Ewanika

Today I went to my friend Trish Ewanika's shop, to do a little photo shoot of summer 2011 ensembles for her lovely website.

There are many things that make me happy about this - first of all, Trish and I have been good friends since 1995. Secondly, I LOVE not only the clothing she designs but the details, the lovely whisper-details that make her work so amazing and personal, so quintessentially Trish - but also you. This is in my opinion a real artists' gift, to be able to express oneself in such a way that you feel it is your expression too.

I am wearing one of the summer '11 dresses to a tea party I'm going to next Sunday ... super-excited to bust it out with saddle shoes, skinny belt and drop necklace.

www.ewanika.ca for more photos, inspiration, and to learn about wonderful Trish.

Pop-Up Concert Number One

We did our first Pop-Up Concert last Saturday, at Hazelton Lanes in Toronto ... where sits a lovely and largely abandoned shiny black piano in an atrium that was once a skating rink, and is now a space for cafe tables and chairs. I had scoped it out some time ago and decided it would be a perfect place for our first renegade performance.

The premise of the Pop Up Concert is that we (Alex McMaster on cello and Anna Atkinson on viola) get quite dressed up and overtake rarely-used (or forbidden-to-use) pianos that have been abandoned in an unexpected public space in the city's core, filling that space with music. This is not previously arranged with the venue, so discretion before our performance is key (ie, our invited friends were advised not to ask a security guard where the concert is, etc). The performance is, of course, free.

I had no expectations of what would happen here, except that there would be a general public beyond our friends who would be amused (or otherwise) at our intentions. The least amused of which were two young security guards, who are captured in this clip (just over 6 mins long) attempting to shut us down after we perform my song "Ruby". It was our fourth song, and I thought they were very polite about waiting until it was over.

If you listen to the ensuing conversation you will note that I ask the one security guard to sing along...



Next Pop-Up Concert is in June (date TBA) at the next unexpected public space we have chosen ... we will let you know where closer to the date if you are interested in coming out.

First Pop-Up Concert is today

This afternoon my string players (Alex and Anna) and I are gathering at a downtown location in Toronto (email me if you want to know - lenni jabour [all one word] at gmail you know the rest) at 2pm, to play on the piano that has been largely abandoned in its wide open public space. This particular piano has a sign on it that says "DO NOT TOUCH".

This is the first in a series of what I am calling Pop-Up Concerts.

If you can't make it today, there will be others. I'll let you know how it goes.

Merci Bookhou

One of my favorite design shops in Toronto is Bookhou. It is on Dundas Street West, a lovely and unassuming storefront that behind the glass door houses lovely, roughly-elegant handmade items for the home. The workroom is in the back and the owners' children are running around. So charming and welcoming.

Definitely the best place for a hostess or housewarming gift, a unique piece for a kid's room, or just a chat with the friendly and inspired owners. I especially love the felt chairs, tea towels and will definitely pick up the Anemone Tote as a fun summer bag. Woo hoo Bookhou!

Housing Stray Cats

In the dead of last night we heard the saddest cries coming from the front porch - looked out and saw a little black and white feral cat all by himself, clearly freezing. I tried to let him in a few times; he would perk up and check me out for a moment, but in the end he would be too afraid and run off, only to return again a short while later to resume crying on the porch.

I have never lived anywhere with so many stray cats around the neighbourhood, and so I have decided to build a little shelter for them. This site has excellent instructions on how to do that, basically cutting a hole in a lined rubbermaid bin and filling it with straw. We will put out dry kitten food as well, which I read was the best thing for ferals as it has so much protein - although none of the strays around our house seem particularly undernourished, I must admit. They are either solely responsible for keeping the mice population firmly under control...or perhaps neighbours are feeding them? There are about seven strays that linger around our house (keeping their distance of course) so I am hoping to keep at least one or two of them warm and happy... and everyone can have a good night's sleep.

basement

We have moved into a new home. Where I was living before was the second floor of an old Victorian house, and while it was charming and adorable, there are many reasons why it was such a relief to move: from a heinous downstairs neighbour to the fact that it was getting fairly squished in there with our new baby and all accoutrements. It was the apartment I hurriedly agreed to take when I returned to Toronto from Paris, a time when I knew nothing about what was coming next. The place served a purpose and I was grateful for such a pretty apartment, but suffice to say that I absolutely love our new home and community.

One of the great things about our new place is the basement. It is not very good-looking quite yet, but it soon will be. Down there will be a small studio for me to start my work again. Most of the songs I have been writing lately are of the children's variety of course, singing to my little daughter who claps wildly after each one and warbles along in her wordless, tuneless, lovely way. It's funny because so much has changed since the last time I came back from Paris - I now have a family. It has affected my songwriting, my singing voice, and how I want to share music with people who want to listen.

I like that the new studio will be in the basement, as I feel like I am starting something new, from the bottom, the ground floor.

It's the same as this time last year, Angie...

Someone sent me a video of a song from concert I did in Paris at the wonderful l'Ogre A Plumes, a charming and charismatic downstairs-venue run by actors in the 9e that I am not sure is there anymore.

I like it because the video was shot on the sly, and I think it's cool to have shaky footage from an elegant little concert in a dirty little basement. It's not the best video, but it is still interesting to me in concept more than anything.

The song is "Angie, Say A Prayer", and I am posting it here because it is not really recorded anywhere and people always ask me about that song. Maybe that is why someone whipped out their video camera when I announced that I was going to sing it that night at l'Ogre A Plumes.