So I Sit All Satisfied

After 90 concerts and 18000km of driving since the middle of February, I've finally made it out to St. John's, Newfoundland. This is as far east as you can go in Canada and in keeping with my go east when the wind blows west mantra/mentality, it makes perfect sense that I should be on my way to Vancouver right now! Selling CDs for whatever anyone was willing to pay for them, I've now sold nearly 500 numbered copies of Wild Life Sketches for as much as an eagle feather and as little as a hundred dollars. Yes, I've had a great time ramblin' around on my own and will keep it up for another week but then and sweet goodness THEN, starting in Toronto on the 21st of July, THEN I will be joined by a troop of friends and musicians who have revolutionized this blink of an eye that I call my life on earth. After 5 summers of touring up and down the Italian Peninsula in a van full of madness with the Anti-Tapas crew (and an entourage of barmen, butlers, circus performers, photographers that only wear red high-heeled shoes, pizzica players, etc...), I suggested that this year I show them my country. A lot of the motivation for touring so intensely across this big place over the past few months has been to get ready for this big trip and I'm happy, astounded, and frightened to announce that it's happening and will be beginning in 10 days! Stops are planned in:

Toronto ON,
Guelph ON,
Bracebridge ON,
Thessalon, ON,
Terrace Bay ON,
Thunder Bay ON,
Morden MB,
Christopher Lake SK,
Sylvan Lake AB,
Banff AB,
Victoria BC,
Nanaimo BC,
Port Alberni BC,
Ucluelet BC,
and last but not least,
Vancouver BC!

...And of course there will be music and madness on the road in between all of those places, last minute concerts to fill in some gaps, many many lakes to swim in, starry nights, forest hikes and dare I say it, maybe even the school bus I imagined before I started this crazy trip.

And it goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyways: I have nothing but endless gratitude for everyone who has helped me along the way and am truly awe-struck by the kindness of people all across this country that have made my improbable trip possible. I could start naming names but quite literally thousands of people have turned this adventure from dream to reality so I will simply say THANK YOU to all those who hold "El Derecho de Ser Felices."

See you very soon and, of course, stay tuned for news about the East coast tour at the end of August ;)


Silver Shadow

Here is a song that I wrote by the light of this year's 'Super Moon' while camping at Miles Bay on the Bruce Peninsula. Hope you enjoy it and BIG thanks to Antoine and Jennifer for recording this video outside their yurt in Douglastown, Quebec.

I see 67 hundred million burning lights
Beyond the silver shadow of an afternoon
Blazing through this sleepless night
To serenade the crickets
As they dance beneath the moon
And I'm waiting
Waiting for the Sun

Still beyond the silence
I can feel a sinking urge that I call
Hope to find a remedy
Ever present, Ever clear
Ripples form an orchestrated march that's everlasting
And the loon has finished calling on her mate
All the birds have left the scenery
To let the night-time sparkle on a lake that I have known since I was young
And I wonder
What have I become

And I'm waiting, waiting for the sun
And I'm waiting, waiting for the sun
I hear buses full of hopes and dreams
Rumbling down the highway somewhere distant
Orion, arms and legs out wide
Hung up on the sky
Just like the fly stuck on my windshield
Hear the highway crying wolf
I will not shy away from any place
That leads me through this silky haze of mystery
I cannot see the road beyond my nose
But I can feel it moving quickly as I run
Into the morning sun
 And I'm waiting, waiting for the sun
And I'm waiting, waiting for the sun
....