At any rate, I’m extremely excited. Not excited for the chunnel between London and Paris though. I feel it is extremely unsafe to travel underwater through a giant scary dark tube.

Also have a few shows coming up in Toronto. One with my band, and I’ll also be starting a monthly residency at the Press Club (Dundas/Bathurst) with Secret Heights.  It’ll be on the 2nd or 3rd Monday every month. Usually my reason for going to the press club involves either nachos or veggie chili. Or cheap pints. You can use one of those reasons too.

xoxoxox,

tl

The shows were really fun and I met tons of people and sold almost all the CDs I brought with me! If you don’t have one yet, you can buy it on itunes or come see me at a show.

I think my favourite shows were in Vancouver and Winnipeg. I also loved the home-cooked Spanokopita in Thunder Bay. John and Kelly (who put me up in Calgary and Victoria) really deserve a shout out. Love those buddies. Special thanks to Karen in Twin Butte, Hailey and Aaron in Revelstoke (woo house show!), Besh and Andrew in Vancouver, Sheila, Alex and Tina in Thunder Bay, Spencer in Calgary, Adam in Sault St Marie, Brendan and Rich in Saskatoon, LZ in Brandon, the town of Lumsden for being weird, and all of the great bands I met. I appreciate your kindness so much!

My friend Scotty Mack (who drove with me and opened most of the shows) and I got a little wild on the road. I’ll post some pictures of the craziness for my next installment of the blog, entitled “The Soup Du Jour/Caesar Salad Tour Photo Blog”. I really did have soup and caesar salad in almost every city from here to Victoria. Mm.

xo,

tl

Also I’m playing the Cameron House in Toronto this Wednesday, September 21st if you’re interested!

• 2011-09-30 Hamilton, ON – Hamilton Place Studio Theatre
• 2011-10-01 North Bay, ON – The Opera Bakery & Cafe
  2011-10-03 Thunder Bay, ON – The Apollo
• 2011-10-04 Brandon , MB – The Double Decker
  2011-10-05 Saskatoon, SK – House Show
• 2011-10-06 Calgary, AB – The Palamino
• 2011-10-07 Kamloops, BC – The Art We Are
  2011-10-08 Vancouver, BC – The Prop House
  2011-10-09 Victoria, BC – Logan’s Hootenany (4-8 PM)
  2011-10-09 Victoria, BC – Fort St. Cafe (evening show)
  2011-10-10 Penticton, BC – Voodoo’s
  2011-10-12 Edmonton, AB – Haven Social Club
  2011-10-14 Winnipeg, MB – Lo Pub
  2011-10-16 Wawa, ON – Rock Island Lodge
  2011-10-27 Hamilton, ON – This Ain’t Hollywood
  2011-10-30 Toronto, ON – The Drake

See you soon,

xo,

tl

I’m currently sitting in my living room with my beautiful canine, Ella The Worst, and basking in the afterglow of this weekend. I’ll start at the beginning.

My album release party was set to happen on Friday night at This Ain’t Hollywood. I was incredibly nervous, thinking no one would show up. I had just learned that Paley and Francis were going to open the show (for me? what?), and I was going a little crazy. They took the stage at 10:30 and essentially everyone I knew was in the bar and going wild. Afterward, the band and I played a really fun set, riddled with tuning issues (“Classic Lightfoot”), and chanting at drunken friends (“THROW DAN OUT!”). I am undoubtedly in debt to my wonderful band, who, despite lack of rehearsal time, really played a great set. Dave and I ended up doing a two piece guitar/drum arrangement of Katy Perry’s hit, “Teenage Dream”, for the encore. Hilarious. Yes, I saw you all singing along. I had a wonderful evening partying with my best friends in the world.

Saturday was Supercrawl. I woke up far too early on Pete Hall’s sectional couch and went for a hearty breakfast at the Harbor Diner (verdict: delicious). Dinner Belles played the WarChild stage at 1:40 so I had to miss my friends in Monster Truck on the Colborne Stage. After the  Belles set, I hung out with my little friend Spencer (Sean Palmerston’s curious 4 year old) and  took in the sights and sounds of the afternoon. Art everywhere! People everywhere! Music everywhere! The Dinner Belles set on the Colborne stage took place around sunset. The crowd was huge and everyone was singing. What a time!  Brad and I did a quick radio interview afterward then I was off to steal sandwiches (which were actually free)  from the Artist Lounge. I hung out behind the main stage just before Broken Social Scene went on with some friends who had come down with Plants and Animals, and danced to Cheap Trick’s “Southern Girls” with someone I didn’t know. After that, I took the fellas from Paley and Francis to Academica for a beer with my last toonies. Some fast friends were made, some old friendships were renewed, hearts were warmed, Broken Social Scene’s drummer was unknowingly danced with, what more can I say? Supercrawl was amazing, in the true sense of the word. Louis CK would be proud of  me. 

All in all, I’d say it was a very successful weekend. I’m looking forward to my next album release party this Thursday, September 15th, at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto. I’ll be playing my own set and also playing with the Belles. Looking forward to seeing you there! The Lady Trawlers (my new clever band name) and I will be on at ten. You should come.

Until then,

xo,

tl 

Welcome to my new and awe-inspiring website. It was built by capable hands and hopefully those hands will teach me how to update this weblog fairly regularly with all the happenings in my musical life.

The year is 2011. I am turning 25 in less than a month and also releasing three debut recordings. I’m excited about all of them but secretly, I *really* like my solo project because I get to sing and play whatever I want. I’m a hedonist. I also play with the Dinner Belles (my country outfit) and Secret Heights (a folk duo with my friend Cam Malcolm) and sometimes I back up my good friend Julie Fader in her solo project. I suppose on this first inaugural weblog entry, I would like to pay homage to those extremely tolerant fellas who play in my band. They’ve been with me through the Toronto island recording sessions, through the giggle fits that I have at almost every rehearsal, and through lots of shows at empty and full bars across Ontario. They are: Peter Hall (guitar/lapsteel), Adam Melnick (keys), Cam Malcolm (bass) and David Dunham (drums). I love them all dearly.

Anyway, August is going to be a big month for me. My birthday is on the 17th. That’s important. The Secret Heights CD release is on August 14th at the Casbah. August 19th will bring the Dinner Belles CD/Vinyl release at the Casbah and then in September I’ll be putting out my solo record. The solo CD/vinyl release party (yes, party) will be held at This Ain’t Hollywood on September 9th. It’s the night before Supercrawl, an amazing Hamilton festival. I’ll also be opening for Luke Doucet and Melissa McLelland at Hamilton Place Studio Theatre on September 30th.

Last but not least, I’ll be embarking on my first tour in October for a few weeks. I’ve never been farther west than Wawa so it’ll be interesting.

Enjoy the rest of whatever this website has to offer. At the time of this writing I haven’t seen a damn thing other than the splash page. I hope you like it.

xo,

tl.