Let's Ride

In the morning we will be loading all of this gear onto our bikes and rolling out of our driveway for a 10 day adventure.  We are covering a fair bit of ground and stopping in some cool little towns along the way.  I will try to post some stuff on my blog in case you want to follow our journey.  And if you are in the area and feeling inspired, bring your bike and join us for part of the journey.

Notice the homemade panniers made out of recycled cat litter containers.

The View From My Bike

Over the past year or so we have been wrestling as a family between trying to be more 'Green' and trying to simplify life.  Early on in that year we started having van troubles and the maintenance bills were growing, stressing us out and leaving us to wonder, why are we keeping it?  So we got rid of it and bought bikes.  How we got rid of the van is another cool story but I will save that one for now.
For now, we got rid of our van and have been riding our bikes everywhere over the Summer.  I'm not going to lie, it is challenging at first, well, actually, it's just plain challenging.  But is awesome!
We've really grown together as a family and have learned to look out for one another.  Living in a city with busy roads and lots of cars moving very quickly, you really have to work together to keep each other safe.
Right now I am in the process of buying this green Yuba cargo bike which allows me to put lots of stuff on it and next week we will be leaving for our 10 day bicycle music tour using only our bikes and traveling close to 300 kms with our kids pedaling along.
In our journey of simplifying, we wanted to do a family vacation this year that incorporated, community, exercise, camping and music and I think our 10 day bike tour to St. Marys and back is going to achieve all of those goals.  For 10 days we will be riding as a family and with whomever else joins us along the way.  Each night we will set up camp and I will play music.  We have some stops already booked along the way but also wanted to leave it open incase opportunity to develop new community arises in towns like Tavestock and Ayr.  It should be hard work, but also tons of fun.
People that hear about our decision to go car free always ask us what we plan to do in the winter and the truth is we plan to dress warm and keep riding.  Thankfully we have good friends who use their bikes year round to learn from.  The VanderKwaaks and Carrolls families.  But really, we don't know what it will be like until it gets here.
We aren't committing to this for the rest of our lives, but so far we love it!  It's fun to try and be strategic with what kind of "stuff" we take with us.  If we can't fit it, we don't take it.
From the seat on my bike I see so much more.  I see my kids pushing themselves to try things that they may not have tried before.  I see it bringing our family closer together, I see it causing us to try and eat better, and exercise more.  I even see that as we reach our destinations, it gets easier and easier so that we can push ourselves further next time.  The view from my bike is pretty sweet indeed.

Coffee

As a kid, I always thought coffee was weird.
My dad loved (and still loves) his double double from Tim Hortons.  Coffee smelled funny to me.  But somewhere along the line I was introduced to sugar and cream with a shot of coffee and then I too was hooked.  Now I spend a good portion of my week hanging out in coffee shops.  I write papers in them, I meet people in them and I play music in them.
What is it about the wonderful beverage that draws people like me in?
Why is it that I get excited to get to a coffee shop to set up my workstation and order a hot cup of Jo?
I know it's full of caffeine and other stuff that is probably not good for me, but it's the whole experience that draws me in.                      
As I write this blog post, my view is what you see in this picture.
It's perfect!  It's simple, I see a bunch of brown which is my favorite colour, and it makes me want to order another coffee and get more done.
Nowadays my dad and I drink coffee together. He still orders his double double, but I don't add sugar cuz I'm sweet enough already:)

Slippery Sidewalks Are Bringing Me Down.

It's February and the snow outside is starting to get me down.  I know that is common in February but I'm just in need of a pick-me-up.  So I have been working really hard to book a bunch of Spring shows once the better weather hits.  Working on a bunch of church events and a possible Summer tour.  I am reworking my press kit right now, recording a bunch of new songs and I even chopped my hair off to try and get a fresh start.
So now I'm just waiting for the snow to thaw, the patios to re-open and my record to get finished.
Stay tuned for more updates soon.

Something New for 2015

So I haven't posted on my blog for a long time but this is the start of a new year so why not post a wee update.  

The last half of 2014 was spent back in school trying to finish my Masters in Divinity, launching a second group in our House Church Plant called "GreenHouse" and working on a bunch of new songs.  Not to mentioned working on new music and a single with Otic Poets.  I felt like I didn't do very much performing but as I reflect, I suppose I was still pretty busy.  It's funny, when you are busy doing something you love, it doesn't seem like such hard work.  

I am very excited about 2015 as I am currently starting a new acoustic album at Sheepdog Studio which is so close to me that I can literally walk across Gage Park and be there in 10 mins.  Walking in a park is a beautiful way to prepare for recording.  After each session I get to walk home through the park and reflect.  This is going to be my best record yet.    

I will blog again soon about some other things happening.  Please stay tuned.  This picture was taken by my friend Kaz who is a brilliant photographer, videographer and owner of Verity Creative.  I'll share some more of his shots soon.    

What to do when you are on tour and you have little to no voice

About 10 days ago I began a string of gigs and now I am on the last day of my Spring Mini Tour.  Today is Sunday and last Sunday I started getting a sore throat.  Knowing that I had lots of singing to do I really took it easy, drank a ton of peppermint tea.
By Tuesday's show I was struggling to hit any high notes which I have to do often in my own songs and in the covers that I play.  On Wednesday I woke up and my speaking voice was a mess.  At this point adding coughing to the mix I knew I needed to get something so I bought some generic Cold and Cough stuff.  I don't think it did anything except for cost me way too much.
Wednesday night I was in London with my buddies' Hooper and Neil playing at St. Joseph's Hospital Annual fundraiser and with the help of my sister's boyfriend coming along and singing a few songs, we made it through and it was a great event.
On Thursday I had a much needed day off so I slept and had lots of tea but things appeared to be getting worse.  On Friday morning I had to drive to Downtown Toronto and pick up the CDs that I had printed at Indiepool.  Then I continued on to Brooklin, ON where I was playing with my friend Jonathan Manafo at a pub on a golf course called "The Hound Over the Hedge stone".
My voice was a mess at this point and the worst part was that I had no confidence in it at all.  It was a horrible feeling knowing that I still had to play Saturday night and twice on Sunday.
I hacked through the first 2 sets and Jonathan Manafo helped me out for the third set by singing a bunch of covers and once again we got through it.
Saturday was spent on the deck at Walkdown Sound with my good friend Matthew Fretz.  I lazed around all day alternating between hot and cold drinks with a mid day trip to Baldwin St. Burger.  I was still feeling poopy though so Matt and I took a trip to Shoppers and bought a bottle of Buckley's.  On Saturday night the Buckley's must have been working because I felt like I was starting to get some of my voice back.  That night I was once again joined by Jonathan Manafo on bass and Jonathan McMurray on drums.  As we started into the first set I was flying.  I had about 60% of my voice, Matt Fretz was mixing and had us sounding really good and the band was having tons of fun playing through popular covers and the original songs that I thought I could still hit.
The 2nd set was also good but I started noticing that I didn't have any voice when I tried to hit high notes.  This was freaking me out once again but the band and I kept jamming out the instrumentals and kept a brave face.  Jonathan McMurray sang a few covers from the drums which helped us get through set two.  When we took a break before set three I knew that I still had my Sunday shows to do and didn't want to totally lose my voice so Jonathan Manafo took the 3 set and sang a bunch of high energy covers that he does and I got to rock out on my electric guitar.  Our 3rd set was definitely the most spirited.  When we ended last night it was a little after 1am and we still had to pack up and drive 30 mins back to Walkdown Sound.  All of that worked out and I got a good night sleep.  So here I am now, still with about 60% of my voice and I'm heading in a few minutes to Jonathan Manafo's church to sing some songs and share some stories.
I am so thankful for so many great friends who have surrounded me this week and filled in gaps when I couldn't.  But by the grace of God the support of Hooper, Neil, Manafo, Fretz, McMurray and Buckley's go I.

Tim Neufeld

On Saturday May 3rd The Otic Poets and I have been asked to open for Tim Neufeld and the Hallelujah Glory Boys.  This is a real honour as Tim's band "Starfield" has been very influential in my life and in the lives of many others.
Over the past little while DM&OP have been working very hard to craft a sound that is really working.  It has my acoustic vibe in a bed of Geoff's creative acoustic and electronic drums, Neil's silky-smooth bass and Jordan's melodious guitars.  This combo really sings!
I'm excited to share our new sound with a larger audience and this show will be a good opportunity for that.
We will also be featured on the Radio show "Redeem The Beat" this Sunday at 4pm to promote the show on May 3rd and play one of our songs live.  Please tune in to that at 1015thehawk.ca and listen live.  You can also request songs from Otic Poet's "Frontiers" record or any of my solo material.
Also, you can get your tickets for the Tim Neufeld show from Harbour Fellowship Church in St. Catharines, ON.