May 12, 2008

"We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

If the aliens were to look down and attempt to observe and define the act of recording an album... many words may not normally be used in the description. Community. Love. Adventure. Good food. Humour. Wilderness. Football. People being their true selves without fear of abandonment. Amazing talent. Songs being served. Egos being set aside. Hope. Laughter. Snowmobiles. Cathedral towers. Canadian Legions. Aurora Borealis.

These words in combination typically are not connected with the collaborative creative process, but in the case of making my latest contribution to music, these words are married to the experience.
When I decided to take the risk of recording record number two (yet to be named) in an old Anglican pioneer church in my home town of Kelwood, I had no idea what to expect. I wasn't sure if the people coming to make it with me would be bored with how remote the location was, or if the acoustics would suffice. I desired for there to be community and everyone's true nature present in a healthy supportive atmosphere, but I wasn't sure how it would play out.

The vision to make this album with Ken Nelson (Coldplay) sprung up in me two years ago with only a remote hunch that it would actually take place. We never know the future, and we have limited control over our fate but for hard work, tenacity and getting good at the craft we set our hand to. In this case, it turned out that we were all able to come together after a series of hits and misses to make something that just feels like it is going to stick to the halls of music history.

So Ken Nelson, Mark Phythian and Mike Nelson all flew from Liverpool to the prairie wilderness to record an album with me. So Eric Paul (drums), Murray 'Shugz' Pulver (guitar), David 'Soul Fingaz' Williams (keys) and the comic genius Milos Angelov (bass) all made their way to live in cabins and farm houses in Manitoba for a couple of weeks! My sister made delicious food for us at her cafe everyday. My brother-in-law built a sound isolation booth out of square bales. Loads of my family did tons of driving. My friend Don Benedictson was able to supply me with all the gear we required and was able to help with set up and I am indebted to him! All of us worked hard to make something we are extremely proud of.

I flew over to Liverpool to finish vocals and mixing at Parr St. Studios and have just recently returned to a Manitoba spring.

I have to say it. I love Liverpool! A good part of my heart might always haunt that moody town on the Mersey! I went to a football match at Anfield and saw Gerrard and Torres score very sexy goals... (please... to all fans of other clubs, don't abandon or hate me!). I flew a paper airplane off the Cathedral tower. I went to the Tate and saw Picasso's Weeping Woman. I played football with some very lovely local chaps. Finishing this album was hard work... but a joy... because I got to be in great company.. Ken, Mark and Mike are three of the most wonderful, knowledgeable, thinking, humorous, musical folks I have ever spent time with. I swear I could spend a lifetime trying to be familiar with all of the comedians they are fond of. When things got too heavy in the studio, someone would generally make a very wry, humorous comment that would set us laughing and lighten the mood.

I am back in Canada now. With a very great record that I can't wait for you all to spend time with. It will take time however as setting these things up takes longer than people realize. I told someone the other day, speaking in farmer speak, that it would be like trying to do harvest without having planted the seeds.

At present, I am training to go on the Cycle of Hope for Habitat for Humanity this summer. It is about a 1700km tour of the Great Lakes, sometimes with century rides (100 miles) done in a day. I am also promoting www.1world2wheels.org which is an organization that encourages cycling and mountain biking as a way of commuting, a way of leading a healthy, adventurous life and a way to cut down on the cost of fuel. The cost of fuel not only effects our pocket book, it effects the environment too.

The way I see it, is if I, a musician who has been conditioned for the night life, can get out there and sweat, anyone can. It would be cool if any of you could write to me and let me know if you are cycling this summer, even just around your community... it doesn't have to be on long treks.

So... new record... and the road... only this time, before I prepare to go out and tour the album, I will be a pedaling!

Much love to you all,

Alana

February 13, 2008

Recently I read the part in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan where Wendy, John and Michael fly with Tink and Peter to Neverland. It takes what seems like days and the whole time, Peter appears more captivated with teasing the sharks in the ocean or flying up to chat with the stars than he is in what direction he is headed. Wendy and her brothers start to wonder if they are ever going to get there... much like children do in the back seat of the minivan today... only in this case, they are too timid to ask Peter "Are we there yet?"

What the children don't realize is that Peter doesn't need to know how to get to Neverland, because Neverland is trying to get to Peter.

I was reading an interview with Leonard Cohen the same day I read that section of Peter Pan. I have heard Cohen say this many times before but it was the first time I likened it to Neverland... "If I knew where the songs came from, I'd go there more often."

I suspect this is what engaging with any art is like. Not so much a mystical spirit is looking to plant an idea in someone's head, but perhaps that there is a world of ideas drawing us near as we go about working at our craft. (In Peter's case, he was working at flying and being mischievous. And crowing. And my hunch is that crowing is an art form.)

Whatever the case, I do feel like this world is much closer to children than any of the rest of us. Which is likely why I still like to read stories in funny voices with my friend who is eight, or why I like to pretend I am an intrepid arctic explorer when I am doing ordinary things like going for a walk in the snow.

Perhaps when we get older we tend to write more about how the Captain Hooks of the world seem to be winning. Some of us might become a "yes man" to the Captain. Some of us might never see Neverland again because we are afraid of being intimate, vulnerable and animated... because we never want to hear or read another bedtime story in our lifetime. I'm not sure, though.

Why does Neverland draw some of us so close we feel like we actually might fly someday?

Why in the world is fairy dust so scarce?

September 21, 2007

To disclaim a very remote semblance of originality, I have had the notion that becoming a pirate (or at the very least a sailor) would be a good idea, very much prior to the more recent pirate craze. This might sound strange and ultimately foolish, coming from a prairie girl, however, if one looks at a map one will see that Manitoba is indeed not a land-locked province at all. We have Hudson Bay to the North of us and I attribute that body of salt water to my haunting dreams of being a wild and intrepid explorer of lands and oceans and living things beyond my land dwelling place.

Perhaps I will (wo)man a ship someday that I would call The Spaniel. I could invite Richard Dawkins and Francis Collins to visit to make it at least more closely parallel with The Beagle. I, particularly leaning toward evolution via intelligent design/Creation (but who am I to believe/not believe in anything? For I am not a scientist and therefore must not be able to base my judgments soundly enough), would in spite of it, remain neutral as hostess and would discipline myself to listen to them speak of Genomes and Man and Ape and Beauty and at some point as they hopefully evolve toward it, Love. I would prefer to invite Roselind Franklin over Crick and Watson, but with the latter being the only one still living, I suppose I could make an exception to have Watson make an appearance for such a momentous occasion. We would after all need someone to counterpoint ethical genetic research with the idea that we ought to farm/engineer out much more than such hinderances as poor eye sight (as Watson has suggested - but I won't speak further for him).

This altogether doesn't sound terribly "pirate" of me. But perhaps I would be a pirate of people. I could plunder New England or Oxford of all of it's brainy folk. I could find my heros and bring them on board to teach me their ways, and ask for their blessing.

Who else would I invite onto my ship? Certainly, the brainiest folk aren't really heroic to me (as having mere brains doesn't necessarily mean you have even a healthy concept of heroism), though they are doubtless useful.

One person I would have welcomed wholeheartedly on board is Madeleine L'Engle. She died a couple of weeks ago.

Her novels changed my life as a child. Quantum physics, multi-directional Space and Time, the Tesseract, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. Ah, what a world it opened up to me as rationalism was beginning to get it's grey whiskers and was starting to lose it's teeth! Though my closest friends would argue this, based on past actions, I am not opposed to being rational. However, if I were to draw a picture of Rationalism personified in the late 1980's I would draw a weak-kneed, arthritic old man holding up a very large set of dumbbells, attempting to keep his face calm and collected as though nothing in particular is quite wrong.

So, rationalism as rationalism was getting to be an oldster at the time I was reading the adventures of Meg and Charles in A Wrinkle in Time. And I started to make wings to attempt to fly out of trees, off of playhouses and began to dream big dreams, thanks be to the local library and a willing spirit.

Yes, Madeleine would be welcome, but she is gone.

So who would I invite?

One person I heard speak live at a fundraiser I performed at would also be welcome if she weren't gone already. June Callwood. It was probably the most inspiring speech about journalism and free press I have ever heard. I got to meet her and shake her hand.
What a voice and inspiration.

She could definitely hang out and talk on The Spaniel, but she is also gone.

My favourite author, Jane Austen, so clever in her sarcasm even at the age of 21 when she wrote Pride and Prejudice, would add spice to my pirate ship. Maybe I could invite someone on board who would be her equal in disposition and wits and she could finally marry a man worthy of her. We could perform the ceremony on deck! Yarr!

Who would perform the ceremony? So many people can marry a couple these days, but I think it ought to be someone particular. Hmm... someone more recent? Well, I would love to bring C.S. Lewis aboard, but it might be a tad on the ridiculous side to get him to marry them, as his weakness may have been that he held a misconstrued view of women... so Jane Austen, the wonderful feminist writer who put a mirror up to ridiculous Classist behaviour, might need ... hmm... perhaps N.T. Wright, Clive Staple's other in the 21st century. He would do the job quite nicely.

Who would she marry? If Rufus Wainwright were interested, he might match her in wit. But probably not in disposition. I really can't think of who would be good enough.

That reminds me... Judy Garland could rehabilitate on board The Spaniel. But I still can't think of a husband for Jane Austen. No wonder I have an affinity with her.

So Jane, Madeleine, June, Judy and...

I suppose I would have to include L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott in order to be true to form. They would be so much more interesting to listen to than the scientists.

So Jane, Madeleine, June, Lucy Maud, Louis May, Katherine Hepburn, Martin Luther King Jr, Carey Grant, Plato, Jesus, (wouldn't bring John the Baptist... he would more than likely cause a storm) and...

Wait a minute! Are all my heroes.... dead?

The Spaniel is looking as it did in the beginning. Me, Richard Dawkins and Francis Collins.

I think I'd better call my friends up and see if they can overcome their fear of sharks.

Who would you bring? And where would you go?

Much love,

Alana

PS, Lot's of good music and good times on the horizon. Neil Young Borrowed Tunes 2 out soon! Ireland and the UK here I come in November!
Winnipegers! Be sure to come to my show on October 12th at St Andrews Anglican Church... it is a fundraiser through CBC for the Lost boys and girls of Sudan.
Also on October 19th I will be performing my new songs for The Winnipeg Folk Festival Concert Series.

July 26, 2007

What is great music? Memorable music?

What does it mean to make some kind of art that contributes to society rather than takes away?

If you could name your top ten albums of all time, would you be able to establish some kind of criteria for why? Why do you love them?

Why are they on your mind?

As an emerging artist, these are important questions, and not ones that could ever be answered by a text book. Osmosis or instinct or passion doesn't come in a box. Neither does taste.

My brother, who is a photographer and emerging film maker, loves bands like The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols... and lately we've both been listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. He is a big Beck fan and a massive White Stripes fan. I agree with him. I think they all make great music.

Why?

Good question.

There has always been a flip side to the mainstream... and the flip side can also be mainstream, it just doesn't sound like it.

As a songwriter, I feel like the world keeps on opening up to me. I feel like amidst all these great bands, that during this revolution, songwriters are going to play a big part. Not in the same way as the
'60s, but in a way that holds the writer's torch into the new generation. Bands like Arcade Fire, Metric, Snow Patrol and Coldplay are holding the "band writing" torch with full fervor... and this is great. There are some great solo artists out there too though... who don't get to rely on the strength in numbers thing. Neko Case, KT Tunstall, Rufus Wainwright, Feist, Kathleen Edwards, Sufjan Stevens, Thea Gilmore, Ryan Adams, Hello Saferide, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, to me, these are some of the future leaders in songwriting and are arguably already leading in many ways.

I am excited to be a part of music today.

As I approach making my own music ... (I will be recording very soon), I think about my own influences. Some of whom I have acquired because of spending time with them and others because I listened to
them so much as a kid. There is nothing like the newness of starting to like a band or artist when you are 14 years old and full of passion. That is when I really started to get into Paul Simon, Bob
Dylan and CSNY... I had listened to them when I was little but at 14 it was a whole new experience. And then the Zoo TV tour was going on at the time and I watched the U2 Live from Sydney video and my whole perspective on performance was altered forever.

If someone were to ask me what my top 5 favourite songs were ... I know Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down by Kris Kristofferson and Stay (Far Away So Close) by U2 would be right up there. I love My Dear
Companion by Jean Ritchie... it is just beautiful. These are the ones that instantly come to mind. It is a wonderful thing to just let them come to mind and not be pretentious about it. Another great
song is Trying Not to Be So Sad by Lynn Miles.

I am very excited about the fact that I got to do some writing down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama last December. Great writers down there. And a great vibe. Gary Nichols, James LeBlanc and Billy Lawson were a pleasure to write with and some of the songs we came up with are going to be on the record. I loved working with them because it felt like really writing instead of "making a product". I just don't work
that way. But I don't want to sound like a snob either... sometimes I like to go out dancing with friends and just groove to a great bass and back beat and that is all that we need to have a good time. And
who's to say where those songs are coming from?

I can't wait to talk more about my record. The human gestation period is normally 9 months... but not generally for recording artists! Most importantly I can't wait for you to hear it. Stick with me... I'll stick with you. Let's enjoy the ride of the next 20 years as GPS overtakes our anonymity and space travel becomes passe ... we can still dig down and make some great art!

Much Love, Alana

June 15, 2007

There is something about the sun that keeps me going. Perhaps it is the vitamin D or the fact that I live in the North, so to me summer is like water in the desert... but more likely because it holds some mystical control over the earth... we need it... and it doesn't really respect our autonomy it just burns up there, millions of miles away. Warming us and yet reminding us at least who's not boss... namely us.

I have had a break from the road now for some time, with a few projects thrown in to keep me motivated. It has given me a chance to listen to other people's music... something I have little time to do on the road.

I have to say that I am a part of the consensus that says Arcade Fire's Neon Bible is an extremely important record. I was driving into Winnipeg the other day and finally spent some real time listening to it... and man they are speaking words and sounds that are key for the next revolution. I am
thrilled about that record. From start to finish.

Another track I keep listening to is Dolly Parton's version of Stairway to Heaven. It is great to resurrect a recording that you played over and over again when it came out.

I suppose I am enjoying these glorious works because the summer tends to take away some of the cynicism. (Some).

Ryan Adams Cold Roses. What a great record.

I also took a trip back to the '90s in the last while. I am writing a novel for teens that is set in the early '90s and the heroine is a big music fan. So I got to thinking about Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, The Beastie Boys and how Neil Young hooked up with Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth to
rock out in that generation (my generation). What an amazing guy. Going from making country records in the mid eighties to recording a half hour long track of guitar reverb/feedback in the mid nineties. I love it. "Out on the Trans Canada Highway there was a girl hitchhiking with a dog, fireflies buzzing 'round her head like candles in the fog... he was two miles down the road tryin' to stay up but he knew that he couldn't, she was looking for a ride through the night but out there who wouldn't". And then "Too late, He sleeps with angels, Too soon."

One of the projects I have had the privilege of working on is recording a track for Neil Young's: Borrowed Tunes 2 that will be out in September. It has a great cast of Canadian bands and will be a fun one to listen to. I am extremely happy with the outcome of my recording for this and hope you all
enjoy it as much as I did.

My record you ask? I promise you I will be heading into the studio very soon. I have a group of songs that I can't wait for you to hear. I have the concept reigned in and ready to go. My head is exploding with creativity these days and I am so happy I have opted for country life even for that reason alone. Other reasons include what a seasoned cyclist I have become, and that my walking stick has had many miles on it as the little mountain turned to green. We have had haunting thunder storms and such warm
days. There is a little Jenny Wren nesting in a rubber boot (a "Welly" to some of you across the pond) and Swallows nesting on a lantern at the front deck. I go out and spend time with the horses at least once a day and the herb bed is so alive with scent that I feel like I'm in some Simon and Garfunkel tune.

Oh, and a movie I recently watched that I highly suggest (if you like Jimmy Stewart) is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

So I have almost revealed all the recreative choices I have made in the last couple of months... however I also have to suggest a book. I re-read Alain de Botton's Kiss and Tell recently and must say I liked it even more than the last time.

I am about to go on a very long mountain bike excursion tomorrow but don't worry... unless a bear eats me you will hear some new Alana Levandoski music before you know it. And if a bear does eat me, there have been demoes made of all my songs so then people could post-humously record them and make
millions, solely because I'm dead. I have probably 100 journals my family could sell on Ebay. Also tidbits of lyrics that Wilco and Billy Bragg's children could write the music to. Not that I'm Woody Guthrie. He was the original Boss.

Which reminds me... I spent a good chunk of time with Springsteen's Nebraska in the past while too. One of my favourites.

Much love,

Alana

April 17, 2007

Spring is finally on it's way here in Manitoba. I have been writing and cycling and hiking in my hills.

This week I will be making camp on my family's land... possibly where no one has ever camped before. I like taking the time by myself to sit by the fire, go to bed early, think and try to put into perspective the point of doing what I do.

So much of the time artists get caught up in becoming successful which is fine, but I feel it is so important to have other interests too. For instance... what if I lost my voice? Or what if I chopped my finger off?

Take cycling for example. The challenges that come from this are so fulfilling. Yesterday I was in such a strong head wind that I thought a number of times I would have to get off my bike and walk... but I knew it was in my mind. I knew I had the physical strength to keep going but that my mental strength was starting to wane.

Or how about riding an inexperienced horse? This is a serious undertaking because you are teaching them how to take instruction and that is key for who might be able to ride the horse in the future because not everybody would be able to handle a horse that has only been ridden a few times.

I am in the process of getting my new songs closer and closer to the studio and am so excited to take this project on. It is thrilling to think about.

In the meantime I have another project on the go. I have been asked to record a track for a Neil Young compilation coming out soon. So I am working on the arrangement for a song that will remain nameless... (no, I am not recording Helpless!) But what a fun time I am having with this song.

I actually got some sun this weekend in Winnipeg... feels like there is vitamin D in it for the first time since last autumn.

Winnipeg is looking good. A lot of new projects on the go. I spent some time on Saturday watching the BMX-ers and skaters at the world class skate park at The Forks. The view from the skate park is so exciting too! The new Provencher Bridge and the Esplanade Riel, the Fort Garry Hotel, the pretty sky line and the sun shining down. I love to see places where kids can go to rock out and diligently work at skate tricks. They get all skinned up but are proud that they finally land the trick they have been working on all day.

A project in Winnipeg that I am most excited about is The Canadian Museum for Human Rights that will be built where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet (what is called The Forks). The architect Antoine Predock has done right by this project and I salute all who are behind the making of this museum. I look forward to when it opens (they are hoping 2010) and hope you will all come to the place where long ago, peace treaties were held at this very location.

Check out the website www.canadianmuseumforhumanrights.com

Best wishes to you all and keep on looking for my next record! This is what I keep in my heart the most. Making music.

I have a new song with a line in it that goes: Wherever there is music, there's hope around the bend. I believe that.

Keep on the look out for the music revolution that is in it's early stages right now. And to give you all a hint: please be open to women being a very influential part in this revolution in a more regular, 'yeah, so I play music,' kind of way. Don't put women into a musical cage as though we can only make "nice" "pretty" music or "raunchy, hard core, seductress" music. Just be open to what is coming from men and women... because the revolution is almost here. People hold no true loyalty to pop acts put together to milk the waning sensationalism of reality TV. But there are people (including kids) who are looking for places to put their loyalty. And still nostalgia rules. But the time for the Living draws near.

Much love - Alana

PS- The women I spoke of in my last journal were released on bail not long after the journal was written. Close to 3000 Canadians wrote to the Iranian government (thanks to Amnesty International) and more petitioned across the world to push for movement. This is positive. But on another note I think it is interesting to watch how meddling power shake nations can end up ushering in the most extreme types of government. Band-Aids all over the place. So a big thanks to all the super powers historically and presently... for delving deep and reaching long ... it always does such a world of good. And should I thank myself?

March 8, 2007

Today, on International Women’s Day, I stand with the 26 prominent activists who were arrested in Tehran, Iran a few days ago. They were silently protesting the arrests of 5 activists apprehended last June on charges of endangering national security, propaganda against the state and taking part in an illegal gathering.

Hard to believe that we still live in a world where women could be arrested for standing in front of a court house demanding equal rights concerning the prosecution process.

Now three remain still in prison. Jila Baniyaghoub, Shadi Sadr, and Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh have not ceased their hunger strike though they remain in solitary confinement in Evin prison.

This is a time for the world to be watching and to notice that there are women speaking out against their inequality in many places. And how brave these women are. They are my heroes.

I shall not compare one country to another as the cultures are so varied, but I would like to talk about my only experience in a predominantly Muslim country.

It was wonderful.

It was the year 2000 and I was watching the BBC in a smoky café in Istanbul. The handshake in July between Arafat and Barak on the Whitehouse lawn was ancient history and we were being bombarded with images of destruction... holy shrines… people… each artifacts in their own right, each links to the past, dying off.

Flights to Tel Aviv were cheaper than a loaf of bread and the vote scandal was at its height in America as we watched countless images of these little white dudes named George Bush and Al Gore. Even on local channels all you could see was Bush-Gore or sometimes they would change it up with pictures of the destruction of Jewish and Muslim heritage.

People were going about their business, bustling down the busy streets, with beautiful calls to prayer echoing off the walls, sick of hearing these American names constantly coming from their televisions. I remember having so many conversations and the men would always say: “ I am so sick of hearing Bush this and Gore that! We have no control over the outcome so let us be at peace for now, in case one of them is a war president!”

While in Turkey, I met some of the most incredible women I have ever spoken with. Some of them were inclined toward the mystics, and some of them were angry that it says “religion: Muslim” on their passport and some were university students who were very proud of their Islamic heritage and faith.

One thing I have to say is that no matter what the religion, we humans have a history of allowing the dumb men to have too much power. There have been many gracious male leaders but as it appears in history, we’ve given the control to more dumb ones than smart.

The village in Turkey that I lived in had a secret brothel, a place where the married men snuck to after sundown to play cards, carouse with girls brought in from the city and drink heavily. This appears no different from any Western town, but the difference is that prostitutes could be raped in Turkey at the time, and nothing could really be done about it. (A law had recently been passed but was not being upheld that well.)

I knew a guy there who had to move his stuff to his uncle’s when his girlfriend’s family came to town, for fear they would find out and torture her for shaming them. And this couple was highly educated.

I loved Turkey… and would love to go and live there again someday. It is incredible in culture, geography and people… but see, it doesn’t matter where something bad is happening to a person… all that matters is that something is done about it.

We always seem to never quite find a balance do we? Here in the West we are dressing our little girls in panties that say “I’m with the band” or women are being mistreated and abused behind the scenes of violent pornographic films. In other parts of the world, some women have to shuffle, head down, behind their husbands in order not to be shot.

And I am not sure if any of us live in the balance.

Maybe we’re all dumb. But I do trust that the first shall be last and that scales of injustice will be balanced. Where I stand in the mix of all that is hard for me to tell, but these women who risk and dedicate their lives for the future of their countries are heroic beyond measure. May we in Canada, Europe, the US and the Far East snap out of the apathy for long enough to look around and see that we could help and respect women in countries were their voice is constantly silenced. And may we have the courage to give voice against injustice in our own neighborhoods as violence against young girls and women rises.

www.hrw.org

February 22nd, 2007

Come from the land of the ice and snow! Here I am back home in Canada after another wonderful musical adventure.

When I arrived in Winnipeg the temperature was about –30 C and I shivered a little, to be sure. But now… today is only –7 and there is a soft snowfall outside and the hills are covered in beautiful drifts.

I won’t complain.

It was so good to be back in touring abroad… seeing old friends and making new ones.

I had the most wonderful opportunity to bring my best friend Tanya along for this trip. It felt like even more of an adventure with her along. Two single girls navigating their way through the world isn’t such a bad life!

Opening for Bruce Cockburn was a real treat with his audience keenly trained to truly listen… it was a pin drop crowd and they embraced me. I told them that I was sure Bruce was a pacifist but that almost any Canadian would take a bullet for him. What a privilege to warm up for such a Canadian icon.

Belfast was again a highlight for me. I love it so much.

Playing the Bob Harris CD launch was also wonderful. Seeing old friends, meeting many new ones and even hearing interesting rumours about myself that I was unaware of! It seems word of mouth is something of a tabloid!

I was honoured to do an interview with Allan Cackett from Maverick Magazine and had such a great conversation with him. He is one of those dedicated music lovers who is sitting quietly but listening loudly… and artists from North America ought to be very thankful for people like him.

Bilbao in Basque Country was a phenomenal experience… what a city! Every night it seemed there was an endless stream of families walking together through the city center. Or classy old ladies walking arm in arm in decadent vintage furs. Dinner is typically at 9pm or later and it was fun to stand at the tappas bar crowded but not imposed upon, drinking wine or espresso and eating wonderful desserts.

I gave up going to see Chuck Berry in Bilbao for a trip to the seaside… the Bay of Biscay… a bay now known for it’s great surfing, but with a history of skilled fishermen and whalers who were charting courses through North American waters before Columbus.

I performed five minutes from the Guggenheim at Palacio Euskalduna, a building designed by Federico Soriano and Jose Palacios. I feel a sense of pride now for the city of Bilbao, with their Subway entrances designed by Norman Foster, the Guggenheim in it’s grandeur (designed by the Canadian born architect Frank Gehry) and so many buildings with glass that reflects old churches and old hotels. It feels as if they really know how to accept time passing in this small city filled with pride for their beautiful homeland Euskadi. Eskerrik asko to all my new found friends! And a big hello to little Sofia, the youngest fan in attendance at my show.

As promised I said I would write about my visit to Spain after I had visited and of course, I am yet again in love with another culture. I played Madrid a few nights later and though it was not very well attended, the people that did come were so into the show. This show was filmed and streamed live onto the Internet, by the handsome Paco Cifuentes, who is also a recording artist. We all ended up at a Jazz club later on. There is no “last call” in Spain and it seemed that the jazz players (with a horn section that had to take turns on one microphone, the stage was so tiny) could have played forever. Couples danced unabashedly in such an innocently sensual way… the men could move, and the women let them. I was suddenly aware of my own Canadian stiffness and relaxed into the music myself. A trumpet player proposed to me that night too… I am surprised he had time to notice girls… they were so into their playing, as we musicians tend to be when we get together.

We went to the Prado the next day and I was especially thrilled to see much of Goya’s work. I was very excited to see Albrecht Durer’s self-portrait and his depiction of Adam and Eve (pieces I have been very familiar with since I was a child). I have never been over thrilled with Titian’s work, (I think it is those damn cod pieces), but it was still so wonderful to see such familiar work right in front of me. I saw some Raphael, some early Botticelli, and again, I was humbled that I have been privileged enough to see any great work of art in the flesh.

Many thanks to all of my supporters in the UK… my friends at Turners Hill, Bob Harris, and all the many people who send me letters of support or bring chocolates to the shows! I feel privileged that I get to be in your headsets and on your stereo and I am moved to know you are listening. Thanks for another great tour!

Now I get to work on record #2!

Special thanks to Tina at Gibson and Annie at Sennheiser for being dolls and for supporting me by sending me out into the world with such great companions! That of a spectacular guitar and my dream mic.

Much love- Alana

January 13, 2007

Ah… the United Kingdom… in all it’s splendor… and Spain… an uncharted (at least by me) masterpiece.

The history of a place gets me giddy. I have walked in the physical footsteps of Aristotle, St. Paul, Socrates, my favourite old maid Jane Austen and so forth. I have touched the stone baths of Greek royals, left as an heirloom for nature.

I have stood firm as waves crashed in around me and tumultuous waters unnervingly carried me to my next destination…(and I didn’t get seasick either… as a child, I had always thought it would be so romantic to be seasick, but am actually happy I have a strong seafaring stomach after all).

I have connected with dolphins (whether they connected with me) that had followed the trail of humanity evidently pushing its way through the waters of the Mediterranean.

I have seen a small fraction of Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle, the Westminster Abbey in York, the tower of London (where no doubt my ancestors hung/beheaded my other ancestors), North Sea caravan parks on the train up to a granite wonderland in Aberdeen, wild welsh ponies with a soft yet formidable Mt. Snowden in the distance, a generously juicy rock scene in Manchester, a multitude gathered in Leicester Square to urgently watch their team wage war in the World Cup, the twinkling lights on the water by Sheffield Memorial Hall with the echoing laughter of entangled beer samplers heading home, the hearty hospitality of Glasgow and the haunting, almost painful beauty of Edinburgh…

Here is where I set aside an acknowledgement much deserved… the peace and laughter and sense of humour I found in Belfast is to be held in highest esteem. My deep gratitude goes to those who have showed me the beauty intertwined through their history and the obvious fresh pride that they could show it to me. And in Dublin… to watch Irish football and drink Guinness with handsome old devils in a pub a few blocks away from the Guinness brewery (it certainly “travels well” in that case…) is ever so romantic to a Canadian girl.

As I venture back over for another tour in the UK, I want everyone to know that I am in love with every place I have visited there. The people, the cultures, the beer, have intertwined into my own sense of culture now and this makes me only thirstier for more cultures to impress upon me!

I won’t risk discussing details of Spain until I have visited her, but I can promise that it is with the deepest sense of adventure I shall step down from the airplane in Bilbao. A photograph of the Guggenheim takes my breath away, so let’s hope I can catch my breath when I see it in person.

Here is a little prediction by H.G. Wells to leave you with. As a disclaimer: I don’t think motherhood is a bad thing… it is by far, I would imagine, the best adventure I will ever embark upon. To Wells’ credit, I think his meaning was in a broader sense… to think of a young woman going to and fro throughout the earth is a relatively new concept. (As to the happiness and joy, learning and doing, bravery and freedom… that is still entirely up to us. I have seen some pretty selfish thirty year olds with philosophy degrees wandering from hostel to hostel, traveling on daddy’s money… not wanting to ever grow up. It makes me angry that they get to travel and someone else with the right attitude toward exploration and the wrong passport doesn’t.)

And through all the world go our children, our sons the old world would have made into servile clerks and shopmen… our daughters who were… anxiety-racked mothers or sire ripening failures; they go about this world glad and brave, learning, living, doing, happy and rejoicing, brave and free… H.G. Wells, In the Days of the Comet, 1906

Much love- Alana

January 5, 2007

Driving into Winnipeg yesterday was like a dream. The sun setting in the west and the speculative, sad full moon rising in the east... prairie winter landscape with endless trains stretching eastward from Alberta... shipments of whatever heading to wherever with graffiti decorating the shipping cases.
Messages from souls out there... on separate trains but similar pages... "Save the West"... "Help Me"... "Fuck Bush" etc...

When I see a prairie train, I don't instantly think of Johnny Cash or John Steinbeck... or any other famous American. No, when I see a prairie train, I think of someone I lost once and forever. I think of a copper-headed boy who kissed me as I dropped him off at the train yard under the Arlington
Bridge in Winnipeg... the moon was full that night too. He was headed somewhere... he was gonna ride the rails eastward, I think. It's funny ... I can't remember his name now.

When I see a prairie train I think about how when someone who has hurt us dies, we sometimes work so hard at erasing the memories, we try to Saint them. And it's okay... except that its another way to deny that we've been hurt.

Last night as I drove, the pink hues of the burnt winter moon filtered through the multitudes of spindly poplars and the grain elevators stood tall. I felt so thankful. I felt so alive that I could die and it would be okay. Then I wondered if people would have to lie to themselves about the kind of person I was after I die. Or would my loved ones be able to mourn and let go. My legacy echoed in my mind and I wanted to hug, I wanted to hold those dearest to me. I wanted to squeeze the hand of my friends and
acquaintances who have ever lost someone they love. I wanted to get high with presidents of high places... and say it all comes out in the wash in the end. But then I thought... when is THE END? Endings are beginnings according to most mantras, aren't they?

I just finished recording a demo today and I am so excited about all the music I will make until the end of my days. It is thrilling and beautiful and wild and monotonous and hard but I could have made the choice to never let out the songs I will let out... that I will give to you... and to whomever will listen to them in the future. Maybe your kids will laugh at an old CD in your collection when they are 12 because of how old school you are to have ever listened to this.... then by the time they are in grade 11, maybe they will have learned the TABS for that same old recording.

I harp on this all the time but we seriously have to remember that what was recorded in the '60s and '70s was current then... and nobody knew the impact they were having on the future. We never know the impact we have on the future.

Whoever sprayed graffiti on those train cars didn't know I would read them and in turn experience profound insight on my moonlit trip into the city ... the city where Neil Young played his first show.

Do come out if you can for this upcoming tour... (if you are from Spain or the UK. or want to take a long plane ride)... help me get some air on the new tunes that will be coming out on my second record soon.

Much love- Alana

November 30, 2006

In Nashville today. It is a warm balmy day and I am sitting in a rather bohemian setting with the new Sinead O'Conner reggae record in the background (I love it by the way). I must admit that I choose the coffee shop for it's music. They play Ryan Adams, Bjork, Sufjan Stevens, UK bands etc... so it keeps my sensibilities sharp. I love marrying genres. My writing trip has been wonderful so far. And I am not just saying that so that everyone thinks my life is perfect... because it certainly far from it... but Toronto was fun, I wrote with great people, I partied with many friends and had the pleasure of making a new friend there names Sherri Ryan. She is an artist out of Newfoundland and I really quite like her style a great deal. Now in Nashville I am enjoying the warmth and have yet to experience anything as dry and unwelcoming as people expect when they come here. Embraced am I... but then again, it could be that whole thing of when someone can tell you don't give a shit whether they like you or not you are exempt from being excluded. And truely... my self worth comes from a far deeper place than temporal acceptance and whatever position people are in, they are still human with the same deep needs that all of us have. I think treating someone as though they are above you is just as disrespectful and bigoted as treating someone as though they are lesser. Respect is mostly what we al desire isn't it? Take all of the people out there who come to hear me play. I hate to think that I make you feel you are not as important to the world as me. Each kind look and word that goes out is another way to cause a ripple of goodness through the darkness. Of course my cynicism gets the better of me often and that is my own burden to carry! Sending warmth your way wherever you are...

Much love- Alana (soap box) Levandoski

November 14, 2006

It is a grey November morning and I just finished breakfast at my sister's little cafe. Life moves so fast when I am on the road and then slows right down to a beautiful daze of wood fires and reflection when I get home.

I have been writing quite a lot these days and am so thankful that I have the time to! I can't wait for you to hear my new stuff. I hope you will all come on this journey with me.

I have a couple of shows coming up this weekend with my band. Two rural Manitoban shows... which are some of the best kind.

After this weekend I am heading out on a songwriting "tour" to Toronto, Nashville and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I will be connecting with some great writers out there and am excited to hook up with old friends too. I don't begrudge this life I have chosen... getting to head south for awhile, and then coming back in time for the smell of Christmas trees and to spend time with friends in the snow before I head back out on the road in January. (Where on the road you ask? I will have more details for you soon!)

I was reading The Lady's Not for Burning again the other day... by Christopher Fry. And I came across a highly famiiar quotation; one that I had long ago penned on my childhood bedroom "quote" wall (on the theatrical stage built for me). This quote wall included excerpts from Tolkien to Shakespeare to South Park.

Thomas says - "I've never seen a world more festering with damnation. I have left rings of
beer on every alehouse table from the salt sea-coast across half a dozen countries, but each time I thought I was on the way to a faintly festive hiccup, the sight of the damned world sobered me up again."

What a great line of writing. It makes me want to change professions and become a playwright! Ahh... but who's to say I can't do both? It is amazing what one can come up with if one has the motivation, the tools and the inclination! We'll see.

Don't forget to join me on myspace.com/alanalevandoski ... I have finally buckled down and become a part of the network. It took a number of you out there to request this of me so I invite you all to be my friend. We're all hooked up now, man.

Much love- Alana

November 11, 2006

It is Remembrance Day here in Canada ... or Poppy Day or Armistice Day in other Commonwealth countries.

I attended a service in my small town this morning and remembered my Great Uncles Stanley and Ed Evans who died because of WWII. Their father lived in Maidstone, Kent at one point, and their mother lived in Backwell, Somerset but they were Canadian-born boys who grew up a half mile west on the little
Riding Mountain from the acreage where I was raised. In other words ... we played on the same hills with space and time creating a barrier to keep us from ever meeting.

I know it is taboo to study war in many circles... and yet I shudder at my own fascination with it. My uncle Ed was so handsome... and will be eternally young to us, thanks to the miracle of photography. I have poured over those photographs and the letters to my grandma...

The ladies loved Ed. But he died on the beaches of Normandy in a tank.

I think about war today. Casualties in Iraq and Lebanon... Israeli casualties... American casualties.... Palestinian casualties. I think about Sudan. I remember Rwanda. Nicaragua. Afghanistan. I think about women who live in fear every day in some places here on this planet without people coming to their aid, because I suppose a chunk of land will always be more important to us than a woman's quality of life.

The speaker today at the service spoke of the young men and women who fought for freedom... and I believe that is what they did do. But I raise the question "what would we be fighting for now?"

What is our way of life? To live solely for ourselves? To make sure we keep climbing the ladder of affluence and personal security? To live out a survival of the fittest attitude? To try and keep the freedom of never having to give unselfishly?

I struggle between the idea of pacifism and just war quite consistently. And there is nothing to effect you more than the pulling of heart strings when you hear personal stories surrounding war.

I wonder if we are able to actually live empathy even though we are taught to think about "the other side". Empathy is something that might have to be unilateral and that is scary business. Even with friendship, it is difficult to act out our understanding when the other person refuses to. (I don't
pretend to speak of nuclear politics here... I am speaking of one on one stuff... where it all starts.)

I think about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his example and lean toward his perspective... he is a hero. Then I think about Hitler and what it could have looked like if he was allowed to freely pursue his goals.

So on this Remembrance Day, I am torn. I am torn because I wonder if this dwindling empire we are products of has really made the best of the freedom my uncles fought for. I wonder if we have really acknowledged our own capacity for maniacal schemes toward the end of destroying a race of people
or a religious sect to keep our way of life secure for a bit more time.

I think I will write another journal tomorrow with a little less reflection and possibly a little more hope. But I have a hard time being quaint and polite for the mere sake of keeping things pleasant.

This is probably because war has never been a reality for me.I wish it weren't a reality at all.

Much love - Alana

October 12/06

Snow has fallen onto my beautiful autumn world since early yesterday morning. The leaves have painted their way into my heart, of course, only for me to watch them cross over into the world where musty colourful leaves must go... probably the world of fairies and gems and 70% cocoa chocolate drizzlen (that you would normally find on a crepe in France) for waterfalls.

I have enjoyed some "time off" writing my heart out in the country, spending some quality time with family and friends, finally able to really recall my wonderful year of touring.

The harvest moon has been my muse... as has my Gibson J 45. We've bonded while I have been writing constantly over the last few weeks. There is something about one's connection to a guitar once you've written a song with it. If I were to see that guitar in someone else's hands someday, I would look on it like people do on old lovers... like there is a wonderful memory there, and it is undeniable. Something so fond and sweet and untainted.

I have been granted a most fortunate recognition this year by recieving a nod from the Western Canadian Music Awards as a nominee for Outstanding Songwriter. Of course I am so happy about this because I'll get to see two of my old drinking buddies again! Jann (Arden) and Corb (Lund). And to be in such great company is quite an honour.

I have recently been asked to tell some touring tales by a local high school and am looking forward to the Q and A part of that event! I love kid's questions... yes, even kids in grade 9.

I would also like to thank all of the people who have written such wonderful letters to me through my website! People from Canada, all over the UK and Europe, and especially to my good friends in Oman.

Much love - Alana

August 17/06

Just got back from a festival on Lake Superior called Live from the Rock Folk Festival. Some great groups there... my highlights were Valle Son from Cuba and The Hudsons from Austin, Texas. The Hudsons knew about Trailer Park Boys... I watched an episode with them late night (the one where Rita McNeil walks through the pot field harvesting with her band while singing the Working Man song.) They had no idea who Rita McNeil was so I tried to explain it to them... that she is one of our gems and a very famous Canadian singer. It is difficult to truly explain another culture to people sometimes... Canada has so many "inside" ways of knowing... but I am happy to share it with the world if I can.

I also played the Axe Songwriter's stage in Alberta the week before at the Big Valley Jamboree... met a great writer named Duane Steele and a wonderful guitar player named Craig Young (Terry Clark). It is always nice to make new friends!

I had a great time making the Jezebels Ringin' video a few weeks ago! We are in the last stages of getting it out to you all. Watch out for my hot Edun jeans in the video and my Gibson! Two names I will stand beside without hesitation.

The August sun is a telling one... it is sinking in out here on the prairies that the season is turning. The apple trees are heavy and need to be picked. Every day there is a new crop of ripe tomatoes and I can't make enough salsa to keep them harvested.

Speaking of harvest... I am performing at the very first annual Harvest Sun Music Festival in my home town of Kelwood on August 26th. My good friend Scott Nolan is performing too ... it will be a grand time as I am most certain that I will invite him up with his harp to play on Helpless at least (and a new one of mine called Enough to Go Around). If you are in the area do come!

I hope wherever you are that you can put on a brave face for those under the turmoil of war in this world... I get depressed thinking about this big, old, beautiful globe sometimes... but the least I could do is try to be brave for those who are under attack. We do live in a global community and I hope if I am ever in a tough situation that there will be someone there, even from afar, who helps me to know I am not alone.

The International AIDS Conference held in Toronto this weekend is also an reminder to be safe and educated out there... and remember that Martini cocktails aren't the only kind that Africa is short on... even though we have the medicine right here... I guess the price isn't right enough.

But I would like to say this- even though people sneer at the word "revolution" (as those born pre-sixties wore the shit out of it)... all revolution originally meant was a rotation... a turning... I believe there is one on it's way.

I promise that I sense it coming ... and I sense it in music especially. I recently listened to a lecture that was recorded in the early eighties when there were only a small handful of people contributing music that sticks, and the lecturer was pondering what in the world was going to come next. He held out hope in Bruce Springsteen, The Police and I think he gave The Clash a nod as well... but he was mainly looking at the dominant music of that time and couldn't quite see around the corner. We all know what came next... U2 led the way in mainstream music right into the '90s where we ended up with an incredible revolution, the pinnacle of it (in my opinion) being Nevermind. And then there was an electronic mini-revolution... and of course some great rap and not so great rap... and right now in the extreme West we are heading out of the nationalistic, proud to be red neck, anthemic, country AC mini revolution. But what is around the corner? I am not quite sure but I believe that women will play a key role, making records that possess the criteria for rememberance... instead of being touted as women ... they will be touted simply as artists. But male or female... the revolution is on it's way and my hope is that along with the great sounds coming, we will buck up and make the AIDS epidemic history.

Perhaps, even though some days it feels exactly the contrary, we are a species consistently bound for revival. But it is high time... when I turn the radio on and can't find anything more innovative than a thirty year old band... there is something wrong.

Much love and a little preachy preach... (I hope you didn't read this in the morning!)

Alana

July 8/06

I just arrived home from London a few days ago and am now in the midst of preparations for a video of Jezebel's Ringin'. I am being sponsored for the video by Gibson guitars and Edun (the fair trade couture clothing company owned by Ali and Bono Hewson)... so watch out for some beautiful guitars and some bitchin' attire. We start shooting in two days.

I had a wonderful time re-"creating" in Switzerland so I was pumped and ready to go for the big show in Trafalgar Square for Canada Day. I was high on the crowd and high on the stage and high on playing with the full band representing my province and my country. One of my new songs was a big hit... the band cuts out for the first line of the bridge when I sing "if you need me I'll be back in Canada"... the crowd went nuts over that line. They all looked a little homesick I think... but in a good way... it was quite romantic to celebrate our birthday on foreign ground in front of a gallery that holds some of the world's most incredible art.

I had a fun after party at the consulate hanging out with all my Canadian friends again... what a phenomenal community we have in this country. Through all my travels in the last 2 1/2 months I have seen more Canadian musicians abroad than I might even at home. I saw Buck 65 in York, Luke Doucet showed up at an instore in Glasgow, then I got to tour Ireland with the Blue Rodeo boys... then take a holiday... and end up back in London jamming around a grand piano with Ron Sexmith and the Ennis Sisters and all the great musicians we all brought with us who should be recieving more accolades than they ever get... my players who were in London are Christian Dugas (drums), Don Benadictson (bass), Stuart Cameron (guitar) and Ron Halldorson (pedal steel). They are phenomenal Canadian gems and I am honoured to play with them.

I really haven't been home in well over two months and home is really where I find myself reflecting more than I do in other places... I have been thinking about my passion surrounding hockey of late and I'm sorry to admit it but my Canadian friends and I were on NHL.com in Switzerland as much as we would have been online if the country was having an election. (I know it's terrible ... but do I get a point for honesty?)

Here's to the Oilers... a team I will sing the national anthem for sooner or later... I was so proud even if we didn't bring the cup home. They have been my favourite team since I was a little girl collecting hockey cards... my reason for favouring them back then was simply because Craig MacTavish was one of the last men in hockey who didn't wear a helmet.

Speaking of home... I literally now feel as though I am leaving something so familiar and friendly when I fly away from the UK... a special thank-you to all who have been supporting me over there and making it feel like a second home. A big thank-you goes out especially to young people like Mike Wilson from Tal-Y-Bont who has a dream of being a music journalist and I think IS a music journalist. This business needs more people like him who have passion... because passion is what cuts through all the rest of the integral parts of this industry... structure is important, politics are inevitable, friends make a difference... but the hope of rain for music and the hope of young torch bearers who appreciate integrity in the journalism surrounding it is what keeps me committed. The glamour of this business is far less than skin deep and anything that might stand is made up with the depth of blood and guts and soul and a willingness to allow ones heart to keep swelling - no matter what cynicisms seep in and no matter what dark place attempts to envelope you.

What if we all stopped playing music?

Much love and best wishes to all of you-

Alana

June 6, 2006

A belated hello to everyone

I have been taking time off in Switzerland for the last two weeks and time has just gotten away on me!

My tour with Blue Rodeo in Ireland was fantastic. The guys were wonderful to hang out with... there is something special about Canadian men... and Irish men too... so many good lookin' boys in that part of the world. But all of the Blue Rodeo crew were so gracious to me and I look forward to seeing them again.

One of the shows we played was in this old converted church-to-venue type place and it was phenomenal to see a statue of Reverand Bronte frozen in time behind a pulpit with the whole Blue Rodeo crew on stage with him.

I hope to be able to return many times to Ireland to perform ... it is a magical place.

I also want to learn Irish football as it appears to me that it is a combination of all the sports aside from skiing.

Here in Switzerland I mourn the injury of Duane Roloson, the Edmonton Oiler's star goalie who appears to be out for the rest of the finals. Edmonton has been a favourite team for me since I was a little girl and I have been attempting to catch highlights over here or hear news somehow. I am a little depressed due to this news actually. I think Jim Cuddy would understand.

But as the sun sets on the Alps I feel like I am in a dream that will eventually come to a close and I will meet up with many Canadians in Trafalgar Sq on June 30th to either cheer our hockey victory or hold our heads up high knowing we rule the sport none the less. And for Londoners and others in attendance... there will be fine music and high spirits and a rockin' show for all to see.

Much love from the mountains- Alana

May 14, 2006

First journal on this May jaunt in the UK... I've been a busy girl!

I just finished the Elana James Trio tour last night at this spectacular venue in York called the International Centre for Early Music. Elana, Luke and Beau are tremendous musicians and is wonderful to see that style of music being carried on.

I went to Fibbers in York after my show and met up with a good old Canadian who was performing there in front of a very hip crowd of youngsters... Mr Buck 65... it was impressive. Another band from Canada was playing before him called Holy Fuck, so it was grand to hang out with fellow Canadians...

I am now off to Twickenham today to put on a headliner. Looking forward to it.

I am still in York right now on a Sunday morning where so many friendly people of many nationalities are out walking the beautiful streets... joining together in worship around the town, some of them walking off last night's drinking, a little subdued, others with huge smiles on their face as they proudly carry their newly baptized/dedicated babies out into the world.

I went to mass today (even though I'm not really Catholic) for the sole purpose of enjoying a greater sense of community. The people were friendly, the music was incredible and the content of the hymns flipped the world's idea of success upside down. The concept that we have to hurt each other to get ahead was standing in complete antithesis to the messages in the hymns... and also the idea was presented that sometimes the one giving the alms is the one who is poor.

I went to Betty's again yesterday for tea and clotted cream and scones... I feel so spoiled in this life. From the mountains by the sea in Wales with wonderful people to welcome me, to the energy of Brighton, to the friendly people in Turners Hill - I cannot express what friendly faces are like when you are out on the road by yourself!

I have to catch a train today so I must sign off too soon. I have so many things I would like to express to all the fine people who visit my site.

Much love and will write soon- Alana

May 6, 2006

I am here in Belfast after a small ferry journey from Scotland. My first time on Irish soil. I am the type who just can't be cool about new places. I am enchanted and intrigued and I am all the wonderful things that one can associate with novelty. And I am not ashamed.

Something I have been working on is my ability to silence the voice inside that tells me I shouldn't feel joy. That I should close up and not open myself to community or to new things. Its funny... but for a culture that so impresses the importance of tolerance I feel like joy and community are at an all time low in the West. I have watched people glance indifferently at the most rare and beautiful things because being cool is too important for them to show elation.

I am going to walk around Belfast today and remember... peace and community are so precarious and so precious.

I miss my band. They are a part of my community and I look forward to the day when we can share the joy of walking around a new city with a sordid and beautifully magical history and feel as though our community together may welcome others through music and through Soul.

Much love from Belfast and all that is good to you- Alana

April 27, 2006

I will be arriving in the UK very soon and I am so excited to be playing there again! First though I play tomorrow night (friday April 28th) at the Rural Forum Banquet in Brandon, Manitoba. It pleases me to know that my province is being so supportive and interested in my career.

I won't be bringing my book over to the UK and Ireland this time around as it is still at the printers. But I will have a copy of it in the fall when I return! It is called Prairie Pauper: A Troubadour's Collection of Scribbles.

Check out the new photos that are going to be up on the site very soon! My bro and I did a fun photo shoot last week out in my uncle's fields.

Spring is on the move here in Manitoba but unfortunately I don't think I'll get a horseback ride in before I leave. Normally, before the ponds are gone out of my neighbor Dale's field, I take Radar (my mom's arabian horse) for a big swim. We run at the pond full tilt and swim around for awhile. Well, he does the swimming, I do the riding but I get soaked up to the mid thigh.

My mom has my favourite flower out in pots on her front deck... geraniums everywhere. I love the smell of geraniums because they don't smell sweet... they just smell fresh.

The herb garden is full of aroma... lemon basil, rosmary, sage, onions that kept for the whole winter season under the snow...

The creek is gushing with melted snow coming down from little Riding Mountain.

The crocus is in bloom.

A regret about leaving Manitoba in May is that the 2nd and 3rd weeks bring the most incredible bird season I've ever seen. It almost looks tropical. We have finches of all kinds, indigo buntings, humming birds, baltimore orioles and the colours are divine. Gold, Indigo blue, metalic, deep orange, purple... and with a soft, warm thunder shower they all make a beautiful song together right in front of my parent's veranda window... because they have all the right kind of feeders hanging in full view. Spectacular.

Something I don't regret leaving are the mosquitoes!

I think I must be an intense person for the sole anthropological reason (aren't hot climates known for their hot temper?) that my climate is so extreme. Cold, hot, snowy, balmy, beachy, rainy, Autumns like New England... nature all about me.

There is so much wildlife where I live. I take it for granted. In the winter I can look out my window and see deer in the front yard. If I go for a half mile walk in the early morning I can see a herd of elk quietly pawing the fields for food. In the summer a black bear could be in the tree across the lane. I am spoiled. But I will enjoy this nature and not wallow in guilt!

Guilt is bad for the environment.

Much love- Alana

April 13, 2006

As I look forward to my brother Matthew getting home from Vancouver tonight, I decided to write another journal and let you all know what to expect and look forward to in the coming months.

The UK tour is shaping up nicely and I am so excited to tour there again. And with my first show being at Memorial Hall in Sheffield on May 4th! Last time I played there I sat cross-legged in the big auditorium part of the Hall and thought of Mr Dylan.

For this tour along with my album Unsettled Down, I will be bringing a little book I have just finished working on entitled Prairie Pauper: A Troubadour's Collection of Scribbles. It is somewhat like my web journals, only far more personal, written in many of the cities I have played, or while in planes, vans and buses in transit to another show, as well as back in Canada in the country. I think I really have most of the raw material for this book because some aspects of "the road" never make it into songs and onto records. I wanted to share the hard and wonderful journey of a prairie songwriter navigating her way through the new millenium's version of the music industry. Not that I'm afraid of it... I don't mind technology as much as I mind an attitude that suggests I can't do something just because it might be too hard, or unorthodox or won't have a quick enough turnaround.

When I think about all my heroes in music, there is one thing that I can thread through all of them - that they are/were artists - who had to fight to never compromise that fact. Sometimes artists have to even fight within themselves to not allow lethargy or apathy or regular life distractions to get in the way of the gut/soul need to express. But it must be hard for people in the industry to trust an artist when they can't get inside our head and find out if everything is going to be alright. I believe in the end that this is the art of the industry person... to trust. I would be terrible at it. I think it is also the art of the listener. To trust that whatever comes through the gate next Art's best interest is there, the listener's best interest is right there with the heart of the performer... and that we are not going anywhere but on the road of continuing to make music. True, blood, sweat and guts music.

I look forward to touring with the Elana James Trio in a few weeks as well as opening for Blue Rodeo in Ireland for a few dates! Blue Rodeo is a great example of Canadian music makers who kept on doing their thing.

I am taking a holiday in Switzerland for June and then will be back in London on June 30th, to play a big outdoor show celebrating Canada Day in Trafalgar Square with my full band! I am so happy when I get to bring them with me and it will be our first show together abroad.

My mom is probably coming to the show on her first ever UK excursion and we are going to do a bit of touring about England as geneological tourists before I fly home to shoot a video on July 11th.

I am very excited to say that Margaret Malandruccolo will be directing the video for Jezebel's Ringin' and that I am also being sponsered by Edun, a clothing company owned by Ali and Bono Hewson. So watch out for some high fashion/fair trade clothing in the video when it airs (as well as in the new photos that will be up soon)!

I hope you all are very well - do drop me a line any time and I will try my best to get back to you.

Much Love- Alana

April 4, 2006

It's been a few days since I got off the road from the Tanya Tucker tour... had some good shows, some moments you know, with good feelings from the crowd as I stood up there in those arenas alone with my guitar.

One bad review I got from Kamloops actually made me laugh and feel like an artist. They said I reminded them of Norah Jones with a guitar... good, but boring. In that context, I took it as a massive compliment.

I made a cute little friend out there on the road... Tanya's little 6 year old, Layla. We played and danced by the stage as her mom showed the crowd that she's still got that wonderful signature voice. My favourite part of the show was when she sang Will You Lay With Me in a Field of Stone. That song was written by David Allen Coe... and I didn't know that before.

It get's one thinking about history.

I am re-reading Cash by Johnny Cash right now and am just fascinated by his stories. The performers in Memphis at that time sort of remind me of the Greenwich Village cats of the 60s. The way Johnny Cash talks about Johnny Horton, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley really makes me long for more community. I have never viewed music as a competition. Put me on some ice with some skates and a stick and a puck and I will literally take a penalty or make a hit to prevent a goal, but never in music. Because to me, the only way you can really win is through community, through making music together.

Something else I have been thinking about is that no matter what happens in my career, I will have gotten to play what I want, and write what I want. Many of the best session players in the world can't say that. And people in Burma/Myanmar are making underground pop music because they want to play what is in them. Or people in places like Slovakia 15 years ago, couldn't write what they wanted. The content was too scrutinized. I live in one of the least censored countries in the world and I want to keep it that way. It is thrilling to think that I am acutely aware of that and don't feel apathetic about it! It makes me feel alive.

I am very happy to report that some of my friends won Junos this year. Corb Lund, The Duhks and Burnt. I was also very happy to see who was nominated for songwriter of the year. I would have been thrilled to see any of them win, but I love Arcade Fire. I would like to make a special note to my friends The Perpetrators for their nomination in the Blues category. Also a nod to Luke Doucet for his nomination. To me he is one of Canada's best known secrets and a major talent.

And this year's Juno host: well all I can say is that 80% of her body isn't Canadian, but she got through it at least. I suppose it would be rather too "smart and oh-so-threatened" of me to suggest that under all that plastic there exists a soul completely separate from the world's interpretation of her, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. I will never be objectified as much as that, and I already have a difficult time differentiating between the real me and the me that some people see.

So I am going to sign off with a raising of my mug of hot tea: here's to Pamela's soul.

I am not being sarcastic. I really mean that.

Love- Alana

March 7, 2006

Hey there- It is International Women's Day tomorrow.

I wanted to take a small moment to reflect with you on how even 40 years ago it was more uncommon to hear that a female was out there writing her own songs, making music and traversing the world. Even 20 years ago the opportunites weren't as common.

I want to send out a big thank-you to Sylvia Tyson, Loreena McKennitt, Joni Mitchell, K.D. Lang, Patti Smith, Tina Turner, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks, Odetta, Rickie Lee Jones, Gracie Slick, Tammy Wynette, June Carter Cash, Billie Holilday, Loretta Lynn and Bonnie Raitt to name a few. These are all brave women I count as heroic people - who were and are innovative contributors to the well-packed road I now have the priviledge of walking. ( Well, sometimes I am running- sometimes I am crawling- but I can see their tracks and sometimes they were too!)

I would also like to speak of my two friends Dar Williams and Lynn Miles... two ladies I toured with in January. I am so proud of two people so dedicated to their craft and careers. I give each of them a Grammy for their contributions to music.

I forget so easily too that my freedom is not everyone's freedom. Women are imprisoned by illiteracy, patriarchal force and poverty around this globe and they need to be remembered. What if I had wanted to pursue music as a girl in Afghanistan?

We still have work to do.

Much love to all my fans- not just the women! (If we marginalize the men they will rebel and we'll be back where we started!) - alana

February 23, 2006

I have had a wearying yet educational journey touring through Western Canada... in the middle of February... by myself! I have one show left in Red Deer and will be content to spend a little more time at home at least for a few days.

Had some profound experiences driving through the prairies and into the Rockies with my thoughts to keep me company and a soundtrack mainly consisting of Tom Petty Full Moon Fever, Elton John's Greatest Hits, Lynn Miles Love Sweet Love, U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind and Cold Play Parachutes.

I had this moment of sadness. I was thinking about the people who lived freely on the prairies, at the foothills of the Rockies before the Iron Horse charged toward their way of life. I was wishing I could see my uncle again who died suddenly last September while I was on tour. Then I saw a train on the side of the mountain... and while listening to Trying Not to Be So Sad by Lynn Miles, the nostalia of it all overwhelmed me... on a personal level, my uncle was a train engineer and on a macro level, I thought of the people who built those tracks so that people like me could
travel with ease through mountains of such greatness.

I think driving through the prairies and the Rockies by one's self should be right up there with reaching cosmic unity in India, or pilgrimaging to Mecca or for some, finally making it to Graceland or Dolly World.

But seriously, a whole lot of soul searching and silence in a car can be good for a person.

Am in Edmonton here on my day off and I think I am going to hang out at the Winspear for the Colin Linden - Colin James show. A little inspiration never hurt anyone!

See you all hopefully around the bend!

Much love - Alana

February 9, 2006

I have been home for less than a week... still a little jet-lagged as my sister's wedding took a chunk of energy out - but rightly so! She is honeymooning in Cuba as we speak.

I am starting a Western Canadian tour tomorrow in Dauphin, Manitoba with my band. The rest of the dates I will continue on solo and I hope you all will come out for it if I am in your area... (check my tour schedule).

I spent yesterday with a friend and her newborn. It was very peaceful and fun to hang out with the little guy. It felt like old times... back to my intense childcare/nannying days... holding them as they drift off to sleep while you are making a stir-fry or some kind of delicious dinner. (Wow. In the old days I would have made a good wife!)

I am pleased to announce that I am making a video within the next 6 weeks! I am making it with acclaimed director/still photographer Margaret Malandruccolo who has a staggering portfolio. It should be a grand time.

I'm looking out my window and the snow is softly falling a little on an angle so there must be a north wind. The dry cold is where it's at if it has to be cold.

It was good to see the horses and my dad's two spoiled cats Min and Mags (both males with that A Boy Named Sue compex).

Please go ahead and vote for the indi award I am up for too! It is the last week of voting!

Much love and still a little scattered!

Alana

February 2, 2006

It is 1:16am in Newport, Wales. I fly home tomorrow in time for my sister's wedding.

Played a lovely show in Aberdare tonight. My guitar is tired and needs an adjustment... (which is a reflection of my own fatigue and need of a tweek for certain). Even my tuner is telling me it wants to sleep in it's own bed for at least the next few days.

It is a bit shocking to be in such different cultures each night. From the high fashion of Paris to the quaintness of rural Netherlands, to the canals that reflect twinkling lights across Amsterdam as gorgeously understated women cycle in great footwear, to the warmth of the people in Glasgow, to seeing Buckingham palace for the first time, to playing for the most devoted music fans in the world in Bury and Sheffield, to playing Maidstone where my great grandfather lived, to rocking a rock club of London, to the brilliant, cold, granite architecture of Aberdeen, to the wall of York (and the best sultana scone and clotted cream tea experience!) to the ferns and cowslips amidst the brambled mountains of Wales.

I am a happy girl. Content with the idea that maybe what I do can serve someone's senses for even a moment ... so indeed this would be a dream come true... that my passion might meet some aspect of the world's need.

I have breathed in and loved each place I have visited... I have developed a respect and deep care for the people I have toured with and I get to look forward to returning, to see again the wonderful early supporters of my career .

So here's to the world, may my life contribute to the balance of it rather than the polarity...

One can hope.

Love- alana

January 31, 2006

In Aberdeen today... Jess Klein and I had our day off here yesterday. It was grand. The architecture is very stony and cold and lovely. The train ride was phenomenal.

I was in a bar last night for a beer and they were playing The Highlander on their big bar screens... I asked the bartender if they did that to be ironical, but he didn't quite get my meaning I think.

Scotland has a rare power over me... especially the countryside. But that is how I feel everywhere. I always naturally head toward a rural environment.

I suspect the world might be in trouble if all rural places across the world were to recieve true education with travel and abilities fostered... as well as poor urban areas. What on earth would we do if everyone reached even a portion of their full potential? It would be mayhem. So it is better that most people are educated in a way so as to not think outside the box. It keeps structure and order and that is what makes the world go 'round.

It is cold here but I like the feeling of it. I have never been in such an old city while it is this cold. I like it. Also- it is interesting to be in an oil town that isn't in north america.

I almost took a bus out to some random little town yesterday. I would love to be able to stay here for a bit but we leave for York tomorrow.

In a book store yesterday I saw a book called "Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with It." I laughed my ass off. I think I will buy it as a gift for my sister who is getting married the day after I fly home as well as some heather honey at this health food/fair trade place I am journaling from called Books and Beans... if you are ever in Aberdeen, give them some business because they have great food and wonderful coffee.

I am reading Stephen King On Writing and Watership Down right now. The Stephen King book was at Lynn Miles' suggestion... it is superb. Dar Williams bought me Watership Down to take with me on this part of the trek. What a great book. I love Lynn and Dar... two fine women. I hope that someday we will be able to tour again together.

They love Johnny Cash here in the UK. I have heard more Johnny Cash in music stores etc, than in North America. They even have a big tribute coming up to him with a bunch of local Aberdeen bands! Crazy!

Well- Jess and I are heading to the local BBC for an interview so I should go.

Much love- Alana

January 23, 2006

In London now. Had a great time so far in the UK. It feels like I have come home in a strange way. Landing in Scotland was very emotional for me.

Now all I have to do is get a following in Poland and I will feel "old world" complete.

I had the television on in my hotel room two nights ago and there was an American movie on and I thought... they look so strange on that side of the car! On that side of the road too. It's funny how we get used to these things so quickly.

Having a wonderful time with Dar and Lynn and Stuart our tour manager... he is a great Scott from Glasgow.

I am sitting across from Hyde Park right now. I walked past a house that looked like a cottage that my great grandmother lived in as a child in Backwell.

Really- everything is wonderful, I am making new friends every night (there was a massive picture of me in the Birmingham paper yesterday), I play and have seen some beautiful english countryside with stone fences built by hands that have long since been in the ground.

I makes me miss my grandma though. Every time I see something wonderful I want to call her and tell her or write her and send postcards that show the farmland she never got to see. I will be in Maidstone tomorrow and that is where my grandma's father lived for some time. I will really want to talk to her tomorrow.

On a lighter note, Lynn Miles and I are going shopping for boots today and we will be sitting somewhere having tea in the English way.

Will write soon... especially after I get to see Northern Scotland... my connection there is something deep inside me that I can't explain - love Alana

January 13, 2006

Hello from Paris! Bonsoir! I suppose it is not evening in Canada but it is Friday night in Paris for me!

I would like to say that I am going out clubbing it tonight wearing the latest Prada shoe, but alas, performing artists need their sleep.

I will probably have a lovely dinner with my new friends Caroline Herring and her wonderful husband Joe. Not a bad life really.

We had a superb reception last night at our show in the Latin quarter, a club called La Pomme D`Eve. I had two requests for songs off of my record. They love Moonshine (especially my new friend Simon), and I couldn't believe it but a gentleman named Gerard requested Prairie Sun. I wouldn't have expected a Parisian to appreciate the style of that song... but it was very emotional for me to perform that story in Paris.

The only disappointment I have had here, is that my favourite painting (Picasso's self portrait from the Blue Period) was on tour in Berlin. I have tried to see it 3 times now. It continues to elude me... but I will not stop trying to see it. So darn, I guess I'll have to come back to Paris, again. What a drag.

Talk to you all soon.

Much love Bon nuit! - Alana

PS - I tried chocolate Creme Brulle