It’s officially fall – I went apple picking the other week. For the first time since I was a child. I’m working on setting up shows for the Fall season and into the winter. More dates are coming in every day, so keep checking back. If you live in Toronto, I’m playing a series of shows in town at various small bars as I assemble a band to play my songs. Come and check out these shows and see how things are shaping up. We’ll be doing our best to keep things fresh. I’d like to cover some complete classic albums at some of these shows too. I’ve been working on learning “Pet Sounds” – that’s a big one. As for out of town shows, I’d love to come and play for you all – so keep checking back and I promise I’ll be touring soon. In other news, i’m working on new songs and testing them out at open mics around town and for friends. I have some promising ones. And I’m going back into the unreleased stuff and reworking some older songs. I hope you all have a wonderful Fall and see you sometime soon on the road or in Toronto. Love, Mike.

Advance tix to my August 23 show in Toronto at Bread & Circus can be purchased online through Topspin and come with a free digital EP of live songs recorded between 2004 and 2009. This will be my first show back in Toronto. The special guest is Language Arts. Visit http://bit.ly/oAToHi to purchase advance tickets. xo, Mike.

Hello all, I’m back here in Toronto now, my old stomping grounds. Old, yet new. A nice mix. More new than old, actually. There’s been lots of music already in the first week. My first show back will be as part of the Queen West Music Fest, held in Trinity Bellwoods Park on August 20th. Other acts on the bill are The Heartbroken, Lazybones and Emily Fennell, and some more to be announced. I’m excited to play in one of my favorite spaces in Toronto! And to put together a little combo for the day. We shall see. There will be more Toronto shows, a Canadian tour in September and October and probably a US tour too. Very very excited. And my US friends, I’ll be doing a few shows at the end of the month near Philly, NYC and Boston. So come and check out my tour page for all the details. Bye for now!

Last month, my friend Page Williams asked me to play piano on a record he was putting together of punk/hardcore pioneer Dave Smalley (Dag Nasty, All, Down By Law). Page was bringing Dave in from Virginia to a farmhouse in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and they were recording country/acoustic versions of his old songs. I had never heard of Dave before. But when I heard his songs, the lyrics, and his voice, I fell in love. It’s been a huge pleasure and unexpected learning experience to be involved with this new project, titled Dave Smalley & the Farmhouse 5. The album will be available in the Fall, and there will be some live shows, some of which I’ll be joining the band for. Here’s a taste:

And here’s the Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-Smalley-and-The-Farm-House-5/147696191968286

Hi everyone! I’m excited to say that I’ll be moving back to Toronto in July. Montreal will always be my hometown and I’ll miss my friends and musical misfits here, but I’ve always looked forward to traveling to T.O. during the last 2 years, so I’m moving my homebase back there.

A quick shout-out to the Montreal musicians who have inspired me over the last 2 years:

The Barr Brothers
Daniel Isaiah
Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few
Amanda Mabro (now based in Toronto!)
Miss Sugarpuss
Li’l Andy
Tommy Youngsteen
Tim Fletcher and Greg Paquet
Ideal Lovers (r.i.p)
Eric Harding (my old jazz piano teacher)
Leif Vollebekk
David Martel
The Darlington String Quartet
and many more!

It’s been 4 years (wow!) since I’ve lived in Toronto, though sometimes it feels like I’ve never left. Here’s to the next chapter!

Love,
Mike

My good friend Ezra Soiferman, who I’ve collaborated with over the past 10 years, was inspired to put my song “Do You Feel The World?” to a collage of his art photos he’s taken in recent years. Check out the result here:

Hello all, here to tell you that the concert I recorded a few weeks ago with the Darlington String Quartet for CBC is now up online for everyone to listen to on CBC’s Concerts On Demand website. Check it out to hear fresh arrangements of songs from Do You Feel The World? You can listen here.

I’m thrilled thrilled and in suspense for my next Toronto show, coming up on Thursday May 5th. At the Drake Hotel, with Darrelle London on the bill. I’ll be joined by a band and string section and some surprise guests. The show starts at 8 pm sharp. I hope to see all of you there! xo, Mike.

I feel so energized from my performance with a string quartet a few days ago in Montreal. The Darlington String Quartet and I taped a handful of songs for CBC Radio, and the performances will be broadcast nation-wide sometime in late-May/early-June. I will let you all know. In the meantime, here are a couple of photos from the show. The quartet is, left to right: John Corban on violin, Carissa Klopoushak on violin, Jennifer Thiessen on viola, and Kristina Koropecki on cello.

Photos by Ezra Soiferman (http://www.EzSez.com)

The string arrangements are progressing nicely for the CBC performance next week. I’m lucky to be working with Andy Creeggan on this! Here’s a nice promo video made by George Allister of the Segal Centre.

For tickets and info, call 514-739-7944.