Lots of Good News

Lots of good news to share here…

I will be touring across Canada and throughout Germany in Sept/Oct/Nov 2010 with the lovely and talented songstress/accordion goddess Marie-Josee Houle. Marie-Josee and I have been talking about touring together for years now. It’s a match made in heaven. Dates will be announced shortly.

And recording has begun for my new EP, It Is What It Is. If everything goes as planned, I will be releasing it in May. Can’t wait!

Thoughts From Newfoundland

Wow, I think I totally forgot that I even had this blog until like 5 minutes ago when I stumbled upon it and was embarrassed to discover that it's been over a year since I last posted! I'll try to post more often from now on. : )

Lots has changed since I last posted here. For one, I've settled down in St. John's, Newfoundland to start recording the new album which I will be calling, "It Is What It Is." I've also completed two cross-Canada tours since last summer and experienced some pretty amazing places.

I initially moved to St. John's for the summer but that soon changed to staying until December and now, well, I'm making it home and I wouldn't be surprised if it's for many years to come.

St. John's is amazing. They've got an amazing indie scene here and I am in love with the people. I have a great apartment in downtown St. John's where I have been enjoying lots of quiet time to focus on making music. Been writing lots of new material and composing music for film while waitressing to save up for the album. It's great to be enjoying the simple things in life again.

North Ontario

Here' some footage from Danielle and I touring through North Ontario to Toronto.

North Ontario rocks. It's one of those parts of Canada that every Canadian should drive through at least once in their lifetime.

During our 5 days of driving, we saw a moose (sorry folks, no footage of that), drove through a snowstorm as we reached Marathon, met this crazy character who sang to us at a gas station in Schreiber (got video of that!), witnessed some wicked thunder storms and more.

On the way to Calgary - WOW

This one was an adventure. Still can't believe that I just drove from Vancouver, to Jasper to Calgary in one day! It's so nice to be at Marco's, with nice clean sheets and good talks with my dear friend. I'm soooo looking forward to the show at the Ironwood tonight.

Podcast - Thoughts of You

This one's emotional folks. Very raw and honest. I just wrote a new song and I share the lyrics with you...it's written for vocal loops and flute.

Podcast - Week 1 in Vancouver

Here we go! Not so exciting this time around but I promise to post lots more soon...

Alone with an Update

Howdy Friends!

Wow, what a month. Is it just me or does it seem like there are not enough hours in the day lately to get everything done?

With less than three weeks until I leave for my six months of touring across Canada, I must report that I am currently overwhelmed with all that I have to get done before I head out of Victoria!

It's been a crazy juggling act of trying to manage a full-time waitressing job while heading to Seattle on my days off to work on Ableton Live. I've also been taking guitar lessons, working on getting my car repaired and focusing on the remaining touring details whenever I have a free moment. Us artists have to wear so many hats. I wonder...When will I ever find time to play some music? I am exhausted but remain optimistic and excited as there's so much to look forward to.

Imagine an old boat of a car with three lovely ladies and many instruments, traveling across our gigantic country. Pretty soon Calgary's Danielle French and Toronto's Karen Kosowski will be joining me for the first part of my tour. We'll be starting in Vancouver and heading in my '91 Buick Century to Toronto, touring the entire way. Am I ever looking forward to sharing shows with these two remarkable women. We've put all of our passion into booking and organizing some really fun shows at some fantastic venues. There will be many guest musicians joining us on many stages and I'm really looking forward to meeting up with old friends.

I better get back to it but before I go, here's a special treat for you. Victoria filmmaker Scott Amos wowed me with another short film called, "Alone." I wrote and recorded some music to it this morning before rushing off to work. Enjoy!

http://www.dustyfilms.com/2008podcast/alone_final_web.mov

OK, So I've Changed My Mind...

Photo: Kelly Duncan

As I almost complete the design of my new website, I've decided that my Blogger page is just too much a part of me. It's gotta stay.

A link for this Blogger page is now included on the BLOG page of:

www.rozalindmacphail.com

Smiles,

Rozalind

Long Time No Speak!!!

Howdy Friends,

Sorry it's been such a long time since I've written here. I'm actually in the process of moving this blog to my new and improved website but will be keeping this one up for the past blog entries that I'd like to keep.

The new and improved www.rozalindmacphail.com should be up and running within the next fews weeks! Yippee!

From now on, if you'd like to keep in touch, please visit:

www.myspace.com/rozalindmacphail
www.rozalindmacphail.com

See you on the road soon!

Smiles,

Rozalind

A Bit of a Rant

I'm not usually one to complain but this one is seriously irritating me right now so heck, I'm just going to write about it and get it off of my chest. I'm sure a lot of you will be able to relate to what I am about to share. We've all been there way too many times.

So we've all done it before. You get this email from someone, either requesting something from you, asking a question that you don't feel comfortable answering or maybe asking a question that's really difficult to answer. Maybe they're really into you and you're just not that into them. Maybe you're so busy right now that you just can't seem to catch up and so you only reply to the "important ones." Whatever it is that stops you from responding, there are those moments when you choose to ignore the situation or in the back of your mind, you plan to write to that person at some other time so that you can give it more thought. Before you know it, the email that you were going to send eventually gets lost in cyberspace and the person on the other end is wondering why you never responded. And what's worse, the person on the other end is often left feeling unimportant and ends up taking your lack of response personally. I've been guilty of doing this to others way too many times and have been the one that has had this done to me as well. And I am now learning that it is not a good way to behave if you want others to respect and trust you.

But for some reason, our society allows this behaviour to be tolerated. I'm left wondering...Is it a Canadian thing to be so passive or does the rest of the world behave this way? Is it mostly within the music industry or is this behaviour in every industry? I'm curious...

I could list a number of reasons why I am left feeling irritated by these things right now but instead, I'm going to spend some time tonight making sure that I've replied to every single email I've gotten today, even the ones I don't feel like responding to. Afterall, they took the time to write me and it only seems fair to be respectful and write back, even if they are really short ones. A response is always better than no response.

So let this can be a reminder that it's always good to respect those who put in an effort to be in touch. Don't leave people wondering on the other end. It's just not fair.

End of rant. : )

New Song - Tofino Kiss

These pictures are taken from a recent trip I made to Tofino, on the west side of Vancouver Island. My friend Pat from Vancouver needed a bit of an escape from the big city so he rented a car and picked me up for a fun and relaxing road trip. It was an amazing experience. I just wrote a heartwarming song about our trip after Pat sent me his beautiful poem.

TOFINO KISS

Lyrics by Pat Meehan and Rozalind MacPhail

Can't stand the lessons

Of my sad obsessions

Need to get away from my today

Take a slow boat West

To be a guest

Enjoy some gentle served up sober

Get my first sight

Of the beach at night

A little scared but not alone

Stopped in our tracks

Woods at our back

By One. Sweet. Shooting. Star.

And a Tofino kiss

That's a little amiss

Love but no sparks flying

A Tofino kiss

As we make our wish

Don't know how to let go but I'm trying

Wake up with the day

Start back on my way

Took too much from a friend

Leave much more aware

Soul laid bare

Many memories now mine

And that Tofino kiss

That was a little amiss

Love but no sparks flying

That Tofino kiss

As we made our wish

Don't know how to get there but I'm trying

Eastern Canadian Musicians Rock!

Matt Mays and band performs in Victoria - Jan 30, 2007

Eastern Canadian Musicians Rock!

I've been reminded of this fact time and time again and was ever so happily reminded of it again tonight.

I just returned from seeing a stellar performance by Dartmouth's Matt Mays and Halifax's Museum Pieces. It was just another reminder of what is so darn special about those talented Eastern Canadian musicians...

There's nothing like seeing an amazing show to really get those creative juices flowing. It gets you feeling good about living life and gets you really thinking about things that matter. After seeing tonight's show, I was totally inspired to start writing some new songs and I can't wait to pick up my guitar in the morning.What was it that made tonight's performance so darn good? It's hard to say and even harder to put into words. I guess you just had to be there to experience it for yourself. One thing I can say for sure is that everyone's love for the music and for performing radiated from that stage tonight. All the musicians performing were having such a great time which in return made the audience totally enthusiastic. What fantastic musicans! I loved the songs, I loved the musical dialogue, I loved the rhythm, I got goosebumps from the vocal harmonies and can I repeat myself when I say that I absolutely LOVED the songs! The stories were great too. It was a great show from beginning to end and I left that bar feeling on top of the world. It made me feel special and proud to be a part of such a beautiful and talented musical community.

It especially made me feel good when Matt dedicated a song to all the musicians dedicating their life to music, especially to the ones who are on the road. At that moment, I realized that I am not alone, that there are many of us out there and that we all have a special purpose. It's not an easy life to be a musican and it's really wonderful when others acknowledge the sacrifices that us musicians make on a daily basis to continue sharing our music with our world. Matt, you gave me hope and you also reminded me of why I am doing this. Thank you. : )

It's getting late here but before I go, I thought I would give you a list of links to some Eastern Canadian musicians who I greatly admire:

In Flight Safety
Matt Mays
Museum Pieces
Jenn Grant
The Novaks
Rose Cousins
Down With The Butterfly
Tanya Davis
Ian Sherwood
Mark Bragg
Dave Carmichael
Old Man Luedecke
Sherry Ryan
Jill Barber
Don Brownrigg
Buck 65
Amelia Curran
Air Traffic Control
Drea MacDonald
Hey Rosetta
Julie Doiron
David Myles
Joel Plaskett
Shotgun and Jaybird

There are so many others but that's a good start...

Many Smiles,

Rozalind

Edgework...The Rough Mixes and the Making of the Album...

Well this is a mighty exciting day. I just completed recording all of my tracks in Seattle for my new full-length album, "Edgework" and am now back to settle and rest for the winter in Victoria. It has 12 songs in total, all written and arranged by myself for voice, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, loop samples, flute, glockenspiel and keyboard. It's totally different from anything I've ever heard in the indie world before and I'm very excited to share the completed project with you by the end of summer 2007.

I have spent on average, 16-20 hours each day on this labour of love ever since I finished up touring in early December, obsessively recording it in my producer's North Seattle recording studio. I recorded all of these parts on my own, with lots of Tony's guidance as I had never used recording gear or recording software entirely on my own before beginning this project. Tony taught me a great deal throughout this process and I now feel like I am well on my way to being able to be the recording engineer for my own session recording projects here in Victoria. Eventually, my goal is to set up a home studio so that I can record flute parts for artists all over the world without having to travel so much or pay for studio time as well as have the freedom to work on recording my own music whenever I am inspired to do that. It makes a big difference to be able to record when you feel like it and to be able to take the amount of time it sometimes requires to really get a part just the way you want it. With the time ticking on the clock in a paid recording studio, it's not always possible for us to get our very best out at that very moment. I have noticed how much of a difference it makes, especially when recording vocals and guitar parts as I vary greatly from day to day, sometimes even from hour to hour.

My time recording this album was a real moment of living on the edge as I had just finished touring for four months and was still living out of a suitcase which I was hating. I had just quit smoking and was totally worn out from all the amazingly overwhelming experiences I had recently gone through. The initial reason for recording these songs was to have an EP that I could send to the people I love as a gift to them for Christmas. I soon discovered that there was no way I could complete the project in time and when I came to that realization, I decided to keep working on it, record tracks that I could use for a full-length album and send those gifts out when I knew it was something that I was truly proud of.

I chose to focus on including songs that I wrote during this special time of being on the road. Songs about places that have made a huge impression on me, songs about lovers that I have met and missed, songs about how lonely and dark it can really get on your own and all those feelings that are so raw when you're living on the edge. The album includes 6 "flute loopz" which you understand if you've ever seen me live and 6 singer-songwriter style songs for vocal, guitar, flute, keys and glock mix. It also includes loop samples of instruments I have tried all over Canada, like a thumb piano I borrowed for a few nights in Berwick Nova Scotia and a vintage keyboard I tried with an effects pedal on an autumn Sunday morning in Toronto. I am so excited to share it with you as I think it's my best recording yet and I don't think there's anything out there that sounds anything quite like it. Chapter three of my songwriting journey is almost completed. : )

The two songs I have uploaded onto my MySpace page is only a small taste of what's to come. Please keep in mind that they are only the very rough mixes of my recorded parts. No effects yet, just the rough mixes of what's there so far. I have found an excellent Ottawa bassist who will be adding parts and I'm currently searching for the appropriate indie drummer. If you are interested in recording parts or have some ideas for me, please send them along. I am open to suggestions.

After all the parts for the album are recorded, the mixing will be done by Jason Jaknunas, one of my favourite sound engineers and someone who I greatly admire. You may know of the work he's done recording Trevor Tchir and Souljazz Orchestra recent albums. I also have a great person from Toronto in mind for the mastering but I'll leave that as a surprise until it's officially confirmed that he'll be taking on this project.

I know this has been a bit of a long read but I have one more very important thing to include here before I end this.

It's about the amazing people who have helped me along the way, especially over the past 6 months of my life and in particular, my producer Tony Fabris who I am parting ways with after completing this part of the project. Tony has been such a pleasure to work with in every way. He has been a good friend, an awesome producer and a great mentor. This amazing man, who took faith in my music last summer as my world was crumbling to pieces, spent many hours recording and producing "Seattle Sessions" with me and introduced me to the Seattle music world. He then gave me a place of refuge when I really needed it in December and taught me everything he could in a very short amount of time to get me working independently in his studio, spending the nights with me helping me edit my recorded parts and showing me how to use his software so that I could continue working alone in the day. He was such an amazing mentor the entire way and a good friend. I wasn't always the easiest person to deal with. None of us artists are and I admire the folks who offer to help us achieve our dreams considering what we sometimes put these people through. As I have learned in the past with my classical flute mentors, there comes a time when you know that you have grown apart from your teacher and that you now need to be set free, to explore the world on your own and find a new source of inspiration. It's now my responsibility to share all of that great musical knowledge I have learned from Tony and pass on that goodness to others who need my help.
Tony, if you are reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart as you have been a huge source of inspiration to me. No words can ever truly describe how grateful I am for your dedication in helping me achieve my dreams. You are another beautiful angel in my life. : )

Thanks for reading to the end folks. Please give these new tracks a listen and let me know what you think.

And now for some sleep!

Smiles from Victoria,

Rozalind

Antonio Gonzalez - Our Dear Friend

My final recital at the Banff Centre last March.

From left to right: Cheryl, Fred, Antonio, myself, Eugene and Catherine

Antonio Gonzalez, playing bassoon on "Pretty Girl" at my final Banff recital, a moment which brought tears to our eyes as it was too beautiful for words to describe.

Antonio and Vincent partying it up in downtown Banff


Antonio and myself after one too many drinks!

This is rather sad news for those of you who were at the Banff Centre last winter.

Our dear friend, Mexican bassoonist Antonio Gonzalez, passed away last Friday. This news came as a surprise as I was not aware that Antonio was ill. My heart stopped when I read the news. Antonio was far too young to die. I still can't believe that he is gone.

For those of you who didn't know Antonio, this post probably doesn't mean much to you but to those of us who knew him, he will be sadly missed. Antonio was one of those most beautiful people I have ever met, one of those folks who brought sunshine into every room he entered. He was also one of the most amazing bassoonists I have ever heard. Antonio had the most gorgeous sound and played with more passion than I have ever experienced. He also had a way of giving me goosebumps whenever he played. He did a bunch of recording with me while we were in Banff and although I have never shared the recordings of what we did due to my own insecurities of my vocal performance on it, I think it's important to share it with you now. I have posted one of the recordings on MySpace, the song, "Pretty Girl" which is a song about losing my best friend last winter, my dog Sadie. Antonio recorded this song in the studio with me and later performed it with me at my final Banff Centre recital, a moment which brought tears to many people's eyes. It was a moment I will never forget.

Not only was Antonio an amazing musician, he was also a good friend. He was a wonderful listener, a spontaneously fun friend and really knew how to have a good time! I will never have another shot of tequila without thinking about him. Maybe it has something to do with those many bottles of tequila he brought with him from Mexico which got us all in the fun party mode every time! So many amazing memories. I shed another tear...

I will miss you Antonio but wherever you are, I know that where you are is now a happier place to be because of your presence. : ) So long, my friend and we'll meet again, some other time, some other place. Rest in peace.

Love Rozalind

Life Does Turn Around, Especially When You're in Seattle - Part Two

Laura Gibson performing at the Sunset Tavern

Adam Selzer, main singer of Norfolk & Western

What a fantastic night. Yup, it does make a difference to just get yourself out there experiencing new things sometimes. Not only did I get to listen to some amazing live music last night, I got to meet some wonderful people from the Seattle indie music scene. None of that would have happened if I hadn't gotten myself out of the house and stepped outside of my comfort zone.

Last night, I went with my Seattle friends Courtney and Peter to a show at the Sunset Tavern. Portland's Laura Gibson and Norfolk & Western were performing as well as a band from Seattle called The Stares.

The night began with beautiful Portland songstress Laura Gibson blowing us away with her intimate and goosebump inducing set of songs for voice, classical guitar, musical saw, violin, banjo, trumpet and keyboard. Laura was magical and impressed me with her gentle, modest and inviting approach to performing. Her bandmates Peter Broderick and Cory Grey were such sensitive musicians who played gorgeous arrangements to Laura's songs. They complimented her performance and added much magic but without ever taking away the spotlight from Laura. It was something magical to experience and it reminded me that we CAN play music that is mostly melodic, beautiful and mellow and still fully captivate our audience. It's all about the music and how you approach the audience.

I spoke with Laura after her performance and offered my flutistic services at a future show. She told me that she's never tried flute out on her stuff before so now I'm extra excited to be the first flutist to collaborate with her. When she gets herself to Canada, we're going to try something out at a live show. Can't wait as I think Canada will love her.

Then a Seattle band called The Stares played a gorgeous set as well. The female vocalist who also plays keys had a voice that turned heads, especially on one song which I only wish I knew the title of as it really stood out from all the rest. Apparently they have a new CD coming out soon and I'm excited to hear it when it's released.

And then there was Norfolk & Western. These folks blew me away in every way. I especially loved the unique and captivating vocals of Adam Selzer and the fantastic drumming of Rachel Blumberg who just happens to be the ex drummer of the Decemberists. I always admire female drummers as I think it takes a lot of guts to play that role in the indie scene. Rachel was amazing and was everything I would look for in the ideal drummer for my own music. It especially blew me away when she picked up the banjo for a song! I was also taken back by multi instrumentalist Peter Broderick who played so many instruments last night, I wondered whether there was anything he couldn't play! These folks did an unbelievable set that had everyone in the audience excited. I expect to see and hear a lot more from these fine and talented musicians.

And you know what really impressed me about these folks as well? They were really friendly people. I went up to Adam Selzer at the end of the night, letting him know that I'd love to try flute with them sometime and asked if there was any way that I could buy one of their CDs with Canadian money. He said yes to both! That warmed my heart. Thanks a bunch Adam if you're reading this. : )

I also have a really good feeling about the indie vibe in Seattle, especially the folks I met last night. When I smiled at people in the bar, they smiled back, and with a warm and genuine smile! It warmed my heart to feel so welcome in a new city and a new scene. I think I'm going to be spending a lot of time in Seattle over the winter. It's only a three hour ferry ride to get here from Victoria afterall.

So you see, things really do turn around if you just put yourself out there.

I am so excited to see what happens next as I continue my fun visit in Seattle. I'm sure there will be many crazy moments. I'm going to see Jonathan Richman perform on Monday! I can't wait...

Life Does Turn Around, Especially When You're in Seattle

So I know I'm supposed to be sharing all those revealing stories from my past four months of touring but that's going to have to wait for another rainy day. I'm too much of an optimist to be whining about what's wrong in my life and I'm learning that life does turns around if I'm patient enough to let that happen. Today is a good example of that.

I had gotten myself really down in the dumps over the past few days. My last post is an example of that. Guess that's normal when you've been on the road for this long and when you're feeling stuck. With all the darkness that I was feeling, I was questioning why I was pursuing a life as a musician. With an industry that is so harsh and so competitive, especially to it's emerging artists, I was losing faith that I had a special place in it. I was ready to give it all up as it all felt too damn difficult and I was tired of struggling.

It was at that moment that I remembered what one of my musical mentors said to me last winter in Banff. She explained that life as an artist can be such a huge sacrifice and that there would be many moments when I would want to give up. She explained that as I continue to climb the success ladder, I will feel lonelier and lonelier towards the top and that many people will want a piece of my success and will do anything to get it from me. She explained that I will make people react more and more, that I will make many enemies without even knowing what I did wrong. She said that I will see the ugliest sides of people and that people will let me down when I least expect them to. She told me that it is important to always keep going in those dark moments and that I must believe in myself. I think we all need to be reminded of that stuff sometimes and it was comforting to be reminded of her words.

Well I thought long and hard about what she said yesterday and decided to take control of my life, to turn things around for the good. I did and it was easier than you think.

I looked online at Seattle's weekly, The Stranger. Checked out the concert listings and started checking out the websites of so many artists that I knew nothing about. It was really fun to do and got me all excited about discovering a bunch of new artists and a totally new music scene. Seattle's just buzzing with important musical institutions, especially for indie music. This is the home of Sub Pop Records afterall, a label I dream of being signed to.

Through my curiosity, I discovered an American indie folk artist who I had never heard of, the beautiful indie folk songstress from Portland, Laura Gibson. I immediately fell in love with her music as soon as I heard her stuff on MySpace. She reminds me a lot of Eastern Canada's Julie Doiron.

Then it hit me... I thought about all those moments when I just put myself out there and true musical magic came of it, like the recent moment in Edmonton when I ended up performing flute with Raising the Fawn. And even though I don't have an American cent to my name and have no idea how I'm getting to Laura's show tonight, I've already sent her an email to offer my flutistic services and am really excited about seeing her show.

Who knows what will happen tonight but I've lifted my spirits just by deciding to put myself out there. I'm also confident that tonight's show will be a fantastic one and that many new musical friends will be made by the end of the night.

This Crazy Life That I Live - Chapter One - Where Do I Begin?

This Crazy Life That I Live – Chapter One – Where Do I Begin?

I just finished watching the movie “Almost Famous,” the revealing movie about what it’s like to be on the road as a touring musician. It’s so honest in it’s portrayal of the touring lifestyle that it’s almost scary. Nothing like being on the road for a while to show you the most ugly and nasty sides of people and of the life we live.

And now I sit here alone in a house that’s not my own, on a couch that’s not like the one I own and in a neighborhood that I don’t know. Just two more weeks to go and then I finally get to go home for the winter months. I can’t wait. I may have chosen the life of a musical gypsy but I had no idea that it would ever feel like this and now I’m questioning why I’m putting myself through this mess. Is it really worth it? I was searching for those answers when I put on that movie tonight and now all I’ve got are a whole bunch of new questions.

I write to you from Seattle. Just another place to crash along the road, another couch to sleep on and another bunch of sleepless nights to get through. My suitcase rests in the corner of the room and my instruments beg to be played as they restlessly sleep in their unopened cases. I crave the familiar yet only the unfamiliar exists.

It’s 2am and I can’t sleep. Too many thoughts are rushing through my mind and I just wish the world would stop for a bit so that I could finally catch up and take a moment to breathe. There’s nowhere left to hide and nowhere left to run. I feel lost.

I quit smoking a few weeks back. Part of my goal to living a more healthy lifestyle yet I wish so badly that I had enough American money to buy a new pack so that I could just numb my mind for one more night and not have to deal with the current reality which faces me. I’m alone, I’m exhausted, I’m broke and my heart is so fucked up that I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to fix it. I can’t help thinking that this is the perfect moment to reflect and write about what’s happened over the past four months of touring on my own across Canada on that Greyhound bus. It’s been one hell of a long ride.

What you are about to read my friend is not going to be pretty nor will it be flattering in regards to the current state of our music industry. Not everyone is going to be happy with what I am about to share but those who get it will understand why I’m sharing it and they will admire my courage. Hopefully a few of us will even learn from it. Heck, I’m sure a lot of you will probably relate to a lot of the madness included in these pages. Eventually it’ll be included in the book that I am writing. Life has been that crazy and now its time to share it with you.

So where do I begin? Anyone who has spent lots of time on the road can relate to my current dilemma as I begin to type my thoughts out late into the night. I mean, is it a good idea to reveal the truth about what it’s like out there or should we keep it all a secret in order to avoid hurting anyone? I’ve decided to share it all because really, I have nothing to hide.

More to come…

The Sidetrack Gig in Edmonton w/ Trevor Tchir

What a blast it's been hanging with Trevor Tchir and Kristy McKay in Edmonton. I'm uploading these pics as I listen to an LP that Trevor bought last night, by the old Edmonton band called, Jr. Gone Wild called, "Less Art More Pop" which was recorded in 1986. A very cool album and a fun soundtrack as I upload these pics for ya.

Soon I'll be back in Victoria. I can't believe that it's almost been four months since the last time I was practicing my guitar by the Pacific Ocean with the harbour seal keeping me company. I still haven't figured out where I'm going next as I have two weeks until my Victoria show and I want to make the best use of my Greyhound bus pass. Maybe Calgary, maybe Nelson, maybe Vancouver...maybe all three. It's nice to finally have a bit of time to chill out.

Here's some pics from my show with Trevor at the Sidetrack. It was one of the best shows I've done yet. It warmed my heart to share the stage with Trevor and his brother Stephen who also plays in a band called 5 O'Clock Charlie. What a fantastic show! Trevor played harmonica with me on "Life's Gonna Turn Around For You" and Stephen played some ambient electric sounds on "Crying on the Inside." It was pure magic. I played flute on Trevor's "One by One," from his album, "Wooden Castles Fall." You can hear my flute solo on that song by going to Trevor's MySpace page: www.myspace.com/trevortchir. All of Trevor's albums are fantastic but "Wooden Castles Fall" is my fave.

Trevor Tchir, Mickey Valee (Trevor's accordion player) and bro Stephen Tchir

This cracked us all up! Nothing like your hometown club getting your name wrong!

Trevor Tchir

Trevor and band...Allyson on drums and you already know the rest of the boys.

Me getting ready to perform with Trevor on "One by One." Man, I need a haircut!

Trevor playing on "Life's Gonna Turn Around For You"

Touring Pics - POP Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto

Let's start off with POP Montreal. What a fantastic time it was to hang out at Abigail Lapell's place and party it up with so many talented indie folks from all over Canada. This pic is of Halifax's Museum Pieces who put on a great show at the Main Hall. I spent a bit of time with drummer Andy in Halifax so it was great to hang out in Montreal as well.
Twins Sari and Romi from Halifax's Ghost Bees. I stayed at their place in North Halifax the first time I toured through there. We were supposed to share a gig at Gus's Pub. It's a long story and a good one. Romi and Sari are angels for helping me out that strange day. These girls have such a unique sound and I really dig their current EP. Expect much goodness from these girls very soon...

Abigail Lapell and myself hanging outside after we played together at POP Montreal. That was such a fun night. Abigail blew the folks away with her intense performance. I love performing with that girl.

Abigail performing at POP Montreal.

The Sunday morning I headed to New York. It was a full moon and I was totally taken back by the magic of this particular moment. It was so quiet and peaceful as Montreal was sleeping...

"No ringing cell phones!" This was the first thing I saw on the bus as I headed to New York City. I loved it. The whole cell phone culture drives me nuts sometimes. Best to remind folks to be polite when using them in public.

The biggest cockroach I have ever seen in a cold climate and of course I had to witness it in New York. It looks smaller than it actually was in real life. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the shadow that it created on the sidewalk!

My best friend, classical flutist Conor Nelson (left) and boyfriend Dave who is a freelancing classical violinist in New York City. I had so much fun hanging with these boys.

Wandering around Times Square, looking for a music store to buy some guitar picks and get help changing the strings on my guitar.

Columbia University, only a 5 minute walk away from where I was staying. That is such a beautiful campus. I sat on the grass and played my guitar with my best friend Conor in the sunshine one afternoon as the students rushed to their classes.

The Sidewalk Cafe Open Stage in the East Village. I couldn't believe how packed this place was. I showed up to sign the list at 8pm and I was already too late. The host who looked like a younger version of Woody Allen gave me #35 on the list and I ended up having to wait until 2am to play one song! The list went up to #47!!!

A Japanese singer that I played with at the open stage from this band called, "Sam." She had a fantastic voice. I played my flute with them for a song as I sat in the crowded audience which was such a magical musical moment. I met so many amazing musicians that night and definitely look forward to hanging with them again next fall when I head back to teach my touring workshop again at NYU.

This pic was taken from the subway platform close to Conor's place. He lives just outside of Harlem, close to Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University.

My new friend Marianne who I met at the train station the day I was teaching my touring workshop at Stony Brook University. We had so much fun hanging out in Greenwich Village. It was pouring outside but we didn't care as we got soaking wet. Marianne studies European History at Columbia and plays a mean classical clarinet! A very cool gal.

Ah, the New York subway which I really fell in love with and spent a lot of time on. This is the stop to get to Greenwich Village, Washington Square and New York University. Did you know that the New York subway is the same age as Alberta? Craziness!

My one pic of my second visit to Ottawa...Not many pics as I was sick as a dog with a cold. On my last day in Ottawa, I went into the Gallery Studio with Dean Watson of Coqi Records to record some flute tracks for Steven Sheehan's new CD. Some of you may know of Steven from Ottawa's funk band "Stairwell K." I used to play flute with them on and off back in the day...
Now to Toronto...Toronto Island. This was a special night on the island when I performed with my sister and friends at the Ward's Island Halloween Dance. They had lots of carved pumpkins in front of the stage which looked so cool.
My sister, Jessican MacPhail on the left, Ivy, a girl I used to babysit in the middle and Doug, one of MY babysitters when I was a kid! We has such a great time performing that night.
Me and my sis all dressed up at the Halloween Dance.
Yummy chocolate!!! I don't know who ate more chocolate on Halloween. Any excuse to eat chocolate!
This was the pumpkin that my Mom's boyfriend Scotty carved for Halloween. He spent two days carving this one which comes as no surprise.
One of the girls my Mom babysits, Charlotte. I got such a kick out of seeing all the kids in costumes on Halloween night.

Westwardly Thoughts and a New Song

Westwardly Thoughts and a New Song

I'm writing to you from cold Winnipeg. It's a beautiful sunny day here. I took a nice walk and checked out the surroundings. Looks like a cool city. Too bad I didn't get to perform here during the tour but next time.

I crashed at my friend Ryan's place (Tumbleweed Entertainment) last night after a long bus trip from Wabigoon. Where the heck is Wabigoon you ask? It's close to Dryden, Ontario. What a gorgeous spot. It was there that I extended my trip for a day and wrote a new song called, "Writing Postcards from Wabigoon." Performing at The Green Achers of Wabigoon was one of my favourite performing experiences so far. Talk about a supportive audience and such beautiful people.

I'm heading to Edmonton tonight. I am so excited to perform at the Sidetrack tomorrow night with one of my good friends, singer-songwriter, Trevor Tchir. It's been a long time since we've been able to hang out and he's never heard me perform my own songs. Can't wait. Getting excited just thinking about it. That's one of the nice things about touring, getting to hook up with old friends you miss. I'll definitely be wanting to tour lots next year to see all the new friends I have made on this trip.

Two weeks left to go before I head back to my home in Victoria...

I'm going to say goodbye for now but before I do, here are the lyrcs for "Postcards from Wabigoon." I will be performing it at the Sidetrack tomorrow night, with my new Realistic toy keyboard from my childhood years which my Mom gave me last week during my visit to Toronto. It even has lion, laser gun and dog sounds on it and a sampler!

WRITING POSTCARDS FROM WABIGOON

Words and Music by Rozalind MacPhail

Writing postcards from Wabigoon
and it's just one of those nights when I'm missing you
I'm missing you, babe
I'm missing you tonight

I'm missing all the ways that you make it feel so right
I'm missing your voice that soothes me late into the night
I'm missing your smile
and the way that you hold me tight
I'm missing you tonight
I'm missing you tonight

And you don't push yourself upon me like so many others have tried
You invite me into your world as my friend
and you leave it up to me to decide what I'd like
and you leave it up to me to decide what I'd like

That's the kind of love I'd like in my life
That's the kind of love I'm willing to try

And now I'm missing you, babe
I'm missing you tonight
I'm missing all the ways that you make it feel so right
I'm missing your voice that soothes me late into the night
I'm missing your smile
and the way that you hold me tight
I'm missing you tonight
I'm missing you tonight

Writing postcards from Wabigoon
and I'm missing you, babe
I'm missing you tonight

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading to the end friends. I'll be in touch again soon...

Hugs and Smiles from Winnipeg,

Love Rozalind