Al Mair RIP

See this guy? Hi name is Al Mair. He passed away today. I knew him as a Facebook friend and from the years that my wife spent at Attic records, which he and Tom Williams created and proved that an independent label could survive and thrive in the crazy Canadian music business. Al was not someone you would instantly identify as a music industry person. He always looked to me more like a college professor. But he was a good boss and Attic was a real family, which made my wife happy because she had lost both her parents way before their time. I think Tom and Al were kind of surrogates in a strange way. Their modus operandi seemed to be very much about leaving the bands to create their own brand and they would push the hell out of it. Al was a good guy and a smart guy. He and Tom knew what they wanted Attic to be and the moulded it beautifully. Heather learned a hell of a lot about the music business there and we made several life long friends. I was sad to hear that Al was checking out. But at the same time, I thought, well, at least he didn't have to go through the hell of dying in pain. He will be missed by everyone in the music business, because he was what you would call extremely instrumental in it. So long, Al. Hope we run into each other in the next life.