Brewing the Wine and the Song

The first thing I need to point out about Lunenburg is that it's one of my favourite places in the world. I've been going there since the summer of 1991, and it just gets better every time. The fact that UNESCO has named it a World Heritage Site has only added to its prestige, without destroying its charm. And the Folk Harbour Festival, while a little on the traditional site musically speaking, has always been a wonderful event for me. And so it was again.

To begin with, my accomodations were unbelievable: I literally slept on the floor of the dance hall on the upper floor of the awe-inspiring Opera House. The vibe of the building is so grand, and beautiful, that I felt like I was being filled with music as I stared up at the elaborate plaster ceiling 20 feet above me, listening to the "sounders" (the fog horns of navigational buoys) echo across Lunenburg Harbour.

But that's something you can only do once you've gone to bed... which never happened before 3 AM. Despite earnestly believing that a night's sleep is a great thing, I couldn't argue with the fact that late-night jam sessions with gifted and glowing musicians, in the company of some of the world's most welcoming citizens, are even better. So sleep was pretty rare that weekend, to say the least.

On the other hand, I didn't have to commute to work in the morning. In fact on my first day James Shaw, the producer whose studio occupies the second floor of the Opera House, actually brought me a Tim Horton's coffee while I was still prone. All I had to do was get up, carry the coffee 20 feet to my amp, and start rocking. Which I did for about three hours, in the world's greatest practice hall. And the best part was, I got to do that again for 2 more days!

Plus I walked around town putting up posters in local shops, and bent an ear to some of the great festival acts (Galitcha, J.P. Cormier, Rick Fines, Scott Parsons, the unbelievable Celtae... and too many others to name) and just generally enjoyed being in one of the world's most wonderful places.

And I had a pretty proud moment, too, long before I got on stage with the guys on the Monday night to record the new album. Aengus played my song, "When the Whistle Blows," to start his set on the main stage on the Saturday night. And while I know he plays it a lot, it was really something special to hear he and Trevor do it for 900 people, and to announce me as the writer to all of them. I truly felt as proud of that as I had felt about graduating from university.

Of course, getting some attention from the locals, from the festival musicians, and from the crowd -plus a review in the Halifax Daily News, as I found out while I was there- meant that all the marbles were on the line when it came time to do the record... but more on that later.