Playlist for the Planet

I just entered David Suzuki's Playlist for the Planet contest to find an environmental anthem for Canada.
When I first heard about the contest, I thought I would write a song, and a million different ideas went through my head....which caused problems...I couldn't decide what to focus on, there is so much out of balance on our planet right now...but there are also so many beautiful and inspiring things in nature that I would love to sing about.
Then a friend of mine suggested that I had already written the song, and it was sitting right under my nose...and the more I think about it, the more I see that she was right.
I wrote a song that is on my album, Matthew McCully and the matter of Principle, called Mark of the Mermaid. I wrote it after spending a day at White Pine Beach with my two best friends and their kids.
(They are exceptional mothers, and watching them work is enchanting)
I thought about how we much we had changed over the years...from being kind of arrogant and unaffected by the world beyond what we could criticize, to feeling a genuine sense of gratitude for the earth that sustains us.
And it was beautiful to watch my friends passing that on to their children...as we worshiped the sun...and played in the water...and curled our toes in the sand...and waited patiently for a cool breeze across our faces...
To be included in that experience was magical, and I felt that protective force that people feel but don't acknowledge enough...the feeling of family...the feeling that we, as a group have that secret and binding extra strength that will always keep us safe...
And thats where Mark of the Mermaid comes from...
I just re-read what I wrote...lol...although it doesn't really demystify the lyrics for you, it explains the emotional force behind the song...and I think it extends pretty organically from my small group of friends to all people.
I am talking about hope...and about the future...and my belief that, as bad as things get, we will be ok as long as we work together...

Sky To Ground

I am home.
Life has kind of been on hold for a while here, which was nice, and the reason I haven't written in a while. Not a lot to report...I baked six cakes...my nephew accidentally swallowed an earwig while swimming in the pool( or so we told him...lol)...I went to Mansonville, Qc and it reminded me of Hornby Island...I learned a new cover song by David Hopkins...saw my grandmother...secretly let my parents dog up on my bed...ate more in a week than I did all of last month!
I did a interview today for a newspaper article about musicians trying to get their music onto the radio. I shared my frustration with sending out dozens of Cds and getting no responses. I am still optimistic about being heard, I just need to find creative ways of side-stepping the walls of silence.
I am playing tomorrow night at The Singing Goat in Sherbrooke. I hope my Lennoxville and Sherbrooke people will represent.
Heres how I feel right now....On the second day of our road trip down here, Dylan's Iphone was set to random playing music as we drove through the mountains. As we were coming down a big hill, Sky To Ground, by Xavier Rudd and Izintaba. I had never heard it before, and it was so nice that I teared up.
I think that when I left Vancouver and started this trip, like a true Pisces, my head was in the clouds. I had all these romantic ideas of what would happen, that I would play music everywhere, get on the radio, meet Ron Sexsmith along the way, make enough money to drive back to Vancouver...I have to say that the trip incredible. I learned a lot about myself, and I developed a new love for Canada.
And as for my head? It has made it from the sky to the ground.
not to say I have given up dreaming...I can leave my head up in the clouds just long enough to snatch up the tunes that floated out of my head the day before...and then bring them down to the ground...and play them...and play them...and play them...until someone listens.

Flowers

When I left you last, I was living in a VW parking lot waiting for the service station to open. Well, while we were waiting, Dylan flipped through the owners manual of the '81 Vanagon, located the starter, wacked it with a crow bar and just like that it started up! It was 9:30pm, but the van was packed up and rolling about two minutes later. I suppose you could say we waited in that parking lot for nothing, but I think it happened for a reason. If we hadn't broken down, I never would have played that show at the cavern, so I think things turned out for the best. I just got an email from James Brown, the manager of the bar where I played. I left a CD with him, and he said he enjoyed it, and said I sounded kind of like Joel Plaskett or Tom Petty. I am flattered by a comparison like that!
So from Winnipeg we made our way up to lake country in northern Ontario. Slept at a really nice rest stop, and in the morning I jumped into the lake for a swim/bath...(I think it was Dixie Lake) The water was crystal clear and really warm, but after I got dried off and dressed, I noticed something poke its head out of the water and look around. It turned out to be one of the biggest turtles I have ever seen. I'm glad I only noticed it after, cause I don't think I would have jumped in for a swim with him. Against my advice, Dylan fed him some bread...lol
We then went to Red Lake to visit with Dylan's friends Mike and Amy. We had a great meal, a great sleep in a bed, a shower...It was a really nice recharge for us, I can't thanks them enough for their kindness. I gave them my CD, and they both seemed to enjoy it. The next day we made it to Sault St. Marie. On the way we passed Old Woman Bay during some heavy wind. The water was a magical shade of blue, and the waves were huge! It reminded me of one time when I was young, travelling back to New Richmond from Campbellton, and in Maria, the wind made the waves in the bay crazy. We pulled over, and we all jumped into the water for a swim, and we got thrown around by the crashing waves. I remember asking my eldest sister if she remembered that day. She did, but her memory was very different from mine. Her memory was one of panic. Since she was the oldest child, and shared the responsibility of keeping the younger ones from being pulled by the undertow.
We took it easy today. Gave the van an oil change, only drove for about six or seven hours. We picked up another hitch hiker. His name is Zohar (AKA Alex) He had VW van on his T shirt, so we just had to pick him up. He was full of questions, and really excited about driving in a Westy...So Dylan and I romanticised it a little for him, even though travelling in these things is not as easy as it sounds. you need to be in kind of a zen-like state knowing that each time you turn the key, it may not start, every time you slow down you could stall, if you are on a hill that is too steep, you may need to turn around and find anothr way...and you could end up stranded in Winnipeg for three days...lol
Zohar bought my CD.
I can feel some new songs brewing, but I need to be alone to work them out. I will have some time when I get to the Townships in a few days to go somewhere quiet and see how the musical part of my brain has processed the trip.
One thing that sticks with me...Flowers. I've lost count of the number of times we've passed bouquets and wreathes of flowers on the side of the road, no doubt in memory of people who have died or disappeared from there. Sad. And definitely sends a blow to the invincibility you feel watching the world go by at one hundred kilometers per hour.

The Zoo

So, its a holiday Monday. The dealership reopens tomorrow morning, hopefully we can get the van fixed quickly. We had a visit from the police, then the volkswagon security detail, and a multitude of curious car shoppers...I feel like i'm living in a cage right now...I really want to be back on the road.
My show went well. Even though the bar was pretty hard core and I was opening up for a heavier band, people seemed to be into what I was doing. I sold a CD, and some people came up and complimented me on my set, which felt really good...I had been out in the sun all day, and was very tired and dehydrated, and I didn't even play till around 11:30 pm. I'm glad to know I can bring it when the time comes...
I think I will blow my daily budget and go see a movie today. Spend some time in an air conditioned building. Its 30+ degrees here.
More on the music front...We found the two radio stations in Winnipeg, and I will go see them tomorrow while the van gets looked at. Still no reply from any of the emails I sent out for gigs, including people that said yes and I was just confirming details, so now everything is up in the air.
I am just gonna try to enjoy seeing the country, and hopefully I can find places to play on the fly. But for the record, I am done with Winnipeg and ready to move on...