February Album Writing Month is well underway. As of this writing I have 12-1/2 or so songs out of 14. In this podcast, I play Woulda Shoulda Coulda, my ninth FAWM song.
On Tuesday February 24, from 5-8 pm I’ll be joining Adrien Robitaille at his weekly acoustic stage at the Ladybug Cafe on King Street in Midland, Ontario. I’ll be playing my new songs, and a bunch of my older ones too. If you are in the area come on down for a cup of tea or coffee, one of Elaine’s award winning buttertarts, and some music and stories from yours truly.
The story so far this week
is read by Tim Chesterton, an Edmonton based pastor, blogger, songwriter and novelist. He has posted two novels, A Time to Mend and Meadowvale, chapter by chapter as he wrote them to his blog Faith, Folk and Charity.
In Episode 13, Billy encounters Pops and his new bride in 1949. They dance to the music of Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians. Guy Lombardo was Canada’s most famous bandleader. He and his siblings had an orchestra that was popular for almost 50 years, from the 1920s until his death in 1977.
The SS Noronic was great lakes cruise ship that burned and sank in Toronto Harbour on September 4, 1949. 139 people died in the fire and its aftermath. It was one of the greatest marine disasters in the world. In life, as in the story, the remains of the Noronic victims were taken to a makeshift morgue on the CNE grounds.
The Story so Far is read by Phil Mills, a filk musician and songwriter from Toronto who I met through February Album Writing Month. I play Phil’s song, Talk to Strangers from his album Mix Until Absurd which is available on Bandcamp.
In Episode 12 of Time for the Fair, Billy enjoys a day at the CNE in 1969 which includes a Monkees concert. Although Time for the fair is a fictional fantasy story, The Monkees did perform at the CNE on August 25, 1969– two days after the events in the story. It’s great writing historical fantasy– you can tweak the dates a bit.
Here are some silent clips from the Monkee’s performance at the CNE in 1969, and a couple musical numbers that they may have played at the show as Billy and family watched on. Stay tuned for chapter 13 of Time for the Fair this weekend.
In this week’s episode, Billy spends a day at the fair as he’s never seen it with the 13 year old version of his grandfather.
I’m gearing up to participate in my third February Album Writing Month, so I play on of my FAWM songs from last year.
The story so far this week is read by Catholic Blogger and author, Sarah Reinhard from snoringscholar.com. She had some technical difficulties with her recording equipment, so her voice echoes a bit.
Happy New Year to all and welcome to 2015. In this episode Billy explores more of the fair in 1978. The Story so far is read by Lisa Hendey who is an author, podcaster, and founder of CatholicMom.com. She reads a short passage from her newest book, The Grace of Yes. As an added bonus, I play Catholic Nerd rockers, Popple performing an impromptu theme song for the Grace of Yes.