Hi again friends,

The days of summer are running out. Sooner than I’d like, it’ll be back to school and busy as can be. Until then, I plan to enjoy myself as much as possible, and I know you’re doing the same, so this week’s Tell the Band to Go Home will tell you about a few fun ways to enjoy what’s left:

I’ve been telling you forever about the next exciting concert at The Sunset Saloon, featuring Christina Martin and Steven Bowers. The guest list is starting to fill up (thank goodness), and I’d hate for you to be left out, so do let me know if you think you might join us this Thursday for two of Canada’s most exciting young singer/songwriters. (I’ll be perfectly honest, when I looked at the very short list of attendees a week ago I was totally stressed and thinking that I wouldn’t ever get myself into this mess again, but we’ve had some good response in the last week, so I’m starting to calm down. Still, a few more would have me feeling even better, so I’d love it if you’d join us. If bringing one of my favourite artists in Canada to my house for her first and only upcoming Winnipeg appearance doesn’t go off well, I’ll leave the stress to the staff at the Studome from now on.) If you missed Christina on CBC’s Q yesterday (thankfully without Jian Ghomeshi), you’ll want to hear this talented young lady and get to know her a little better this week on Tell the Band to Go Home. Christina and Steven will be on the road gradually making their way to Winnipeg (and all points West), but they’re going to find a spot where they can give us a call and check in from the road. Steven Bowers, by the way, is fast becoming one of my faves as well. His latest two discs have been in heavy rotation here at the home office, and I find more and more to love each time. I don’t know a lot about him yet, but this week on the show we’ll change that. You’ll hear a bunch of his tunes and hopefully hear him talk about his music and his life. (Christina and Steven will also be performing live at CD Plus in the Garden City Shopping Centre on Thursday at 1:00 for a free preview of the great concert that evening. I’d love to see some of you out there (even cheapskate Eugene, who will be at CD Plus, but refuses to come to my house concert just because I wouldn’t accept his Guttersnipe press credentials. He’d rather weasel his way into Times to see a band he can see any time. Boo. Don’t be a Eugene!))

Also on tour across this country right now, is another super talented young singer/songwriter named Liam Titcomb. He’s on a very interesting fundraising camper tour raising money for War Child . He’s playing a show at the Forks on Monday at noon with local legend Fred Penner, looking for donations to War Child. We’re hoping he makes it into Winnipeg in time to stop by the show to play us some of his melodic, memorable, wonderful songs and talk about his connection to the charity. This is one well worth checking out.

And, while I’m on the topic of liberating you from your hard earned money… again this year I’ll be participating in the MS Society’s Biking to the Viking fundraiser where I haul my fat butt from Stonewall to Gimli via bicycle. It’s a challenge, but nowhere close to the challenge of living with this frightening disease. Many of you have been kind and generous, to the point where my fundraising total is higher than I ever dreamed. But I’m greedy, and I know it will take a lot to conquer this disease (although it looks more and more possible every year!) so I want to raise more. I’m only $200 away from reaching a total I never dreamed I could reach (A THOUSAND DOLLARS!) and I know that money will make a huge difference. Plus, knowing that I’m the $1000 man (Stu’s been on the air longer, so he can keep his title of $3000 man) would mean a lot to me. If anyone hasn’t made a pledge yet (and I know a couple of you couldn’t when I first asked, but said you might closer to the date), please consider doing so now, or just find out more about this very common, but not widely enough known or understood disease: https://msofs.mssociety.ca/2009Bike/Sponsor.aspx?&PID;=1083191&L;=2

Because of this, I won’t be on air live next Sunday. I’ll have something for you to listen to, don’t fear.

Last year I hosted the MS Radio Auction which had me giving away CDs, DVDs, books, and more in return for pledges. This year, I’m a little lazier. For those who come to my house concert on Thursday, I’ll have a lot of great items up for grabs, including ESSENTIAL CDs from the likes of Shannon Lyon, The Cash Brothers, Ridley Bent, and more, cool DVDs, books, and whatever else my family and I can part with. If you want something, all you need to do is “buy” it with a donation to the MS Bike Tour and you get to take it home with you that night. Easy. So, for those of you attending, please bring a little extra money for a CD from Christina & Steven, and perhaps a small donation to MS. I’ve decided to donate the cost of the food/drinks before hand, so if you wish to donate to that fund, all of it will be donated directly to MS.

Check out:
http://www.christinamartin.net
http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=88635 (Christina’s sonic bids profile with music, bio, information of all kinds)
http://www.stevenbowers.com
http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=83654 (Steven’s sonic bids profile with music, bio, information of all kinds)