If It's Not One Season It's Another
Oh my gosh…I’ve changed the date on the draft of this newsletter so many times since January. What happened to those three months? Three years? Three decades??
It seems spring has helped a bit with how weary, worried and worn out most of us had been feeling. When I started this message in January I added… ”but I can see the light”. And then there was war. I guess there’s always been war, but it is so unfathomable to me that anyone would choose to terrorize, maim and murder his fellow man (woman and child). I can’t bear to squish a bug. And I’d say it’s pretty safe to use that pronoun as the common perpetrator. Again in history, a path of annihilation driven by one deranged, power obsessed man. Just the ludicrous act of first destroying and ravaging a country before taking it over is more evidence of the insanity of it. Like stealing someone’s home and burning it down first.
I thought I’d share this article I found by John Pavlovitz about the challenges of giving a damn. You can read it HERE. I’ve often semi-joked that it would be easier if I simply didn’t care about - well, so many things. I’m subconsciously constantly searching for a place to co-exist with the madness that is somewhere between an ostrich and Mother Theresa. (Oh wait - James Keelaghan just told me of Christopher Hitchen’s book about Mother Theresa that exposes the myth of her saintly-ness. Damn…nothing and no one is sacred. How about an ostrich and Sam Harris?) A seek a place to hover where my heart isn’t constantly breaking, and I can be of some use. I must admit, having music as one’s path does allow for a perennial sense of purpose. So that’s helpful. But I think we’re all walking that tightrope of metering out our “incoming” in order to keep moving forward.
But then there are the countless acts of compassion, kindness, and gratitude I witness every day. So don’t worry - my inner Pollyanna is alive and well! I am ever in awe of the beauty and miracle of nature and the humans I love and meet. Oh, and then there’s the NEW PUPPY in our lives. A perfect antidote. See below.
I often say that living on an island is a microcosm of how cities and countries function - or don’t. Always inclined to distill and analyze, (with zero qualifications to make such observations) I have rendered down the current wave of rebellion to what seems to be one of our most innate characteristics as a species - wanting to feel in control. I learned from developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld when Julia was wee about counterwill, not just in a toddler but everywhere in nature - a biological imperative. I learned that our role as parents is to minimize the damage to the relationship by how we react to this essential and inevitable stage in development.
That led me to connect the dots to the behaviour we’re seeing in society of people raging against The Machine, despite that machine struggling to keep them alive and deal with unprecedented societal challenges. Somehow the measures asked of us to help keep our population alive led to a blind call for “freedom”, (which in Canada seems ludicrous). The reality is, our densely populated society requires countless complex systems to be in place in order for us to function - to have food, water, transportation, health care, waste management and a million other necessities we take for granted - all requiring infinite rules and guidelines in order for to prevent total chaos. Is being liberated from that construct the desired “freedom”? If so, I don’t want to be around if they get what the seem to be asking for. But I know that it’s happening in part because people are so anxious in these times. It seems to bring out both the best and the worst in us.
So circling back to my little island… we voted 13 years ago to become a municipality. So that meant electing our friends and neighbours who are passionate about contributing to their community to council. Serving on council means processing mountains of material to inform the countless difficult decisions required to manage it all. What I have observed is, as soon as council is elected, a portion of the populace turns on those people who have now become “The Man”, accusing them of bad decision making and mistrusting their motives. And I surmise that push back has its roots in that young child who is angry about being made to do things they don’t want to do. Our blood sport is attacking those in the seats of power. Of course in the larger arenas there are many who seek those seats for all manner of twisted reasons related to craving power. But to hold a blanket contempt for The Man and get blindly hopped up on the Freedom rally cry against the democratic system created serve the populace? Not helpful.
Now, if you live in Ukraine and your house has been bombed and you are running from a murderous dictator, that is a freedom issue. If you are a 16 year old girl who finds herself pregnant and is far from ready to be a parent and is outlawed from having an abortion, that is a freedom issue. (Don’t get me started on how we could go so far backwards.)
Okay okay - enough!! I feel a bit sheepish about the imbalance between dime store pontificating, and merciful humour, given my desire to entertain, but if I revisit anything I’ll NEVER get this out and I’m still at my desk in my pyjamas at 2 in the afternoon! So I will sign off here and la-la-la my way on to telling you about some escape and music coming your way! (And here’s the usual disclaimer that I haven’t taken the time to send to a trusted editor for a grammar check! )
Here’s a whack of shows coming up:
First up is next FRIDAY, May 6th at the Bez Arts Hub in Langley BC. For the first time in 3 years my son Mike, wife Ann and daughter Abigail will be travelling up from Eugene OR for a visit, timed with Mother’s Day and this show. Though Julia is stuck at home with a mixing session and a brand new puppy, I will be joined by the ever wonderful Cindy Fairbank on piano and accordion - a gem of a human and musician. Oh, and there might be another delightful surprise! You can get tickets for the live show or the livestream of the performance HERE!
SONGBIRD NORTH
TUESDAY MAY 31st at the Roundhouse in Vancouver
I will be hosting:
Michelle Creber
Chin Injeti
Matt Kennedy
I will be posting the ticket link in the next few days.
On JUNE 10-11 I’ll be in SIDNEY, BC at the Folknfiddle Festival at the Mary Winspear Centre - I’m playing Friday night and Saturday afternoon joined by both Cindy Fairbank and Kirby Barber.
FINALLY - here come The Mavens! (or as I like to call us - The MaVens)! Lynn Miles and Susan Crowe and I met up in Ottawa for a week to do our first few shows since we first assembled in Feb 2020 (you know what that meant). So we’re finally taking it to the stage. Two of the funniest, smartest GREAT songwriters and singers I know!
June 23 - HALIFAX, NS The Carlton - Tickets HERE!
June 24 - ANNAPOLIS ROYAL - NS Kings Theatre - Tickets HERE!
June 30 - WHITE ROCK, BC Bluefrog Studios.
July 1-3 - SMITHERS, BC Midsummer Festival
July 8-10 - COMOX, BC Vancouver Island Musicfest!
More Dates TBA!
I’ll send the details for all these closer to, but you can always check my website for more info too. Just haven’t had a chance to collect all the details yet. I NEED AN ASSISTANT! Julia may be on some of these but she and James now have a new puppy! So uncertainty reigns!
July 1 - BURNABY, BC - Shari & Cindy - City of Burnaby Canada Day celebrations - 2:30 pm
July 16 - NORTH VANCOUVER, BC - Shari & Cindy - Cornerstone Bistro
July 23 - DUNCAN, BC - Islands Folk Festival - with Cindy - TICKETS - see poster below
July 30th - PENDER ISLAND - Mosaic Festival - with Shari, Cindy, and maybe Julia? Tickets here!
Aug. 4 - WEST VANCOUVER, BC - Harmony Arts Festival - Shari, Cindy, Kirby & Julia
Aug. 7 - VICTORIA, BC - Shari, Cindy & Kirby - Hermann’s
Aug. 8 - PARKSVILLE, BC - Knox United - Shari, Cindy & Kirby
Aug. 9 - QUADRA ISLAND, BC - Heriot Bay Inn - Shari, Cindy & Kirby
Aug. 12- VICTORIA - Butchart Gardens with BTU!! - Barney Bentall, Tom Taylor and me - plus Cindy & Kirby! Should be a blast!!