Weary
Coming back after some shows on the road usually involves some degree of letdown, usually prompted by exhaustion more than anything else. So I'm not too surprised that, arriving back in hot, humid London, Ontario, I'm feeling somewhat down. This trip was particularly tough, though; things did not go as planned...in fact, they seemed to go awry at almost every opportunity.
The first and perhaps most difficult snafu for me was a very poor turnout at my Montreal show. Now, I want to make it clear that I'm not writing this to whine or make my Montreal friends feel bad; on the contrary, when one is one's own booker/publicist/everything else, one feels pretty much totally responsible when things don't work out. So, even though the show was fun in its own way, I felt bad that I'd brought my guitarist all this way to play for about 6 people; I felt bad that we made such a paltry amount of money (particularly since I am about to take a coffeeshop job, or whatever I can get, due to total broke-ness); and I felt sad that this was probably going to be my last Montreal show for a while, since I'm heading out to the west coast by the end of the summer, and have no travel money before then. So, a big, heartfelt thank you to those who came out, and to the people at Centre St Ambroise for taking such nice care of us that evening. But I can't help but feel sad that that'll be it for a while.
Then Huntsville had to be cancelled, because we had no money for the bus. So Blair and I headed off to Toronto, which at least was very pleasant this weekend, rather than hot and awful. Then the hopes I'd had for my band to join me there unraveled, as various elements conspired to keep them in London. Finally, due to some personal circumstances, my guitarist had to rush home, and I was on my own for the show. This was disappointing, but fine: I'm used to doing solo shows, and in the end it was probably for the best, because the turnout, while better than Montreal's, was still pretty meagre, and it wouldn't exactly have been a lucrative night, if profits had been split several ways.
I did have a nice time in Toronto, but I spent the weekend away from my husband and dog for what ended up being a rather frazzled, costly enterprise. Again, I reiterate my gratitude to those who showed up and supported, and to those who put us up and showed us generosity. And I realize that this is just the way the game is, a lot of the time. Besides, who is holding a gun to my head, making me do it? During the many hours I spent on a Greyhound, in a station, or hauling my bags and guitar around hot city streets over the past few days, I've had Gillian Welch's song "Everything is Free" in my head... "Someone hit the big score / they figured it out / that we're gonna do it anyway / even if it doesn't pay"...
I love doing this, I need to do this, but if anybody every tells you that it's fun and easy all the time, they are lying. Sometimes the reason why I persist gets a little fuzzy in my mind.
Oh well.
Love,
K.
Huntsville show cancelled--but Toronto still on!
Well, I hate to tell my Muskoka friends this, but the Huntsville show is cancelled. Due to a poor turnout in Montreal, we didn't have enough cash to make it up there (this is the reality of the small-time musician's life: have no illusions, kids!). But there will be a next time, don't worry.
Meanwhile, I'm in Toronto--which I must say is looking very fine right now, all summery and comely--getting set for the show tomorrow (Sunday) night at the Smiling Buddha. Shawn Clarke, auteur of the fabulous new blogozine Birds Too Tired to Fly (http://birdstootiredtofly.blogspot.com/), will be on the bill too, and a few sticks of Lazy Dynamite may well be joining me. So come on out! I can't wait to see you; it's been too long!
Love,
Kaya
Two Allan Fraser covers posted on iLike.com
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As requested by a couple of fans, I have posted my recently recorded and CBC-broadcasted versions of my dad's songs, "Waltz of the Tennis Players" and "Dance Hall Girls" on iLike.com. You can stream them for free there, or check 'em out via iLike's Facebook application. Here's the url: http://www.ilike.com/artist/Kaya+Fraser Enjoy. And remember, if you see any CD re-releases of Fraser and DeBolt's two fantastic albums, DON'T BUY THEM. They are illegal bootlegs that have found their way onto the market and my Dad and Daisy have not seen a cent from their release. I hope that soon there will be a legal re-release, because the albums are beautiful. In the meantime, we'll all have to be patient (or use our eBay skills to get a hold of the rare vinyl versions). Love, Kaya |
Gold in them Hills
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So, I think it's a pretty special thing when you perform someone else's song, and the songwriter tells you that your version is beautiful. This happened to me a couple of days ago, with regards to the cover I did last spring at The Yellow Door in Montreal, of Ron Sexsmith's "Gold in them Hills." It is a song with a special place in my heart, and I was thrilled when Mr. Sexsmith himself commended me on it recently. Though, as I pointed out to him, it's a song that is hard to make un-beautiful. I think I'll post it again on MySpace, just for fun. Hope you all like it, too. Love, K. |
CBC Radio One on Father’s Day
I just got back from doing a very fun interview with the charming Alan Neal of CBC Radio One's Bandwidth. I'll be featured on the show this Saturday at 5 PM EST. It plays on CBC Radio throughout Ontario except Toronto (sorry, Hogtown kids). But you can also listen live online: just check out the show's homepage:
The theme of the show is Father's Day, so I talk about my very talented Dad and his music, and then two covers of his songs that I just recorded (thanks to my favourite photographer-cum-recording engineer, Joshua Hakin) will be played. I'm pretty excited about how it all turned out, so please do tune in if you can.
Love,
Kaya
In Montreal
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...preparing to do a concert tomorrow night with my old choir, Concerto Della Donna. This group is very special to me, and its director, Iwan Edwards, is one of my musical mentors. He taught me much of what I know about performing--maybe everything that wasn't already in my blood. So I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest soloist at this benefit concert, which is raising money to let the choir go on tour. They are wonderful and deserve every penny. If you want to know more: In other news, I wrote another song, again on the train, which is a very productive space for me, it seems. This one is about Richard Manuel. I'll see if I can get a kind soul to let me record it soon so you all can have a listen, if you like. Love, Kaya |
Number 3 on the iTunes charts!
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Merci, mes amis et amies en France! I just found out that I hit number 3 on the iTunes charts last week under the Folk category in France. Not too shabby for an indie such as myself, I think! Again, I'm sure that Deezer.com was a factor here, so I reiterate my thanks to them. And thank you to all those who've been listening and (it seems) actually *purchasing* the music--it is deeply appreciated, and it motivates me to keep going in this business. Love, Kaya |
Kaya hearts Deezer.com!
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Okay, I owe a *huge* thank you, accompanied by a hug and maybe a beer, to the people at Deezer.com, who were kind enough to post me on their homepage (right above another relatively unknown act called Portishead) a few days ago. Since then, I have garnered a small army of new fans, mostly in France, but many from elsewhere. I have popped up on a few people's blogs and am getting more hits on my various pages than ever before. Wow! This internet thing might just catch on, I think. Anyway I'm flattered and a little overwhelmed by the response. Thank you to Deezer.com (especially my friends Smady and Footeuz) and to all you lovely people who have been listening to me in faraway countries! I'm happy you can all listen to "Tremor and Slip" via streaming, but remember: if you do decide to buy a copy of the record, it helps me pay my bills and buy groceries! Love and gratitude, Kaya |
Upcoming in-store show; Deezer.com
A couple of things to shout out into the blogosphere today:
1) I have a way cool upcoming show here in London marking the six month anniversary of the release of Tremor and Slip. It's on Saturday, May 24th (which, confusingly, is NOT on "May Two Four" weekend this year) at 3 PM, at Grooves Records. Grooves is an awesome record store, so why not make it an afternoon of tunes, treats, and browsing? I'll be joined by a small amount of Lazy Dynamite--namely the lovely and talented Blair Whatmore, who will play whatever instrument I set in front of him.
2) Thanks to mes chères amies Severine and Stephanie, I've been posted on the excellent new music site called Deezer. You can stream the entirety of T&S on there, as well as tons of other great music (including my friend Jason's fabulous album, "Writing Home.") Checkitout: www.deezer.com. In fact, I see they've been nice enough to feature me on the homepage! All right!
There you go. Oh, and had a great practice the other night: the new songs are coming together like gangbusters. Woo!
Love,
Kaya
Birthday festivities re-cap, and Teitur in Toronto
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As I enter my late-mid-twenties, I have to say I had the best birthday weekend I've had in years. The show on the 9th with John Allaire, Jonathan Davis and Alex Krakus was much, much fun. I love singing in that room at the London Music Club. One high point for me was the moment when, at the last minute, I decided to throw in a cover of The Band's "Tears of Rage"--a song which I cherish but which I haven't played in years. It's so much fun to pull out all the stops on a tune like that sometimes. Anyway, the evening evolved into a lovely post-show jam, and then a post-jam shawarma, and post-shawarma latenight jam. Why does music always feel so good to play at 3 in the morning, sitting on someone's livingroom floor? Then I was (groggily) off to Montreal the next day, to see the family and prepare for my show with them. Sunday was practicing all day, because my dad and my brother were backing me up on bass and drums respectively, and we'd never done the "family band" thing before. So much fun! They did an admirable job, as did my mother on my set's finale, a rendition of my dad's beautiful song "Waltz of The Tennis Players." The night, which was ably kicked off by John Allaire and Ben Hammond, was a memorable one. Then last night I swung by Toronto on my way home to catch Teitur's show at The Courthouse. A very interesting show--although I'm not entirely convinced about the acoustics in the venue. A bit boomy in the huge, high-ceilinged room--which used to be a big old-fashioned courtroom, so you can imagine the scale. Still, all three sets (the first by a member of Teitur's band, whose name I alas cannot recall but whose set was lovely, the second by the impressively-voiced Tina Dico) managed to pull off diverse musical inventiveness, without verging into pretentious hipster pastiche. A very gratifying night of music. But the show was really made, for me, by Teitur's charming and amusing between-song banter, and the repeated references to the CN Tower as "The Stick." So now home for a little while. A new song came to me on the train (I wish I could just rent a train berth every time I feel the need for a new song, because it seems like a productive space for me, for some reason). So that's good. Lazy Dynamite and I practice tonight for a show at the end of the month in St.Thomas, as well as for the hell of it. That will be fun, as always, I'm sure. I sure will miss those guys when I leave town later this summer. *Sniff* Much love, K. |
