The Oppenheimer Report 1/5/15

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR to my twelve loyal readers! On New Year’s Eve, I did make it down to East Side Mario’s to see Scott Gilson, who opened for Juan Barbosa, Jeff Stamp and the boys. I almost didn’t go, because there were fierce snow squalls all day, and Shauna was not feeling well enough to go out. Still, I wanted to be in the audience, and I decided to drive down for a few hours, then make it home in time to watch the “transvestite drop” from Key West, Florida with Shauna. By the time I was halfway to Huntsville, I began to rethink my impulsive decision. The roads were completely snow-covered, and there were whiteout conditions. I was certainly thankful to be in a large, all-wheel drive vehicle, equipped with ice-grabbing Blizzak snow tires.
 

As I begin writing this report on New Year’s Day, I am listening to the Hunter’s Bay Radio’s Top 25 countdown of the best local artists of the year. Huntsville’s own Big East had the #1 song, my friend Jeff Stamp had three songs in the countdown, and made it to #2 for Hers was Gold, an ode to his late wife, Doug Mclean’s new song Sapphire was #3, and Sean Cotton was #4 for Broke in Muskoka. All great writers and performers, and I feel honored to be among them. To that list I add Gina Horswood, Tobin Spring and Stan Tait - writers I have yet to meet -  Jamie Clarke, Bronwyn Boyer, Christine Heron, Karen May (recently lauded for a bluegrass song she wrote while with the band Honeygrass, which I understand charted nationally), Mike Lopez and so many others. For me, this year was one of self-discovery and a rekindling of my love for songwriting. It began with my music-loving plumber Buck Marshall, who introduced me to Bob Gray and Peter Hall. They selflessly produce the well-attended Third Friday Coffee House in Burk’s Falls, hands down the best local live venue I’ve ever seen for musicians. There I met singer songwriter Doug McLean, and he connected me to Hunter’s Bay Radio and all the good folks over there. Over the next six months I met a dozen or more talented artists, and have had the great good fortune to play some of my original songs live on the radio. My heartfelt thanks to HBR and all the locals who dusted me off and encouraged me to throw my hat back into the ring. The music scene here in the near north of Ontario is vibrant and rich, and we have perhaps only scratched the surface of the talented local pool of musicians and songwriters. I feel as if I am in the middle of something similar to the Greenwich Village scene in the 1960’s, mixed with Seattle in the 80s. With the advent of HBR’s emergence on the FM dial, and Jeff Carter at the helm with his undying support for local music, I think this is a great place to live for anybody who loves music. Most of the past thirty years, I have been trying to achieve some recognition for my songwriting, but I was chasing the wrong dreams. For the first time in my life, I am starting to find my balance, and I can’t say it enough; I feel remarkably fortunate to have fallen into this exceptional community of music lovers. Now in the mastering stage, my first CD of original music should be out before spring, and this has been my dream for a long, long time. Thanks to all the talented locals, to HBR, and especially to Juan Barbosa – I call him “the sorcerer” - for giving me so much encouragement and for so skillfully producing my songs. My ultimate goal/dream is to have some of these artists cover my songs, and to assist them in achieving the international recognition they so richly deserve. Some of them are well along the way.

 

Of course, I made it home for the transvestite drop. No New Year’s Eve would be complete without a kiss from my wife, and several hours of pre-recorded Kathy Griffin ribbing the giggling Anderson Cooper about his Vanderbilt pedigree.  Hard for me to believe that guy is a news anchor. Forty is the new twenty. I’m not proud of myself, but I am a shameless lover of pop culture, no matter down what blind alley that leads me. Final note, seven, count ‘em SEVEN wild turkeys nesting out front in our trees this morning. That makes me smile. Any New Year’s resolutions out there?

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED