JOURNAL[Pages : 6 5 4 3 2 1]

Feb 16

back in Toronto after two weeks on the west coast. Los Angeles & Vancouver in February can be enough to break up the snow bound desperation of a central Canadian winter. Very welcome. I almost don’t need to go to Australia & New Zealand later this month. (ee hee--quote me on this the next time I whine about life on the road).

While in Vancouver I played a show at the legendary Railway club. I’ve had so many great times in that room over the last 10 years, it should come as no surprise that this one was special. We ended the evening with the patented trick of handing off our instruments to various members of the audience to finish off our version of the Boss’ ‘I’m on Fire’. Brian, Aaron, Cameron, Eric, Steve (?) were nothing short of inspiring before shocking us (me, anyway) with a very inspiring rendition of Veal’s ‘Spiderman’. How fucking cool is that???

The following Saturday I attended the 4th annual Chicken & Egg dance, a Bluegrass filled barnyard dance in east Vancouver, replete with silent auction & the raffling of local artisans’ works to raise legal defense funds & awareness for the local organic farmers’ plight against the BC Agricultural Marketing Board, who are attempting to make it very difficult for small yield farmers to operate. Remember the nursery rhymes & children’s books about the small family run farm? The farms themselves? C’mon--I’m a city boy…no? well, they’re disappearing. Do we really want to squeeze them all out in favor of complete large scale corporate farming Monsanto-style hegemony? In many cases farmers are not even allowed to collect & re-use the seeds from a previous year’s crop but rather are forced, by law, to purchase the patent controlled (Monsanto etc) seeds every single year, even though they are naturally occurring when farming organically. Yes, even on the left coast.

Anyway, other than the political undercurrent, mostly this was just a fun evening for hippies & their offspring to do some old-school dancing (with a caller. Like: do-see-doh style). My daughter chased boys for 4 hours straight. I watched some farmers get down with their bad selves. I danced too, & won a hand-made purse.

On the way home i stopped at the Main to see Paul Pigat play with his acoustic blues trio “Heart Eight”. What a guitar player. Wow. Vancouver can suck for music sometimes, but it’s no fault of the numerous talented musicians. An inspiring week.

LA was sunny & warm. I spent most of my time on the freeway between Santa Monica, Venice, Los Feliz, West Hollywood, downtown, Burbank, San Diego, driving Melissa McClelland from one A&R office to another; from one management office to another… no wonder people shoot each other from their cars; they’re always in them. LA has to commit its share of violent crimes from the confines of low riding Honda Civics & white Ford Broncos.

We decided to drive along the Mexican boarder one day, after a long excursion through Encinitas, San Clemente, Oceanside, Long beach, San Diego etc…only to find ourselves crossing into Mexico at Tecate, on the road to Ensenada (I had to say that) at dusk. I pulled a U turn & barely managed to avoid making a huge mistake—we were both without passports. Not to mention the fact that the Mexican authorities are not warm to gringo visitors along boarder towns at night, mostly because it is so dangerous that local law enforcement have to dedicate a frustrating amount of time & resources protecting arrogant college students from the trouble they get themselves into while trying to score cheap heroin & prostitutes from local gangsters. We left. Safely. But I’ve still yet to set foot in Mexico. What a tragedy.

Flash back to Ontario. This morning I boarded the Go Train in Burlington for the 45 minute commute into the city to continue mixing with Michael Phillip Wojewoda. We have 1/2 a record left to mix in the next 10 days or so. I haven’t heard any of this stuff since I was here last, almost three weeks ago & I think the distance has served my head & ears well. Making my records is so much more fun for me than listening to them (what, do you think I sit at home & listen to my own work??) & after 3 Veal & 2 solo discs, I’ve learned to appreciate the creative process--to savor it before it produces a finished work that screams “ why didn’t you do so-and-so!?”.

I’m feeling a bit under the weather. Funky throat. Tired.

Peace out…
L



log jan 30th

Hi all

Sorry to have disappeared. I’ve been recuperating/hibernating in preparation for the new year’s onslaught of touring & recording etc.

What can I tell you? I just spent a half an hour writing to you all, only to realize that I’d have insulted pretty much everybody I’ve ever known with vastly sweeping generalizations about the differences between Toronto & Vancouver. I can’t print that. Sigh. We’ve heard them all so many times, right? Are they still funny? Are they even true?

(alright I’ll admit it, I have an axe to grind with the west coast—-I don’t do rain well. Twelve years in Winnipeg will do that to you.)

ok, here’s the skinny. I’m in Vancouver to play the tsunami benefit gig with sarah m, avril, BNL’s Chantal, Raine , sum 41 etc. good times I hope.* Then off to Calgary to do it all again. Then to LA for a week of chauffering the lovely melissa mclelland around to various corporate meetings to stir up some further interest so she (we? We’ll see) can get to work on her next record.

Then back in Vancouver for a gig at the famed railway club on the 10th of feb. then back to Toronto to finish mixing my record. Then to new Zealand & Australia with the mclachlans again. Then north America one more time until june. Maybe some summer festivals to play. Then my new record in the fall. Got it? Sorry, I skipped things like, punctuation, grammar, spelling, & English in order to quickly give you the low down.

Thanks to all of you who attended the trinity st. pauls gig. I really enjoyed myself. Sorry the gig was so long & I hope none of you peed yourselves. It was gracious of you all to indulge my fantasy. Maybe next year I’ll do a whole gig with strings. I feel a tradition coming on. Last year it was the live record, double drummer fiasco. Hmmm.

Where the hell is VEAL? People have been asking…

Shit guys, don’t ask hard questions. We, the band veal, will turn 10 years old on Halloween next fall. Maybe we’ll get together & have beers. We’ll sell tickets.

I’d love to make another veal record. Do a tour. Maybe we will soon. Hard to say. Has anyone seen chang? He’s tall, handsome. Likes smokes & latte’s.

Ok. I’m not saying anything here… other than perhaps.

*Ok, one small rant…

The world has displayed a readiness to respond to humanitarian disaster. The tsunami has thus far resulted in 1/4 million lives lost, & no doubt over the next few years people will continue to pay for her with their lives & livelihoods. There’s no way to refute the horror.

Now, why the fuck do we not react with the same horror when staggering numbers of innocent people die in preventable human tragedies such as the genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia, Tibet, Sudan, Yugoslavia, central europe; why don’t we insist on immediately providing drugs for people suffering from HIV in Africa, why don’t we realize & react to the fact that our own indigenous peoples commit suicide at exponentially higher frequency rates than “we” do? This list could last all night. My theory on the issue is this: we/they our governments, big business, the mainstream media, are all in some way complicit in many of these disasters, either by directly supporting the various belligerents, or by turning a negligent blind eye when interference doesn’t pay dividends towards our “national interests” (ie: oil in iraq, bin laden in Afghanistan, oil in Venezuela [just wait], middle eastern control/religious self interest in Palestine, etc.). we can say “it’s not our problem, let them sort it out themselves” when we don’t want to get our hands or our wallets dirty. Along comes the tsunami &, hey, we had nothing to do with this! Let’s help! Let’s donate! Let’s buy ourselves some karma points so we can go back to being complacent towards the rest of the third world we plunder constantly so we can be wealthy…

Tomorrow night I join the above list of people who are generously donating their time & talents to raise money for people in need. I believe & hope that people in need will benefit from our/your/the fans’ efforts. I suspect, genuinely, that they will. What I believe though, is that this kind of aid should be institutionalized & far reaching at a centralized level, so it doesn’t come down to our sporadic willingness to be generous when we see fit to be so. Our governments & multinational corporations should be budgeting for humanitarian relief all over the world, at all times & should cease to rape & pillage the third world with no regard for the consequences while people from those places live & work (for us) in dire conditions that drive one another to desperation & violence. Our media institutions (I’m talking CNN, Fox, ABC) should be driven by a thirst for truth & exposure, not profits & political leverage. Because these systems are not sufficiently in place, the onus falls on us, the uneducated (in a primary or global sense), overworked, distracted, wealthy westerners to rely on corrupt & selective media to instruct us when to have a conscience.

Please inquire with the truly savy, as I am not among them. I’m currently reading UN General Romeo Dallaire’s account of the horrific genocide in Rwanda that the world sat idly by & watched: “shake hands with the devil”. It will make you angry & sad but it’s a fantastic read.

Peace out.



christmas log

hi all. i'm assuming most of you are nestled deep into the bosom of home for the holidays, as i am. for some of you that means being around people you love (ditto) & for some it is an exercise in patience, tolerance & frustration. ahhh family.

winnipeg is sitting at a reliable -30C on this particular bright & sunny day. no wind so it's bearable, according to my mom who has braved the elements today. i'm still sitting in long johns & oversized sweater (aww.) sipping hot water with lemon & honey, trying to nurse a sore throat back to health before the weeks festivities kick in in earnest.

two nights ago i played a benefit/CD release for the Happy Campers' "i'm somebody too". it's their second album of childrens' songs written & performed by non-childrens' performing artists. chloe, my 8 year old, shared the experience with me, as she & i wrote our contribution together. it was her first time on stage & she was graceful, charming, completely professional & in tune. remarkable for anyone's first time on stage--never mind an 8 year old. it occurs to me that unless i want a little drew barrymore child-star terror on my hands i may have to take some preemptive action. she was pretty damn cute though.

tomorrow night i play my second ever gig as a drummer. i'm in a band with some friends from high school (who are all lawyers, museum curators & graphic arts webbies) & we are playing a gig at the liberty lounge in winnipeg's exchange district. strictly 80's covers. the good stuff. the knack, elvis costello, the ramones, early U2. I"M PLAYING THE @$#@ DRUMS! holy shit i'm pretty damn good too. doom kakka doom ka--doom kakka doom ka. (learned that one from chang). this is essentially a high school reunion for kelvin high alumni (the one neil young rode a horse through in '63 {how's my rock history?}). i will see many people i haven't seen in decades. i will get drunk. i will play drums.

what else what else what else...

almost done my next record. recording like a mad man. strings. saxophone solos (!). glockinshpiels. double drummers. songs about heart break, new love, politics (what else is there?). booze. there's booze. there's avoiding it. gotta write about that. spending lot's of time with andre wahl & Veal's NIK 7 (engineers). learning sooo much. some people are so crazy talented. the studio is a beautiful place. if i ever pull a brian wilson & disappear, know that i've decided there's more art to be created in the confines of the studio than there is to be shared on the stages of the world. seriously though, while i never plan to stop performing-- i do love to travel & yes i adore playing shows--i do so respect the act of placing ideas into music in a permanent way via some space age machines. it's so rewarding to create something that will live on in perpetuity, even if only your brothers & sisters & a few critics ever hear it. (yes, it takes a certain kind of ego to consider something as crass as a legacy at 30, but did you really think anyone in this industry were truly meek & humble in their artistic persuits? don't let the brown corduroy & cardigans fool you, my friends. they just attract different girls).

ok. merry christmas. happy channuka (eek, sp??). happy plain ol' winter solstice. happy non-of-the-above-but-it's-good-to-celebrate-something-with-loved-one's-when-it's-this- fucking-cold-out.

miss you all. see you soon.

x
L



11.27.2004
LOG

hello all.

i'm back in toronto. the usual week-to-ten-day decompression period seems to have slipped by without much emotional fanfare. does this mean that after 12 years of touring i've finally adjusted to the adjusting? hmm. that'd be nice.

yesterday, today & tomorrow i'm holed up in a suite at the Drake hotel in Toronto with my friend & engineer Andre, editing bed tracks. how is it that i elected to spend three more days in a hotel? i'll tell you. we need a small, clean, quiet place to rummage through recordings on a computer & decide what needs fixing, speeding up, slowing down, erasing etc...a hotel is cheaper than a studio...you get it.

the drake is a fancy pants "boutique" hotel on queen st. replete with the prerequisite & unfathomably trendy/pretentious bar. i find myself utterly disdainful & judgemental of all things pop cultural these days, so the line-up to get in which i pass 4 or five times in the evening makes me seethe. get over it, right? i am in the fashion industry too right? people will subject themselves to no end of humiliation to be looked at by other beautiful people.

{why is it that musicians are the only sub-genre of artists that have to maintain a palatable public persona that is completely irrelevant to the work we create? actors too. whine whine whine. look, at least if i were a rich rock star i could hide in my villa in spain. instead i hide in my Girlfriend's parents house in burlington, ontario. oh , the glamour. }

ok...positivity. um. G.W.Bush will be visiting Halifax & Ottawa next week.
he opted out of an chance to address a joint parliamentary session in the house of commons, to instead deliver a "thank you" speech to the good people of eastern canada for their hospitality on 911. (he obviously knows that the majority of canada's federal politicians are mortified by him). how's that for dodging critical analysis in favour of a feel good photo op? the positive part? canadians (Haligonians, no less--my old school peeps!!) have a golden opportunity to protest in earnest. we often complain about feeling impotent on the world stage. here's our chance. let's not be so canadian as to miss it.

music...Ron Sexsmith, "Retriever"; Tom Petty, "Wildflowers"; Modest Mouse, "music for people who like being miserable" (or some such north-western, rain soaked, crabby thing); Josh Rouse, "1972". Elliot Smith, "basement tracks" (? something like that--i'm terrible with titles); various Ryan Adams records: i'm trying to get back to the initial awe he inspired. having a hard time. emperors new clothes??

toronto is gray. how's your town?

peace out

L



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