On one of Shauna’s rare outings, we headed in to
Huntsville last Saturday for the Muskoka 2/4 Craft Beer Festival. Although
neither of us drinks alcohol anymore, we went to see the local musicians who
were performing at the festival and to spend some time with other Hunters Bay Radio volunteers. I attended the event last year, and it was a genuine hoot. There were fifteen craft breweries represented and over 40 beers
available on tap, and this year, the festival was even bigger and better than last
year. The weather was perfect, and there were back to back
stages for non-stop music from noon til about 6:30 p.m. Hunters Bay Radio
sponsored the musical entertainment, and I thought the station was well
represented by the local musicians who performed. All in all, it was a well-organized and thoroughly enjoyable event.
This week is a busy music week for me. I will be
playing some of my songs on the Hunters Bay Radio Live Drive show, Thursday night from 6-7 p.m., and then, next Saturday afternoon, I’m to play at a half-hour set at a Habitat For Humanity fundraiser in Katrine. I haven’t performed in public in a while. Several of the musicians performing
at the beer festival asked me why I wasn’t playing the festival, which
was flattering. I’ll play if I’m asked, and if it’s for a good cause, but there
are plenty of local musicians who are better suited to entertain. In fact,
while I love to compose and write songs, I’m not thrilled about performing in
public. I do it, simply because I want my songs to be heard,
and so far, no one is knocking down the doors to cover my songs. I hope that changes some day, but for now, it's me and my guitar. My friend, the late James Carroll, once told me that I should make no apologies for my art; present it as best I can and let the chips fall where they may.
Last week, I met with noted producer Andre Wahl to lay
down the final vocal tracks to one of three songs I’m recording with him. I’m singing
a love song I wrote to Shauna entitled, Time We
Found. The other two songs, Deeper I Go Into Blue and White
Car are sung by fellow singer/songwriters, Paul Lagendyk and Jamie Clarke, respectively. Combined with Andre’s musicians, these singers did a fantastic job, and I can't wait to release the completed tunes.
Next Thursday night, on my Lyrical Workers show at
8 p.m., I shall begin with an interview of co-writers Bobby Cameron and my wife
Shauna, before premiering a new song that I began to write over ten years ago.
Originally entitled Middle Of Nowhere,
and now entitled Where You Live, Where
You Die, the song was inspired by the vast and desolate plains of Midwestern
Canada. Using that desolation as a metaphor for a state of mind, I called upon my
wife Shauna and good friend Bobby Cameron to complete the song. Bobby composed
the music and Shauna came up with several strong lines to complete the verse.
While I rarely collaborate in my songwriting, the relinquishment of control on
this song was clearly the right move. I have great trust in Bobby as a
performer and a writer, and I respect Shauna's word crafting as well. This was tricky for me, because a lot of the songs I write include a little piece
of my soul. To hand them over to other writers, artists, and producers, sometimes with
the knowledge that the songs may be altered, is off-putting. As I now
begin to release these songs to the public, for however much recognition they
may receive, I now become vulnerable to the opinions and creative visions of
other, sometimes more successful artists. It can be challenging to the ego, but
co-writing is a logical next step towards becoming a better songwriter. I hope
you’ll listen to the Live Drive on Thursday night from 6-7 p.m. and/or to the 8 p.m. premier of the new song.
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