tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65231391998499373052024-02-07T05:23:58.979-04:00Evin on EarthMontreal musician Mike Evin's blogMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-10012524442536081342010-06-14T16:53:00.002-03:002010-06-14T17:06:35.972-03:00In the canHi everyone,<br /><br />The new album is mixed. I'm very excited! The March recording sessions in Nashville went even better than the October sessions. It was such a pleasure to be back down there and working with Brad and Jason again. These are the songs that ended up making it onto the album:<br /><br />Do You Feel The World?<br />The Bach Family Sing-a-Long<br />We'll Meet Again<br />Takin' You With Me<br />Real Tight<br />Shuffleboard Prince<br />Bound To Be Okay<br />The Magical Tape<br />Seagull Spell<br />Gotta Sing<br />Sweet Emma's Group<br />Corner of the World (featuring Ron Sexsmith)<br /><br />I'm so honored to have one of my heroes, Ron Sexsmith, singing harmony on Corner of the World. Right now, as we wait to have the album mastered, we'll be playing it for anyone who could help us release it and get me on the road to perform for all of you.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aFhSDlmO3A0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aFhSDlmO3A0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br />In the meantime, check out the new video and a sneak preview of two of the album's tracks in their "unmastered" state.<br /><br />Love,<br />MikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-75127755544226818242010-03-10T20:35:00.003-04:002010-03-10T20:47:30.067-04:00In NashvilleHi everyone!<br /><br />I've arrived in Nashville. I apologize for being out of touch the last few weeks as I've been preparing for the trip and raising money. The fundraiser show was a giant success and a lot of fun! One of the best musical experiences of my life so far.<br /><br />I've been here in Nashville for a few days now. I had a show last night at the Basement and it was fun. It was the first time I played live with Jason Cheek on drums and Will Harrison on bass. We tried out some of the new tunes.<br /><br />Tomorrow I get to move into the studio and get more settled. It's been a bit hard to loosen up and have some fun again here in Nashville... I find myself all serious and ready to make an album. But I keep forgetting one of the most important elements: FUN. I want to just let loose and get into the rhythm of life here in Nashville.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9z7ikKJBGoY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9z7ikKJBGoY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I saw an amazing band Monday night at the Station Inn, a great funky little whole in the wall venue. The band plays there every Monday night and is called <a href="http://www.thetimejumpers.com/">The Time Jumpers</a>. Fantastic. They are the best of the best. And the regulars there were so nice too. They took the time to introduce all of the members of the band for me. They were just really excited to share it all with a newcomer. The highlight for me was watching the pedal steel player, named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Franklin">Paul Franklin</a>. He Supposedly he is the best of the best, and I don't doubt it. But what really moved me is seeing the joy on his face throughout the night. He was like a little kid up there!!! So inspiring.<br /><br />We start recording again on the 14th and go through till the 28th -- with 2 days off. Nervous and excited. Mostly excited. I hope I don't get sick...but I know the more I think about the worse off I'll be. Trying to stay positive.<br /><br />AHHHGGG!!! YEAH!!! Come on Nashville.... I wanna let loose. The ball's in my court. I think Nashville has already stepped to the plate.<br /><br />What should I do tonight??<br /><br />Haven't been to the Belcourt theatre yet.<br /><br />Talk to you guys soon....<br /><br />MikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-58176384344907047652010-02-28T19:24:00.002-04:002010-02-28T19:25:21.800-04:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1aL25XKQZ5qScMuwuPR0SKw3UVWZs8RPbfP-_hrnA2zLeUPZS5RMwCddZ-4V8Jxc-DZFjXknwNUYm5-YkzqGuisSgf5RaiHDYaFHaZmhtGvm821bdZPRLqRxRop8oWMkj5ypfJTVjqyV/s1600-h/4229776674_794485d0ec.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ1aL25XKQZ5qScMuwuPR0SKw3UVWZs8RPbfP-_hrnA2zLeUPZS5RMwCddZ-4V8Jxc-DZFjXknwNUYm5-YkzqGuisSgf5RaiHDYaFHaZmhtGvm821bdZPRLqRxRop8oWMkj5ypfJTVjqyV/s320/4229776674_794485d0ec.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443439443929171314" border="0" /></a><br />Hi folks,<br /><br />I'm really excited about the upcoming fundraiser in Montreal this Wednesday, March 3rd, for to raise money to finish recording my new album down in Nashville.<br /><br />Here are the special guests to appear with me singing their own stuff in the first set!<br /><br />Amanda Mabro<br /><a href="http://www.amandamabro.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),">http://www.amandamabro.com</a><br /><br />Daniel Isaiah Schachter<br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/dischachter" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),"><span>http://www.myspace.com/dis</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>chachter</a><br /><br />Leif Vollebekk<br /><a href="http://www.leifvollebekk.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),"><span>http://www.leifvollebekk.c</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>om</a><br /><br />Alan Mann<br /><a href="http://www.alanmannmusic.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),"><span>http://www.alanmannmusic.c</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>om</a><br /><br />Miss Sugarpuss<br /><a href="http://www.misssugarpuss.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),"><span>http://www.misssugarpuss.c</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>om</a><br /><br />Li'l Andy<br /><a href="http://www.lilandy.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),">http://www.lilandy.net</a><br /><br />Brad Barr<br /><a href="http://www.theslip.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),">http://www.theslip.com</a><br /><br />All of them so talented and it's an honour for me to share the stage with them.<br /><br />The venue is Centre St-Ambroise (5080-A St-Ambroise).<br /><a href="http://www.mcauslan.com/en/centre/centre_content.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),"><span>http://www.mcauslan.com/en</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>/centre/centre_content.htm</a><br /><br />Door open at 8 pm and showtime is 8:30 pm.<br />The admission is $10.<br /><br />Hope to see some of you real soon!<br /><br />Love,<br />MikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-66395125011861850742010-02-08T16:43:00.006-04:002010-02-08T17:30:38.190-04:00Recording recording recordingHello! Just got back from the studio here in Montreal where I've been recording a song I co-wrote with a friend about his daughter Talula. It's fantastic. We finished it up today. Hopefully soon you'll get to hear it and see the behind the scenes of the recording and writing process.<br /><br />I'm heading back down to Nashville on March 6th and will be finishing my new album over 13 days in the studio there with Brad Jones. I'm incredibly excited. I can't wait to finish it (but I wanna enjoy every moment while I'm making it).<br /><br />I still want to raise money so that I can pay for the studio and musicians while I'm down there. <span style="font-weight: bold;">My goal is to have $6500 in hand in a month's time</span>. I know I can do it. I know because I know I have the support of you guys. So -- now is the time, if you haven't already, to help me finish this record. Every little donation will help. I want to thank again everyone who has donated so far (around 60 people).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here's where you can donate:</span><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers">http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers</a><br /><br />So far, we've narrowed the songs down to 12. But I'd like to tighten it up to a 10 song album. So it's gonna be tough. Here are the songs so far:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BOUND TO BE OKAY</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DO YOU FEEL THE WORLD?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE BACH FAMILY SING-A-LONG</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">REAL TIGHT</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">TAKIN' YOU WITH ME</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SHUFFLEBOARD PRINCE</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SEAGULL SPELL</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE MAGICAL TAPE</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MIKE EVIN'S DREAM</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SWEET EMMA'S GROUP</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">HIGHS AND LOWS</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CORNER OF THE WORLD</span><br /><br />Here's one of the newest songs I've written (last week). Still very much a work in progress:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QK-ZlMK0o4c&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QK-ZlMK0o4c&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Guys -- I can't wait to get out there and perform these songs (and my old songs) live for you all and a whole bunch of new people. It's gonna be fun - it always is. But especially now. I'm feeling more grounded than I've ever felt before in my life, and I know I'm gonna enjoy being on the road more than ever before.<br /><br />I also can't wait to see a lot more of the world. I've been coming to this library here in Montreal on Cote-des-Neiges Street - it's called the Intercultural Library. Great world music collection. And the people here are from all over the world. It makes me excited every time I come here.<br /><br />That's what a lot of my new songs are about. Excitement for the world and people and just all of this. Excitement about friendship and all of the phases of life.<br /><br />Okay. I think you get the idea.... still making the album. Still need more money. Excited....<br /><br />Oh yeah!!! One more thing...<br /><br />I just found out that while I'm down in Nashville, a few days before I start recording, I'll be going into the studio with my friend Bill Davis to help record one of his songs.... and the studio we're recording in is .... RCA Studio B: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Studio_B">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Studio_B<br /></a>That is way out!! I'm counting down the days.<br /><br />Okay... now I'm really finished.<br /><br />Love you guys and will see you soon enough.<br /><br />MikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-78897829834951019622010-01-10T15:38:00.004-04:002010-01-12T17:12:49.915-04:00Finishing the album (with your help)Hello everyone.<br /><br />Happy new year. I had a great holiday. Played a lot of music in Toronto while I was there, and did some co-writing too. Ron Sexsmith even helped me to polish off a song that I was blocked with - 'Corner of the World'. The Toronto show at the Tranzac was really off the cuff and fun for that reason. Thanks to everyone who came out. I hope you all had a wonderful New Year.<br /><br />I'm heading back down to Nashville in March to finish off the new album with Brad Jones and the musicians down there. We're all super excited to get back to it. We're hoping to have the record mixed by the end of the month.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In September/October I raised $6000 to pay for the initial recording trip. All of this came from you guys - Mike Evin's Dreamers. I appreciate it immensely. Now to finish the record I will need an additional $13,000 to get the rest of the album recorded and mixed. That's a lot of money to raise, I realize. But I'm hoping to raise as much of it as possible from you guys. Any and all contributions are so important. Even if you just donate $10, that's gonna make a difference. Please please please don't hesitate to get involved, no matter how much you feel like donating.<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Here's where you can donate and read about the project:</span> <a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers"><span style="font-weight: bold;">http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers</span></a><a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SB1uhJnMHcA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SB1uhJnMHcA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I believe in this album so much and I want to finish it properly, so I'm going to need all the help I can get. Please spread the word.<br /><br />Here's a photo of my good friend David Celia at his home studio in Mississauga while we were recording a nylon string guitar part for the song 'Real Tight' last week. The song was inspired by him.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zvSNdYkZytCNJVeEeTerAKCPCx-zSJYqOrHGuh2S-xcdGaRW888CMY7NRjrUvE6NDR8sZnNvoWCili3YXAEiqrCp6nm331yCCx24kd1Zbu4KoozkhyxEzS5dwznDj3Rd3IIBtghFwWDe/s1600-h/dave+recording+2+%28compressed%29.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zvSNdYkZytCNJVeEeTerAKCPCx-zSJYqOrHGuh2S-xcdGaRW888CMY7NRjrUvE6NDR8sZnNvoWCili3YXAEiqrCp6nm331yCCx24kd1Zbu4KoozkhyxEzS5dwznDj3Rd3IIBtghFwWDe/s320/dave+recording+2+%28compressed%29.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425200270606882738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I can't wait to share the album with the world and start playing concerts in earnest.<br />I love you all!<br /><br />MikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-14564810165547286762009-12-21T16:19:00.002-04:002009-12-21T16:27:09.557-04:00holidayshappy everything to all of you!<br /><br />i'm in montreal right now, but in a few days i'll be heading to my family's country house in the laurentians north of montreal for a few days, then it's off to toronto to play a show and do some co-writing with one of my heroes (i hope that works out). i'll tell you more soon.<br /><br />i hope you guys are all feeling grounded in this crazy time....<br /><br />it's been a challenging time for me. started a new recording project (and having to wait a number of months before i can go down and continue it) has brought out a lot of self-conscious and anxious feelings inside me. i've been awakening to a lot of patterned behaviour that i didn't realize was so self-destructive until only recently. nothing too heavy. just a tendency to abandon things that i start because of fear. so i'm making sure to not abandon this new project. it's definitely an adjustment, and i want to not back down as much as i have in the past. i hope for 2010 that i'll be able to follow through with my projects more and not be afraid to go after what i really want. but most of all, i want to continue my journey of self-discovery and to be more centered and happy. to live in the moment. nothing really different from what all of you want, i'm sure.<br /><br />sometimes i can sound so corny.... and earnest.<br /><br />i was watching some interviews with randy newman on youtube yesterday. he's one of my early influences!! i love him.<br /><br />so, it looks like i'll be heading back down to nashville at the end of february to start recording again the 1st of march. i'll get back to talking about that soon.<br /><br />happy holidays everyone!!!<br /><br />love,<br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-6543996637067172762009-11-12T16:27:00.005-04:002009-11-12T17:18:10.995-04:00nashville (videos, photos and music)i got back from nashville a couple of weeks ago (i've since been away for a week in toronto and sherbrooke playing shows). let me tell you a bit about my nashville experience!<br /><br />it was fantastic.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">here's a video of highlights from the 4 days of recording. folks that are in it are:</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />brad jones (producer, bass, moog synth, banjo, percussion), jason cheek (drums, percussion), will harrison (guitar), bill davis (handclaps, vocals), melanie collins (photographer) and jay coyle (friend and mentor).<br /></span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uk3B8M2K9RI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uk3B8M2K9RI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PLEASE!! IF YOU'RE STILL THINKING OF GETTING INVOLVED AS ONE OF MY 'DREAMERS' AND HELPING TO FUND THIS PROJECT, DON'T HESITATE TO DONATE. VISIT THE 'DREAMERS' PAGE AT </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers">WWW.MIKEEVIN.COM/DREAMERS</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> AND I'LL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL. I'LL NEED SOME MORE LOVING FROM THE FANS TO CONTINUE THIS ALBUM.</span><br /><br />Okay, the capitalized portion of this post is over.<br /><br />things really clicked with brad jones, the musicians and me, and everyone had a great time. we started 6 songs:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">the bach family sing-a-long </span><a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/music/02%20the%20bach%20family%20sing-a-long.mp3">(listen to the rough mix so far HERE)</a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">real tight</span> <a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/music/04%20real%20tight.mp3">(listen to the rough mix so far HERE)</a> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />bound to be okay </span><a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/music/01%20bound%20to%20be%20okay.mp3">(listen to the rough mix so far HERE)</a> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />seagull spell</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />the magical tape</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />shuffleboard prince</span><br /><br />the bed tracks were recorded over 2 days and the remaining 2 days were spent doing a bit of editing and overdubs. overall, it's given me a taste of what the album process will be like. fun.<br /><br />it's just the beginning and i'm probably gonna spend a good couple of months in nashville early next year to continue working on the record. but it feels great to know that we've begun. i'm being careful not to thwart the process by being too critical this early on in the game. i'm working on allowing it all to unravel in its own way.<br /><br />there's lots more action to come.<br /><br />here are some photos:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptJydJTSfe13UQvacF_3wHno4VO7m3N7Q6B6JcQVo72LJ6AzS9DXgrrKNyiRKk1hLFcWIMdnaRY8Ttcec6gDmdFtIoUPqOg4CO_UMLl_vGpRkONdRUPIb9h6-hWhOj8dG1r8KVNtYSXjn/s1600-h/IMG_3447.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: 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/><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFQxZ05TPBVxemXmrvT95m3XaY5DImbkEDWTxywSTrLSFZTfKKpuHCb9ECoexsoWrxOP3VpChmv8hSPQjdyg7_FbdCTNfQv-hGIjs2zr327647t0o9E3wHmWCxxwXsVdKh4AMHtVzBNzq/s320/IMG_3422.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403322678737482018" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFQxZ05TPBVxemXmrvT95m3XaY5DImbkEDWTxywSTrLSFZTfKKpuHCb9ECoexsoWrxOP3VpChmv8hSPQjdyg7_FbdCTNfQv-hGIjs2zr327647t0o9E3wHmWCxxwXsVdKh4AMHtVzBNzq/s1600-h/IMG_3422.JPG"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9TlouikzvzAKcNytWSFL2vLkjSZJzbXEjbveXNrCZZtsq-M-l42LhncWuwPpFxjqFV8g33pJELWgJEGt9UHtKxVCSOQeL_pVNh7rJrfTsNrIfDyLDVlgwoikFyp_S25H4k_AGS2zW2Ns/s1600-h/harmony1.JPG"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9TlouikzvzAKcNytWSFL2vLkjSZJzbXEjbveXNrCZZtsq-M-l42LhncWuwPpFxjqFV8g33pJELWgJEGt9UHtKxVCSOQeL_pVNh7rJrfTsNrIfDyLDVlgwoikFyp_S25H4k_AGS2zW2Ns/s320/harmony1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403324986943223970" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xiN_J1rHU65leyvHgHoGhJQ9tyuwocXLL7lLTy1yMh5xpD0IDFMpmNfnevKNzDfe2D788BzNfwYg3xrNGzyZ2e4fiKWP48OURCi2udjVyAwZLf737Uvtm646Ri_y5H5HqwZwB6-yOlt2/s1600-h/meandbrad.JPG"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xiN_J1rHU65leyvHgHoGhJQ9tyuwocXLL7lLTy1yMh5xpD0IDFMpmNfnevKNzDfe2D788BzNfwYg3xrNGzyZ2e4fiKWP48OURCi2udjVyAwZLf737Uvtm646Ri_y5H5HqwZwB6-yOlt2/s320/meandbrad.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403324984336829426" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></a>(ps... it's not allowing me to type normal type to describe what's in the photos... so, most of the photos were taken by Melanie Collins on the last day of recording. that's will playing guitar. the guys with the longish hair is morgan the intern. the guy dancing with me is bill davis. and the dark photo of three guys making funny gestures was taken after the first day of recording and is of me, brad, and jason. the photos of me wearing headphones were taken while singing harmony on Real Tight)<br /><br />so, this is the start of what looks like a really cool journey. i hope to share a lot of it with you and i can't wait to go back down to nashville for the next round!<br /><br />thanks for all the love and speak to you real soon.<br /><br />love,<br />mike<br /><p></p>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-51538457673116024352009-10-14T18:29:00.002-03:002009-10-14T18:34:02.892-03:00wow!!since my last blog post, i've had some amazing response for the dreamer's cause!!<br />thanks so much everyone. thanks to everyone who donated before the blog post and to everyone who did after, and in advance to everyone who will donate soon!!! it's been amazing to hear from all of you.<br /><br />and the first donation for $1000 came in!!! can't wait to collaborate with this person on a song.... for his newborn daughter!!<br /><br />so far here's where your donations have been coming from:<br /><br />quebec<br />ontario<br />nova scotia<br />ohio<br />ny<br />michigan<br />illinois<br />florida<br />colorado<br />massachussetts<br />connecticut<br />washington dc<br />california<br />ireland<br /><br />yes!!!!!!<br /><br />i'm leaving tomorrow morning.<br />hope to get a good night's rest.<br />but i want to get a good squash game in before i leave.<br /><br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-81248399208830188062009-10-12T18:58:00.004-03:002009-10-12T19:22:02.469-03:00to nashvillethis thursday i'm heading to nashville for a week and a half. i'm going to be recording with brad jones at his studio, alex the great, from october 19-22. wow. i'm nervous, excited, curious. all i can hope for is to get into the moment of it all and enjoy all of it. easier said than done. i'll share as much as i can with you guys.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Please consider donating and becoming a Dreamer if you haven't already</span>. i still need your help to make this trip to nashville a financial reality. it'll help me kickstart this album in a responsible way.<br /><br />i need a further $2000 at least to do this professionally and pay everyone reasonably on time.<br /><br />become a dreamer at <a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers" target="_blank">www.mikeevin.com/dreamers</a>.<br /><br />okay, now on to the music.<br /><br />brad and i (along with jason cheek on drums and will harrison on guitar) are going to attempt to record 7 bed tracks (the piano/drums and basis for the song) and complete overdubs for 4 of those (all the extra stuff that sweeten the song).<br /><br />here are MP3s of demos for a couple of the songs we're going to visit:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/music/bound%20to%20be%20okay.mp3" target="_blank">bound to be okay</a><br />i wrote this song in august after my summer tour. it came out really fast and i did the demo the same day i think.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/music/bach%27s%20sing-a-long.mp3" target="_blank">bach's sing-a-long</a><br />i wrote this one in late march/early april. it was inspired by a painting on the cover of a bach piano book. all of the characters in the song are in the painting. we're going to go after a Band feel for this song. i hear fiddle!!<br /><br />okay my friends!!!<br />come along for the journey....<br /><br />speak to you when i get back.<br /><br />love,<br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-25411180923808831362009-09-24T00:01:00.002-03:002009-09-24T00:06:32.770-03:00dreamersso i'm starting work on a new album and i've reached out to all the fans and friends to get involved and support the project. i'm very excited about this and it's been awesome to hear the feedback already. here is where you can read about it: <a href="http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers">www.mikeevin.com/dreamers.</a><br />and here is the video explaining it a bit too:<br /><br><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3R2BU0wBFwM&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3R2BU0wBFwM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br><br />so that's it for now folks. i'm going to be updating you pretty regularly for a while. stay with me. and maybe dream with me a little too!<br />love, mike.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-3698903381897452912009-08-31T18:03:00.017-03:002009-09-01T19:25:22.480-03:00summer reflectioni know it's been a few weeks already since i've been off the road. during that time, i've been getting back into a groove back here in montreal ... slowly but steadily. and my computer is almost totally uncooperative when it comes to logging on to the internet in cafes, so i've been taking that as a sign to take a break from internetting a bit. but i really want to share some stories and photos from the road with you guys.<br /><br />so here it is.<br /><br />i had a total blast on the road.<br /><br />i want to thank first and foremost all of the amazing house concert hosts who took the plunge and offered up their house as a crashing pad and concert venue. it really meant a lot to me and i hope you all had a good time. i did. it was great to get to know all of you a bit more.<br /><br />here are some distinctions i would like to propose:<br /><br />hosts with the most inventive fundraising<br />dan and kelly (colchester, ct)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70tQ6axv-udKoIAJKaDXE_yhFR9c4HPVdkUrfsEJRHulT4VRnitOF_1yDddqAB4mfnrz9K2L5vf_32SRVzg0qQR7yeLdERY2uReL87GmACYUCjc2VC4ci8-UKDOFTJ2-ZkVBoyxl1ARUb/s1600-h/DSC00012.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70tQ6axv-udKoIAJKaDXE_yhFR9c4HPVdkUrfsEJRHulT4VRnitOF_1yDddqAB4mfnrz9K2L5vf_32SRVzg0qQR7yeLdERY2uReL87GmACYUCjc2VC4ci8-UKDOFTJ2-ZkVBoyxl1ARUb/s320/DSC00012.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376241221088662658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeBnoh_HUHMdV-Kc_USCKsAVGM3Qq9Rd-FvK1m5A7Exbpqme5Uox0gOHhnV2YXQaiXMNZTtJcTOO_ESyxsdx13_qrvPvhs1C0g2zbC-YDBSMBmNwogApqfK174rcpPAsaxC3gMSZR57Dq/s1600-h/DSC00013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeBnoh_HUHMdV-Kc_USCKsAVGM3Qq9Rd-FvK1m5A7Exbpqme5Uox0gOHhnV2YXQaiXMNZTtJcTOO_ESyxsdx13_qrvPvhs1C0g2zbC-YDBSMBmNwogApqfK174rcpPAsaxC3gMSZR57Dq/s320/DSC00013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376241206709548626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />hosts with the son who has the most rhythm<br />colleen and ed (son jimmy - detroit, mi)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGI-OwYAKT1ib1BUz07TT-_AljAHOJ6TXKU6iGBgZ13PxqRCZfRxVDLet_GdfvqnEQ9gywpebhS_7vKnNLbYRqTLiPUNy4e7ye4sKwVhrsoTtU2H3FTOIBQi7O_hwCRiXpbhfvpA-T1HA/s1600-h/DSC00032.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGI-OwYAKT1ib1BUz07TT-_AljAHOJ6TXKU6iGBgZ13PxqRCZfRxVDLet_GdfvqnEQ9gywpebhS_7vKnNLbYRqTLiPUNy4e7ye4sKwVhrsoTtU2H3FTOIBQi7O_hwCRiXpbhfvpA-T1HA/s320/DSC00032.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376242669110454082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=106820126218&ref=mf">http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=106820126218&ref=mf</a><br /><br />host with the coolest parents<br />corey (grand rapids, mi)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHf46Ch-mZG4kZrwmI2fW3nS68n9LbbNs-cvaY6YTol0YAVA1-WakL74m0K9uOCttV2vQSISNp2KOIsjVFWU5Q-ZEuRxtQQjxobYUDDsTUom1CrKlulfV4QPQy8PlXXQHGnkKDvqnTN7We/s1600-h/DSC00035.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHf46Ch-mZG4kZrwmI2fW3nS68n9LbbNs-cvaY6YTol0YAVA1-WakL74m0K9uOCttV2vQSISNp2KOIsjVFWU5Q-ZEuRxtQQjxobYUDDsTUom1CrKlulfV4QPQy8PlXXQHGnkKDvqnTN7We/s320/DSC00035.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376245526189536338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />hosts with the most soulful dog (mcgrady, their injured greyhound)<br />bob and ellen (belgium, wi)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT0ODT-bjLYPAXO6lCZTRkT6whAsACUxU5nz_2Y4eAbsVvB2WE14z-QsvDhPISeDZ2XgkH2qlzqMgcvXo5ku8l7ZwzIx6Tr-M4RdCysr8CtRn6s0GrV3Qpim8y3ukNLxAVGHw856BiqavP/s1600-h/DSC00063.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT0ODT-bjLYPAXO6lCZTRkT6whAsACUxU5nz_2Y4eAbsVvB2WE14z-QsvDhPISeDZ2XgkH2qlzqMgcvXo5ku8l7ZwzIx6Tr-M4RdCysr8CtRn6s0GrV3Qpim8y3ukNLxAVGHw856BiqavP/s320/DSC00063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376251319213367458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq55QaBifi_ctdzf8173HbhEt2DMvlQ8l2HhYqhceejqE0q4-AIlGsLMy_UTmm33qLuh461l0y3PRyBOoW4USNXqKI7Khb_Ax4jlWJNWoZ_KmOjz-peR2ilANp76aJ1WU_CtENTjcx8iea/s1600-h/DSC00060.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq55QaBifi_ctdzf8173HbhEt2DMvlQ8l2HhYqhceejqE0q4-AIlGsLMy_UTmm33qLuh461l0y3PRyBOoW4USNXqKI7Khb_Ax4jlWJNWoZ_KmOjz-peR2ilANp76aJ1WU_CtENTjcx8iea/s320/DSC00060.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376252077557856242" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />host with the best scenery<br />shelby (buckeye lake, oh)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioEQGzNfd8P6DUrLDKBqVR2WFrJLxfHGaOvWIK-cruS8a842RBLyysdMdVxNdAhPEGZ-nsE_LeNRtKBLyIsZWbI0iocQIAKVB6gS3VFyCJ9RGTNN-qNcSRqbuJIPwENl75uA_9XPzrsUv2/s1600-h/DSC00068.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioEQGzNfd8P6DUrLDKBqVR2WFrJLxfHGaOvWIK-cruS8a842RBLyysdMdVxNdAhPEGZ-nsE_LeNRtKBLyIsZWbI0iocQIAKVB6gS3VFyCJ9RGTNN-qNcSRqbuJIPwENl75uA_9XPzrsUv2/s320/DSC00068.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376255686995487186" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPkZJ8Um0zmT2XMmP2Aw4HgmQfTYMkMJc24ikVYICzlLLatf_oG1cli9-xr7g8azsZBT5WHDM8OR28ECOoewXsEpGTFNTmd1I-GbsfW5EHBXtclCg_1KR0rLEFtYLnvBAqFhXcW6JOA0x/s1600-h/shelby2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPkZJ8Um0zmT2XMmP2Aw4HgmQfTYMkMJc24ikVYICzlLLatf_oG1cli9-xr7g8azsZBT5WHDM8OR28ECOoewXsEpGTFNTmd1I-GbsfW5EHBXtclCg_1KR0rLEFtYLnvBAqFhXcW6JOA0x/s320/shelby2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376627731282610882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />hosts with the best impromptu jam during the show<br />catherine and berkeley (carrboro, nc)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDMKVZ8N3GzXFlaDsUoTgA3NRzrhCn7hAJAd6Mvq_TM0sLbCn8wFuvVatdB4NsVojTVe_Zockh57S2JaOHDs6lR7AJRm1nYM9AvjbdGfhrGMYdt3LZO4WV8Q7glIgr9ReAvAsL-L_MSG6/s1600-h/DSC00109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDMKVZ8N3GzXFlaDsUoTgA3NRzrhCn7hAJAd6Mvq_TM0sLbCn8wFuvVatdB4NsVojTVe_Zockh57S2JaOHDs6lR7AJRm1nYM9AvjbdGfhrGMYdt3LZO4WV8Q7glIgr9ReAvAsL-L_MSG6/s320/DSC00109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376261307867419810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />and now for the distinctions to the amazing musicians who shared bills with me at some of the shows:<br /><br />musician with the best post-show gift from a fan<br />brian webb and his cool-looking guitar (cambridge, ma)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCVttKuovug45VTfQ7CU8aRUsDemKmnWOJaDlbcTctTRpZ90rE-u9Yq8-OAla_GVxvo9kza0J8kgBGDTqzRIJAeF-CaMiiX9J1HTBcXbYP3GzWMX0ctzaAqQZ7uMLbooTP7IWopR_vG12/s1600-h/DSC00009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCVttKuovug45VTfQ7CU8aRUsDemKmnWOJaDlbcTctTRpZ90rE-u9Yq8-OAla_GVxvo9kza0J8kgBGDTqzRIJAeF-CaMiiX9J1HTBcXbYP3GzWMX0ctzaAqQZ7uMLbooTP7IWopR_vG12/s320/DSC00009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376612279316564994" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />musicians with the most fun looking percussion instruments<br />the backwoods zydeco band and their washboards (colchester, ct)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYaRNX8fUQVyBOHyTqI0BoZ0AkHM24SUTw_pd2BnhjRoAwpuJqIsxVaTqDA5FBmhPYcffTMF9QLlqeyQy8F4pEvLu5kjQEqLRnfdjtTAv95HC-hVFlVmTPPkTfiN25ZHEpIerV4R9O929/s1600-h/IMG_0373.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYaRNX8fUQVyBOHyTqI0BoZ0AkHM24SUTw_pd2BnhjRoAwpuJqIsxVaTqDA5FBmhPYcffTMF9QLlqeyQy8F4pEvLu5kjQEqLRnfdjtTAv95HC-hVFlVmTPPkTfiN25ZHEpIerV4R9O929/s320/IMG_0373.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376621728910098098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />musician with the most interesting lyrics<br />noam weinstein (new york, ny)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHnsPttlSxyQ_BduG8E61cfF92U3hbCEAwAv_z7luhGOACSEJ911z0cIs5mNTBpW0P7ftEQUWQjg6NZxG3ol6KoytnyGw0SFGksPKXdgQu9oTnM5a6XQRM50Vgcxu_4AdpxNwRk2TI0jd/s1600-h/DSC00015.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHnsPttlSxyQ_BduG8E61cfF92U3hbCEAwAv_z7luhGOACSEJ911z0cIs5mNTBpW0P7ftEQUWQjg6NZxG3ol6KoytnyGw0SFGksPKXdgQu9oTnM5a6XQRM50Vgcxu_4AdpxNwRk2TI0jd/s320/DSC00015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376612289201565394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />musician with the best side-project<br />the one and only bill davis (far right) and his cover band 'thumbs up' (nashville, tn)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A_ylTIf3hsN98oFnyH5lTeMW-sno9XhVqh-Co9TYA2bwZzZSCg-YKX-mara05KS0Aqsy9uMfZMjJfi4TltIQM7TFCaclFzblAwp41mtm7AWGkEfGEQp6K_DpEKHr9hxsSRjl256_1_8D/s1600-h/DSC00105.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3A_ylTIf3hsN98oFnyH5lTeMW-sno9XhVqh-Co9TYA2bwZzZSCg-YKX-mara05KS0Aqsy9uMfZMjJfi4TltIQM7TFCaclFzblAwp41mtm7AWGkEfGEQp6K_DpEKHr9hxsSRjl256_1_8D/s320/DSC00105.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376618553402341170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />musicians with the best mike evin collaboration<br />the chromatics (kensington, md)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6SFPil6hDMg6-_xCCH1E02S89o5sDybn04QURsxmveYDb99u4hOmOG_T9eLDx0r8NT5hP0Xr_PO7dyRXlr_1H-ZTLjNXJCwjxYJw6zjXFbr9BnFc7soRDt3HoeIDfWSLthBr7yeAeS0x/s1600-h/chromatics.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6SFPil6hDMg6-_xCCH1E02S89o5sDybn04QURsxmveYDb99u4hOmOG_T9eLDx0r8NT5hP0Xr_PO7dyRXlr_1H-ZTLjNXJCwjxYJw6zjXFbr9BnFc7soRDt3HoeIDfWSLthBr7yeAeS0x/s320/chromatics.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376622775439877826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />more from the chromatics show here:<br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98696&id=8042604794&l=873b982fd6">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98696&id=8042604794&l=873b982fd6</a><br /><br />and now for the fans:<br /><br />the fans with the best spirit to begin a summer tour with<br />club passim, cambridge, ma<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwM_XmYmLTHHlqSNEccjNehtwndTUHOWvkBBRrm6pXZ5ntGjry5LvO56R3BaqjnbLSEoJeo6W28RfQG_E2xauXp1vCZLWCaicFschORwTJHbflsX-gNMphFkbBF6oAQYEZrU48Td5Yn9p/s1600-h/DSC00008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwM_XmYmLTHHlqSNEccjNehtwndTUHOWvkBBRrm6pXZ5ntGjry5LvO56R3BaqjnbLSEoJeo6W28RfQG_E2xauXp1vCZLWCaicFschORwTJHbflsX-gNMphFkbBF6oAQYEZrU48Td5Yn9p/s320/DSC00008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376612268753545106" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />the fans most willing to follow me to another show after my own<br />rockwood music hall, new york (no photo available)<br /><br />the fans with the best taste in films<br />schuler books and music, okemos, mi (the wrong guy with dave foley)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0ZZAG6ZJgkgLhbk5xKL8rmXIc2sXyf8HiteQJanzesCrKflzLXU3TsQzWSH5VWFidAAHSvkpUJ0uLh30kzM_vxKCf7yyQVQnulWXXlC7v3dKO2unNWUmZ6lR4p3YlVNz1AEsndzqKp55/s1600-h/DSC00029.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0ZZAG6ZJgkgLhbk5xKL8rmXIc2sXyf8HiteQJanzesCrKflzLXU3TsQzWSH5VWFidAAHSvkpUJ0uLh30kzM_vxKCf7yyQVQnulWXXlC7v3dKO2unNWUmZ6lR4p3YlVNz1AEsndzqKp55/s320/DSC00029.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376615123039964498" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />the fans with the best vibe for an encore<br />colleen's house concert, detroit, mi (no photo available)<br /><br />the fans who are the most loyal to their friend corey who was having a going away party too<br />corey's house concert, grand rapids, mi<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJRaJoaCtARunO0YiyCe2srbOMcK57jdjf0Trbf6r3NYs1FqguCwdohpu1qh1LxluBwh5es0HPEgoTfbPqCA0_o0iF12kI6oMBNzg9SsNqUi3r8RATK3LFICnde6CTltgvJBcIMMHu3oL/s1600-h/DSC00034.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJRaJoaCtARunO0YiyCe2srbOMcK57jdjf0Trbf6r3NYs1FqguCwdohpu1qh1LxluBwh5es0HPEgoTfbPqCA0_o0iF12kI6oMBNzg9SsNqUi3r8RATK3LFICnde6CTltgvJBcIMMHu3oL/s320/DSC00034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376615125569252722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />the fans with the most colorful post-show conversation<br />ellen and paul's house concert, belgium, wi (no photo available)<br /><br />the fans with the best sleepover<br />shelby's house concert, buckeye lake, oh<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc4uhi5d0aHecQ0e2jhzRZNwIv4F7H9Es9QN3Efbw1v579H86J6e3jatjarKOnzERDrYvQry1sLb-qAs8P4-hcN74j7_q6e-7X6HW9edVcOY3Mo4YZIhY30mwgOovBRR75zlgUWouTDp_/s1600-h/shelby.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc4uhi5d0aHecQ0e2jhzRZNwIv4F7H9Es9QN3Efbw1v579H86J6e3jatjarKOnzERDrYvQry1sLb-qAs8P4-hcN74j7_q6e-7X6HW9edVcOY3Mo4YZIhY30mwgOovBRR75zlgUWouTDp_/s320/shelby.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376627727291359074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />here are more photos from shelby's concert:<br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=2&aid=168516&id=1575955848#/album.php?page=1&aid=168516&id=1575955848">http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=2&aid=168516&id=1575955848#/album.php?page=1&aid=168516&id=1575955848<br /></a><br />the fans with the best welcome<br />the basement, nashville, tn (no photo available)<br /><br />and now for some other favourite photos of mine and non-show moments:<br /><br />here's the first photo of my trip from montpelier, vermont. it's a really cool town with a nice vegan vibe to it. i like.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcczwL4DUkdYT4B9H8MSem0Pob49ow3wZ3SWPCXQik5X3-5l8M16WzvWKqwOvy5SvSW1ae_J4WCMFc90pZuD9v-5OAkE8BhJXxJLTWrYBPDncTniuwodh0nYyanNfjadScQt4ASAfPMO8/s1600-h/DSC00001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjcczwL4DUkdYT4B9H8MSem0Pob49ow3wZ3SWPCXQik5X3-5l8M16WzvWKqwOvy5SvSW1ae_J4WCMFc90pZuD9v-5OAkE8BhJXxJLTWrYBPDncTniuwodh0nYyanNfjadScQt4ASAfPMO8/s320/DSC00001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376612250717831618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />in cambridge i explored harvard square a bit and came across a fun street band, new orleans style. i think it was a couple and their daughter was set up with a chair to watch them. really cool!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYiWmoASzgqkLxvmUIqtQUl0KgMAal0kJDwBYmJdPb0KiV2cOwqy3x7I6wuGezyxcCMfsq5i2M-kpDBup5tWuXI8RWwVRDTmYIp-dTF2rUkIIlQks-DgTQXUxUrOzdAf3gL_yuYWxv-o3Y/s1600-h/DSC00002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYiWmoASzgqkLxvmUIqtQUl0KgMAal0kJDwBYmJdPb0KiV2cOwqy3x7I6wuGezyxcCMfsq5i2M-kpDBup5tWuXI8RWwVRDTmYIp-dTF2rUkIIlQks-DgTQXUxUrOzdAf3gL_yuYWxv-o3Y/s320/DSC00002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376612264655255634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />i had four days off in between new york and michigan, and i headed up to niagara-on-the-lake to stay at my friends' bed and breakfast. but on my way, i visited my friend lynette and her daughter bella in buffalo. and here's a photo of their dog (i forget his name). awesome! and i raced bella in the rain in our bare-feet. haven't done that ever!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTLYRCHCphALWOmwPWrP-tb0cYsrdnMd_gvnjcYHjb0NEMsytgoC9jeZJwpB8g65QjjSgdCILecM0Kc_RxkxvCEDH8JGN8cXnWYiZlQ0AMZ287OeeDuf8nfw0FhwhGTopEyXDX1cWUqzv/s1600-h/DSC00017.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTLYRCHCphALWOmwPWrP-tb0cYsrdnMd_gvnjcYHjb0NEMsytgoC9jeZJwpB8g65QjjSgdCILecM0Kc_RxkxvCEDH8JGN8cXnWYiZlQ0AMZ287OeeDuf8nfw0FhwhGTopEyXDX1cWUqzv/s320/DSC00017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376615103715205378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwX7G1wP_O0PWghqbNGva0a2ZqROjg5yVX7uC50xOfyiac6e5lWIzl7Lsxhh788CNQqx_HCe-0VW5H_sYaRat9RUduBQdPQmIpJQRSJnfMkXYETSyvbB1spcfdRvuQPldP29mBaW2kzqJL/s1600-h/DSC00021.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwX7G1wP_O0PWghqbNGva0a2ZqROjg5yVX7uC50xOfyiac6e5lWIzl7Lsxhh788CNQqx_HCe-0VW5H_sYaRat9RUduBQdPQmIpJQRSJnfMkXYETSyvbB1spcfdRvuQPldP29mBaW2kzqJL/s320/DSC00021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376615111961411346" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />had a really relaxing and stimulating time in niagara-on-the-lake. i stayed at the applewood hollow, owned by my friends jane and brian. they had just put in a chicken coup in their yard. and here's a link to a video of me playing some music at a family dinner (jane's parents and sister, and their daughter kate and their son-in-law josh, who's a good friend of mine and who co-wrote my song piano top at that exact piano that i'm playing in the video).<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB-Rx4kuXbI"><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB-Rx4kuXbI</a><br /><br />in detroit i visited the motown museum. wow! it was so interesting. unbelievable. i would go back for sure. here's a photo of me in front of the window display in tribute to michael jackson.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGvGTamw416ZGD-3ZiB-bpeJ12_JyZANOqhFkwVUkB9MAmfJ_CJhuPVX2Zk7IU8wRswmoTKCga2WV0NAoecXoykrfqW6GvR9uCtOCd254Ct4eRSdOuRKmB75sdZZiEKJyUp9ftEpbIrtx/s1600-h/DSC00036.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGvGTamw416ZGD-3ZiB-bpeJ12_JyZANOqhFkwVUkB9MAmfJ_CJhuPVX2Zk7IU8wRswmoTKCga2WV0NAoecXoykrfqW6GvR9uCtOCd254Ct4eRSdOuRKmB75sdZZiEKJyUp9ftEpbIrtx/s320/DSC00036.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376615134800654450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />in between michigan and wisconsin i had another four days off, and i drove up to the upper penninsula of michigan and camped out for a few days. i also visited mackinac island, rented a bike there for a few hours, and the next day i rented a kayak and went on a 4-hour trip down the manistique river in the UP (light rain and i forgot insect reppelant, but it was incredible nonetheless). here's a photo of the view from my campsite, on the northern shores of lake michigan.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUNT3HECEzbzRIvByCW3TzrIQmIPTh__leOT4Car3_8enTFbWnC_NMw9kWVKjyIUsjdf__HFfYoBpft11WlRaXyNnau9SdYWV5M7sFuhTpR_DeSbbMIxj9FWvs2Og9-M5tY0JK53iP1nB/s1600-h/DSC00054.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUNT3HECEzbzRIvByCW3TzrIQmIPTh__leOT4Car3_8enTFbWnC_NMw9kWVKjyIUsjdf__HFfYoBpft11WlRaXyNnau9SdYWV5M7sFuhTpR_DeSbbMIxj9FWvs2Og9-M5tY0JK53iP1nB/s320/DSC00054.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376618531295633602" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />and here is a great shot of my friend bill davis playing with his cover band 'thumbs up' in nashville.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkwEA3sFVk0Ck391xSUhlOQUAO3u3tqq5AWF5NaCHWU2ZIFsLxtJNqBSQOxSkYSMHL4nrttnvbIJIY5Ki0VafyLBs0yiDYTjcc_wSG7nQzZ3A3jUeHDFvYGkfKVD4m2TTkz6rqSfk2kEz/s1600-h/DSC00098.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkwEA3sFVk0Ck391xSUhlOQUAO3u3tqq5AWF5NaCHWU2ZIFsLxtJNqBSQOxSkYSMHL4nrttnvbIJIY5Ki0VafyLBs0yiDYTjcc_wSG7nQzZ3A3jUeHDFvYGkfKVD4m2TTkz6rqSfk2kEz/s320/DSC00098.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376618546291999042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />i also tried to go to bill's hometown hangout 'late's' in manitowoc, wisconsin. but alas, i got there too 'late'. here's proof i was there though.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvP90U-ZpuGWulTNuVIRJ0zYypy1JH1gWk7s8toFCFe1t8qmJNXY3wYZGzRyrSVPog3Luh1NAUeSd_yHJg0r3KPXPjdyjdp8YmnLnduKPMLmZWi3ia56ay4hyphenhyphenDuZWxVLFcNQfTrQyp6mcu/s1600-h/DSC00058.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvP90U-ZpuGWulTNuVIRJ0zYypy1JH1gWk7s8toFCFe1t8qmJNXY3wYZGzRyrSVPog3Luh1NAUeSd_yHJg0r3KPXPjdyjdp8YmnLnduKPMLmZWi3ia56ay4hyphenhyphenDuZWxVLFcNQfTrQyp6mcu/s320/DSC00058.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376618539542448722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />as for the shows, well, they were very diverse and a lot of fun. each one so different. i really can't single any out. they were all good for different reasons. i tried to play a handful of new songs at each one, and at some shows i played a song i had never played before. thanks to all for being so receptive and encouraging!!<br /><br />here's a list of some new songs i tried:<br /><br />all the dancin'<br />seagull spell<br />the magical tape<br />can you feel the world?<br />i'll get behind you<br />i'm gonna love again<br />love to rely on<br />i'm takin' you with me<br />shuffleboard prince<br />old mandolin man<br />the sun came out<br />life on the river<br />show you my love<br />slow through the city<br />real tight<br />joe's study<br />bach's sing-a-long<br />the night has wonders<br />let me follow<br />love affair<br />mike evin's dream<br /><br />anyway, i hope you liked them and i'll keep them coming.<br /><br />so, that's about it for now.<br />as for future plans, well, it's scary now because i'm starting to make plans for a new album and there are so many different ways to do it. so i'm wrapping my head around it and hope to make it a truly fun experience, and magical. fun and magical. i'll keep you posted on how it's going.<br /><br />and as for shows and more touring, i'd love to. hopefully sooner than later.<br /><br />it means a lot to me that you all came out to see me on this summer tour. it will be an experience i'll always remember. really. thanks for sharing it with me!<br /><br />talk to you all soon,<br />love,<br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-78036304972378366352009-07-14T22:37:00.001-03:002009-07-14T22:39:07.300-03:00in anticipation of the summer tour, here is a handful of songs from Good Watermelon along with some demos from 2003-2009. i hope you enjoy them. see you all very soon!<br /><br><br /><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNDc2MjA5MTcxNDgmcHQ9MTI*NzYyMTU*MzA4NSZwPTE5MDI4MSZkPTdhMjE2MTUzLWU4MzYtNDEwMS1iM2JhLTNkYTZhYjI4NGJhMSZnPTImbz*xNDc1NTY1YjRhZDM*MmIwOTliMDAwYzJhYjNkMTRjMCZvZj*w.gif" /><div style="width:240px; height: 400px;"><object width="240" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://static.noisetrade.com/w/NTWidget.swf?wid=7a216153-e836-4101-b3ba-3da6ab284ba1"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://static.noisetrade.com/w/NTWidget.swf?wid=7a216153-e836-4101-b3ba-3da6ab284ba1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" width="240" height="400"></embed></object></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-25553616207261473552009-07-13T17:59:00.003-03:002009-07-13T18:09:57.397-03:00the TOURi'm leaving in a few days for my summer tour. i can't say i'm prepared, musically or just with getting the stuff together. i've been lost in the world of songwriting until very recently and am currently lost in the land of doing demos in my apartment.<br /><br />but i'm starting to tackle getting everything in place. it's all coming together. the trick is to not leave it all to the last minute.... my resolution for this tour is to leave myself a lot of time so that i'm not rushed and stressed.<br /><br />anyway ... before the tour starts, i want to give a special thanks to the following people who were instrumental in helping me get these shows happening:<br /><br />matt smith (club passim, cambridge)<br />noam weinstein (sharing the stage, nyc)<br />kelly and dan perry (house concert hosts, colchester, connecticut)<br />leilani wolfe (lansing, michigan)<br />emily galer (schuler books, michigan)<br />colleen fitzgerald (house concert host, canton, michigan)<br />corey hallwachs (house concert host, grand rapids, michigan)<br />bob and ellen paulus (house concert hosts, belgium, wisconsin)<br />noah ginex (house concert dude, chicago, il)<br />shelby raiser (house concert host, buckeye lake, oh)<br />mike grimes (the basement, nashville)<br />the one and only bill davis (sharing the stage, nashville)<br />catherine devine and berkeley (house concert hosts, carrboro, nc)<br />the chromatics (sharing the stage, kensington, md)<br /><br />it's been a lot of fun scheming with these guys!<br /><br />okay, i'm gonna get my hands on a camera so that i can start posting some photos here too.<br /><br />wish me luck.<br /><br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-6867125899469533622009-07-09T19:19:00.002-03:002009-07-09T19:30:39.529-03:00ponderingit's been a while since my last post. i've been busy living life in summer montreal. saw stevie wonder at the jazz fest last week and it was very moving as he made the show a tribute to michael jackson. some people were taken aback by him just letting michael jackson recordings take center stage at times through the show and with a medley at the end ... he and the band just stood there on stage and listened and sang along with the audience ... but i thought it was so beautiful. very communal.<br /><br />well, i've been writing a lot. there are a lot of songs that i haven't posted on youtube yet, and i hope i get a chance to, but my computer has been very slow lately and it's been hard to allow it all the time it needs when i'm grabbing an hour here and there in cafes. all in all, i'm taking time to be without the internet whenever i can. it feels good. i understand that a lot of a musician's career unfolds on the internet these days, but i don't think it has to be like that all the time. and generally, it really blocks me up and i lose sight of what's propelling my art ... life and people and the outdoors and the city. yes. and the country too. so i'll do what i can when i feel like and sometimes when i don't feel like it too, but it won't turn out as good. so mostly when i feel like it. like right now.<br /><br />i've got my 3 week us tour coming up. i'm very excited. yes. now i am. i wasn't excited when i was going to be away for 3 months.... but 3 weeks suits me at this point. i'm sure i'll go out for big tours in the coming years. i'm sure of it.<br /><br />this might be my last tour ... actually it will definitely be my last one .... with traveling by myself in a car with my piano. it's lonely and taxing on me and i've done it for 5 years and i'll be looking to expand the operation. other pianos. ... we'll see what the fall brings!<br /><br />i've got two periods of 5 days or so during my tour where i have nothing planned. so i'll be looking to go camping or something like that. something very different from sitting in a car on interstates. if you have any suggestions, please let me know. it's between nyc and detroit and also between michigan and wisconsin.<br /><br />looking forward to nashville!!<br /><br />anyway, i'm in the middle of uploading some more songs onto myspace. internet promotion stuff.<br /><br />and ...<br /><br />don't know where that and was leading to...<br /><br />really into cat stevens these days.<br />i want my next album to be in the spirit of his early solo albums.<br /><br />okay.... more to come.<br />i'm going to see a comedy improv show with my youngest brother this evening...<br /><br />see ya on the road, if not this summer then soon.<br /><br />i want to see all of you!!! i want to travel everywhere!!!<br />lovin' the world, and i haven't even seen most of it yet.<br /><br />how is it?<br />will i be disappointed?<br /><br />okay,<br />i'm leaving now....<br /><br />bye,<br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-84318440861207708082009-06-02T19:39:00.002-03:002009-06-02T19:56:51.486-03:00a week abroadhye (that's my new greeting.... just a typo, but lazy and artistic can merge sometimes),<br /><br />i just got back to montreal after a week east. i arrived at 5 am early monday morning. drove from halifax. kinda crazy. especially in the rain. but i wanted to have the day here. ended up sleeping half the day, so i don't know what's the smarter thing in that case. okay. rambling over here.<br /><br />i had a really nice week away from montreal. but it's awesome to be back and get back into writing and cooking and just plain taking care of myself.<br /><br />i left last sunday and headed to sherbrooke to spend a couple of days with andy creeggan's family. andy and i worked on some demos for 3 of my new songs. it was a lot of fun. andy's got a great shed that he converted into a studio. it's a bit chaotic, but it works that way. it was also real nice to play a grand piano. andy's got a nice one. so the songs we did are 'slow through the city', 'real tight', and 'do you feel the world'. maybe i'll post them... they're real rough and i had a cold.<br /><br />on tuesday i made the drive from sherbrooke to halifax and i started to obsess over how to record a potential new album. and then i got caught up getting deeper and deeper into obsessive inner thinking and i found myself missing all of the wonderful external things that make this world such a fun place to live sometimes. so that's going to be my challenge for this next recording, whatever way i record it. to keep the creative flow and keep receiving wonderful signals from this old world. it's easy to get tunnel vision when recording. i don't know if i'm ready yet.<br /><br />so halifax. it was so amazing to be back there. all of my friends and some more came out to the show on wednesday night at the company house. jason macisaac and the heavy blinkers ensemble opened up and played all new songs. jenn grant sang with them and it was beautiful. and i played solo but everyone helped me out at one point or another. such a wonderful vibe that night!!! i'm glad everyone had a good time.<br /><br />thursday i went to musquodoboit to rehearse with the kids choir for the friday show. i also performed a 15 minute set for the school. a lot of the kids sang along to good watermelon, one of the songs they were planned to sing. the rehearsal went well and i have some of it on video. i'll post it maybe.... i only have like a couple of hours a day tops on the internet, so it's hard to fit in everything all the time. but it's all on my list to do!! thanks for staying with me....<br /><br />the show on friday with the kids was a blast. it was electric. they sand good watermelon, and then i joined them for great pop song. one of the biggest highs of my life was after that song when i did some high fives with the kids and then it just ended up being high fives with every kid. i did 2 songs on my own, but the choir was still very involved, either by laughing at the lyrics or by clapping and singing. i sang if you were my girl and we should dance.<br /><br />i also did some piano session work while in town.... a song on the next stance record. great fun guys. so nice. and a great thrill was to work with mike o'neill for a song on his next record. that was saturday afternoon. wow!! you know i've been obsessively listening to his 2000 record what happens now? so it was an honour.<br /><br />i also caught some amazing live music while in halifax. on friday i saw erin costelo's cd release set! she burned up the stage. amazing. and then i also caught the first set from the new band called library ... an offshoot of the band i see rowboats. and on saturday i caught a fun show at st. matthew's church. hymm, ruth minnikin, the superfantastics and brent randall and his pinecones were on the bill. really was looking forward to that show. didn't disappoint. you should check out all of those bands!!! the highlight was hymm's duet between levon campbell and jess lewis called hills or something like that. it had the 2 of them at the piano playing together and singing together!!!<br /><br />anyway, a really nice week away and now i'm back and a bit hungry, so i think i'll leave this cafe soon and head back home. yesterday my tire exploded on van horne street, so i gotta fix that too.<br /><br />well, there.... a regular week away for me.<br /><br />see you soon,<br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-22603881595130711312009-05-16T00:12:00.002-03:002009-05-16T00:18:28.600-03:00muffins and the markettoday i took time in the middle of the day to check out the jean-talon market here in montreal. i bought some neat stuff and it felt amazing to be around people enjoying simple things like gardening and buying produce. it was contagious.<br /><br />i went home and baked banana muffins. and if i may say so myself, they taste great!! i'm never buying another muffin from a cafe again .... but that's obviously a lie.<br /><br />anyway, i don't know why i always write these blogs at night when i just want to get home and to bed.<br /><br />you know, i still have to steal internet time away at cafes or my parents' or friends' houses, because i don't have internet at my place. and it feels really nice too to not have it.<br /><br />that said, i'm off there now.... just bought some postcards to hang up yesterday around my place. there's one of john travolta in the 70's in a pop-art style. i love it. also some movie posters (paris, texas, down by law) and some cool random ones too. the place is looking nice..... getting into incense too. except the building people came around yesterday to install a new battery in my smoke detector and it went off when i was taking a shower and in the middle of the night when i had my humidifier on. so i don't know about the incense.... no, i don't know about the smoke detector....<br /><br />anyway, i thought i was wrapping this up.<br /><br />bye and good night.<br /><br />mikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-77251916363714926702009-05-07T00:37:00.002-03:002009-05-07T00:51:42.723-03:00thanks for being behind mei was really tired and rushed with that last post, so i was worried how it might be received today. but a big part of me didn't even care. the same part that didn't care how my workshop videos would be received as soon as i posted them. this is a new part, or at least a long buried part. and a welcome part. very liberating to feel. can you say that? liberating to feel? anyway, i'm doing good today. i took the morning off from working on writing to take a long walk through montreal and i ended up buying a fou-fou scarf. and that seemed to be a big thing for me. to decide to spend $13 on a scarf that would make me feel more like a free-spirit. gotta let go sometimes.... what's next?<br /><br />anyway, thanks so much for the emails and comments and the support and understanding words. it seems i'm not alone. we gotta talk to each other guys!! thanks for taking the time to write. i'm glad everyone understands. and we'll all be together soon.<br /><br />i'll leave you with this.... an old friend sent this to me today. i haven't heard it in over 9 years! in 1997 i recorded an album on my 4-track cassette recorder in my parents' basement. i called it 'evin '97'. i lost the tape. but my friend shai kept it and transfered it to CD. so here is the lead-off track and it made me smile a lot tonight. it's called 'sally slide'. by the way, i didn't play piano on any of the songs!!! only guitar, percussion, etc... there's actually glasses with water on this song. that's the bell-like sound.<br /><br />i love you guys and keep the love coming too. i'll get in touch next week to let you know what else i'm thinking for the summer.<br /><br />okay, here's 'sally slide'.<br /><br />love,<br />mike<br />PSSSSSSSS .... i just realized that i can't post MP3s with blogger, so 'sally slide' will have to wait. i was excited to share it.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-65800061493631421962009-05-05T23:18:00.003-03:002009-05-05T23:54:06.076-03:00THE SUMMERHi friends. first off, let me say that i know it's been a long time since a blog post. i hope you've all been following my alternative means of blogging over the past few months, my Youtube workshop series. You can check it out here:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/rockinwithmike">http://www.youtube.com/rockinwithmike</a><br />I've been going through lots of personal changes in the past few months, and understandably they've affected how i've been staying connected to you guys and how i've been able to promote and get behind Good Watermelon, which is being released just around now.<br />I don't expect to get into it too deeply in this blog, and I'm sure i'll have some one-on-one conversations with you guys over the course of the summer and we can talk about these kinds of things some more.<br />Let me say that i'm still super serious and dedicated to my music career and performing my songs and connecting with my fans, but over the course of the last few months, and more so over the last half-year, I've been opening my eyes to a bigger picture. I've been realizing more and more that I've been living my life in a weird way all through my 20's and to head towards the meaningful life and sustainable connection with my art and my audience that i'd very much like to have - in order to do this, i needed to change my approach slightly. this has all been a long time coming. I've been so burned out on the business end of music for so long and I've had a serious writer's block for a couple of years. And more importantly, something much bigger that music and my career ... I feel I've going through life focused on destinations and goals and not on enjoying the moments along the way. I know that sounds like a cliche, but well, it's true for me. so that's that.<br />Okay, you're saying ... what are you trying to say anyway, Mike? I know, I know, everyone goes through this stuff.<br />Anyway, in the past few months Sarah and I have broken up, and i've moved to Montreal. And this is my first time living completely on my own. so it's been pretty intense.<br />Anyway, we can talk more about this ... it's late and I want to head back to my place to wind down.<br />But ... more concretely, I've changed my touring plans for the summer at the last minute because I was dreading being on the road for more than 3 months. So now the plan is to tour western Canada and the US (whatever I can get in) all through the month of July and that's it. I'll be posting the confirmed dates in the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to a short and intense touring experience. lots of backyard parties I hope and good people.<br />And then, it'll be back to Montreal to regroup and make plans for the fall. Definitely a new album is in the works .... but before that I'd actually like to do some traveling (non-music related) and hopefully some volunteering somewhere.<br />Talk to you guys soon and I apologize for all of the cancellations in the last little while. It's been my body's way of telling me that changes need to be made.<br />Love you guys so much!<br />Mike<br />PS - you know, it's just that I've started to feel grounded for the first time ever, and it seems like it was cut totally short over the last few weeks. I just need more time to get into my groove as this dude living in this one-room apartment. And to figure stuff out. But i will definitely still be giving all I've got to you when I perform and make music.... and I'm not going anywhere for too long. Even if i do take a bit of a break after the summer. I'll be back .... I promise!! I can't thank all of you enough for the support and encouragement and connections we've shared. Okay, now i'm going home for real.... g'dnightMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-12574948164557251582009-03-10T19:23:00.004-03:002009-03-10T19:42:55.445-03:00Back in MontrealHey there... everyone,<br /><br />I just got back to Montreal and now I'll focus a bit on settling into my new place.<br /><br />I played some nice shows last week.<br /><br />One of the highlights was the Toronto show at the Supermarket. Jim Creeggan joined me and we did it as a duo.<br /><br />So great to see some of the new fans who drove from near and far.<br /><br />A few shoutouts...<br /><br />Corey Hallwach (who drove from Grand Rapids, Michigan to overcome a fear of driving)<br />Jennifer Van Auken Birnie<br />Deloni Leslie<br />Samantha Lock<br />Stephanie MacDonald<br />and anyone else who I forgot but came to their first post-Ships & Dip Mike Evin show. Thank you so much!!! It was great to see you all again.<br /><br />Here are some of my favourite photos...<br /><br />* from Corey Hallwach...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiYahMQQAmyzlM8GzVzDFiPqeAQ7CxjDkDIZJW5k53Icepj89H_wMSisiHO9txtQNeQZCB18CZHfZTdrife8TuPs2yZtGx_ZVaBDGu1AIsgzmBDGMRILgkweaiGrgYSi3DsjNjR6W6rtUq/s1600-h/2535_72882997666_534192666_2747191_3219655_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiYahMQQAmyzlM8GzVzDFiPqeAQ7CxjDkDIZJW5k53Icepj89H_wMSisiHO9txtQNeQZCB18CZHfZTdrife8TuPs2yZtGx_ZVaBDGu1AIsgzmBDGMRILgkweaiGrgYSi3DsjNjR6W6rtUq/s320/2535_72882997666_534192666_2747191_3219655_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311691816868489954" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OYie2irkyzKLXMYiiRz5hOvKtkdaFtvp6_ANO46_Kp7DZQhdvOlpuYW9YI5ic7RA5W30v102ZfOJNC75xlM8hyyIHj-_ciTggB5gMUJln0zwGA0EEVlqM6NayfEPQ-Vr0jj5lrcS_EIc/s1600-h/2535_72882987666_534192666_2747189_1376287_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OYie2irkyzKLXMYiiRz5hOvKtkdaFtvp6_ANO46_Kp7DZQhdvOlpuYW9YI5ic7RA5W30v102ZfOJNC75xlM8hyyIHj-_ciTggB5gMUJln0zwGA0EEVlqM6NayfEPQ-Vr0jj5lrcS_EIc/s320/2535_72882987666_534192666_2747189_1376287_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311691811303476210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4EUX4dtycczbX9d49OUxrjmFbSowucn3KiMP9jRU6YxrGz66bssLE1sOktZPUPDa_d7hWC50bKKUCe9FS40ZlGrcEjGaxLvPIruPoU7mgS81b7_Gz98TkLfXr3c98bgwRw3lHqeO6NPY/s1600-h/2535_72882977666_534192666_2747188_7455155_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4EUX4dtycczbX9d49OUxrjmFbSowucn3KiMP9jRU6YxrGz66bssLE1sOktZPUPDa_d7hWC50bKKUCe9FS40ZlGrcEjGaxLvPIruPoU7mgS81b7_Gz98TkLfXr3c98bgwRw3lHqeO6NPY/s320/2535_72882977666_534192666_2747188_7455155_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311691811196992210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2RN-N-kru-v_LMetXgSNZGsuEfGtw6Bwmnm-9lAW7_QedSHQBzdlu579xwJ7hK38VnYNzc-ydSRcQuOkp-I3XZqlOlhJnPI_vdOljCyEoNWlAxHagpBlingEDhAjA0TgvXR0svoleHrK/s1600-h/2535_72882917666_534192666_2747177_7309608_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2RN-N-kru-v_LMetXgSNZGsuEfGtw6Bwmnm-9lAW7_QedSHQBzdlu579xwJ7hK38VnYNzc-ydSRcQuOkp-I3XZqlOlhJnPI_vdOljCyEoNWlAxHagpBlingEDhAjA0TgvXR0svoleHrK/s320/2535_72882917666_534192666_2747177_7309608_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311691808816030322" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />* from Katie Rowlandson...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLW1iItVj9czEcPQRYbKJ8i4v7rarDOQqfID6kTtunw3VHvUbUYZgHQyM07h9Kb_vAqbDMu3kIuc12BR6PkNYOHczKJTV-ykqsRIAp-LfdaoW07wAW4wdfvzLVlLZ1ncDJGOoPjvduPiYI/s1600-h/DSC02388.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLW1iItVj9czEcPQRYbKJ8i4v7rarDOQqfID6kTtunw3VHvUbUYZgHQyM07h9Kb_vAqbDMu3kIuc12BR6PkNYOHczKJTV-ykqsRIAp-LfdaoW07wAW4wdfvzLVlLZ1ncDJGOoPjvduPiYI/s320/DSC02388.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311692692039824754" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuk2gEpNwd4_x05KcqZmTe6IkdWG4FSEf3WvGXJ9S1gXNcG2OqQsHi574VUIqAKvwnIn-YiOmX73r2A80liUgSJZ0R80vs8ezDcJJQyWqG2tvdNc0IKMleitCKdKLHS4Do5fL7bv0I57FZ/s1600-h/DSC02386.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuk2gEpNwd4_x05KcqZmTe6IkdWG4FSEf3WvGXJ9S1gXNcG2OqQsHi574VUIqAKvwnIn-YiOmX73r2A80liUgSJZ0R80vs8ezDcJJQyWqG2tvdNc0IKMleitCKdKLHS4Do5fL7bv0I57FZ/s320/DSC02386.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311692693101928082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />* from Samantha Lock...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEpAFRbE6am5vfQrSzRnmEf_B36AUYd1avzylnWR4TJZqzOGIZew46WnurKLL3cH7MrFVb92IRE-pZZQerbyYGCL30azxG2d_76U4fJEBWdglzItcEh6ViNiz_M5moM5CRZYEEuodPzjG/s1600-h/2649_148199110536_763315536_6045504_7453830_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEpAFRbE6am5vfQrSzRnmEf_B36AUYd1avzylnWR4TJZqzOGIZew46WnurKLL3cH7MrFVb92IRE-pZZQerbyYGCL30azxG2d_76U4fJEBWdglzItcEh6ViNiz_M5moM5CRZYEEuodPzjG/s320/2649_148199110536_763315536_6045504_7453830_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311693045179602098" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib152KqJMyvjUGkLk8N2vCGx8PxyddnyMVfypMk_ulcooki8u28jvTfHsTPdNDhV8aUC3Fm5rUWIF4bYAOyUmWH-7FYwu5mE6mJcEXdkN2bRbBUy2FCtj0cdZ2C3upFSVoWUnYMfdVfr6t/s1600-h/2649_148198965536_763315536_6045486_2487248_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib152KqJMyvjUGkLk8N2vCGx8PxyddnyMVfypMk_ulcooki8u28jvTfHsTPdNDhV8aUC3Fm5rUWIF4bYAOyUmWH-7FYwu5mE6mJcEXdkN2bRbBUy2FCtj0cdZ2C3upFSVoWUnYMfdVfr6t/s320/2649_148198965536_763315536_6045486_2487248_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311693043698481010" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIFJku8a8FPoD4KXRt0ykKfOl4mCGN304-J02TYbbyEsx62sxELeBh6ge7rC-aEAcZrODDbZCtEq8Bdug3Ne1Mdu_MEwGkwB-xWxZvXDx4JNDVx7Us-BjlNAbaTahEAm6H7XXnJEKm41E/s1600-h/2649_148189540536_763315536_6045210_1082707_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIFJku8a8FPoD4KXRt0ykKfOl4mCGN304-J02TYbbyEsx62sxELeBh6ge7rC-aEAcZrODDbZCtEq8Bdug3Ne1Mdu_MEwGkwB-xWxZvXDx4JNDVx7Us-BjlNAbaTahEAm6H7XXnJEKm41E/s320/2649_148189540536_763315536_6045210_1082707_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311693044090779506" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />(with Jennifer Van Auken Birnie and Samantha)<br /><br />See you all soon!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-66874428745822479942009-02-16T00:44:00.018-04:002009-02-16T03:27:20.384-04:00Ships & Dip V ScrapbookIt's taken me a while, but finally here's my little compilation of photos, videos, and other memories from the wonderful time I had during Ships & Dip V. Thanks to everyone for sending in the raw materiels!<br /><br />OK ... Day 0<br />No photos - we arrived at the airport hotel and I met up with Jimmy C and Tyler at the hotel bar and I remember some good hugging taking place. And Jim seemed to be pretty involved in a huge midnight snack at the bar. Pasta if I remember right. Also got to meet Patrick from Sloan and had a nice conversation with him.<br /><br />Day 1<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jI4PoqmDlcKU015kfOURYDqiN472l0rymdAWETarJEJHKMpannvQJ6O4Yqpj6O0nr3sGKa7GAPJGOhgjGXIgThb5V1KxwquGhq98oXbxmw971KQIQTE7hUEXW8kHIwYif_GFSXybWU06/s1600-h/first+day.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jI4PoqmDlcKU015kfOURYDqiN472l0rymdAWETarJEJHKMpannvQJ6O4Yqpj6O0nr3sGKa7GAPJGOhgjGXIgThb5V1KxwquGhq98oXbxmw971KQIQTE7hUEXW8kHIwYif_GFSXybWU06/s320/first+day.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303252731385943266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Getting acquainted with the boat. My first time on such a thing. And it was weird. Also got to meet the Odds (been a fan for a long time) and met up with Gord from Sean Cullen's band, who I know from seeing him rock out in Toronto at the Gospel Sunday. It was a relief to see Andy C in good spirits (he was very sick with a stomach bug the day before). Enjoyed part of BNL's sail away show. Then my first show of the week in The Fyzz Lounge. Not ideal to be playing a keyboard for the show ... it took me most of the set to get used to the feel and the sound, and to playing with the band. We hadn't rehearsed at all as a band.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1HO-6ecfrx-z52Cejf6hce0NxVn3qDtfRN2tIYFbMMhkBr6fjqEBRKO57vFSmitibBWS258U0jCfLTTAx5J6d6EakFLcon9dbbfFe5skCij57UfjnGZ8-nBYryOeHGh7u0Ty3EjlNg-X/s1600-h/fyzz_band.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1HO-6ecfrx-z52Cejf6hce0NxVn3qDtfRN2tIYFbMMhkBr6fjqEBRKO57vFSmitibBWS258U0jCfLTTAx5J6d6EakFLcon9dbbfFe5skCij57UfjnGZ8-nBYryOeHGh7u0Ty3EjlNg-X/s320/fyzz_band.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303255156347851490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It was me on keyboard, Andy on vocal, percussion and accordion, Jim on Hofner bass, and Tyler on drums and a guest vocal on "If You Were My Girl" ... which was the definite highlight of the set for me. He came over to sit on the piano bench with me and added some real colour to the song. Here's a nice photo of the two of us on that one.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDF1O_sKSlpy1qbNKEODhocJI5M2APMNMOeVn2wjkHXl6z0JHLX03naO7z1gRr6wFi3U1vdjlNVfahaYsSPfeSO3af8mxNqqS3d9DNJcX_o8TD3i6obZ0J8KwJuDAMhwB37h23iEY20wP/s1600-h/tyler_mike.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDF1O_sKSlpy1qbNKEODhocJI5M2APMNMOeVn2wjkHXl6z0JHLX03naO7z1gRr6wFi3U1vdjlNVfahaYsSPfeSO3af8mxNqqS3d9DNJcX_o8TD3i6obZ0J8KwJuDAMhwB37h23iEY20wP/s320/tyler_mike.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303255475035368738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And the set ended with me getting a bit more loosened up with a few laps around the dance circle in the middle of the audience. A nice start... but I felt a bit disconnected from the band and my own piano playing. I knew the challenge was going to be loosening up with the audience and getting tight with the band for the upcoming shows. I don't remember too much musically from that first show. I joined The Brothers Creeggan for a few songs during their set at Bar City. It was such a joy to play a real grand piano for these songs. I had definitely been traumatized by the keyboard. Wow! Is Ed Robertson a nice drummer. He's got a real pocket. It was fun to play with him. I also watched a bit of the Great Big Sea set that night. They were playing in the Stardust Theatre (the main venue) and I was immediately struck by the incredible energy this band has. And they seemed so honest in their enthusiasm. Definitely masters. I was inspired. I couldn't stay for the whole set, and I didn't get to see more of them during the remainder of the cruise. Bummer....<br /><br />Day 2<br />Breakfast outside at the back of the ship ... I managed to have mostly healthy breakfasts that week. Lots of prunes and figs and yogourt and green tea. Some more exploration of the boat. Sarah and I checked the indoor fitness gym, though it would still be another few days until we worked out. I took a few hours to wander around the boat and I ended up in the hottub. That loosened me up a bit. I remember thinking ... what do I do now? Definitely a fish out of water. It would take me a few days to relax. I was also a but uptight about my upcoming performances. This is something I have to work on ... being able to enjoy the moments when I'm not performing and trust that I'll be able to get my stuff together before a performance ... but when I'm just out there living ... live! Okay, so during my exploration on the 13th deck Andy popped out of a door and told me to follow him. He showed me the Star Bar, with its free grand piano. He was practicing a Butterfly Boucher song. We went over a few of my songs and "Stuck" by The Brothers Creeggan ... which they never ended up playing! Later on that afternoon I got the chance to see most of the Sean Shau. It was very entertaining! I love Sean Cullen's humour. I loved the version of Foreigner's "I Wanna know What Love Is" that they did with Brian MacMillan. By the way, doesn't his voice sound so much like James Taylor's? Brian's, I mean. In a very good way. Anyway, after this I got word that the Sixthman production people wanted to speak to me about my show in the Atrium that night. They were concerned about the band playing with me ... they originally thought I'd be playing solo on the cruise, and the Atrium was meant to be for solo performers. So they decided to move my show back to the Fyzz so that they could accomodate the band. Fine with me. Crappy keyboard ... but great band. So a little compromise. I was a bit concerned about people getting the update on the venue change, but when I got to the venue, there were lots of folks there. Awesome. But where was the band, and where was the sound man? 10 minutes to the show. Where were the guys? I asked the MC to walkie talkie and find out where they were and got wind of the fact that the BNL soundcheck was running late and that's where they were. i ran to the Stardust to see where they were at and Jim told me that he was really sorry but he and Tyler had to soundcheck with Sarah McLachlan and they wouldn't be able to make my show. Andy would though. Anyway, there still wasn't a soundman at the Fyzz, so I wouldn't even be able to get the crappy keyboard working even if I wanted to. Which I didn't. I decided to move the show back to the Atrium. 5 minutes to the show. I get Andy to run around looking for percussion. I don't think he knew what I had in mind. Some commotion. The audience is confused and I start spreading some "rumours" that the show is now back in the Atrium. But nothing official yet. And then, Andy and I start stomping and clapping and singing and we get everyone to follow us in time back to the Atrium ... it's going well, only when we pass over the Bar City venue I realize that Christine Fellows (who's amazing) is in the middle of here very quiet set and here I am leading 50 people stomping and clapping right above her ... so I try to get everyone to snap quietly and to the beat of Christine's music. It worked for a while. So we finally get everyone to the Atrium and Andy and I break into "Good Watermelon". The show had officially started. Phew! We do the rest of the show without microphones and I got to play a white piano!!! A magical moment ... in between songs I hit a chord, and then I realized it was the first chord of Billy Joel's piano man. Now ... over the years playing in bars I've been asked to play "Piano Man" countless times ... and me wanting to make sure people took me seriously as a songwriter and performer in my own right I've always been reluctant to play it. And I never was able to figure out that little piano intro to the song, even after working on it at home. But this night, at the white piano in a piano bar on a cruise ship, I closed my eyes and hit every note of that piano intro, so I thought to myself, this is as good a time as any to sing "Piano Man". It was fun! Here's a video of it:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b0LrEV0OKRk&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b0LrEV0OKRk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />And Jim ended up joining us for the last few songs with his upright bass (is it Bertha?) Here's a video of us getting down at the end of "Great Pop Song":<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FJb9AZTmaqc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FJb9AZTmaqc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />All in all, a very fun and unique set. We definitely weren't gonna be able to duplicate the energy another night. The set ended with a version of "Wait For the Tea to Steep" and a haunting bowed bass performance from Jim. Here are some of my favorite photos from that show:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2ssfKSBtut5UUKjdj3693jfgXrBLRQJbL3B12WYR4f_3YflJxsrIhxD8vEoA3mB41rJZ56dCAfDnzeS1sRXPjcbVa8wnHnq8wBPERo6n0mSOPfo5Q_ZafJPdXzWYwA5sLiSCZDZYO6C5/s1600-h/020209_mike_evin10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2ssfKSBtut5UUKjdj3693jfgXrBLRQJbL3B12WYR4f_3YflJxsrIhxD8vEoA3mB41rJZ56dCAfDnzeS1sRXPjcbVa8wnHnq8wBPERo6n0mSOPfo5Q_ZafJPdXzWYwA5sLiSCZDZYO6C5/s320/020209_mike_evin10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303268397260639762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43gHKRFywg73ce4FxMMeTCPGj304h4bbrkRMZdo9RJiZ3ltt5iYNTNFekPyVtq3S5gTOZVrymiM0MWUiyhob9i9lDUiepfGWn4idacMIQBdb9n6vaHyt2l1BcK62_8cQt54g0Mwx5nR61/s1600-h/Mike&Andy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43gHKRFywg73ce4FxMMeTCPGj304h4bbrkRMZdo9RJiZ3ltt5iYNTNFekPyVtq3S5gTOZVrymiM0MWUiyhob9i9lDUiepfGWn4idacMIQBdb9n6vaHyt2l1BcK62_8cQt54g0Mwx5nR61/s320/Mike&Andy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303269519857923250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMIb_ZoHa0bSlM3qKXIe2X2Cqy4hHs9WhIzMIN_4DmknqDQBK1onIFsGFm-B-RO2dDajJYy8NomuQxxCMrNCjdkBIhyKZ-aJOInNVQFyvIggu0VPvCe4rfmaSJVkfql_VAnDcqfLB8TiC/s1600-h/Ships+And+Dips+V+053.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMIb_ZoHa0bSlM3qKXIe2X2Cqy4hHs9WhIzMIN_4DmknqDQBK1onIFsGFm-B-RO2dDajJYy8NomuQxxCMrNCjdkBIhyKZ-aJOInNVQFyvIggu0VPvCe4rfmaSJVkfql_VAnDcqfLB8TiC/s320/Ships+And+Dips+V+053.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303269982765466610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It was later on this night that I caught Kevin MacDonald's solo show in the Stardust Theatre. Wow. It was amazing. So raw and dark and personal. It was special to be there for that. And I was sitting in front of Dave Foley.<br /><br />Day 3<br />I slept in because I felt I was fighting something off and wanted to get as much rest as I could. Again ... a little uptight. Sarah and I made our way into Cozumel around noon and wandered around for most of the day. We went to the beach and I smacked my face in the water jumping off of the giant rock-climbing iceberg. We discovered a great musical instrument store in town and talked to the owner for a bit. He played some music on the native guitar-like instruments, I forget the name of it. But it was late in the afternoon and I was in a rush to get back to the boat... thought it might leave without us. So I would have liked to spend more time in that store... it was a nice day in town but Sarah and I both felt that we could have done more. Our friends Gord and Alana rented a scooter and drove around the island and hung out on a secluded beach. He got badly sunburned, but ultimately I was jealous of their adventure. So I was feeling a bit weird before my third set on board. Plus ... after a day off from playing together as a band, it was challenging for me to get in the zone and enjoy the simple act of playing with Jim, Tyler and Andy. This was our first set in Bar City. Anyway, all in all, my least favourite set of mine from the cruise. I was just in a weird headspace. I know the audience couldn't pick up on it, and I probably shouldn't be mentioning it here either. I'm a performer and I shouldn't let on when I have a bad show. Does it take away some of the magic for you as members of the audience? Maybe so. But I figure this is the forum for me to express this stuff. So there it is. We tried an old song of mine, "All your Exmuses", and it was nice to sing the two parts with Andy during the outro. That felt nice. I'd say my favourite moment was during "Rockin' Receptionist" at the end when we all went in to the audience and sang with them. Later on that night Sarah and I sat in the hottub and watched Acid Wish. Great experience ... a new friend Jackie bought me ice cream...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qgiTZBBqxNfVqg8rnryD_6CirskrIanX3yj9y4jhq1xYz3e8BCRWX6MEO0sXU_-T-OFebIIIfWcx7L9xSYUUgVqtbR5CeOxtNZoHyrNlt9M44gm7p9VJW-tEpks-uwqww8aw6la_QJ68/s1600-h/ice+cream.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qgiTZBBqxNfVqg8rnryD_6CirskrIanX3yj9y4jhq1xYz3e8BCRWX6MEO0sXU_-T-OFebIIIfWcx7L9xSYUUgVqtbR5CeOxtNZoHyrNlt9M44gm7p9VJW-tEpks-uwqww8aw6la_QJ68/s320/ice+cream.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303275609400952610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Day 4<br />My favourite day. It started with a workout in the indoor gym. Nice. I totally wished I could have done the morning yoga class with Jim, but it was only by lottery. I did a bit of my own routine and then it was Sarah's idea to have a steam. I was in there for a LONG time! But it felt great. Next up I took part in the two songwriter panels with both Steve Page and Ed Robertson from BNL. These were a bit challenging for me because I didn't have access to a piano. So for the first one, Steve's, I played a guitar. And for Ed's I played Kevin Hearn's accordion. Both instruments that I rarely play. Obviously I was a bit more comfortable on the accordion because it's similar to piano. A highlight of the first session was playing "Rockin' Receptionist" with Luke Doucet and Melissa McLelland. Here's a video of that:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kXSOpQ1saXU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kXSOpQ1saXU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />And here's a nice photo of Luke and I (we barely got a chance to speak after this set, but it amazing to play with him!):<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQU28ttq-pNqIKQV2_SpPl761hECKECoeFkwYCXfRCEttyj41axXK1Q6VaGb5cjyNwZxmNOxD7WVTaSLbNvizsvx6sabImDtRA2iI996c9b42xeoMncHydTgjo5ckY9NM_HNX8qvzJzy2l/s1600-h/IMG_2122+resized.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQU28ttq-pNqIKQV2_SpPl761hECKECoeFkwYCXfRCEttyj41axXK1Q6VaGb5cjyNwZxmNOxD7WVTaSLbNvizsvx6sabImDtRA2iI996c9b42xeoMncHydTgjo5ckY9NM_HNX8qvzJzy2l/s320/IMG_2122+resized.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303277455242511026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The rest of the songwriters during this panel (and they were all great) were:<br />Boothby Graffoe, John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats, John K. Sampson from the Weakerthans, Steven Page from BNL, Melissa McLelland, Luke Doucet and me. Here's a photo of all of us:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNyd7slYvtMdXQXsCBDJeiYheEcgbhYG5hgkbHEb3yFwizrQy8xZAn8v61HtuQbv-P05DwILVumw_39rV51vcVlyNg-S6xlF-G4aGu9pFOxE5ngRkIrX8hNyRkWlI8XQ9rHP8T49SBvYr/s1600-h/IMG_0684.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNyd7slYvtMdXQXsCBDJeiYheEcgbhYG5hgkbHEb3yFwizrQy8xZAn8v61HtuQbv-P05DwILVumw_39rV51vcVlyNg-S6xlF-G4aGu9pFOxE5ngRkIrX8hNyRkWlI8XQ9rHP8T49SBvYr/s320/IMG_0684.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303278406256749010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I was a bit looser for Ed's panel. Here's a video of "Good Watermelon" from that panel:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PjTXwGhXQas&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PjTXwGhXQas&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />And I got to sit next to Butterfly Boucher, whose music I've been a huge fan of for so long. And on this panel was also Craig Northey from the Odds ... I think he had the best rock voice on the boat!! This panel was a lot of fun. The other songwriters were Boothby Graffoe, Chris Murphy from Sloan, Ed Robertson from BNL, Brian MacMillan and Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea (he was a lot of fun!). Here are some more photos from that one:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHPA2Zk1W8RvYV5t_51qsF-ivViLKHUOJRmE57JpMmOxjPtxGlHHVr4ba_moGTky7kr_3PKcDaSlwyfnpoetCumFwy2vWQUJauWJffebTelYq2yfy67Kywwkdh3loViQo2Egghdlw_Eh3/s1600-h/IMG_0700.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHPA2Zk1W8RvYV5t_51qsF-ivViLKHUOJRmE57JpMmOxjPtxGlHHVr4ba_moGTky7kr_3PKcDaSlwyfnpoetCumFwy2vWQUJauWJffebTelYq2yfy67Kywwkdh3loViQo2Egghdlw_Eh3/s320/IMG_0700.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303283027691969842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCRbxqX5y5WDcP0_y4K86slL1GrcKCeKak5WEuUIY50YgNBE6RIjy0ifMWyiTpAWb7hKg7ZritU6yW8RrAY65sDnrZnU38pSlgG9J2GedV18OUTliMMthDRp12GokyHWg5fcjE7AS2Jku/s1600-h/ships%2520and%2520dip%2520V%25202009%2520068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCRbxqX5y5WDcP0_y4K86slL1GrcKCeKak5WEuUIY50YgNBE6RIjy0ifMWyiTpAWb7hKg7ZritU6yW8RrAY65sDnrZnU38pSlgG9J2GedV18OUTliMMthDRp12GokyHWg5fcjE7AS2Jku/s320/ships%2520and%2520dip%2520V%25202009%2520068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303283168583465906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The rest of the afternoon was spent playing shuffleboard, ping pong, eating, and getting ready for my last official set on the boat at Bar City. I was hoping for a memorable one. And that's what it was!! I had an incredible time playing with the band for this one. We were definitely all on the same page. And we invited up Gord Light and Tim Bovaconti from the Sean Shau for the last 2 songs. They were a blast! Lots of memorable moments during this set. Peter Johnson of Ireland shot most of the show and you can see it all here:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=404FD1445618FE8B">http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=404FD1445618FE8B<br /></a><br />Here are some highlights:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qpWsSTuCRY0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qpWsSTuCRY0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />Sweet City Woman<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/imR_uOADjeU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/imR_uOADjeU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />We Should Dance<br /><br />And here are some nice photos from that show:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbvBIhFGfAiAzzv6L-VLEfyg4_z5-igLNKvqkyBQLRz7MULPIqQG704KlzwgNok5OVI3QUav_bS6nTWAn4GAJUbl8yUHaZ8BsUb_VKs6KXeYqLySh9nq6yfOWpdLJERdqvl7E8biBjkcx/s1600-h/IMG_0252.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbvBIhFGfAiAzzv6L-VLEfyg4_z5-igLNKvqkyBQLRz7MULPIqQG704KlzwgNok5OVI3QUav_bS6nTWAn4GAJUbl8yUHaZ8BsUb_VKs6KXeYqLySh9nq6yfOWpdLJERdqvl7E8biBjkcx/s320/IMG_0252.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303287660678391618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpivKX6KC1w-RHmsQqFZS_Gr6LWZ2TSPT54whQzvaFMDkP5wmD-Wp7SbjD-AivUvtVL_XNPykbNO3K43nAG7mq9WUosSUdzphJigg8GDPTw1MXWDQrUEVpsDmbk9sKWyGoGvu4KJgHv9B/s1600-h/IMG_0001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijpivKX6KC1w-RHmsQqFZS_Gr6LWZ2TSPT54whQzvaFMDkP5wmD-Wp7SbjD-AivUvtVL_XNPykbNO3K43nAG7mq9WUosSUdzphJigg8GDPTw1MXWDQrUEVpsDmbk9sKWyGoGvu4KJgHv9B/s320/IMG_0001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303287665681369570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1wLErhqOjOVEfKwICBL-PJykGSYz6a-zUDvolRUgvEOqzygzsCIMST65K7KGe3iMqwVI3AJJ0kM34jj3Qlt7iuPqZOecBRYig7Ubyyl2I_xC7Na8QssW1FI193O-SFS-x-sZjU2kZXXO/s1600-h/P1010366.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1wLErhqOjOVEfKwICBL-PJykGSYz6a-zUDvolRUgvEOqzygzsCIMST65K7KGe3iMqwVI3AJJ0kM34jj3Qlt7iuPqZOecBRYig7Ubyyl2I_xC7Na8QssW1FI193O-SFS-x-sZjU2kZXXO/s320/P1010366.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303287665635732802" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanfpadby656KPODKZnBF1kYFmuvWIIJFLTU2zVrD5vyP-HbGJAjMNOzg7f_pW3VfP9v9u6z7IScE13YbtOjKbCXzvSIV1kst72tvrjeNhMQCdfs5US06jS3eDDPno2CmD-mj6GuiP5QEV/s1600-h/IMG_0256.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanfpadby656KPODKZnBF1kYFmuvWIIJFLTU2zVrD5vyP-HbGJAjMNOzg7f_pW3VfP9v9u6z7IScE13YbtOjKbCXzvSIV1kst72tvrjeNhMQCdfs5US06jS3eDDPno2CmD-mj6GuiP5QEV/s320/IMG_0256.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303287662753490930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to play with these guys ... I wanna give a shout-out to Jim, Tyler and Andy for putting so much into these shows!<br /><br />Later on that night we saw the Dave Foley and Kevin MacDonald show. That was real special and it was amazing to be a part of it in the audience. So unpolished and brimming with juvenile excitement!! I never watched much Kids in the Hall when I was younger (more a fan of Newsradio), but now I'm gonna go and seek out a lot of it!!<br /><br />Oh yeah, and this was also the second and final Brothers Creeggan set. That was amazing!! My favorite moment was when they played "Grey" from the Sleepyhead album. Ed really nailed it on drums. It was a beautiful version.<br /><br />Day 5<br />We docked in Key West instead of Great Stirrup Kay in the Bahamas. Weather issues. Key West was cool. Once you got out of the touristy area. Sixthman took all the artist out for lunch. That was real nice. The restautant (I think it was called Rick's) was really cool and I think it was the owner or chef or someone who was coming around to make sure we were enjoying the food and he seemed pretty passionate. Nice. And more opportunity to hang out with the musicians and get to know them better. This was a nice memory.<br /><br />Once back on the boat, we were able to enjoy the last night of shows. I caught a bit of Christine Fellows, and then Sarah McLachlan's final set - which was nice - and then most of BNL's last set. And it was during this set that they invited me to come up during Kevin's song "Another spin" and do some kind of dance routine - which I hadn't worked out at all. It was so nervewracking. I didn't know what I was doing. So I hope i didn't bore everyone. Here is the video of it!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aqkJMeG-LJQ&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aqkJMeG-LJQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I don't know ...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbP7sLvaEjD-FjYe6u6tFyuRB7m9HqaUPent8LEmt7RZlFOLRYpjS-ihng0cESaxnYm6inlXuykobPUjA_xDry8Umbx1V4WFOSxyg8HFOeDV4sR-aKvHAm4a89YFvGkXzwIb9_B1qoqfl/s1600-h/P1010706.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbP7sLvaEjD-FjYe6u6tFyuRB7m9HqaUPent8LEmt7RZlFOLRYpjS-ihng0cESaxnYm6inlXuykobPUjA_xDry8Umbx1V4WFOSxyg8HFOeDV4sR-aKvHAm4a89YFvGkXzwIb9_B1qoqfl/s320/P1010706.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303292293329723698" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The rest of the night ... Acid Wish and the final big jam in Bar City (was supposed to be out on the pool deck but the weather was pretty cold). This was awesome!!! Lots of memorable moments. Seeing Chris Murphy rock out on the drums during The Who's "I Can't Explain" ... seeing Kevin Hearn start a number of Led Zeppelin songs on the keyboard ... the finale of "A Thousand Miles" and "Hey Jude" ... when the power went out (they blew a fuse) and everyone finished singing "Hey Jude" accapela and then with the piano. Here are some photos from the big jam (then I have to go to bed because it's 3am now):<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0hSoVtRRSkMHzXa6jNbSXR_4XK_GD6IZ2-ulvlNqojSkXAwJKNh_Hi7fAmJIBL54NxRm5QiQFTRa2uckSNyQNjW-7lmJngVHatPBhdycw_5XUvMU98vE2aJWZEj12-wUPNa_NQAi-hqU/s1600-h/IMG_1010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0hSoVtRRSkMHzXa6jNbSXR_4XK_GD6IZ2-ulvlNqojSkXAwJKNh_Hi7fAmJIBL54NxRm5QiQFTRa2uckSNyQNjW-7lmJngVHatPBhdycw_5XUvMU98vE2aJWZEj12-wUPNa_NQAi-hqU/s320/IMG_1010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303291942748023970" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrEAgZPId9Fp9l2TW7JWupn01ZOJyZ5CA70PFv7AUOeQgp3D12LSWi7_cSmmELuQP8vAX2Rqsq1nw9DYOZKUcDrotUzETYVvL-xL2_cNpULKWlIgTIMPsMhh6Y_trDda0Ci30TIyezV3t/s1600-h/IMG_0993.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrEAgZPId9Fp9l2TW7JWupn01ZOJyZ5CA70PFv7AUOeQgp3D12LSWi7_cSmmELuQP8vAX2Rqsq1nw9DYOZKUcDrotUzETYVvL-xL2_cNpULKWlIgTIMPsMhh6Y_trDda0Ci30TIyezV3t/s320/IMG_0993.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303291937271735186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4uRnREIbUOREKX8-kBJeCC3c7DseWI87QzTP-DdX0GK7zlYhBnzqzuXsvnm2CQI_glSpiVq4xn6-uIoJW-vFqlEesVThdIAMyvynXOfgmukIDUUpbXk3TSvyC4u7d-7BWy0Ngr037MnU/s1600-h/090.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4uRnREIbUOREKX8-kBJeCC3c7DseWI87QzTP-DdX0GK7zlYhBnzqzuXsvnm2CQI_glSpiVq4xn6-uIoJW-vFqlEesVThdIAMyvynXOfgmukIDUUpbXk3TSvyC4u7d-7BWy0Ngr037MnU/s320/090.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303291932154607666" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFYXPYAXkInAqOCBuieFe5sgvbphg9Zg4x_PC1FuUe_akuC1anin4si7wiWGPagJgXsgYrTj8FBexpA-FZpVI6jmxrwf-tJOi6TpJYdGbeDRJ_D4pVAyN-Sw9WQNewsI3l_qK_m5D7fD0/s1600-h/088.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFYXPYAXkInAqOCBuieFe5sgvbphg9Zg4x_PC1FuUe_akuC1anin4si7wiWGPagJgXsgYrTj8FBexpA-FZpVI6jmxrwf-tJOi6TpJYdGbeDRJ_D4pVAyN-Sw9WQNewsI3l_qK_m5D7fD0/s320/088.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303291932459320850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />OK ... that was the cruise. Amazing. Now on to the next adventure!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-31376070650983577992009-02-11T23:58:00.003-04:002009-02-12T00:07:39.923-04:00OverwhelmedMy God - the response to the search for photos and videos has been incredible! You guys are amazing. I promise I'll get a nice little scrapbook going and post it online for everyone. And I'll get the free download for "Muse" happening too. I'm not used to having this much to do for fans. Please forgive me for taking a while to get everything set up. I promise I'll post some fun stuff soon. I appreciate everything so much!! OK, let me see.... I gotta post at least one thing in this blog post. Let me take a minute and search my computer (tic toc tic toc ...)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YVeeQKU-ry_k3W2Q8wz_b89qT1zTJxn3PWoZSlDY27Ii9sgk-OpUWwS5zU2pAfptm36b4EeVGjIP9UWd94GhrQ1rC4-3F6cA6Y-JM1r1bNhY4ksRKY5r261xfBqG1aeAPRXUpyYWGicb/s1600-h/P1000703.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YVeeQKU-ry_k3W2Q8wz_b89qT1zTJxn3PWoZSlDY27Ii9sgk-OpUWwS5zU2pAfptm36b4EeVGjIP9UWd94GhrQ1rC4-3F6cA6Y-JM1r1bNhY4ksRKY5r261xfBqG1aeAPRXUpyYWGicb/s320/P1000703.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301756716989761618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is Andy and Jim Creeggan ... and I wouldn't have been a part of Ships & Dip V if it weren't for these two fellows. So they're my best friends!! They're awesome. I think this photo is from Shelby Raiser. Thanks Shelby!<br /><br />Talk to you guys soon ...Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-837263185611000592009-02-07T01:06:00.002-04:002009-02-07T01:30:34.248-04:00Back homeWell - you know, i forgot my camera in Montreal before heading down to Florida at the end of January to perform on Barenaked Ladies' Ships & Dip V. But I'm counting on the countless awesome people I met to send me photos and videos of our time together. And I'll post them here as soon as I get them.<br /><br />I headed down a bit early to spend a few days with my grandmother in Century Village, just a little bit north of Fort Lauderdale in Deerfield Beach. I gotta tell you, I was really impressed and surprised at the place. The clubhouse is a hoppin place - and I'm being totally sincere. Everyone seems to be enjoying their time there and there's so much to do. They have an entire room dedicated to stained glass. And then there's pottery and sewing and ping pong and aerobics and some more obscure stuff I can't remember. it seems like a great environment. My girlfriend says that she doesn't think it's natural to stick senior citizens in a place where they're just surrounded by people like themselves .... but it was difficult for me not to love the place.<br /><br />And my time on the boat - the Norwegian Jewel - during Ships & Dip was incredible. It was like summer camp on the water. Everything was so well done. The food was amazing. The entertainment ... obviously amazing. I didn't manage to catch everything that I wanted to. Some of the great performers I missed out on were Butterfly Boucher, The Weakerthans, Boothby Graffoe. Though I did get to see a few songs from these guys during the Songwriter Panels on Wednesday. The standout for me was actually the one-man show from Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald. I can't explain it. So personal. So awkward. Wow. So engaging. And it was also something really special to be a part of the Kevin and Dave Foley show on Wednesday night.<br /><br />Anyway, should be heading off to bed. I had about 2 and a half hours of sleep last night and I ended up talking in my sleep on the plane today and scaring the shit out of the people behind me when I yelled at them in my sleep!!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-54358144860011386172009-01-25T17:13:00.001-04:002009-01-25T17:13:39.355-04:00Rock the roadFolks, I hope you're all doing well. I've been playing some shows over the past few weeks and it's been a thing. I've been working it out and you've been there to help me out and sing some bits and I appreciate that. Just getting it together. That's all. Let's not force it. Ease it. Still thinking about the news that's happening around the world and figuring out how it all affects us. Next week I head down to Florida to catch the Barenaked Ladies Ships & Dip V cruise. To all who will be on that - looking forward to meeting you and making music with you. And after I get back - who knows? The new album Good Watermelon is ready and I have copies to sell at my shows. Hopefully soon it'll be more readily available. I'd really like to get to morer writing too. Anyway, here are the lyrics to my newest song, Rock the Road.<br /><br />Rock the Road<br /><br />One day, there was a rock & roll band<br />they played and then they met all their fans<br />and before they left in their van<br />somebody put out his hand<br />and said,<br /><br />Chorus:<br />Oh, oh, oh<br />oh, oh, oh<br />let's rock the road to sunshine<br /><br />Bobby - he wasn't writing the songs<br />but he had a good vibe on the drums<br />and when this hand came along<br />he felt like it'd been too long<br />he said,<br /><br />Chorus<br /><br />And the fans took the band to the riverbank<br />and on that field they were healed when the whole gang sang<br />Gimme some lovin'<br />gimme gimme some lovin'<br />well, the tour manager wasn't sure at the beginning<br />but when the sun came shining in the morning time he was singing<br /><br />ChorusMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-59554015704986389352009-01-09T00:11:00.002-04:002009-01-09T00:19:29.905-04:00Hard travelingHappy New Year everyone! I hope it was safe and healthy. I wish nothing by happiness and fulfillment for you all and may your wishes come true in 2009. Enjoy as much as you can. That's my New Year's resolution. There's lots more to come in the next few weeks. I'm going to be on the road and I'll check in often. Here's where I'm headed ...<br /><br />Jan 9 - Fredericton<br />Jan 10 - Quebec City<br />Jan 13 - Montreal<br />Jan 14 - Toronto<br />Jan 16 - Sudbury<br />Jan 17 - Guelph<br />Jan 18 - Wakefield (near Ottawa)<br />Jan 22 - Sherbrooke<br />Jan 26 - Ottawa<br />Feb 1 through 6 - Barenaked Ladies' Ships & Dip V musical cruise<br /><br />Check out my <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mikeevin">Myspace</a> page for more info on these shows ...<br /><br />See you soon,<br />MikeMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523139199849937305.post-45788840740655760562008-11-20T03:11:00.007-04:002008-11-20T03:25:07.262-04:00oh yeah, and the halifax show on saturday...that was a blast too. it was with my friend dan bryk and we did it at heartwood, which sunlights as a vegetarian eatery during the day. this was heartwood after dark and things got a bit sweaty. they were way over capacity and everyone ended the night singing and dancing together! here are some pics, but they don't do the vibe justice.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eJn0e8eqNMRpzR8j-mwik1xkyw2x8C4070w34UKSEheUrNegKj9xu5op5V_-KQLVybZ0VClAceAscMIEuves1mCIH8sfzGtFDlukWFmbnW3_AW8KNUB535ABFNfZzPvEnfHqpWe2Hakb/s1600-h/DSCN0601.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eJn0e8eqNMRpzR8j-mwik1xkyw2x8C4070w34UKSEheUrNegKj9xu5op5V_-KQLVybZ0VClAceAscMIEuves1mCIH8sfzGtFDlukWFmbnW3_AW8KNUB535ABFNfZzPvEnfHqpWe2Hakb/s320/DSCN0601.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270635561730932562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Dan Bryk and I singing a Randy Newman song with the audience<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIIcVh0nIGwpFr60PZYMHcO9OAMsmcjmbGkgVIqCtOMh0doI3dqPjd8-YW7U6keR57Cz4N4hinfrqd8FBYaptk2TuFIT2DwCUQWoCc7Eb2ofl4auU8SxrIPuzk4AgLlN6QoFOHs59LOp-/s1600-h/DSCN0599.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIIcVh0nIGwpFr60PZYMHcO9OAMsmcjmbGkgVIqCtOMh0doI3dqPjd8-YW7U6keR57Cz4N4hinfrqd8FBYaptk2TuFIT2DwCUQWoCc7Eb2ofl4auU8SxrIPuzk4AgLlN6QoFOHs59LOp-/s320/DSCN0599.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270635971359809922" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Working on some dance moves<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdmlxV4i54vFrEkBRf8BYfbv8Zz1VSKUw_vBVCD8Ehyphenhyphenhq6Fv4HaO15rtDQVyNfTMHjFhglXRjri8CGMehj8fl8zofbXokdJyCe9Zycal676y7L3u-4HjZiB4ldeLdjIyrWZ6OiojJsl1u/s1600-h/DSCN0616.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdmlxV4i54vFrEkBRf8BYfbv8Zz1VSKUw_vBVCD8Ehyphenhyphenhq6Fv4HaO15rtDQVyNfTMHjFhglXRjri8CGMehj8fl8zofbXokdJyCe9Zycal676y7L3u-4HjZiB4ldeLdjIyrWZ6OiojJsl1u/s320/DSCN0616.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270636525669804930" border="0" /><br /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I gave this section of the audience a hard time when we split up the singing parts - I'm sorryMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12435465382111387533noreply@blogger.com0