Every year about this time an assortment of artists play their music down at the Arts Barns to raise money and awareness for those less fortunate. It’s a celebration of our music for a great cause. It is hard to believe that in the midst of so much affluence there are still people sleeping in alleyways near steam grates because there are not enough beds to accommodate them. I believe those of us who have, are obliged to help those who haven’t. Our sympathy for others and our charity are our most noble qualities. Some religions ask their believers to give up a small percentage of their income under the understanding that their money will find its way to the poor and downtrodden. I am not a religious person but I don’t think you have to be to set aside a tithe or what ever you want to call it for the purpose of donating it to one of the many charities there are out there that take care of the unfortunate. Though I'm not religious, I believe life is a zero sum game. All the bad we do, we either get back in misfortune or we cancel out by good acts. On our dying day, we only get to keep what we gave away.

I recently learned I was nominated for the Canadian Folk Music Award for "English Songwriter of the Year". It took me a bit by surprise. I also learned that three other nominees for Folk awards were Edmontonians: Maria Dunn, Wendy McNeil and George Koufogiannakis. When we were being interviewed on CBC, we were asked about the Edmonton Folk scene and it made me quite proud how much there is going on here in this city. Folk music is alive and well in Edmonton! We have so many people here promoting Folk Music. There’s Bill Werthman and the volunteers of the Northern Lights Folk Club, Peter Pirquet and the volunteers at The Full Moon Folk Club, Steve Goss and Brian Parsons and the volunteers at the Uptown Folk Club and venues like the Blue Chair in our town. As well, there are promoters like Rhea March supporting young songwriters through U22. We have CKUA Radio which is an Alberta treasure that supports the local roots scene. We have Stony Plain Records, which is an Edmonton-based roots label with an international presence and last but not least the Edmonton Folk Festival. (Sorry if I’ve left anyone out). So, it's not surprising Edmonton will be well represented at the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards.

I just finished the first draft of a play that I’ve been procrastinating about writing for a long time. I had an outline and a few ideas for dialogue, which for fifteen years I dusted off every six months and then put away because I just didn’t know where to start. This summer my daughter mounted a play at the Fringe that she co-wrote called Cadaver and it turned out great. She just got a spot at the Fringe and her and two others in the process of a few months wrote and mounted it. This inspired me to get off my duff and take her lead. This time I began with the intention of not quitting until I had finished at least a first draft. Don’t look at the mountain, just the next shovel full of dirt. If you keep digging one day you look up and the mountain is gone. To my surprise I looked up after a few weeks of typing whenever I had the free time and I was done (at least the first draft). It's by no means finished but I’m still shocked I even got this far when I had secretly accepted it was just one more thing on my Bucket List that wasn’t going to get done. Guess it’s never too late to realize it’s never too late.

It's been an eventful summer which extended well into September but now the cold weather is on us. Rhea March has finally found a home for her Sunday Open Stage for songwriters. It is at the Hydeaway All Ages Artspace (an independently run community art gallery and performance space), located at 10209-100 Avenue. I’m sure there will be the usual U22’ers that frequent her open mike and a couple of us 022’ers salted in. If you want to go, you’ll see a Union Jack on the sign advertising the “Jeckyll & Hyde Pub” which is located downstairs from the HydeAway All Ages Artspace. It starts at 7 PM and goes till 10:30 PM. See you there.

Chris, my genius web designer and programmer, has created a new function for my website which is a section where you can listen to songs that I’m working on that are in progress, and comment on what you like or don’t like about them. You can rate the different aspects of the song, and offer comments about how you would change it if it were yours. It’s a chance to give feedback, much like the song circle that I host once a month. Everyone is welcome to throw in their two bits - so, don’t be shy. The idea is to take the criticism and rewrite the song to make it better. Not everyone is a professional songwriter but everyone is a professional listener. All comments are welcome.