Yesterday was one of many busy days – particularly as I prepare to head to Manitoba at the end of the month, yet it was absolutely, positively fun and inspirational.
Just after having wrapped up filming DANNiEL OiCKLES ‘Caring and Hate‘ video the night before, I took my regular commute out to Aylmer to record with DARREN HOLMES. What made this particular trip special was having my friend, Ottawa singer/songwriter KETURAH JOHNSON alongside me. I finally, or I should say the three of us finally made our busy schedules work so that we could have her come out and help us with our album as it continues to develop. KETURAH is one of several talented people we are enlisting to hop on board and add something special to the mix with these tunes (and I’m realizing I need to come up with a working title for this album soon…hmmm what to call it? Thoughts people?) Other talents who have/are lending themselves to this project are singer/songwriter AiLEEN MARTELLA (who wrote ‘Open Up My Heart’), DAViD FORT founding member of the Manitoba-based band ‘TWiN‘, cellist ROSALiND McCANNY, violinist NEiL SMiTH, singer/songwriter/founding member of band ‘JOSEF POLLOCK‘, iSAAC VALLENTiN, and of course I have to mention that singer/songwriter/band leader of Ottawa’s ‘THE PEPTiDES‘ CLAUDE MARQUiS has also given us the go to experiment with not one, but two original PEPTiDES tunes as covers (the beautiful ‘Sailor Song‘ and ‘Nothing Matters‘. Finally of course – none of this would be remotely possible without the one, the only – D HOLMES, to which I’m incredibly grateful for. Here’s hoping we can bring on a few more talents into the collective mix.
Without getting into too much detail I can say that the opportunity to collaborate with DARREN & KETURAH is one I’ve been feeling especially grateful for today, to say the least, because I am such a huge fan of both their work as creative beings. (Before I forget: Be sure to check out KETURAH at Bluesfest as well!)
KETURAH and I don’t get to hang and jam nearly as often as we should yet by the time we were ready to roll I already felt majorly inspired by her breathtaking voice. I fumble for words to describe how infectious it was to record live; all at once the dynamic compelled me to sing more consciously, if you will, and less self-consciously; a testament to being iN THE MOMENT. It felt natural and I think we’re all looking forward to hearing the results. KETURAH hopped in and provided lovely harmonies to the chorus of DARREN HOLMES original tune ‘All I Need‘, as well we worked on a live duet of a BEACH BOYS cover of ‘In My Room‘ for good measure.
If these songs were stories (which they are) unto themselves, having the character of KETURAH enter this world made each story, each song, warmer and richer. The little world of stories going on in this collection is by far so much more complete with DARREN & KETURAH, and this has made the process of recording so much more rewarding. I’m incredibly thankful for both of them.
Side Note: If the photos make it seem like I’m somehow fixated on feet – I noticed that too… then I realized its an unconscious thing. Taking pics of people’s feet feels less ‘invasive’ in moments like these – as I find some people can feel obligated to perform or be ‘on’. Plus – feet get us places – which is cool!. Yay feet.
