“silently to and from the heave of the water"

The painting above is by Jeff Felker, a very talented artist who contacted me because he wanted to paint me in one of his paintings. Jeff had been working on a series of paintings inspired by quotes from Walt Whitman concerning water and music. 

 

One of his ideas involved an accordion player inspired from Whitman's quote: “silently to and from the heave of the water." I loved the concept and what was influencing him, and so we collaborated from there.

I am honoured that Jeff did this painting with me in it, and also appreciate that I am seen in the ocean, next the lighthouse. This (for me) symbolizes where I was born and grew up, in Victoria British Columbia.

If you enjoy this painting and need to see more of Jeff Felker's portfolio, then please visit his website HERE.

From Pacific to the Atlantic I go...

 

My Accordion has taken me on many journey's, most are far from boring... bathroom stalls, parade floats, pedicabs...

...boats, the beach, the back of a pick up truck, wine cellars, magic shows, birthday parties, weddings, openings, radio, television, theatre, the stage, and your kitchen... but this time my accordion has taken me to Orlando, Florida!

I'll be here for a while... enjoying the heat, seeing what the humidity does to my squeeze box, figuring out my way around this huge city... adjusting to the culture shock... and continuing to save the world with the accordion... I'll keep you posted on my progress :)

What's happening!

Check out the article on me from the September 15, 2010 Times Colonist issue HERE

A lot is happening these days.... 

I've tied up all the important loose ends. The gnomes are safe and sound with my cousin...

The remaining accordions are with my Mommala...

Pretty Mommala

D-Rock is watching over the robots and paint-by-numbers...

With everything being taken care, what else is there to do you ask?

Well...

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

"All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney

End of August update

I saw Crowded House on August 30th. The concert was beautiful. They are music heroes to me, I am proud to be a fan, happy to have this ongoing cosmic connection with New Zealand, and I hope to one day work with them, or a Finn in some capacity :)

The party that my gypsy band and I threw on August 28th 2010, was INSANE!!! I had a blast, The Bolting Brassicas were fantastic, The Carnival Band were amazing, and my gypsy band and I had a 'no pants party' on stage, complete with sweat, screaming, stripping, and a vacuum hose.

Towards the end of the evening my gypsy band and I welcomed The Bolting Brassicas and The Carnival Band back to the stage for one massive performance. It was glorious. I felt the earth shift. To prove it's impact I couldn't hear anything but ringing in my ears for almost a week after wards. What?

Logan's Pub sound man -Scott Henderson- had his hands full with 43 musicians performing that night, but he did it with grace and no one got hurt :)

My gypsy band has been a true blast, a fabulous ride. I've lived, breathed, slept, ate, bathed, laughed, cried this band...It was the first thing I thought about when I woke up, and the last thing before bed. Creating, leading and directing it has been very educational to say the least. 

I have had the pleasure of performing with some of Victoria's finest and talented musicians, and met and worked with some amazing event coordinators, promoters, musicians and bands.

Performing with David Gifford, aka "The Great Giffoni" has been a gift as well.

Underscoring this magic show for children's birthday parties, private events, and even opening for bands, has been very special. It taught me how much I love to play music for children, and playing for kids is best described as FUN.

 

Having an audience with no pretense, and always giving you their full honest feelings for what your doing is very helpful to a performer. You know when you're boring, and you know when you're doing something right. Giggling, laughing and screaming is always a good combination, and a little interpretive hoppity hop dancing means 'they like it' but looks best when you're miniature... don't try it if you're over 4'5 feet.

Keep calm...