This past April, I attended the Juno Awards in Calgary, Alberta. As most of you know, I was nominated for the 'Jack Richardson Producer of the Year' Juno this year for my production work on Buck 65's Situation album, which was released in Canada on Warner records. I was very excited for this weekend, not only because was going to be able to wear a suit again, but also because there were some great parties lined up: the Red Bull party (with every Canadian DJ I know on the lineup), the Pink Mafia/Adidas party with Chromeo, and to top it off I was invited by the president of Warner Canada to DJ the Warner Juno party. The weekend started strong, hitting the radio station for promo before speaking at a Red Bull Music Academy info session and playing both the Adidas party and Red Bull party on Friday. Juno Awards host Russel Peters came to the Red Bull show and actually got on the decks and scratched! .....Very well! Saturday brought on a strong sleep-in, as well as a tasty booze & shmooze at the Juno Awards Dinner Gala, where it was announced, among other things, that Joni Mitchell was awarded my catergory's honour. I see you, Joni. Scheduled on Sunday were the televised awards ceremony and the Warner party. I'd never been a part of an awards show, and the thought of wearing a suit AND potentially getting on TV was kind of amusing, I won't lie. Hi mom. I walked/ran the red carpet and watched a nice show (really!) take place. Russel was a hilarious host and the musical acts all sounded great. It was fun to see the production from so close, how they move about the 'set' for live TV, prepping shots and anticipating the next portion of the program. I recognized a few of Canada's finest, including, two rows in front of me, the immistakable face of Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy. When it was announced on the loudspeaker that they won the award for best Adult Alternative album of the Year, I knew at least my blazer/leg would get on television, so I stood and clapped extra hard. My friend Karl confirmed moments later via modern blackberry technology that I had indeed graced Canadian television, immortalizing myself amongst, well, the rest of the crowd. Anyway, as the show wrapped up, we made our way outside and then over to the Warner party. DJ Spincycle had set up the decks for me and I was ready to go, side stage. There was a full band set-up on the stage, where a band was jamming. I got ready, and as they wrapped up, I was given the green light to rock the joint. I fired up a few classics and got things going quickly, when all of a sudden I noticed someone tuning a guitar on the stage. I thought not much of it, as I wasn't told of any break in my 2 hour set, so I kept going. After what looked like a few negative comments were muttered in my direction by the man tuning his guitar, I went over to talk to him to see what was up. We proceeded to let our respective egos clash publicly for a few minutes, confused as to what was actually going on and obviously not on the same page. I was told I was playing or 2 hours and he must have been told something else. So after we (sort of) resolved the situation, I went and stopped my music, only to have the man get on the microphone and say 'I don't know what that motherf---er over there was talking about, but....', and begin to play his set. I was shocked that someone would say that to me, on the microphone, at a party, in front of people who all basically worked for th same team. Luckily, through years of rap over indulgance, my ears have been desensitized to the word and I didn't take it too personally. I hit the bar. I watched some of the set that ensued and was surprised when I saw a familiar face step on stage and take the open mic. It was Jim Cuddy. In fact, this was Blue Rodeo who took the stage and the man who had previously cussed me out was the lead guitarist. Not fully up on my BR knowledge, a friend of mine told me he was Greg Keelor, lead guitarist and Canadian songwriting legend. After walking around for a while, I cooled off, but I was still put off by what he called me in front of my brother, my friends and people with whom I work with He called me a motherf--er! My friend Kenny Mac from Red Bull showed up, ready to party. Noticing that I wasn't playing, I explained my situation. I wanted to speak to Keelor to sort this out and let him know personally how I felt. Kenny said that might be a good idea, but to let him mediate the situation to make sure it went smoothly. Red heads aren't good at that sort of thing. I spotted Greg by the bar and approached him. He apologized and I accepted somewhat reluctantly, and then Kenny stepped in to talk about it. He explained to me that Keelor has been playing stages his whole life where the moment he struck a chord on his guitar, the house DJ stopped playing and the band began their set. I've never looked at it from that angle. I don't really know that side of the DJ game because for as long as I've been playing, I've been performing on stage as a solo act, or with a group, or set up side by side in a battle, dissing and, uh, calling people motherf---ers on stage (by scratching records, of course). I flipped the scenario and explained that it wouldn't be too cool for me to start playing over his set unannounced, and we came to a common ground and had a drink and called it an evening. I had told the story a few times to friends, always receiving a good laugh. But the best laugh of all had to have come when I came home from a bike ride on Monday, May 12th, the day after Mother's Day. I walked up the stairs to find that my roommate, manager and friend Mike deFreitas had accepted a large package on my behalf: Baffled, to say the least, I opened the card addressed to our apartment.... Classic. I guess it's not surprising coming from a polished songwriter. A witty reprise to a story that I thought was over, ending it on a good note. Cheers, motherf---er.