A couple shots by Kevin Lamb of last night’s tribute to The Stomper.
Top – with the most excellent host and future Front Page Challenge regular panelist, Dave Bidini.
Bottom – with the Most Valuable Player of the show, Paul Linklater
A couple of shots by Saxe of the recent show at Hugh’s Room.
Top – left to right: Carvin Winans, me, Coco Love Alcorn, George Koller, and Kevin Fox.
Bottom – me and Paul Reddick.
Thanks to Michael Wrycraft for hosting.
As a huge fan of Carole King, I’m looking forward to playing a couple of her great songs at this tribute cabaret at Hugh’s Room in Toronto. I’ll be performing No Easy Way Down and It’s Too Late. Advance tickets are recommended as this show will likely sell out. Friday, March 15, 8:30 SHARP. Poster by A Man Called Wrycraft.
Pleasure to be in the house band and front a couple of my favourite Joni Mitchell songs at the annual Songs Are Like Tattoos tribute cabaret at Hugh’s Room in Toronto. This is year it was sold out, once again. Poster by the one and only Martin Tielli.
Available for download on iTunes
Two Portraits is a 12” 45rpm single featuring Kurt’s interpretations of Nick Drake’s classic River Man and a lesser known Donovan song Sunny Goodge Street. There are a limited number of records available – each is hand numbered out of an edition of 300.
Kurt produced the recordings with Mark Mariash on drums, Maury Lafoy on bass, David Matheson on piano, and Lori Cullen on backing vocals on Goodge Street. Kurt sang and played an array of guitars. The bed tracks were recorded live in the studio by Chris Stringer, who also mixed the songs.
For the cover art, Kurt painted portraits of the songwriters on wood panels, allowing the wood grain to influence and interfere with the pigment. There is no type on the front, and ultra minimal on the back. Credits are found on the record labels.
Two Portraits is released on Heading North Music. Downloads are available on iTunes, Oct 16, 2012.
The release coincides with Swinghammer performing on the Songs Of Nick Drake Tour in November 2012.
When I used to live in Toronto’s Kensington Market, I was truly honored to be asked to perform at a benefit concert in support of the beautiful old neighborhood church around the corner from my place – St Stephen’s. The evening’s line-up included Bruce Cockburn, Daniel Lanois, Jane Siberry, and Molly Johnson. The show was professionally recorded, and amazingly is being released 7 years later on True North Records. I performed “The Rose Of Montrose” with Lori Cullen on backing vocals, and naturally “Kensington Market”. It is available on CD and via iTunes.
Here’s the press release:
On Sunday September 18th 2005, a remarkable concert event took place in a small Church in Toronto to rescue one of the most important providers of social assistance to the city’s downtown community in need. After 147 years of servicing one of the poorest neighborhoods in Toronto, the parish of St. Stephen in the fields faced a financial crisis.
Members of the Kensington Market area, politicians, and music industry heavy weights came together to raise money for this iconic church.
Available for the first time, all proceeds will be donated to their ongoing community services including: Georgina House, the first women’s shelter in Toronto (1908); Saint Stephen’s Community House (1960); and a food program that serves 10,000 meals a year to the hungry and homeless.
For folks who were listening today to the live recording of my Tom Thomson song-cycle on CBC Radio, the studio album Turpentine Wind is available for download for $5 – go to MUSIC on the main menu, pull down to Discography, and click on the Turpentine Wind image – this will take you to my page on Bandcamp. Here you can download in any format you like including hi-rez.. The deluxe edition with CD, BluRay of animations and an original painting of a WAV file from the vocal tracks is available for $125 plus shipping – please go to STORE on the menu.
Swinghammer interview with Luke Doucet
Click the link to watch an edited version of an interview presentation that was part of the Sleepwalk Guitar Festival held at The Great Hall in Toronto, Nov 4-6, 2011. Thanks to the folks at Six Shooter Records.
