May 05, 2013
NEW MERCHANDISE COMING SOON!
SHIRTS: With summer dates on the horizon, we've started to re-stock some of our merchandise. The new shirts have a faded "retro" look to them and were modeled around an original Helix shirt I still had from the 80's. They're $24.99 plus $9.99 for shipping. ****ONLY AVAILABLE IN NORTH AMERICA through the Planet Helix website. For outside North America you will have to email me at bvollm0656@rogers.com, as shipping prices will depend on where you are located.
PICKS: Our picks are also a big seller. We now have JOHN CLAUS picks, as well as the picks we've had before for the other band members. All picks come in 4 different colours-pink, white, black, and green. There's also ROCK YOU picks with the HELIX logo on the flip side. Many of our pick orders come from overseas where collecting different picks from different bands is a hot hobby.
STORAGE WARS
A couple of weeks ago I was at the Y when I heard on the radio that the hit show Storage Wars was coming to Canada. The TV people were looking for applicants for the show, so I wrote them an email and offered Randy and I for the job. Randy (Heywood) and I have been friends for over 30 years, having first met when we originally played the Ridout Tavern in the late 70's. Randy has been in the auction business since he was 5 years old, so the two of us applying for the show seemed like a no brainer. (a lot of people we told about this felt the same way). The casting company received over 300 applications and we made it into the Top 11. For a week and a half we held our breath while the production company made the final decision as to whom would actually become the characters on the show. We narrowly missed out, but the casting company asked us if we'd be interested (along with Lynda ) to make guest appearances on the show during the season. I said, "Sure!" as it's a good foot in the door. You never know where something might lead down the line.
THANKYOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO VOTED FOR US IN THE STORAGE WARS POLL!!!
METAL ON ICE
My writing partner Sean Kelly, who plays guitar for Nelly Furtado, Carol Pope, and Gilby Clark (just to mention a few) is writing a book called "Metal on Ice", which has already received pre-orders from Indigo Books. The book is a story of Sean growing up and the influences of Canadian rock/metal acts from the 80's on him and his career. The release of Metal on Ice will be September 21st in Toronto at a yet undisclosed location. Sean is putting together a "house band" of top notch musicians for that night, and Russ Graham of the Killer Dwarfs, Carl Dixon of Coney Hatch, Nick Walsh of Slick Toxic and myself will be singing. Christopher Ward will be the MC. Details of how the actual set will run are still being worked out. Sean is also hoping to get some "guest appearances" by some other high profile stars. As soon as the total lineup is confirmed for the show, tickets will be going on sale.
To coincide with the book release, there will also be an EP of re-recorded songs by bands in the book-Helix being one of them. Our song on the EP will be Heavy Metal Love. I know that the Killer Dwarfs song will be Keep that Spirit Alive. Incidentally, Russ has an acoustic CD of re-recorded Killer Dwarf hits out right now which is top of the charts. Good for him. He deserves it.
CLICK HERE
As anyone who follows hockey knows, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in many years. Last September Helix released our first ever self written Christmas ditty called "All I Want for Christmas Is the Leafs to Win the Cup." Unfortunately for us there was a hockey strike, and by the time they all got back on the ice, Christmas was over and much of the "traction" on the song was over, even though I was interviewed on TSN by Michael Richards, NHL Center Ice by Scott Laughlin, and Rudy Blair of 680 News. However, now they're back, and last night they beat the Bruins in their own barn, stoking Toronto fans' expectations to a fever pitch. Lynda and I have been posting the link to the video for the song on Facebook every time they win and asking fans to pass it around.
TO ALL OUR FANS WHO HAVE BEEN PASSING AROUND THE LINK TO "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS THE LEAFS TO WIN THE CUP"----THANKYOU!!!!!
GATOR TED'S SPECIAL EVENT
On Thursday, May 23rd we're playing a special event at Gator Ted's in Burlington. The club is hosting a high school reunion being held across the street and had approached me through Daryl to play. The room is small, and so both Ted and myself were concerned about blowing people away with volume. After discussing it, I offered up the idea that instead of playing our normal electric set, because it was a reunion - how about playing an acoustic set instead and talking about the songs in between? Ted loved the idea, so that's what we're going to do. As for the P.A. and lights, we've hired Brett Davidson from Brantford for the night. I saw his system when I went to see Tom Wilson at the Army and Navy Club in Brantford on Brett's birthday and was blown away, not only by Tom's show, but by the sound and lights. The cool thing about the light show was the laser show that went with it. I think it's going to be PERFECT for our acoustic show. Anyway you cut it, it's going to make for a unique night. You can pick up your ticket for the show online by going to the Gator Ted website. This show is open to the public.
