Hi Folks,

I'm catching my breath after a busy winter releasing the new album, 'Taken by Surprise'.  I played shows throughout Ontario and also in Wakefield, QC.  The first concert was in January on a minus 23 kind of day with fierce wind and blowing snow.  The radio was advising people to stay home and still we had a packed house at Irene's in Ottawa that afternoon.  I was so excited to share the stage with a hot band and officially release these new songs.  It was a great kick-off to a run of gigs throughout Ontario that followed over the coming months.

Hi Folks,

I've made some lasting relationships with people I've met in a wilderness context.  When I travel through the bush, meeting other humans is significant.  A chance meeting on Shipyard Island at the junction of the Yukon and Teslin Rivers brought me to Denmark, led to my canoe trip on the Big Salmon River and inspired the song 'The Danes Have Landed' from my 2019 album Taken by Surprise.

'Taken by Surprise' is the title track of the new album.   As I was writing for this album I wanted to capture some of the surreal beauty that I experienced on the Lofoten Islands in Norway.  I travelled to the Lofoten's with my roommate from the Malangen Resort, where I worked during the winter of 2017 as a dog mushing guide.  We went in early April when our contracts had finished.  We rented a car and drove on narrow roads that arched up into bridges, connecting the small fishing villages perched on the rocks. 

‘Johnny’ is a love song.  It’s the tale of 2 people who love each other deeply, build a boat and head out to sea.  Their boat sinks and as Johnny lovingly coaches the protagonist to swim to shore, she hears the Sirens call and turns away.   When she looks back, Johnny is gone.  The song is sung from her perspective as she stands in front of an icy fjord, mourning her loss and blaming herself.  Oy. 

Kinda heavy, but its fictional – right?

I began the summer with a canoe trip on the Big Salmon river.  This was a personal trip with one of my best buds from Ontario as well as 2 dear friends from Denmark.  We laughed and laughed and saw many moose.  It was a cold trip with rapid water, crisp mornings and beautiful mountains. 

Hi Folks,

I have begun to record a new album of original material and I've launched a crowd-funding campaign to help raise the money for it.  My goal is to raise $8,500 in 30 days.  So far the campaign has been incredibly encouraging with letters of support accompanying contributions from friends, fans and family.  I feel grateful for the enthusiasm about this project and it is wonderful to have a team behind me, cheering me on as I dive into this endeavour.  The campaign is through Indiegogo and you can watch a cool video shot at the studio by Stephen Fuller Intermedia to learn more about the process and goals:

Intellectually, it makes sense that I would go through some culture shock upon my arrival in Kingston.  Nonetheless, I think that feeling out of place in my home town is much harder than feeling out of place in a foreign country.  Its difficult to describe this experience but it is something like walking around in a strange dream where everything seems wrong but everyone is acting like all is as it should be.

Bloggitty Blog Blog Blog.....

The big news is that my song 'Sing it to the Hills' won the political category for the Songs from the Heart songwriting competition through Folk Music Ontario!  I am humbled and delighted to receive this news and also wish to congratulate the winners in the other categories.  

Beyond that.....I've just moved to Kingston Ontario.  Ahhhh  Kingston.  I last lived here as a 20 yr. old, just before heading up to the Yukon for the first time.  I'm excited to spend the winter focusing on musical projects and reconnecting with the arts community here.  I will be working on my writing, offering guitar lessons and considering my creative objectives.  Its been interesting be backin my old stomping grounds and to walk past the street corner where I spent a winter busking to pay my rent.  

I've been back in Canada for a week now and am digesting all that has transpired; searching myself for signs of personal growth, clues of where to steer my heart next.  Here follows, the tale of a winter at 69 degrees on the coast of the Norwegian Sea...

Good 'eh Folks,

I recently turned 34 on a mountain by a glacier in Kluane National Park.  I usually write a reflective journal entry on my birthday but because we were back-packing and tenting, I left my 'morning pages' book at home to cut weight.  As I lay in my tent on the eve of my birthday I reflected on this past year and decided it was by far, one of my favourites thus far.