In 1999 I was driving from a little recording session with a friend who put on an album called Being There by Wilco. It was the very first time that I'd every heard of them. I was just out of high school and a serious fan of bands like The Grateful Dead, CSNY and Little Feat and at the time was not really aware that there we bands out there that were following in that tradition. I was in awe of Wilco and their sound and quickly began to spread the word to my bandmates. We fell in love with them instantly and their music became the soundtrack to our lives during the recording of our debut album on Warner.After the first album cycle had finished and the band was no longer on a major label we were planning to make our second album. I'd been back stage at a Blue Rodeo show that we played in Montreal and was talking to Bob Egan who was playing with them and who had actuallyplayed on Being There. I was so excited about meeting Bob and told him how big of a fan I was of his work and especially the band Wilco. Bob said that he'd pass on my info to Jay Bennett as he was producing records and who knew maybe he'd be interested?One morning six months later, the phone rang at my place. I answered and it was Jay Bennett on the other line. I was so excited to be even speaking to him.As time passed we became really good friends and Jay ended up coming to Toronto to record and produce Staggered Crossing's album "Last Summer When We Were Famous". I learnt so much from Jay. We all did and he became a wonderful mentor and friend to all of the members of Staggered Crossing. We were even his back up band once. In 2004 when our label Bent Penny was officially launched. The first album we released across Canada was Jay Bennett's debut solo album.Sometimes when Jay was in Toronto he'd just end up crashing at my place at on the couch and we'd stay up all night listening and playing music.Jay Bennett was one of those people who was such a brilliant talent and I am so glad that I got to spend the time with him that I did. He was someone I looked up too, an opinion that I trusted, a friend and a lovely human being who will be sorely missed.I hope this letter finds you well and if you do have any Jay Bennett or Wilco records in your music collection I suggest you play them out today and everyday they're a great of example of what good music really is and stands for.My prayers and thoughts are with Jay's family and friends during this difficult time.Julian
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