Shaw's Travel Guys on Bowen Island

During the week of July 1,3 and 4th SHAW TV 's Travel Guys aired their special feature on BOWEN ISLAND. Kayaking was listed as the #1 reason to visit Bowen and my studio , was listed as the #3 reason ! Michael Creber ( baby grand piano) , Rene Worst ( bass) and I performed " West Coast Girl" at my CG Studio at Artisan Square . Reruns will occur in future and the show will eventually be uploaded to their site. www.travelguystv.com Travel Guys is hosted by long-time Vancouver radio and TV personalities Jim Gordon and Darren Parkman. The show airs nationally on SHAW TV , in 38 markets in over four million homes, and features a humorous take on destinations like Australia, Thailand , Japan and Bowen Island, BC.

Behind The Scenes

This unique opportunity originated last May 2007 at an established Vancouver Restaurant's cocktail party on trendy Robson St, where amongst all the fun, my publicist, Debbie Walker of Translucent Publicity and I, met Jim Gordon . Initially, I was not aware who Jim was as I "waxed poetic" about my wonderful island life, and my newest CD project, CONTEMPLATION, I was recording at the time. In a nutshell, Jim quickly offered to bring the show, over to Bowen and I said - "cool"! This apparently was unusual as they primarily focus on international features. So I was jazzed! However -to make it all happen- they needed someone to handle all the extensive, organizational leg work which, Debbie and I volunteered for. With minimal prep time and a specific framework the efficient, focused crew of 4, showed up last June 2007. It was an exciting yet brief whirlwind , as we sought to make everyone happy . Impossible! We had no influence as to their approach to Bowen, (as is the case with all media) except to amiably encourage the bridge of communication between Bowen and it's producers. All said, it was a fun, memorable experience that Debbie, Sarah Pocklington- (my then assistant) and I enjoyed having a small hand in.

A truly one of a kind event...

I'm still feeling the warm buzz from the sold out, SRO (standing room only) Bowen Benefit Concert last Sat night. It was a collective organizational effort of streaming love by hosts extraordinaire Rob and Maureen Mackey, the award winning architect Frits de Vries and his team plus many volunteers, friends, and myself. It all came together beautifully as we all enjoyed this seamless, magical evening. The energy of the crowd of 150 was electric complemented by the clear sunny evening followed by the rising full moon that cast its luminous spell! What an unexpected perfect backdrop for "Moon River"! Thanks to one and all for supporting this one of a kind event.

Spring House Concert

I am excited to be preparing for this one of a kind musical concert celebration with Bowen hosts Robert and Maureen Mackey on beautiful Bowen Island. The occasion?... Spring, my new CD- CONTEMPLATION'S recent release and an opportunity to BENEFIT the local BICS Playground Fund, ( Bowen Island Community School) while showcasing the restoration of the Mackey family upright grand piano by Bowen artisan, Sigurd Sabathil.

The Mackey's have generously opened their doors to their beloved, award winning home which offers pristine acoustics, with its inspired design by Frits de Vries. The multiple teams of skilled tradesman also included my husband Jack Callister's team of Ocean Air Electric who were responsible for the intricate electrical requirements. I was awestruck by its visionary innovation. My Vancouver band and I (including Juno and National Jazz Award Nominee, Jodi Proznick) are really looking forward to it!

More information can be found here.

Valentines Day

It was an early start ( 7:30 am) to my Valentines Day at The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver with the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Celebrity Breakfast. With CTV's lovely Tamara Taggert and Canada Wide Media's Peter Legge acting as Emcees. I, along with 40 + celebrity hosts from all walks of the Entertainment, Art and Media fields each hosted our own table of guests. While being served our sumptuous continental Bfast, the president Bobbe Wood updated us on the wonderful 2007 achievements the organization has made. Then, comedian, Lou Eisen of "The Angina Monologues:, offered an inspiring and funny perspective of his personal empowerment after surviving a heart attack. I had the extreme pleasure of hosting the brilliant men of The Nicola Wealth Management team while we collectively raised over 100,000!

What a great Valentines Evening at The Cellar ! The sold out room was buzzing ! Jodi, Daryl, Dave , Chris and I performed songs from Contemplation and of course some love songs. I so enjoyed being" the lady in red"!

Bowen Island's Undercurrent

A moving tribute and concert review of CG's CD release written by Elaine Taylor. Bowen Island's music teacher extraordinaire. Photo by Lloyd Koski.

Click here to read the full article.

A real rush on URBAN RUSH!

It was a terrific day for Christie and guitarist, Daryl Jahnke, when they performed "Westcoast Girl" live on the URBAN RUSH show this week. Urban Rush is Vancouver's award winning entertainment talk show hosted by Fiona Forbes and Michael Eckford on Shaw TV Vancouver.









Up there on the in-studio big screen - the cover of Christie's new cd, Contemplation!







It was lights, camera, action everywhere you looked!