After a show at the West End Cultural Centre in the 2000s, one of the people in charge told me a young guy wanted to meet and discuss putting out a release. He was a about twenty years old and when I reached him on the phone he explained his idea to put out a 45 on his record label — Ghost Town Manitoba but he kept putting me on hold while we spoke. It was a muffled sound not like a professional telephone system. Before we ended the call I asked where he was, turned out he was a parking lot attendant. I liked the idea of working with a label head who is also a parking lot attendant. Jonah came on the road with me two years later and helped out with a tour that included dates with Geoff Berner. The highlight evening was the Mayor of Bruno Saskatchewan presenting us with the Key to Bruno. Jonah had never been on the road before. I picked him up at his mother’s house, and as we drove up McPhillips, he turned and said, wow I’ve never been on the road before. But we’re only on McPhillips, Jonah. Ya but it’s the principle, we’re leaving Winnipeg. I guess so ok, so how’s it feel to be on the road for 5 minutes Jonah? This is amazing. Jonah died about 5 years ago of a brain tumour, I don’t think he was even thirty years old. His family started a fund in his memory, his brother wrote me in January to say they’ve almost reached their goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"