Wasn't that a party?!!!

[Video of the League of Rock bands, founder Terry Moshenberg, and featuring special guest Tal Bachman]
Ok I am still buzzing over last Thursday's League of Rock showcase at the Yale, it was the end of the first 10 week session, and wasn't THAT a party?

Terry Moshenberg flew in from Toronto for the big event, but before he came to the Yale, he and Vancouver LOR chapter head Rob Boshaw went and picked up the instruments from Long and McQuade which were to be given as prizes for members who stood out during the 10 week session. These included a new guitar, a bass, some cymbals, a microphone and some other goodies. I must say it had to have been hard to pick winners because every single member made an impression on all of us for different reasons.

Anyhow, we all showed up that night with family and friends in attendance and it took no time at all to fill all the seats in the house. The excitement was so thick in the room that you could touch the nervous energy as it floated around. Some members were getting ready to go onstage and play in a band to a PACKED house at the Yale for the first time in their lives. The buzz in the room made me feel like it was on fire and it wasn't just the TREE beer that sold out half way through the night. I think I chatted to almost everyone, though it was largely a blur and if I didn't have the video footage as proof I was there I would hardly believe it even happened.

I have made this little sneak peek video to share with you. Since there were two professional videographers there I didn't really focus too hard on taking video and I really only caught a snapshot of the night knowing that someone else had it covered. While I did get a shot of all the bands, I totally forgot to get my own band which now I think is a bit of a shame. I didn't think of shooting Know Mercy, because of course my hands were full of either a guitar or a bass at the time and also I just plum forgot to ask anyone to shoot it for me so it's a little sad that I didn't' manage to get my band mate Stephen playing his guitar in this video. Stephen has been a good pal throughout this whole thing and on Thursday night, he was just a superstar, in fact he was voted MVP for this session! High five rockstar!

Fortunately Stephen will be in the video the League of Rock is producing, but for today there is only ONE piece of footage that I could find of him and it came during the finale. He was in the background of a single shot which I probably would not have included in any video for public consumption, because I am being such a dork in it, lol, but I weighed the pros and cons quite carefully and decided to include the shot despite myself, it was more important to make sure I got my band mate in there. Just ignore me (my sister who is queen of self portraiture and taught me everything I know however, will laugh her head off when she sees it).

See here is what happened. At the end of the night after my band KNOW MERCY played, LOR founder and host of the party Terry Moshenberg asked our special guest Tal Bachman to come up to the stage to close off the night. Oh my god! I nearly fell down. I was up onstage at the time and there was NO WAY I was going to get off of it if Tal was getting up there. It's been no secret to anyone I am a big fan, so you can just imagine how much of a thrill that was. It would be like having the chance to strap on your skates and take shots on Roberto Luongo if you were a big fan of the Canucks.

So anyhow, Stephen from my band gave Tal his guitar and then stepped back to hang out onstage ( which is how I got him in a shot, Stephen is wearing a blue tshirt, you'll see it. ), Terry also picked up a guitar and with no notice or planning whatsoever, we all set out to close the night with a little jam. I just hoped to heck I knew the songs that would be called.
Seeing as I wasn't playing an instrument, I grabbed my camera and took some footage of the finale while I was onstage. First we played a Bad Company song. Great, easy, I knew that one. Then, Kenny McNally from LOR Toronto got up to rock the house with Crossroads and Tal wowed us with some Clapton solos, the crowd was thrilled, the energy high, my smile ridiculous. Once that was finished, we were taking off the guitars and putting them away when the crowd started chanting 'She's so High', over and over again.

Graciously, Tal put his guitar back on and quickly told the band how the song went (that's the way jam's go), and with no rehearsal, we charged ahead. 10 years ago when I first fell in love with that song, I never would have imagined I would one day be up on stage singing it with the artist.
And I tell you THAT because I want to illustrate for you that not only does the League of Rock help non-professional musicians realize their dreams of playing with a band, recording, and performing live onstage, but it ALSO has the power to blow away a regular gig monkey like me, by surprising me and fulfilling one of my own dreams. It was crazy, it was the ultimate reward, and I can't thank Terry enough. This whole experience has exceeded even MY expectations! I can't wait for round two.

So watch the video folks, grab yourself a glimpse of what it is like to be in the League of Rock. If you are a non-pro musician who is busy with your work and family life, but are still aching to get out there and rock, remember this:
You go to five, we go till 11!
The next session is registering right now, you can find more info here at LEAGUE OF ROCK. See you soon!


Rach xo

Rachael and Nicola on Classic Rock 101

Rachael and Nicola talk about the League of Rock on Classic Rock 101's Dean and Hatch show.

http://www.rock101.com/

Fall session registering NOW!
http://www.leagueofrock.com/

You may have heard it on the radio, but you didn't see it, till now!

Rach!

League of ROCK showcase announcement and photo update!

Well this is it!!! We are in the final stretch of Vancouver's first session of the League of Rock!

On OCT 1st at the Yale, you can come see for yourself! Join us as 4 bands, comprised of non-pro musicians who did not know each other 10 weeks ago, perform live onstage at one of the city's most well known music venues.

Some members have never set foot on a stage before joining the LOR, and now, just weeks later they have; workshopped with well known industry professionals, recorded in a well known studio and are gearing up to perform live in front of an audience.





Following are a few shots taken over the last several weeks;

This my friends, is the League of Rock, Vancouver Style!

Nando (drums) rocks, that's all there is to say!

Denis (Drums) is one of the many multi-instrumentalists who has joined the LOR!

Stephen (guitar) took up guitar at age 60, and has impressed everyone including me with his amazing attitude, drive and determination. Not only is this his first shot at going onstage, it is his first band experience in his life. High five Stephen, you rock buddy!


Nicola (guitar and vocals)

By the way, tune into Classic Rock 101 on Wednesday at 3:00 to hear both myself and Nicola, as well as Terry Moshenberg dialing in from Toronto, talking to Dean and Hatch on-air about the League of Rock!

Nicola taking video of (LOR coach) Tal Bachman's fingers so she could remember exactly

what it was he taught her!

Vancouver Chapter head Rob Boshaw displaying a fine looking pizza for the band members ( the pizza is provided so that we have something to wash down with the awesome beer that TREE brewing provides for us at our rehearsals every week), and (LOR coach) Shaun Verreault ripping a solo on the guitar during a regular session workshop!


At the midway workshop at the Yale
Grant (drums )

The Tragically Ripped, the band voted with the best name in the League!






Al (bass), and introducing, the glockenspiel. This is my favorite picture from the LOR! Taken by Sharylin, who is like family to me.





Mark (guitar) blew me away with his guitar playing in studio, and Danno (guitar Lead vox)
is one of the most natural high energy performers I have ever seen~!





Allan (lead vox) another born frontman and Nicola ( acoustic guitar, vox) has the sweetest voice, I can't wait to jam with her on the radio on Wednesday!






LOR coaches at the Yale midway workshop, Shaun Verreault and Shari Ulrich, both of whom inspired the members with their insightful thoughts and helpful positive advice!

Studio Day at Nimbus Recording studio!






In the captains chair for League of rock studio sessions was the incomparable Topher Stott! I can't wait to hear how the recording's turn out!



There is so much more to say, so many more people to talk about, this is a mere snapshot. You have to come participate to get the full value of the experience. Stay tuned as I am sure to continue to share the going's on via video and this blog. I consider myself very lucky to be a part of it, and I am glad to be able to share it with people, and go through the process with them. Rock on Vancouver.




So there you have it folks, we are wrapping up session one, and already we are gearing up for the Fall session. If you want to be a part of this musical community you can, it doesn't matter what your skill level, if you can string 3 chords together to play a song, you can join! Get in contact with Terry now at the LEAGUE of ROCK, space is limited, Toronto is sold out, it's only a matter of time before the Vancouver chapter follows suit!


Shaun by the way will be playing with Wide Mouth Mason right close to the Yale on Oct 1st right after our Showcase, so if you are interested in seeing some of the LOR coaches live in action, click the link for info on where to catch their show!

( After you check out the League of Rock showcase at the Yale of course!)






See you on Thursday at the Yale! Rach xo

just what comes to mind

sometimes..........when I sit and doodle.........

press the replay button to see how I drew these pictures.

The power of a Tweet..part 2.

Cont. from Part 1: So what is the Yummy Mummy Club?

Founded by celeb mom Erica Ehm, The Yummy Mummy Club is the go-to place for moms with an edge.

At Yummy Mummy Club, we're women first, moms second. The vibe is guilt-free, real and relevant. Yummy is a state of mind, we are MILF's, Modern Inspired Life makers, and freakin' multi tasking babes!

That is one definition of the YMC, and Erica, being locked and loaded into whatever is hot and happening in this world, has immersed and embraced Twitter in order to connect with the women who read her amazing online magazine. You see, at the core of it, Twitter is all about the conversation, and with it you can talk to friends and build relationships all over the country, the world even.

So as it happens, I saw a Tweet one day that Erica was planning to come to Vancouver for business and I sent her a message right away..... Would she have time to meet? Could we do dinner?

The answer was yes, and yes, and so the second Vancouver Yummy Mummy Club tweetup was born. We put out a call to our local gals and between us all, we managed to nail down a time and a place to meet! The photos below document the night!

Conversation was sassy, thoughtful, hilarious, inspiring, supportive and filled with laughter. There was a great deal of admiration for each other and it felt in real life like the village that Erica had created online. A safe place to express ourselves. We shared stories and experiences and easily found common ground. All the chicks that follow Erica really are Freaking multi-tasking babes and I was so impressed with everyone, new and old friends alike. Sunita and Sharylin Lorie, Raj, and part of Alana's eye. Catherine and I.

My sister and I doing our self portrait, this always happens when we get together, we can't help it. By the way, she's a scientist, how Yummy is that?

Catherine, Kathleen, Erica

Catherine is so funny, and she blogs for Erica's website, you may recall my blog post last spring that included Catherine, we did the Walk for Kids together and got our picture taken with local hockey hero Trevor Linden while wearing our Yummy Mummy shirts.

We did it for Erica. I know, it was very selfless of us. ;)

Kathleen and I went on a run with Erica downtown on the Monday morning after the dinner (in-between Erica's appointments), I hadn't planned on going but I just somehow invited myself along on the run at dinner the night before. I was a little worried to join in on the run actually, knowing these girls do marathons, and that I hate running. (I get so bored so easily) I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up so we made a plan that if I needed to exit, I just would do so, and they would carry on. But you know something? When you have good company, a run is actually quite enjoyable. I managed to make it the whole way and didn't even turn purple or faint.

So I leave you with this, a snap from our Tweetup with Erica Ehm. Thanks Erica for giving us a reason to have a Mom's night out. I really had a blast!

Yummy Mummies. Left to right top row (links to twitter profiles): Gwendolyn ,

Alana (not on twitter yet), Kathleen , Rachael , Lorie , Raj

Left to right bottom row (links): Tracy , Catherine , Erica,

Sunita (not on Twitter yet), and Sharylin

On our way out, I had to get one last shot, the lovely Erica Ehm and I

being all sassy and yummy!

Before I sign off, I am going to divert traffic here to say that my League of Rock bandmate, a drummer who's name is Nando, is a nice, talented guy, and at rehearsals last Sunday, when he found out I was going for a run with Erica Ehm the next day he actually got up out of his chair with excitement and asked: YOU are going running with Erica EHM!? THE Erica Ehm? Man I LOVED her!

It's as if he was transported back in time and he saw her right in front of him, LOL it was very funny and cool to see how much of an impact she still has after all these years.

She really was a voice of our generation, someone we all looked up to for being uber cool and having her finger on the pulse of everything.

Flash forward to today and I think it is safe to say that thousands of Yummy Mummies across Canada (and around the world) who read her online magazine to find out what is happening with happening Moms today, would all say the same thing, that some things never change.

Rach xo~

The power of a Tweet~! (Part 1)

People who don't use it, wonder what the point of Twitter is. I get asked frequently about it and it's not easy to explain in a nutshell because there are endless applications for something like Twitter. I myself use it as a tool. It is a phone book, a source for personal references, a connector, a reflector, a gig getter, a people mover ...... Twitter can be whatever you make of it.


One week ago I had a Saturday night that was conceived and brought to life entirely through Twitter. My evening started in the afternoon actually at Vancouver's Twestival, a fundraising event which was born online, promoted, through Twitter and held in our city to help raise funds for a local charity, the BC Children's hospital.

These events are held worldwide,Vancouver's Twestival was held at Cieli's Pub and was organized by social media savvy goddess of all things Vancouver, Rebecca Bollwitt, Miss604 (who is also known as @Miss604 on Twitter).

Event organizer Rebecca Bollwitt and Raul Pacheco


It all started with one single Tweet and from that it grew and turned into a social networking success with the venue, gorgeous prizes, live music and comedy, all donated. Tickets were sold for the prizes and entry and in the end, nearly $3000 went to BC Childrens hospital .

This is John Chow, I just love this pic, it has no real relevance to my particular story today, but I had to include it because it made me laugh. BTW. John is a very cool guy totally plugged right into the world of social media. Dial him up sometime.

The above shot is of Rob Cottingham treating us to some comedy!

The ladies all sitting in the front area there are Twitter friends most of whom are Mom's doing some sort of online business. We have all chatted online through Twitter over the last year, and I had sent videos, links etc of my singing, but most had not actually seen me sing live so I was very touched that so many gals showed up to support the event and told me they came to hear me sing. Here is a video link, the only video I have found of me at the #Twestival, it is less than 30 seconds long but it was tweeted out on Twestival's twitter page as well as links to pictures of the event if you wish to see more. :)

I donated some CD's to the prize pot.

My CD cover by the way was designed by Chris Norris and I thank him very much, I will do a better blog post about my CD soon. :) If you are looking for a graphic artist by the way, Chirs is super talented and a really great guy to work with, see his link!

Well there you go, a little glimpse of Vancouver's latest Twestival, and the whole thing started with a single Tweet. The message continued to be passed on all the way up until and throughout the event. Here is a a tweet I found when I got home that night:


So glad the YummyMummyClub Tweetup ladies came to #yvrtwestival - thank you @rachaelpachel @earnestgirl @raspberrykids @sharilyn and more.

And yes there were more of us, and even more after that because right after the Twestival ended a bunch of us gals headed down to Granville Island for a lovely dinner at the Dockside, which was another little tweetup born and raised on Twitter. A Mom's night out with YummyMummy Club founder Erica Ehm.

What is Yummy MummyClub you ask?


Go to the next post for (part 2).......

feelings for sale~ rough draft, rachael chatoor

Song idea came from one of my favorite childhood poets, Shel Silverstien and his wonderful poem Sister for Sale.

Feelings for sale, Feelings for sale, some trying and sighing young feelings for sale
I don't want them anymore, they're just doing me wrong
Trying to make me go to places where I just dont' belong.
Feelings for sale, Feelings for sale, some vying and prying dumb feelings for sale

Im going to wrap them up so pretty
that your never going to know
They way they are going to tear you apart if you ever let them show
I don't need them anymore this has gone on too long
I could have a thousand faces but I only want one

Feelings for sale, Feelings for sale, some vying and sighing young feelings for sale
Feelings for sale Feelings for sale, want to go to the party now like I never really cared.