After I played, an older man came up to me with tears saying “you made my day.” I’m always interested and amazed by what lyrics people hear, connect with – “I too have been ‘a witness of catastrophe’” he continued, “and I hope you will someday be a witness of happiness.” What followed was a conversation, a string of stories from his life, and it was touching and funny and beautiful and sweet and sad, and the whole time Rammstein was blaring over the sound system, an asynchronous soundtrack…

Robert Carl Blank knocking socks of at Lambooijhuis.

A little “Pussycat Pussycat” at De Nul, thanks to Slightly-Tilted.

On Saturday in Osnabruck, the first gig of the many I’m doing with Robert Carl Blank as part of a Songs & Whispers circuit, we had a fine time playing for the crowd at Big Buttinsky’s. It was, happily, another place that happened to have a piano, a beautiful old upright.

Another show was happening across the hall, the Erik Truffaz quartet featuring Anna Aaron. We were invited to sneak in to catch the last of it, and shuffled ourselves quietly into the back row. It was transportive. I get to hear a lot of live music, and am moved often by it all, but this was exceptional and I hadn’t felt lifted like that in a while. Above all else it felt lucky to be there…

The day before that I had been sobbing on the train. After a series of unfortunate events I was finally pointed in the right direction, but felt almost entirely beaten by Things Going Wrong. I have been, on this tour, particularly faced with the limits of my disability – something, admittedly, I prefer to deny. And a harsh reality check in that department mixed in with the usual confusion of navigating through a foreign language, plus last minute cancellations and miscommunications, made for a few harrowing moments of despair.

But I texted Lindsay, because I knew she would be awake in Toronto, and she pep-talked-via-SMS me while I tried to take in views of the German countryside through tears. Namely she convinced me to take deep breaths and blaze on, worry later. It got me to Bremen, but my makeup was a mess…

Later that night, after a shot set in nearby Hude, we drove back to town under sheets of lightning and my falling asleep was to the soothing wash of pouring rain on window panes. Have I ever been so shifted, moment to moment, with such frequency?

A week earlier, Lindsay had similarly saved me via text message on another day of Things Going Wrong when I travelled from London to Frankfurt. I don’t know if I’ve loved my cell phone more.

The week in England was full of love. Touring is only ever made possible by the generosity of others – places to stay, food to eat, open hearts and ears to collect the music I’m here to deliver – and my time there was entirely supported by my dears Lynn and Marcus. I’m not sure how I thought I would get myself, and all my crap, around the country on my own, but I didn’t have to face the task as they picked me up and chauffeured me with panache. London and Liverpool, the week’s bookends, moved me especially and I will write at some point of a delightful shift from noun to verb I’ve been inspired to make, thanks to one Liverpudlian in particular…

Clock birds of Liverpool.

Tonight in Bremen I played for the best open hearts and ears one can hope for and the encore and standing O swept me off my feet, *thank you*. The gig was in a church – ah, what acoustics! –and beforehand having a beer “backstage” I asked the organizer if it was okay to take the drink on “stage”, what with it being flanked by religious paraphernalia and me being rather unfamiliar with such settings. He paused and answered “God loves every kind of person,” which was an unexpected way of saying yes and onwards into song I went, avec beer…

I’m two weeks into this tour of five, and have been feeling deeply the highs and lows. The highs, oh they’ve been magical, and the lows have at least been a learning curve, albeit circuitous and steep.

In those curves, Brandi Carlile’s “Bear Creek” has been a kind of saving grace – I’m so in love with that record lately I’m about ready to switch my act to a Brandi cover-band, out of pure devotion.

And so now I will drift off, so sweetly sated by tonight’s show, with a Carlile lullaby humming in mind, all in a moment, all in a sound, all in a day’s work, we’re tumbling down…

A thank you note to a group of travellers for the three days (and nights…) we spent together in Amsterdam. So much was discovered in the intimacy of strangers, in the stories shared in the after-hours of a hostel bar, it changed my life forever. On day four, I became a singer.

The whole story is a long one, one I’ve loved to tell, one I used to tell quite often, but it’s been more than 10 years since my first trip to Europe, since those few days that changed me so.

I had only been taking guitar lessons for a few months and had written one tiny song on the guitar. In those after-hours, as the guitar was passed around the room, I took the chance to play my song for those gathered there. It was the first time I’d played a song of my own for an audience – an act I wasn’t sure that I would ever want to perform.

They listened, the room was hushed, and something HAPPENED.

There’s always that moment of connection in a performance, you never know exactly when it will occur but everyone in the room feels it when it does, and it HAPPENED, in that small short song in the back of The Last Waterhole hostel, in that instant. I knew then what I wanted to do. Of course little to nothing did I know of what an actual career as a musician would mean, but I knew making that kind of connection would be the sole driving force of my choices in the years to come.

It was thrilling; it was like falling in love. And every minute of it, leading up to it, was tied to the city.

I learned a lot in those three days, it set the tone for the rest of my trip and most of the traveling I’ve done since, and on day four, while sitting on the platform at Centraal Station for three hours because I missed my train to Munich, I wrote the first song that really felt like it was worth something. I play that song still, and it will always, I’m sure, be dear to me.

I hadn’t been back to Amsterdam since, until today. I was giddy to return, excited to be reminded and to remember, worried the city and I would look at each other and not feel what we felt when we met.

I wondered if you could fall out of love with a place… you probably can, but I haven’t with this one. Our three day fling of the past was rekindled with only a 5 hour layover, where I wandered until the streets became quiet and slow, I sat, listened, watched and remembered what light was turned on in me there, noticed that it still glows.

There’s a verse that got cut when we recorded “Day 4” in the interest of feel and form. I hadn’t thought of it in a long time, but in the afternoon sun today recalled:

This bench told me her secrets as she held me in the sun
We guessed at people passing us, at what they’d done
From the churches and the bicycles the bells are ringing
The rain provides a steady beat and we keep on singing

Now I’m waiting to board a plane to London, another city of my heart, another formative place of my past, and I sing sing sing.

FULL TOUR DATES BELOW and find all the details on the SHOWS page.

ALSO I am overjoyed to unveil the music video for Pirate Jenny and the Storm. Produced and directed by Kate Kroll, it includes a pair of burlesque dancers, a glossy red grand piano, a giant turtle and goldfish (complete with sequins!) and fleet of paper boats for some of the dearest souls I know.

Without further ado, da da da DAAAAA:

Yay! Share, spread it, mark it with a C. You can also watch it on Vimeo.

——————————

UK/EU The Living Record CD Release Tour 2013 Complete Dates

May 7 – London, UK @ The Green Note
May 8 – Bath, UK @ The Bell Inn
May 9 – Exeter, UK @ The Picturehouse
May 9 – Exeter, UK @ Hatts
May 10 – Liverpool, UK @ Acoustic Dustbowl
May 12 – Offenbach, DE @ Hafen 2
May 15 – Berlin, DE @ KussKuss
May 16 – Berlin, DE @ St Gaudy’s
May 17 – Kapelle op den Bos, BE @ Jeugshuis Doetsje
May 18 -Osnabrück, DE @ Big Buttinsky
May 19 – Hengelo, NL @ De Nul
May 20 – Bremen, DE @ Stadtkirche Vegesack
May 21 – Bremen, DE @ Hafen Casino
May 22 – Bremen, DE @ Aladin
May 23 – Groningen, NL @ Kroeg Van Klaas
May 25 – Bremen, DE @ Litfass
May 25 – Osterholz – Scharmbeck, DE @ Maribondo
May 26 – Bremen, DE @ Bürgerbrunch Hemelingen
May 28 – Bremen, DE @ Theatersaal Universität Bremen
May 28 – Bremen, DE @ LOX
May 29 – Hamburg, DE @ Soulkitchenhalle
May 30 – Hamburg, DE @ Mangold
May 31 – Bremen, DE @ Villa Sponte
June 1 – Verden, DE @ Liekedeeler
June 2 – Achim, DE @ Katakomben
June 3 – Oldenburg, DE @ Bei Beppo
June 4 -  Bremen, DE @Kito
June 5 – Celle, DE @ Kunst & Bühne
June 6 -  Nienburg, DE @ Mister Q
June 7 – Brake, DE @ Centraltheater
June 8 – Quelkhorn, DE @ Bergwerk Quelkhorn
June 9 – Bremen, DE @ Club Moments

First my home town with Melanie Brulee next week at The Prophouse in Vancouver, and then Jess Hill and I will bring our songs to Penticton, Coldstream, Kaslo, Kimberley and Nelson!

Find event details on the SHOWS page or Facebook.

See you there!

xoc

BC TOUR DATES SPRING 2013
April 19 – The Prophouse, Vancouver BC
April 25 – The Elite, Penticton BC
April 26 – Friesen’s, Coldstream BC
April 27 – Bluebelle Bistro, Kaslo BC
April 28 – Driftwood House Concert, Kimberley BC
April 29 – House Concert, Nelson BC

As I’ve described before, some exchanges and interviews are meaningful, others can be abrasive. But being included in the latest issue of Room magazine was the former, and an honour.

It’s a beautiful issue on the theme “mythologies of loss” and I recommend finding it (and me on the last page) at a shop near you or online at: roommagazine.com/magazine.

Thank you Rachel Thompson for the interview!

And the job, as in all the tour dates of the last five weeks, is done! Last night in Halifax was marvelous. A storm was on our heels, and it was my first time ever playing in this town, but the lovely warm crowd made it as wonderful as possible. The Company House is now in my heart.

Today was a snow day in Halifax, and we have one more day to do laundry and re-pack before we board the train westward bound. It’s a six day return journey from Halifax to Vancouver, so if you need us, look to the rails.

Here are photos from the last 4 weeks on the road (fear not the distorted preview – click ‘em open and their size will right itself. Phewf!):

Eastern Canada Tour 2013
By Christa Couture  |  View on Facebook

xoc

The first handful of the tangle is tasks, mighty To Do’s associated with being on tour now. From there many of the tethered strings have to do with events around the corner, events that take months of planning to launch. An April tour in British Columbia is getting its finishing touches, April 29th is poised to be the UK/EU release of The Living Record, and May will take me to England, and then Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, to sing the ol’ songs in person. I’m going to try and release a music video in April too.

Much of that is very exciting news. The details of it all are dull.

And I’ve been busy with the details. Before that were the holidays, for which I kept my head down both to get my job done, and to escape what aches at that time of year.

I’ve also been busy, recently, having fun on the road – from the mayhem, magic and madness of attending the Folk Alliance International conference, to bounding around southern Ontario and into Quebec. I like this part of the world very much, and some of my favourite people are here.

But I don’t mean for this to be a summary – goodness knows there’s enough “sorry I haven’t written I’ve just been So Busy” blogs out there. I mean for this to untie my tongue. I’ve been tripping on my words before I can get them out lately. Truly. In conversation where I might have been grounded and clear before I’m stuttering, hm-ing, unsure of how to piece it together, succumbing to a clamour of drunken monkeys, in the Buddhist sense of such a scene.

I went through a phase when I was a kid of loving monkeys. L O V I N G, in that fanatic and seeking to establish individuality kind of way. It was, for a time, My Thing.  Other than reading key articles in my Ranger Rick magazines, thinking that Project X was one of cinema’s most moving achievements, and being star struck by the gorillas at the San Diego zoo, I had various memorabilia, from a small chimpanzee figurine (named Monkoo) to a life sized stuffed Orangutan (Renzo). It was a modest collection, but my feelings for the objects were big.

I’ve been struggling to articulate lately partly because I’ve been so deeply involved in the business side of my job these past few months that I started to feel very far from the creative spark, but also partly because of big feelings, like the yes-I-desperately-need-to-laminate-the-floor-to-ceiling-poster-of-the-gorillas-in-order-to-preserve-it-better kind of big feelings (though at age 12 when they had to cut the poster in half in order to laminate it, I no longer wanted it, a thing being ruined by being cut in half and pieced together of course).

These days the feelings that overwhelm have little to do with material items, but still to do with a sense of ruin. Beauty too. I’ve been in a heart-on-sleeve kind of way, crying during every episode of My So Called Life that I’ve been re-watching while on the road, and feeling all sorts of sadness, tenderness, and having no words to describe it. It feels like a zillion stories and memories are being pulled up and flung across the room, like every dresser drawer of anecdotes has been dumped on my bedroom floor and I’m digging through them trying to find SOMETHING.

I know it’s here somewhere/it’s nowhere to be found.

But I digress.

Monkeys. Big feelings. Blogging. Back to work.

I am glad to be back on the road. Being able to share my songs, in person, with other people, holy crap I’d missed it during the winter months. It means the world to me to be able to do it.

It’s a kind of fuel that I can’t find anywhere else, and when it’s poured on the fire even the drunken monkeys stop to take in the glow. When I’ve got their attention, I don’t mind so much the mess they’ve made in the meantime.

So maybe that’s where I’m at – working on enjoying the moments of clarity when they come, not minding the noise in the meantime, and aiming to put some of it into words when I can.

xoc

Late night glow at my home away from home in Toronto.

In a couple weeks, the CD release tour for The Living Record will resume. I’ll return to a couple of familiar places, and then head east to the Maritimes to play shows in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for the first time ever.

I am SO looking forward to taking my west coast self to that east coast to share these tunes with the good folk there. Between now and reaching the Atlantic, I’ll be performing at Sâkêwêwak Festival in Regina, getting my folk on at the International Folk Alliance in Toronto, and performing in Toronto and Montreal.

Here are the dates for The Living Record Spring Tour 2013:
(RSVP to the tour at http://www.facebook.com/events/344477492338065)

Feb 14 - Sâkêwêwak Festival, Regina SK
More info: http://www.facebook.com/events/289392237850958/

Feb 21-23 – Folk Alliance, Toronto ON
If you’re attending Folk Alliance, find Christa at the private showcases listed at: http://www.facebook.com/events/326850470748599/

March 4 – Grumpy’s, Montreal QC
More info: http://www.facebook.com/events/331109240331218/

March 6 – The Spill, Peterborough ON
On a shared bill with Magpie Ulysses and Tara Williamson, info: http://www.facebook.com/events/323888524396502/

March 9 – Revolucion, Toronto ON
More info: http://www.facebook.com/events/554386094571589/

March 13 – Folk Night, St. John’s NL

March 14 – Fables, Tatamagouche NS
With Gabrielle Papillon, more info: http://www.facebook.com/events/148464098639934/

March 15 – Landsdowne House Concert, Fredericton NB
March 16 – Landsdowne House Concert #2, Fredericton NB
With Gabrielle Papillon. If you live near Fredericton and would like info on these two house concerts, email info@christacouture.com

March 17 – The Dunk, PEI
With Gabrielle Papillon, more info: http://www.facebook.com/events/482745465101026/

March 19 – Company House, Halifax NS
Wtih Gabrielle Papillon and Taryn Kawaja, more info: http://www.facebook.com/events/300338820068562/

See you there!

xoc

p.s.
Before I leave town in 7 days for 6 weeks, we’re filming a music video! It’s been a blast planning and pulling it together with director Kate Kroll. We spent all day shopping for wardrobe – here I am getting my vintage on at Burcu’s off Main Street in Vancouver:

The Living Record is included in CBC Music’s top albums of the year. Anyone who knows me a little knows how much I love the CBC – it is certainly the source for most of my music discovery and almost all of my listening pleasure. And there’s my album, included among there picks for the year! I’m right chuffed I tell you. The whole post of their top albums is here, and see the blurb on my album here.

I hinted on Facebook as to my not considering “Aboriginal” a genre, and I don’t. I have actually many (quelle suprise) thoughts on the matter of Aboriginal, which is a culture, a race, being designated at the Junos and by CBC alongside genre categories, and have a blog a brewin’ in me on the topic, but regardless I am grateful and thrilled for the CBC love no matter what.

Over at Corby’s Orbit The Living Record is among Paul Corby’s 50 Most Adored and Played Albums of 2012. Huge thanks to the thoughtful and fine tuned ears of Paul for adoring, playing and including the album. Paul who was one of the most prepared and insightful interviewers I’ve ever had and I loved talking to him in October.

Elsewhere, The Georgia Straight’s music critics picked their Top 10 albums of 2012 and I’m delighted that The Living Record is on Alex Varty’s list. Read that post here. I’ve been interviewed twice by Alex – for this album and my last – and both times were meaningful and memorable exchanges. Often conversations with journalists don’t feel like actually conversations, but with Alex they are and so I am touched and honoured to be among his picks for the year.

An added bonus and squee moment was seeing mine and Amanda Palmer’s photo on the main “Best of” page at thestriaght.com. I agree her newest album, Theatre is Evil, deserves to be on top lists for the year all around. She’s certainly on mine!

Here we are, regular cohorts (her pic at the top, mine at the bottom, sandwiching the likes of other 2012 picks Grimes, Patterson Hood and Father John Misty, swoon):

I have to remind myself this album has only been in the world for 3 months – there’s still so much time to share it and spread it and learn it and flaunt it, and I’ll be doing all those things. I don’t know the right word for how it feels for its kind reception so far – grateful and thrilled are part of it surely.

I might not ever find the word, so for now, these two: good night.

xoc

A year ago I may well have been on a plane like this one. Packed, cramped, and catching up on movies I wanted to see but couldn’t admit to wanting to see. A woman just walked by in a black t-shirt with the big white words of “it’s okay to cry” and I’m reminded of something I read a few days ago (where?) saying that we’re more apt to crying on airplanes. Something about the altitude affecting our emotions. I suspect the strain of travel, small spaces, time zones, hellos and goodbyes, also place us susceptible to tears mid-flight, but I’ll take the t-shirt slogan to heart because Robert Deniro in that hospital bed scene definitely got to me.

And with that, a stinking head cold. I don’t mind really. It’s the chance for me to hear myself talk like I’m underwater without getting wet. Mostly I’m grateful that my body waited and waded through the last three months of the CD release, Canadian tour and music video shoot before catching anything. Way to hang in there little one!

Yes! A music video! This past week in Toronto I filmed a music video for the song Parasite with Big Soul Productions and director Adam Garnet Jones thanks to APTN First Tracks. It’s going to be a couple months before the finished product is shared with the world, but I’m really, really excited about it. It was fun, and challenging, and the crew was fantastic. Here’s Adam and I in dueling cowichan sweaters (to which I couldn’t help but describe as mad cowichan disease) because, note, there is no heat at the Toronto Circus School (brr!):

Here I am braving a storm of bubbles:

And later, the crew resets for another shot of the confetti storm:

You’ll get it when you see it. Oh I can’t wait for you to see it!

I’m grateful for all the gigs I’ve had in 2012 and glad even that the last one of the year was in Toronto, my favourite hard place to be. A few of my first 2013 gigs in February will be back in TO actually, and if it’s going to be as cold then as it was this past week, I’m going to need to pack the parka!

xoc

Toronto I love you but you’re freezing my tits off. Thank goodness there’s Cherry Bomb #lattesavestheday

— christacouture (@christacouture) November 30, 2012