High School Projects Revisited - Don't Expect Them to Cry (2011 Version)

Above: My 2009/10 (guitar added in 2011 played by Ryan Mackey) song, ‘Don’t Expect Them to Cry’, which was written originally for a school project. For this video I used newer footage, however the sound recording is still the 2011 version, but remastered.

I remember it like it was only yesterday, during my time in Communication Technology class, or Comm-Tech for short, we learned how to create music, and also make videos in high school it was around 2009 into 2010. Most kids used the hour as an excuse to waste time, and fool around, an easy class if you didn’t want to try, you didn’t have to. Myself on the other hand, I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker from a young age, growing up loving buddy cop films, and action adventure flicks, I decided that is something I wanted to pursue as a career path. I always had an ear for music, I am a mostly self-taught musician, I typically play happy chorded melodies which I was able to figure out using an old Casio Keyboard at my family house during the high school era of my life, in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.

The high school I attended, was called Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School, or CCVS for short, it still exists today (last time I checked). Back when I attended, it was only for the last 2 grades of high school, I believe now it is 7-12 Grade school (but please don’t quote me on that). I worked with 2 teachers the most at that school Robert Poirer, my Dramatic Arts teacher, and Sylvain Champagne, my Comm-Tech guru. Looking back, one of the best parts about the both of them is that they always let you get on and do your thing, they never tried to stop you from creating art, and they both had a terrific sense of humour. I was quite the sarcastic clown, and still remain so to this day. One cool thing about attending CCVS is that on a spare period you are right in the heart of the city, the Cornwall Square Shopping Centre is not that far away, a few city blocks, if you want to grab some lunch at the food court.

The project ‘Don’t Expect Them to Cry’ was conceived by myself, and possibly Bran Rainey, it’s been so long I’ve forgotten some of the more close details of this story. Usually we were assigned a topic, or it was a competition. I know this one did go into a school board festival circuit around 2009 or 10. I have an old DVD with it on it. The original video had my friends playing gang members, the cast was actually large considering it was a school project that was 100% volunteer. We always had a sense of humour with our videos, and one of the gang members, was wearing those shutter shades, and a bandana. It was comical at times, sometimes serious, a homage to those old-school, corny Public Service Announcement videos, that we had all grown up with in the ‘80s, and ‘90s era.

At the end of the original music video, 2 gang members, of opposing sides take their brawl into the street near the school, and it’s implied they both get hit by a car. Right before impact it flashes white, then as the instrumental goes into that weird reverse sound (that was an effect that I was big on in that era 2009-2011) it shows the clip of them fighting into the street in reverse, and takes the audience back to the key scene. An alternate dimension if they hadn’t fought each other that day.

Growing up, and seeing how the world is, I’m glad we made projects like this, despite the obvious cheese, the point is to inspire people to focus on the good in the world, and not get tied up in a world of nastiness. Just because something pays a lot, doesn’t mean it's going to make you a happy, and fulfilled person. Obeying the law is less rewarding (at least in the short term) however, if you smarten your spending habits, don’t let addictions consume you, then you might just stand a chance at creating the dream life you want to. I never said it was going to be easy, hardships happen to all people, even the rich too. One thing is for sure, you aren’t going to succeed the way you really want to, if you choose a life of crime. You’ll soon wish you could go back to whatever innocence you had as a child, before you realized how society actually works.

I’m actually debating on trying to set-up some kind of workshop to teach youth how to build music on their iPhone and iPads. I know a lot of troubled kids want to be rappers, or rockstars, even then it’s just lots of fun making music, and once you get decent and making it, it soon becomes an artistic outlet, which can never go a miss. Art makes life worth living, as well as family, and good friends…can’t forget food either! Hopefully if they can make any revenue from it down the road, they could perhaps come back to where they began, and try to inspire, and help others here at home.

Either way, as long as they not committing horrible crimes, and spending their whole life in the courts and prison systems, that’s a win in my books!

I recorded the new clips of me singing at my apartment on a green screen. The rest of the clips were free to use stock footage, from a website called ‘Pexels’, a site that my filmmaker friend, Jake Adamson introduced me to many years ago. The guitar, as mentioned above, was played by Ryan Mackey, a high school friend who was a great help on a variety of projects.

Anyways I hope you enjoy the video. Be sure to explore my website to check out more of my original music and videos. My name is James Hardiment, I am a British born, Canadian singer-songwriter based out of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. I have 2 albums out right now on all major streaming services. ‘Wine’ (2017), and 'Rescue Me’ (2024). I also have CDs, photography for sale, I have a table at Modern Primitive first Saturday of every month, and a podcast called ‘Bridge to the Seaway with James Hardiment’ on YouTube.

I am best known for my feature film ‘Windigo’, which was a straight to YouTube Indie horror flick that amassed over 1.5 million views on the original cut. I am also known for the song ‘Wine’ to a lesser extent, which has over 45, 000 views (as of writing this). Another notable song (one I’m probably known for more to be honest) is the track ‘Somethin In The Woods’, which was the end credits song to the film mentioned above.

That’s all for tonight's entry folks, remember to stay in school!

James

Looking for Me?

Last summer, was a big leap in my transition, from a mostly studio based artist, into a live setting again. Whilst it is true, that I’ve performed live, I had never toured around with it the way I am doing now, the last performances I had done, of my own original music, prior to 2023, were back in my high school days!

2020, during the whole national closing down ordeal, that all Canadians went through, I spent that time continuing my second album, a project at that point in time that was going to be called ‘Corrupted’, but would eventually become ‘Rescue Me’, as we know it today. All I did during those days was work my full time job, at a local tire warehouse in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, then headed home, to work on my craft in my free time. I was able to collaborate with some surprising people, from all over the world, as well as closer to home. I’ve mentioned these folks in previous blog articles. From Cape Town, South Africa/Old Orchard Beach, Maine/Ottawa, Ontario.

By the time 2023 rolled around, things had started to calm down a bit, and places had reopened fully, as it was before the lockdown. I was able to go out to bars, and began to sing regularly at Rendezvous Restaurant, in Cornwall. It was there I met my friend Rodney Rivette, owner of Rockstar Party Productions, who runs the karaoke nights on a Wednesday, Saturday, every week (as of writing this) starting at 8pm. During my fun, and sometimes wild nights at that great venue, I was able to meet, and sing alongside some wonderful talent. Typically, I would drink 0% beer, which would allow me the freedom to drive wherever I wanted to after, say if I wanted to sing karaoke at another bar, I would not be limiting my transportation options.

That’s where I would meet Jonny Yumang, a highly talented, respected, and seasoned performer who even made a cameo appearance in my music video shot that summer, called ‘Señorita Por Favor’. I look forward to working with him, as well as the other great performers that I’ve had the pleasure of dancing, and crooning beside. No windows broken by our voices yet, and believe me we’ve tried…

Whilst singing karaoke, I met a fan of mine Bertha, who asked if I would be able to perform for the White Knucklerz RC, a local riding club that raise money for children with life threatening illness, and help them get their dream toy. I agreed to meet up with them, and on July 15th 2023 I had my first original live show. It was lots of fun, but a very hot and humid day, I would quickly discover. After that I went on to perform again, for the Martintown Grist Mill on that same month. The crowd was small that day, perhaps 10 people or so, and it was sweltering with heat, but I still managed to pool in $80 in tips, as well as sell one of the bracelets that my friend Mel had made for me to sell to fans.

Pictured: Rescue Me album opened up, it was a CD in a vinyl record style.

Later that year I created my CD versions of both ‘Wine’ (my 2017 album), and ‘Rescue Me’ which I released at that moment. I sold the pair $10 for Wine, and $20 for Rescue Me. In total by the end of the year I’d sold over 30 copies! I sign each copy for my fans. A print shop in Summerstown, close to the local small airport, called P&L Printing, helped me create my labels, and cover cards, I duplicate the CDs myself using a tower.

Pictured: My new album merch has arrived, ‘Rescue Me’ shirts have been selling nicely too. I’m in the process of ordering more as of writing this article.

So as it stands now, if you scroll to the bottom of my homepage on my official website: www.jameshardiment.com

You will find a contact form, which allows you to book me for a live event this 2024 season. My base rate is $250 and that price will increase by $100 based on how many extra performers or crew that I’d require. That base rate is based on a show that lasts up to 4 hours with intermission. I will do charity shows, if I approve of the organization, for free, I just ask that I am allowed to set up a merch table to sell my CDs, and Shirts, etc. to support myself (15% of proceeds will be donated to the host and their charity).

You can also just email: jameshardiment@outlook.com

I look forward to this new season, and can’t wait to engage, and connect with more of my incredible fans!

Until next time…

James

Come Mr. DJ, Afro-Italiano Replay…

If you don’t know me, and it’s your first time reading the blog, my name is James Hardiment. I am a British born Canadian singer-songwriter/music producer from the town of Rochdale (pronounced ‘Rotch-dale’). If you aren’t familiar with the United Kingdom, my hometown is very close to the city of Manchester, England. Most people, have heard of the world famous soccer team, Manchester United, they are located there, as well as their equally famous rivals Manchester City. At this point I’ve spent over half of my life in Canada however, the majority of it close to the small border city of Cornwall, Ontario.

I’ve been writing original music since I was a teenager in high-school. Penning a variety of catchy, 1980s inspired tracks, for various school projects.

My first serious pop album was released in 2017, called ‘Wine’, which infused my love of ‘80s/‘90s with that 2010s sound. It was recorded up in Ottawa, Ontario (the nations capital), at Hart Studios, (now Josh Hart Recordings). The music video for the title track has 45,000+ views since writing this article on YouTube.

Recently I’ve started to dabble in DJ experimentations. I purchased a nice semi-pro controller deck, Pioneer DDJ FLX-4, incredibly easy, and versatile to use. Most DJs I’ve seen at the local bars don’t even use the decks on a typical night, they just leave a playlist running. The controller is for a more hands on remixing, and transistions live. I could go into so much detail about it, but for those who’ve never DJed before, the controller allows you to play digital files, which you own, through compatible software, and use the device to simulate record scratching, twist knobs to add echo, reverb, looping effects. All the cliches of dance music over the years can be done live. I’m still learning all the terminology, as with most of my musical journey, I’m self-taught.

My DJ playlists that I’ve been building include a variety of ‘80s dance music from Europe, and Africa. I love to play this stuff to people here, because most locals seem to have never heard of the artists, yet many were big names in their respective countries. Considering Canada has so many people moving from all over the world, some folks around here might even remember some of these tracks from old television programs, or perhaps a track they danced to in a discotheque back in the day!

My favourite genres are as follows:

Italo Disco, Bubblegum, Afro-Funk, Synth-Boogie.

You can find many playlists compiled on websites, such as YouTube. I’ve been discovering music using the platform since I was a teen.

I’ve been in talks with a variety of different venues in the area to perform some DJ sets in 2024. Still looking for more, if you are running a bar nightclub in Ontario/Quebec, or know someone that does please reach out and contact me. All my socials are at the bottom of the site.

That’s all for today folks, I’m off to work now!

-DJ Jamesy Marinero

Email:

jameshardiment@outlook.com

Phone:

+1 (613) 870-1808

Mixing Things Up…

So for those new to my blog, my name is James Hardiment, I’m a British born, Canadian singer/songwriter based near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. I’ve been back in the area for many years now. I invested a lot of money this summer on speakers, mixing boards, microphones, and more so I can finally perform my original music to a live audience.

My style, as I have mentioned in previous blog posts, is a combination of pop, rock, alternative, dance, and Italo Disco. I was lucky, and honoured, to perform in front of audiences this past summer, both in Martintown, Ontario, and also a charity event in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. I have more shows in the works, but I spent the rest of my summer trying to finish mixing my album myself. I had about half of it mixed up in Ottawa, by the super talented sound engineer, Josh Hart, who mixed my first album. It’s not my first time mixing music, however I liked to get a second pair of ears on the project, I was also lacking the equipment to do so for awhile.

I finally bit the bullet, and invested significant amount of personal funds into a new laptop, mixing software, plug-ins, video editing software, and more gear to improve the overall quality of my work. Now that’s finally starting to pay off in a big way. The album is complete, as of last week, and the CDs are made, a process in which I was heavily involved in the creation process. I had an awesome local print shop, based in Summerstown, Ontario, print my CD labels, and cover artwork, onto a nice glossy paper. P&L Printing, and I couldn’t recommend them more! The turnaround time was close to lighting fast, and the end result still gives me tingles! As of writing this I’ve sold over 10 copies in the first few days. Which for an indie artist, that does almost all of his marketing by himself, is a pretty awesome achievement.

Special thanks to Yafa Goawily, and Modern Primitive Cornwall Square, in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, for allowing me to sell my CDs, and photography at their Open House Event on Saturday November 4th 2023. It was really fun showcasing some of my work to the shoppers that passed by.

I spent the better part of an evening burning my CDs one at a time using a vinyl style of disc last week on a Thursday evening. It took about 6 hours to create 40 CDs with one burner, I set up in a quiet corner of Jack’s Pub in Williamstown. A great little restaurant, and bar, which I hope to write a piece on soon, a lovely spot nestled just outside of Cornwall. Their food is so good, the staff so warm, and friendly, and it doesn’t seem as dramatic as the city bars can be sometimes, which is a nice change of pace.

It feels good to finally complete this album, another accomplishment to be proud of in my life, which I try to make the most of while I still can. So many people I have known over the years are no longer with us anymore, some unfortunately younger than myself. I try to work on my passions, dreams, and help others with theirs along the way.

‘Rescue Me’ album interior of the CD, I went with a retro vinyl style for my discs. ‘Cute 4 Ya Height Records’, was a name inspired by a drunkard fellow I encountered at the bar once who was measuring girls with a tape measure, telling them that they were “pretty cute for their height”, it was rather bizarre and amusing at the same time. The same fellow once gave my friend an Asian pear as she was working, tried to give me a block of caramel straight from his jacket pocket in no packaging. Keep in mind I did not know who he was either. That’s part of the fun of entering the nightlife of your local town!

“Wine” CD is currently selling for $10

“Rescue Me” CD is currently selling for $20

Contact me if you would like a copy, on social media, or email, all the links to my socials are at the top of my website as buttons. Be sure to like, follow, share, and subscribe to my channels.

Thanks again fans, for your continuing support,

James

A Rock Star For the Evening!

Thursday, June 22nd, 2023 was the day that I performed karaoke in front of my largest crowd yet (estimated to be about 300 people) at the Lions Club Bandshell, in Lameroux Park, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. For those new to the blog I am a singer/songwriter called James Hardiment, who has been performing karaoke regularly in town now for months, to practice for my upcoming original live performances this summer 2023. The event was hosted by both the Lions Club, and Rockstar Party, which is a live entertainment company based in the city owned by Rodney Rivette, who amongst other things is also a musician as well, and a darned good one at that! It was part of the larger “Arts in the Park’ festival taking place over the coming months.

The team behind the scenes was large enough, the ones I knew from the bar karaoke scene were; Christopher Chalette, and Brittany Robinson. Not to mention the various stage hands, and also the camera man filming the event onto the projector behind us as we sang. Really cool set-up, Rodney knows how to put on a great show as usual! Brittany sang an Abba song too which was great, Chris got up too, and Rodney. I sang 2 songs, “Pop Musik” by M, followed by, “I’m in a Hurry”, by Alabama. It was a whole different experience for myself, I hadn’t performed on a big stage since my high school days, it was probably my biggest gathering to date. I was surprised at how composed I kept myself, not going to lie though, my leg did start to shake a little bit.

When the show began it was a little too bright with the sun, but by the time I performed it had set significantly which helped to see the lyrics on the screen in front of me. The audience seemed to be pleased, there was much applause, which I am grateful for, it always nice to see people happy. I really want to help support the arts in the community, and get as many people involved as I can. It’s fun to let loose and sing sometimes, takes away the pain, or sorrow that a person might feel, deep in their heart…not talking about anyone in particular, just in general of course! Rockstar Party offers a wide variety of genres to perform, and Rodney makes that extra effort to use really cool tricks to make you sound as great as possible, no auto-tune though sorry!

My friend and fellow performer Jonny Yumang took some pictures of me on stage as I sang, which I have since cleaned up in my editor program to show the people who missed the show. Check the website regularly for upcoming live shows this summer, I will be posting them soon! It will be at the top in the menu section, all goes well. There are plenty of great musicians, film screenings, etc which are coming to the park this summer, so be sure to check the Arts in the Park schedule:

https://www.cornwall.ca/en/play-here/arts-in-the-park.aspx

Don’t forget Rockstar Party will return with more Karaoke in the park soon with the Rib Fest Idol competition. Check their official page for more updates:

https://cornwallribfest.com/ribfestidol/

You can find all of us around town performing karaoke in the meantime, Rockstar Party hosts at Rendezvous Restaurant at 1213 Pitt St. Cornwall, Ontario, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8pm-12pm or later on the weekends. Be sure to join their group on Facebook for event updates too, they also do sound for many different live acts as well.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2244363646

So if you are looking for some things to do in Cornwall this summer 2023, it looks like the events are starting to kick off, which is always my favourite time of the year. Things are open again, let’s get out there and have an amazing warm season together as a community. I’m loving the music scene here in town, I knew very little about it in all honesty, I seem to recall helping to sell merchandise for a local band called Graham Greer (I believe they are going to be at Arts in the Park this year also!) with an old high school friend called Josh back in the day as they performed one night in Ottawa, and some of my friends have had various projects, but now I’m at the bars I’m meeting more and more cool musicians. You can also check out the “Cornwall Ontario Area Musicians”, page if you are looking to meet or collaborate with fellow artists:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/187277234633703

Until I write again…

James

Calling for Backup!

(Pictured: Jonny Yumang singing some backups while I snap a quick photo in my garage. I chose the garage for the extra natural reverb.)

If you are new to the blog, my name is James Hardiment, and I am a singer/songwriter that is about to release a new album called “Rescue Me” in the coming months. I will also be doing a live tour with backing tracks around the local area, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada and the surrounding places. I was heavily inspired by ‘80s and ‘90s dance music from Europe, North America, and South Africa. I was also inspired by old Doo Wop tracks from the 1950s, think to songs like Rama Lama Ding Dong by the Esdels, from that era where people cruised in cars as big as boats around to the drive-in diner, rollerblading waitresses would serve them milkshakes. Think “Grease” type of time period, with John Travolta, and Olivia Newton John. The greasers, nerds, jocks, cheerleaders to name a few of the groups of those days. For some of my covers I require a different voice than my own for the back-up vocals. So I’ve been calling up my friends from the karaoke scene in town to help me out. My friend and performer Jonny Yumang came up to my house in Long Sault and we worked on a song together.

My Rescue Me tour will consist of me playing between 30-40 tracks (mostly originals) with some covers too, my various inspirations in my own music mainly. Most of which are not well know in this market, with a few exceptions, so I’m hoping it will make for a nice change. I see plenty of country, rap, and rock acts in the area, but not too many doing dance music from the 1980s from Europe, and South Africa. I’ve mentioned before my genres include Italo Disco, which came after ‘70s Disco, and before ‘90s house music. I also enjoy South African Bubblegum, Funk, and Synth Boogie styles, all from the 1980’s and ‘90s as well. If you are curious you can always go onto YouTube and take a browse, thats how I discovered it all back in high school.

I’m actually looking for a backup singer live right now, I think I may have found a candidate but if anyone else is interested please feel free to get in touch. I typically perform on weekends, since I work during the week at present. Looking for female at present, but also male eventually as well. If you scroll to the bottom of the home page, you can find all my socials there.

My first event as I’ve mentioned before is July 15th 2023 at the White Knucklerz place at 527 Pitt St. Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. It’s going to be from 12-3pm. Looking forward to it as they are raising money for a sick child called Ewan who has Cystic Fibrosis, trying to buy him his dream toy! I’m so honoured to be able to perform, I hope he enjoys the upbeat sound. I will also be at the Martintown Grist Mill, selling some merchandise (fingers crossed) as well as singing my songs on a stage out front on July 23rd at 10am-3pm (probably not the whole time obviously, there will be a break) check back on my website in the coming weeks for more details.

Remember to like, follow, and share the blog posts with others if you can. I really appreciate everyone, and their support to me as an artist in this awesome community that we have here. Lots of creativity, and love for music, art, and entertainment. Let’s keep it going for the summer ahead!

James

Catch the Release...

This month, I (singer/songwriter James Hardiment) teamed up with upcoming filmmaker Jake Adamson, to help him create the soundtrack to his short film, “Down by the Bay”. The project stars Evan Bridson as the lead, the plot is reminiscent of Jonah and the Whale, meets Jaws. Filmed and edited in both Long Sault, and Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.

Last year, I worked with Adamson on another film, called “Murder of Crows”, which we filmed out in Kemptville, with Ottawa actor Olivia Gault, and Kemptville thespian Maxwell Brennan, both in their early 20s. Adamson, and I, are in our 30s at this point! It was screened at one of last years KINO monthly film festivals (or maybe it was our own J3 Pictures screening party at the same location), hosted by filmmaker, photographer, cinematographer, and visual artist Vincent Valentino, and fellow artist Delaney Hinds. Vincent runs the Ottawa Filmmakers page on Facebook, which is a great way to find other like-minded, creative video creators.

KINO is hosted every month at LIVE! on Elgin, which is an event space, bar, and stage above Zak’s Diner at 220 Elgin St. in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Vincent knows the owners, and they are very supportive of the arts. Many live music shows pass through the space, so be sure to check out their page to see what’s coming soon. A projector is set up on the stage and the laptop is plugged into the sound system as well. They usually screen around 15 films, and there is typically an intermission between, about the half way mark. There is a fully staffed bar, and tables to sit at for the show. Vincent and Delaney typically pick the theme for each month and post on their official KINO page onto Facebook. This months theme was "Catch & Release”.

For the “Down by the Bay” film, Jake chose to create a black and white look, which appears to be a consistent theme with his two independent projects so far, since he got back into creating his own original pieces. The film is all about a man who heads out onto the bay in his kayak to go fishing, and the crazy adventure that ensues. I really love the ingenuity of filming on a micro-budget, using a smartphone to shoot, and utilizing the space that surrounds you. The kayak belonged to Evan, so it wasn’t bought just for the project. Jake has been honing his Special FX skills, blending CGI, and stock footage to create impressive, cinematic scenes on a shoe-string.

Evan Bridson plays the lead character of the short, a Kayaker who ends up going for a wild ride!

Building the music, Jake wanted me to adapt the melody from an old nursery rhyme tune called Down by the Bay (the same as the title of the film.) and he gave me rough ideas of what he had in mind. He wanted some discomforting sounds from time to time, so I tried to play some eerie string noises. I chose an old, off-key piano sound for the main melody, which would speed up in tempo, or slow down, dependant on the scene. On the other hand, for the calmer sequences, he desired a more upbeat version. So I used happier sounds, such as brighter, higher piano, accompanied with brighter pad synthesizer chords.

The film, along with the other entries, shall be screened this Wednesday June 28th, 2023 at 220 Elgin St. in Ottawa, as mentioned before above. Tickets are $10 at the door. Here are the links below:

https://ottawafilmmakers.com/pages/kino

That’s all for now folks, I’m very busy this week!

James

New Album Coming Soon

My name is James Hardiment, I am a singer/songwriter based near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and I’m about to release my brand new album, “Rescue Me”, this summer 2023! 20 tracks in total, the record spans a little over 1 hour and 16 minutes in length, over double that of my original pop album, “Wine”, which was released in 2017. That album was 8 tracks, which equaled just under a half hour of music.

It will be available on most streaming services in the coming months, the ones I tend to shout out are Apple Music, and Spotify, but there are plenty of others out there too! Many of the music videos I shot for the various songs over the years can be found on my official YouTube channel. I’m also going to be doing a limited CD release, which to start with, will be available only at my live performances on a merch table. I will also get some shirts made too soon. Merch is probably the best way to support an artist in all actuality, considering you are paid pennies for 100s of views, versus 100 people buying a song for $1 off iTunes = $100 (obviously not everyone listening would buy but even if 25 out of the hundred did, $25, that would still be more than pennies!) The same logic applies for CDs, vinyls, cassettes, clothing, etc. Streaming is still great though, it just doesn’t pay as much, but by all means continue to stream, I do every day. A great way to help us independent musicians, is to build your playlists with your favourite mainstream or indie songs, and include one of our songs in that list. Somebody goes to a list to hear their favourite music, then accidentally stumbles onto our originals!

The world is changing so much, I think if I told someone 100 years ago in the business that you could build, and record music, using your phone, tablet, computer, with people by sending each other files over the internet, they would laugh you out of the room. Imagine the look of hilarity on their face, as you begin to tell them about how you can post a song instantly, and millions of people could theoretically listen right away if you were well known enough? Even I am blown away, and I’m living it, when I first started making videos for example, I was still using mini DV cassette tapes, if anyone remembers those?

The live show will consist of most of the songs from the album, plus the Wine album, and mixed in will be some of my favourite cover songs. Considering my big inspirations for my own music include Italo Disco, essentially a dance music from Europe in the ‘80s, and South African bubblegum pop from that era too, the majority of my covers are songs from that time. Many of you will have probably never heard of them, some are so obscure and buried at this point, so it will be fun to dig them out again. I feel like a musical archeologist, digging through the digital crates of YouTube to find this old school music. Most dance music from back then was largely forgotten, with a few exceptions, as soon as the ‘90s rolled around, and everybody moved on to that house sound that became mega popular in the nightclubs. I will also be doing some doo wop covers too in that style since I find that both the ‘50s and ‘80s seem to blend very well, considering many songs had those happier, nostalgic, chord progressions.

At first I’m going to start fairly small, I have my outfit, a white linen blazer, blue speckled shirt, white speckled tie, blue chinos, and a pair of blue, imitation crocodile slip on dress shoes with gold buckles. I also have a speaker, my laptop for the music, microphones, a mixing board, and various other equipment. Eventually I’d like to get some back up singers to team up with me, I’ve met a few potential candidates for the show, especially now that I’ve been hitting up the local Cornwall Karaoke scene.

My first confirmed 100% booked show (unless it is cancelled) is July 15th in Cornwall. It’s hosted by the White Knucklerz, who are local non for profit organization which raises money for a child with a life threatening illness, to buy them their dream toy! I’ll be performing from 12-3pm, hope to see you there.

That’s all for now, until the next article,

James

Milling Around Martintown...

I took a visit from my place in Long Sault, Ontario, Canada up to the lovely little community of Martintown, situated beside the Raisin River about 5-10 minutes away from my home. For those of you reading the blog for the first time, my name is James Hardiment. I am a singer/songwriter based in the area that was originally born in the UK in a place called Rochdale, just outside of Manchester in the United Kingdom. I’ve spent over half my life in Canada now, attending high school here in Cornwall, Ontario (about 15 minutes away from my house).

Being a member of the Focus Art Association in Cornwall, a non-for-profit visual arts club, which I was briefly the Vice-President of last year, I often get emails about local art related events in the community and surrounding areas. Last week I received an email regarding an art event up at the Martintown Grist Mill, when I got in touch they explained the events would be held on various Sundays this summer. When I told the organizer that I was also a singer/songwriter she offered me a chance to perform, I’m still working out the details but if it goes ahead as planned I’ll be sure to let you guys know on my official musician Facebook page! (If you scroll to the bottom of this site all my social links are there!)

According to the sign outside the Grist Mill, it was constructed by Malcolm McMartin’s son in 1846, Alexander, who went on to become a politician, militia leader, as well as a successful businessman. His father Malcolm owned many mills which provided a local service, deemed essential, in an era of poor transportation, it helped to create the town itself, and it’s named after the McMartin family. The mill would operate commercially until 1947. Created with the local fieldstone, the structure is 30 x 55 feet, and 4 stories in height. In 1986 it was near collapse, but has since been restored to the public, serving as both a museum, and local event space, since 2004. In 1997 the Martintown Mill Preservation Society, a non-for-profit organization took ownership and maintain the property, members will also guide you through the space, teaching you about the community, its roots, and origin stories.

It looks like if I do perform it will be outside on a stage that has been constructed in the front entrance of the mill. There appears to be plug ins so I should be able to plug in my speakers, and equipment to play the backing tracks. There will be plenty of musicians performing over the summer hopefully, liven up downtown Martintown a bit! I went down to the river and spotted a Heron, I snapped a picture but I was too far away for it to look good, with just my phone. Earlier in the year there is a big canoe race on the river, would love to check it out someday.

Inside the building you can still see some of the original equipment on display, much of the original gear has been transported to Upper Canada Village, which is a museum town that has a working historic mill for tourists. (Not too far away up the number 2 highway West from Cornwall, it’s a nice drive in the summer months for sure.) The 2nd level of the Grist Mill now serves as a museum, telling the rich history of the settlement, and some of the key people who made a difference over the years. Some artifacts are on display, and old signage, tools that would have been used, scale models of the local structures, and more. It was very interesting to delve deeper into a place I drove past on a regular basis, but actually knew very little about.

I hope to interview one of the members of the Preservation Society soon and go into more detail about the place. That was one of the goals of the blog, and podcast, to showcase towns, and people in the area which are trying to make a positive difference to the community. Many people will go off to a resort or major worldwide destination for a holiday, and that’s fine there’s nothing wrong with that, but there is so much to explore in our own backyards! I just want to show you there’s more out there locally than just work and home, especially now as things start to open back up again, and the world goes back to whatever normal is these days.

If you’d like to learn more about the mill you can visit their official website, I’ll post the link below:

www.martintownmill.org

Be sure to follow me on social media as I mentioned before to find out when I’ll be performing, I’m excited and grateful for this amazing opportunity, I love how supportive people have been for us local artists in the community. Hope to see you at some point, until then you can always check the blog to see what I’m getting up to.

That’s all for now,

James

A Walk into Cornwall...

It was a gorgeous, clear, golden morning, a few weeks ago. I had woken up early, after a night of karaoke fun, now safe from the craziness of the bar, at my house in Long Sault, Ontario, Canada. It’s not in the town of Long Sault, closer to the 401 Highway if anything. I often walk or bike in the summer time when I can do it, just one of the many activities I enjoy doing. It gives me a great opportunity to keep my photography, and videography skills as sharp as possible.

I took a stroll down Headline Rd. which is a less densely populated street just outside of Cornwall, surrounded by farm fields, and also forest. It eventually crosses the 138 Highway which leads to the 417 to get up to the nations capital city, Ottawa. I was starting at the other end of the road, close to Power Dam Drive, which heads into Cornwall southbound, and up to the roads that take you to St. Andrews West, and the town of Long Sault. As I got closer to the 138, there are 2 trails, one on each side of the road, known as the South Stormont Recreational Trails. For those that don’t know South Stormont is one of the counties in our province of Ontario, in which the bike paths are located. One walkway leads to St. Andrews West, which is a tiny picturesque village, located at a crossroads of the 138 highway. There is an impressive historical stone church, as well as a great little restaurant called Quinn’s Inn built in 1865 by John Sanfield MacDonald, who would later become the First Premier of Ontario from 1867-1871 according to their official website.

I wasn’t heading up to St. Andrews West that day though, I was headed to Cornwall, to the place I commute through every day. Instead of by car, I was on foot, instead of working, I was exploring, and appreciating the nature which surrounded me at the same time. The bike trail was filled with cool DIY birdhouses, with lettering on them, as well as rocks painted with inspirational quotes. I snapped a few photos to show you below. I thought some of the messages were rather nice compliments, and encouraging words. Perhaps the idea is someone going on a solo walk can be cheered up a bit if they are going through some hardships in life?

Pictured: A friendly baby deer took a peak at me on a previous walk on the trails last summer! Thought I would share to brighten someones day I hope.

You can park your car close the entrance to the trails on the road if you aren’t a local. Both trails are nice but I prefer the one that takes you from Headline Rd. to St. Andrews. I find that one winds a bit more and is a little more interesting visually. I headed to town instead though, stopped by my favourite bar, Rendezvous to charge my phone up for a bit, have a cup of coffee, and an afternoon beer, before heading down to Lameroux Park in Cornwall to check out the St. Lawrence River. When the weather is nice I love to be outside, walking, biking, driving, sometimes I’ll head out with my headphones on to listen to a mix of a song, to make sure it sounds good. As I’ve mentioned before there are plenty of great biking trails in the area, and this is no exception to that. Sometimes you spot some interesting animals too, but in the summer months bug spray is a must!

For those that don’t know I am a singer/songwriter that moved back to the area from Ottawa in 2019. I work full time driving forklifts Monday-Friday 8-4.30pm, then I sell Men’s suits, and shoes, various evenings 5-9pm. The music is more of a hobby, but I do make some money from it, from time to time. I’m hoping to do more live shows in the coming months which will get my name out there more in the area. I have been building an online presence for years, one of my music videos, for a song called “Wine” has over 45,000 views on YouTube which I am happy for.

I hope to do more exploring on foot this summer, as well as by car, discover what I miss on a daily basis by taking the time and seeing what I can. Be sure to follow my social media pages for updates on upcoming music shows, and more! Just scroll to the bottom of the home page, all of my socials should be there.

Well that’s all for now folks,

James

Retro Fun with a Green Screen!

Continuing the ‘Rescue Me’ album, set for release later this summer, I, singer/songwriter James Hardiment, teamed up with live performance artist Jonny Yumang, and filmmaker Jake Adamson to work on a new music video. This time, I would again continue with my upbeat, retro, Spanish Italo Disco, dance music style, which was popular in mainland Europe in the 1980s, especially at nightclubs. That style has been the primary inspiration of the project. The 3 of us filmed our parts on a green screen, which I had set up in my garage at home. I am based in a small town outside of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, called Long Sault (Pronounced Soo) for those reading from the various parts of the globe.

I love the fast synthesizer riffs which were typical of the genre, and the catchy melodies. I would sing the choruses in Spanish, and the verses in English. I love to blend languages in my songs, something many Italo artist would do as well back in the day. Artists such as David Lyme (Jordi Cubino) would sing his verses in English, chorus in Italian. The style originated in Italy, and despite being a Spanish artist, my guess was that he wanted to pay tribute to the country where it all came from. Not sure on that just my theory of course! He was also an opera singer to begin with, who discovered the style by accident, which might have been the reason as well.

The song is called ‘Señorita Por Favor’ and is all about falling in love with a dangerous woman, sort of a tongue in cheek, cartoonish melody. It has a bubblegum pop feel to it during the English verses. My dream girl rides a motorcycle, drives a powerboat on the river, and has a cute little pug that comes with her on her badass adventures. I find the Spanish language so romantic, and fun to sing in! The chorus basically asks a lady if she wants to join my gang of love, a very upbeat, and positive message. If everyone loved each other, things would be a lot better than constantly fighting, but that’s probably too much to ask.

I wanted to make a track that could make you get up and dance to, and I think I succeeded with that part at least. Dance music is one of my favourites, amongst other styles, including rock, pop, RnB, South African synth funk, and boogie. My album explores many different musical genres, but the constant theme throughout is that Spanish Italo Disco sound that I love.

Jonny Yumang is a Cornwall local legend when it comes to singers in town, especially, lately for the present karaoke sets across the city. He can be found often at Glengarry Pub, Rendezvous Restaurant, and Daffodil to name some of the venues in the town that offer karaoke nights. We often perform songs together at Rendezvous especially, sort of my home base. I’m there Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays typically, but Jonny has to work some of those nights. You might as well follow his Facebook page to know, or ask me since we are friends. Rendezvous is at 1213 Pitt St. Cornwall, Ontario. Jonny used to be an Elvis impersonator as well, and has an old costume lying around in an old cupboard somewhere. Lately he has been working another job, outside of music, like many of us have to pay the bills!

Pictured: Jonny Yumang on the keyboards! Fun times for sure.

As I mentioned earlier, I had the guys position on the green screen separately, as it wasn’t big enough for all of us to be in the same shot. There was a bit of room, but it was a bit of a squeeze for Jake with the drum pads on stands to hit to the beat of the track. I shot all the video with my iPhone SE built in camera, then edited the clips together using a powerful video editor app called Cyberlink PowerDirector. I love the cheesy, retro transitions I could throw together, similar to what you would have seen on a TV show in the ‘80s, which is what I was going for. I also ran the final edit through a VHS filter app, it creates a tape look to the footage, complete with distortion, and that analog fuzz you would have seen.

I’ve released the song to YouTube so far, thanks for everyone and their support, liking, commenting, and sharing. Every little helps an artist trying to get his, her, of their name out there. Check it out below!

That’s all for todays blog post I think, I’m excited for the stuff coming together this summer, it’s gonna be a record heatwave, hopefully I can sell some records as well! Feel free to explore my website too, there’s lots to read about, and I try to keep things local too, not always though.

Follow Jonny Yumang on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/RockinKing/

James

Getting Lost in Montebello!

I decided to take a drive from where I am based, close to Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and drive northward passing through Alexandria, Vankleek Hill, and Hawkesbury to cross the river and the border between the two provinces of Ontario, and Quebec. People reading from outside of Canada, a province is our equivalent of a state in the USA. A province will have its own laws, health cards, and driver licenses. Some even have their own police forces, for example Ontario Provincial Police. Ontario is officially bi-lingual, with many signs being in both English, and French. Quebec is predominantly French speaking, it is the official language of the land, all public signage has to be in French. One thing I do enjoy about it being French, is the fact that you feel like a tourist visiting a European country. Especially the larger cities, such as Montreal, and Quebec City, with their historic, cobbled streets in the Old Town areas. English is still widely spoken though, especially in tourist areas. I always like to attempt the French language though, making an effort is always important, even if you aren’t perfect at it!

On this trip however, I wasn’t visiting a large city, but a small, quaint, little village called Montebello, it has a population of just over 1,000 permanent residents. It’s part of a region of Quebec called Outaouais. The sky was blue, the weather was absolutely perfect. I parked up on the main street, Rte 148, to get out and explore the shops, restaurants and cafes. I arrived in the late afternoon, so some of the cafes had already closed for the day. This is probably my 3rd trip to the town in the last few months. On a previous visit I took a look in the tourist information centre, to get some ideas of the summer. I also bought a cappuccino with an almond biscuit at the store attached to the information building, called ‘Chocomotive’. They sell a variety of products, gourmet chocolates, craft beer, wine, and other things as well. Perhaps I can write a more detailed blog post at some point.

Pictured: The tourist information building, which is actually an historical structure, a former Canadian Pacific railway station, built in 1931 with same cedar wood as the famous Fairmont hotel nearby.

Further up the road, you can check out the ‘Fairmont Le Château Montebello’ too, which is a very impressive, historical grand hotel, tucked away in the lush forest, beside the Ottawa River. I took a quick peek the other day, perhaps if I ever find someone special, we can have a full relaxation session at their luxury spa! The architecture reminds one of those alpine log cabins that you would see in Switzerland. Not quite the same, but I see the similarities in building materials, and design. (Haven’t actually been to Switzerland yet, would love to see it some day, random side note…) The buildings were developed by Victor Nymark, and opened on July 1st 1930. It contains 211 rooms and 14 suites. It was owned originally, by the Canadian Pacific Railway, they even built a station, which is now the visitor centre building for the town.

I picked up a flyer for some excursions on 4 wheelers, and other off road, outdoors equipment, could be a fun outing at some point! The indoor pool was also breathtaking, with a super high ceiling, and large windows, which allowed the outdoor light to illuminate the room. There is all kinds of green space surrounding the hotel, you can walk along numerous pathways around the grounds.

Today though, I just wanted to grab a bite to eat, sip a cold beverage, and refresh myself from the drive. I stumbled upon this great pub and restaurant called ‘Le Zouk’ on the main strip. Close to some other bars, pubs, and dining establishments. I enjoyed a nice plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, topped in delicious melted cheese. It was piping hot, the cheese layer kept the heat inside of the pasta dish. I sat on the raised patio and snapped a nice picture of the Main Street.

Pictured: Rte 148 is the Main Street of the town of Montebello, I took this photo whilst I ate my spaghetti dinner on the raised deck patio at ‘Le Zouk’ Pub and Restaurant. The town is surrounded by beautiful natural forest and hills.

After eating my meal, I went for a drive around the surrounding area, it was very beautiful, one of the perks to living in Canada is the scenery, it really is breathtaking. If you’d like to learn more about the region, and things you can get up to you can check out the official tourism website:

https://www.tourismeoutaouais.com/en/

Now I’m back in Cornwall writing about it, sitting in my favourite bar, where I like to sing karaoke on the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays called Rendez-Vous Restaurant. It’s pretty quiet on a Sunday, and open later than most of the cafes in town, I love to work while I’m out and about. For those that don't know, my name is James Hardiment, I am a singer/songwriter, and this is my travel/music/whatever blog on my website. I have a podcast as well called ‘Bridge to the Seaway’ you can listen to the episodes so far here:

Well I suppose it’s au revoir for now Quebec, until next time folks!

James

Spanish Flavours in Prescott

Just off the 401 Highway in Prescott, Ontario, Canada, there is a gourmet Spanish food & beverage importer, also a restaurant too. It’s tucked away in an industrial estate, down a side road, you wouldn't know it was there, if you just drove on the main drag towards the waterfront. It’s called El Rebost de les Mil Illes, and it’s owned and operated by Marc Gomez Segu, who was born in Spain. He met his wife in Barcelona in 2010, lived there for 4 years. They married in 2012 in that nation as well. His wife is Canadian and they would move to Canada in December 2013. Marc had a passion for food, but despite the cultural, and language barrier he began to import premium Spanish products from his home country. He would then distribute them to restaurants and specialty stores here in Canada. He began the business in 2017.

Pictured: Marc was outside expanding his patio, when I snapped some pictures a few weeks ago!

When the lockdowns began, all the places that they supplied ended up closing down, so to make up for the loss of revenue, they decided to open up their own restaurant, and food shop. Initially, it began as a takeout only, then as restrictions eased up, they opened up the patio, and now they are creating a dining room in the unit next door. They are located at 991 Industrial Rd. Unit D, Prescott, ON, K0E 1T0.

Marc has a business commerce university degree, he always dreamed of owning his own business, his passion for cuisine, coupled with years of restaurant experience as a teenager came together naturally. His mother is a great cook, she is one of his biggest inspirations behind the new business venture. There are 2 different divisions, European Quality Foods Ltd. which imports, and distributes. Then there is El Rebost de les Mil Illes (which translates to “The Pantry of the Thousand Islands” in Catalan, which is Marcs native language!) which is the restaurant, and gourmet foods shop. They sell high quality Spanish products that you won’t find in large retailers. The company works directly with farmers, and producers from Spain who stand behind the quality of their products.

When I interviewed him by email (my name is James Hardiment by the way, I am a singer/songwriter based near Cornwall, Ontario, this is my official website and blog.) I asked him what his favourite item was on the menu was? His response was the charcuterie, and paellas on the very top of his list. Paella is probably the most international Spanish dish. Made from rice, it originates from a place called Valencia. It is made with saffron, and sofrito (tomato culinary base) that has different variations; seafood, veggie, chicken, rabbit, even chorizo, etc.

As I mentioned previously, he is expanding to the unit next door, creating a dining room space for visitors. The current space will remain only as the kitchen. The new area will have a designated area for El Rebost as the shop, and a dining room for the restaurant…Little Barcelona! The patio has been open for the last 2 summers, and this year he has decided to put a fence to create a proper sitting area with a nice ambience.

Some of my favourite items that I've purchased include, octopus, and mussel pate. A sort of seafood spread that you can put on toast, or crackers. Delicious, if that’s your cup of tea. I’m a big lover of seafood, I also love pate, typically I buy the more traditional French ones that I’m used to, such as duck for example. I grew up eating a lot of that whilst I lived in England as a young boy. A nice lunch time food, quick and easy, just grab a knife and spread it. I ordered food from their restaurant also, which was delicious, various tapas dishes, and charcuterie boards. To wash it down I enjoyed a Spanish sparkling soda pop.

Talking to Marc was awesome as well, he was so knowledgable about his homeland, the items that he sells at his store. I have always wanted to visit Spain some day, and am fascinated by the food, art, music, and culture of the country. Barcelona is on my bucket list, I’d love to return to Europe some day, but for now I really want to fully explore this great country we live in. There is so much to see and do here at home, I love this place with all my heart, the nature is breathtaking, and most of the people I’ve met have been warm, and hospitable. I moved to Canada from the UK in 2007 as a teenager. I went to high school in Cornwall, then University in Windsor, Ontario. I’ve also lived in Ottawa where I worked on music with my friends.

If you’d like to learn more about Marc and the products that he sells, you can visit his official website:

www.elrebost.ca

I’m also hoping to get Marc on my brand new podcast Bridge to the Seaway, where I sum up these blog articles, then conclude with an interview with a local musician, artist, or business owner in the community. You can listen to the first 4 episodes here:

https://soundcloud.com/james-hardiment/sets/bridge-to-the-seaway-podcast

I’m moving the next episodes over to YouTube this weekend hopefully. Been a little behind as I figure out everything with the new video podcast format. You can find all my channels and socials below the article, if you scroll to the bottom of the website.

Well thanks for reading folks, that’s all for today!

James

Creating a Podcast

I conceived the idea of doing a podcast about the Seaway Valley last year, when I talked to my friend Derek Mason, known to his fans as “Chef Mayhem”. He is the former owner of the gourmet grilled cheese, burger, potato puff serving food truck that used to be at Archie’s Golf Course in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.

Derek closed his truck during the pandemic due to uncertainty of the future. After closing, the pair of us began to brainstorm a line of spices, bbq rubs, and would go onto create cooking videos last year, and the year before. To clarify I’m not an owner of the business, that belongs to himself, and his wife Ashley, his parents also help out greatly with everything. I am more or less a marketing, and product ideas man, as well as a videographer, photographer, and musician. My name is James Hardiment, and I’m Cornwall based as well.

I talked with Derek about taking his charismatic, wholesome, family friendly personality, and starting a podcast talking about the local area, restaurants, food that type of a thing. In the end with home life (they have a wonderful daughter to raise) work life, and health issues with the pets, it just wasn’t a feasible thing to do. So I shelved the idea, as I do with many projects over the years, sometimes the timing isn’t just right!

Then a month or so ago, I decided to start to vlog, blog, and take the equipment I had built up from the cooking show we had made together, to start my own weekly podcast, in which I would summarize the blog posts of the week. After that I would interview a guest for the last 10-15 minutes, then post them for free on SoundCloud. So far, as of writing this, there are 4 episodes out, and I’m recording this weeks today. It’s called Bridge to the Seaway with James Hardiment. I named it that, in memory of the old Seaway International Bridge, which was taken down many years ago and replaced with a different crossing. The bridge connected Cornwall to Akwesasne Mohawk territory (Cornwall Island), and then another bridge links to New York State, United States.

I’m probably going to move the podcast over to my YouTube channel soon, and record it as well with video. Still looking into my options as I am using my iPhone SE, GarageBand music studio app to record audio only.

The microphones that I have been using, include a pro quality Shure SM7B, plugged into the phone using special adapter cables. I’ve also used my Rode Wireless Go Interview mic set too, which plugs into my phone. I think that going forward I’m just going to use that. It’s less hassle, at least until I can get a studio space of my own with desks, similar to a mainstream podcast, or radio show. The set up is ultra portable, meaning I can do interviews with guests pretty much anywhere. My first guest Claudine Trottier, of Focus Art Association, I recorded inside the art gallery room, my musician guest, Wade Barras I interviewed inside his car. One tricky one, I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do it, is with phone call interviews. I can’t seem to be able to use my pro mics with the telephone, Facebook video call, or FaceTime. I know Zoom is a potential option, but I’ve read the quality varies depending on your setup. I could always record with two devices, and just have the phone on with headphones I suppose, worst case scenario. If anyone knows any good programs or apps for video podcasting interviews with iOS (Apple) please let me know in the comments below? I’ve downloaded one called Switcher Studio recently, gonna try that and see what it’s like, I still have a free trial left for a few more days!

I talk about all kinds of fun subjects on the podcast, my stories in music, creating it, the videos, the whole process. The cool people I meet along the way. I also love to talk about my journeys and travels across the Province, especially the local area. I really love to see my friends succeed, as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog.

Anyways, creating a podcast isn’t the hard part, it’s keeping it interesting, I love history, music, art, fashion, food, travel, and I think a lot of people do too. One thing I notice too is that a lot of people will usually just talk about the major cities and famous towns. What about the forgotten, or simply lesser known places? I thought it would be cool to shine a light on communities people worldwide may have never even heard of before, and the wonderful bunch of people that reside in them.

Anyways I got to get going, I have to record an episode of the show tonight!

James

Brockville Reawakens

The summer is getting closer now, today was finally nice weather for a change! I was actually able to wear a tank top, begin to work on my natural tan on my arms. It’s so surreal to think that a few days it go it was cold, grey, and miserable. That’s how the weather is in Canada, for those reading from overseas, or in other parts of North, and South America. Ontario, the Province (basically like a state), I reside in gets very hot and humid in the warmer times of year (May til around the fall months). In the winter it gets bone chillingly cold, not necessarily as cold as more Northern parts of the country. I live near the USA border, as do most Canadians, the communities further North, in this vast land, tend to be smaller in population. There are some large cities though, Northward, but the largest Canadian cities are all near the USA, in the Southern parts of the nation.

I took a visit today to a lovely little tearoom called Cosies, located in the heart of downtown Brockville, Ontario, Canada. I’ve done a piece on them before. For those new to the blog, my name is James Hardiment, I am a singer/songwriter based near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. It’s a little border town that borders New York State in the USA. Brockville is also on the border, a little further down the St. Lawrence river, which divides the 2 countries apart from each other.

Cosies was having a special celebration in honour of the new King of Great Britain being crowned, King Charles III, in his Coronation ceremony. They had a sticky toffee pudding on the menu as a special item, on top of the usual British delicacies, and it was absolutely faboulous (a picture of that British comedy show Ab Fab is on the walls, amongst others too!). Abi Goodyer, the daughter of the owners Alison, and Paul Goodyer, had baked them fresh today. It was so warm, rich, and sweet. My tastebuds were delighted by the sweet British treat. I think the last time I’ve actually had the desert, was back in 2020 before the pandemic, when I went to visit my Nana in the UK. It’s sort of a spongey, brown cake, with toffee poured on top of it, and a healthy dollop of whipped cream, sort of like a hat, or crown, on the cake. I also ordered a pot of tea, Yorkshire Gold, with milk, as I usually do. The way us Brits like to drink our tea, I never could really get into the whole herbal, and flavoured teas that are so popular over here.

After dining at Cosies, I said my goodbyes and ventured around the downtown core, King St. specifically, the tearoom is actually at 45 King St. West, very close to the courthouse, which is just up a hill on a side street, which is divided in the centre with statues, fountains, lawns, and flowers. The fountain wasn’t working yet, I imagine they will switch it on soon, now the snow is gone, but I’m not sure. I took a look up that area as well, and discovered a bit about the courthouse, and it’s history.

Pictured: The Leeds-Grenville County Courthouse building, in the heart of Brockville, and it’s downtown core. The building is seeped in lots of interesting history.

Finally competed in 1843, the current courthouse that you see, in the pictures above, was designed in a Neo-Classical style, by Toronto architect, John George Howard. The actual construction of the building was lead by a man, named Benjamin Chaffey, who was a contractor based in the area, at that time. It’s a very imposing, impressive structure, reminding people of what happens if they disobey the rules of the town! Not sure if that’s what he was going for, but that’s how I interpret it anyways. On the top, I noticed a clock, and a flag pole, with a statue of a woman, holding the scales of justice in her hand. Known as “Sally Grant”, this is actually a replica of the original statue, carved from wood by William Holmes, a Brockville carpenter (the original) in 1844. The present statue, was created by Smith Falls sculptor, Bob Kerr, and installed in 1981. The current piece is known as “Sally Grant II”, the original is now in Westport’s museum, and has been restored.

I also noticed some lovely churches near by as well, and took a few nice pictures of them, and the flowers too, that were in full bloom. Truly a beautiful place to live! Maybe some day I might move to Brockville, or at least get a summer home out here. I’d love to continue to support Cornwall, Ontario though, I can’t just leave it behind. I’ve spent most of my life moving around to different places, it would be nice to finally settle down somewhere permanent, and continue to work on my art.

Down near the waterfront, there was a local farmers market going on. I wanted to learn more about it from the organizers, but I didn’t see a booth set up by them. There was lots of cool things for sale, such as jewelry, clothes, and baked goods. It was actually fairly busy too, which is great to see. I love to see the little guys out there, mom and pop shops, having a good day for a change! Every Thursday, and Saturday, from May to December, the stalls are set up on Market St. close to the Railway Tunnel. Known as the Brockville Farmers Market, it also has a history to it, according to its official website. Maybe I’ll write more about them in the future! I know my Cornwall, Ontario based chef friend has been looking to get into Brockville markets to sell his spices. Probably not this year tho, I think cutoff to sign up was at the end of last year.

Lastly, before I go, there was one other thing to mention, the 1000 Islands boat cruises are opening up again in the coming weeks, and months. The 1000 islands, is what they call the chain of islands that are located all across the St. Lawrence river, close to Brockville, and many other communities along the water. I’m hoping to do a piece on them at some point, perhaps go on a tour, and see if I could do a vlog style video with a friend.

That’s all for this adventure, until next time!

James

Sabadell Sound

Last year, 2022, I composed a song, part of a larger collection to go onto my upcoming album. The album shall be called ‘Rescue Me’, after the song I released in the Easter of the same year. For those new to the blog, I am a singer/songwriter called James Hardiment, who is based near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. This track I worked on I decided to call ‘Sounds of Sabadell’.

Sabadell is a town in Spain, where a certain sound was created in dance music, back in the 1980s. Fast synthesizer riffs, lots of melody, and harmony. It was a Spanish branch of the Italo Disco style, which began in Italy, and branched out across mainland Europe. It replaced ‘70s disco, and featured synthesizers, drum machines, with the occasional sax, or guitar. The vocals were usually sung in English, sometimes mixed with other languages too. Artists such as David Lyme (real name Jordi Cubino) pioneered the sound, which dominated the dance music in Spain back then. He tended to sing the verses in English, and then throw in some Italian words for the choruses. Check out songs such as ‘Bambina’, and ‘Bye Bye Mi Amor’ are examples of this. Great songs by the way, and you can find some a pretty cool, lip synced TV performances from back then. There’s an awesome one, on a Japanese television program, that features a whole team of backup dancers, dressed in fun costumes. Jordi is dancing on the stage in an awesome black tuxedo, paired with a white dress shirt and bow tie. I love how classy dance music was back then sometimes, romantic too. Today it’s all rude and crude party songs, or so it seems anyways!

The sound, as I mentioned, has been a big influence on me. I find myself listening to Spanish Italo Disco the most, I love to dance to it. Other artists I should note include, Daydream, Squash Gang, Marce, and some next generation artists which I enjoy, as Italo has made a comeback, include Vincent International, and Stylove. The English is typically sung with a thick accent, which I find adds to the charm, and makes it more European in flavour.

I’ve written a few songs in the style, which have been so much fun, ‘Mistletoe Lady’ a Christmas track, ‘Rescue Me’, and ‘Sounds of Sabadell’. There are a few more in the works too, I look forward to releasing them all soon enough, I want to get the album out by the end of the year, hopefully anyways. ‘Sounds of Sabadell’ is all about dancing in the monsoon rain, wishing I was with the girl of my dreams, dancing together all night in Spain to the sounds of Sabadell.

I shot the music video on a smart phone, my filmmaker friend Jake Adamson helped me record it. Jake is also based in Cornwall. We teamed up with actor, and model Marianne Laver in the video, which features her, and I, strolling along the Rideau Canal together in Ottawa. It was a very fun shoot, so grateful for all the help from my friends. I added a VHS filter to the footage to make it appear like an old music video from the 1980s. Then I had my friend Duncan Fyffe, record a sax solo as well. Very retro, which is what I was going for, and romantic!

The song was mixed and mastered by audio engineer, Josh Hart, who is Ottawa based. If you need a song mixed, or recorded check out his website, to get in touch:

https://www.joshhartrecordings.com

I had such a blast with the project, I just released it to YouTube this evening. Hope everyone enjoys the tune, I’m so happy with how it turned out in the end!

Thanks for reading, that’s all for now!

James

Bridge to the Seaway Podcast Episode 4

Singer/songwriter James Hardiment, who is based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, podcast talking about his blog on his official website: www.jameshardiment.com

The blog talks about stories making music, local businesses he discovers, and travelling around the Seaway Valley, and surrounding areas. After that he usually concludes with an interview with a special guest. This week it’s fellow musician, Wade Barras, to talk about his upcoming song release, with his folk project, Parliament of Owls. You can check out his official website here: parliamentofowls.bandzoogle.com

Links to all his socials are on the website, as is James’s on his as well! Please don’t forget to like, share, and follow them both for updates in music in the community, and more!

Falling in Love with the North - Part 1

Last summer I, singer/songwriter James Hardiment, ventured up to Northern Ontario, Canada, with my father on a road trip. We started in Long Sault, a small town close to Cornwall, Ontario, where I currently reside, and eventually ended up in Thunder Bay. The trip we split into 2 days so we weren’t driving in the dark, and could also take our time exploring. For those unaware the province of Ontario is vast is scale, to put it into perspective you could fit France, and Spain inside of it, or a 1/3rd of India!

Growing up in the United Kingdom, a tiny island nation beside mainland Europe, the size difference was extreme. Everything is bigger in North America, cars, houses, trees, mountains, waterfalls. It’s pretty much on steroids especially when you get to places like the Rocky Mountains, which are out West, a few provinces over from Ontario. Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world by land mass, topped only by Russia.

We ventured through Ottawa, the nations capital, on the first day of the journey, and continued Northwards though places like Renfrew, Pembroke, and eventually passing through the town of North Bay. I would always get Thunder Bay mixed up with North Bay, it was hilariously frustrating sometimes. When we passed through the city we noticed a lot of indigenous craft stores, and gas stations, along the route. We were debating on entering one, but we wanted to keep moving, and the traffic was very heavy on the main road that we drove through, at that time of day.

Once we had departed North Bay, we travelled in a Northwest direction, and eventually approached the city of Sudbury. Sudbury, like many of the populated communities in this part of the world, is known for its mining industry. It’s currently the largest city in Northern Ontario, with a population of over 166,000 people. There is a giant nickel coin on display in the town, we stopped there for a photograph. The region is famous for its nickel mining, as well as lumber. It makes sense, there’s plenty of trees around! Canada is basically trees with the occasional city or town.

Pictured: James Hardiment stands besides the giant nickel in Sudbury.

After Sudbury, we moved on towards Sault Ste. Marie, and checked into a hotel. That night we went to a wing place beside the hotel that gave a deal to the guests. The food was very good, and the portions were generous. In North America the portions are much bigger than growing up in the UK. You usually end up with plenty of leftovers, unless you are really hungry. Maybe that’s changed at this point, I’m not too sure, I haven’t lived there since 2007.

The next day, leaving Sault Ste. Marie, suddenly the landscape changed dramatically. We were surrounded by breathtaking scenery, mountains towered all around us. Ascending, then descending, as we navigated the single lane road, which would change to 2 lanes on one side, to allow cars to pass easier. It would alternate sides as you continued along the highway. Lakes, ponds, rivers, and creeks, surrounded the rock giants. It was probably some of the most stunning views that I had seen in a long while. I haven’t really travelled too far since the pandemic began, and my region is fairly flat in comparison.

Pictured: Mountains along the way, a little bit past Sault Ste. Marie. The scenery is like something from a postcard!

After Sault Ste. Marie it becomes a series of very small communities, spread across a vast area. We took a break in a town called Wawa, which has a giant statue of a Canadian goose. Wawa is known for its fur trading in the 19th century, and then later gold and iron ore mining. Most of these remote communities have a strong connection with some kind of trading, or mining, extracting, industry. The town has only been known as Wawa since 2007, prior to that it was called Mitchipitocen, and was founded in 1899.

Pictured: James Hardiment stands in front of the giant goose in Wawa. I told you the nature was on steroids in Canada!

Another community worth a mention, was the very small town of White River. Best known as the birthplace of the Winnie the Pooh character we all know, and love today. In 1914, a trapped bear cub was purchased by Captain Harry Coleburn, in White River, who named the creature Winnipeg, Winnie for short. I’d show the statue to you, but I don’t want to anger any Disney copyright lawyers, since it features the cartoon characters likeness. There is also a nice Hertiage museum with local artifacts to see.

Aguasabon falls is a really spectacular sight, as you pass through Terrace Bay. The speed in which the water rushes over the waterfall, is truly something else to see. Hidden away from the town by forest, you wouldn’t even know it was there if you just kept driving along the highway. We only stopped briefly to see the falls, and then proceeded onwards to Thunder Bay.

Pictured: Aguasabon Falls in all of its beauty and splendour, truly a sight to see!

Eventually we would reach our final destination, the city of Thunder Bay. I will talk more about it next time. Thinking of making this a 3 part series, there’s too much for one blog post!

Anyways enjoy your weekend. Sorry I’ve been a little behind on my blog posts lately.

James

A Dam Good Time

A few weekends ago, the weather was gorgeous out, I, singer/songwriter, James Hardiment, decided to take a stroll along the Waterfront Trail, in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. I started by parking my car down in the dog park near the Power Dam on Second St. close to the river, just outside an area of town, known as Riverdale. Riverdale is a lovely neighbourhood, with lots of beautiful houses, and greenery, playgrounds, and parks, throughout.

The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, is a dam that is situated between Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and Massena, New York, USA. It provides hydroelectric power to both Canada, and the United States, with a generating station on each side of the border, for the respective nations supply. The dam is located on the St. Lawrence River, which is a river that splits the 2 North American countries apart with its deep, strong current, liquid divide.

Built between 1954 and 1958, the power station was part of a larger St. Lawrence Seaway Project. More than 6,500 people had to be relocated to construct the dam, and new towns emerged just outside of Cornwall. Places such as Ingleside, and Long Sault are examples of this. The people were forced to relocate, as they dammed the river, and created Lake St. Lawrence all those years ago. There have been many economic advantages to this project, including shipping, and trade opportunities as a result of the infrastructure put in place to allow cargo ships to safely passage down the river to do their trade. Things such as the locks and dams helped to pave the way for the large vessels to pass through.

The Power Dam Visitor Centre isn’t too far away from the dam, just follow the bike trails along the river and the signage should take you there.

Pictured: The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, as seen from the Cornwall, Ontario, Canada side. Behind where I’m stood is the visitor centre.

Pictured: The visitor centre building from around the back, quite a modern structure, inside is a really interesting museum, filled with historical images, as well as interactive games. The games show you how challenging the work, that goes into keeping a power station running, can be.

Pictured: It looks like they are doing some developments close to the visitor centre as well. New structures, as well as pathways and landscaping is being done as of writing this article.

The visitor centre is all connected to the Waterfront Trail, which runs along Cornwalls waterfront (if you follow my blog I’ve mentioned this before). The trail is actually part of a much larger network that goes from Sault Ste. Marie, all the way to the Quebec border! I have wanted to attempt some of this trail, as a kid I pretty much did the stuff around Cornwall. I also went up to Ottawa and did a lot of their trails too, but that is a different network.

As of writing this, it might have been a week ago at this point, but I had noticed a lot of fallen trees on the pathways in Cornwall. Hopefully they have been cleared up by now, if not I’m sure they will be eventually. We had had some pretty rough weather lately, and strong gusts of wind, which brought them down to the ground. It was easy enough to get around them, for the most part, on foot anyways. As a cyclist it might be a bit more tricky! I’ll be getting my bicycle out again soon enough.

Pictured: A downed tree, close by to the Power Dam Visitor Centre. I was able to get around it on the right. Hoping that it’s cleared up by now! Mother Nature amazes me, her power is unthinkable sometimes.

If I do get the bike out, I think I’m gonna film some videos on it, show portions of the trails perhaps, I’m still undecided. I notice there is a thing called Slow TV in Europe, where they just play randomly long videos, boat cruise down a river, or a bus on a trip. Perhaps grab a Go-Pro or team up with someone with some type of mountable camera to a helmet or bicycle. If anyone wants to join me on that project let me know! We could easily blur faces of anyone that passes by too. There’s plenty of ways to get in touch, on social media. My links to all my socials, and email, are all below. Feel free to comment, like, and share this article too. I appreciate your feedback greatly. If you’d like to learn more about the Power Dam Visitor Centre you can visit their website below:

https://www.opg.com/building-strong-and-safe-communities/our-communities/eastern-ontario/saunders-visitor-centre/

According to their website, the centre will reopen for the season in May 2023. I look forward to visiting them again when they do, I also encourage you to as well at home!

Got to catch up on the blog a bit, until the next one!

James

Bridge to the Seaway Podcast Ep 3

My latest episode is out of my weekly podcast hosted by myself, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada based singer/songwriter, James Hardiment. Each week I summarize the 5 blog posts from the website, and then go into an interview portion of the program, with a local artist, musician, business owner, etc.

Todays special guest is an Ottawa local, Duncan Fyffe, who is a multi-talented instrumentalist, his specialty being the saxophone. He also repairs audio equipment, including old record players, and casette decks as well. His website is here: www.duncansaudio.ca

You can also follow him on Twitch as well where he live streams his music, as well as the occasional video game: https://m.twitch.tv/duncanfyffe

NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEKEND! Don’t forget to like, follow, and share for updates on blogs, vlogs, music, and more! All my links are at the bottom of this page. Enjoy!