The Back Story:
When I went to live in Riyadh, I took several books on design and 2 CDs, an Elton John compilation and Up to Here by The Tragically Hip, I think that's as close as anyone can get to an actual desert island disk. Riyadh, if you were unaware, is smack dab in the middle of the desert, hundreds of miles from the Red Sea to the west and the Persian Gulf to the east.My own artistic exploration has been made possible by those who came before me, writers like Kerouac, Hunter S. and Hemingway; a simple premise, surround yourself with interesting people and live an interesting life; do that and people will be interested in reading about it. My story's nothing more than a mash up of tributes and inspirations.
Lately, I've been liquidating my assets in an effort to live what I refer to as a "Buddha Approved" lifestyle, to me, that means being as humble as possible and putting others before myself. People like Bono and Gord Downie have taught me that you can be famous and humble at the same time though it's rare in this day and age. When I went to sell my goalie kit I knew that the gloves wouldn't be worth much cash-wise but they looked really cool so I took them with the intention of incorporating them into a future art project. That turned out to mean trading them for a harmonica at Curries, best deal I ever made.
I don't know much about music theory so I asked the bearded one at Curries in Gravenhurst what key was good for the blues, he gave me an E but, not his fault, I don't have any blues left in my soul. Apparently I have a lot of inspirational marches in me which will become a Christmas album but I digress. I promised him that I'd do everything in my power to put a platinum record on his wall with his name on it so this is my plan to accomplish that. By the way, did you know Gord Downie was a goalie? It only makes sense, eh?
I'm a firm believer in the existence of the soul and that death is merely a change of venue for those who are ready but that's not what this is about. This is about paying homage to great Canucks like Gord Downie and Dr. Bethune.
The Concept:
What better way to honor Gord than to put together a showcase of talented Canadian singer/songwriters? I had wanted to call it "Muskoka's Got Talent" but we can't without paying a butt tonne of royalties to some robber barons so someone'll have to find a good name.We open up for submissions, two original songs per artist or band and the members of the Hip get the final say on who moves on to the competition.
The competition portion work's on the viewer vote system that's become the industry standard format. For the TV show, we have the selected artists play one of their songs and viewers rate the performance on originality, content and style. Each week for the Friday episode, that week's winner sings a Hip tune with the band, we're not looking to replace him as they did with INXS, simply to help others who represent what Gord stood for as an artist: living a quality life.
The name "Song's From Little Pink" being a nod to the legendary Band album recorded at Bob Dylan's place; a fitting cottage country vibe to get the best performances possible. We take a dilapidated garage in Bala, insulate it and turn it into the studio I had envisioned with this hipster who lived there, of course we have to paint it pink.
The show leaves us with 6 winner; the album "Songs from Little Pink" would then be a double album, one of Gord's words and one of new material from the winners. Proceeds from the whole process could be used to finance The Gord Downie Centre for Studies in Popular Culture at The Norman Bethune Centre for the Study of Ethics and International Relations, an advanced studies university to be built on the development lands in Gravenhurst.
The concept came to me as I was playing my harmonica in front of the statue of Dr. Bethune at the Opera House in Gravenhurst and thinking of ways to make the dream of a home for advancing the post-humanist cause a reality. I had a shiver up my spine, it was the thought of Gord hanging with Errol Flynn the Robin Hood version. It will take a lot of input from a lot of people but seems the right thing to do.
Anyone out there able to help me make this a reality?
Live, Love and stay Wild my friends.
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