Stepping Onstage

Stepping Onstage

Stepping Onstage In junior high school I was in a quartet, harmonizing the songs of the day at school dances. I began to play the guitar at 14, when a friend gave me an old one that was no longer being used. At that time there was a coffeehouse in Vancouver called The...
Music and Lyrics and Brel

Music and Lyrics and Brel

A passion for writing songs and a great friendship was born when Valerie Hennell and I met. I was playing the lead in a university musical, and she and I began to write songs together. She wrote the lyrics, and I wrote the music. That was all I knew about songwriting...
Looking Back with Love

Looking Back with Love

Looking Back with Love Valerie Hennel was my manager and dearest friend. We were two impassioned innocents without a clue as to what we were doing or where we were going. We wrote songs together, built a company together, and fashioned our careers together. After all...
The Floating Stage

The Floating Stage

The Floating Stage One of the most memorable stages I performed on was a floating stage. At the Elora Arts Festival in Ontario the stage was on a raft which floated in a gorge. My band and I got to the raft by rowboat. It was a hot summer afternoon and after the sound...
Laughter on Molokai

Laughter on Molokai

Laughter on Molokai One of my most unusual concert locations was the Kalaupapa Leper Colony on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. I spent four days there after being invited to do a concert, and loved the place and the people. After the concert, I went to the tiny pub....
A Voice in the Darkness

A Voice in the Darkness

A Voice in the Darkness At the beginning of a week-long workshop I always ask the participants what brought them here. What was their desire, motive, hope, need, or intention in coming? In a singing workshop usually someone will say, “I want to reach higher notes,”...