Resting Up After a Great Mini-Tour

I'd been looking forward to doing a mini-tour with Hiroshima accordion artist Goto Izumi for most of the summer, and I'm glad to report it was just as much fun as I hoped it would be. The Thomasburg concert series is turning out to be a raging success, despite the fact that Thomasburg is barely a dot on the map, and my leg of the tour ended on a high note at the Smiling Buddha in Toronto. I like that we ranged from rural to metropolis in three short dates.

Goto Izumi

I had fun debuting new material and getting into some theatrics, but mostly I learned a lot watching Izumi's approach to performing. Although she had some key ideas and set pieces, her performances were extremely fluid. Each night I saw her was a completely different show, and her ability to read the crowd was uncanny. If it sounds like I'm pumping her material, I'm not - I'm describing what I admired and what I'd most like to incorporate into my own act. Plus, she can play the hell out that accordion. I had a great time playing a saw duet with her on the last night, and I hope it'll go up on YouTube in the not-too-distant future.

I also enjoyed Danish filmmaker Sofie Ivan Andersen's film Dream Circus, which screened after the music, not to mention all her help with organization and translation. She was shooting footage for a new music doc, so if I make the final cut of the film, you can bet I'll be bragging like mad, but even if I don't, I'd recommending looking up the film when it goes online or trying to catch a screening. Thanks too to Jarret of the Fire Flower Revue for performing and organizing.

Izumi down on the farm

One of the great things about having visitors from way out of town is that everybody profits from the exchange. Izumi met Will and Verna Walker of Reklaw Farms at the Thomasburg show, and the next day we got some check out their organic operation (and watch a six-year old ride a pig). It made for some great photos, which is where the pic at right comes from.

I think I'm going to take some at-home vacation for the next few days, so this site won't be updated as frequently. I have about a half-dozen projects in mind for September, though, so I'll be back with a vengeance in the fall. In the next year I'd like to record my latest originals, an old-time album, and perhaps a sequel or two to Two-Headed Hippopotamus on a Bootjack - maybe Return of the Two Headed Hippopotamus or Son of Two-Headed Hippopotamus on a Bootjack? A friend has also challenged me to record some songs of Milarepa, the eleventh century Buddhist poet and saint, to the tune of "Big Rock Candy Mountain." I accept - there are apparently a hundred thousand songs to choose from. Also, the maple bugs have mysteriously returned to my backyard, good news for anyone who enjoyed the Painting with Bug Blood series... Feel free to drop me a line if there's anything you'd like to see or hear first!

Duet at Smiling Buddha, Toronto

At Kubo Lounge, Peterborough