CD Launch with the whole fam damily!

Walking the dog at 9:00 tonight. It was mild, almost warm, and still light! Halleluya! You’d think, given the earth’s continued revolutions around the sun are a pretty sure thing, (earthquakes knocking it off its axis notwithstanding) that the arrival of spring would be less of a surprise to me. But in fact, every year I marvel and swoon. It really did come again! Well, it’s ludicrous to complain considering we only recently had of our week of winter, with the snow on the mountains finally providing the vista we had hoped would greet the Olympics. But the reality is, I run cold, and live in a north facing house in the shadow of a huge hill, so I spend the winter with a primal hunger for the heat of the sun in my bones. So now I’m high as a kite on the promise of it all.  

Okay. Here’s my Big News. The concert celebrating the launch of the new solo CD is planned for May 7th - (that’s news, but not THE news – wait for it!) - at St. James Hall in Vancouver. I’m thrilled the Rogue Folk Club was able to present it shortly after Julia’s arrival home from McGill so she could be a part of it (since she’s all over the album). Partner Bill Runge will be accompanying on piano, accordion, bass & soprano sax; Julia on violin, piano, harmonica, vocals, and if she can cram fast enough, accordion; Jane Mortifee will be adding vocals; Bruce Miller will accompany his tune that I recorded; Tom Taylor will sit in on guitar on a few tunes and – and – drum roll – Son Mike Magee will play percussion!! Whoo hoo!! Cajon to be precise (in case you were thinking triangle).  

Here’s how the train went: The song everyone singles out from “Find Our Way” is “By The Grace of Goodbye” written about finding Mike 2 years ago. Mike was an avid drummer though high school, but traded his passion for music for architecture at Cal Berkely. I saw and heard his talent a mere few days after we met when he accompanied me to the Canmore Folk Festival and we grazed by the drum booth in the craft area. I was blown away by his time and feel on those drums. So when I was pondering a percussionist for the concert I had a classic light bulb moment. It seemed too perfect an opportunity - bringing all these pieces together for the concert. Fortunately he was totally keen, as was wife Ann and daughter Abigail, which is good since it’s a long drive up from Eugene, Oregon.  

So come to the St. James Hall and meet the fam! Oh, and have a night of (dare I say) GREAT music!

It will be great to have Julia home for the summer – we have lots of shows planned, including in the Okanogan Valley in May and in Ontario in August en route to Julia’s return to McGill. (Still looking for a few dates to fill if you are interested in presenting a house concert!). Barney and Tom and I are doing some Vancouver Island shows in June. They’re all on the website & mySpace. I’ve finally put in the time to wrestle the myriad of social networking into some kind of submission. I love how the internet makes it so much easier to sow seeds of music, but the servicing of the sites and the way a new one seems to pop up once a week (nagging and taunting artists into thinking they’d better get on there!) is getting to be a bit much. Like all technology (except medical) I wish they’d just give it a rest for a few months and let us catch our breath!  

Okay – enough nattering. One more thing – in case you haven’t heard, Bill Henderson is doing a big Collectors / Chilliwack reunion show on May 21st and May 22nd at The River Rock Theatre – bringing back most of the members who have played in the band since it began in the late 60’s. It’s an unprecedented opportunity for the artists and audiences time travel with the music that played a significant part in the cultural life of Canadians. I’m not going to miss it.

Guess that’s it for now. Thanks for reading. Enjoy the Spring!!

Shari