Notes from the flip side...

cue the road...

The long and winding post below, written between 4 and 5 am the other night, may or may not be what you joined my general mailing list for - so if you’re thinking, “Hey man, I just want the tour dates”, rest assured they are right here…

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Howdy,

I’m gearing up for a busy fall of touring Canada behind my new record, One Real Reveal, out Friday, September 13th. 

The shows will feature two sets with me, my guitars and a few tricks from The Window Inn I intend to fit up my sleeve and in the van.  I’m very much looking forward to it but I will admit these days I’m waking up in the middle of the night with a racing mind. Case in point, I’m typing these words just before 4 am. I think of the great Evan Dando lyric “that pencil smell reminds me of school” and wonder how much of my anticipation is just 12 years of back-to-school programming.

One Real Reveal, much like every album I’ve worked on, has occupied a lot of real estate in my heart and mind. Once it’s out in just under two weeks and I’m actually on the road, the songs can leave my world and enter yours for a spell. That release is an important part of the process and my hope is I’ll sleep through the night once it’s begun.

I’m often asked what I’m listening to. The answers are usually “what I’m working on”, “friends” or “favourites”.  With that in mind - I’ll cover those bases with a new one, a few friends and a favourite I’m listening to as I write this.

Here’s a demo of tune called Fill in the Blanks that I worked up on four-track cassette a few months back.

It was prompted by an assignment for a great online class I was taking in the spring on Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media - run by his grandson, Andrew McLuhan, out of the McLuhan Institute in Picton, Ontario (big thanks to Rina Atienza at Holy Hand Grenades for recommending the course to me).

Marshall McLuhan had developed a theory of “hot and cool media” and one week’s assignment was “how would you cool down a hot medium?”.  The song is starting to appear in my shows so I’d figured I’d share it with you now on the chance you want to sing along if you hear it on my tour. I’m hoping I can make the final version have some jump - maybe a touch of Roger Miller or Jim Ford.

Last week I sent a newsletter out to paid subscribers where I shared music and thoughts about some of the creative folks in the orbit of the shop and studio down the street in Dartmouth. Speaking of which, there are still some tickets left for this week’s forever mysterious Window Inn Wednesday, September 4th down at 45 Portland- you can reserve at 902 407 3899- it’s going to be a fun one.

After that last post, my friend - the great songwriter, Ana Egge- sent me a note from Brooklyn saying she loved Alex Gallant’s song, God’s Country that I mentioned in the newsletter. Not a day later, a copy of Ana’s classy new record, Sharing in the Spirit, arrived with my name on it. Where Berries Grow is one of my favourites from the album.

Those of you familiar with my album, Three, will know Ana’s voice. Ana and Rose Cousins brought the songs from that record to life and if I could somehow burn a one line vinyl groove into my tombstone it might read something like ‘Here lies William Joel MacDonald Plaskett’ cue Through & Through & Through…

Speaking of Rose Cousins, her latest single, Borrowed Light is a beautiful tune for the moon.

Many of the songs on my new record were written under full moons so it seems synchronous and fitting that the tour starts in Nanaimo on the 17th under a Harvest Supermoon.

Not only do full moons affect tides, I choose to believe good rock & roll does too. With that in mind, my Emergency bandmates, Dave Marsh and Tim Brennan (of our Khyber era) have released a rockin’ two song 45 under the name Sweet & Sour. Try to guess who’s who and pick up the vinyl at Taz. In Inverness indeed…

Speaking of sweet- Peter Elkas has a soulful new single called Sweet Spot. We’ve been friends and occasional collaborators ever since Thrush Hermit and his former band, The Local Rabbits crossed paths in 1993.

Lastly, in an effort to calm my mind (now at 5:06 am) I’m really happy there is a new record by one of my favourites to spin in the darkness.  Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are two of only a handful of artists whose duo records I continually await. Their latest, Woodland, is another classic. Their musical deliberation and strong yet gentle presentation feels like some sort of time magic for a tumultuous, speedy world. Loving this song, North Country:

In the Judaic mystical tradition of Kabbalah there’s a concept called “Tikkun olam” which evokes repair and returning the sparks of Divine light to their source. In a more material sense, it’s the idea of putting the world back together with small acts. Music at its best points me in that direction. Maybe it’s naive to think a song can change the world but I am certain there are ones that have changed my world.

Goodnight/ good morning. Catch ya on the flip side and see ya on the road,

Joel

PS: A big thanks to all you paid subscribers here at the Window Inn. The support means a lot. 

Lastly - here’s a photo from Point Pleasant Park the other eve of the chair in the sunlight just before the giant and the sun sat down together.