Hey folks – the CD Release Show on July 7 is really looking sweet. I’ll be performing, and my good friends The Hearth and the Harrow and Ronok Sarkar are going to share what they do as well.

I’m also looking forward to playing for you with the guys in the band, and some special guest appearances by some of the folks you’ll hear on the album, such as my talented young cousin, Mr. Willie Stratton.

Hope you can come out – it’s gonna be a time!

Hey, there, true believers! I’m happy to report that my new CD “Songs from the Former County” is currently at press; we’ll be celebrating the arrival with a show at The Carleton Music Bar & Grill on July 7, 2014. More details to follow, but in the meantime I wanted to give a little sneak-peek at the CD cover designed for me by Jay Rawding (check out some of her stuff on Tumblr, while you’re at it).

Thanks aplenty to all of the Kickstarter supporters, StarShipSofa and Tales to Terrify podcasts for helping this to come together…cheers!

Happy 2014, all and everyone! It’s really cold outside my kitchen door today, so I’m staying inside and celebrating the new year with a few tunes on the old fiddle.

Let me start by saying “Thank-you!” to everyone who pitched in for my Kickstarter fundraiser in support of the production of “Songs from the Former County“; by the time we were singing “Auld Lang Syne” here in Nova Scotia, the final tally was $1750!

There are a lot of folks to thank out there, but I’d like to take this opportunity to doff my hat to Tony Smith at Star Ship Sofa and Larry Santoro at Tales to Terrify for going well beyond sense and modesty in their efforts to promote my humble cause. You guys are absolutely too much! Let me get you a round of new songs; the best the house has to offer!

So, folks, stay tuned for new songs; not only “Songs from the Former County”, but also for Star Ship Sofa and Tales to Terrify. In the meantime, here’s a little appetizer for the upcoming CD release in April, 2014.

Howdy, folks! 2013 is winding to a close, but we’re making good use of our time. The upcoming CD, “Songs from the Former County”(slated for release in April 2014) is tuned, tweaked, and dressed up in a fine new jacket(courtesy of John Parker(mixing and mastering) and Jay Rawding(graphic design). To finish the job, all that is needed is a little financial boost; so, we asked…

…and then, did we receive! First off, a huge thank-you to Roy Higgins and Mary Fisher for getting the fund-raising started with their generous donation!

Next, our good friends and neighbours Meghan and Adam Townsend opened their home to the rest of the neighbourhood for a fantastic Christmas-themed house concert. A warm and enthusiastic audience enjoyed performances and stories from Wanda Rose Milne, Noah Tye, Grant Mitchell and I, showing both financial and community support for local music.

Then the borders of the Former County really began to stretch; on December 2, we launched a Kickstarter campaign  to raise $1000 towards CD production costs; not only did we surpass this goal in the first week(thank you, Jozef Sovcik!), but we gained the kind attention and support of Tony C. Smith and the community of listeners of his StarShipSofa podcast, and its sister podcast Tales to Terrify, hosted by Lawrence Santoro. To get everyone involved, I have offered to write new songs for both of their podcasts if we reach stretch goals beyond the original $1000 target; $1500 gets a new StarShipSofa song, $1750 gets another song for Tales to Terrify, and $2000 will get a third song for the District of Wonders Podcast Network. Science fiction and folk music? Why not? Let’s do it!

Many thanks to everyone who has supported this project so far;  please have a look at the Kickstarter and consider donating, pre-ordering the CD, or spreading the word to family and friends. What started as a collection of local songs has spread well beyond the Former County line; the connection in this music to the people and places of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia is crucial, but it doesn’t stay here. I’ll reach out as far as I can, and I hope you’ll be there to reach back.

Thanks, everyone! Happy holidays!

 

Happy harvest-time, folks!  I’ve been getting out and about around the country side of late, meeting lots of people on stage and off, and generally having a good time.  Many thanks to Roseanne MacKinnon at Ceilidh’s Pub in Dartmouth, Lori and the crew at The Copper Barrel in Stewiacke, and all of the music fans I’ve met there.

 

The new CD is coming along nicely under the careful watch of John Parker; with his mixing and mastering of the eleven new songs nearly complete, the band and I are looking forward to letting everyone else hear what we’ve put together. Watch for the official launch in the spring of 2014.

 

With all of the sound and design pieces of the CD project coming together, it is now time for this humble independent folk-singer to ask for help! I am starting a fund-raising campaign to finance the production and promotion of the new CD;  stay tuned for details, but rest assured that I will do my best to show my appreciation for any help by way of house-concerts, kitchen parties, songs in your honour, highest praise on line, in print and in person…anything that will make you feel as good as you ought to for supporting artists, art and music!