YEG Falls - a New Spotify Playlist for Your Fall Feels With every new season comes a new vibe. New feels. New music. For me, fall is foreboding and solemn. A sign of things to come. Things like winter. Months of winter. Fall is also, without a doubt, the most beautiful season. A fireworks finale before the dark night (before we
Feature Wall Feature Featuring Von Bieker I recently got to visit local videographer, drummer and music-enthusiast Daryl Payne in his beautiful downtown apartment. We looked over the Brewery District, peppermint tea in hand. The sun shone in and cast a golden glow across his barn wood Feature Wall. While folk songstress Maddie Storvold waited — mouse-
My Good Neighbour in the Bowtie Monday night I’m sitting in the Princess Theatre holding back tears until I finally give in. The battle starts with the opening scenes and is lost long before the closing credits. Nearly all of us watching are hesitant to leave when the movie ends. We don’t want to
Sing me something I can feel, Dan Mangan Monday night I find myself in the basement of El Cortez, a grotto-turned-speakeasy packed with fifty sweaty fans of Dan Mangan. We’ve all been tipped off to a secret show, starting at midnight, in one of the most intimate concert spaces I’ve been in. Mangan plays
So many shows I wrote a song about 'em This week I have so many shows I may be feeling a little lightheaded. That’s likely the exact right state of mind to write a song you’ll only ever sing once (because it is about said shows and it is VERY specific). Here’s the song, as posted
The Lies We Tell About Local Music The lies we tell about local music. “If they were really good, I’d hear them on the radio” This is just one of the lies we believe about local, independent artists. Since I entered the scene in earnest in 2015, I’ve discovered how false and insidious this lie
Jammin' in the Jungle with Joel Kleine If you get the obscure ‘Tarzan Dan’ reference in the title of this post, my hat goes off to you. If not, let’s move on. This week I got to join Joel Kleine in his basement studio for a ‘very special episode’ of my Facebook Live performances. Joel is
Drawn Into Bizarre Love Triangle Sometimes life gets in the way of art. I often feel this way as chores, doctors appointments and grocery shopping choke out my schedule. Day-to-day duties are not my go-to creative catalysts, but maybe they should be. Monday through Friday I drive my kids to school. This
The Electric Yellow Woman The electric-yellow woman I’m sitting in the waiting room of a medical lab. The space is brand new, decorated in a style I’d call “cold-nice”. It’s all grays and washed out wood-veneers. I feel like I’m in a soulless show-home where pleasing
You're Not Bored Enough I’m don’t spend enough time bored. I’m talking about time without plans and time without entertainment. Time without a phone – or even a book – in my hands. Meandering, wandering time. With entertainment at my fingertips at all times, I’ve forgotten my need to be bored. Having
On Being Rejected Ah … rejection letters. I imagine every artist will read these terrible few words one day in their career; “we regret to inform you …” I got a matching set of rejection letters last week. I applied for two grants to record an album this year and just found out I received
Cross-Post: So Long and Welcome to the Future The following is a personal letter I shared today with the Bleeding Heart Art Space community – a non-musical endeavour I’ve pursued for over a decade. Until now. Read the original piece here. I have big, exciting, and difficult news for you today. And the end of June, I
Reconciling art and faith - a conversation with Timotheories Tim Kuefler, founder of arts-and-culture channel Timotheories interviewed me a couple of months ago and the magical work of editing is now complete. Our hour and a half conversation has been boiled down to its 30-minute essence and uploaded for your enjoyment. Hear me tell Tim about
Brand new song from the railroad tracks A couple of weekends back I found myself listening to the bits of beauty friends had gathered during their time at an art and faith retreat in Calgary. I was retreating, too, so when I heard poet Stephen T Berg mention the “exquisite sorrow” of a “tritone train whistle”, I
What I Do When I Don't Want to Work This is what I do when I don’t want to work. Sometimes I get stuck. Weekly. Daily. I sputter and stall out. I find myself staring at the screen and refreshing the feed. Waiting for who-knows-what. In limbo. It was Karin Berquist, powerhouse songstress half of Over
Facebook Live Performance: Brought to You By The Letter 'B' I go live on Facebook every Monday at 12:30 MST. I love it when you drop by and especially when you comment so I know you’re there and I can say hello. Today’s setlist is brought to you by the letter ‘B’: Babylon (David Gray Cover) Broken
Song Story: Wherever You Are Songwriting often becomes a way of problem-solving. Or if not solving a problem, pulling it apart to see its parts. Sometimes the best a song can do is steep me in the problem – hold me in the mystery – long enough to hear something new. Wherever You Are is this
Caught Between the Work and The Waiting My wife and I suffer a date-night curse. NIne times out of ten we plan to go out on what’s set to be a beautiful evening. Five PM the ‘cold front’ blows in and we’re wearing rubber boots with our dress up clothes. It’d be nice,
Music Library Wherever You Are 🎵 Song Story: Wherever You Are Song writing often becomes a way of problem solving. Or if not solving a problem, pulling it apart to see its parts. Sometimes the best a song can do is steep me in the problem – hold me in the mystery – long enough to hear something
video Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac Cover with 6 Von Biekers You lucky ducks - I'm excited to show you this video FIRST! I've been working real hard on it, cloning myself five times so I can fill out this cover of Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere. I would love to hear your feedback on this one, because
Song Stories: Santa Fe Santa Fe is a travelogue of longing. For the past five years I have travelled to Santa Fe, New Mexico for an arts and faith retreat called The Glen Workshop. My life has been changed in so many ways by the event, the people who attend and the location. For
video Green Eyes cover Now you get early access to my videos! I'm developing a rhythm to my work that allows me to give you early access to content I'll be sharing to a broader audience later. I worked extra hard to get two Youtube videos done this week so
