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

(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

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