I wake up a little later than usual on Saturday morning (March 27). Although not hung over, I am a little foggy and my day starts slowly. I get the fixings ready for an onion pot roast, which will cook all day in my slow cooker, ready to be enjoyed on my return from the matinee at The Duck.

The guest this week is Brian Blain and he is another dear friend. Our connection comes not only from the blues but also from the fact that we are both displaced Quebecers. Brian comes from the Eastern Townships, a wonderfully luscious area south of Montreal and close to the US border into Vermont. One of my best friends from high school lives there and I used to visit her almost on a weekly basis once I moved to Montreal.

Brian is also an Internet "techie" and we share a common interest in web development and the potential the Web offers to musicians. He has been involved with the Toronto Blues Society for many years and is the Managing Editor of the Maple Blues newsletter. I thoroughly enjoy chatting with him and I was very much looking forward to his show today.

I get my act into gear and leave early again to ensure I have a table at the front. It is another beautiful Saturday afternoon and that has me worried that the matinee will not be as busy as usual.

The Duck is not busy at all when I arrive but it is still quite early. I get my front table as planned and go over to hug and welcome Brian. We chat for a few minutes but I leave him alone so he can finish his sound check and to let him prepare for his set. A few minutes later, my friend R arrives and I invite him to join me at the table. Another regular comes by to say hello and since he is alone, we ask him to sit with us as well. My friend D is also coming later on so I make sure to keep a spot open for him.

Notice the balloons - a remnant from the previous evening's bithday party festivities!

Gary Kendall (top) and Dave Curry warming up the band for Brian

By the time the first set starts, many of the regulars are there. The band plays a couple of tunes and then Brian joins them. He's brought his strat today, which he has told me he doesn't get to play often, and his acoustic. He seems to struggle a little with the acoustic guitar during his first song, adjusting the volume on his amp while the band looks on not too sure of the direction he is taking. After the second song, he puts that guitar away and straps on his strat.

Brian's songwriting is quite interesting, using unusual topics with which to write blues songs about. He entertains the crowd with his witty lyrics and talks about his days at the Terrace Inn. He's not a flamboyant guitar hero nor does he belt out the tunes. He's just a down-to-earth bluesman who likes to play guitar.

We enjoy Brian's company during the breaks. By the second set the crowd has picked up and Brian has found his groove and has figured out the issues with his guitar. He continues to entertain us with his stories and witty lyrics. When he performs a song he has written about Hurricane Katrina, I can't help but get goose bumps as I listen to the lyrics and the passion with which he performs the song.

(Here's a Twilight Zone moment - as I'm writing this I am listening to the Galaxy Blues station on my digital cable box and Brian's Terrace Inn is playing!)

At one point he asks Gary for his bass and hands him his guitar. It's not often you see Gary playing guitar - I never have - so the crowd is curious as to what is coming. Brian straps on Gary's pink bass and starts picking and turns to Gary to give him instructions as to what he is to play on the guitar. The song is entitled "Don't Blame the Bass Player".

Overall, it is another great afternoon at The Duck. It is unfortunate that the venue wasn't packed as is often the case but it has nothing to do with Brian. It's simply a beautiful spring day with yard work and spring clean up probably taking priority for many.

Brian packs up while I chat with a few people. We then load his gear in his car and we head for my place. As we enter, the aroma of the onion pot roast surrounds us. Brian settles at the kitchen table and opens the bottle of wine. I go about preparing some garlic bread  with the homemade garlic butter I made earlier in the day and put together a Caesar salad. We chit chat about blues, Toronto and computers. When everything is ready, we sit and enjoy a nice dinner and more conversation.

Once dinner is done we retreat to my office to talk some more about web sites and Joomla in particular. I show him the admin side of my web site and how great it is to use a CMS site. We go back and forth, sharing some tips and tricks and discuss some common issues we have with regards to our respective sites. Brian has already told me that he is planning on attending a birthday party later in the evening but soon enough he realizes he doesn't really want to drive back to Toronto. I had made the offer that he stay overnight and he decides he will do just that.

We move over to the living room to watch a concert DVD and he selects Willie Nelson  and Wynton Marsalis Live at Lincoln Center, NYC. Although Wynton Marsalis is a jazz player and Willie Nelson primarily plays country, this DVD is a concert of them playing mostly blues. We enjoy the concert while chatting some more but eventually Brian starts nodding off, it is well after midnight at this point, so I make his bed and say good night.

The next morning, I can't even offer Brian a coffee since I don't drink it. Instead I give him directions to the closest Tim Horton's and then to the highway. He has commitments in Toronto and must leave. We say our goodbye's, give each other a nice hug and know we'll be talking soon.

The blues is filled with great, down-to-earth people and Brian is one of my favourites.