Back home

Well - 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.

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.

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.

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!!

Rock the road

Folks, 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.

Rock the Road

One day, there was a rock & roll band
they played and then they met all their fans
and before they left in their van
somebody put out his hand
and said,

Chorus:
Oh, oh, oh
oh, oh, oh
let's rock the road to sunshine

Bobby - he wasn't writing the songs
but he had a good vibe on the drums
and when this hand came along
he felt like it'd been too long
he said,

Chorus

And the fans took the band to the riverbank
and on that field they were healed when the whole gang sang
Gimme some lovin'
gimme gimme some lovin'
well, the tour manager wasn't sure at the beginning
but when the sun came shining in the morning time he was singing

Chorus

Hard traveling

Happy 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 ...

Jan 9 - Fredericton
Jan 10 - Quebec City
Jan 13 - Montreal
Jan 14 - Toronto
Jan 16 - Sudbury
Jan 17 - Guelph
Jan 18 - Wakefield (near Ottawa)
Jan 22 - Sherbrooke
Jan 26 - Ottawa
Feb 1 through 6 - Barenaked Ladies' Ships & Dip V musical cruise

Check out my Myspace page for more info on these shows ...

See you soon,
Mike