Woods & Strings

A canto, in memory of Hubert O'Hearn. A spontaneous improvisation, not unlike a conversation with Hubert: casual, meandering, tongue-in-cheek. Happy, but with a mist of melancholy. Press play and read on... Hubert was poised to give his support to my blues project; but, as we creators who knew him know well, he didn't "support" his friends the way most people do, with a Like on Facebook and maybe a one-in-ten chance of buying the finished product. No, he championed the creators he believed in, throwing the weight of his critical voice and substance of his publishing platforms behind their projects and using his literary voice to make sure the world knew and appreciated what his friends were up to. Hubert O’Hearn was one of my creative mentors. I was never brave enough to do the things he did; throwing caution to the wind and expatriating myself to more authorly climes as he did. But he was always encouraging with my writing, always willing to hand...

Originally published August 7th, 2011 on The Man Sphere When I met Hubert O'Hearn, I was just a pup coming up in the arts sector in Thunder Bay. Hubert had the role of antagonist in a cheesy melodrama production I had the dubious honour of directing music for. One thing about a man who knows his craft; whether as an actor or as a writer; is he knows when the upstart who "outranks" him in production needs a subtle nudge in the right direction, and when to stand back and let the upstart's training speak for itself. When a master ends up working for a student, the master's strength shows in his ability to let the student work confidently. Of course, being a writer, Hubert's interview took on a prose of its own. So I left it. The answers are all here. Name:  Hubert O’Hearn Age:  53 Occupation:  Writer Relationship status:  Engaged/Common-Law Spouse to Kimberly McInnis For how long?:  6 years Kids:  Two Step-children: Amanda age 22 and Bradley age 15 ...

Tight, classic tone. When I was growing up, I wasn't all that into guitar effects. Distortion, maybe some kind of reverb or delay, and that was about it. My friends and I discovered Rocktek pedals, which were the cheapest of all possible budget pedals, and that changed our ability to experiment. My buddy got a Flanger, and I got a Phaser. And we had literally no idea what to do with them. In fact, his dad referred to my phaser experiments as resembling "frogs farting underwater." That ended my phase shifting career. Flash forward some 30 years, and while watching some guitar FX demos on YouTube, I saw a great one for the Joyo Vintage Phase. In the hands of the player using it, I realized what I'd been missing. It isn't just a modulation sweep effect. It can create a leslie or tremolo effect as well. So when I saw a used one for sale on the Facebook Marketplace, I grabbed it. I mean, even brand new these things sell for less that $50 Canadian on Amazon, so ...