Journal

It's good to be home.The Guerrilla Sculpture Garden by the tracks between 'hoods

Rodin, Gates of Hell, Philadelphia
This was the last stop on one Helluva tour.

Room with a View, Salmon, Idaho

Iowa sunset from my hotel window

We got on stage as night was falling, the hill in front of us emerged as a sky of candle constellations that swayed in the night. The music of Bruce Cockburn. Familiar. Gutsy. Beautifully crafted. True true true.

This is a good time.

Maestro Cockburn said he felt like a troll who had woken up amongst angels, but really, we are aspirants before a master, and the chance to layer our voices around his works of light, of awakeness, of musical strength, is such an honour, such a joy infuser. That moment on stage at the Edmonton Folk Festival, 2006, is a moment I will draw from for a long time.

Thanks.

Mercury is out of retrograde today. Is this thing working? YES! Ah. It's been a while my friends. What a lovely little time back in Montreal. The Jennys played here and it went over well with my crew, everyone is happy for this new endeavor. The next level. We had a beautiful Lake of Stew jam last week, lots of re-unions, my buddy Lisa Gamble on the Banjo...and then I got to play a set at Main Hall for the Catcall 2nd anniversary. That was super cool. The next generation of chicks with guitars and spoken word poets, 9 acts in a night...I used to organize shows like that less than a decade ago with Lisa Gamble and Heather McLeod, hoards of womens studies and arts students in the audience. I tried out some very new tunes, somewhat raunchier than the jennys fare. Good to have balance. I love sharing the love, but it's nice to be rude and raw sometimes too. There is love in that as well.

Cheers! A

Well, public figuredom emerges, and it’s strange and humbling, moderately disturbing, but ultimately empowering. It just means I realize that I have to really have my head screwed on, my heart in place, my politics, my spirit, all that stuff alligned and integrated. I really have know the the truth of what I say before I say it. Otherwise, someone somewhere will pick up on it and jump in. Which could be positive, but the personal nature of it is challenging.
Someone wrote to me from New Orleans to let me know what was going on down there. I had criticized american imbalances, as many are doing right now, but those apparently are not the only issues, and the reality that is not reported is the powerful coming together that crosses race and class, and simply gets the job done in the most compassionate way possible through these hard times.
In the meantime, it ‘s convenient that this ripping hurricane season created a lively distraction from the american regimes policy it just passed saying they’re now allowed to strike with nuclear weapons if they feel like it. Here I go again, paraphrasing, but friends, enter Nuclear Strike, 2005 into a search engine and see what you get. As far as I’m concerned NUCLEAR STRIKES are not ALLOWED on this planet. May ALL beings know peace.

Le Boudoir this year was spectacular at the gorgeous Corona theatre full of frescos and classic character. I hope to have a photo of us in the actual show. For now, here we are chilling in the performers box, Jordi Rosen and myself, with the insane and incredible Alexis O'Hara behind the camera.