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A couple of days ago, I received a letter from Tony Benn, UK politician (he found it necessary to give up his seat in Parliament to devote more time to politics) and all-round inspiring man. I had sent him a copy of 'The Unruly Ones' because he graciously gave us permission to use his photo as part of the cover collage. In his letter, he thanked me for sending the album, and included a passage by Oscar Wilde, which he suggested might sum up what we are trying to say:

"Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion. Sometimes the poor are praised for being thrifty. But to recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less. For a town or country labourer to practise thrift would be absolutely immoral. Man should not be ready to show that he can live like a badly fed animal....Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community, and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is the reason why agitators are absolutely necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilization."

- Oscar Wilde, 1891

I have heard Tony himself speak these very words in 'The Writing on the Wall', a concert which he performs with folk singer, Roy Bailey. So while, yes, they do sum up very well what we are trying to say, they also were instrumental in the creating the spark which led to 'The Unruly Ones'.

Thanks very much to Tony for taking the time to write to us, and thanks to all of you who are continually so willing to allow yourselves to be agitated with words and music, and who are just generally up for it.

We've got a couple of gigs this weekend before double-bassist Nye flies back to England. These will be our last gigs for a few months. As always, details can be found on the GIGS page.

Cheers folks, and see you soon,

Dana

Posted: 2008-04-11

Posted: 2008-04-06

Miles and miles of gratitude to all of the Saskatonians who came out to our launch party for 'The Unruly Ones'. We had a wonderful time playing to such a responsive crowd and were treated to a couple of pleasant surprises, including one of the members of The Weber Brothers getting up on stage for one of the wickedest impromptu melodica solos I've ever heard.


Pretty much the second we finished playing, we stuffed our trusty GMC Safari with all our worldly possessions and hit the road hard, making it all the way to Twin Butte, Alberta for a 'Jez's birthday' show at the General Store. That was the pleasure it always is, not only due to the stunning scenery in that part of the world, but also to the great people who run and frequent the place. If you are ever driving through Twin Butte, do make sure you pop into the store/pub/post office/Mexican restaurant. Jeny will treat you right.

Also in Twin Butte, we met a lovely woman named Daphne who has compiled a postcard book entitled 'Cowboy Yoga'. It is full of the most beautiful photos of the athleticism of those who know their horses and ride them well.

After another great gig at Gitter's Pub in High River, we executed the jaunt through Calgary and up the 2 to Edmonton to get ready for the City of Champion version of our album launch. This will take place at Velvet Underground on Saturday March 29, and will feature the talents of Cam Neufeld, Mike Sadava, and Jason Kodie, all well-loved Edmonton musos. AND... Matthew Ord, who is truly one of the world's best guitarists, will be setting foot on Canadian soil for the first time ever to grace the stage with us. I'm a bit excited.

'The Unruly Ones' will be available on cdbaby.com very soon, at which point, you'll be able to purchase it simply by clicking on the picture of the album cover on this page. In the meantime, you'll have to track me down if you want a copy.

Cheers to all and happy spring,

Dana

Posted: 2008-03-17

That's right. The album wizards are hard at work and their potions are bubbling away. By mid-March, everything will have simmered down to perfection, and we will unleash...'The Unruly Ones': Juicy, tender, sweet and sour, and filled with plenty of intellectual chewy bits. If this sounds like a mouth-watering (ear-watering sounds a bit unpleasant) feastival to you, check out our myspace site to hear a preview of a couple of the tunes.

Also, make sure to check out the GIGS page for some AB and SK dates, including album launch parties in Saskatoon (at Lydia's) and Edmonton (at Velvet Underground). The emanation of brilliance that is our double-bass player Nye Parsons will be flying over from England for both of these shows, and the Edmonton one will also benefit from the magicianship of Cam Neufeld, Mike Sadava, Jason Kodie, and Matthew Ord, fresh off an American tour with British band Hey Negrita. All of these luminaries played on 'The Unruly Ones', and I'm thrilled that we're all gonna get to do a show together.

Take care all, I thank you heartily for your support, and wish you the very best in your travels through any and all dimensions.

Love,

Dana

Posted: 2008-01-30

Wow, where'd that come from? I think I lost all meaningful consciousness sometime after Christmas. Too much of that sleepy drug they put in the turkey. And here we are. One thing I have managed to do in the last few weeks is watch the entire Back to the Future trilogy, and I am thrilled to report that it easily holds up. Passed the "Is it really a classic or was I just an idiot kid?" test with flying colours. All three of them are as good as I thought they were when I was a wee lass, and I actually liked the third one more than I used to.

So, what's going on with us this year? Well, we're getting all ready to release our second album, which is called 'The Unruly Ones'. It'll be all ready to go by mid-March, and we'll be having launch parties in Saskatoon and Edmonton. Our splendiferous bass player, Nye Parsons, will be over from England for all our March gigs, and in a recent development, our great friend Matthew Ord is also coming over from England and will be here for the Edmonton album launch on March 29th. His playing is something to behold. With him, Nye, Cam Neufeld, Mike Sadava, and Jason Kodie in the band, it's going to be the rock-and-rollingest CD release party in town.

We are also hard at work on the album artwork, which is going to feature a collage of many very special 'unruly ones', including Michelle Shocked and Louis de Bernieres amongst many others, and will definitely look cool enough to be incentive to not buy the album on iTunes (although it will be available on an endless number of internet sources).

In the meantime, January and February will remain fairly hibernatory, with a few gigs in here in SK. Cafe Vivant, where we're playing on January 18th, is now licensed. Bonus!

A note to Saskatchewanians: Our album launch at Lydia's on March 13th will be our last SK gig for at least a few months, as we'll be morphing into Edmontonians for the spring months. We hope you'll come see us off in style.

Lastly, I want to send out a big thank you to everyone everywhere who has come out to hear us play, bought our album, told their friends about us, or encouraged us in any way. We are learning that as musicians and travellers, our faith is often tested, and as much as our love of playing keeps us going, equally do the wonderful and interesting people we meet wherever we go.

Much gratitude and best wishes for 2008,

Dana

Posted: 2008-01-10