May 2019

50 – Hello Beautiful Life

By 2009 things had really turned around… a supportive partner, a growing son and being involved in co-founding a new internet retail and record company, MapleMusic and MapleMusicRecordings, got me back on track, working with a group of fantastic people and reminding me of why I loved music… I found inspiration in working and helping out with new artists, and that in turn led to renewed confidence in singing and making music… the addition of Noel Webb and Michael Johnston had injected new energy into the group leading to 2008’s City of Sirens and a 20th anniversary tour and compilation in 2009, The Truth About Us, encouraged by friend Kim Cooke… Josh, Ron and I appreciated how fortunate we were to be part of a community of like minded musicians and creators, and that we could continue not only as a band, but as a collective as well, and that once a Skydigger always a Skydigger… Paul MacLeod and Jessy Bell Smith joined us on many of those 20th anniversary shows, we had new management with Susan, Jude and Amanda and we continued to play special events with Peter and Andrew Cash…
“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life… for me… feeling good…”

Andy

May 16th, 2019

40 – Changes

Nearing my 40th birthday things had started to unravel in both my personal life and with the band… Andrea and I had a daughter, Chi-lin, who’s short time with us was a beautiful reminder of all that is truly important in this life… Chi died shortly before her 3rd birthday, when Andrea was 7 months pregnant with our 2nd child, Owen. Meanwhile, the lineup of the band had changed, the landscape of the Canadian music scene was changing and the band had reached a crossroads… we were finding it challenging to come to a consensus on how to proceed with making new recordings and we decided that it was time to pull back on the amount of touring that we had been doing for the past nearly 10 years… and so it was with grief and uncertainty, and as a father for the second time, that I came to my 40th birthday…

Sweet heartache, I know you far too well
Sweet heartache, I thought you couldn’t tell
But I’m here for you now
Determined to turn this around
Sweet heartache, let me rest a spell…

Andy

May 25th, 2019

30 – Skydigging

As my 30th birthday approached everything really started to come together… Andrew Cash, Jim Edigar and I had honed our sound with the Acoustic Meltdown and with the release of Andrew’s album Time and Place I got my first taste of life on the road. Josh and I had started playing and writing songs together, and by the time of my 30th birthday Ron, Peter and Wayne had joined us and we served our apprenticeship playing Monday nights at the Spadina Hotel, building a repertoire and an audience.
With a name suggested by Andrew, “Skydiggers”, we were now a band and ready to take on the world, or at least Canada, so we loaded up a rented RV with girlfriends and gear and baby Daniel and headed west to play at Sandy & Andrew’s wedding in Regina… my 30th birthday was spent on the Trans Canada somewhere east of Regina after our first show in Winnipeg, everyone chipping in to buy me maracas to add a little percussion to our country/folk/rock stew… things were looking very bright, indeed… we were now only month’s away from signing our first record deal and recording our debut album.

Onwards!

Andy

May 14th, 2019

Monday Morning News… Again

Guilty By Association

Although I first heard the late, great, Vic Chesnutt play at the Calgary Folk Festival sometime in the ’90s I didn’t fully develop an appreciation for what a fine songwriter he was until the Cowboy Junkies asked me to sit in for Margo while they rehearsed material for what would end up being their Vic Chesnutt tribute album, Demons, in 2011.
I was drawn most deeply to a song of Vic’s called Guilty By Association, and when the Junkies decided not to include it on their album I knew that someday I would like to make a recording of it… So here it is… and here comes May!

Watch “Guilty By Association” here: