One thing I liked about Greg Keelor, in the early days he would call it when we did an encore. The audience had to prove their endurance or else he would say no. A bonafide tormentor. We’d all be standing in the stairwell of the Rivoli or the Holiday and no matter what everyone else felt he’d look aloof like the thing on everyone’s mind wasn’t also on his. Some people do an encore after three seconds and I preferred his stance. It’s fun to leave without doing an encore unless there’s a crazy response, seems more legit. I’ll take one of those guys please, if there are any. On recent High Park walks I listen to interviews from Rich Marsella’s podcast, Industry Tactics. Feel like I know all these guys. Among recent highlights were when Tania Gill describes flying to Gerri Allen’s funeral, who she never knew but had hoped to meet. Taking the packed bus from Newark to the church service and reflecting on her relationship to jazz, musicians and politics and being the lone white person on the bus. Dale Morningstar realizing Bobby Orr is standing next to him at the Danforth bar, where both of them attended Gord Downie’s wake and what his handshake was like and the slow explosion that happened between them, when Dale revealed he penned the letter with cd five years earlier that Bobby Orr replied to and how the next night walking along the lake he thanked Gord for continuing to bring crazy adventures into his life. There’s a thread through each conversation about the music industry and tricks to navigate it but my favourite parts are emotional stories like Doug Tielli’s inner cul-de-sac in British Columbia or Georgia Webber’s graphic medicine for Vivian Chong’s memoir or Jeff Burke’s unplanned birthday where he ends up in the Sun Ra Arketsra. The best guys. Katie Crown doing stand up. Calling we who make up the audience, guys. Guys! She’d say smiling like we were all her pals, and she held a little doll in a blanket as her baby and tried to tell jokes in a whisper. Simultaneously, shushing us not to laugh too loud because guys…there’s a baby! Guys! SSHHHH! Guys! Among his friends, Wayne Cass is definitely the most famous user of “guy”, everyone knows it. Great Bob Scott, Richard Underhill, Hugh Phillips. Don’t know how it started but Wayne doesn’t say how’s it going? Instead he says – guy. He looks excited to recognize you and says – guy! And over the years, people who know him try to beat him to the punch. Before Wayne opens his mouth they gleefully yell Guy! And he replies same. The woman who entered Dosa Mahal after me, pointed at the samosas and said I’ll take ten of those guys, pointing at the pakoras said and six of those guys. I often do that too, even with set lists. I’m going to start with that guy second and that guy in the middle. If there’s an encore it’ll be that guy.