My favourite job ever was working at Sam The Record Man on Seymour St. in Vancouver, which I did between 1989 – 1991.  I loved working there for the obvious reasons – I was surrounded by music, I was able to hear new music as soon as it became available,  and I met a lot of artists by working there, since they often did in-store promotions etc.  It was probably the happiest I have ever been at a job, because it was actually something I cared about, and was interested in.  I looked forward to going in to work each day, which is not something I can say about many other jobs I’ve had …

      In addition to the “perks” of working at Sam’s, I got to meet a lot of great people –  who, like me, loved music, and really liked working there, too.  It was amazing to be surrounded by people who shared my interests, and who were genuinely happy to be working there.  We became a very close-knit group of friends, and would hang out together after work, go dancing on the weekends, and just generally ” be there ” for each other.  To this day, a core group of us are still in touch with each other.

      One of those friends and  former co-workers is Jarome Matthew.  Jarome was a rather quiet and shy guy back then, and was very intelligent – all qualities I admire in a person.  ( I don’t like loud and obnoxious, that’s for sure. )  He and I became friends fairly quickly, and had a group of mutual friends we would hang out with on a regular basis.  Jarome was just one of those innately “cool” guys – really friendly, easy to get along with, and although he didn’t say a lot, you could always see that incredibly imaginative brain working away, behind that ever-present glint in his eyes.  He was just a really positive person to be around, and his love for music was infectious.

      After I left Sam’s in 1991, I moved back to Ontario for a few years, then eventually, came back to B.C.  It wasn’t until 2007, when I was convinced by some of my younger, more computer-savvy friends, to join Facebook , that I was put back in contact with some of my former friends and co-workers from Sam’s.  Jarome was one of the first ones to find me on there, and we started chatting casually about the past 16 years, and what we’d been up to.  We started to hang out again, and realized that we were still the same people we remembered each other as, from “back in the day”.  We are friends again, and I feel so comfortable around him – I can just be myself, all the time, which is the way it should be with real friends.

      Jarome has been a successful Music Producer for many years now, and when he found out that I had been doing some singing, he wanted to hear what I had done so far.  After listening to my 1st CD, “I’m Beginning To See The Light” he felt that I should be doing more, so after several meetings, and a lot of long chats, we decided to work together on a new music project.  Things are going really well so far, and I am very excited to be working with such a talented, kind, caring, creative person like Jarome.  It’s a bonus that he is also a dear friend, whom I know well, and trust completely.

      This post is dedicated to my wonderful friend and Producer, Jarome Matthew, who restored my faith in myself as an artist.  It is because of him that I am now able to move forward with my music, after much disappointment in the past.  Thankyou, Jarome, for believing in me – it is a real honour to be working with you.  I can’t wait to hear what we will come up with together!  ( good thing we are both perfectionists !!! 🙂