April 6, 2012
Toronto, ON

I'm home at last after my epic tour down to Texas, and subsequent artistic hibernation in the land I call "Farm Heaven"... I have so many stories to tell, I'm not even sure where to begin. So I reckon, at least for now, I'll let the photographs I took speak for themselves. Sweelandish tales to follow shortly, I promise. Not to mention NEW ALBUM UPDATES! But I can tell you this much ... We start in the studio next week! Woooot!

More very very soon,

x
K

You'll have to guess where I am, and what I'm doing there.
I'll never tell.

March 3, 2012
Brooklyn, NY

It's Saturday night and only just past the witching hour... And I'm already back in my hotel room. I'm such a good girl. It was a long and successful day in New York City! Sunny, mild, and thoroughly replete with beautiful people, raw oysters, and polka-dots.

I left the Great White North on Thursday, one day later than I had planned. Waited out the big Leapday storm front that blew through, then hit the road on Ladyship's first official roadtrip! I've said it before, but I LOVE MY NEW CAR. And it's a good thing, cause mama's goin' for a loooong drive.
Next stop, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Then onto North Carolina, Tennessee, and all the way to Texas! Just in time for SXSW.

Tomorrow night I'm playing a sweet little show in the city at Caffe Vivaldi... one of my favourite spots. If you're anywhere near Manhattan, New York, please come by and say bonjour!  Other than that, I'm pretty much on vacation. I'll be spending my time reposing on sunny park benches, hiding in dark alleys, and enjoying a multitude of cultural attractions. Photographs sure to follow... I imagine.

And speaking of cultural attractions, last night I took myself on a date to a Pat Benatar concert! Seriously. I've always loved her. Since the first time I saw the We Belong video on MuchMusic, back in the day. In the light of it's crisp-white ripped-sheet dreaminess (with the occasional chartreuse punch) I became a fan forever. She still sounds great.

The highlight of the concert for me, however, was a true moment of  Sweetlandish magic. Pat's longtime guitar player and husband Neil Giraldo was about to throw a guitar pick into the audience. At that moment I decided that it had to be my new lucky guitar pick. So I looked up and smiled from the middle of the crowd. Somehow Neil spotted me and mouthed "Do you want it?" I nodded. He said, "Put your hands up." So I did. He threw the pick and it flew over rows and rows of writhing arms. And it hit me in the face. Any guess as to what song they were playing? Seriously.

And that's not even the punchline of the story, as after the pick hit me in the face it disappeared into the void, and I couldn't find it anywhere. I made a joke to the woman standing beside me that I would "probably find it later."  But I was confused. How could the lucky guitar pick God giveth, and then taketh away so quickly?  Well, I was right. Getting into the bath last night I found it. Neil Giraldo did in fact throw a guitar pick across a crowd of people and right down my cleavage. Seriously.

The End.

xo
K

I ♥ NY. 

February 14, 2012
Toronto, ON

Mes Cheries,

Happy Valentines Day! I'm back in bed, watching the X-files and drinking coffee with my Valentine. Who has dog breath. She's still asleep, but any moment now Ursa la Sweetland will decide it's time to get up and walk around the corner to the dog park, where I'm destined to throw her little blue ball over and over again. But for now, she's snoozing and I'm the early riser, awakened by my dream in which I was writing a song! It's a melody I was working on already, but now I know where the story takes place... And it's only a matter of time before I figure out what happens.

It's been a lazy few days in Sweetland. I came down with a touch of the plague this weekend, and I suppose it's no wonder. For the last six weeks I've been such an impressively high-functioning workbunny. My efforts culminated at the Sweet Soirée Valentine's Cabaret show I hosted last week at The Cameron House. To say it was an incredible evening would be an understatement. Every performer was so unique and amazing. And I think we all left feeling significantly sexier, and decidedly more romantic...  Not to mention, I got to tell the mysterious tale of  St. Valentine, doctor and priest, with his magical eye ointments and abject martyrdoms. All to the tune of a Captain Dirt & The Skirt song we'll be recording for our upcoming new album!

I did a good amount of proper historical research in the name of my Valentine's story (not that it affected what actually came out of my mouth) and learned there were 14 saints named Valentine in all. A coincidental number perhaps... We know for a fact that one of them was executed on February 14th, 270 AD and buried on the Via Flaminia near Rome. But that's all we know. The rest of the tall tales that have surfaced over the ages, are most like just that. It was the Roman pagan festival Lupercalia, celebrated on the 15th of February, that was linked with romance. During this festival young single men would draw a small piece paper with the name of a woman, who would be their destined partner for a courtship game. So once again, the merging of pagan traditions with Christian names has given us our modern-day holiday. Poor St. Valentine was removed from the Roman Calendar of Saints in '69 (dude) as they claimed there was no historical proof of his sainthood. But it's possible he had just gotten a little too sexy for his hair shirt.

And speaking of sexy, as we speak agent Scully had been tied up and unceremoniously thrown into the trunk of a car. I think she's about to meet her maker. Or at least, some aliens. Sadly there is no romance in her near future, as her and agent Mulder don't make out till season 9. But I'll get there soon enough. As there is no plague in the world that cannot be cured with the judicious application of hot toddies and an X-files marathon. This is pretty much my plan for the rest of the day.

Love love love,

Sweetland. ♥

 The last rose of the season from my Aphrodite garden!
It now hangs above my bed. For good luck...

February 6, 2012
Toronto ON

Coming very soon to The Cameron House ... The Sweetest event of the year!

A Sweet Soirée -Valentine`s Cabaret- Thursday, February 9th
Hosted by Kristin Sweetland
Starring: Jess McAvoy, Evalyn Parry, David Newland, Scarlett Jane (Andrea Ramolo & Cindy Doire.) And of course, Lyndell Montgomery and the return of Captain Dirt & The Skirt!

More details on my tour page, or click image to enlarge.

See you there...

xo
La Sweet

January 19, 2012 
Dalkeith, ON

Well it sure is winter here in Farm Heaven. The winter we, in the big city, thought might never come... I found it. It was at the end of a long road, down a dirt road, all along. And I was pleased to find it quite happy to see me. With that particular brand of bitter cold that freezes your nosehairs, seizes your lungs, and illuminates a sky bursting with stars. Crystal clear. Like no other time of year.

That being said, I have not strayed far from the wood stove. Just perhaps to turn on my amp and put the kettle on. Cup of tea, and kitten on loan from Captain Dirt complete the picture. All with a rock 'n' roll soundtrack. Like seriously. The Captain and I have have been plugging in, and turning way up. Good thing we have no neighbours here in Farm Heaven.

It's actually good it's been far too cold to frolic out of doors for long. Or I'd go out on Operation Snowshoe, taking strange photos, and chasing strange animals, all the livelong day. This way I stay home and focused on all the things I want to create before I leave. There are new tunes and grand plans in spades! And not just musical, also photographic. I've been playing with my brand new studio lights. I know, très fancy. For Ms. camera in the back pocket climbing a tree, it's a whole new world, baby.  Give me a little time to figure it out, then call me if you want your Sweetlandish portrait taken...

Time to throw another log on the fire!

xo
Svetlana Ice Princess

P.S. I saw a wolf.

More wintry wonderland... here.

January 3, 2012
Toronto, ON

Happy New Year, People!

It's a good one already. I was planning on staying home New Year's Eve with my faux fire, fuzzy slippers and guitar... Would have sipped some superb sparkling rosé and penned an inspirational blog post with words like "resolution" and "apocalypse" and "unapologetically glamorous." However, in the end I decided to venture out in to the world of the festive. I put on my hot new riding pants, some obligatory bling, and hopped on a slow streetcar all the way across town... After numerous obstacles, throngs of revellers, wailing fire trucks, and the full-throated squeals of inebriated youth, I arrived just time to ring in 2012! At first, surrounded by very new friends, and later on, some very old ones. A fine balance of camaraderie I hope will be a theme in the year to come. There is so much I want to accomplish in the next 365 days. It quite boggles the mind. And although it's usually my tendency to err on the side of the lone wolf, I know this time I cannot do it all alone.

So don't be surprised if you hear from me soon...

Speaking of resolutions and the apocalypse, I'm forced to at least briefly address the glorious infamy of 2012 and welcome the Mayan calendrical milestone that is upon us! I obviously don't believe the world is going to end in December of this year. I would sooner subscribe to theory of the metaphorical end, the "coming enlightenment" of the "Age of Aquarius" or whatever. However, I don't entirely believe that either. I do think we are evolving magnificently as a species. And although life as we know it can change in the blink of a perfectly painted eyelash, transformation is usually far more subtle. Let it be a threshold that we cross. A golden sparkling threshold portal to even better days ahead.

That all being said, I have made a decision to live this year as if it were in fact my last. Because truly, if you knew it was going to be the last year of your life, would you behave differently? Live more fiercely, love more fearlessly? I reckon I may. And because there is so much I want to do in my imaginary last year, I have already gotten started. Can't wait to share my new artistic projects with you all in 2012! I promise to keep you all posted on the new album, and the Adventures in Sweetland book news! We are moving forward on all fronts. And it feels so good.

I'll be entering artistic hibernation soon for a good long spell. But there are a few fabulous upcoming shows in the Toronto area you should NOT MISS! First, another rock 'n' roll adventure with the superhot "Ladies in Waiting" at Not My Dog on January 23rd. Then, on February 9th at The Cameron House, I'm so excited to present A Sweet Soirée - Valentine's Cabaret, hosted by yours Sweetlandishly and starring Jess McAvoy, Evalyn Parry, David Newland, Andrea Ramolo & Cindy Doire. Not to mention Lyndell Montgomery and the return of Captain Dirt & The Skirt! For more info on all shows please visit my tour page.

The End,

(for now...)

x
K

Everybody loves an apocalyptic basketball court 

and a heinous Christmas sweater!
More freezing cold photos coming soon!

December 18, 2011
Toronto, ON

Dear Santa,

I know I usually write sooner, but for some reason I'm just not in the Christmas spirit yet. And not in a bad way. I'm surely no Sweetlandish Scrooge. But more in the kind of way you might be if you were mysteriously adrift on a barge south of the equator, or perhaps a raft. Actually, I pick barge. And somehow you seem to have lost track of the days... What month is it again? Can you pass me the sunscreen? Actually, I think I may be adrift all alone. With my fishing pole and my trunk of booty. There are distant islands to be discovered, and pirate ships to be plundered.

And not a single flake of snow in sight.

Usually around this time I'd be asking for something tall, dark and handsome carrying a chilled bottle of Dom Perignon ('76, if you have it.) Or a mountain of money to record my new album, or a pair of shiny red snowshoes... But this year I want something else.

All I want for Christmas is NOT world peace, true love, or my two front teeth. I just want a fantastic and successful year ahead. May all my many projects come to glorious fruition in 2012! And may all of yours.

Sugarplums,

xo

Sweetland

P.S. If I'm not quite in the holiday spirit yet, I will be soon enough! Playing a festive show tomorrow night at Not My Dog with Jadea Kelly, Andrea Ramolo & Cindy Doire, and Roger Marin... Wassail!

Somebody's getting a postcard...