Dance Up The Power

Avalon Horse Show

Cowichan Exhibition

Longevity John’s 16th Annual 50th Birthday Party

Hardware Girls Music

As Longevity John would say, a very happity birthday to you! We celebrated Longevity John’s 16th Annual 50th Birthday Party at the Duncan Showroom on August 31st. That day also happened to be our 16th year end as the owners of Chemainus Hardware. Always fun to celebrate the new year with a party for Long John’s birthday! Also on the entertainment roster for this years annual event were local songstress Cara McCandless, dynamo Schayde Dame, Canadian folk legend and Hardware Girls producer Ray Materick and the popular Comox Valley based Big Little Lions. They were awesome! Oh! And this year Hardware Girls presented the birthday boy with our first up-cycled Hardware Girls t-shirt. You can purchase these one of a kind shirts at any of our live shows by donation. See you at the next party!!

Hardware Girls Music

39 Days of July 2015

We had a wonderful time playing the 39 Days of July 2015 Festival. Special thanks to Longevity John Falkner for organizing and producing this “free to the public” festival and to soundman extraordinaire “Ted Cadillac” for all of his hard work. And thank you to Glen Foster and Paul Jutras for joining us on stage.

Hardware Girls                                      www.facebook.com/HardwareGirlsMusic

Hardware Girls Music 39 days of JulyHardware Girls Music 39 days of July Jessica Blakney

Hardware Girls Music Barb Blakney 39 days of JulyHardware Girls Music Jade Blakney 39 days of July

Longevity John Falkner                                       www.showroomproductions.ca/

Duncan Showroom
upstairs 

133 Station Street
Duncan Showroom
downstairs

131 Station Street
located in the heart of downtown Duncan
‘it’s all about the music’    

Longevity John Falkner 39 days of JulyHardware Girls 39 Days of July

The Festival was jammed packed with so many amazing artists. Here are some of musicians we were privileged to see throughout the month of July.

Ray Materick                                           www.raymondmaterick.com

Ray Materick 39 Days of July 2015Hardware Girls 39 Days of July Jessica Blakney Ray Materick

Glen Foster                                                        www.glenfoster.ca

Glen Foster 39 days 2015Glen Foster 39 Days of July

Towers and Trees                                              www.towersandtreesmusic.com

Towers and Trees 39 Days Of July 2015Towers and Trees 39 Days Of July 2015

Downtown Mischief                                     www.downtownmischief.com

Downtown Mischief 39 Days 2015Downtown Mischief, Towers and Trees 39 Days 2015

Kane & Potvin                                               www.kaneandpotvin.com

Kevin Kane 39 Days of July 2015Bryan Potvin 39 Days of July 2015

Genevieve and the Wild Sundays                      genevieveandthewildsundays.com/      genevievemusic.ca

Genevieve Charbonneau 39 Days of July 2015Genevieve and the Wild Sundays 39 Days of July 2015

Vince Vaccaro                                                        www.vincevaccaro.com

Vince Vaccaro 39 Days Of July 2015Vince Vaccaro 39 Days Of July 2015

Schayde Dame                                     www.facebook.com/schaydedamemusic

Schayde Dame and Vince Vaccaro 39 Days Of July 2015Schayde Dame 39 days of July

Luv Train                                                         www.luvtrain.ca

Luv Train 39 Days of July 2015Luv Train 39 Days of July 2015

Cara McCandless                                                                             Hope King

www.facebook.com/caramccandlessinfo                                       www.hopeking.ca

Cara McCandless 39 Days Of July 2015Hope King 39 days 2015

Mbira Spirit                                                                                Ganjo Bassman

www.mbiraspirit.com                                                               www.ganjobassman.ca

Mbira Spirit 39 Days Of July 2015Ganjo Bassman 39 Days of July 2015

The Big Mess                                                          Doug filming the events !

www.big-mess.com                                                   www.mijen.smugmug.com

The Big Mess 39 days 2015Mijen Mutimedia 39 Days Of July 2015

First Shows of the Summer

Summer is here and our album has arrived in the mail the day before our first show for the 39 Days of July Music Festival. What an unbelievable feeling to finally hold in our hands a dream made reality. Our first day in the studio was Oct. 1, 2014,  and we received our creation nine months later to the day. There is a lot of excitement around the Hardware Store today.                         Hardware Girls Music Jessica Blakney Jade Blakney

Tomorrow we play the first of five shows for the Cowichan Summer Festival’s 39 Days of July. There are 333 shows over 39 days from June 26th until August 3rd, with free music in the Charles Hoey Memorial Park at the train station in Duncan from noon until 8pm every day. What an unbelievable feat! Longevity John Falkner created this beast and steers it every year as president and artistic director. We are thrilled to have our first show with CD in hand be in the park for Canada Day. And our producer, Ray Materick is going to be playing immediately following!

After our Canada Day “CD Release” show, we’ll be playing once a week for the rest of the festival. That is July 1, 8, 13, 22 and 30th. Check out our Events page for times, or go to the 39 Days of July website for the schedule,  and information on all of the wonderful and varied musicians, artists and entertainers participating in this event. www.cowichanfestival.com

Welcome to summer in the Cowichan Valley!    “A rather fun place to be”

Our Album is Finished!

Whew!! What a ride it has been. We have finished our debut album “Dance Up The Power”. We’ve spent the last week getting the finishing touches on the CD cover and booklet, and so enjoyed being able to incorporate our artistic sensibilities and love of photography into the 16 page booklet we put together, and now it is off to be pressed! From the first days with our producer Ray helping us select the songs from a large accumulated catalog, to finding the perfect studio, musicians to play on the album, recording, editing, mastering, to the CD art and cover, it has been a blast.

A big thank you and shout out to Todd and Anthony at Risque Disque Records. www.risquedisque.com

Hardware Girls Risque Disque Studio

 

Brock McFarlane at CPS Mastering

cpsmastering.com

and Chris Saracino at Standard Media Services

www.standardmedia.ca

 

 

Recording Our Debut Album

Our album is underway! We have settled into the castle keep at the Risque Disque Records studio in Ladysmith, B.C. Todd Dunsmore and Anthony Sharkey operate this unique looking studio in Yellowpoint. “Nestled among the rolling hills and groves of evergreen trees in the rural Vancouver Island community of Yellowpoint, Risque Disque Records is an independent record label and fully-equipped recording studio in a quiet, natural environment. Built inside a three-storey stone barn, and designed by world-renowned studio designer and sound engineer Fred Gilpin.”

We have had some very busy but extremely fun-filled days working in the studio with our producer, Ray Materick, and the talented players who have joined us on this project.

Hardware Girls Music Ray Materick

When we first started to talk to Ray about who we would get to play on this recording, he had one percussionist in mind, and when he mentioned Dave Tolley, we burst out laughing. Years ago we had seen Dave play, first with Xavier Rudd on Jimmy Kimmel Live and then at the Duncan Garage Showroom and the Vancouver Island Folk Festival with his band Nine Mile. We were so impressed with Dave’s playing we actually said to each other that if we were making up a dream band, Dave Tolley would be our drummer. We couldn’t believe that he was now living in the area and would love to join us on our album!

Our favorite memory of recording the drums came when it was time to record “Circles Around You”. We were outside catching a breath of fresh air between songs and Dave asked Jess what she wanted for the feel of this song. She said, I don’t know how this translates to drumming, but imagine the ocean crashing against the rocks on the beach in a storm. Dave smiled and said that he understood. We went inside and tracked the song and when Dave was done the whole room burst into spontaneous applause. It was so moving, so powerful. The waves hitting the rocks on a beach on a stormy day…

Hardware Girls Music Band Dave Tolley Jessica BlakneyHardware Girls Music Band Dave Tolley

We have known multi-instrumentalist Martyn Jones for years, as he is everywhere on the Cowichan Valley music scene, and when it came time to find someone to play the bass parts Marty’s name came up repeatedly. He is experienced, competent and versatile, not to mention groovy. We worked Marty hard, promising him sandwiches and treats as a reward. Dance Up The Power was a particularly rigorous part that Ray had formulated. Marty only had to rest a few times when his hand would start to cramp! We are so fortunate to know Marty.

Hardware Girls Martyn Jones

Glen Foster has known and played with Ray Materick since the early 70’s and they both ended up on Vancouver Island. What a bonus for us! Glen’s diverse guitar skills play out on this recording. From country acoustic guitar solos on Deliver Me to soulful Stratocaster on Circles Around You to rock and roll with his Gretsch White Falcon on Dance Up The Power, Glen gave us everything. The consummate professional.

Hardware Girls Music Glen Foster

We had always imagined some of these songs we are recording on this album with strings, and Ray went out and found the man for the job. Blaine Dunaway walked into the studio, sat down in the booth, and began to track Circles Around You. By the time he was through the first verse and into the chorus we three girls were huddled together on the couch with tears streaming down our faces. We were so moved by his hauntingly beautiful interpretation of this song.

Hardware Girls Blaine Dunaway

And now it is our turn! We have tracked the piano and acoustic rhythm guitar parts, and now it is time for the vocals. Barb and Jade have their harmony parts down and Jess is ready to take on those leads… Let’s have some fun!!

Hardware Girls Music Band Jessica BlakneyHardware Girls Music Band Jade BlakneyHardware Girls Music Band Jessica BlakneyHardware Girls Music Band Barb Blakney

Hardware Girls Music Jessica BlakneyHardware Girls Music Barb BlakneyHardware Girls Music Jessica Blakney Jade Blakney Barb Blakney Ray Materick Todd Dunsmore Anthony Sharkey

Hardware Girls Music Jessica Blakney Jade Blakney Barb Blakney Ray Materick

 

Welcome To Our Website

Hello friends! Welcome to our little corner of the World Wide Web. We are very pleased to announce that we have been in pre-production for our first album, with Ray Materick producing. Ray has been working with us for a few months now, and after listening to our large catalog of original material, he has done a wonderful job of narrowing the tunes down to twelve songs that flow together as an album. We are busy writing harmony parts and lining up guest musicians who will help us to bring our dream into reality.