rewind: 2011

01Jan12

i’m a little behind the game in the year-in-review blogging this year but the first day of 2012 doesn’t seem too bad to take stock of all things musical i got to do last year.

SARAH HARMER CANADIAN WINTER TOUR

the canadian winter is a bold time to choose to cross our climate-varied country, but the harmer crew (along with gentleman reg and his band) climbed into our home-on-wheels for several weeks of crushing cold. in thunder bay, ontario we had to dig a path through a meter of snow to get our gear from the bus to the venue. oddly, it was actually a great way to end a season of touring with sarah and the band.

FIELD ASSEMBLY RECORDING

over the spring and summer adam fox and i embarked on an ambitious collaboration involving other musicians recording in different parts of the country then mixing it all together in my home studio. as far as i know this recording (entitled narco) is looking for a home to aid in its release.

SUMMER FESTIVALS

rehearsing the sing-along of sarah harmer's parks song commissioned by the national parks project.

combining performances with royal wood and sarah harmer i was part of some of the music festivals canada has to offer, including: bloor festival (toronto), home county festival (london), parks canada day (toronto), newfoundland & labrador folk festival (st. john’s), collingwood music festival (collingwood), daniel lanois’ first greenbelt harvest picnic (dundas, on), finishing off festival season close to home at the shores of erie wine festival (amherstburg, on).

ROYAL WOOD SNEAK PEAK TOUR

the sneak peak tour brought the duo of royal and myself (along with opener danielle duval) to intimate and sold-out theatres from british columbia to ontario, the idea being that some of royal’s new material to be recorded for his next record would be workshopped and performed each night in front of audiences.

ROYAL WOOD THE COVERS SESSIONS E.P. RECORDING

this recording co-produced by myself and royal was recorded at the rogue and my studio. it was made available only at live shows on the sneak peak tour. it features five covers ranging from classic soul (“ain’ no sunshine”) to a fresh take on an adele instant classic (“someone like you”).

ROYAL WOOD NEXT ALBUM RECORDING

l-r: steve zsirai, adam warner, royal wood (above), me

in the fall royal and i entered into another production arrangement for his forthcoming (2012) full-length album bringing the band back to pierre marchand’s PM studio in montreal to record the bulk of the music. we finished off vocal overdubs at my studio and recorded strings and horns at canada’s new epic studio revolution recording . i don’t want to spoil the anything, but i think royal music lovers will be pleasantly surprised.

ISOBEL

all musical endeavours aside, the event that had the biggest and most unpredictable effect on me was the birth of our daughter isobel. a new baby can bring some perspective so i spent less time in 2011 tinkering with my musical toys and more time watching a human grow at an alarming pace.

i’ve got some musical ideas up my sleeve for 2012 – some on my own and some collaborative. i’m planning to collaborate more officially with joshua van tassel (i played a bunch of bass and guitar on his beautiful 2011 eponymous release). royal’s forthcoming album should turn some heads. aside from that i’m excited about having some time this winter to follow some whims with or without purpose.

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