Reunion @ the Stampede? What?

Backstage: Renée, Kris, Moe and Brad. Photo courtesy Kris Abbott.

Yes, it's been awhile again, but this kind of snuck up on us and smacked us in back of the head. The Pursuit of Happiness played their first gig in about six years a couple days ago at a private corporate event associated with the Calgary Stampede. Part of the contract, evidently, was staying mum about it until it happened, but now it has happened, there's plenty to share. All of it so far comes from Kris, documenting a whirlwind 48 hours there and back (she had the furthest to travel from Kingston, while Renée had the least distance, still living in Alberta) in a Facebook photo album and a performance video of "Beautiful White" and "Ten Fingers".

But wait, there's more. Kris sent along three other live videos to share with you. You can rack up the YouTube playlist, but here's a sample. Enjoy! And a big thanks to Moe and Kris for getting us caught up.

Kris and Dee still here, and with their album!

Doesn't seem like so long ago we were talking about Kris and Dee working on their first album, and now we have a cover, release date and party! Still Here Inside will drop independently May 5, available at Zap Records in Kingston Ontario and online at Kris and Dee's own new site.

A release show/party happens at the Grad Club in Kingston on Friday May 13th with special guest Sticky Henderson. The fun starts at 9pm with just 5 bucks for admission. But for now, you can get a preview of the album with a new track each day on their Facebook page and myspace page. So take a listen and post your best wishes for Abbott and McNeil!

Kris & Dee in the studio, Mrs. Berg in the Dragon's Den

Work is well underway on the debut album by Kris & Dee, along with their bandmates Anna Rees on drums and Will McGongal on bass. Occasionally poking their heads out of the studio to eat and do day jobs, they say the album should be ready by the spring.

Sooner than that - tonight, to be exact - Laura Berg will be appearing on the hit CBC-TV show Dragon's Den, in which budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a group of tough-minded people with lots of money to invest. What will the Dragons think of MySmartHands? Will Laura sic Fireese on them? Find out tonight at 8pm eastern on CBC (you can even join in on Laura's Twitter party during the show), or watch online after that.

Update: those outside of Canada can now watch on YouTube!

Kris and Dee back in Toronto, Mrs. Berg's Win, Master Tracks' New Season

To catch up yet again, we begin with Kris and Dee, who travel from the wilds of Kingston back to where we first met them in the Big Smoke. Busying themselves with more shows, adding members to their full-fledged band and even starting work on their first album, the Abbott-McNeils will make a triumphant return to Toronto with a show Thursday night at Slacks, 562 Church Street. There's no cover, and doors open at 8pm.

Another triumph recently as Laura Berg, lovely wife of Moe, won the 2010 SavvyMom Mom Entrepreneur Of The Year Award for her work with MySmartHands. Along with prestige and press exposure, she receives a great array of prizes - from cash to mentorships - which she's putting toward taking her business even further. Congratulations, Mrs. Berg!

As for Mr. Berg, the latest season of Master Tracks is currently unfolding on AUX-TV, as Moe and Laurence Currie take more bands from "demo to download" in a day. Head to the website for info on catching the latest episode on tv or to watch online. Here's an episode featuring one of Moe's favorite bands of the last couple years, Stereo Goes Stellar.

Art For Moe's Sake

Over there is the work of Marc Eliuk, reminding us of the Moe we all remember. Marc did the portrait as part of his "The Artist Who Interviews" series, also talking to the Moe we know now about beginnings, "Master Tracks", influences, advice and even Monteforte (maybe he should have asked when the hell MF is ever playing again!). It's well worth checking out, as are the myriad examples of Marc's art on that site.

Also, word is a music magazine in the UK is doing a little something about Love Junk as part of a fairly prestigious list. Stay tuned for updates on that in the near future...

Kris and Dee Raising the Roof, etc.

And now to catch up with Kris and Dee, who have had a pretty amazing summer so far. After being part of the Save Our Prison Farms rally with none other than Margaret Atwood and doing a lot of writing on a vacation in Newfoundland, their gig schedule just keeps rolling on.

Tonight (yes, sorry for the late notice), they'll be playing at the Music Market Cafe in Napanee at around 9:20pm (only a $5 cover and two great acts preceding). Then next weekend, they're at the Raise the Roof Women's Music Festival in the Kingston area on Sunday afternoon at 1:30.

Since the new embed function on YouTube is being annoying right now, head over there to check out Kris and Dee performing three original songs at the recent Homegrown Music Festival: "Mars", "Presence of Me" and "Polar Bears".

Welcome U.S. iTunes! (finally)

Okay, so we'll be doing some catching up on things for the next short while, starting with a funny status message Moe put on Facebook: "Out of nowhere, the first two TPOH records appeared in the American iTunes store. A bit late but thanks Capitol Records."

Indeed, better late than never, and so folks in the U.S.A. can pick up Love Junk and the crazy-rare One-Sided Story here at their iTunes Store.

Since every country/region has to have its own separate iTunes Store (an annoyance to many people), a reminder (as suggested in the sidebar) that TPOH is also available to some extent in the iTunes Stores of Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Australia. But don't bother much with the biography, which mentions "drummer Dave Gilburg" and "Bran Barker on bass". :-)