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Warning, They are coming here. They are coming after us, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wants the Legislature to take steps next year to offset new hiring at the Internal Revenue Service under a law signed this week by President Joe Biden.

Patronis, who is running for re-election, rolled out Four Pillars of IRS Protection that he wants state lawmakers to consider as a hedge against the new federal law, which includes funding to hire 87,000 IRS employees --- not just agents --- over the next 10 years.

There is documented evidence that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups in 2013, and no doubt the IRS under the Biden administration would do the same to many businesses and organizations in Florida who have professed a love of freedom, Patronis wrote. Florida must force IRS bureaucrats to think twice before once again targeting conservatives.

Patronis wants the Legislature to require state-chartered banks to generate regular reports on IRS engagement to help identify any potential patterns of discrimination and highlight how the new auditors are targeting the middle class and small businesses; set up a civil-liability trust fund to provide some legal assistance for small businesses in tax cases; require new IRS agents to register with the state to access account information; and set criminal penalties for enforcement of any law that was based on a viewpoint or political discrimination.

Former state Rep. Adam Hattersley, a Riverview Democrat who is running against Patronis in November, called the CFOs proposal an ill-timed attempt to change the conversation. Floridians arent fooled.

Trying to rally supporters ahead of the elections, Republicans have locked onto the 87,000 hiring figure, which includes all aspects of the IRS, from agents to customer service. The hiring is included in the law known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, while campaigning Sunday in Phoenix for Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters and Arizona gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake, said IRS agents will be used to go after people the government doesnt like.

They are going to be sicced on working people; contractors, restaurant owners, people that drive Ubers. They're not going after the billionaires, DeSantis said.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, the former Florida governor who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, warned potential IRS job applicants Tuesday that their potential employment might be short-term if the GOP takes control of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate in November. He said in an open letter that we will immediately do everything in our power to defund this insane and unwarranted expansion of government.

Democrats contend most of the additional auditing will focus on more-affluent people.

Contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote Aug. 11 to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

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'They are coming after us': Florida's CFO has his eyes on the IRS - WLRN

Its basically from political gadfly within the Republican caucus to potentially the number two person in the state of Arizona, says Arizona Republican Sen. T.J. Shope. Its a meteoric rise.

Never in a million years would Paul Boyer, a fellow GOP state legislator, have imagined that Finchem would crush a field of qualified candidates and win a nomination to statewide office.

Mark is known as the guy thats probably the dumbest well, theres a long list, but one of the dumbest legislators in the state House, he says. (Finchems retort: Boyer is an utter disgrace.)

But Finchems rise makes sense in light of the broader shift within the Arizona Republican Party. Trumps slate of political insurgents swept the GOP nomination for every state office in which he offered his blessing, from the U.S. Senate down to state Senate races.

After decades of civil war, the Arizona primaries mark a decisive swing in the state GOPs balance of power. The center-right, pro-business wing of the party led by the late Sen. John McCain and Gov. Doug Ducey has been defeated, at least for now. Finchem and other far-right outsiders the original tea party activists and the new Trumpist hard-liners have taken over.

We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake bragged, while making a stabbing motion, at a CPAC event following the primary. We threw together a rag-tag team of nonpolitical people to run the most exciting campaign in the country. And we won.

Lake, a former TV news anchor, fended off more than $20 million in spending against her to narrowly capture the nomination, despite her opponents backing from Ducey, former GOP Gov. Jan Brewer and former Vice President Mike Pence.

We drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake bragged at a recent CPAC event.|LM Otero/AP Photo

Blake Masters, a 36-year-old acolyte of billionaire tech entrepreneur and Trump donor Peter Thiel, surged from behind in the U.S. Senate primary after earning Trumps nod. Abraham Hamadeh, a 31-year-old lawyer who has spent fewer days in a courtroom than many petty criminals, was rocketed out of obscurity to win the primary for state attorney general after snagging Trumps endorsement.

None have any political experience. But they have the main qualification that matters to the former president: They repeat the lie that the Arizona election was rigged against him. Every winning Republican candidate said they wouldnt have certified the 2020 election. That means that as Trump gears up for a possible third run for the presidency, Arizona is facing the prospect of a slate of statewide officials who could steal the election for him. (Indeed, another victim of a Trump-backed primary was Rusty Bowers, the soft-spoken leader of the Arizona House who rebuffed Trumps pressure campaign to overturn the states 2020 election results and testified to the January 6 committee.)

For his part, Finchem defeated three other candidates for the secretary of state nomination: Beau Lane, an advertising executive who had backing from the business community and Duceys full-throated endorsement; state Rep. Shawnna Bolick who had sponsored legislation to let lawmakers toss out the results of presidential elections they dont like and had tried to capture the Trump vote; and state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who has been the architect of every major election integrity bill that has been signed into law for the past decade, but who refused to regurgitate the lie that Arizonas election was stolen from Trump. Finchem beat them all by wide margins.

Its not an overstatement to say Finchem remains a bit of a joke to his soon-to-be old colleagues.

Boyer, who served eight years in the Arizona Legislature alongside Finchem, cackled while recalling Finchems doomed 2020 run for speaker against Bowers. Finchem wrote a seven-page memo outlining his vision for the job, including his top priority: using viral content to take the messaging power back from the media. And he did prove that he knew how to go viral.

The use of mimes [SIC] is an emerging means of harnessing rhetoric and sarcasm with a purpose, Finchem declared with a repeated typo of the word meme, which became a local meme itself. The regular use of mimes to build brand identity and establish solid differentiation will serve us well.

Less than a third of the Republican caucus ultimately backed Finchem to become the speaker, but it cemented his status as the leader of the far right at the state Capitol.

Finchem has always been something of an underdog and outcast at the state Capitol. In his eight years as a lawmaker, he has only once been granted a committee chairmanship; typically, even junior Republican lawmakers get prime posts. He had just one bill signed into law this year fewer than many Democrats who sit in the minority and he hasnt fared much better in past years.

How can he go from that, to the Republican nominee for secretary of state? I mean, its simple. He won the Arizona Apprentice for secretary of state, Boyer says. Abe Hamadeh for AG? Kari Lake for governor? Its very simple. If you can fog up a mirror and win the Arizona Apprentice, youre good.

Abe Hamadeh for AG? Kari Lake for governor? Its very simple. If you can fog up a mirror and win the Arizona Apprentice, youre good.

Paul Boyer, Arizona state legislator

Boyer, meanwhile, chose not to run for reelection after receiving death threats for refusing to go along with his partys election lies. So just two years after his failed run for leadership, Finchem is on top. And those who laughed at his vision have been purged from Arizonas political landscape.

In many ways, Finchem is a man made for the times. Hes a longtime leader of the legislatures far-right Liberty Caucus, and is revered in conservative grassroots circles as one of the few good lawmakers.

He refused to do a phone interview for this article, but he did send a few text messages, saying if hes having a moment in the sun, its because like him, the people are no longer afraid to be bullied by the establishment.

I am but a humble servant who took the time to listen to his constituents and has been vilified for it, he wrote. Perhaps thats why they view me as their champion.

Originally from the Detroit area, Finchem moved to Arizona in 1999 and began a career as a realtor. (He had previously been a cop in Kalamazoo, Mich., where his final evaluation reads poor rating, would not rehire.) He later became vice president of business development for Clean Power Technologies LLC, an Idaho-based company that claimed on its now-defunct website that it can generate and deliver clean energy without wires, anywhere around the world.

Finchem was an early adopter of fringe politics in Arizona. He was touting state sovereignty issues long before phrases like plenary powers and the independent state legislature doctrine entered the mainstream political lexicon. Armed not with a law degree, but a masters in legal studies from the University of Arizonas freedom school, Finchem became the thought leader of the movement to decertify the 2020 election in Arizona.

After losing his head-to-head contest with Bowers for the speakership in late 2020, Finchem held an unauthorized, unofficial hearing with Rudy Giuliani and other members of Trumps legal team to air falsehoods about how the election was rigged. That hearing cemented his status as one of the key ringleaders of Arizonas Stop the Steal movement and helped earn him the Trump endorsement that rocketed him to national stardom on the right.

Just a few weeks later, Finchem was outside the U.S. Capitol at the Jan. 6 riot. Though he maintains he never entered the building, video footage shows he was much closer than he originally claimed. Ali Alexander, the organizer of the rally that helped fuel the deadly mayhem, declared there wouldnt have been a Stop the Steal movement in Arizona without Finchem.

CNN reported this week that Finchem previously shared posts on social media about stockpiling ammunition and touted his membership in the Oath Keepers anti-government extremist group, which is under scrutiny for its role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Finchem is still pushing baseless theories about how the election was rigged, texting a link to a conservative activist project that he claims shows the Chinese Communist Party now has operational control over many elections across the United States because they control the servers where all of the electronic data sits.

What boggles my mind is reporters and journalists are sitting on the story of the century but nobody has the balls to write about it, he wrote in a text.

The 2022 primaries underscored just how tight Trumps grip is over Arizona Republicans, and that his 2020 loss is still fresh on these voters minds as he considers another run for the presidency.

How could it not be? In Arizona, it feels like the 2020 election is still ongoing.

Republicans in this state, perhaps more than any other, have followed Trumps election conspiracies down the rabbit hole.

First there was the Cyber Ninjas audit authorized by the state Senate, which ultimately confirmed through a hand count of ballots that President Joe Biden won, but which offered up a host of other debunkable conspiracies about how maybe he didnt win. Then theres the still-ongoing investigation by the Arizona attorney general about alleged improprieties in the election, which uncovered a handful of record-keeping issues, but no proof of any widespread fraud, including from dead people voting.

Meanwhile, Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward not only continues to spout Trumps fantasies about the election; she broke with the chairs long-standing tradition of neutrality to throw her full weight behind the MAGA candidates in the primary, calling the Trump-opposed candidates RINOs and worse. The sycophantic pro-Trump student group Turning Point USA also is based in Arizona and deeply intertwined with the party infrastructure.

Trump himself has seen Arizona as key to keeping his political future alive. Hes traveled to the state twice since losing the 2020 election. In January of this year, he came to promote his candidates and spin election yarns. And during the first weeks of early voting, he returned with pillow salesman and conspiracy-slinger Mike Lindell, who warmed up the crowd by claiming, once again, that the election was rigged and that the state is poised to do away with defective vote tabulating machines.

But just as important, Arizonas mainstream conservatives have cowered to the lie that the election was stolen from Trump. While some, including Ducey, have attempted to tamp down on the rhetoric, none have forcefully confronted Trumps disinformation.

On the same day as Trumps latest rally for his candidates, Pence and Ducey stumped for their pick in the gubernatorial primary: Karrin Taylor Robson. Robson criticized Lake for saying the primary election was rigged against her before votes had even been cast, but Robson refused to say that the 2020 election was free and fair, saying she wasnt sure if she would have certified Arizonas 2020 election if she were governor.

We have the wrong guy in the White House, she said, while repeatedly refusing to clarify whether Biden was wrongfully elected or simply the wrong guy for the job.

Lane, Finchems business-backed opponent, would say the election wasnt stolen when asked. But he never made it a central point of his campaign in an overt way. Instead, he took to the airwaves with criticism of Finchem for having supported a National Popular Vote bill, saying if Finchem had his way, Hillary Clinton would have been president.

In a state where even the mainstream conservative candidate for the top election official doesnt forcefully articulate a message that the 2020 election was safe, secure and legitimate, it shouldnt be a shock that Republican voters backed a slate of candidates thats likely to be willing to throw out the results of the 2024 election.

Whether Finchem and his fellow Trumpists will find success in November is less clear.

In Arizonas purple political landscape, Democrats and even many Republicans here say GOP primary voters went too far that theyve undermined the partys chances of holding the states top offices in an otherwise great year for Republicans. Perhaps that could break the fever, as Barack Obama once predicted, before the party went even further to the right under Trump.

It may take a drubbing at the polls this year to get Republican voters off the Trump train, says Arizona Republican consultant Barrett Marson. Or maybe theyll just double down.

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'Never in a Million Years': Arizona Republicans Grapple with the Rising Fringe - POLITICO

Three days after the FBI descended on former President Trumps Mar-a-Lago home, Attorney General Merrick Garland gave a press conference lasting less than four minutes about the raid. As he was speaking, he excoriated anyone who questions the motives and integrity of the FBI. His intent was clear: You are not allowed to criticize the FBI and its obvious double standards. Any criticism of the institution will be viewed as a threat to democracy. In true Orwellian fashion, the corporate media began parroting the same talking points.

The ruling elite is blinded by their groupthink mentality. The raid on a former president was the culmination of two decades of corruption within the big government apparatus where abuses of power have become increasingly brazen. The loss of trust in the agencies is not the result of conspiracy theories, social media, or millions of Americans simply becoming anti-government. It is a direct consequence of their actions.

The American people believed our institutions were operating in good faith and they took a laissez-faire approach for far too long, even as the evidence of an abusive bureaucracy was mounting. Consider the following:

In 2007, programs that were developed to target terrorists quickly morphed into domestic spying programs. The NSA began capturing and monitoring Americans electronic communications and metadata through the PRISM program. Both John Brennan and James Clapper denied the government was monitoring American citizens and openly lied to Congress. They were never charged with perjury, and not a single person who authorized this program was ever held accountable for this direct assault on the Fourth Amendment.

Journalists have also been routinely monitored by federal agencies making a mockery of the First Amendment. Ironically, many within the media now carry water for the institutions and serve as their private PR firms.

In 2012, then-Attorney General Eric Holder refused to provide information to Congress on the governments ill-thought-out Fast and Furious program. He was held in contempt of Congress, and there are indications that he may have committed perjury when he denied knowing about the program. Lucky for him, he never received the Steve Bannon treatment.

In 2013, the IRS admitted to targeting conservative groups. Lois Lerner deemed that these conservative and Tea Party groups were guilty of having the wrong political opinion. For her actions, Lois Lerner refused to answer questions, pleading the fifth, and was found in contempt of Congress by the House of Representatives, but the Justice Department declined to prosecute her on contempt charges. Instead, she was allowed to retire, collect her pension, and never be held accountable.

In 2014, it was revealed that John Brennans CIA was monitoring sitting members of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. Neither Brennan nor anyone else involved in the program was ever held accountable.

In 2015, Hillary Clinton was subpoenaed to preserve her home-brewed email server. Following the subpoena, her email management company Platte River Network wiped the server clean, and employees sent an email with the subject line stating, Hillary cover-up operation work ticket archive cleanup.

In 2016, as the FBI was investigating the server, multiple people in the Hillary Clinton orbit were granted immunity. Cheryl Mills, who was a witness in the investigation, was allowed to claim attorney-client privilege. Compare that to the FBI raids on Trumps lawyers where long-standing norms of attorney-client privilege were thrown out the window.

Hillary Clintons top aide told the FBI that she wasnt aware of the private server, yet she had her own email account on it. We also know that then-FBI Director James Comey already had a draft letter prepared to exonerate Clinton even before she was interviewed. Then, shortly before the 2016 election, it was revealed that Clintons emails were found on a laptop shared by Abedin and her husband, disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Not a single person was ever held accountable for the lies, the deceit, and the illegal server.

As if spying on U.S. senators and turning a blind eye to Clintons malfeasance wasnt bad enough, in 2016, the FBI began its infamous Crossfire Hurricane operation where FBI agents would use a dossier paid for by Hillary Clintons campaign to investigate and surveil the Trump campaign, and later, the Trump presidency. They knew the dossier had little basis in fact but presented it to the FISA court anyway. FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith doctored another piece of evidence and presented it to the FISA court. Throughout the investigation, FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page would routinely send each other text messages expressing their disdain for Trump and his supporters.

The investigation didnt end when President Trump won the election. In 2017, FBI Director James Comey leaked sensitive information to the press in order to force then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a special counsel. Over the next few years, the country would be torn apart, and in the end, the special counsel never found any evidence of Russian collusion.

What about the U.S. Postal Services iCOP program, where postal inspectors were monitoring peoples social media accounts and forwarding posts to the Department of Homeland Security? Again, no accountability.

Federal courts have also admonished the FBI on several occasions for illegally accessing the NSAs repository for information on Americans.

Multiple intelligence and federal law enforcement agencies continue to monitor and collect the data of American citizens, including the FBI, the CIA, and ICE. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has amassed millions of records on legal firearm owners even though a gun database is strictly prohibited by Congress.

What about how the Secret Service reportedly tried to cover up Hunter Bidens firearm incident or how the FBI was used to track down Ashley Bidens alleged diary? What about all the former senior-level intelligence heads stating that Hunters laptop was Russian disinformation in order to manipulate an election? Why havent we heard of any investigations into the current president given that he is directly implicated in the Biden family pay-to-play scheme?

Then you have the Department of Education, the National School Boards Association, and the Department of Justice colluding to target parents and label them as domestic terrorists.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we witnessed repeated lies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health institutions, ranging in topic from vaccines to masking to lockdowns. Even worse, Dr. Anthony Faucis emails show his ruthless efforts to target any scientists or medical professionals who disagreed with him in an attempt to destroy their credibility.

The evidence of rampant abuse within the bureaucracy is widespread and illustrates that we should not blindly and obediently trust these institutions. Many of our officials act as if we exist to serve them as opposed to them serving us. They justify their abuses with a sense of righteousness as long as they qualify their wrongdoing with the sentiment of preserving democracy. In their delusional minds, they believe they are guardians of democracy.

Thomas Jefferson once warned, The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold on us.

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Not Just FBI: How Institutions Across The Board Forfeited Our Trust - The Federalist

LITHIA, Fla.From Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb to the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland has some iconic characters, but if its a tea party youre looking for, theres only one guy who comes to mind.

Over the next month, The Mad Hatters (Gin &) Tea Party will be taking place at Palmetto Country Cub in Lithia.

Its just like the storybook, only this time youre playing the role of Alice.

The master of ceremonies himself, the Mad Hatter, leads you down the rabbit hole into a magical world where its always six oclock.

And they come in, and they say. oh my gosh, where am I,' and we say, youre in wonderland, and were here to have a party,' said the Dormouse.

What separates this from everything else is that we have more of a storyline, more of an immersive, interactive, playful experience with each other that acknowledges everyone in the room, said the Mad Hatter.

Visitors will sit right alongside the Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse and join them for a large helping of entertainment and a cup of tea.

Yes, our teas, we have all different kinds of teas, and they might have a bit of a little flare on them, mixed with gin, said the Mad Hatter.

All visitors are encouraged to bring a hat, and if they dont have one, the Hatter will be happy to provide them with one.

And the queen comes to check, oh the queen, said the Dormouse.

As for the White Rabbit, dont count on him to be on time.

Hes always late, my dear boy, said the Hatter.

The tea party runs Thursdays through Sundays from now until August 14.

We want you to create new friends, create new moments with each other, as well as together with the other actors the other characters, said the Hatter.

You have to be at least 21 years old to enter, but youll leave a child at heart.

And thats my favorite part of the show, pouring that childlike wonder back to every guest, said the March Hare.

For more information, click here.

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The Mad Hatter brings his tea party to Tampa - ABC Action News Tampa Bay

[One last time from Ottawa with correspondents Ross MacDonald and Karen Coughtrey. AC]

Before the show, A Journal of Musical Things had an opportunity to chat with Jeff Burrows about their new EP Black River, and what else has been happening with The Tea Party over the past couple of years.

AJOMT: Back in February 2020 (a month before the pandemic shut things down) the Saints and Sinners Tour was announced with The Tea Party, Big Wreck (then Sloan), the Headstones, and Moist. And then you tried again in 2021. Will you try this travelling tour ( la Lollapalooza) again?

Jeff: I hope so, that was cancelled three times, we had two Australian tours cancelled, and we had a European tour cancelled. I brought that idea to the table almost ten years ago and it was swept aside, once the agency thought it was their great idea then we went ahead with it. The excitement from promoters and fans alike, it was nice, youve got so many fans and some may have not seen Moist or The Tea Party, and it was a nice way to do that whole Edgefest or Lollapalooza vibe. And it is something that this country needs, you see so much of it in America. You get a great show at a great price point. I really hope that happens once every other year.

AJOMT: It cant be an easy feat to coordinate tour schedules of four major bands.

Jeff: It was a lot of work for all four managements involved. There was a lot of nudging, at the end of the day the bands didnt care, the bands were super-excited to get out. Hopefully, we can do that again very soon.

AJOMT: On that tour, who are the Saints and who are the Sinners? Hugh Dillon is no angel

Jeff: They came up with the idea because Hugh is such a saint now, and he was definitely a sinner back then. Whereas Jeff Martin has maintained his sinnership the entire time. Dave Usher has always been a saint. Ian is a saint now. And the Sloan guys, I dont know it is swept under the rug and hidden from the public.

AJOMT: On your new EPs Black River and Blood Moon Rising, these songs are evolutionary, and yet they hearken back to your music in the 90s and the 00s. Was this a deliberate nod to long-time fans? Or is this your natural sound?

Jeff: We go by what is happening in our lives at that time. There is never any moment where we feel that we have to write Fire In The Head 2 or Save Me 2. The way it happens is, so far as songwriting, say we are doing a tour in Australia: Stuart and I will head out early, about two and a half weeks prior to, with all our ideas. And we will just start fleshing out our ideas and maybe get to recording some drums of the simpler songs. And then we will do the tour and then post-tour we will go back to them and we will have re-worked a lot of them during soundchecks. And then we will get some real drums down and some real bass down and leave that hard drive with Jeff Martin in order for him to work on his lead bits and then his vocals. Those are the geographical issues that we have to work with, it works out alright.

AJOMT: What is the writing process with the Tea Party? Do you have band members who are the main lyric/music writers?

Jeff: We all come in with our ideas and they all get flushed out, then we jam them. Words come from Jeff (Martin), he feels strongly about that, because he is the one who is singing them, and he sings right from the heart. There is nothing clinical or theoretical about what Jeff sings and how he emotes that song in a live situation; he is right into it.

AJOMT: The recording has vocals, guitars, drums, and bass all forward; nothing seems hidden in the background. Did the band have a hand in engineering the EP?

Jeff: Weve always been self-produced and weve always been open to using different mixers in the process. I have a friend in Windsor that I do these Christmas charity albums every year, weve done 12 of them. Marty Bak (of SLR Studios) who engineers, mixes, and masters all of them, I said why dont we give him a shot? And he game back and Jeff (Martin) was floored, and so did Stuart and I. Hes a crazy brainiac guy, hes a genius, hes inventing mic clips to my drums and guitar amps, all these different configurations. Hes now finding himself on the covers of audio magazines, just a young guy from Windsor. Hes always thinking of something new and interesting.

AJOMT: You have long donated time and money to Philanthropy: ending violence against women and supporting cancer patients and their families. What charities are you currently championing?

Jeff: Annually I do a 24-hour drumming marathon where I play from midnight to midnight. I have solo artists, duos, and bands, a different artist joins me every hour for 24 hours. I garner sponsorships and so on. I just finished year 16 at the end of May; since year 10 I switched it over to mostly mental health because we saw with the change in the provincial government the amount of dollars going to mental health care was slashed from a paltry 3.5% of the overall health care budget to 1.5%. We thought that we could help the CMHAs of our communities. Especially young and teen mental health. The Christmas albums are for food banks in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, we usually get $75-80k of food to them. My kids all help, they are all very giving.

AJOMT: Whats next for The Tea Party?

Jeff: Summer tour wraps up on August 8th, we are doing the majority of the country. After that we will have a writing session pre-tour of Australia in March 2023; so we will all be doing our writing on our own and ideas and bringing that to the table. In the meantime there is so much that we will be doing on our own: Stuart writes video game music all the time, Jeffs solo tour got announced for Australia, and everyone is keeping busy. For The Tea Party proper, March is Australia and New Zealand, then May/June will be Europe and a proper summer tour next year or hopefully Saints and Sinners.

The Tea Party were the last band to play on an evening that had several Canadian alt-rock bands that started their careers in the 90s. And like their studio albums, their live show has a full sound that filled the night air. In particular, Jeff Martins booming baritone vocals sound like he came straight from an opera house.

The Tea Party kicked off the show with 90s hit single The River followed up by the melodic The Bazaar. Drummer Jeff Burrows can hit the skins hard, but what is special is how he transitions between hard and soft hitting at the perfect moments. It is remarkable that a three-piece live act can sound so full.

Jeff Martin had the crowd learn the lyrics of their new single, the title track to Black River, so that they could sing along with him at the chorus. It was interesting that the band could effortlessly mash up singles like Heaven Coming Down with U2s With Or Without You, or Sister Awake with the Stones Paint It Black, and The Messenger which had the Hips Bobcaygeon mixed in. But it was still the big hits that had the crowd screaming the loudest. Songs like Temptation, where Stuart moved over to his keyboards, had everyone finishing off Jeffs lines. Ottawa still loves their alt-rock icons.

Jeff Martin: lead vocals, guitarStuart Chatwood: bass, keyboardsJeff Burrows: drums, percussion

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Our epilogue to Ottawa Bluesfest 2022 features an interview with the Tea Party - Alan Cross - A Journal of Musical Things