valley, the el dorado school, the aurora school and the shangrila seniors home. That part of the day was great, really good audiences, excited kids and a very helpful centennial ambassador who acted as my guide around town. The down side to the visit, was my alternator dying on about 30 kms south of red deer around midnight the night before. So I got towed into red deer, dropped my van off at the garage where I am currently sitting, and checked into a hotel. Woke up early Tuesday morning, got the ball rolling on fixing my van, and rented a car and sped off to Drayton valley. Got back to red deer in the evening and found that my van wasn;t ready, so I rented another hotel room and settled down for the evening. Now its Wednesday afternoon and my van should be ready in half an hour or something. So my little day in drayton valley, $500 van repair, $160 two nights hotel, $70 car rental, $75 towing fees on the plus side I made $300 in drayton valley. So that means this three show day in drayton valley cost me about $500. yikes. I guess breaking down is something that tour vans do. I'm just lucky that I am able to get her back on the road. Plus I'll have a new battery (mine was kaput) and a new alternator. And I think I even have a full tank of gas in there.

On the weekend I was in Toronto. I flew out Friday afternoon, after an amazing gig at the Monteray park school in Calgary (with 600 K-6 students who could really keep time well.) I arrived in the big smoke on what had to be the hottest day of the year, and there I was in full denim attire. I bumped into Dave Pontello while walking down the street Friday night, that was great as he played drums for me on my Saturday gig and I hadn't really had a chance to talk to him about it yet. Anyway, I met up with my friend Tricia and we went to catch the Dudes playing a set at the Black bull. It has to be the worst venue in town, mostly due to the huge patio and very small inside performance space. Regardless it was good to see the dudes and the assortment of Calgary and Alberta types who gravitated towards them.

Saturday I mostly ran around doing errands with Doug Bourassa, which included a great dinner with he and his sister Leanne. I headed to the Cadillac Lounge for 9pm to see Winnipeger (and matt masters webmaster) Romi Mayes. She had a great set, performing with Pineapple Frank on the dobro. Up next was Brennen Leigh. Brennen is a Texan singer who performs with her brother Seth. What a duo. She had a huge voice and Seth played tasty licks all over that guitar. In a strange coincidence, I had sat next to this country duo on the bus from the airport. As I boarded the bus, they looked at me and asked, "NXNE?" and I said yes and we quickly discovered that we were sharing a bill as well as a bus. Good folks. Eventually I got on stage with a great band, Frank on dobro, James on bass, Dave Pontello on drums, Mike Daily played some great guitar and Doug Dyson was twinkling the keys to round out the sound. My good buddy Terra Hazelton jumped in for two quick numbers to end the 40 minute set. It was a treat. We had then dancing and bopping along with lots of encouraging yelps and hoots from the audience.

Sunday I went to the cottage with Terra and hung out for the better part of the day. Very relaxing. I rented a mustang convertible to get up there, it just seemed like the right thing to do. Then Monday morning I got up early, drove to the airport, flew to Calgary, got my van out of the long term parking, and drove to Penhold, where I broke down.

So now I am planning to drive back to Calgary, and thinking about going to see the a-team play at the ship and anchor tonight. We'll see about that. With the extra two days in red deer, I might forgo that idea. I am supposed to me in Twin Butte by 4pm Thursday. So I might just lie low tonight.

I did find a great old guitar in pawn shop here in red deer, $275 for a good looking old Harmony. Arch topped, f-curved and with a working pick-up, heck it even comes with a case. If I didn't just spend all this money on hotels and vans, I would have bought it in a flash, but now, I'm reconsidering. I mean I did just buy a new guitar two weeks ago….
Hmm, undecided.

Just got a call from Fast Forward Magazine for an interview. That's good. Well I'm out. My van should be done by now.

Talk to you soon,
matt

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June 10th, 2005:

Riding high on a Westjet flight headed back to Toronto for a Saturday show at the Cadillac Lounge. Pretty busy day today. I started with a noon-time show at the Monterey Park Elementary school in Calgary. 600 students singing and clapping along to my show, it was pretty magical. Monterey Park is an arts based school with regular classes in drumming, singing and even guitar. As a result, when the kids started clapping along they could really keep time. I've had some pretty good rhythm sections backing me up before, but nothing like 600 pairs of enthusiastic little hands. As I said, pretty magical. Last night I was in Calgary for a band practice with Andy Sparacino, we have a show coming up on June 25th as part of my sisters's art show. I was also interviewed my Calgary based journalist and documentarian, Gabino Travassos. Gabino has been writing about Alberta music for a number of years now. He publishes MOTE magazine, a well written and very informed music magazine. Check it out online at -www.moregoatthangoose.com

Wednesday night I was in Edmonton playing at the Black Dog freehouse with Matt Allen. I took the first set and then Matt and his little buddies finished up the night.

I should make a mention that we are still looking for Alberta songs. We are making a song-book of Alberta songs, an archive of Alberta's song writing history, and we need your help. We need you to let us know about your favourite Albert song. Please send an email to albertacentennial@hotmail.com and tell us the name of your song.

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June 8th, 2005:

Riding high on a Westjet flight headed back to Torontofor a Saturday show at the Cadillac Lounge. Pretty busy day today. I started with a noon-time show at the
Monterey Park Elementary school in Calgary. 600 students singing and clapping along to my show, it was pretty magical. Monterey Park is an arts based school
with regular classes in drumming, singing and even guitar. As a result, when the kids started clapping along they could really keep time. I've had some
pretty good rhythm sections backing me up before, but nothing like 600 pairs of enthusiastic little hands. As I said, pretty magical. Last night I was in Calgary
for a band practice with Andy Sparacino, we have a show coming up on June 25th as part of my sisters's art show. I was also interviewed my Calgary based
journalist and documentarian, Gabino Travassos. Gabino has been writing about Alberta music for a number of years now. He publishes MOTE magazine, a well written and very informed music magazine. Check it out online
at -www.moregoatthangoose.com

Wednesday night I was in Edmonton playing at the Black Dog freehouse with Matt Allen. I took the first set and then Matt and his little buddies finished up the
night.

I should make a mention that we are still looking for Alberta songs. We are making a song-book of Alberta songs, an archive of Alberta's song writing history,
and we need your help. We need you to let us know about your favourite Alberta song. Please send an email to albertacentennial@hotmail.com and tell us
the name of your song.

STILL June 8th, 2005 (2 a.m., Edmonton).....:

wow long day today. but i'm getting ahead of myself. i have some serious recappping to do. let's see. on the 2nd i had a gig in nanton, but it fell through, so i was able to hang out with pals Mike dowse, and eric amber and dave lawrence, the montreal connection. they were all in town for the premier of Mike's new movie, "it's all gone pete tong" when it arrives in a city near you, go see it. support canadian film making. we partied all night in the palliser hotel. we felt like
a bunch of movie stars and rock stars. oh wait, wait a second, we are a bunch of movie stars and rock stars. right. friday i had the day off. i drove to camrose for a saturday gig. i checked into the lovely R'nR hotel and went striaght to bed. in the morning i was up early, playing at the 48th annual jaywalkers jamboree. the jaywalker's is Camrose's town fair. about 25,000 people a day is their estimate. but it was raining and there was a tornado warning so it wasn't super crowded. but the folks there were real good. real welcoming. after i was done my set (11am) i was invited to join local band "Prairie Cats" for a few songs on the mainstage and naturally, i accepted. that was a treat, the prairie cats were these three musicians form edmonton and camrose, all very professional in their playing and incredibly easy going guys. lots of fun.

on sunday i did a great radio show in edmonton with the Dusty Bear, Mike. check out his take on the interview by visiting, www.dustytrails.blogspot.com I hooked up with matt allen when i arrived in edmonton and he is a first rate host. likewise i've been hanging with my pals Gord and Carol Anne. oh yes, and thier daughter devon. in fact, just last night i got to babysit, while gord and carol anne went out on the town. we have discovered that i am a pretty good babysitter. this little one year old gal woke up a few times during my night of supervision, but a few verses of 'les miz' and 'irene goodnight' and she was asleep again.

today i was up early to play at northgate mall. this was a good show. i was a bit late, because my van broke down in the Long &McQuade parking lot. i bumped
into Kevin of the All Purpose Voltage Heroes in the parking lot. do you know about APVH yet? check them out great alberta keyboard rock. at my show i was
playing for a group of about 60 seniors for a centennial celebration. i met some real great folks, and there were a few prizes for the oldest folks. the winner was 107 years old! that means he was born in 1899!!! can you please re-read that. today i chatted with a fellow who was born in 1899!!!! 1899!!!!! i can barely believe it. he was wheeling around in his wheel chair dancing with the girls, really it was amazing. next to him, the 99 year old gal was looking like a
young pup. later on i did another beauty radio show with Matt Allen and Tim the fill in. we covered the classic canadian song "three barriers. " we really
nailed it. i played nose flute, a poor man's musical saw. then i came back to gord's house and we set out to fix my van. a few hours later, it works again.
thank god for gord. tomorrow i'm playing at the black dog with matt allen. around ten i guess. in the afternoon gord and devon and i wll go watch carol anne
compete in a race walk. if you;ve never seen a race walk. this is something you must check out. friday i'll be back in calgary for a show at the monterry park school. then off to toronto for a NXNE gig on saturday night.

stay tuned....

and send me your lsit of your favorite alberta songs.
at albertacentennial@hotmail.com

love matt

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May 30, 2005:

hello everyone. you know i think that the number of folks looking at this is growing every entry. i keep getting more songs submitted at my email address, albertacentennial@hotmail.com remember i need you to recommend songs from alberta. not just songs about alberta, but also songs written in alberta. so this weekend was pretty busy. well just saturday. in the afternoon i was in Taber to play at the town's Centennial Celebration. it was an interesting show. it seemed like mostof the town was there, the park was full of people. when i arrived there was a group of young dancers performing. then a three piece Punk band, young mennonite guys playing a modern pop-punk style, then myself, and i was followed by a elderly Japanese Canadian lady who sang "raindrops keep
fallin' on my head" and "unchained melody" kareokee style. like i said, it was an interesting gig. it was a beautiful day, and i was quickly back up in the drivers seat for the return to Calgary. I drove straight to the Hi-Fi Club where i sound checked with the new Gentlemen of the Rodeo. having a sweet sound check can really be the best feeling around. when we hit the stage at 10:30 pm, we were smoking! what a fun show. we really hit all the spots and stops. it was great. and it didn't stop there, the Swifty's and Old Reliable were up next. they had just arrived from Saskatoon and are on the tail end of their tour. i think they had a 30 city tour. that's road worthiness. this was my first old reliable show sans the d.rangers. it was different, strangely. my next show is thursday in Nanton. and then this weekend i'll be
up in Camrose for the Jaywalkers Jamboree, playing saturday at 10 am. then i'll be in edmonton from the 5th to the 8th. i have a radio spot on Sunday the 5th and at the Northgate Mall on the 7th. here is a quick note about a good gig in town this week, June 1st, at the Bamboo, the Summerlad and playing with Lorrie Matheson. it's a NXNE benefit show/bake sale at the bamboo. that will be a good one, so please drop in for a visit there. and while you are at it, visit thier sites www.lorriematheson.com www.thesummerlad.com
okay that does it for me today friends. please send me a song or an inspirational email.

rad.
matt

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May 26, 2005:

good afternoon Alberta! i just want to start by thanking all the people who have been emailing me at albertacentennial@hotmail.com to suggest Alberta Songs. remember i need your help in creating a big database of alberta songs. any song will do (i'm still waiting for someone to suggest something by War Party, Falconhawk and whitey houston.) i did just get an email from an albertan suggesting i hear a song her brother in law wrote. that's what i need. remember, it doesn't have to be a song where all the lyrics are directly about Alberta, all you have to do is suggest a song written by an Albertan, in Alberta OR about Alberta. the choice is yours. I've had a good week off the road. resting in Calgary. I played last saturday at the Broken City in Calgary. a rooftop patio show. that was pretty good. it was a smallish audience, but a very receptive one. you can tell the audience is listening when you hear them singing along. This weekend, i am off to Taber, Alberta (home of Corb Lund) for an afternoon Party in the Park. it should be delightful. then i hop right back on the old highway number 3, and drive the distance back to calgary where i am playing in the evening (10-ish) at the Hi-Fi Club, opening for Old Reliable and the Swifty's. i'm really looking forward to this one. i've been working wiith some musicians in Calgary setting up a band, and we jammed again last night. it was pretty smooth. i think i have a good thing going here. it is however quite different than the band i have been playing with in ontario for the last two years. this band is intersting as i am probably the most experienced player in the group. the opposite was true in toronto. i was by far the junior member. i'm finding the transition to be quite rewarding. i have a good idea, every week i pick up new business cards. i am going to start listing them, so you know who i'm talking to. check this out. i am working on getting a new CD out. i am enlisting the help of my friend, Jeff Petrick to do the graphic layouts. he works for a company called kanga, and they are a media company.
check them out if you need graphic work done www.kanga.ca next is bird dog video. this is a new store in calgary that rents good movies. they don't have a website yet, but if in calgary looking for a video check them out - Bird Dog Video - its 403-398-2283 who's next? aha, Megatunes in Edmonton. this is a Alberta Owned Record store with locations in
Calgary and Edmonton. the Edmonton store has a beautiful downstairs performance space. i'm going to try and set up a show there, www.megatunes.com next we have www.jesslee.ca Jess is a honky tonk singer from Edmonton, he knows the ropes and plays in the style of Merle Haggard and all those good old boys. check out his site and GO BUY his CDS!!! lastly, saved by radio. calgary's leading indie record label. always worth a look-see. oh and can i add one out-of-alberta suggestion, winnipeg's The Perpetrators, are a hot band you should hear. find them on the web, www.perps.ca
well it looks like it's time for me to go tune up my new guitar and do some strumming and picking. last-lastly, be sure to tune into CJSW (that's 90.9 fm in calgary - www.CJSW.ca
online) at 3:30 tomorrow to hear the Matt Masters round up, where i get down and dirty talking centennial talk with Calgary's own Chad "blood bucket" Saunders.

until then,
matt

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May 21, 2005:

Hello again readers. We've skipped ahead and suddenly I'm back on an airplane. Currently sitting at 40,635 feet, travelling at 467 km/hr somewhere over Brandon
Manitoba. I just finished up with two days of recording some living room sessions with Jaxon and Twisty of the D.Rangers. We managed nine songs. I don't know exactly where these songs will be released, but you can count on my making a few burns for stage side sales. Its always a treat for me to spend a few days in Winnipeg. I think I've been there some five times this year. But now its back to Alberta for the next little while. I suppose I know my next trip away will be June 11th, when I play at NXNE in Toronto.

This week is pretty sparse for me. I have only two gigs lined up, both on Saturday. First I'll be in Taber, for a party in the park, a centennialcelebration and then that evening I'll be in Calgary opening for the Swifty's and Old Reliable at the Hi-Fi Club. That should be great fun. Those two have been on a country crossing 30 show tour for about a month now. Both great bands, Old Reliable have just released a new album - The Burning Truth -my pick for this entry. Quickly now, go buy it.

This afternoon I will be playing on the patio at the Broken City. It will be show number 25 of 100. which is pretty encouraging. Did you tune into CJSW yesterday? We started the new regular Friday feature - the Matt Masters Round-Up, where I phone in from different parts of the province and country to update radio listeners on my whereabouts. Phoning in
yesterday from the kitchen at 321 Beverly, I was a bit out of breath, thanks in part to the D.Rangers home grown recording formula

A quick note for you first time readers, and also for you repeat readers, I need your help!
Yes, please email me at albertacentennial@hotmail.com and tell me the name of your favourite Alberta song. When you suggest a song I will in turn add it to my
set-list during my centennial tour, and then even better, it will be included in the Alberta Songbook that will be published at the end of the tour. So make sure your choice is included in this exciting project.

I am getting positive feedback about this tour diary, most folks say they want to read more about the food I am eating, which is sort of odd, but whatever, here
goes. Today I ate oatmeal, at the Winnipeg airport no less. On the ensuing airplane ride I have eaten exactly two chocolate chip cookies, time to turn off any electronic device that may interfere with on board flight controls. Time to begin our descent into the Calgary area, 150 kms and about ten minutes from touch down.

__________________

May 19, 2005:

Calgary's airport has been undergoing upgrades for quite some time. As far as airports in Canada go, Calgary's is about as upgraded as possible. Montreal's is the weirdest I've seen. Victoria and St. John's are in a different category. I've still never flown to
Edmonton or Ottawa.

I'm heading to Winnipeg. Jaxon and I are going to do some recording over the next few days. I bought a guitar yesterday. A Taylor. I was talking to my friend Craig Evans, (secretly a bluegrasser at heart) and he convinced me on finally upgrading. Thanks Craig.

I have a lot of updating to do, let's dive in shall we?

May 13 needs a recounting and today, May 18th is my Dad's birthday for goodness sake. Happy Birthday Dad! (my Dad shares/d a birthday with two famous people - Mr. October, Reggie Jackson and the recently deceased Papa PJP the II. I share a birthday with John my brother. He's famous.

It turns out that my show at the Café in Stony Plain was not so well attended. There were only about ten people, but seeing as it was my first visit to Stony Plain, I won't complain. There was a table of girls there who asked how old I was. And they guessed 22
and 24.
I drove back into Edmonton in time to see the D.Rangers up on stage, well, just for a few tunes. After them, came the Sadies, who played a great set. Afterwards, a number of folks got together afterwards to play music at the house of Matt Allen and Tim Roth. Yes, Pat Kelly, that Tim Roth. Honest, that night was a fantastic jam. The D.Rangers, The Sadies,
Saskatoon's Cracker Cats, the aforementioned Edmontonian's Allen and Roth and a few other luminaries including reigning Alberta champ Corb Lund.

Friday I drove to Edson with the Goose and Tim. Upon arrival I dumped them out on main street and headed further west on highway 16. My destination, the 25th Annual Medicine Lodge Rodeo. So off I drove about 42 kms until I found Anderson Road. There, one kilometre south of the highway lays the Anderson Family Ranch. It was beautiful. There were more horses than cars, and actually no cars only trucks and Rvs and one green
GMC Vandura. I sat in on the rodeo action for a few rounds of Goat tying. In this event the cowgirl rides at full speed to a leashed goat. The goat is picked up and flipped, then, hog-tied. This is a timed event. And it's only for the ladies. Actually it turns out
the entire day of rodeo action was ladies only. The men's events took place on Saturday.

A few minutes walk from the cowgirls and clowns, was the dinner area. Picnic benches, a bonfire and a line of complementary Beef on a bun surrounded the dance floor and in the far corner was the band. These guys were probably the oldest guys I've ever played with.
One of the other singers even had an oxygen tank with him on stage. It was great, I only ended up doing about five songs, but it was a treat. The rodeo was a real family affair, and everyone I met was friendly. I didn't stick around to long though; I drove back to Edson to see the D.Rangers play at Castaway's, the bar in the hotel in Edson. It's a great little place, with a good stage. It was full of happy looking people. I got up with them for the third set and we really nailed a few tunes. In particular, 'Today I started loving you again.' Edmonton rockers Les Tabernacles were in the audience, seems they had just finished an
all ages show down the road. Edson is quite the music destination it seems. Ted got up for a few songs too and so did Tim and the Cracker Cats, Eliza and Kamila. After the show we met the meanest ever hotel lady, and proceeded to build a tent city between our three tour vans out in the parking lot. It was pretty magical.

Saturday morning, I bought a cowboy hat at 'the Boot shop' - Edson's #1 western wear provider, got Jaxon into my van and drove straight to Calgary. I arrived five hours later, dropped Jax off at the ironwood and continued down 9th avenue to the Alexandra
Centre where I was playing with the new Calgary Gentlemen of the Rodeo. It turns out that all ages shows (which I have never played, unless you count playing in schools,) pack in as many bands as possible, I think there were seven or eight bands on the bill. I guess it's done to either give everyone a chance to play or so that it can appeal to as many
different tastes as possible. So we played for 25 minutes. Five hour drive for 25 minutes. I think I couldn't have handled much more anyway. I was pooped. Seeing my picture on the cover of Beatroute energized me again so my brother John and I went to see the
D.Rangers play a sold out show at the Ironwood. They were great as always. (by now you can probably guess that I am a big fan.) John had to leave halfway through, but Bob Keelahagn and Dylan Sadlier-Brown kept me good company. Dylan's dad Mark did a few
numbers with the band on the Jug. He's Alberta's only union approved Jug player. So when you need a Jug player in Alberta, he's your man.

Then I went home to my mom's house and slept for all of Sunday. I haven't been drinking this month, and I'm enjoying it. The only difference I noticed, I have a little more money than usual. Otherwise, no difference. I figure I drove 1500 kms this week. Which
averages out to a little over two hours a day of driving. And there on Saturday night I was hit with a foot cramp like I have never had before. From driving no less! Who knew this could happen. Anyway I have been wearing sneakers since then, trying to ease the
cramping feeling. It's working. The timing is pretty good too. My boots needed to be re-soled, so I took them to the Alberta Boot Company for the fixing up they need. Just as I headed out the door for the airport, (I'm now in the plane writing over Saskatchewan,) they Boot factory called, they have been re-soled. I guess that means I'm a good customer.

Since Sunday I've been hanging out with friends, emailing Greg Neely in Austria, mourning the hockey loss at the world cup in Austria, and feeling very relieved about the state of the nation thanks in (surprising) part to Belinda Stomach. Having spent a good deal of time in a van the last couple of days, I have had a chance to keep up on AM talk radio. Really
you couldn't ask for a more exciting week of Canadian political talk radio. Could you?

Below me the prairie is stretching out like a giant checkerboard. The groomed fields look like inlayed wood on a guitar neck or a piece of furniture. Sparse fluffy clouds are the only other things in the sky, and they are all below us. But far in the south I can see a haze where the brown/yellow ground disappears in a dusty mist that slowly blends up into the light blue.

I've had a few more song submissions for the collection. I heard a lady named Pearl sing a great song she had written at the Rodeo on Friday. I never got her phone number so I don't quite know how to track her down. But I think I can find her. I should mention that if you know a song by an Albertan that you think is worth including in songbook of Alberta
songs, I would very much like for you to let me know: albertacentennial@hotmail.com

Any kind of song will do. I just got a song from Calgary Punk band the Mad Cowboys. It's called "Propaganda" and its sort of a letter to Mr. Klein telling him where to go. It's from their new record, which just came out, and which I suggest you should buy. In fact I am going to start suggesting that you buy a CD by an Albertan musician every time I do an
entry. And just as important as suggesting CD purchases, I suggest you go attend a line show this week. Like say, my show on SATURDAY at the BROKEN CITY in CALGARY. (613 11th ave sw.) around 3pm, upstairs on the new big great patio.

I was interviewed by CBC radio today. For both the Calgary and Edmonton 'Eyeopener.' As far as I understand, it my two minute segment will run Thursday in Edmonton and Tuesday in Calgary. Get up early if you want to hear me, the Eyeopener is on from 5:30 to
8:30 AM. That's AM, meaning before noon. So that does it for me. I have about 40 minutes left on this flight. I'm seated between a fellow in a Canada Post shirt and a lady in a leather jacket.
Little do they know that soon the whole world will know that they were here on this flight, sitting next to me. I myself am wearing a hat that says, "the berg team" and a shirt I recently bought in Stony Plain.
Until next time.

________________________

May 11th, 2005:

Sitting in the CJSR recording studio where Ayla (of AA Sound System) is cutting a version of Golden Rocket with the D. Rangers. This is the second studio I've seen these D.Rangers in during the past 24 hours. Heck, the past 12 hours. These session masters recorded three songs with Matt (little buddy) Allen last night until 4 am. They had driven all the way from Golden BC yesterday. I had driven in from Allen Lake, about thirty minutes west of Edmonton, that's where I camped the night before last. I sat out by the fire watching the international space station outshine the other stars in the sky. At one point in the middle of the night I heard the sound of an animal walking just past me, a few feet away, but hidden by the darkness. Tonight I'm playing in Stony Plain, at the Espresso Station and the D.Rangers are playing the Sidetrack Café opening for the Sadies. I'll try and catch what I can, but sadly I'll probably miss the D.Rangers.

Last night I got a call from Brian Emerenko, a fellow I met at the Fred Eaglesmith concert last Friday. He invited me down to the New West Hotel, home to the Golden Spur, Edmonton's last six night a week honky tonk bar. He got me up in between sets of the house band, and I did six songs. Maybe seven. Met a musician named Jess Lee. He's got an Alberta song I'm going to look at. Brian's lady friend, whose name I can't remember right now, her granddad was a cowboy in Alberta who rode with John Ware. For those of you who don't know John Ware, he was a cowboy and rancher in early Alberta. Alberta's first black cowboy and he was from Texas. He has a reputation as being about the best cowboy on the range back then. In my centennial show I'm doing a version of Diamond Joe White's "High Rider," a 1979 song about John Ware.

I played at Seba Beach School on Tuesday, May 10th. A small community about ten minutes from Stony Plain, Seba Beach is roughly a curling rink, a school, two RV parks, two restaurants and a one block main street. Small town. It is on a good sized lake, with a big industrial plant at the far end. I camped at Kokanee Springs RV park. I rolled in and the only folks there were the staff. They were all good folks and I ended up playing some guitar with them around the campfire. At one point I sang "I hear that train a-comin'" just
as a train whistle came blowing out of the night. It was a magical moment of being aligned with nature, tunes and trains.

The nature of train tunes. Sounds like a good title. My gig in Seba Beach was at the school. It was great, the whole student body, K-9, was there. I managed to hold their attention pretty well, thought some of the grade 9s looked a little bored. There was some good clapping though and the teachers were happy. The day before (May 9th) I had played in Hinton, at the Pine Valley retirement home. About thirty seniors were
there for me to play for. It was great. My first retirement home show, and they were right into it. I played "Poor Poor Farmer" by Kerry Regan. A lady in the group spoke up and mentioned that she had gone to school with him. That was pretty cool. To me he is a voice on the record, a photo on the cover of an album. To her he's a classmate. There is some living history for you.

The day before that, (were talking Sunday May 8th here,) I played the Callingwood Farmers Market with the new edition of the Gentlemen of the Rodeo. We did two big sets outside. The Edmonton sun photographer came around to take our picture in the end they ran an photo of Edmonton Eskimos Cheerleaders.

____________________________

May 8, 2005:

Woke up on a couch in edmonton today. quite the day yesterday. i started off by driving to edmonton from calgary. that was pretty easy going. then at 1pm i went to sing the national anthem at the 2005 Western Canadian Rythm Gymnastics Championship. yes, i said the national anthem, and yes i said the Western Canadian Rythm Gymnastics Championship. have you ever seen so many little people doing strange backflips? not me. it was a first. i had never done a national anthem/sports event before.

after that i went over to CJSR for a one hour interview with Jay Hannley. it was one of the best radio sessions i've ever had. Jay handled the interview real well, letting me ramble where it was appropriate and cutting in when the time was right. later that night, while house party shopping with Cam Penner at 4am i got some feedback from a stranger named Tim, who said i sounded good on the radio. that's nice to hear. after the radio show headed over to the Saint Basil's Cultural Center to see Fred Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels Revue. it turns out Fred thought i should do some MCing, so i got to introduce the band. it was actually real fun to get up in front of 750 people and introduce the band. it made me feel like i was back in Ontario. the only times i have ever intorduced Fred (or anyone) has been in Ontario.

then after the show i shook hands with Fred, willie and the gang and headed off into the afformentioned night shopping for parties in the Alan Dale neighbourhood in edmonton. Edmontonian Anthony (cam's friend) took good care of us as we ran around looking for fun. for a little bit we stopped into Blues on Whyte to catch the last set of Big Dave McLean. Too bad Perpetrator Jay wasn't there backing Dave up. oh well maybe next time.

in the morning i'll be playing the Callingwood farmers market from 11am - 3pm. the new calgary Gentlemen of the Rodeo will be up there with me. should be a lot of fun. tonight i am staying with the Lynch Mob. i spent a hour or so playing with little Devon lynch, and she totally tuckered me out. one year olds are very full of life energy. watch out if you try and out play them. it won't happen. they can play all day.

my throat is pretty sore today. too much smoking in edmonton. with four sets to play tomorrow i thought i would go get some echinacea. look at me being all healthy-like. ten years ago today i was in paris with my pal Dennis Lewis. Dennis turned 30 on May 4th. also my pal Lori MacKay turned, um, 27 on the 6th. i just wanted to pass on a 'shout out' to them. you know, friends make the world go round.

love your neighbour.
matt

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May 4, 2005:

hello friends and fans. wednesday has me back in calgary. today is a booking
day. my goal is to try and set up between five and ten more shows. we'll see how i do. i also have to help my friend keith move today. later i get to go for band practice with Andy Sparacino - we hav a new project called Mastersparacino- sort of a country/rap/showtune/dance routine. obviously we need to practice. then tomorrow i will do the same thing. still in calgary no shows booked so it's a practice day. this time with the new calgary based Gentlemen of the rodeo. things are looking good in that department. as i drove back from edmonton yesterday i spoke to my new Gentlemen and they are good to go to back me up at a few upcoming shows. i really need to get off my butt and seek out some more corporate sponsors, any of you reading this feel like sponsoring me? yesterday i played at the School Of Hope in Edmonton. they are a home study school that was having a get together day of workshops for thier
students. i got to play for K-9 students and their parents and teachers. it was great. i did a 55 minute show all about our musical history. here is the set
list i played:

Little Sod Shanty (Trad.), Mansion by the Bow (Trad.),
Calgary Round-up (Wilf Carter), Poor poor farmer
(Kerry Regan), Oilman's Lament (Scotty Stevenson),
Four strong winds (Ian Tyson), Alberta Bound (Gordon
Lightfoot), High Rider (Diamond Joe White), Small
Towns and Big Dreams (Paul Brandt), The Outlet stream
- the bow river song (Matt Masters), and lastly i
played Old Alberta Plains (Trad.)

i think it was rather well recieved. this friday i'll be in edmonton doing an on air interview with Jay Hannley of CJSR, tune in around 4pm to hear all the eloquent things we say to each other. Also i need you folks out there to keep suggesting
songs to me. my two most recent suggestions: Dr. Stompin' Tom's "Rocky Mountain Love" and Lightfoot's "Alberta Bound." Who's going to be next? please suggest your Alberta song to me via albertacentennial@hotmail.com

see you soon
matt

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May 1, 2005:

Sitting in the champions lounge. Toronto. i had a real nice weekend of gigs here. i played with some good toronto musicians. that's what i locve about this city. the music here. my thursday night gig i played a few tunes with Chris bennett, a great guitar player. i swear when he started picking away at whatever tune it was i realized how great toronto is.

friday and saturday kept that same level of good music going. its all around you here. living in little italy was very much a community thing. in the four days i've been here i've seen so many old faces.

bumped into peter elkas onthe street, i might head over to see his show tonight at Hugh's Room. it's the third night of sold out shows for him and tour mate joel plaskett.

i might also sleep early tonight because i have to be at the airport around 5 am.

i'm playing at the School of Hope on tuesday. a noon hour performance as part of the school's Alberta's Centennial Student Workshop Day.

so far i haven't had to many people submit songs to me yet. i don't think people really know that i want them to yet. do you know that i want to know your favorite
alberta songs?

yes, its true. i want every person to tell me about what they thinkof when they hear "alberta music." who is that? maybe its your friends, maybe your family is musical and you have a song you all play.

if you know of an alberta musician whose music you like, i want to know who it is.

it's these songs that you suggest that i'll use to make up the content of the tour. i mean, i can easily pick a number of songs myself, and i have, but i would be happy to get a wider base of people submitting tunes.

so if you have one, lete me know: send me the words or the title or the music at albertacentennial@hotmail.com

thanks.

i thought this was going to be a short entry when i started it. but sometimes you get excited while typing.

stay excited people.

oh! i got into North By NorthEast. that's great. i've never showcased in any capacity before. i think it will be cool.

okay bye for now.
matt

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April 29, 2005:

back in toronto!
i arrived in toronto on thursday morning. took the red eye from calgary and slept like a wee babe. wait do wee babes even sleep? ok, i slept like a tired 29 year old. anyway, i played a fun show thursday night with my friend nancy dutra. we were at graffiti's. it was great as usual. PK came by. i'm at his house. my old house. doug and linsay's house.

lots has changed since i left in december.

i like it though.

tonight i'm playing at mitzi's sister, with the agnostic mountian gospel choir. this will be fun. so far, i've played 13 shows in alberta this year. tonight will be my 3rd show in ontario this year. let's see, i've had one in manitoba, one in saskatchewan, and um, at least 12 in B.C.

in the in the last week i was in edmonton and calgary and now toronto. (until monday monring.) Ten years ago today i was on the greek island of Corfu. it would have been my last day on corfu, tomorrow i would take a boat to the mainland and travel by train to athens, sleep a night in a hostel and then wake up and hop on another boat, this time bound for santorini.

tomorrow i will still be in toronto. (whith my bike!!) i will bike over to the hard rock cafe to play with melody ranch in the afternoon. what a thrill my silly life is.

right now i am sitting above a restaurant where diligant cooks are preparing a crispy chicken burritto for me. i am quite excited. the name of the restaurant is Utopia.

this afternoon in the kensingtonmarket i met a fellow who turned out to be pals of my good buddy giselle. it was sort of weird. we intorduced each other and he immediately asked me "do you know giselle?" - (paraphrased for internetting purposes)

it was a treat to ride my bike around toronto today. so nice out. very spring-like.

coming up this week i am playing at the School of Hope in Edmonton. its a full school show, from K - grade 9. it should be fun, this will be my first school of the
tour. i love playing in schools because kids make very intersting audiences, either very attentive or the exact opposite.

then on friday i will sit in with Jay Hannley at CJSR for a show and then go see fred eaglesmith that night. then on sunday, i'll be playing all afternoon at the callingwood farmers market.

looks like a fun few days ahead.
off to collect a burritto!

love matt

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April 25, 2005:

hello world.
may first draws ever nearer, and with that comes the official kick off to my centennial tour. i've already played a few shows in alberta (10) so i only have 90 more to go. i am actually headed to toronto this weekend for some exciting shows, but first let me catch you up on the last few days.

sunday - recovery day. i spent the day in edmonton at the home of edmonton's little buddy, Matt Allen. He and D.Rangers Jaxon and Aaron worked up a little mexican food that was worth waiting all day for. musicians who can cook are as important to the badn as musicians who can fix vehicles (like Donnie.)

Matt, Myself and the D.Rangers were all up at CJSR for an afternoon broadcast with Mike of the SIlver Spurs. i sang whiskey business. man, do i love singing with jaxon.

saturday night i was in edmonton (as the d.rangers support driver) for the Old Reliable CD release party. it was an odd night. fun, but odd. first the D.Rangers had the Worst Sound Man Ever! piercing feedback explosions even between songs when no one was playing. seriously, i have seen a lot of d.rangers shows, and never have i heard a sound man so unable to mix five acoustic instruments. it was sort of frusturating.

the swifty's were next and they were the highlight of the night. playing with a gal named melissa and an extra banjo played named darcy, they were real strong. i'd like to do a show with the swifty's backing me up one day.

Old Reliable was next, and accounted for most of the oddness. i sort of missed why, but most of the set was played sans-Shuyler which is weird since he's the lead singer. anyway the set was good, if as i mention, a little odd.

the night before we were all in calgary for the same show. different city, same bands. friday was far less odd, way better sound and also my first tme seeing a show at the bowness community hall. it's a real good venue.

thursday night, i did nothing. - but i did recieve a cheque in the mail from one of the Centennial Tour sponsors. If you want to support the tour by making a
private donation please feel free. hit the contact button back on the main page and let
me know. a quick note on that point - i need lots of help from private folks. we are looking at a roughly 10,000 km tour this summer. and that's a lot of gas. so donate some money if you are able.

anyways back to my summary of the week. oh Saturday afternoon i also did a photo shoot for Beatroute magazine. look for it on newsstands in calgary in May. i got the cover story! (and just so you ladies know - there we did a series of bathing suit shots!)

last week i had a good talk with allan baekland about alberta music. i'll be on his show tuesday, around 8pm tune in on cjsw.com

thursday i'm playing in toronto at graffiti's. Friday i'm at Mitzi's sister in parkdale and saturday, hosting melody ranch at the hard rock cafe. that will be an amazing show. truly amazing.

okay i have to go to the library now, so be good and donate money, submit songs you want to be included on the tour, and go out and support live music in alberta!

matt

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April 18, 2005:

Welcome to monday my friends. its somewhat overcast here in calgary. i've got george jones playing on the hi-fi and i just finished some delicious toasted tomato
sandwiches. (with havarti!)

i had a pretty busy weekend, with gigs thursday/Friday and saturday. each in a different city. regina, Calgary nd edmonton.

so that means i've now played 10 gigs in alberta this ear. according to my booking agent (me) i have lined up another 28 gigs. which according to my official tour number cruncher (me) that means i have played and booked 38 of 100 gigs. so that means, according to my official tour subtraction machine, that i have to book another 62 gigs.

pretty good. pretty good.

on top of that i'll mention that i am now booked for all but three weekends between may and august. so if you want to set up a weekend show, let me know right away!

so to recap the past few days.

regina was pretty low key. good bar, good staff, small audience. i played two sets at Mcnally's tavern. and spent the night at the house of Dave Lang sleeping in a recording studio can be one of the best sleeps you ever have, because it can be so quiet. anyway there was a wild wind storm in regina, heck most of southern saskatchewan that night. so a lot of folks stayed in. incase you aren't familiar with a prairie wind storm, it means that after walking ten minutes from the bar to the value village to buy a fine western
blazer for $9, you have a layer of dust, sand, and wind-swept crud on your face. if you are silly enough to not have sunglasses on it also means you could be blind.

anyway, friday i got back to calgary and hooked up with Any Sparacino for the debut performance of Mastersparacino, calgary's newest country/rap dance duo. nellie and tim mcgraw have nothing on this pair. clearly we are meant to be famous together, at this our
first show, there was one of those "press photographers." you know the kind of guy who has a huge camera, takes a few pictures during the first song or two and then leaves. clearly, fame is on the way.

andy and i are old high school pals. and we've been watching each other play music together for many years, but until this week we never got to play together. It was awesome. we played a 2.5 hour set, complete with wild full dance floor action. encore after encore and believe it, a 30 minute closing number. human beatbox SquaJo (trevor eric) helped out with some big Phat mouth noises. it was dance-o-licious.

we were playing as part of the Underground film festival. a good festival in its second year. (www.calgaryundergroundfilm.org)

then saturday i woke up early and drove my '79 Vandura up to Edmonton for an afternoon gig at the Black Dogm Freehouse. when we arrived we found out there was a
plumbing problem so the club opened a few hours late. instead of a 4-6 show, i played a 5:30-7:30 show. From what i understand that means i might hold a record for one of the latest running shows on a saturday ever at the Black Dog. it was my first time playing there, and it was fun. local songter extraordinnaire Matt Allen was on the scene, shaking hands and kissing babies. As was Centenninal tour sponsor Gord Lynch and the Speed
Train inspiring Randy Willis.

in the evening randy myself a Andrea Lefevbre (of edmonton super group The Skinny) headed downstairs for a going away party for edmonton cartoonist Stephen
Notley. He write and draws the cartoon strip "Bob the Angry Flower."

lastly, randy and i popped into the L'Attitude 53 Gallery in edmonton to see a collection of paintings and photographs, which included full sized paintings of Mr. Willis himself as well as Vanessa Lafavorite and Pat Downing (of the Dudes.) featured artists included, Ex-Calgarians Paul Couts and Colleen Langford as well as Grave Rocker supreme Tom Bagley.

what a weekend! Sunday i go home and slept. i think 16 hours.

well that does it for this long entry.
keep up the good work,
matt

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April 14, 2005:

regina, paris of the prairie. home of the mounties, capital of saskatchewan. wow.

i have arrived in regina for tonight's show. my first ever show in saskatchewan. really, i'm excited. I stepped into the bar where i'm playing, mcnally's tavern and quickly realized that i had visited the place in 2001 with andy, dave anderson and matt scott when we were driving across to toronto. we stopped one night in regina then, slept in the u-haul and carried on in the morning. i recall we had parked on some residential street and made a lot of noise as we bedded down, prompting an angry letter to be placed on the windshield by the time we woke up.

hopefully this time i will make it out of regina with out an angry note. well one step in the right direction, i didn't bring a windshield this time.

the flight in was really turbulent. event he flight attendents had to stay seated. doesn;t bother me though. i am pretty udes to it, i just sit back in my tight seat and read the newspaper. these days i am particularly enjoying the DOSE news magazine,
especially Dave mcginns collums. boy that guy can write. (and pack, a real fine packer - should any of you be leaving town soon)

jammed for four hours with andy sparacino last night. we are getting a good set together for friday. we might take a show on the road at some point after the summer
tour. andy has the best songs of anyone ever.

speaking of the summer tour, bookings are continuing at a good clip. it seems i get about three more every day. stay tuned to the website for the official launch of the calender and any accompanying news.

i really need to get a press release together. Any press copy writers out there looking for some volunteer work?

seriously i think i will talk to the music business colleges about setting me up with a student intern. maybe you want to intern working for the matt masters
summer centennial tour? hm?

anyway, i have to go eat some food and find Regina's own Dave Lang.
see you soon,
matt

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April 11, 2005:

Hello world.
Two eggs an avocado a small tomoato and a croissant are all a guy ever needs to feel good after breakfast.

i'm in calgary, enjoying my second day off in a row. last week i played five shows, lethbridge, brooks x 2, and then calgary x 2. the calgary show at the university was great fun. the venue is called "that empty space" and i was playing with the Summerlad and Brenda Vaqueros. quite a nice triple bill. the empty space is cool because as a free venue in the middle of the university campus, it is always full. its small enough too, that it has the ability to become a real intimate venue. i started off with a slow song, a test of sorts to see if i could get and keep the audiences attention. it worked.

saturday at the ship and anchor was a beauty. at the last minute, darren - drummer of brenda vaqueros and my friend Greg - a guitar wizard, both signed on to help me shake up the joint. and did we ever. we had two sets with a guest spot by the Sadlier Brown family band in between. it was great. inbetween our
two sets, upright bass player extraordinaire Dylan showed up and joined us. out of the blue i was fronting a great new band. i think you'll be seeing
more of this grouping again.

last night i went to see a new Calgary band 'the killer vees.' featuring two prolific songwriters, Dan Vacon and Chris Vail, they played a quiet two set show
in a bar called the bungalow. top notch songwriting and beatiful harmonies, these two guys are the top of the calgary indie scene for a reason.

afterwards Chris and I along with Garrett McClure- singer of The Summerlad, went for a beer at a newish club in Calgary, the Hifi Club. our pal Pete Emes opened this bar a few months ago, and if the full dance floor last night was any
indication, things are going well. i'll be playing there may 28th with Old Reliable.

well, i'm doing laundry and it's time for me to switch
things for the dryer.

talk to you soon,
matt

 

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APRIL 8, 2005:

i woke up this morning in Brooks, Alberta. a city of some 10,000 about 160 kms south east of calgary. i played the last two nights with Kent Mcalister and
his band, a tight country unit out of vancouver. both nights were a little slow, but the reception was good. and we are invited back. i had been riding with kent
and his guys since last thursday, when we played the Ironwood. Monday we played the Toungue and Groove in lethbridge and that was a typically magical tounge and groove experience. spent the night there and went for
breakfast at a great little diner that has been open for 53 or 55 years.

in brooks we mostly hung around the hotel. we all had rooms so we were staying in style. tomorrow i am playing at the U of C 'empty space' a great little room
in the food court. playing with the summerlad and with chad saunders band, i can;t rememebr thier name right now.
i haven't played a show with the summerlad in some time. a couple of years. they came and stayed at the champions lounge in toronto last year for either CMW or
NXNE, i don't know which it was.

that was a crazy weekend, Natasha Thirsk was out from vancouver with the dirtmitts too, so we had some dozen musicians staying at our place then.

then saturday i'm at the ship and anchor doing the open jam. that should be fun. i haven't done the jam in a while. looks like i'll be playing without a band, i
tried to set it up with dan vacon first and john rutherford second. but they were both unable to do it.

i'm going to spend the next few days working on bookings. i need to organize a tour kick-off date. so far i have done 6 alberta gigs. after this weekend i'll
be at 8, next week at the broken city will be number 9 and the black dog on the 16th will be number 10. but that puts me in a good spot for the official tour start
of may 1st.

i think that's it for right now.

more to come!
matt

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APRIL 3, 2005:

Good morning internet world.
Matt here.
Waking up at my brother john's house today. tonight is open for me, so i think i will try and go jam with my friend dan. last night i saw a sweet show at the
ironwood. Joel Plaskett and Peter Elkas. a sold out show, it was great. i know peter from living in toronto and it was fun to catch up and compare tour notes.

Tomorrow i'll be in lethbridge opening for Kent Mcalister. i just met Kent, but we got on real well and just played a show together on wednesday. so now we are
going to do three together. this should be a great week.

the tour is officially starting in May, but with five shows this week it feels like its already on. two times in lethbridge in eight days. i have to admit that will be a record for me.

this is the first entry in this tour log. i figured I should be updating it every day during the tour so I decided to do some preperatory journaling.

IAP sent the grant off the other day. it looked pretty strong. one real exciting aspect is this idea i had where i am going to ask you, the reader of this
journal, to submit songs to me through the internet, songs that you would like to to have included on the Centennial Tour. the songs have to be either written in
Alberta or by an Albertan. at the end of the tour we will take all these Alberta songs we have compiled and make a songbook of them and donate it to all the
libraries and high schools in Alberta. try to include the guitar chords if you can, but if you only know the words that's okay too.

If you want to submit a song, please email it to: albertacentennial@hotmail.com

I'm going for breakfast now.

Please be sure to come back.
Matt