P R O S E
Dear Sweet+Salty Friends,
Greetings from a blustery day of -3C in the Glass City. Some big gusts seem to rock this brick house. We are fortunate to live among the trees in this apartment above the knife shop. The sun is beaming through the window into the reaching pedals of the oxalis. Shadows of naked branches passing across the thin tissues of her three purple triangles.
I braved the cold this morning to hit the aquafit class at the JCC. I’ve been a bit grumpy lately for a variety of reasons. Treading water with a bunch of queens to corny classics like Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and Abba’s “Take a Chance On Me” helps lighten the mood. As does the pool noodle, for it’s the most action I am getting these days. The instructor today dawned a bright green tie dye “Psychedelic Rock” radio station tee as she guided us through the 45 minute water aerobics. I stayed after and swam a few lengths. I would like to improve my front crawl. Do you have any tips?
I’ve been spending time with my brothers. That’s been really sweet and special. Last night over Thai food and four flavours of eclairs, we discussed the latest shiny atrocities and watched one of my brothers brand new short film “September”. It’s a beautiful work of art
.On February 13th it will be a year here in Toronto, and I’ll be singing at Bluebird Bar on Dundas St. West. Those of you who have known me awhile, know I have moved a lot in my life, like way above the average bear. It’s been like building new muscles to stay in one place. I’m grateful for my home, the new friends I’ve made, the ones I’ve reconnected with, the amazing food I’ve eaten, and the art I’ve experienced. I adore being among people of all sorts. It’s a pretty cool place, and oddly enough, a good spot for this tumbleweed to rest.
S H O W S + S O N G S
Today, February 7th is "Bandcamp Friday”. The first Friday of every month, the artist-friendly music platform waives their fees. It’s a great way to buy music directly from artists.
Here’s a very old, and albeit imperfect track from 2011: “Tumbleweed”. I do like the words and I think I’ll bring it back to life. We recorded this in a studio in the hills of Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras.
Some Upcoming Dates…
February 13th makes one full year in Toronto I’ll be singing at the Bluebird Bar, Toronto from 8-10:30pm. Pay what you wish.
March 2nd I’ll be joining the beautiful folks of the Sunday Night Revue - your sweetest variety show in Ottawa, in the back of Irene’s Pub. The show gets rolling on the dark side of 8pm. Pay what you wish.
F E A T U R E D F R I E N D
C O R I N R A Y M O N D
Where are you? What'd you have for breakfast? And what are you up to today?
I'm ensconced in a basement apartment being lent to me by a friend, just S of Lisgar and Dundas, in Little Portugal, Toronto. I can hear the scrape of snow shovels on the sidewalk above my head, behind me.
I'm on a heavy dosage of anti-inflammatories, which means I have to have a breakfast to accompany these stomach-menacing drugs: today it was two slices of rye toast and a pot of coffee.
Otherwise, I'm reading, and working from bed: I've nearly finished a collection of short stories by Robert Aickman called Cold Hand in Mine (UK, 1975), which are among the strangest and most entertainingly-unsettling stories I've ever read.
Apart from that, I'm putting in two-hours of writing today in order to chronicle my recent hospital (mis)adventures, and then I'm going to mop, and put this Hobbit-hole of an apartment back to rights.
What three things in your life are you most grateful for right now?
I'm terribly grateful for this apartment: I'm still renting two rooms in Hamilton, Ontario, and this week I begin moving into a three-musician house in Etobicoke (I'm the third musician); but having this place downtown in which to be on my own, while I've been transitioning habitats, has been a boon for my mental and physical health.
I'm especially grateful right now for Oscar Wilde: after a four-month effort, this past Friday evening I finally relearned the entirety of "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," the epic poem which he wrote two weeks after his release from two-years hard labour (he was given the maximum sentence, at the height of his fame and success, for the crime of "gross indecency," a.k.a., being homosexual – but his far more offensive crime was that of asserting his extraordinary individuality and personality in an era, and upon a culture, in which the public display of such intoxicating self-confidence could plainly not be forgiven). His ballad, comprising 109 six-line stanzas – 654 lines in all – written in the village of Berneval-le-Grand, in France, where he chose to live out his exile, was the expenditure of his final creative energy and is his "dying-man's statement."
I'm currently rereading his magical and kind-hearted fables in an exquisite Folio Society edition of The Selfish Giant and Other Stories; I finished rereading The Picture of Dorian Gray – which, despite being a clearly moral book, was used as evidence against him at his infamous trial – a few days ago; and I've just begun to reread Oscar Wilde, Richard Ellman's (UK, 1987) biography, for which there is no substitute in either the world of biographies or books about Wilde himself.
I say "relearning" and "rereading" because, at times when life becomes overwhelming, I take real strength in the goodness, courage, and compassion of this man – so of and yet so ahead of his time – the kindness of whose company still helps me. day-to-day, even across the bulk-of-a-century we missed each other by.
Thirdly, I'm grateful for the nearness of my closest friends, who've been especially helpful through my recent medical adventures, and during what's been a time of logistical upheaval.
What have you got on the go artistically at the moment?
I'm currently writing two-hours a day, and under that clock, I'm working on three or four unfinished songs, some new monologues and stories (I have eight albums, but also three storytelling shows which are without music) and various other, miscellaneous writing projects.
Later this year, I'll begin work on a new studio album called Rise 'n Cry, and my other 2025 goal is to record a (second) live album.
If I passed you an instrument, what song would you play us right now?
"Is It Snowing in Kingston?" by Cliff Cardinal. Cliff is an hilarious, utterly-brilliant and discomfiting playwright, monologuist, and novelist (his first novel comes out next year), but he's also an exciting songwriter; something which, until recently, he's done more for himself than he has professionally. I feel very lucky to have "Is It Snowing in Kingston," a song of his which I've been making my own for several months now, in my repertoire; I will certainly bring it to the table when work on my next studio album begins.
(Incidentally, Cliff is currently performing his CBC Special, every night but Mondays, at Video Cabaret's Deanne Taylor Theatre, just around the corner from Carlaw and Queen St. E, here in Toronto. https://videocab.com/cliff-program)
What's been on repeat on your record player/streamer/tape deck/CD player/ et al.?
I've been getting all my musical excitement from films lately; three in particular, this past month: Babygirl (Helina Reijn, US/NL, 2024); The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, US, 1991); and House Party (Reginald Hudlin, US, 1990). All of which I saw, with a dear friend, at the Fox Theatre in the Beaches, and at The Revue, on Roncy, in an unexpectedly-frosty Toronto.
Chilean-born Montréaler Cristobal Tapia de Veer composed the electrifying (and largely electronica) score for Babygirl – and like all great scores, it tells us the story as much as do any of the other artists involved. And who doesn't walk out of seeing The Silence of the Lambs again without being haunted by Howard Shore's eerie central motif, which, again, carries the film as equally as anything else. Giants in the world of jazz, Lenny White and Marcus Miller provide House Party with its slinky and very funky score, as well as its phenomenal soundtrack, which hit 104 on the Billboard 200 when the movie came out, and which, for many years after that, I had on cassette.
Each of these three films, in my cinephilic opinion, is flawless – very different experiences, but each of them a perfect thing.
Don't take my word for it...
Incidentally, Tapia de Veer's first score for a feature-film is my favourite "post-apocalyptic" – or would this one be "pre-apocalyptic"? – it's both, I'd say – "zombie" films: The Girl With All the Gifts (Colm McCarthy, UK, 2016); and Howard Shore scored some of my "Top 10" sci-fi-horror movies: Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983), and The Fly (1986), all written/directed by David Cronenberg. In some ways, film scores – by the very nature of their purpose – are required to get under our skins more urgently than are other kinds of popular music.
If we want to find your work, where can we go?
Come to The Cameron House at 408 Queen St. West, in Toronto, any Thursday from 6-8 pm (though I recommend arriving around 5:30 to ensure getting a seat). Me and my band the Sundowners – depending, as a seasonal menu does, on who's available that week – are there every Thursday – with the exception of Feb 20th – for the foreseeable future. This May will mark the 20th-anniversary of our residency there.
If you can't make it to the Cameron, find my music anywhere in the bloodstream music goes unpaid for, and/or join my email list at the top right of my website, if you'd like to know when I might be headed your way.
If my answers to this month's Salty Licks questions have tickled you in any way, you'll enjoy my bi-monthly mail outs.
Thanks for having me, Sarah.
M U S I C
I know we don’t like Spotify but…
G O O D O C E A N N E W S
6 Opportunities for Ocean Progress in 2025
“By using these opportunities to advance sustainable ocean management, we can achieve transformative change that benefits people, nature and the climate. That’s why the ocean must remain a priority throughout this pivotal year. Success depends on collective action. We call on governments, businesses and civil society to join us in making 2025 a momentous year for the ocean.” - Tom Pickerell
S A S S T R O L O G Y
with s.o.
Aquarius - Baby, it’s your time.
Pisces - like wind through the trees, like a fish through the reef.
Aries - keep working on that booty
Taurus - do a count of your wrinkles
Gemini - time for a mini vacation
Cancer - you’d be wise to watch the plants grow for awhile
Leo - full moon soon for you, watch your claws
Virgo - there’s an old friend thinking about you
Libra - set aside some time to think about what you’d like to grow this spring
Scorpio - try a new recipe
Sagittarius -take her to the opera
Capricorn - get yourself an anchor dog
Stay tuned in & turned on
and stand your ground
x.o.
Love
S.O.