Dave Bidini Is Everywhere

11/13/08 4:44pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Dave Bidini is a multi-talented guy.

"Rhythm guitarist," "singer," "songwriter," "author," "playwright," "journalist," "documentarian," "defenceman" and even "goalie" can all be found on his resume. But now you can also add "curator" to the list.

The former Rheostatics member and Andrew Hunter are curating a Toronto Harbourfront Centre exhibit called Blue Blood, which studies the history and psychology of the post-1967 Stanley Cup-winning Toronto Maple Leafs through prose, paintings, mixed media, video and a 21-minute audio soundtrack written by new music composer Paul Steenheuisen.

Blue Blood, which has an opening night reception on Friday and runs through Jan. 4, features new works by southern Ontario artists David Poolman, Katherine Mockler with Roman Tkaczyk, Barbara Hobot with Patrick Cull, Michael Davey, Craig LeBlanc and Matt James.

Bidini hasn't turned his back on music, however. He's joined in BidiniBand by former Rheos drummer Don Kerr, guitarist Paul Linklater and bassist Doug Friesen (who's also worked with Ron Sexsmith and Peter Elkas), who are also collectively known as The Scribbled Out Man. Kerr produced their Land Is Wild debut album at his Toronto studio. The 12-track effort, which also features Ford Pier on piano and Julia Hambleton on clarinet, will be released in the spring.

BidiniBand will continue their Tuesday night residency at Toronto's Cameron House for the rest of the month. All shows are pay-what-you-can.

Bidini, former Rheos singer/guitarist Martin Tielli and Selina Martin composed and recorded the soundtrack for a film called Act Of God that will be released in the spring.

Five Hole: Tales Of Hockey Erotica, which features dramatizations of stories from Bidini's The Five Hole Stories book by Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit experimental theatre company, will be presented in the new year. Bidini and Cam Christiansen are also exploring the creation of an animated film version of Five Hole. You can see the stage production, and purchase the musical element of it on CD, here:

Feb. 16 Calgary, AB @ Jack Singer Concert Hall
Feb. 24 Whitehorse, YT @ Yukon Arts Centre
Feb. 27 Ottawa, ON @ Centrepointe Theatre
March 3 Kingston, ON @ The Grand Theatre
March 4 Kitchener, ON @ Centre In The Square
March 5 Oakville, ON @ Oakville Centre For The Performing Arts
March 6 St. Catharines, ON @ Centre For The Arts (Brock University)
March 7 Parry Sound, ON @ Charles W. Stockey Centre For The Performing Arts
March 10 Brampton, ON @ Rose Theatre