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2009
BLAST Sold Out!
BLAST sold it's 1000th CD and are now sold out. They raised $5,000 for the new North Bay Hospital. Thank You to those who supported us and purchased
a CD. It truly was a BLAST!
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March 24, 2007
Construction On North Bay's New Hospital Officially Begins
"Blast" Sells Its 800th CD
Local and provincial dignitaries were all smiles today as construction finally began on the new North Bay Regional Hospital. It is going to be the largest project in the history on Northeastern Ontario. It will be a state of the art healthcare facility serving area residents for many years to come. This should help attract new doctors and specialists to our area. It will take approximately 4 years to complete.
In addition to the obvious benefits in healthcare, it will also be a major boon to the local economy. It will create 200 construction jobs as well as many spin-off jobs and more work at the new larger facility. On another note, local rock band "Blast" has sold its 800th CD raising $4,000 for the hospital. (The CD sells for $10 an $5 from each sale is donated to the hospital). The group is proud to support such a worthwhile project and give back to the community. Even though the CDs are almost sold out, there are still a few copies left at CD Plus (Northgate Square), CD Plus(North Bay Mall) and Drs. Pearce, Barry and Morland (downtown).
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The following article appeared
in the North Bay Nugget
July 12,2005
An Eye For Rock
North Bay optometrist and musician, Gary Pearce along with band
members "Blast", have now sold over 500 CDs raising more than $2,500 for the North Bay and District Hospital. The group released its album, "Here To Rock And Roll" in the fall of 2004.
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The following
article appeared in the North Bay Nugget
March 12, 2005
Local Band Has
Sold More Than 400 CDs
Written by
Pat
Stephens
Optometrist, Dr. Gary Pearce is proud of his fundraising efforts for the North Bay Regional Health Centre. Pearce and six of his Rock and Roll Buddies released a CD last fall and to date have sold more than 400 copies. "We didn't expect the CD would do this well," Pearce said in an interview this past week. The CDs sell for $10 each and $5 from each sale goes to the hospital. So far they have contributed more than $2,000.
The CD contains a
variety of tunes from the title heavy rock song "Here to Rock
and Roll" to a couple of ballads. "We've been fortunate and had
a couple of our songs played on radio stations in North Bay,
Sudbury, New Liskeard and Kirkland Lake.
The seven band
members who came together to produce this fundraising CD are
from North Bay: Steve Clarke (drums), Pete Dawson (lead
guitar/vocals), Barry Green (keyboards), Paul Pruneau
(vocals/harmonica), Pearce(bass/guitar), Pat O'Kane
(guitar/vocals), Mark Robinson (guitar/vocals). The CD was
recorded and mixed by Ken Hull at Filpside Studios right here in
North Bay.
Blast's "Here To
Rock And Roll" is available at CD Plus Record Stores (Northgate
and North Bay Mall), Hallmark(Northgate). Canadian Tire, The Abbey, Gullivers, Star Trax, Mudshark, The North Bay Hospital Foundation office and Dr. Pearce's downtown office. It should soon be available at Wal-Mart. To find out more information on BLAST (Here to Rock and Roll) visit them at www.blastrocks.com. For further information about the North Bay Hospital/Foundation visit www.nbgh.on.ca or contact the public relations department at 495-8127.
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The following
article appeared in the North Bay Nugget
October
12,2004
Optometrist Dusts
Off His Guitar
Rock CD Raising Funds For New Health Centre Written by Anna Piekarski Most people call Gary Pearce doctor, but rock musician may be a more fitting title. The North Bay Optometrist spends his days looking after people's eyes and his two young children, but at one time he was a member of a rock band. And now he's dusting off his guitar to raise money for the North Bay Regional Health Centre.
Pearce along with
six other local musicians have recorded a CD and are giving part
of the proceeds to the new hospital. "We just wanted to help
out...it's going to cost a lot of money" Pearce said. "Sooner or
later all of us or our families are going to use the hospital".
The Group is selling the CD for $10 and giving $5 to the
facility.
Pearce spent his high school and university days making music but it wasn't until a school reunion in Cochrane that he became inspired to pick up his guitar again. "They asked our old high school band to play a set" Pearce said. The group had so much fun that they recorded a "Reunion" CD. Pearce said the night of performing and the recording experience brought back a lot of fond memories and he didn't want to put his guitar away or stop playing.
He began writing
songs and soon started making plans to record a CD. Pearce is a
self-taught bass and guitar player, but admits singing is not
one of his specialties. "I wrote several songs but couldn't do
anything with them because I don't sing well. Fortunately, I
know people that do". Pearce began to search out a few musicians
to help him with his project and six talented North Bay
residents decided to join the band. Steve Clarke picked up the
drumsticks, Barry Green brought his keyboard while Pete Dawson,
Pat O'Kane, Paul Pruneau and Mark Robinson all came armed with
their own instruments and voices. After months of work, the
players who called themselves "Blast" produced "Here to Rock and
Roll".
There are seven
songs on the CD, all written by Pearce, but the writer credits
his band with bringing them to life. Pearce plays by ear and
never learned to read music, so when he went to teach his
bandmates the songs, the musicians had to watch and listen to
learn. "I've never taken a lesson in my life. I just got the
guitar out and said this is how it goes guys. These musicians
are exceptionally talented. They picked it up very quickly".
The CD looks and
sounds professional and Pearce was excited area radio stations
are playing their songs.
For these musicians,
making the discs was a labour of love and they thought their
efforts would help others. The CD is being sold at several
outlets throughout the city including all record stores.
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