Falling in Love with the North - Part 1

Last summer I, singer/songwriter James Hardiment, ventured up to Northern Ontario, Canada, with my father on a road trip. We started in Long Sault, a small town close to Cornwall, Ontario, where I currently reside, and eventually ended up in Thunder Bay. The trip we split into 2 days so we weren’t driving in the dark, and could also take our time exploring. For those unaware the province of Ontario is vast is scale, to put it into perspective you could fit France, and Spain inside of it, or a 1/3rd of India!

Growing up in the United Kingdom, a tiny island nation beside mainland Europe, the size difference was extreme. Everything is bigger in North America, cars, houses, trees, mountains, waterfalls. It’s pretty much on steroids especially when you get to places like the Rocky Mountains, which are out West, a few provinces over from Ontario. Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world by land mass, topped only by Russia.

We ventured through Ottawa, the nations capital, on the first day of the journey, and continued Northwards though places like Renfrew, Pembroke, and eventually passing through the town of North Bay. I would always get Thunder Bay mixed up with North Bay, it was hilariously frustrating sometimes. When we passed through the city we noticed a lot of indigenous craft stores, and gas stations, along the route. We were debating on entering one, but we wanted to keep moving, and the traffic was very heavy on the main road that we drove through, at that time of day.

Once we had departed North Bay, we travelled in a Northwest direction, and eventually approached the city of Sudbury. Sudbury, like many of the populated communities in this part of the world, is known for its mining industry. It’s currently the largest city in Northern Ontario, with a population of over 166,000 people. There is a giant nickel coin on display in the town, we stopped there for a photograph. The region is famous for its nickel mining, as well as lumber. It makes sense, there’s plenty of trees around! Canada is basically trees with the occasional city or town.

Pictured: James Hardiment stands besides the giant nickel in Sudbury.

After Sudbury, we moved on towards Sault Ste. Marie, and checked into a hotel. That night we went to a wing place beside the hotel that gave a deal to the guests. The food was very good, and the portions were generous. In North America the portions are much bigger than growing up in the UK. You usually end up with plenty of leftovers, unless you are really hungry. Maybe that’s changed at this point, I’m not too sure, I haven’t lived there since 2007.

The next day, leaving Sault Ste. Marie, suddenly the landscape changed dramatically. We were surrounded by breathtaking scenery, mountains towered all around us. Ascending, then descending, as we navigated the single lane road, which would change to 2 lanes on one side, to allow cars to pass easier. It would alternate sides as you continued along the highway. Lakes, ponds, rivers, and creeks, surrounded the rock giants. It was probably some of the most stunning views that I had seen in a long while. I haven’t really travelled too far since the pandemic began, and my region is fairly flat in comparison.

Pictured: Mountains along the way, a little bit past Sault Ste. Marie. The scenery is like something from a postcard!

After Sault Ste. Marie it becomes a series of very small communities, spread across a vast area. We took a break in a town called Wawa, which has a giant statue of a Canadian goose. Wawa is known for its fur trading in the 19th century, and then later gold and iron ore mining. Most of these remote communities have a strong connection with some kind of trading, or mining, extracting, industry. The town has only been known as Wawa since 2007, prior to that it was called Mitchipitocen, and was founded in 1899.

Pictured: James Hardiment stands in front of the giant goose in Wawa. I told you the nature was on steroids in Canada!

Another community worth a mention, was the very small town of White River. Best known as the birthplace of the Winnie the Pooh character we all know, and love today. In 1914, a trapped bear cub was purchased by Captain Harry Coleburn, in White River, who named the creature Winnipeg, Winnie for short. I’d show the statue to you, but I don’t want to anger any Disney copyright lawyers, since it features the cartoon characters likeness. There is also a nice Hertiage museum with local artifacts to see.

Aguasabon falls is a really spectacular sight, as you pass through Terrace Bay. The speed in which the water rushes over the waterfall, is truly something else to see. Hidden away from the town by forest, you wouldn’t even know it was there if you just kept driving along the highway. We only stopped briefly to see the falls, and then proceeded onwards to Thunder Bay.

Pictured: Aguasabon Falls in all of its beauty and splendour, truly a sight to see!

Eventually we would reach our final destination, the city of Thunder Bay. I will talk more about it next time. Thinking of making this a 3 part series, there’s too much for one blog post!

Anyways enjoy your weekend. Sorry I’ve been a little behind on my blog posts lately.

James

A Dam Good Time

A few weekends ago, the weather was gorgeous out, I, singer/songwriter, James Hardiment, decided to take a stroll along the Waterfront Trail, in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. I started by parking my car down in the dog park near the Power Dam on Second St. close to the river, just outside an area of town, known as Riverdale. Riverdale is a lovely neighbourhood, with lots of beautiful houses, and greenery, playgrounds, and parks, throughout.

The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, is a dam that is situated between Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and Massena, New York, USA. It provides hydroelectric power to both Canada, and the United States, with a generating station on each side of the border, for the respective nations supply. The dam is located on the St. Lawrence River, which is a river that splits the 2 North American countries apart with its deep, strong current, liquid divide.

Built between 1954 and 1958, the power station was part of a larger St. Lawrence Seaway Project. More than 6,500 people had to be relocated to construct the dam, and new towns emerged just outside of Cornwall. Places such as Ingleside, and Long Sault are examples of this. The people were forced to relocate, as they dammed the river, and created Lake St. Lawrence all those years ago. There have been many economic advantages to this project, including shipping, and trade opportunities as a result of the infrastructure put in place to allow cargo ships to safely passage down the river to do their trade. Things such as the locks and dams helped to pave the way for the large vessels to pass through.

The Power Dam Visitor Centre isn’t too far away from the dam, just follow the bike trails along the river and the signage should take you there.

Pictured: The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, as seen from the Cornwall, Ontario, Canada side. Behind where I’m stood is the visitor centre.

Pictured: The visitor centre building from around the back, quite a modern structure, inside is a really interesting museum, filled with historical images, as well as interactive games. The games show you how challenging the work, that goes into keeping a power station running, can be.

Pictured: It looks like they are doing some developments close to the visitor centre as well. New structures, as well as pathways and landscaping is being done as of writing this article.

The visitor centre is all connected to the Waterfront Trail, which runs along Cornwalls waterfront (if you follow my blog I’ve mentioned this before). The trail is actually part of a much larger network that goes from Sault Ste. Marie, all the way to the Quebec border! I have wanted to attempt some of this trail, as a kid I pretty much did the stuff around Cornwall. I also went up to Ottawa and did a lot of their trails too, but that is a different network.

As of writing this, it might have been a week ago at this point, but I had noticed a lot of fallen trees on the pathways in Cornwall. Hopefully they have been cleared up by now, if not I’m sure they will be eventually. We had had some pretty rough weather lately, and strong gusts of wind, which brought them down to the ground. It was easy enough to get around them, for the most part, on foot anyways. As a cyclist it might be a bit more tricky! I’ll be getting my bicycle out again soon enough.

Pictured: A downed tree, close by to the Power Dam Visitor Centre. I was able to get around it on the right. Hoping that it’s cleared up by now! Mother Nature amazes me, her power is unthinkable sometimes.

If I do get the bike out, I think I’m gonna film some videos on it, show portions of the trails perhaps, I’m still undecided. I notice there is a thing called Slow TV in Europe, where they just play randomly long videos, boat cruise down a river, or a bus on a trip. Perhaps grab a Go-Pro or team up with someone with some type of mountable camera to a helmet or bicycle. If anyone wants to join me on that project let me know! We could easily blur faces of anyone that passes by too. There’s plenty of ways to get in touch, on social media. My links to all my socials, and email, are all below. Feel free to comment, like, and share this article too. I appreciate your feedback greatly. If you’d like to learn more about the Power Dam Visitor Centre you can visit their website below:

https://www.opg.com/building-strong-and-safe-communities/our-communities/eastern-ontario/saunders-visitor-centre/

According to their website, the centre will reopen for the season in May 2023. I look forward to visiting them again when they do, I also encourage you to as well at home!

Got to catch up on the blog a bit, until the next one!

James

Putting on a Live Show

(My name is James Hardiment, I am a British born singer/songwriter based near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.)

Lately, I’ve been busy putting all my old song lyrics to paper again. I want them all in one place, so I can transfer them to the site, for fans of the music to be able to sing along to. It can be a pretty tiresome process on the wrist, especially when you aren’t used to writing anymore! I usually sit at the bar or cafe to work on it, whether it be Rendevous Restaraunt in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, or Carrots N Dates (a vegan cafe) also in Cornwall downtown, close to the Square Shopping Centre.

Once I successfully transfer the lyrics to the website, I can then proceed to create “Karaoke style” videos, using instrumentals of my originals, to play at my live shows, in case I forget the odd lyrics as a reference. Being a singer/songwriter that mostly works inside the studio, be it at home or professional, I often don’t remember all the lyrics to the songs that I’ve written. This is especially true of my least favourite tracks, I still like them, but I don’t find myself replaying them as much on my iPhone.

I’m gonna try to use PowerDirector for this task, it’s a powerful mobile video editor, developed by a company called Cyberlink. I first picked up a copy of the program for my editing PC back in 2014-15 at my local Staples in Cornwall. It’s a great program, and not nearly as expensive as some of the more known brands. The mobile app works very well, the occasional glitch but it’s very rare. Rendering in HD takes a few seconds sometimes! I remember back in the day (2011) it would take my computer, built for editing, like 24 hours to render something. Times have sure changed…

I purchased a cool looking, green coloured, performance microphone for a music video last Easter. I wanted to do something reminiscent of those old 1980’s lip sync TV performances on a green screen. I drew inspiration from an old German TV show called Eurotops Musikladen, which I found myself watching music videos of on YouTube, as I delved deeper into my ‘80s obsession. I was only thinking at the time of using it as a prop, but now the idea of doing a live show, is looking more and more promising.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing live shows for various charities in the Cornwall area. I had originally wanted to take my first pop album, “Wine”, and tour the bars around Ottawa back in 2017, when it was completed, however my crazy life would not allow it! All these years later perhaps it’s time to finally take this show on the road…or at least the Seaway Valley area, where I reside now. This community means a lot to me, I love to help my entrepreneurial friends with their various business ideas. I also love to talk and network with the people of this town to brainstorm thoughts to make the place better, or at least try. I’m not a politician, but I love business, specifically marketing and sales. I have skills in music, and videography, which can greatly benefit a company. One thing I find gets the best result is to consistently post onto social media. It’s no guarantee, but if you don’t you certainly won’t grow at all.

Anywho, I’ll keep you guys posted if you follow me on Facebook and Instagram when I have a live show! Links are at the bottom of the website (the home page anyways). If you want to get regular updates on the blog I suggest to follow them too and like. I want to encourage people to share the blog articles too, to grow our audience. It’s a great little way to support someone who creates content, and thankfully it doesn’t cost money (most things seem to these days, just look at the price of everything right now!).

Until tomorrow folks…

James

Pictured: James Hardiment warms up for a song, he can usually be found singing Kareoke at Rendevous Restaraunt, 1213 Pitt St. in Cornwall on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 9pm.

A Portable Pocket Studio

My name, for those of you who don’t know, is James Hardiment. I am a singer/songwriter, as well as a filmmaker and actor turned vlogger/blogger. What can I say? I try to keep busy!

I’ve been making music, videos, and writing, since high school in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. My first original song was called “The Nitrogen Cycle”, I created the piece by plugging in my old Casio Keyboard into my old laptop back in 2008. I still remember the machine struggling to keep up with what I wanted to do, and it was a super rough recording compared to what I make now. The vocals were actually recorded with a half decent CAD microphone that my friend, Josh Hart, was using for his own project at the time. The song was for a science class project and that’s pretty much what I spent most of those school years doing, I even have an old album lying around that features 10 of the songs I created back then for various classes.

To create the music videos, I used to use an old Sony Camcorder that used DV tape. The tapes looked like mini VHS tapes that you would have to upload all the footage onto the editing computer using something called a FireWire. (So old school I know, I feel a bit ancient right now!) I originally edited videos with a program called Windows Movie Maker, but would soon upgrade to a more advanced program, Sony Vegas. I found I could do a lot more by upgrading to a more versatile editing suite. Eventually, my friend at the time, Brandon Rainey, would team up with me on certain projects and his camera used SD cards. The switch over from digital tape to SD was such a breakthrough in technology, I’m so glad we don’t use tape anymore it took forever in comparison!

After high school came university, I attended the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Brandon and I would team up to form “Vince Emerson Media”, it was basically my middle name and his with media at the end of it. It began with a couple of comedy skit videos, with various actors we had befriended in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program, basically a fancy acting school! They were interesting people to work with, and we had a lot of fun, when people actually showed up to shoots.

After first year came to a close, Brandon and I would split on a 1080p HD Sony Nex VG-10 camera, he also built a custom editing computer PC. We would spend the summer after freshman year, creating a feature film called “Windigo” with a huge team in the Cornwall area. It would eventually get over 1 million views on YouTube! A small portion was also shot in Windsor, once the summer came to a close.

After that, we would work on various projects until he would depart the projects in 2013 to pursue other interests. I decided to focus on my music projects again, since that was what I really wanted to do. 2015 rolls around, and I began to team up with my old high school friend, Josh Hart, to work on original music again. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, I worked on a pop album “Wine” with him that I completed in 2017. It was around that time I started to move away from using computers and laptops to create my music and start using my iPhone SE, which came with a program installed called GarageBand.

I was familiar with GarageBand, it was basically Apple’s base music editing program. I had used it in high school before, but I was more of a PC guy at home for the longest time. Upgrading my phone and discovering that I could now build all my music on my iPhone was a huge breakthrough for me. What truly knocked me off my feet was how smoothly the program would run on such a tiny machine. If someone had told me back in 2008 that I’d be building 30 track pop songs on a phone in 2017, I’d have probably laughed them out of the room, but here we are!

Eventually, I would invest in some more equipment, and today, I am able to plug in my keyboards, as well as my professional Shure SM7B studio microphone, used to record pro vocals. You really don’t need a huge studio anymore to create professional sounding music.

Flash forward to 2021, and I teamed up with Chef Derek Mason, in Cornwall, to create a cooking show YouTube channel called “Melted Mayhem”. I would shoot the videos on my phone, with a rode wireless GO lapel microphone hooked into the device for optimal sound. I downloaded a program called Cyberlink Power Director on my phone, and can edit the episodes with that. I’m so blown away by the jump in technology in my lifetime. My smart phone is my portable pocket studio and it still hurts my head thinking about it!

I am constantly creating now at a faster rate than ever before. I love the internet and I love smart phones for that reason.

Can’t wait to make more, until next time!

James

Pictured: James Hardiment creates music in the Garage Band program on his iPad Mini 4. He purchased that to use with his iPhone SE, as it has a bigger screen for playing instruments, but now just mainly uses the phone for convenience!