Playing Hugh’s Room next week
A strange gratitude about Toronto
It has been less a backdrop to this life
than a
sprawling rehearsal hall
every decade
leaves one more ghost
leaning
against the wall smoking 
A unique listening room
still  standing
where songs still have a chance
to arrive intact
instead of being strangled by
fire trucks and blender noise
Hugh’s Room
There are still people
willing to gather quietly
in the dark
and pay attention
which in 2026 feels
revolutionary

I’ve played everywhere in Toronto
Busking on Bloor with Bob Snider or Jeff Burke 
larger rooms
the Masonic Temple
Massey Hall
places where walls contain compressed applause
from other centuries
I’ve also played the vanished kingdoms
ghosts of the Holiday Tavern
shadows of Fat Alberts
places soaked in cigarette smoke
bad decisions, brilliant music
the perfume of
Canadian nightlife before condos arrived
to sterilize everything
beige

Toronto contains every version I know
of life simultaneously
The broke hauling gear
through snowbanks
the sideman
the teacher
the sleeping on couches
the lucky enough to headline
the older looking in disbelief that years accumulated
while the inner soundtrack still hears
the scrawny guy at Yonge and College yelling
“Star Paper”

Anyway 
Hugh’s Room Thursday May 14
with Lily Frost
Another night in the city of ghosts and chords
Looking forward
My set starts at 8