I’ve decided to move from wordpress.com to self-hosting, mostly so I can embed media more easily and customize my template. If you’re subscribed in a reader then you will have to re-subscribe, even though it looks kind of the same. that said, I added a bunch more content so please check it out!

hugs and kisses to you all!

While we were traveling through the desert last fall, Lung and I did a shoot at Bombay Beach, which he submitted to PDN and Billboard Magazine’s Year In Music Photo Contest and then did us all proud by winning. You can see the image here by:

1) selecting “View The Winners” and 2) clicking “Next” two times

Lung is an incredible photographer who has won international competitions and you should go check out the rest of his portfolio at lungliu.com/. You can also go to his blog and let him know there.

11pm, April 2009.

The wind is still blowing and the moon is full. I made my bed in my trailer while Charlie played three simple chords on the piano. Last night he was playing these same notes, and it sounded like such a lonely little song, singing self-awareness into the universe. I stood behind the screen door and this time felt compelled to sing. So I added my voice, slow gentle tones, ninths and thirds. Charlie turned away from me at the piano, me with my face pressed up against the screen, not wanting to open the door lest I break the spell.

But I did. Slowly, I grabbed a fleece blanket and wrapped it around me, still singing. I opened the door as gently as I could, so not to make a sound, and I as I opened it I thought of my throat and chest expanding like in a silent breath. I opened the door, and listened to a few notes, now peeking around the corner. But before I could sing, the song was over.

The Cool Canaries is a little jazz ensemble that started as a couple of friends and I putting together two songs for Ofleb Production’s short film “Frank’s Letter”, which we also got to dress up in period clothing and perform in (yup, that’s me up there). Later we added Maëva Clermont-Giguère on keys and Sebastien Belleudy on drums and played a fundraiser for Alain Wong’s bike ride for microcredit, kept practicing until we all started traveling too much and then had to let it go.

Ladies and gentlemen, Felix Pare on bass, Colin Parent on sax, yours truly on vocals. Enjoy!

In A Sentimental Mood

All The Things You Are

download: In A Sentimental Mood
download: All The Things You Are

Later I’m sitting in Patty’s Pub in Ottawa, a pint of Alexander Keith’s in hand. Beside me are a couple of about my age, both singer-songwriters, and absolutely wonderful people. I’m here to see Charles de Lint play music, and to tell him that his writing has inspired me and to ask if I can please send him a recording of a song I wrote based on one of his short stories. It is so cool to meet one of my heroes, and he says he would like to hear the song. The music is wonderful and the room is full twinkle. There’s a fiddler playing from Nova Scotia, and the guy beside me goes up to sing a couple of his own tunes as well. I’d never gotten the draw some people feel to Ottawa, but I think I got a taste that night.

The next day I hiked to Montreal, where I spent the weekend with my friends, and my mom and dad who were there for a film shoot for their documentary on democracy. Sunday we gathered at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, where I filled in for a missing alto on a text setting of one of Robert Frost’s poems. I love the sound of human voices together. The shoot went smoothly. Today I caught a rideshare home and now I am back in Toronto.

Tomorrow I start a job! A real job, where I have hours and have to show up on time and stuff. I’ll be telemarketing for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and as much as I love the symphony I have to admit I am a little bit anxious about spending hours on the phone calling people. But I’m crossing my fingers that it will be okay, and at the very least it will be nice to have enough money to be able to go once in awhile. Aubrey and I went to see Bruckner 8 the other week and the experience was pretty awesome.

I flew out early on Tuesday morning in a tiny Cessna 172SP. I posted an ad on craigslist on the off chance that somebody would be going that way when I needed to go, and when I got a reply from someone saying he could fly me there for about the same cost as a rideshare, I couldn’t believe it. The only catch was that we could only fly weather permitting, so there was some uncertainty. Fortunately skies were blue and by about 7am we were checked and fueled up and ready to take off.

The pilot, Freddy, is also a musician and we had lots to talk about. I felt at ease pretty much right away, and I can totally see now how people get addicted to flying. It didn’t even occur to me a week ago that I might wind up with both an amazing new experience and the most convenient lift to El Centro I could possibly have asked for.

Now I am home and getting settled in again. Even though it’s cold and dreary it feels great to be here. Truth be told I was pretty homesick while I was away. A few friends from Montreal passed through last night as well so it’s been kind of nonstop action even now that I’m back. I am SO TIRED OH MY GOD. I still have to process everything that’s happened in the last six weeks – once I get a moment to rest I will take the time to go over everything and get a sense of where I am artistically. Lots to do still but I’m feeling motivated and inspired and ready to take on the rest of this project on my own.

I met a screenwriter and ex-street performer who turned out to be a very kindred spirit. We walked along Mission Beach wading in the Pacific, talking about writing and art and living the good life. Later we jumped around in the waves, bonded over our love for dancing (we’re both lindy hoppers) and talked about missing the French language since moving to an Anglophone community. So many beautiful moments.

Saturday morning I volunteered for a few hours at the Little Italy Farmer’s Market, instructing pedestrians to cross the street at the corners so traffic could still move more or less freely. It was a sunny day with fantastic people-watching, I ate a delicious crepe and then picked up some fruit and juice with coupons they give the volunteers as a little thank-you token.

I think I’m going to make a point to do volunteer work in the cities I find myself in from now on. It’s such a rewarding way to meet people and give back when you don’t know anyone or have a lot of money.

I also went sailing with another new friend and his pet iguana, which was also wonderful. It was a relaxing sail with mostly modest winds, good conversation and a few stops at various beaches along the way. Lexie the iguana clearly enjoyed the fresh air and the thrill of being on the water. I couldn’t agree more.

I’m sunburnt as hell and totally exhausted but I figure I can sleep when I get back to Toronto. Jasmine and Scott get back today and I’m really looking forward to seeing them again. In the meantime, I am working on mixing the tracks we got completed and taking a nap.

I’ve been staying with some friends in San Diego and it’s been great to spend some time with some of my favorite people that I rarely get to see. Jasmine and I went to Balboa Park the other day and played a new game of frisbee we invented that sort of combines contemporary dance and well… frisbee. We were too busy being ridiculous to take any candid photos but we did do some re-enacting in the parking lot before taking off.

The dramatic leap.

The serious throw.

If you like silliness and frisbee then I seriously recommend it. Afterward this tough looking dude came up and asked me about this weird throw I was doing and we were pretty sure he was inquiring about one of our goofy throws, but it turns out it was he was asking about an actual frisbee throw. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve giggled that much in awhile.

In other news, I turned 25 recently. It was a low-key birthday, and truth be told I was a touch homesick. But we drank champagne at lunch, listened to Tristan and Isolde and an hour of John Cage and David Tudor, and later there was a strange journey into outer space. The desert is kind of magical like that.

I discovered this morning to my surprise that I’d brought books by James Joyce and Herman Hesse in a secret compartment in my backpack and now I’m not so concerned about finishing up Joseph Campbell before my flight.

Anyone driving to El Centro on April 20 or early on the 21st?

We nailed two songs, and man, it was a lot of work. But fun! My voice was mega-tired at the end of the day and I nearly passed out while Charlie was reading me a story around 9:30pm.

It is SO GOOD to work with someone who’s vision and taste I trust though. We did one song singing the entire thing super close to a Rode NT2000 and almost whisper-singing, then over again with an SM-58. You would think that singing quietly like that would be easy to do, but it actually takes an enormous amount of control and concentration. The effect is pretty neat though. I feel pretty lucky that I’m not going through this process alone and I have someone here who can help me bring out new energies and ideas to the material.

The wind is still blowing pretty hard but it’s supposed to die down this morning, so back to piano today. We are hoping to get at least two piano tracks down today and one vocal (two if we’re lucky!). We can’t do touch-up tuning until the temperature rises a bit though, so I’m off to make some scratch tracks to use as a guide when the tune has lots of sustained notes and piano cues that come from the vocals, instead of the other way around.