WINNING & LOSING TO THE WINTER
Hello all,
Thinking of you as we enter another winter week…if you are in the cold north…it has been a struggle to 1. walk on ice 2. trudge through snow 3. get warm ….
A few tips I have to get through this impossible season are:
Hydrate….wake up and drink a full glass of room temperature water.
Get yourself under a day lamp…these things kind of lift your mood if you can find one…
Walk, move, sing, crank up the tunes.
Plan a nice vacation somewhere warm - to look forward to.
Last night I played a sold-out show at London Music Club, a little venue I had not been in for a while. So many wonderful folks came from as far as Atlanta, Philadelphia, Toronto and beyond.
I am getting better at telling my story between songs in a way that is victorious.
I have posted “North” in the video section which was recorded last night. That song will always be very special to me, it’s nice to still like it after so long!
It seems the world is changing so fast…a lot of us in the music community are dealing with loss of friends and colleagues…and life is morphing into all kinds of things…it’s sometimes a struggle to hold on.
I’ve found that giving back - really finding the time to make someone else’s day better, or to give to a cause that you care about can lift you out of this fog.
How strange that taking yourself out of the equation actually helps you heal.
Some news items:
I co-wrote a song on Andrew Austin’s album and it’s called Watershed. Please try to find it or buy it on iTunes because he did such a wonderful job of writing and producing this little gem. I wrote some of the lyrics after my breakup and it is funny how music can come out long after you work on it, and then you realize, you are a different person than when you wrote it.
I now have to furiously memorize the lyrics to “This Is Not America”. I am singing lead on this song at “A Bowie Celebration”, the tour which features Bowie alumni. We are a bit like family now…when we talk we just have that bond, where we remember David…we associate each other with being in his company. It’s quite a gift to be able to see these folks again…some legends in their own right.
I’m working on a book about singing. I wonder if you could let me know what some of your favourite “how-to” books are, and why you like them. I know why I like my non-fiction, but I float somewhere between Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search For Meaning” and Jen Sincero’s “You Are A BadAss” which can be a strange place to float around…I always rely on you folks to centre me…and inspire me. So let’s hear about it!
Trent Severn is putting things on indefinite pause so we can each work on our own individual projects. I thank all of you so much for supporting the band over the past years. We certainly have had some great moments of collaboration and harmonic magic.
The Juno Awards are in London so I’ve been hosting a segment on CBC every Wednesday. This Wednesday’s is about the rapper Shad who is from London Ontario. I was moved by his story of his family from Rwanda, the things they went through and how life transformed for them once they moved to Canada. It’s great to hear a rapper who is about equality, kindness and joy…but still has a musical edge.
Follow me on Twitter, FB and instagram for news on how you can hear the segment.
Trapper are back, playing a show March 8 at East Side Bar in London, Ontario. You know what that means? YOGA. SPANDEX. CONSTANT WATER INTAKE. oh, rock n roll is soooo demanding.
Off to bed for me….lots of love to you all…Emm
