I couldn't not share this with you today

To cut to the chase (continue on to see my background thoughts), today I released a new episode of my Upsample podcast with Carson Tworow, "Side Door Closing". We dive into the whole story of a Canadian music tech startup, from founding to its announced end on December 31st.

Thanks to Carson for the great co-hosting. I've never spent this much time on any piece of creative work, other than albums, in my history of making things. I reached out to a dozen or so people for comments and information while going through maybe 50 sources of information on the web. For the first time, I did video editing to overlay information onto the episode. It was tons of fun, and I hope you also find it interesting and fun.

As we've been approaching the end of 2025, you've been getting my reflections on how Rhythm Changes has been going, in addition to music stories...

That includes when we talked about a grant application and what would happen depending on the result.

Special video because I don’t know yet

we weren’t supposed to have this talk until December but here you go

Rhythm ChangesWill Chernoff

We then discussed that result.

This one didn’t work out

it’s time to do something again that I did once before

Rhythm ChangesWill Chernoff

The bottom line is, as I said in the first piece (and as quoted in the second piece):

"If I don't get this grant, to me, that is a signal that I can take this checkpoint and tell myself, okay, this next era of Rhythm Changes? We do not have to keep doing it the same way that it's been done for the past few years."

Now, the question that begs to be answered is: what do I plan to do instead?

Lately I've singled out three or four past pieces which match what I'm seeking at Rhythm Changes for the new era. First, there's the Fort Langley story. Even though I published it a year after the fact, I'm still the only person who reported on the controversy since it happened.

What’s next for the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival?

Returning from the infamous 2023 fallout, the festival slimmed down and isn’t going anywhere

Rhythm ChangesWill Chernoff

On the other hand, there was my look at Isabel Leong's Ghibli Jazz Orchestra, in which I interviewed many bandmates about their journey from a summer-break project to Infidels Jazz's top seller, and also talked to people in other bands associated with them.

Ghibli Jazz Orchestra: the sudden but inevitable rise

Isabel Leong at the centre of our scene’s biggest movement

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Then I explored the story of my friend Jamie Lee's album Introspective as well as her subsequent career change.

The Jamie Lee Trio: Introspective at 5

The drummer embarked on a seminal Vancouver jazz album release of the 2020s, then reinvented both her music and her career

Rhythm ChangesWill Chernoff

Those are the three that I've started showcasing. I'll add this unique one for you as well, especially since I'm playing the same room tonight:

David Blake opens up about Tangent Cafe closing down

The Tangent is no more and has been renamed to Daybreakers

Rhythm ChangesWill Chernoff

Those stories, like the new Upsample episode, are what I'm trying to do more of. The limitations of my video knowledge are eating me alive, especially the thing at the beginning of the video that only showed up on YouTube and I couldn't find a way to fix.

I realize how much time these pieces take and am ready to adjust other things accordingly. Plus, I must learn to balance then out with easier-going pieces. But hopefully I'll have a new big one ready to close out the year with you here.