Truth And Dare

One week ago, I said goodbye to my daughter and her grandparents, and sprang down the sidewalk to the car. I felt a little like I was making a getaway, a little like crying. My first night away from her - it was long overdue, but at the same time, I’ve never had any reason to be away from her. Not until Christina Martin (award-winning East Coast songstress and road warrior) invited me to do a songwriters’ circle along with my longtime friend Mary Stewart at the legendary Toronto listening room, Hugh’s Room Live.

This little adventure came hot on the heels of a marathon weekend of playing 17 hours of music in 4 days. I was just grateful that I’d managed to get so far without yet catching a cold - the irregular schedule, performance times cancelling out meals, a celebratory-but-immune-system-damaging drink here and there at the end of a night.

I worried that it would be a bit of a chore for Mike, all this driving just to watch me play a show (I still don’t drive - I think that’s something I’ll get into in another blog post someday) - but we do this so rarely, there’s a novelty to it now. On the drive up, we listened to a podcast from the Jimmy Dore Show of an interview with author Christopher Ryan, and it ended up being the most enlightening and touching thing I’ve heard all year. We also saw a truck on fire on the highway, making a great black plume, and the blaze was so hot that I could feel it through my door as we drove past. The driver had detached his cab from the cargo and driven ahead a good distance from the fire, so it didn’t seem like anyone was in danger, but it still seemed like a thing I would see again in a nightmare someday.

I was so nervous about playing the show - there’s something about playing in Toronto that makes me feel like the city will eat me. If I’m going to drive all this way, I’d better really have something to deliver. Even though I’d done so much performing in the days before, it was all background music, a totally different kind of performance, where I’m just trying to cut above the sound of a crowd that isn’t really listening to me. In a concert setting, people would be able to hear every little nuance to my voice. In the green room before the show, I declared that I wasn’t going to play well, to which, Christina’s husband Dale Murray laughed and said, “Is there some other show I could go to?”

Christina hosted the night which we’d entitled “Truth And Dare”, with prepared questions that delved into truths about ourselves, the reasons we started making music and why we’ve continued to do it, and stories about when we were most daring in our lives and careers. Mike got heckled a little bit as we got into a discussion about my risk-averse nature (earning him the name “Safe Mike”). I was grateful for the coloured lights because, while I can’t remember all the conversations we were having, I do recall that I was definitely blushing a lot.

It was such a treat to be able to just chat with these ladies and listen to their songs. I shared a lot of stages with Mary towards the end of my time living in Halifax, and in the years after, I visited her often on the East End to play at Relish Bar & Grill. It gave me so much joy to hear her old songs again, and to experience the new material that she’s been working on - I had to do my best to contain myself when she sang a song written after her mother’s passing. She’s one of those East Coast songwriters who are so adept at drawing out strong emotions (and tears). And her voice has gotten so rich and full in the years since we’ve shared a stage… I love watching her change and evolve.

Christina was an excellent host, asking thoughtful questions and keeping the atmosphere comfortable and light. All her years of touring have made her such a consistently strong performer, you can trust her to lead you through a song without there ever being any kind of error to break the spell. Her unmistakeable voice sounds exactly like her recordings. Mary and I joined in on Christina’s songs at the end of each round, and I especially loved singing Dale’s harmonies on “It’ll Be Alright”. I thought it was funny that Mary and I had both wanted to learn how to play Dale’s guitar leads, but neither of us had the time (and there was also the issue of how to execute those parts with Dale right in front of us..!).

It was dark and rainy when we first walked up, so I didn’t get a picture of the venue with our “Truth And Dare” marquee, so here’s just a photo from the web. Jeffery Straker is great, by the way.

There is a recording of the evening - when I have more time, I’ll listen through all of it and maybe see if the ladies will permit me to share it here (and see if I can bear whatever embarrassing things I was saying between songs). In the meantime, there is a Facebook Watch Party video of the first half of the evening, which I am a little afraid to watch.

Every time I play in Toronto, I play a different venue - the Cameron House, the Rivoli, Free Times, The Boat, Rancho Relaxo, Grinder Cafe, Relish Bar, MaRS Discovery District, the Marriott Hotel Lounge - and it was an honour to add Hugh’s Room Live to the list. I tried not to think about all the great songwriters who’d stood on this stage before me, because I didn’t want it to make me even more nervous. The ghosts in the room, the tiered floor plan, the excellent sound, the gourmet food - Hugh’s Room is divine.

In the week since, I’ve been enjoying a long visit from my family and trying not to feel crushed by the big list of things I have to do - practicing for more gigs, learning new repertoire, fulfilling commissions, writing a grant, working on my album layout, figuring out what to get everyone for Christmas… it’s the busiest time of the year.

Today I’m picking out photos from my latest photo shoot and really hoping that one of them will be the album cover. Wish me luck!