I wrestled my luggage home from the airport and up the steps to my dark apartment on Sunday night to be greeted by a letter from the Toronto Arts Council informing me that I had been awarded a Music Creation grant. What perfect timing to receive funding for a new songwriting project I’ve been planning (and have begun already), moving into the winter months when tour dates thin out and writing retreats often prevail. I’ll be sharing bits of the writing process as I go along, and you can keep up on my Facebook page. Here’s one of the completed tunes:
Hamilton welcomed Craig Cardiff and me on Tuesday night, as a room full of McMaster University students put aside their exam notes for a few hours and came to TwelvEighty for stories and songs. Thanks to Al Legault and his team for their dedication and energy.
Craig Cardiff and me with the MSU Crew
And dear St. John’s. I have barely had a chance to breathe in deep enough to be able to express my gratitude – Josh at the Grapevine for working defence on my behalf, John Clarke from the NL Folk Arts Society who booked me into the finest Folk Night at the Ship Inn, Jack Marks and Tim Crabtree who shared that stage with me for a grand Come From Away night, Melanie O’Brien who kept me laughing and singing at the Bull until 3am and Maggie for that shot of Christmas Cheer, Joanna Barker and Corey Isenor for the last hurrah at the Rose and my old friend Rozalind who surprised me with a spontaneous flute appearance.
My wonderful host Nancy gave me the run of the house and let me eat all her Doritos. Bless your beautiful heart. Thanks to all the folks I met who made me feel like we were old friends. Oh, the food was fantastic, including a particularly memorable dinner (oops, I mean ‘supper’) at Get Stuffed, orchestrated by Jerry Stamp.
This all happened because of Ian Foster and I can’t thank him enough. I can’t wait to return to the island.
Cape Spear