Sellers & Newell, Toronto, July 10
672 College street 8pm
tidying
The dream began without announcement. There they were, his old band-mates, standing around as though no time had passed. Someone made a joke he had forgotten. Someone complained about a […]
more about me
The piano did not become easier. It became stranger. For yearsI thought itcontained eighty-eight keys. LaterI discoveredit also containedhesitation,childhood,arthritis,three broken romances,an argument with Chick Corea,and whatever it isthat keeps arrivingat […]
later
It happened near the end of the term, when the students had become comfortable enough to stop asking technical questions. No longer how to rhyme “orange” or whether a bridge […]
the smell
Neil, the pianist, had been in bands long enough to know that hatred in music rarely announces itself openly. It lives in small things. In how someone counts off a […]
This is the Part Where you Clap
She had a system. Every critique that ever brushed against her life got processed, fermented, and poured back out as a stage monologue. A booker asking her to shorten the […]
small crowd
I have playedfor six people,thirteen people,twenty-seven hundred people,confused bartenders,and springer spanielswhose commitment to artistic inquirywas superior to many festival programmers. The posters promisedAN EVENING OF EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC. My manager,which is […]
lyric class
When I was hired to teach at Toronto Metropolitan University, I was still teaching at Seneca. I mentioned the new job to one of my classes. Dave asked, “Isn’t that […]
temporary
Harv arrived at these thoughts reluctantly. For most of his life he believed music existed to elevate experience beyond biology. The instrument encouraged such fantasies. A cello could resemble a […]
the fake moustache
Every band eventually develops a preferred explanation for why a performance feels unstable, and in the Hurt, the explanation was always Angelo. The chief accuser was the guitarist, Kevin. He […]