thin ice
It is tricky to make a joke on stage. You can feel people checking whether you’re joking, confessing, or being accidentally honest. A line you thought clearly ridiculous can land […]
Bob Wiseman
listening to Ram
While driving to Guelph to give a talk to a fresh batch of graduate students, I had an old song in my ears, something off Ram. I gave in and […]
death of a
She played little rooms that smelled like bleach and hauled her gear through snow. Reviews used words like challenging and idiosyncratic. She taught lessons to pay rent, smiling while explaining […]
pink floyd
Open stage nights are usually modest affairs. A few chairs, tables, a borrowed PA, twelve people pretending not to rehearse in their heads while silently panicking about what they’re about […]
crying
Magali was crying recently or at least teary. She was listening to Cat Stevens. Something from around Tea For The Tillerman. I asked her what it was in the lyric […]
danger in rome pt. 2
He kept time. He knew the modes. He never startled a room or left a silence where a flourish was expected. When he sang, his fellow Romans nodded. When he […]
danger in rome pt. 1
He learned early that music, like travel, required light baggage. You carried only what you could afford to lose. He was a singer in Rome, sang with the economy of […]
you had to be there
With Blue Rodeo, I played the Juno Awards a few times, which is to say I spent several evenings inside a highly managed snow globe with a budget. Everything controlled. […]
Lena at Ruggi’s
Lena was performing a fragile ballad. This was Ruggie’s Cafe in August. Two minutes in and the espresso machine erupted like a subway train deciding also needed to see the […]
jeff burke at the oakville hospital
I went to the hospital to say goodbye to Jeff Burke. It was after nine pm. His daughter gave me the password and the nurse directed me to his room. […]