Sometime after July 20-ish

Days in the studio get long as we try and fit in overdubs (and as Don's family escapes to the lake)! We have a stream of people coming through the studio: David Celia comes in for background vocals and guitar. Paul Linklater infuses the studio with some wild energy when he comes in to lay down guitar tracks. Jude Haines and Treasa Levasseur add to our choir--they are a dynamic gospel choir that lead us to believing. Drew Jurecka and Michael Holt totally shift the mood when they come in to do the string section. Drew has only a couple hours to record violin before hopping on a plane, and their efficiency is so impressive!


Nathan comes in for a couple days to help out--he's such a good kid!


In the midst of this madness, I still get to rise from the studio for a few shows. After our two month tour this winter, it's a really pleasure to finally share a show with Peter Katz again. We head out to the Good Times bar in St. Catharines to find the name of this fine establishment quite misleading. We arrive to a warm welcome but bizarre scene. The stage has the feeling of a nine-year old boy's bedroom with planets suspended from the cieling and a neon cityscape decorating the background. During Peter's set, a wild scene breaks out: a violent yelling match between waitress and patron disrupts Peter's set. Does he launch into another song or linger uncomfortably? He tries a bit of both.



Despite these intrusions, the crowd is really enraptured by our sets, with the exception of the pool players at the back. They lend new flavor to the songs by inserting load expletives after every shot for the whole bar to appreciate. Hmmmm. Nice to get back to the studio.

July 12

It’s 9:30 pm and people are beginning to cook supper out on their barbeques. From our second storey deck, I overlook neighboring yards and patios where smoke billows from various fires and grills. It’s too hot to cook inside. Too hot to even think about eating until darkness starts cooling the air and we realize the time. I can hear cats fighting and clawing in the distance; perhaps it’s the black and white one that mistakes our house for his and wanders freely in and out through the open doorway.

It is both invasive and reassuring, the way the sights and sounds of our homes overlap in the summer, when our windows and doors remain open and our private lives become exposed.

I’ve had a few days out of the studio, but tomorrow we start bed tracks and the real fun begins. Played a show last night in Mississauga and witnessed some great songwriting from Andrew Austin and at the Sound Lounge. And today spent most of the day out of the heat, sequestered in the Toronto Public Library with a beautiful window view and free wireless connection. Ode to simple pleasures.

Extreme temperatures—like today’s heat—brings out extreme behaviors. Over morning coffee, I witnessed an event quite unexpected in the urban metropolis of Toronto. About five young goats escaped from a parked trailer, and I watched as a young girl and various passersby tried to herd them away from the traffic of the Danforth. I didn’t witness the resolution, as I was focusing my attention on an obstinate lama on leash nearby.

Later this afternoon, I was taking a break from the library and having a coffee at a nearby café. I watched a young woman across the street seemingly conducting a news report, holding a microphone and being filmed by a single cameraman. When I glanced back in her direction a few moments later, she was doing the exact same thing, but topless. I’m not sure if I was more surprised at seeing a naked newscaster on Yonge Street or at the lack of reaction she evoked from passersby, who didn’t seem to notice the bare-breasted reporter at all. Is it very prairie of me to think this odd?

July 20-ish

It’s hard to believe that the record will be done in a week. For the most part, I’ve been nestled into the studio, getting the bedtracks recorded. In five days, we finished ten songs—bass, drums, guitar and vocals. At least half the songs were recorded live off the floor, which I’ve never done before. Recording live means abandoning a certain degree of self-consciousness to just connect with the band and feel the songs. With Don on drums and Doug Friesen on bass, I was in excellent hands and the feeling of that groove was incredible. With this recording taking place so fast, it often is about being intuitive—if it feels right, then roll with it.

Unfortunately, Doug (our very fine bass player) has no sense of humour. The atmosphere is rather dull and sombre with him around. Surely, this picture attests.


Don is going through a watermelon phase, so it becomes a staple of our breaks. I've never consumed so much watermelon--it's a good reminder that summer is unfolding outside the studio.



Every now and then I get to break out of the studio and play a few shows. The first was in Hamilton with Mike Evin and David Celia. Mike Evin easily swings along on the piano with colorful stories and engaging lyrics that kept me absolutely fixated during his set. David was next—totally seduced me with his voice and easy style. Brilliant songwriting!

09 July

Today, I have the great fortune of being a stow away in the van taking Don and Ron Sexsmith, along with the rest of the crew, to the Mariposa Folk Festival. We stop in on a recording session for Peter Elkas to pick up Doug Friesen, who will be playing bass on the new album. I’m so thrilled to meet artists whose work I so admire.
(Here's Doug and I kicking around Mariposa...)


The Mariposa festival site is a groovy little scene overlooking the water, and it feels great to get out of the city. I get a chance to go for a walk with Don along the water and it makes me long for the lake. Ron’s set is stunning. His songwriting is shaped with such beauty and precision, with an economy of words and effective arrangements that leave you utterly defenseless.

Ron and Don play a song from a recent release Destination Unknown that Bob Dylan recently played on his radio show. Check out Don’s myspace page: it offers up a clip of Bob Dylan praising Ron’s songwriting and Don’s production style!

We drive back to Toronto after the show. Didn’t get many photos—I think I’ve lost my tendency to wildly snap shot after shot. Didn’t even get various paraphernalia and body parts signed by Ron. But I can’t say that I’m not amused at having a backstage pass listing me as Ron Sexsmith’s “kin”.

08 July

On only the second day of recording, Don and I follow the momentum of the day and actually lay down some vocal and guitar tracks. I’ve never recorded both at the same time, but I really dig this process. It’s the way I play, more natural and honest. So we clip along in his studio, taking breaks in the garden to refuel the process.

Don tells me his neighbors aren’t thrilled with his philosophy on lawn care: if you cut the lawn, you kill all the interesting plants and weeds and flowers that sprout up for our admiration. I share Don’s aesthetic and appreciate the overgrown foliage.

07 July-Arriving in Toronto

I’m back in Toronto, a city that now attracts me for its familiarity as much as its novelty. Peter Katz (who I toured with this winter) was good enough to pick me up from the airport. And as we descended into the heart of the city, I experienced the rush of being back in Toronto, without the same longing to stay. I’m keenly aware of how glad I am to be living in Saskatoon, now. I desperately needed grounding, and the prairies do that to you.

My last blog announced my return to Saskatoon after a two month tour across Canada with Peter Katz. Within a week of returning, I was planning the next album. I was applying for Rawlco Radio’s 10K20 project, which gives twenty Saskatchewan artists $10,000 each to put towards a new recording. So a lot has happened since the end of that tour. I received the grant and settled back into Saskatoon just long enough to hit the road for Toronto, where Don Kerr will produce the next project.

Today was the first day of working with Don, doing preproduction in his home studio. Although it was the first time I actually met Don, I felt incredibly at home. Would be hard not to actually. We started recording potential album songs with vocals, acoustic guitar and Don on drums. Don is such a soulful drummer that it’s quite natural playing with him. While we laid down track after track, I was reminded why I was so attracted to his production in the first place.

The day is gorgeous—he gives me a tour of the garden, and we end up there with our guitars, despite the growing threat of allergic reaction as Don sneezes his way onward.

And now I’m back at Anastasia’s house, sipping tea on the candlelit deck and watching the moon. (She has so graciously opened her home and family to me yet again while I record!) This moment on the deck is exactly the mood befitting the next album. Recording doesn’t feel as rushed as it is—we’re relaxed. Easy-going. The production will be soulful and honest, without a lot of layers. I’m quite prepared to offer the songs up unadorned, without distractions. It will embody this sweet summer evening—warm, sensual. It will sway and meander.