I just crawled into a warm snuggly booth at the Hotel 105 Restaurant in Ear Falls. Came in from the elements to seek shelter and fill up on some local freshwater fish and chips! It’s been raining for two days straight and I have few a thing left not thoroughly sodden, or at least quite damp. It was a wonderful wet weekend at Trout Forest Music Festival! The people were spectacular and Northern Ontario as magnificent as always. Played some amazing workshops with the delicious likes of Oh Susanna, Annabelle Chvostek and new friend/ damn fine songwriter Ben Spencer … Had a particular blast this afternoon singing with my dear pals from Digging Roots! Damn they rock. Soooo looking forward to our hotel room jam tonight. But now it’s time to find myself a hotel room of my own, where I will systematically and creatively hang up every piece of camping equipment graciously lent to me, and pray it dries by morning. Tomorrow I drive. Tuesday I fly. Home sweet Toronto, see you soon!
P.S. Photographic and video evidence of said adventures coming soon … Plus a brand new video for rootsmusic.ca! Stay tuned. x
Greetings from the sweet and snowy Shenandoahs where I've been held up in delicious hibernation for the past week. It's just a short drive from Washington D.C. up into the hills but you would hardly know it as it is SO beautiful and ancient here its like another land altogether. Had a seriously out of control festival of snow this week and we got snowed in UP TO OUR EYEBALLS. Took us days to shovel ourselves out (well Jenny did most of the shovelling, while I baked us biscuits and honey apple bread on the wood stove) And Jenny made a wicked Snow Witch with the carrot nose and the big pointy hat and how sad, today she melted and her head fell off. We got to play Little House on the Frozen Prairie and I got to be Ma of the cooking and cleaning while Jenny was Pa of the shovelling out of the carriages. We were totally stuck in the beautiful nowheres with no way out for days... Ahhhhhhhhh... Finally had a chance to catch up on some much needed rest after a truly insane couple of months. Worked so hard all January to the point of serious exhaustion from acute stress monkey syndrome. Managed to get myself totally ill just in time to hop in the car and drive myself to Nashville for the Folk Alliance conference. Regardless of the sniffles, I made it through and had a truly amazing time... mostly thanks to my dearest friends the Little Red Hen darlings without whom I would surely perish. Now I'm putting myself back together at Chez-Jenny and her converted hunting lodge/sleazeball motel/country home of goodness by the river in Sperryville, Virginia. I am discovering that being truly happy in this life for me must include much more sleeping, breathing, baking, wood stacking and fire tending... Mmmmmmnnnnnnn....
In other news, last night I got to have my second glass blowing lesson in Eric the neighbour's glorious glass studio. SO MUCH FUN. But wow, it's really hard work. Concentrated so intensely for hours on creating my masterpiece which in the end tragically fell off the big flamey poker and back into the fire of its creation. I almost cried.
So, I will be leaving this lovely land soon (hopefully before the predicted coming rains and possible flood... yikes) and back to Toronto for a gig that's SO gonna rock the world. Will be performing with my most favouritest ladies, Serena Ryder and the Road Dog Divas at Hugh's Room on February 27th. So all y'all Torontonians/Ontarians won't wanna miss it. Believe me. We's gonna take down the house. Hope to see you out there.
Hailed as one of Canada's "hottest young guitar players," Kristin Sweetland has been much-lauded for her intricate instrumental guitarwork, rich vocals and enchanting stage presence. A born performer and true road-warrior, Sweetland brings her wild tales of adventure to the stage in style. Her albums include Own Sweet Time, released in Fall 2007, and her critically acclaimed debut, Root, Heart & Crown. Both albums were produced by Juno award-winning multi-instrumentalist Ken Whiteley, and showcase Sweetland's stellar guitar playing alongside powerful melodies and deeply intelligent songwriting. Musically, Sweetland draws on broad influences from folk/roots, classical, flamenco, world music and rock-n-roll traditions in ways that are rich, delicious, utterly refined and unmistakably Sweetlandish.
