tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354675732009-12-09T18:08:27.293-05:00David Newland practices the art of imperfection.David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.comBlogger320125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-75480494247218258322009-12-09T17:49:00.002-05:002009-12-09T18:08:27.303-05:00

You read that right: Leon Redbone signed my ukulele.This happened on Monday night at Hugh's Room, after a tremendous show - among the best I've ever seen there, and I've seen a good many.I had done an interview with Leon Redbone for Rootsmusic.ca earlier in the evening, so perhaps we had a bit of a rapport.He'd given me some pretty good advice about bringing the whimsy back to my work.But for the

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-34195743613487581542009-12-03T20:07:00.004-05:002009-12-03T22:13:44.219-05:00

One of my favourite places in Canada is the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.I'd been once before - hosting the opening gala of the Peterborough Folk Festival last August - and it was a magical experience. When I entered the door for that very first time I heard familiar music playing; it turned out to be my CD on the house sound system.A good omen I thought, and I wound up having a

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-47554294856533470912009-11-25T11:12:00.001-05:002009-11-25T11:12:53.547-05:00

I met Ritchie in Ottawa, plying his trade on the bridge over the Rideau Canal between the Parliament Buildings and the Chateau Laurier.His pitch for his custom walking sticks, hiking staffs and canes was so good, I offered to make him a commercial!

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-3112337329879247942009-11-15T15:43:00.002-05:002009-11-15T15:46:28.321-05:00

On November 15, 2009 we took the canoe out for the last paddle of the year to go for brunch on Toronto Island.In the outer harbour, due south of the CN tower, I renewed my pledge to the hills of the north.This is dedicated to my buddies Sean and Josh, young voyageurs in training who live in far-off England.Remember the Land of the Silver Birch, boys!

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-36794025260800612102009-11-03T16:36:00.008-05:002009-11-03T17:16:17.260-05:00

This did my heart good.Carol Teal from The ArtsCan Circle accepts a "big cheque" a.k.a. baritone uke from CUJAM member Bob Cutler.Members of the Corktown Ukulele Jam generously donated funds for 30 ukuleles (and one baritone uke!) to The ArtsCan Circle a couple of weeks ago.Founded by harmonica hero Mike Stevens (subject of St Michael Told Me So) and members of the Ontario folk music community,

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-29698723615218492012009-10-19T21:50:00.003-04:002009-10-19T21:54:22.956-04:00

This view from one of the little houses at Black Creek Pioneer Village seemed to me the epitome of what Thanksgiving is about: life, light, growth, death, and eventual renewal - all just glimpsed through the little window frame of our own experience.

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-61055734243818669232009-10-14T16:36:00.005-04:002009-10-14T16:56:48.725-04:00

The annual conference of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals is upon us, and having taken a year off in 08, I'm back and on track for '09.In fact, I've agreed to let my name stand as a candidate for the OCFF Board of Directors in this year's election, and it would certainly be a privilege to serve this very worthy organization at an exciting time in its evolution.Still, what's really got me

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-29886633846878907192009-10-02T11:04:00.003-04:002009-10-02T11:16:11.381-04:00

A few years ago, when my daughter was about 6 or 7 years old, we began camping and canoeing as often as we could. We're far from hard-core: we paddle flat water for a couple of hours at a time, a couple of times a year, and we set our little tent up from time to time in a provincial park that's far from the wilderness.In fact you could say that our outdoor adventures are mostly symbolic. Compared

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-19272138293035872512009-09-10T15:54:00.003-04:002009-09-10T16:14:39.347-04:00

Melwood Cutlery at Shelter Valley Folk Festival, 2009It's one thing to write great songs; it's another to play them. It's another thing yet to play them around a campfire.Around a campfire, the audience and the music and the performer merge into one, as the earth merges with the sky in between the stones of the fire. Each one wears the unmask of the true self lit by the sacred red glow.

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-87188691243924788072009-08-19T17:22:00.004-04:002009-08-19T17:28:40.210-04:00

The simple act of sitting by a lake, at a cottage on a summer's day with good friends and great weather has come to represent a kind of heaven on earth for me. In this case, it's Fairlane Lake near Penetanguishine, Ontario.When I took the snapshot, I thought it was about the moment. Later I realized it was about the two empty chairs facing the lake. Somewhere in a dream two lovers are looking for

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-81208928453013722009-08-10T20:33:00.002-04:002009-08-10T20:44:17.160-04:00

This water tower in Port Alberni, B.C. is essential to the operation of a working 1929 Baldwin steam train. The train was the last steam-powered lumber train in Canada and today operates as a tourist run on the Alberni Pacific Railway.

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-83889099051232427822009-07-19T23:02:00.004-04:002009-07-19T23:26:00.694-04:00

I'll start by saying "sorry." And I mean it, I really am sorry - sorry I haven't written in so long. It's been over a month now since I've said anything to you, and even at that, my last two messages were merely mix-tapes. In effect I've barely said anything since I turned 40 at the beginning of May, and precious little about that, even. For someone who used to share every detail that's a poor

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-26900164362215594252009-06-10T17:30:00.002-04:002009-06-10T17:47:57.428-04:00

As per previous post, Bootleg Rye #1, I've been sharing songs and thoughts about songwriting with the Corktown Ukulele Jam.My initial, almost-but-not-quite random playlist was way too big for one listen, so I carved it in two. Even combined they don't represent more than a taste of a dip into a foray into a notion of an idea of the beginning of the edge of the margins of the faintest wisp of the

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-41350842803076802009-06-01T17:42:00.003-04:002009-06-01T18:04:58.733-04:00

Over the past two weeks, I've been sharing some thoughts about songwriting during the workshop portion of the Corktown Ukulele Jam.The very first thing any songwriter needs is a pair of unquenchably thirsty ears.To emphasize that point, I made a playlist of great tunes that always perk up my ears, and shared them with the group.Here, in alphabetical order, is the first bunch, which I called

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-10320542828248359972009-05-11T11:16:00.005-04:002009-05-11T11:37:01.452-04:00

Last night, perhaps affected by the Tamil protests on Toronto's Gardiner expressway, I had a horrific dream that's still lingering as the sun rides high in the sky.In my dream, I had to abandon a car along 401 eastbound and get out and run, due to a traffic blockage. Apparently I was desperate to get somewhere, although I never learned where or why. I began running through what I thought was the

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-76368503538985201832009-05-01T11:56:00.002-04:002009-05-01T12:07:02.914-04:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the challenges (and rewards) of presenting live, original music in local settings. For lack of a better word, we'll call that "folk" and I'll note that a lot of venues and promoters - many of them deeply devoted - have simply given up trying to make folk music work.Sometimes people look for someone to blame, and the internet is an easy target. It's everywhere

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-18393478691615203342009-04-18T12:39:00.002-04:002009-04-18T12:44:48.119-04:00

The recent ruling against The Pirate Bay, a peer-to-peer file sharing platform operating out of Sweden, has heated up the debate about copyright in the digital age. This issue is a particularly important one for songwriters, as the ability to cash in on the copyright of our songs is one way we are able to make a bit of money.So I thought I'd share a few thoughts about "theft" and "ownership",

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-82179339888250738182009-04-13T16:11:00.005-04:002009-04-13T16:47:23.792-04:00

I had a conversation with a friend of mine today, about the effort to put meaning to one's own life.It's no surprise this topic arose on the day after the Easter holiday.The overwhelming image of the past weekend for me was graffiti on the door of an abandoned church near Bloor and Dovercourt. This mighty old red brick edifice, now surrounded by a wire fence, hung with signs reading "Power Of

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-37845081528327038192009-03-18T10:35:00.009-04:002009-03-18T12:28:43.933-04:00

Any ukulele player will tell you that the instrument is uniquely addictive. I play a bunch of instruments, but the uke is the only one I actually crave playing. The feeling of playing a uke approaches pure affection, not something we usually feel for inanimate objects. Which simply suggests that the instrument the Hawaiians love as "the jumping flea" is alive...Ukulele-playing is not a mere hobby

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-21227826718068828692009-03-05T11:26:00.006-05:002009-03-05T13:32:57.310-05:00

What happened last night was, I was out hosting the jam, like every Wednesday. And like every Wednesday this one was special, because more than 20 people came out and put away their fears and allowed themselves to be fragile and brave and to share music and company and to make together the music we love so much.And what happened last night was the words that were mine to say came mostly in the

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-55594333627374526132009-02-10T17:10:00.004-05:002009-02-10T17:22:19.516-05:00

Response to my first lo-fi uke videos within my Facebook community has been positive, so I thought I'd take a deep breath and release one to the world at large.After experimenting with a couple of instrumental covers on the uke I thought I'd double the stakes and do an original, then double again and do a vocal.This song was inspired by the area around Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and an untrue story

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-84068860801816771942009-02-07T16:18:00.003-05:002009-02-07T16:44:03.726-05:00

This "25 things" meme is like karaoke, or square dancing: once it reaches a certain point you just have to join in and have a good time. So here goes.1. Growing up on Georgian Bay did more to shape me than almost anything else.2. I consider myself ethnically Canadian.3. Music moves me in ways I can only describe as divine.4. Every day I run the gamut from exhilaration to despair, often before 10

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-91210699011381682152009-01-31T23:15:00.003-05:002009-01-31T23:40:44.197-05:00

A very large percentage of those who make New Year's Resolutions fail to make good on them within the month of January.I hope I have avoided this fate by having thought about mine for the entire month before deciding on them.Here they are. Not that they're necessary of interest, just that I have to publish them somewhere to make them official. 1. Avoid complaining 2. Learn 3 new songs in French 3

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-86411155938055403132009-01-18T07:34:00.008-05:002009-01-18T09:26:30.032-05:00

For seven winters now, I've had the honour and the privilege of hosting The Way We Feel, a continuing tribute to the life, the work, the art and the voice of Gordon Lightfoot.I've written about it a number of times in this space, trying to capture what it's meant to join voices with musicians and performers from across the country, in an effort to echo the voice of Gord. We've never seen

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35467573.post-65458977100360975332008-12-31T23:12:00.007-05:002009-01-03T16:29:36.637-05:00

Last year I made a bunch of resolutions and published them in this space.Before resolving anything this year, I thought I'd better grade myself on last year's performance.Here are the results, vetted by someone who knows me well enough to know.Reduce, reuse, recycle: ATake trains or transit instead of the car: A+Bike or walk wherever and whenever possible: AAvoid pop, candy and salty snacks:

David Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437014664212418449noreply@blogger.com1