Ariana & The Rose Signed Merch

Maybe you've seen Ariana DiLorenzo acting, talking about fashion or performing at Pride Parades with her synth-pop act Ariana & The Rose - or maybe you have not.

If you haven't, know that I've been sold on the group on the first two EPs Head vs Heart (2014) and Retrograde (2017), but it is my honest opinion that their brand of some of the smartest pop out there goes beyond the stratosphere on Constellations Phase 1, which was just released in July.

Like, holy fuck.

Today's pop scene is shock-full of emotional teens with tattoos across their faces, or wearing clothes that are so baggy they can fit in it with all their insecurities and the other feelings of anguish and angst that fill their songs.

Ariana doesn't need the artifices, because she's the real deal - and it doesn't come truer than on Constellations Phase 1.

I was lucky enough that she sent me signed memorabilia along with this release, in a terrific, hand-printed silky wrapping paper:

It included a postcard of my astrological zodiac sign:

With this amazing personalized message on the back:

There was also a poster-sized version of the album art:

In case you can't tell, it's also signed, in silver sharpie, top-right; here's a close-up:

I've been in music for over 20 years (I started out pretty young...), and care packages this thoughtfully put together are rare in this day and age, usually reserved for top-dollar contributors to Patreon-type sponsorship/benefactor sites.

That Ariana would go through this much trouble for me shows how much she values those who value her craft.

And, honestly, she's worth it. Check out the video for You Were Never My Boyfriend, directed by Scarlet Moreno:

Martin Parisien Signed EP

Last night, I had the pleasure to headline a unique show that featured three solo performers: Martin Parisien (formerly of Huis Clos) hit the stage first, a solo blues-tinged rockabilly act, then Vincent Letarte (from funk-country act Hangover Lobsters and blues-rock outfit Young Dogs) followed with his "Into The Beat" piece, which is pretty much a 15-to-20-minute drum solo. And then I got up on stage to sing selections from my French and English songbooks (feel free to buy a copy or two).

Letarte's name goes around as someone who can backbone a group of virtuoso musicians and will remain recognized as such, but Parisien is bound to become a household name for his songwriting, if not for his entire act. It's the beauty of being good at something: sometimes, others ask you to do it for them. Songwriters can expand their circle of influence to include that of other songwriters and even interpreters; the growth can be exponential.

I'd traveled with both guys to Toronto for Canadian Music Week in late April - there were nine of us in total, from five different bands, in fact - and we had a blast. At that time, Martin gave me a physical copy of his EP, and he jokingly signed it last night:

It's definitely worth checking out.

Ciara Price Autograph Card

Happy Valentine's Day!

To get there, here's card #RB-CP from Benchwarmer's 2015 Signature Series set, featuring none other than Ciara Price, the Maine-born model-turned-DJ:

It features a black-sharpied on-card autograph (with a heart tagged at the end of it) and a superb gold/black/red design and colour palette.

Here's the back:

If I remember correctly, she now has a tattoo on the left side of her back where her bikini top is, and another on her right butt cheek.

Formerly linked to rugby player Mitchell Pearce, UFC fighter Sean Loeffler and the Dallas Stars' Tyler Seguin, she usually likes her men built and slightly bearded - and her sports tough and physical.

She was Playboy's Playmate Of The Month in November 2011, and also graced the cover two more times after that.

Les Deuxluxes Signed CD

I went to a concert on Thursday night at Club Soda, where the headliners were the Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project, but openers Les Deuxluxes really stole the show in my opinion (though my friends who are huge QRBP fans might disagree).

They were reminiscent of The White Stripes because (wait for it...) they're a two-piece, riff-based blues-rock band (yes, the same criticism I face at nearly every show), and they're a woman and a man as well, so the comparisons are obvious. Too obvious. Too easy.

Here, the drums are played by Étienne Barry - the one with natural facial hair. And it's mostly just the bass drum, as he plays lead guitar as well. He keeps things steady and on pace, and can be aptly described as ''band leader'' or ''maestro'', but the true star is frontwoman singer and guitarist Anna Frances Meyer, whose powerful voice, fine guitar chops and moves just mesmerize.

She is strong, energetic, confident, a terrific crowd leader, captivating, compelling and sexy as all hell let loose.

I met them after the show and purchased their EP, which unfortunately isn't up to par with where they're at in terms of power, energy and presence at this time, and they signed it for me in gold sharpie:

It's not bad by any means, but if we're going with the White Stripes comparison, it's like measuring The Big Three Killed My Baby off their eponymous first album (1999) next to Seven Nation Army (2003) or Icky Thump (2007).

I hope their next release catches their primal intensity a tad better and sounds maybe a little dirtier, in the vein of their newly-released French-language Christmas single (in which Barry sings lead).

And perhaps we can one day share a bill and they can upstage me as well.

Katie Armiger Autographed 8x10

I don't often dual-post with my regular - more personal - blog, but this seemed like a good opportunity to do so, as I received this beautiful autographed 8x10 picture of Katie Armiger in the mail today:

Katie Armiger definitely classifies as a country singer, with a powerful voice and sexy Southern accent, but her attitude is all rock, which is what you get when you have released 4 professional records in 4 years, played hundreds of shows and met tons of people who were as impressed with your talent as they were your looks - and all that at just 22 years of age.

Don't get me wrong - I will never say a woman's success is only due to her physicality, especially in this day and age (this isn't the 1950s); what I am saying is that when a stunning woman has to deal with saying ''no'' more often than she does ''hello'', it builds character the likes of which men twice her age will never even come close to, and possibly a great deal of self-confidence, too.

And that attitude is reflected in the song I featured as Video Of The Week, Playin' With Fire (which shares a title with my favourite Rolling Stones song, incidentally), where she has that Leelee Sobieski / Jennifer Lawrence look going for her, but mixed with a dirty, ''garage girl'' attire, singing lines like ''I'm already crazy and I feel fine / as I cross this line between wrong and right'', ''I'm already lit and this ain't done yet'' and ''I like the burn''. And there's the look in her eyes in every close-up. And the totally sexual way she cranks up and uses that flame-thrower (in high heels, no less).

She's in control, and not much can stop her. I'd say the sky's the limit, but she can even shatter that if she wants to.

I first came to realize she existed when recording songs at Studio Loco in Montréal, where her Confessions Of A Nice Girl CD laid on a table. I put it on out of sheer curiosity and had expected ballads and cutesy, wholesome songs from the cover, but instead found well-written, beat-driven songs that I instantly connected with. I've been a fan ever since. Here's the cover art in question:

I wrote to her care of her label - Cold River Records - on June 8th, 2014, and received the above 8x10 today, just 10 days later, including shipping, customs and covering the distance between Tennessee and Montréal. It will be framed and hung on my office wall, where people can ask about her and I can turn them on to her music in person, word-of-mouth-style.

Samantha Fox: 3 Autographed Posters

I received this cylinder in the mail nearly two years ago and have been waiting to make good use of it ever since:

Yes, that's direct mail from Samantha Fox, my favourite lead singer of the 1980s, my favourite pop music queen, my childhood crush obsession, the lone ''non-rock'' patch on my teenage jean jacket...

I contemplated having its contents laminated, but because they are of ''unusual'' (read: British) dimensions (12x16.5 inches), I would have had to do so on larger-than-the-poster canvasses; it took me a long time to find ideal-sized and affordable frames... until last Sunday.

And so:

Oh, yes, these are going on my wall.

She sells unsigned versions of these at 10 pounds apiece ($20 U.S.), and signed ones for 30 each ($60 U.S.). I got them for much, much less than that - because I'm a musician, proved to be a true fan, and did my best to attend every single one of her performances in my part of the world.

There are days where I regret some of the choices I've made in my life, like foregoing on a hockey career to pursue my education, or choosing the least faithful out of two possible ladies as a long-term companion, or leading a relatively unhealthy lifestyle without the trade-off of at least feeling like it was worth the damage done.

But there are days where I tell myself that every choice I've made has led me right here, and there is no way I could possibly want to trade that away. This is one of them:

There is a God - he just hasn't made me a photographer. BEST BLACK DRESS, EVER; ALL-TIME GREATEST USE OF WIND. I even noticed the shoes, and I'm neither gay nor a lady! Oh, and superb signature. I nominate this as the greatest piece of human history ever created.

There is also this sexy bustier shot, which I had a blown-up poster of (unsigned) earlier in my life:

And this one, showing a rather large tattoo I had never noticed on her before (let me reiterate that I've seen her perform live and state for the record that I've met her maybe 5 years ago when she came to town to play an outdoors show at out Gay Pride festival):

Another cool black dress, the likes of which could have been worn in a sexy, almost-goth fashionable wedding à la November Rain, the epic 1992 Guns N' Roses video. I volunteer to be the groom.

Eléni (Lane Brody) Autographed CD

Lane Brody has been an active songwriter since 1982, and has been nominated for an Oscar (1984, for Over You) and an Emmy (the theme song to The Yellow Rose, which she co-wrote and sang with Johnny Lee and became a #1 country hit).

She had started single jingles in tons of radio TV ads, for brands such as McDonald's, 7Up, Juicy Fruit, and Beatrice Foods for their 1984 Olympics run (''You've known us all along!''), and made her way back to TV by guest-starring in Taxi, then in Heart Of The City.

I corresponded with her briefly before and at the turn of the millennium, and she was kind enough to send me autographed items once in a while. I came across this promo-version of her self-released 2001 album Familiar Places (through her self-owned label Records Records) while unpacking today; the album's original artwork was this:

She released that album under the name Eléni, which is the Greek root for the names Helen, Ellen, Elaine, and Lynn. The album mentions it was her given (birth) name, but her Wikipedia page instead says she came into this world as Lynn Voorlas, and is also known as Lynn Nilles. Then again, she always has been rather mysterious.

Another thing she always has been is an amazing musical talent with a rich voice. She transcends styles, though she has kind of gone back to country after flirts with jazz, traditional pop and Big Band-type songs. I expect a couple more quality releases from her in the future.

Reversing Falls Autographed CD

I went to my friend's band's album launch on Friday - Reversing Falls, at Casa del Popolo in Montréal. You can read my review here. You can download most of their stuff here.

My friend - and former survey call center employee! - Tyler Crawford, signed my CD insert for me:

It reads:

To Seb, my old boss (colleague), stop telling me what to do!

I met a lot of my friends in call centers, which at least in Montréal seems like the type of go-to place for creative types - musicians, artists, designers, actors, directors, writers. The job itself isn't the best - who wants to get insulted over the phone for 8 straight hours at barely more than minimum wage? - but the people in it were mostly incredible.

Caprice Bourret Autographed 8x10 Picture

Model? Try supermodel.

When the whole world knows you by your first name, and most folks don't even know your last name - you've definitely made a name for yourself. This is what Caprice Bourret has achieved, through modeling mostly, but since she has retired from the glitzy world of runways and advertising, she has successfully ventured into business endeavours such as her lingerie line By Caprice Lingerie, which she started first by licensing her name to a company (Debenhams) for them to make a buck off it, then by re-purchasing the rights to her name and releasing her own stuff; her brand-name has since expanded to include swimwear, sleepwear and bedding.

All this, of course, coming from a woman who between the ages of 23 and 28 was on the cover of over 250 magazines, the least of which was the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, but also Maxim, FHM, Vogue, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and many others. You'll notice those magazines are targeted to both men and women, teens and adults of all ages. She was all-encompassing as a hottie, but also had the brains to market herself like few others.

Because of that, she has gone on to host numerous TV programs - mostly in Britain, but on our side of then pond, she has also appeared in The Surreal Life. She has gone on to play in theater (Rent and The Vagina Monologues), and released a music single.

And every time she was on TV, whether a Reality TV show or presenting an award at a televised ceremony, she has always appeared as one of the smartest there, never flubbing her lines, always on point, always graceful. Some politicians have 20-people teams of writers and handlers and don't appear as natural and well-spoken in front of the cameras.

I sent Caprice an email on March 2nd and got this signed 8x10 picture (black sharpie, inscribed ''Lots of Love, xxxx'') on the 9th - a single week later, thanks to Her Majesty's post service, U.K.

Yvette Nelson Kiss Card

Many men know this Long Island native as a model (Lingerie Bowl 2005!) and actress (she has appeared in Medium, Beverly Hill, 90210, Las Vegas and Just Shoot Me!), but Yvette Nelson has now moved to Nashville and is well on her way to become a country star. You can sample her work on her website.

This beautiful Kiss Card from Benchwarmer's 2007 Gold Edition is relatively limited edition, and features one of only 24 models who were asked to partake. I, for one, find it's an original take on the typical ''autographed insert'', especially fitting since one would think men would be the target audience for these cards. They usually sell for around $25, although some can be found on Ebay from obscure sellers for $5 or so. Who knows - maybe this one will be worth even more when the triple-threat becomes even more famous!

3 April Scott Autograph Cards

Some people can't do one thing right while others excel in more than one field - but who ever said Life was fair? April Scott, who I knew of as an actress and model is now in the process of recording a country album, and has just released her first single and video, which you can watch on her website.

I reviewed her movie The Dukes Of Hazzard: The Beginning here, somewhat unfavourably, and she also plays in I Do... I Did, Nite Tales: The Movie, Nite Tales 2, Living Will... and The Penthouse. She has also appeared on Entourage and been in two seasons of Deal Or No Deal as a briefcase hottie.

But what I like the most are her early credits: in 2003, she played in an episode each of The Shield and CSI: Miami where she played, respectively, 'Trish'' (no last name) and ''Tess Kimball''; however, in 2004, a CSI: Miami video game was released, in which she played... ''Trish Kimball''. Tess' sister - or a junior staffer just got high and inadvertently skimmed through imdb too quickly? We might never know for sure...

What we do know, however, is that she's a recent addition to the Benchwarmer card stable, and from the very first year where they featured her, they went all-out in including limited edition insert cards of her, which they don't do for all models. In this instance, I have three (yes, count them, 3!) of April's Halloween Autograph sub-set cards from the 2010 Benchwarmer Vault collection (cards #VH 2 of 16), all certified on the back of the card as having an authentic autograph - and you can tell they're all from the same person's same session, too.

Caroline Beil Autographed Picture

Just like my Britt Reinecke autographed picture, this one featuring Caroline Beil is from a simpler time when an email often was enough to receive a personalized autographed item from overseas.

Nowadays, you're lucky if you get the all items you sent in that self-addressed stamp envelope you included back, in many cases, because celebrities get hassled too often and too many fans turn out to be freaks.

But in this case, Caroline Beil was very generous, taking the time to personalize it to me.

For those who don't know her, she is mostly known as a German TV presenter, first for movie shows, then for celebrity shows. She has also played in films (''Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten'') and TV telenovelas (''Sturm Der Liebe''), released a CD and singles, and been a contestant of the German version of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! All that, plus a divorce and time to write a book when her father died.

And she took the time to write to me. Superb!