The next morning, I walked into the kitchen and poured a bowl of cereal. My Mom, as usual, was sitting at the table drinking coffee. “I don’t think I wanna move back to Moncton.”“What do you mean, you don’t think…
A Case Study In Nerves
You know that feeling you get when you’re balancing on two legs of a chair and you are just about tip over? That’s what singing the Anthem feels like. We’ve all seen the videos of people drawing a blank mid-song.…
Gord Downie
The passing of Gord Downie last week has left everyone across the country with a tear in their eye, a lump in the their throat and a song in their heart. I think we all have a Tragically Hip story.…
Last Thoughts On The Song Called “So Long Stompin’ Tom” (Friday, March 15, 2013)
Last Wednesday evening, my brother Chris, sent me a text message telling me that Stompin’ Tom had passed away at the age of 77. The first thing I thought was “Well that’s the end of era…” But I didn’t realize…
A Courier’s Blues (Another Christmas Story Of Sorts)
Jenny and I moved to Toronto in August of 2003. The day of the Blackout, to be exact. I remember joking that maybe the city of Toronto didn’t want us to move in. Like maybe, they figured, if they’d just…
THE 8:30 NEWFOUNDLAND CROSS CANADA TOUR/ OCT. 13 TO OCT. 30, 2009 (PART 1)
Well… In late September it dawned on me that I didn’t have a vehicle for the upcoming tour which was due to kick off on October 15th in Summerside, PEI. I looked into renting a van but that was gonna cost…
THE 8:30 NEWFOUNDLAND CROSS CANADA TOUR OCT. 31-DEC. 15, 2009 (PART 2)
Well… I woke up on the morning of October 31st, 2009 in Thunder Bay. The tour with Corb Lund and Hurtin’ Albertans had finished the night before and for whatever reason I was up early. The guys in the band…
Looking For You (A Travelogue Of Sorts…)
In June of 2004, Jenny and I were awaiting the impending arrival of Ruby. For some reason, I had booked a last minute show in the Distillery District in Toronto. It was so last minute in fact, that Jenny and…
You Ain’t Living (If You Don’t Die Trying)
(The Three Stages Of Songwriting… ) This is a study of how the germ of an idea for a song can happen years before the actual writing of it. I wrote this song in 2007 but, the seeds for it were…
The Way I Remember It…Chapter Five
Chapter 5 One day, during lunch, about a week after our second gig, Keith told me that he was leaving the band. “Leaving the band? Wha’ d’ya mean yer leaving the band? We’re just getting started!” “Yeah, I know man,…