The tour was awesome and the thank you list is long. I'll try to keep this short. If I forget anyone, please feel free to email me and remind me. That last three days in NY really did a dance on my memory or lack there of. Thank you to: -Duane Forrest and his whole crew. You're a gem of a man Duane, and a magnet for good people. It was a pleasure. You can call on me anytime brother. - Sean and Lea. Fantastic to hang with you guys. More Paella than one man can eat. Thanks for having me in your home. - Phil Rushworth and family. You're a good soul Phil and your who family is awesome. Thanks for having me in your home letting me devour your strawberry jam. - Bassline Station and the whole crew. You treated me so well. Whenever you need to induce another pregnancy Anthony, just give me a call brother . - 1000 Islands Jazz Fest, Alex, John at Taits and the whole crew. You treated me like a king. I'd love to come back again. And thanks to Carol and Berne in Brockville for Casa Picollo and the fine food and beverages. Truly a week of decadence. I still wonder if I'm worthy. And to James and Steve and the all the kids, thanks for having me over. And to the girls across from the haunted house, more cheezies next time please. - Heather, Brett and Family for having me over once again. This all started because of you guys with a simple hockey championship long ago. I know, I know, I still have to make you some of my mama's pasta sauce. - WRUR and Scot Reghan for having me for a visit. That was a cool moment in time my brother. You're the only DJ I know that has ever gotten up to hug me after the interview. - Record Archive, Alayna, the originator (I forgot your name, I'm sorry brother) and the whole staff. I've never seen a record store like that. It was an experience not a store. - UBIB, Craig, Jim, Jo and the whole staff, those who were working and those who just jumped into the festivities to help out. That was some damn fine ravioli. - Murphy's Woodhouse, Matt and the whole staff for treating me so well, and for the special visit from the Quervo girls. - Lloyd's, Bob and the whole staff. I'll be sure to call Quervo and let them know I'm coming next time, just to make sure there's plenty of stock in house. Perhaps I'll tip you guys off the next time I'm doing a NY state tour and we can all buy shares in Quervo before hand. - The Waterfront Restaurant, Be, MJ and the whole staff. Thanks for taking care of me and making sure the sun came out literally and figuratively. Damn fine prime rib right when I needed it. - Azure Hill Winery, Leslie and Joe. Never enough time for wine, food and friends. We'll just have to do it again. THERE WILL BE BUTTER!!!

Wow, life has exceeded my expectations. The tour has gone great so far. Many thanks to give already, I’ll do all of those all at once when I’m back home in Vancouver. Toronto and Ottawa have been very good to me. The friends, fans and venues have rocked. Some odd challenges to share - the day before the tour, right before a show in Vancouver to kick off the tour, my bass was having none of it. I had to open up the back of my bass on stage and see what was going on. As it turned out, I needed a quick masterful soldering job on a cable as thin as a needle. So, thanks to James and Laura’s quick thinking, off to Rona to get some tools. I ended up spending the first set of the kick off show for the tour on stage with a quick commando soldering job on my bass. It worked out. - and- I experienced a version of that episode on Seinfeld about the car rental. In my case I had specified on three different occasions that I wanted a hatchback. On the rental day, I said ‘so what kind of hatchbacks do we have going on’, the rental guy was very nice, smiled and reassured me with a slight hint of a giggle…’ oh no we don’t have any hatchbacks, but we’ll arrange something that works for you’. I wondered if a candid camera was watching or something. As it turns out, I’m a bit out of touch. All these wonderful new cute cars have back seats that go down to make more space. As it turns out, my Suzuki SX4 has almost the same amount of space as a hatchback. That’s cool. It’s still no replacement for my Chevy Short box van with the 350, but the SX4 will do in a pinch. At the moment I have a few days off in a beautiful house on the St. Lawrence River. I feel like I’m in France or something. It’s beautiful here and the owners, Carol and Berne are as charming as the décor.

5 weeks ago on October 25th, I was invited down to Bellingham WA to do an interview with Pooner Clark on KISM 92.9 for his show 'Locals Only'. It went great. Pooner and I had a few laughs on air and he played 5 songs off the CD 'New Day Baby'. Well tonight was a pleasant, very pleasant surprise. Pooner had given me the heads up that he had taken it upon himself to get my CD featured on 'Midnight Snack' with Bob Carter. And so it was - the whole CD. Very cool. .... and so I sat this hour with my parents listening to the radio. My dad having just recently recovered from a mini stroke with a big smile, my mom beaming and myself in shock as song after song, the entire CD got played. Beyond the coolness that 'New Day Baby' was aired, is the fact that I've had the chance to realize some of my dream and share it with my parents while they're still alive and cognitive enough to feel a sense of pride. This hour was priceless. Thank you Pooner Clark, Bob Carter and KISM - you've given my Italian parents a memory I've been wanting them to have since I first told them '... ma, pa... I want to play music for a living.'

Very cool moment in time. I had the chance to meet and chat with Stephen Quinn the host of the CBC radio show 'On The Coast' at a fund raiser for Friends For Life tonight (November 14, 2009). In the midst of the evenings events, Stephen took the time to tell me ...'Yeah, we've been playing your music in rotation. The only problem is no one know how to pronounce your last name.' That was followed by Stephen correctly pronouncing my last name. Well done Stephen.... and thanks again for airing my music on CBC.

I just got a cool email from a buddy (insert name here that remains untyped to protect the innocent :). CKUA Radio out of Edmonton Albert has spun the tune 'Boogeyman' off of 'New Day Baby'. Another great moment in time for the independents of the world. Thank you CKUA for opening up your doors to music for the sake of music. Much Love in your general direction.

On October 25, 2009, Pooner Clark invited me into the KISM 92.9fm radio station in Bellingham for an interview. He's a good guy. Fits the description Tom Petty sings about in 'The Last DJ' - ...'he plays what he wants to play'... Pooner kindly played 5 tracks off the CD 'New Day Baby' and we chatted along in between songs. It was a cool moment in time.

I wish to thank quite a few people for making this tour a success. For making this tour even possible for that matter. In no specific order, but with much love and appreciation. Thank you Heather and Bret Sahrle and Family, for rest, lodging, food, booze, dogs and pretzels a plenty. Thank you to Loving Cup, Johnny and Johnny's, Bob at Lloyd's Limited and Martha Clara for venues to get down in. Thank you to Mike and Robin and Amelia for a restful hangover recovery, steak and eggs, cookies, and chocolate coffee treats yum. Thank you to Sudsy for just being Sudsy, a warm house when the furnace is on, and not bringing out the 151 this time - perhaps next time. Thank you to Rose, your generosity goes over and beyond. Thank you to Joe and Leslie (and Leslie's parents), for last minute Long Island Lodging, late night steak and prawns, the rum of Pyrats, too much booze and giving Advil a reason to exist. And thank you to all the friends and fans who came to the shows and brought the love, this is why we are alive. Hugs all around.

The 2nd CD 'New Day Baby' is complete. Though it is a solo CD, it was not a solo effort. Many thanks are to be listed for the completion of this 14 song recording. The short list: Ben Kaplan - engineering, Chris Potter - mastering, Doug Cuthbert - graphics, Kevin Hall - photography, The Farm and Greenhouse Studios, ,A and A DiNicolo - Wardrobe and Stomp Box Design, All the fans who opened their hearts and ears to this crazy bass project in the first place. The list goes on and is included on the liner notes of the CD. The evening of September 17th will include performances of most of this CD. Followed by plenty of time to do what we all love to do at a party - have a few celebratory drinks and just talk about stuff. So simple and so right.

There will be a video shoot this evening in the first set. A camera crew will come in to shoot some video of the title track for the next CD 'New Day Baby'. The shoot will be between 7:30 and 8:30. This will then be followed by a few more sets of music for the remainder of the evening.

Yes the writing is writen, the recording is done, the photos are taken, the graphics all arranged, and the champagne is on ice. I've sent the material to the manufacturer earlier this week. I'm excited!!! Woooo Hoooo!!! ... and yes a CD release party is brewing. I've yet to nail down the final spot and time for this one, but it's brewing.

The song “Beautiful” was played in the middle of the afternoon, April 07, 2009 on CBC Radio on a show called "On The Coast". I'm glad to hear a radio station out there was willing to break the norm. Way to go CBC, very cool.

Big thank you to Heather Sahrle for booking me to entertain at the Easton National Women's Hockey Championships. This show was the impetus for making this last tour happen in the first place. As well, Heather and her family made sure I had comfortable accommodations, a van and dogs to cuddle with on the couch on my off days. Thank you to Johnny at Johnny's, Deb at The Snooty Pig, and Bob at Lloyd's Limited for taking a chance on me, booking me in their venues and making sure my liver was well exercised. Thank you to Sudsy (Dan Mitchel), for suppling additional accommodations, more dogs to cuddle with, and 151 proof rum at 5am. And most importantly, thank you to all the friends and fans who made the trip fun and came out to hang. I want to do it all again.

Yes, in addition to booking more shows, festival hunting, writing various ideas into songs, honing the live show, practicing in general and keeping the suits clean and sharp, work on the next CD is well underway. Those fans in Vancouver are getting a sneak preview each time Dino plays a live show in his home town. Each new song is being tested out live to see if the universe thinks each audio creation is ready to be recorded for future generations. .... the whole motorcycle riding thing is on hold while Vancouver pretends to have an actual winter with snow and everything.

.... The bassist's album, Beautiful, has thoughtful, topical songs and geature his inventive bass technique prominently. However, his crooning vocal style might be a revelation. Although DiNicolo won the 'Ultimate Vocalist' competition that was staged in a couple of Lower Mainland pubs as a kind of American / Canadian Idol variation, the album is the first lengthy showcase of a highly stylized music. Newspaper scan to come.