Greyhound Odyssey Tour

I'm very excited to announce the Greyhound Odyssey Tour!!!

I'm going back to music for a little while...

The Might-Have-Been-Imaginary Back-On-Tour TOUR Part !

A few months ago I decided I was ready to get back on the road and set out to do so with great intention. Madda and I loaded up the Aquarius and took off to the Kootenay mountains to start the 'tour' even though there were no concerts planned and I wasn't sure if Erik actually had a ticket to Canada. I have a really hard time planning for the road unless I'm already there so this was a perfectly logical albeit insane course of action. Days and weeks and months have gone flying by and now, sat atop the Parvis de St. Gilles with just 2 days left before the 'last gig', I can scarcely believe what just happened. I got to play 60 concerts across 2 continents and come back to my favorite place in the whole world to hunker down, record, and get ready for the next part of the adventure (Part !!). Erik was there (here!) for over half of it and this Friday we will bookend Part ! feeling very much physically, musically, and generally whole as a musical duo.

Nothing further to say other than THANK YOU that was awesome.

2015-2016 Back-On-Tour Tour PART !
Friday, September 11 - The Royal on Baker - Nelson, BC
Saturday, September 12 - Kaslo Hotel - Kaslo BC
Sunday, September 20 - The Wrong Turn Tavern - Keremeos, BC
Thursday, September 24 - Skinny Fat Jack's - Vancouver BC
Friday, October 2 - Rolla Pub (Acoustic Northern Lights Set THANKS PATTY!) - Rolla, BC
Saturday, October 3 - Rolla Pub - Rolla, BC
Monday, October 5 - Nancy O's - Prince George, BC
Tuesday, October 6 - Wells Hotel - Wells, BC
Wednesday, October 7 - Dandelion Cafe - Forest Grove, BC
Friday, October 9 - 557 Artist Block - Penticton, BC
Saturday, October 10 - The Wrong Turn Tavern - Keremeos, BC
Wednesday, October 14 - Café Deux Soleils - Vancouver, BC
Thursday, October 15 - Logan's Pub - Victoria, BC
Friday, October 16 - The Vault - Nanaimo, BC
Saturday, October 17 - Char's Landing - Port Alberni, BC
Tuesday, October 20 - Jamie's Rainforest Cafe - Tofino, BC
Friday, October 23 - Royal Canadian Legion#66 - Lillooet, BC
Wednesday, October 28 - The Wrong Turn Tavern - Keremeos, BC
Thursday, October 29 - The Elite - Penticton, BC
Saturday, October 31 - Ellison's Market - Nelson, BC
Saturday, October 31 - Newkey's Place - Crawford Bay, BC
Wednesday, November 4 - Infinitea - Fernie, BC
Thursday, November 5 - The Green Door, KIMBERLEY, BC
Friday, November 6 - Elk and Oarsman - Banff, AB
Saturday, November 7 - Good Earth - Canmore, AB
Monday, November 9 - DV8 - Edmonton, AB
Tuesday, November 10 - The Ironwood - Calgary, AB
Wednesday, November 11 - Vangellis - Saskatoon, SK
Thursday, November 12 - McNally's Tavern - Regina, SK

Friday, November 13 - The Jam Space - Lemberg, SK

Saturday, November 14 - The Double Decker - Brandon, MB

Sunday, November 15 - TBA Studios - Winnipeg, MB

Wednesday, November 18 - From The Grind Up - Fort Frances, ON

Thursday, November 19 - The Apollo - Thunder Bay, ON

Friday, November 20 - Serendipity Gardens - Rossport, ON

Saturday, November 21 - Loplops - Sault Ste Marie, ON

Thursday, November 26 - Speakeasy - Sudbury, ON

Friday, November 27 - Griffin Pub - Bracebridge, ON

Saturday, November 28 - The Garnet - Peterborough
Tuesday, December 1 - Call The Office - London, ON
Wednesday, December 2 - Phog Lounge - Windsor, ON
Thursday, December 3 - Faux Pop Station - Goderich, ON
Friday, December 11 - Le Grand Balle Salé - Brussels - BE

Sunday, December 13 - Lava Café - Brussels - BE

Tuesday, December 15 - Le Pop-IN - Paris - FR

Thursday, December 17 - Da Emilia - Torino - Italy

Sunday, December 20 - Botz - Torino - Italy

Wednesday, December 23 - Twiggy - Varese - Italy

Saturday, December 26 - Arci Canara - Verona - Italy

Thursday, December 31 - Da Livia! - Borgo Stremiz - Italy

Sunday, January 3 - Da Vicenzo - Modena - Italy

Monday, January 4 - House Concert - Bologna - Italy

Tuesday, January 5 - The Battle of Castello Don Pears - Verona - Italy

Wednesday, January 13 - 7(7) - Metz - FR
Thursday, January 14 - House Concert - Karlsruhe - DE
Saturday, January 16 - House Concert - Viersen - DE
Sunday, January 17 - Ehrenfeld - Koln - DE
Friday, January 22 - New Year's Drink - Gent - BE
Saturday, January 23 - House Concert - Berlin - DE

Friday, January 29 - Gourmand - Brussels - BE 

So long, Belgium

Well friends, after living several lifetimes in the span of a few brief months, I'm on the road again. There are simply not enough words in the English language to express my gratitude to everyone who has helped me out during my recovery. Thank you, grazie, danke schön, merci beaucoup. If I start naming names, it gets a little bit crazy, so I hope you know who you are and that I sure do appreciate having you as a friend! 

Before I go, Erik and I will play a little going away concert and finally share all the new tunes we've been working on. 

The concert will be at Rue des Presidents 19, 19h00, Tuesday May 19th and everyone is welcome.

I didn't see that coming....

...Literally I did not see the car coming and so I was that much more surprised when it came sliding into my leg as I stepped into the street. The good news is that all of the important stuff like my back, my neck, my lungs, my heart - all of that is relatively unscathed. The great news is that I have the best friends in the whole universe. So while being on the receiving end of a hit & run accident and left on the side of the road has its obvious drawbacks, even this can turn into something truly enjoyable with the right people. For two days while I wait for surgery, I have been sat on a couch marveling endlessly at this assembly of goodwill and community and especially the uniquely wonderful generous and caring souls who are by my side keeping me smiling through the thick of it. I assure you, I love you more, and I will post news on the recovery after the surgery. For now, the European tour is Ufficially cancelled and I am in the best of hands with a guitar on my lap, channeling all the love that I am so grateful to receive into music, dreams and healing.

Programma Ufficiale!

Behold! The ever-amorphous Programma Ufficiale (tm).

There are still dates to be confirmed in Berlin, Verona, and Bologna. And of course there will be surprise concerts along the way which the internet may never find out about. But for the moment, this is the plan:

Jan 17 - Nightscapes, MAASTRICHT (nl)

Jan 24 - Vintage Emde, KOLN (de)

Jan 31 - Anti-tapas, BRUSSELS (be)

Feb 4 - Stop TTIP, BRUSSELS (be)

Feb 4 - Cipiace, BRUSSELS (be)

Feb 10 - Reinhardt Tempel, LEIPZIG (de)

Feb 15 - Canoe Concert, BERLIN (de)

Feb 16 - Ostpol, DRESDEN (de)

Feb 18 - The Early Bird, INNSBRUCK (at)

Feb 19 - Baciccia, PIACENZA (it)

Fe 20 - Riff Disco Live, LODI (it)

Feb 22 - Stremiz, FAEDIS (it)

Feb 23 - Dar Piulle, LIVORNO (it)

Feb 24 - la Cité, FIRENZE (it)

Feb 25 - Prima Hangar, PESARO (it)

Feb 27 - Bar Perla Verde, SAVIGNANO SUL PANARO (it)

Feb 28 - Arci Chinaski, MANTOVA (it)

March 1 - Casa di Paolo, MARSEILLE (fr)

March 3 - Le Pop-In, PARIS (fr)

March 5 - Muziekanenhuis Tini, GENT (be)

March 8 - Salle Dublin, BRUSSELS (be)

We're really excited to be hitting the road with new songs AND lots of 'official bootleg' copies of Postcards AND a very limited stack of Wild Life Sketches booklet/CDs that were previously unavailable in Europe. Check back here for updates and links to facebook events as they come online.

And PS... if you're reading this from Canada we've got BIG news. There is a coast-to-coast tour in the works for march/april 2015 and Erik is coming, too :)

See you soon!

POSTCARDS from Ontario!!

THE Cougars in America POSTCARDS from ONtario tour starts in 1 week!
As of April 24, Erik Schoepen joins me lapsteel & mandolin.
AND this is your chance to get POSTCARDs with my album.

See you:

April 17 - The Phog Lounge, Windsor
April 18 - THe Jam Factory, Toronto
April 19 - Location TBA, somewhere in Goderich!
April 20 - Nithology, outside Waterloo
April 24 - Guelph Community Music Living Room Concerts, Guelph
April 25 - The Grad Club, London
April 26 - Jazzmyn's, Owen Sound
April 27 - The Arlington Hotel, Maynooth
May 1 - Mugshots, Ottawa
May 2 - The Victory Tavern, Timmins
May 3 - Tyler and Britney's Wedding!, Terrace Bay
May 4 - Serendipity Gardens, Rossport
May 7 - The Apollo, Thunder Bay
May 8 - le Bijou, Kenora

So I Sit All Satisfied

After 90 concerts and 18000km of driving since the middle of February, I've finally made it out to St. John's, Newfoundland. This is as far east as you can go in Canada and in keeping with my go east when the wind blows west mantra/mentality, it makes perfect sense that I should be on my way to Vancouver right now! Selling CDs for whatever anyone was willing to pay for them, I've now sold nearly 500 numbered copies of Wild Life Sketches for as much as an eagle feather and as little as a hundred dollars. Yes, I've had a great time ramblin' around on my own and will keep it up for another week but then and sweet goodness THEN, starting in Toronto on the 21st of July, THEN I will be joined by a troop of friends and musicians who have revolutionized this blink of an eye that I call my life on earth. After 5 summers of touring up and down the Italian Peninsula in a van full of madness with the Anti-Tapas crew (and an entourage of barmen, butlers, circus performers, photographers that only wear red high-heeled shoes, pizzica players, etc...), I suggested that this year I show them my country. A lot of the motivation for touring so intensely across this big place over the past few months has been to get ready for this big trip and I'm happy, astounded, and frightened to announce that it's happening and will be beginning in 10 days! Stops are planned in:

Toronto ON,
Guelph ON,
Bracebridge ON,
Thessalon, ON,
Terrace Bay ON,
Thunder Bay ON,
Morden MB,
Christopher Lake SK,
Sylvan Lake AB,
Banff AB,
Victoria BC,
Nanaimo BC,
Port Alberni BC,
Ucluelet BC,
and last but not least,
Vancouver BC!

...And of course there will be music and madness on the road in between all of those places, last minute concerts to fill in some gaps, many many lakes to swim in, starry nights, forest hikes and dare I say it, maybe even the school bus I imagined before I started this crazy trip.

And it goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyways: I have nothing but endless gratitude for everyone who has helped me along the way and am truly awe-struck by the kindness of people all across this country that have made my improbable trip possible. I could start naming names but quite literally thousands of people have turned this adventure from dream to reality so I will simply say THANK YOU to all those who hold "El Derecho de Ser Felices."

See you very soon and, of course, stay tuned for news about the East coast tour at the end of August ;)

Wild Life Sketches Continues: Long Way From Home Edition

Well, I'm happy to report that all of the planned shows on the Wild Life Sketches Way Out West (tour) are back behind in the realm of fond memories and today I'm heading out to Ucluelet, BC to dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean! After 9000km of driving and 40+ concerts getting here, I'm taking a break for a couple weeks to let Mildred rest her road weary tires and then starting to make my way back to Ontario. Thanks to all the people I met on the way out west, I get to see some familiar faces on the way back, too! And even if I'm on holiday, I can't imagine I'll spend it any other way but hunting for concerts and dropping in on places at the last minute with a guitar and a song to sing :)

Upcoming gigs and the LONG WAY FROM HOME tour:

(more dates to be announced but these are all confirmed so far)

Sunday, April 28th

The Prophouse

Vancouver, BC

Friday, May 10th

The Grateful Fed

Kelowna, BC

Monday and Tuesday, May 13th-14th

The Elk and Oarsman

Banff, AB

Friday, May 17th

Brittany's

Edmonton, AB

Saturday, May 18th

TBA!!!!

Saskatoon, SK

Wednesday, May 22nd

The Mondragon Cafe

Winnipeg, MB

Thursday, May 23rd

The Bijou

Kenora, ON

Saturday, May 25th

The Apollo

Thunder Bay, ON

Wednesday, May 29th

Acoustic Concert in a 12 Sided Barn

(Dodecagonical Barn Concert)

Iron Bridge, ON

Thursday, May 30th

The Anchor Inn

Little Current, ON

Friday, May 31st

The Old Station

Bracebridge, ON

Saturday, June 1st

Algonquin Park Stewardship Clean-UP Day

The Wolf Den

Oxtongue Lake, ON

Sunday, June 2nd

Kemptville Farmer's Market

Kemptville, ON

Thursday, June 13th

Milk Coffee Bar

Windsor, ON

Friday, June 14th

London Music Club

London, ON

Saturday, June 15th

Evergreen Farmer's Market

Toronton, ON

Thursday, June 20th

The Griffin Pub

Bracebridge, ON

Friday, June 21st

Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life

Goderich, ON!!!!!!

...and of course every where on the road in between here and home, songs, stories and CDs will be swapped for beers, beds, and a bite to eat.

Stay tuned for more news and maybe some recordings of new songs!

Wild Turkeys, WILD LIFE SKETCHES and the Wild West

.....And as I was driving late into the night and stomping my feet to the insatiable groove of Cymande, the waxing crescent moon cocked her head and gave me a crooked smile as she invited me to follow her over the Western horizon!

As day broke in Minden, ON, the wild turkeys stood sentinel while I prepared for the last push toward the first stop on my Western Canada tour!

Tuesday, March 19

The Old Station

Bracebridge, ON

Wednesday, March 20

Griffin Pub

Bracebridge, ON

Saturday, March 23

The Auld Kirk

Thessalon, ON

Friday, March 29
Living Room Concert
Winnipeg, MB

Saturday, March 30

The Double Decker

Brandon, MB

Wednesday, April 3

Living Room Concert

Saskatoon, SK

Monday, April 8

The Elk and Oarsman

Banff, AB

Tuesday, April 9

The Elk and Oarsman

Banff, AB

Thursday, April 11

Voodoo`s

Penticton, BC

Saturday, April 13

The Art We Are

Kamloops, BC

Saturday, April 20

Earth Club Factory

Denman Island, BC

Tuesday, April 22

Char`s Landing

Port Alberni, BC

More dates TBA!

Forest City Dreamin'

....Always at the last minute, I've got a big weekend coming up in the forest city with 4 shows in the next 24 hours!

Friday March 1st, 3PM

East Village Cafe

785 Dundas St.

Friday March 1st, 8PM

The Grad Club

University of Western Ontario

Saturday March 2nd, 1130AM

Organic Works Cafe

222 Wellington St.

Saturday March 2nd, 1PM

The Root Cellar

623 Dundas St.

Now On Tour!

WILD LIFE SKETCHES never-ending tour...

Well so many things are happening but let's start with the upcoming concerts.

Catch live cougars in action at:

The Sleepless Goat

Kingston, ON

Friday, February 22nd - 9PM

Sweet Escape Coffee Lounge

Belleville, ON

Saturday, February 23rd - 1PM

The Grad Club

London, ON

Friday, March 1st - 8PM

The Underground Café

Toronto, ON

Sunday, March 3rd - 4PM

**Please note this concert is in one of those coffeshops and smoking is permitted so the concert is not recommended for kids or German shepherds.

Gordon Best Theatre

Peterborough, ON

Friday, March 8th - 8PM

w/Elk the Moose and I, the Mountain

Mile End Guitar Shop
Montreal, QC
Friday, March 15th - 9PM

The Old Station
Bracebridge, ON
Tuesday, March 19th - 9PM

The Griffin Pub
Bracebridge, ON
Wednesday, March 20th - 9PM

Plenty more gigs tba AND stay tuned for exciting news regarding the soon-to-exist WILD LIFE SKETCHES.

credit: John Tubbs

More concerts in the snow

Good news!

This week I'm heading back to south-western Ontario for more concerts!

You can catch me performing solo at either:

THE SPILL

Peterborough, Ontario

414 George St. North

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Living Culture's Acoustic & Poetry Showcase

Starts at 7PM I play at 10:15PM
More details on Facebook

$Pay what you can$

OR

HABITS Gastropub

Toronto, Ontario

928 College Street

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Starting at 9PM - TWO sets of music followed by a large glass of whiskey.

Think about coming for dinner, too, because they have GREAT food and Ben's cooking ;)
$Pay what you can't$

OR EVEN

THE SLEEPLESS GOAT
Kingston, Ontario
91 Princess St.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
7:30 PM: A fair-trade, vegetarian version of the same spectacle.
$All that you can spare$

And here, for your viewing pleasure, is a small collection of the many LARGE CANADIAN ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS which I will be passing along the way!

Here we go again!

Peterborough Gig!

....Here's a last minute addition to my last-minute jaunt up and down the 401. 

I'm playing at the Spill in Peterborough! 

I love that place and it's been a couple years since I saw Dave Tobey and the gang.

Friday, February 18th

THE SPILL

5-7pm

414 George St. N

Peterborough, ON

See you soon!

Life Happening All Around Us! Life Happening Right NOW!

And voila, I'm in Canada for the foreseeable future. SURPRISE.

I got back a couple weeks ago and spent some time in Toronto visiting old friends and volounteering at the salvation army - there is a video of me singing a new song called 'Galapagos' on my FACEBOOK page if you would like to see what this looks like.

After the end of the world didn't happen, I headed up to Ottawa to eat turkey with my family. My sister and I dropped in on Chief Theresa Spence who is holding a hunger strike until Stephen Harper and the governor general agree to sit down and talk about treaty issues with her. We met two brothers who were there with their drums and a really nice guy from the Walpole reserve who brought his harmonicas, so things stayed pretty a-political and I had a nice time in the sun on Christmas day jammin' with these dudes. The next day I found my picture in the paper!:

Other news... I finally got to listen to the recordings I made last month. The mixing and mastering is not yet complete, but oh what the heck, you can preview them here, too, I'll update them when I get the final mix.
This song is recorded by Stefano Capone with Paolo Melindi on Double Bass and Erik Schoepen playing the lap steel in his signature twin peaks D9 crazy tuning:

And then I made this song when nobody was looking... So maybe it'll be a surprise for everyone else involved in the production of our EP:

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!

I have some some concerts to announce in Canada!

Friday, January 11th

The Coach and Horses

Windsor, Ont

9PM - FREE CONCERT
Last time I was in Canada and played at this place with Benito Band it totally blew me away....
So save the date and don't miss it cause my expectations are HIGH.

Wednesday, January 16th

The Horseshoe Tavern

Toronto, Ont.

5 Bands, 5 Bucks - the first one starts around 840 and I play at 1130. 

Come early and I'll buy you a beer :)

More Canadian dates to be announced. See you soon!

In Love With Leaving - Festivus Edition

ALBUM UPDATE:

Cougars in America became Cougars in the Studio in November and soon enough we will have a 3-song EP ready for your ears! I think Paolo took some pictures so I will upload them as soon as I fix my computer.

COMPUTER UPDATE:

Irregular electricity has zapped my means of updating the blog but i'll do my best to post pictures/videos/news as I get them - you can help by emailing me things I can post! A funny aside for anyone who has seen where I live: the computer repair man asked me if I live in Africa when he saw the state of my computer's fried interior.

CONCERT UPDATE:

In Brussels I'm playing a bunch of solo shows over the next month.
These include:

Friday Dec. 7 - El Turco, Place de Londres, 19h-21h

Sunday Dec. 16 - Lava Café, St Gery, 20h

Saturday, January 19 - 12 Chaises, St Gilles, 20h ***POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE***

CANADA UPDATE:

I'm going home for Christmas and staying for a month - stay tuned for details about any of the small concerts I hope to play while I'm home.

GENERAL UPDATE:

All is well!
If you want to listen to me trying to speak French about various things cougar-related and not with Nicolas, Dany and the DI crew at Radio ALMA, you can! They "got to know me" a couple weeks ago and you can listen by clicking HERE. They also let me pick the music and play songs on the guitar. I still have not had a chance to listen (see computer update, above) so I can only hope I didn't swear or sing off-key or tell jokes that weren't very funny.

First solo concert in... 9 months?

Wish me luck!!!

The Long Road Home!

After a month on the road I'm on my way back to Brussels! Travelling 7500km with 2 bands, official documentarian, driver (qui Guida? Antonio guida), a 24 hour cocktail bar (and the barman, of course), the Dean of the university of Smastro, Tico, and a few friends who joined us along the way in a van with most but not all of the windows has been oodles of fun, but I'm ready to come back to Brussels! Pictures and videos of the tour are on the way. 

For now, here are some concerts to look forward to:

August 30th

Lausanne, CH - Cougars in the Garden

https://www.facebook.com/events/277942625652922/

Sept 1st

Frankfurt, DE - Private Party following the 100 car car chase

Sept 7th

Brussels, BE - Concours Circuit @ Botanique

http://www.botanique.be/activite/eliminatoires-concours-circuit-2012-another-belgian-band-beautiful-badness-cougars-america-

Sept 13th

Brussels, BE - Rock Classic Bar

https://www.facebook.com/events/481059015240479/

The Endless Beards of Summer 2012

On the road again in Italy with
BENITO BAND
ANTONIO & FRIENDS
and
COUGARS IN AMERICA

July 27@Spazio 4,Piacenza

July 28@Bascherdeis, Vernasca
July 29@Bascherdeis, Vernasca

July 31@Circolo Ribalta,Vignola

August 1@Circola Aurora, Firenze - SOLD OUT

August 3@Marianiello Jazz Cafe,Sorrento

August 4@Countryclub Primi faggi, Santo Stefano in Aspromonte

August 5@Oceanomare, San Leone,Agrigento

August 7@Baia, Lido Rossello, Agrigento 

August 10@Notte sotto le stelle, Santa Elisabetta

August 11@Bacco Wine, Raffadali

August 12@Oceanomare, San Leone, Agrigento

August 15@Steccato di Cutro - Beach Party with Bruno Selecta!
August 17@Pineta Belvedere, Santa Cesarea di Terme
August 21 - Barrueca!!!! Santa Caterina LE

Cougar Coiffure

Thursday June 7th, 20h00

Concert at Coiffure Liliane

247 Rue Haute au Centre Bruegel

Also on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/events/472808766069202/