Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Artistic Cross-pollination

As a musician, I often have opportunities to collaborate and jam with fellow musicians. In 2009, though, I was lucky enough to enjoy some cross-disciplinary collaborations. I'd like to share these experiences with you in that hope that they will inspire you to find ways to cross-pollinate your work with that of other artists.

The first of these collaborations actually started in the spring of 2008. My friend, Josephine Guidolin, offered to shoot photos of me to use on the album cover and liner notes of my cd, Love Bites. I don't enjoy having my photo taken and was relieved at the thought of doing the photo shoot with an old friend. I had some ideas about what I wanted and Joey brought her ideas and inspiration to the shoot, too. We shot most of the photos in Dufferin Grove park, a few at my apartment building and some more at an abandoned building in my neighbourhood. Because of the title of my cd, I wanted some close ups of me biting into a pear or apple. We found some beautiful pears at the Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market and Joey put together just the right composition and lighting for a nice, juicy bite.

Flash forward a year to the summer of 2009: Joey dropped me a line to let me know that she would be submitting the pear photo, along with a number of others, to a jury for consideration as street banners in the Bloorcourt business district. Lo and behold the pear shot, and several of Joey's other photos, were selected. The banners were installed in early December and now a giant image of my nose and mouth can be viewed at the corner of Bloor and Delaware (and virtually here.)

The other major cross-collaboration I enjoyed this year was with visual artist, Alex Mac Donald. I met Alex at the Tallgrass Festival in Seaforth, Nova Scotia, in 2008, where he provided us with excellent sound and shared some of his marvelous original songs around the bonfire at the end of that glorious day. This year, Alex decided to create a series of videos in which he paints abstract works on glass to the sound of independent musicians. When I heard about this, I eagerly asked if I could contribute my song, Mercury Lights, to the project; Alex graciously accepted my offer. The result is simply stunning as you can see for yourself (through the miracle of YouTube).

I am very moved by the way these projects have broadened my understanding of how we can inspire one another as artists and how rich and fertile we can be in collaboration with one another. I am looking forward to further collaborations in 2010.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Singing for my Supper (an organic, locavore supper!)

Tomorrow, between 4 and 7, I'm going to be playing and singing at the first ever Winter Market held in the Sorauren fieldhouse in Parkdale, in Toronto's west end. This will be a monthly event until the weekly market resumes in the spring. The Sorauren Market is run by the West End Food Co-op, an inspiring group of people who, in addition to running the market and a food mapping project, are developing their vision to raise capital and create a co-operative retail food store in Parkdale. Just two weeks ago, on November 2, I was delighted to perform a few songs at the West End Food Co-op's Bond Campaign Launch at the Gladstone Hotel.

I love good food and co-ops and farmers' markets. I believe markets are a perfect setting for the kinds of songs I like to write and perform: songs about people, cities, relationships, ecology and economy. Over the past couple of summers, I've been known to trek across to the east end of town to play for the good folks who frequent the
Withrow Park Farmer's Market. Back here in the west end, I'm lucky to live near several of Toronto's best markets, including the year-round market in Dufferin Grove. The broad spectrum of fresh, organic food (including bread baked in a stone oven in the park) and the feeling of community appeal to my hopeful, upbeat side. Market shopping is a small thing that many of us can easily do to support local food producers and nurture ourselves and our communities with healthy, sustainable food.

Plus, markets are fun! Many feature musicians and artists, educational programs and craft projects for kids and grown-ups. Great conversations seem to spring up between all sorts of people and I often run into folks I haven't seen in a while (the most extreme case of this occured last winter when I ran into sustainable food educator, Garden Jane, and we realized that we recognized each other from a university course we had taken together many years before).

So, if you're in west end Toronto, I'd love to see you tomorrow afternoon/evening at the Sorauren fieldhouse. Come out for great food, community and music. Talk to the West End Food Co-oppers about their plans and their Bond program. And wherever you are, I encourage you to look into ways you can participate in neighbourhood gardens, local markets, community shared agriculture programs and food co-ops. If you can't find anything like that in your community, why not get some neighbours together and create something new? And then write a song about it.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

this one time, at band camp...

This past weekend, I went on a special women's retreat. Imagine getting out of the city for peace and quiet, a chance to reflect. Can you hear the wind in the trees, visualize a stroll by a tranquil stream? Good job. Now forget all that, because this retreat was the Second Annual (insert power chord here) Women's Rock Weekend.

As part of a fund-raiser* for the Peterborough Rock Camp for Girls, I spent two days rocking out with more than a dozen other women, led by the fearless Rock Squad**. Starting at 9am Saturday, we formed bands and then set to work learning how to play our instruments, write songs together and rehearse them in time for The Big Gig, which was scheduled just 32 hours from the moment we first met.

I played lead guitar (and was chief head-banger) for a band we called "Zombie Virus". Here's a YouTube video of our first song "(I Don't Want No) Zombie Virus", being debuted at Sadleir House in Peterborough on October 25, 2009.

In summary: It is difficult, but not impossible, to shred when you are about to collapse laughing. Believe me.

*The money raised each year at the WRW is used to provide subsidies for girls attending Peterborough Rock Camp 4 Girls.
**The Rock Squad is a group of fabulously talented musicians and artists. Some of their upcoming projects include: Hamlet in a Hurry, Hamburgers In a Hurry, opening for Carole Pope at the MoHo on November 28, and more of my favourite Canadian fiction.

P.S. Here is another account of the weekend, published in the Peterborough Examiner.