Last night at Healey's we officially release my new album, NORTH OF NOWHERE, now available here at www.davidhein.net, through HMV, or on puretracks.ca (iTunes is coming, but it's slow...).

Thank you to everyone who came out to the show (or who wrote and said they wanted to but couldn't) - you're all stars! Thank you Ray Boulay and Flickershow for sharing the stage with me. Thank you to Rent-a-Wreck for sponsoring the tour with a bright yellow VW bug and gas. Thank you to Aviva Insurance (my day job) for your support, flexibility and general awesomeness. Thanks to Moore-Wallace for printing my posters and postcards so beautifully. Thanks to Turnaround couriers for delivering my presskits. And Thanks to Eli for this awesome new website.

And thank you to my wonderful wife, Irene, for a million and one things. I miss you.

Please check out the tour schedule and tell your friends and family to come out - and check out my blog for specifics and pictures from the acoustic rock roadtrip.

See you soon!
David

Welcome to the world, Liam Robert Fearns Doyle! Liam is the son of bass player extraordinaire, Sean Doyle, the third David Hein band member to father a child (and I suspect his lovely wife, Cheryl, had something to do with it too)! Congrats, guys!
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I just played a show last night in Oakville at the Moonshine cafe, a wonderfully hippy-esque bar on Kerr St., with old blankets on the chairs, awesome art on the walls, marijuana piped in through the air system (according to the owner, as explanation to why everyone was so nice...) and (gasp) a crowd that comes out to appreciate new music. I got a bunch of lovely comments ("was that YOUR song?", "you're gorgeous!", and "you put a smile on face and I can't get it off") and was invited back to perform. And I think I will.

Nothing against Toronto crowds or bars - I love you guys - but it's nice to tour to places where there isn't the pressure on the audience to come out to see your 80th friend who's a singer/songwriter... maybe we're all a bit oversaturated in TO, when a quick 45 minute drive away is an audience hungry for smart lyrics and a catchy hook.
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What a strange show last night - I played solo acoustic with a great punkish band (Violet Static) and a sweet death metal band (Man, The Destroyer). The Elmo was hotter than I've seen and they showed some of the more bizarre, but neat indie films in between sets (note to self: hard-to-understand films packed, hot club darkness no sleep = almost passing out on stage). Outside in the hall, they had some very cool artists selling their wares (my favourite was the guy painting intricate drawings on IKEA bookshelves) and DJs alternated house and 80's music in between everything. Bizarre, but kind of awesome, and kudos to the Landed Entertainment guys for putting it all together - the club was packed (on a Sunday night!) and they've been offered Saturday nights now.

I made some friends, sang well (have to love the heat), almost bought a cool IKEA bookshelf, and was offered a gig opening for a ska band in Ottawa. And I didn't pass out on stage - which, after a 16 hour film shoot the day before - is a win in my books.
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For the second drummer in a row, I'm happy to report that Clark (& his wife, Michele - I understand she had something to do with it) have had a healthy, happy baby girl. Congrats, Guys!
To celebrate, I'll be playing a drummerless solo gig tonight at the Cadillac Lounge and Friday at the Renaissance Cafe - come out and celebrate fertility.
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I'm performing with Kimberly Morton and Melanie Joy at the Cadillac Lounge tonight. I'll be trying out some new tunes, some new covers, and some new dance stylings... okay, the last part isn't true...
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It's filled with boxes and furniture and tons of cleaning, but it's ours. In between I'm setting up some new gigs as well as the big CD release and a tour hopefully later this year.
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No music news today. I got the key to my new house last night - and we went by to sit on the floor and eat pizza and dream about a fully painted furnished house. Our neighbour came over to introduce himself and the previous owner left a bottle of bubbly in the fridge for us, along with a lovely note. We're pretty pleased. I'm painting all weekend - come by and help if you want.
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So it was Clark's big final show on Thursday - sad, because we're gonna miss him and his awesome drumming in the David Hein Band (and in other great bands like Flickershow and the Shoeflies). Clark and I have been playing together in different bands for almost 10 years now - he was integral to the sound of many of my songs. So, it's bittersweet to see him go off to become a father...

But we'll always have Waterloo..

Last Thursday, we drove up to the Grad House at U of W. On the way, Jeff and Clark schooled me on The Beatles' Revolver and then Led Zepplin 4 (or Zoso, or Runes, as I learned...). Just as we're rocking out to Black Dog, doing 135 in the left lane, we noticed the police car. Clark's last show with us and his first speeding ticket.

At the Grad House, there sadly wasn't much of a sound system, but the worst was that there was no drum carpet... as we started to play, the bass drum slowly started inching into the audience. Jeff and I tried to stop it with our feet, but we ended up doing the splits trying to catch it. Meanwhile, although we had monitors, Jeff couldn't actually hear anything we were playing, leading to a couple bizarre moments where Jeff reprised the last chord I'd just finished playing. Hopefully the audience thought it was avant garde. Halfway through the set, we noticed that Pinstripe Mystery, the band following us, remembered that they HAD brought a drum carpet and brought it in. Sigh... Otherwise, the set went quite well. Everyone sang and clapped along to Dear Aunty Emm, I announced to the crowd that Clark was leaving the band to become a father, and we dedicated Running the Red Lights to the cop who pulled us over.

Afterwards, one of the other performers congratulated Clark on joining the priesthood... I guess when you're a university student, apparently, a rock drummer leaving to become a "father" is slightly more understandable than leaving to become a dad.

On the way home, the boys schooled me in Radiohead. What did I learn tonight? 1. Don't speed - Waterloo's really not that far, 2. Always bring a drum carpet, 3. Drunk U of W students are a generous bunch - everyone chipped in $20 towards Clark's ticket and 4. If you're going to break the law, you may as well be doing it to Zeppelin.

So here's to father Allore! Best of luck to you and Michaela!
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We had a blast at the Renaissance around the corner from my new house on Friday - thanks to everyone who came out. We did two sets (singing, despite being the proud owner of an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection... ) including the first full band performance of "Smart", my jingle for Smartcars, with Dan adding a fun riff over the chorus. Clark, the daddy-to-be (yes... that makes 2 drummers... welcome to the David Hein fertillity clinic), played his pants off with us and Flickershow (along with Ellen Carol singing some sweet harmonies).
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We played a secret ninja birthday party last night in honour of my friend Lisa's 40th birthday. Way up in Markham on the deck (stage?) of a beautiful old-house, we rocked out in front of a lovely crowd, a campfire, and the sky slowly darkening. Just beautiful. Lots of kids dancing and singing and dogs running around with stolen hot dogs in their mouths. Lisa requested South Dakota 3 times (okay, she requested it more than that, but we only played it 3 times). I hope my 40th is as nice someday.
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Last night I played a solo show at Wally's "Home of the Blues in Guelph" pub. Wally's is a very normal looking bar with fanatically drunk hockey players watching the game and arguing over whether "the leafs are gonna go to the next... you know... um... the next... level..." (read with drunken slurring - funny!). The only really distinguishing feature from any other bar was the large shiny barbecue on stage.

I hitched a ride with James Clark of the Clark Institute. James drove because the last time James and I drove anywhere, I was at the wheel, and we almost died (see the northern tour description below...). Also playing were Adlai Waxman, a stellar pianist/songwriter and Michael Closson, who's one of the better Dave Matthews-esque guitarists out there. Terry of Scotia Entertainment set up the show.

James and I were momentarilly concerned by the large neon "Home of the Blues" sign, and considered quickly changing our sets, adding more heartbreak and 1-4-5 chord changes, but it was Wednesday at Wally's, which is when acoustic singer/songwriters take the stage and force the Wally's folk to turn the game down.

To be fair, everyone at the bar was totally nice and the show was great, despite the low numbers. Adlai got some kudos from a loudspoken man at the bar who congratulated him and then told him he should "expose himself" which we all took the wrong way. The man then later joined Michael onstage to sing along to one of Michael's songs that he had never heard. I tried to auction off the barbecue and then Michael tried to auction off Terry. Neither sold.

And we didn't almost die on the way home. Which is always a sign of a good l'il tour.

I'll be in Guelph this Wednesday, then a top-secret surprise show that I can't really talk about (okay, it's for a friend's surprise party, but shhh, it's a surprise...), and then I'm in Kitchener on the 29th and FINALLY back in Toronto May 12th at the Renaissance Cafe.
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Hope your weekends were filled with chocolate bunnies and alchohol. I did Passover with my folks and then spent the weekend with friends, family and playing with my kitten - nice and low-key. The band (& Paul... how'd he get invited) went out for a boys-day-out - something we never do, since we're always rehearsing or playing. We hit Playdium for a couple hours (apparently I suck at shooting or driving games, but kick ass at Bubble Bobble... not the most manly game, but you work with what you got), then went for nachos/wings/fries & beer, and then hit the Exclaim! Hockey Hootenanny at Lee's Palace to see hockey players rock or famous rockers play hockey, depending... I have no idea who was playing but they were all drunk and awesome (or we were drunk and they just seemed awesome... either way). A good night all around.
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I'm freaking tired today.

And here's the thing. It's not because we played a totally fun show at the Circus Room. And it's not because we rocked out with the crowd to Melanie Joy playing a beautiful set of Kate Bush-esque piano pop or because we stayed after to catch a couple of Amy Jacob's tunes.

It's because of Marty, my kitten, who insisted on sleeping on my chest all night and purring. He's totally cute, and, unlike other nights, didn't pounce on my face or bite or claw or chew. But purring, regardless of how tired you are, when it comes from your chest is very, very loud.

Anyway - the show was awesome. On the drive up, Clark and Jeff (Jeff, my regular drummer, was playing bass tonight - which he's phenomenal at - and Clark was on drums) schooled me on Beatles (for some reason I'd never listened to Abbey Road) and Pink Floyd (never listened to Wish Your Were Here)... apparently these are major music crimes which couldn't be tolerated by C & J, who made faces like Irene did when I told her I'd never seen The Sound of Music or The Wizard of Oz. Apparently I grew up under a rock (otherwise known as Saskatchewan).

Melanie and her band played a great set - featuring her awesome CD title track "Magic" and a cover of "Karma Police". Plus, regardless of whether she agrees, the guy who shouted from the back of the bar, "YOU LOOK LIKE SHAKIRA!" was kind of right. Check her out at www.melaniejoy.com or myspace/melaniejoy.

We had a good set too. Opened with our new theme for Smartcars "Smart" and had one of Melanie's friends tell us that South Dakota was her favourite (it's Clark's favourite too). Amy Jacobs sort-of joined us for a chorus... if you count sort-of just hanging out with us on stage. And because we only had one mike, operatically trained Jeff-Daze dazzled the crowd with his ability to sing backup unamplified.

And best of all, Clark (who when he last played the Circus room with the Shoeflies, threw up in the parking lot three times) didn't throw up once. A major success in my books, although Clark said he felt a bit sick just being there.

Thanks to Terry and The Circus Room for having us. I'm back that way in Guelph on the 26th.
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I just bought a house. We move in end of May and it's bizarre - somehow I've become a house and kitten owner out of the blue. Still, the house is awesome (and so is the kitten) - it's near the subway, near friends, and there's a huge porch for Summer porch parties which I expect you all to come to.
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Got back yesterday from Sault & Sudbury. LOTS of stories - played 5 gigs in 3 nights, sold a lot of CDs, got very little sleep, almost died, and am still working off the sleep debt.

The first show was up in Sault Ste. Marie. We drove 10 hours (stopping to try to pee in hip deep snow banks). The club (Lop Lops - a very cool place - named after some famous artist's childhood imaginary friend, Lop Lop, which he incorporated into all of his paintings).
was packed - some nice girls named Sierra and Terra bought me shots and made requests - and I got hit on a by a nice paramedic guy... Our gig doubled as an after party for a gay/lesbian film festival.

Drove to Sudbury the next day and played in the middle of Chapters with close to zero amplification (we were theoretically over the PA in the computer and kids
section), but otherwise it was just us with guitars in the middle of the store - bizarre. But we sold a good number of CDs and I met a ton of nice folks, who all warned us against sleeping at the Townehouse in Sudbury. It's actually kind of nice to not be playing into a microphone and just singing out.

In Sudbury, we skipped the well-warned Townehouse beds, and stayed at the Canadiana Motel. At four in the morning, some woman was kicked out screaming that the locks were faulty and the whole place was a fire trap.

Next day we played Starbucks which gave us a great audience, but no one wanted to buy CDs. My theory is that people who come in to buy $20 books see a $10 CD as a fine purchase but people coming in to buy
overpriced $6 coffee, see a $10 CD as an insulting upsell... not sure, but that's what comforted us as we drank our fancy Starbucks strawberry drinks afterwards.

Went to dinner at the Laughing Buddha (next door and owned by the Townehouse owner) - had awesome food and then, with 3 hours to kill before my show, I offered to play an acoustic set, which turned into a huge jam as the bartender brought out a guitar.

Then we went over to the Townehouse where we met Mark, whose great-grandfather swam the English channel at 16, whose father was the mayor of Sudbury, and whose uncle was run out of town for killing a man,
and whose brother wore purple socks, shoes, shirts, and pants and had built a massive stone pile of rocks/palace somewhere in Northern Ontario... we're still not sure if he was a compulsive liar, an eccentric rich person, or just a drunk. Either way he was hilarious...

The Townehouse looks like a hole, but is very cool and filled with really nice folks. It's also THE place for good music in Sudbury, so we were honoured to be there. We played a great set - James Clark and Snoovy's songs were stuck in my head all weekend and they really kicked ass here. Before my set, I sold CDs to people who had never heard me sing... One was a very
sweet fish biologist who said she had a crush on me - made me blush. The bartender from the Laughing Buddha abandoned his bar to come over and check us out for a while and during my set, a guy got up on stage and to freestyle rap with me. Finally, in an almost empty front section, one girl danced right in front of me for a couple songs. VERY STRANGE GIG... BUT VERY COOL.

Got about 3 hours sleep that night and woke at 6 to drive back, which is when the freezing rain started. Halfway along we hydroplaned and did two donuts in the middle of the highway... thank god no trucks were coming or it would have gone badly. Still pretty shaken up about it.

Final tally: broke even with CD sales vs. expenses. Got back to town in time to look at 3 houses, one of which we just put an offer on. Then I went to work and then I went up to York to moonlight as a lighting designer, which I'm doing tonight as well. Who needs sleep, right?
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Coming up this weekend is my Northern Tour with Snoovy and The Clark Institute to Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. Must get some sleep before then. We'll be rocking through the Soo and then heading to Sudbury for 3 shows. Wish us warm weather!
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Canadian Music Week just wrapped. I played some small shows at Smiling Buddha and in Kitchener, but saw a million bands. Thursday I saw Peter Elkas (one of my highlights), then The Awesome Team, and Brian Byrne of I, Mother Earth (love his country stuff). Then Friday, I caught Danny Michel and Kevin Fox at the Royall York and then I saw the "RadioStar" awards for best songwriter. Then I saw an Australian Skydigger-esque band at The Drake called The Gin Club which were pretty good, but drowned out by the Drake crowd. Caught an awesome punk group called The First Time at Clinton's - killer live show - and then went to Lee's to see Fembots (very good) and The Meligrove Band (too much time changes and screaming for my tastes).
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I realized looking through these posts that I never mentioned that yes, we kept the Christmas kitten. We're both somewhat allergic, he bites my feet and makes me at least 15 minutes late for everything, but he's undeniably wonderful. His name is Marty. I've already written at least 3 songs for him.
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Spent the day down at the MacMillan theatre for the big photo shoot - Jim took about 12000 pictures (ah digital photography), so I'm hoping that one turns out. The highlight was shooting up on the fly gallery over a hundred feet up on steel beams - thanks to Patricia, our makeup/hair person for conquering her fear of heights, to Jim and Dean for an amazing shoot, and to Ian for breaking us in to the Theatre. I'll post pics soon.
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Went out to see the Skydiggers/Cash Brothers show at Hugh's Room last night and they were stellar. Their new album was produced and mastered by the same good folks that worked on mine and it sounds amazing.

In other news, we're doing a photo shoot for the album tomorrow down at the MacMillan Theatre. I've grown a beard for half the shoot (which apparently ages me about a year...). Jim Morrison's doing the shots - I've been wanting to work with him forever, so I'm totally excited.
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SNOW DAY!!! MY SHOW IN KITCHENER IS CANCELLED TONIGHT - The University's closed for snow... but we're going to reschedule. So don't come out - go play in the snow or sit by a fireplace somewhere.
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Great show at NOW's lounge last night - tried out some of the new takes on songs from the album which went swimmingly and got a crowd of (mostly) strangers singing along to Aunty Emm. Plus one of my favourite sound guys, Crispin, from C'est What, was on the board. Then we went out and ate WAY too much dessert. A good night all around. Coming up, I'm in Kitchener on the 16th.
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THE ALBUM IS MASTERED!!! EVERYONE GO OUT AND CELEBRATE FOR ME, BECAUSE I AM TOO TIRED TO MOVE. Not that the mastering was tiring. Eric Kofler did a kickass job and suddenly I'm all giddy about these tracks that I've been listening to for months. Plus I'm playing at the NOW lounge on Saturday and friend just remixed one of the new tracks (me + house music = awesome), and the Billboard Song Contest put me on standby saying that my song, Alright, is "a great song with a positive message. Kind of like INXS." Anyway, everything feels new and exciting. Except that I can't move and am going to sleep now.
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Just got a gig this Saturday at the NOW lounge- details to come soon. New experiences all around. I've never been there before and this is the first time I've booked a gig through myspace. Cool. Must remember to check it more often. =). Come out if you can to add some familiar faces to the mix.
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Well, the election's over - I spent the day convincing friends to vote, which may or may not have done any good... anyway, with politics behind us for the moment, I'm back to picking track lists, booking tours, and designing CD packages. March and April are going to be busy busy busy. In a good way.
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Thinking about the Election next week - among the other important issues, ACTRA (www.actra.ca/hotnews) just reported that neither the Liberals or the Conservatives are really backing the arts well enough (surprise!). There's an excellent editorial in Eye weekly (www.eyeweekly.ca) about how strategic voting doesn't work - check it out. And if you're still concerned about strategy, check out www.democraticspace.com/blog/ndp-strategic-voting-guide for a riding by riding breakdown of where strategic voting may make a difference.

There. That's my rant - go back to your daily business now.
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Back from Florida today - did 6 theme parks in 5 days and am a bit out of it. Back to mastering the album, hopefully in the next week or two, and then back to business, playing for all y'all.
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Happy New Year everyone - hope 2006 is good to us all. I'm off to Disneyworld for a week - WOOOOOO! I'll be back soon and then the tour planning begins!
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Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to all y'all - I got the new Sarah Harmer CD and the John Mayer Trio thing, plus we babysat a homeless kitten, who may turn into our real kitten because OHMYGOD it's cute. Allergies be damned. Anyway, best to everyone. Hope Santa was good to you too.
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It was the last day at Monumental Sound today - we wrapped up Stagefright and Before & After All - the album's already half mastered... and I've got the flu... but I'm thrilled. Can't wait for you all to hear it.
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Last weekend's show was probably THE most bizarre I've ever played. It was a boufon clown show (boufon's being the freaks and outcasts of the middle ages who were forced to live in swamps, but returned every year to put on satirical performances... who says you don't learn stuff playing music?) in the Zero Gravity Circus rehearsal space (The "Centre of Gravity"). The group was some of the nicest folks I've ever worked with - really sweet... until they got on stage... and then the depravity began. It was a retelling of the birth of Jesus, except the angel Gabriel was fisted with a burlap glove and God had his way with Mary many different ways.... and then I came on and played Winter Wonderland... you may have had to be there. Thanks to awesome dancers Irene Carl and Cheryl Fearns for dancing, dressed as angels and for Sean "bass player extraordinaire" Doyle taking a pie in the face for the team... again, you may have had to be there.
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Afterwards, I played late at the Renaissance with some of my favourite singer/songwriters Snoovy (www.snoovy.com) & the Clark Institute (www.clarkinstitute.com). And check out Autumneve at www.autumneve.ca - Matt from AE sang some tunes and was awesome.
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No shows coming up - must get better first. Then some touring and then... a CD release party!
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Healey's was hella fun last night at Yard Trip's CD release party - thanks to everyone who came out and stayed late - and special thanks to our inebriated dancing girls. Definitely check out Rick Temporao and The New Low and Yard Trip - both awesome bands and good guys.
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We had a fun show up at Catch 22 in Oshawa with a very small but lovely audience. It's nice to be back on stage after months in the studio, but we had to shake out a bit of rustiness. Had to leave halfway through the Sleddogs set, but they were fantastic - catch them at the Cadillac Lounge on Thursday or in KW at the Circus Room tonight (Wednesday) (www.sleddogs.ca).
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One song away from finishing the first draft of the mixes and they sound pretty nice. Feels good to be finishing - opening up the door for a ton of shows in December.
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We're 6 songs into mixing and it sounds amazing. Last night was Joe's birthday and he had a crowd come to the studio to raise money for MSF (Doctors Without Borders). Jeanette Montgomery (whose song I'm covering on my album) did a great set, along with some of the Skydiggers. The night went late, so I'm betting today's mixing starts in the afternoon.
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Alright... it's alright... phew! Looks like we've recovered all the songs. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief (I know - you were all on the edge of your seats). We started mixing yesterday and, wow, what a difference a couple tweaks makes - how excited am I? Lots.
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Wow - the last news entry now seems hopelessly ironic. Two nights ago the computer at Monumental blew up, destroying both the main audio drive and the backup drive - along with all the backup vocals, the keyboard parts, and one of the lead vocals... here's one of the advantages of using tape: we still have most of the instruments and lead vocals but still.... I'm a little exhausted as start back into doing a bunch of stuff we've already done. But who knows, right? Maybe it'll even be better the second time around... that's what I'm trying to focus on at least.
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SO CLOSE! We're 4 songs away from wrapping the backup vocals and they sound great. Next week I take the week off from work to mix and then we're done! Can't believe we've been working on this album since July, but it's sounding fantastic, so there you are.
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Saw Cuff the Duke a week or two ago at Lee's and just wanted to mention how great they were. I love that rockabilly is back in black - my music edges up on it, so always a good sign. My producer's doing a Skydiggers album this weekend, so I've got some days off to chill.
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After a sweet 3-week break, I'm back in the studio. We've recorded 6 of the 13 vocal tracks and they're sounding great. We're taking it slow and getting the right takes taken. Funny how just singing and listening can totally exhaust you.
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Just caught Blue Rodeo over the weekend down at the Ex - it's an annual tradition with some friends to stretch out on the lawn seats, listen to BR and watch the ferris wheel and fireworks. Nice inspiration for heading back into the studio next week.
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Tim just finished up guitar (and hammertone, Ebow, and anything else with strings) for the album and it sounds fantastic. The Ebow on Another Time of Year sounds as close to a cello as a Les Paul gets and possibly cooler and the Hammertone (like an electric mandolin) on Stagefright is Trippy as all getout. Joe Dunphy, Juno-award winning producer extraordinaire, called it one of the best albums sonically he's ever worked on. That's pretty cool. In two weeks we start up on vocals followed by much mixing merriment and then a lot of stressing out about how to play it for everyone around the World. Right now, I'm trying to do some much-needed relaxing and figure out how to take care of my fish.
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Tim Bovaconti's been playing anything and everything with strings (acoustic, telecaster, les Paul, Steel, Ebow, and hammertone) on my CD. Can't wait for you to hear the Tremelo on My Eyes Wide and the sweet slide guitar on Cry. It just sounds fantastic. We'll be wrapping up soon, but check out Tim playing with Ron Sexsmith and every other band in Toronto, usually two to three shows a night. He's hard to miss, and it would be shame if you did. I know he's at the Toronto Zoo on Thursday and C'est What on Sunday.
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We just wrapped up the bed tracks and percussion and are finishing up keyboards. Lyle Molzan, who just played Live 8 with Jann Arden and is now off on an Australian tour, did an amazing job on drums - these songs are going to kick. And Greg Johnston, bass player & keyboardist extraordinaire and fab songwriter for Canadian Idol, is making the album groove. I am a blessed man for having these guys play on my tunes. I think you guys will like this a lot.
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Played an awesome show at the Renaissance Cafe last night - sadly with not a ton of people there, since John Blair, Ray Boulay and Uncle Seth put in awesome performances (Ray, thanks for the JC cover). Still, we had a blast.

In recording news, I've just finished rehearsing with my fine session players and things are sounding excellent. This weekend we start recording bed tracks, aiming for finishing in September and a release in October. If you see me looking stressed out, but excited in the next couple months you'll know why.
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Just started pre-production with Juno-award winning producer, Joe Dunphy (Andy Stochansky, Skydiggers), last night at Monumental Sound in Toronto. Joe's a great guy and he's bringing in some fabulous musicians to play on it. Can't wait.

This Saturday, I'll be at the Renaissance Cafe, hosting Scotia Entertainment's acoustic showcase featuring some very talented singer/songwriters like Emma Cook and Jessica Graham.
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July is chock full of solo acoustic shows, including a guest spot at Late Night at the Fringe - Toronto's theatre fest party. And it's free, so it's doubly good. Then there's two excellent nights at the Renaissance Cafe, where it's always a pleasure to play.
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We had a fabulous show at the El Mocambo last night - lots of fun - and a bit bittersweet, as it was Dan Surman's last show with us on lead guitar. Dan's leaving to concentrate on his new job down at Harbourfront, which he loves and we wish him all the best. Plus, we just received word yesterday that Jeff Daze, drummer extraordinaire, will be a father later this year - congrats to both Jeff and Jessica! To celebrate we played a crazed set with a bunch of new songs and new covers like Sweet Home Alabama and Don't You Forget About Me, not to mention Dan's always popular Phone Sex song.

There's a bunch of new solo shows coming up, including a guest spot in the Toronto Fringe Festival - check out the events listings for more info.

In other news, I've just started planning a tour for the fall - details to come later - but for now, if you'd like to see me play your hometown, let me know and I'll book it in.
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NEW SHOWS! I've been spending a ton of time meeting with producers & studios and stressing out about making albums and am thrilled to be back on stage on June 16th.

One time, while working at a Muppet recording studio in New York, I met Kevin Clash who plays Elmo in Sesame Street. Kevin's a big man with a very deep voice and when I first met him I thought, "there's no way this guy is Elmo!" But the minute he gets in front of microphone, Kevin's voice goes up eight octaves and the man is suddenly a small red muppet - and the whole time he's recording he never once goes out of character. One time Kevin couldn't get some lyrics right and, still as Elmo, started cussing like a pirate. To this day, I wish we'd kept that take.... Anyway, The David Hein Band's back at a new venue for us - the El Mocambo, better known as the El Mo. See you there!
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Happy spring, all y'all! I've been meeting with some studios and producers in Toronto and am on the verge of recording the great Canadian album. Last week, I went out to audition for Lord of the Rings, the musical - sadly, I won't be an elf or an orc or a tree or whatever, but my friend Kyle (who looks like a hobbit) got a callback, which made the 8 hour wait and the sunburn all worth it.

We haven't been playing live much these days (blame the CD), but once it's done we'll be gigging like crazy. Hope to see you all soon.
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Thanks to everyone who came out to the Opera House last night to help raise money for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer - you all rock. We had a blast playing and rocking out to ONE WILD NIGHT, Canada's best Bon Jovi tribute Band and totally great guys.
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HAPPY CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK! Yesterday I went down to the conferences and caught up with producer Vikas Kohli and Tamara Miller (www.tamaramilleronline.com) who've just worked together on some great new tracks. Then last night I caught Friday Morning Regrets and an old friend from Saskatchewan's band Double A Soundsystem. Beautiful prairie songs. Tonight we're on at the Opera House at 10pm, for the CMW Breast Cancer Benefit KEEPING THE HEADLITES BRITE (sic). Come out and help out by rocking out.
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Last night we hit the Horseshoe with five other talented bands to raise a ton of money for Unicef's Tsunami relief efforts. I don't how we ended up "headlining" at the Shoe on a Saturday night, but we had a ball. Thanks to everyone who came out. We'll be adding links to the other bands in our links section, so check them out!

On Mar. 5th, we'll be opening for ONE WILD NIGHT, Canada's best Bon Jovi Tribute band, at the Opera House as part of CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK. KEEPING THE HEADLIGHTS BRITE is a Breast Cancer benefit, proceeds going to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. This show'll also be special, as our drummer Jeff Daze tries to fill Dan's shoes as lead guitarist, and Clark Allore, from my Live @ C'est What CD fame, joins us on drums. $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
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This Saturday, we'll be playing the legendary HORSESHOE TAVERN for a TSUNAMI RELIEF BENEFIT. 7 dollars for 6 bands (all in the same roots rock vein as us) and all the proceeds going to help with Unicef's disaster relief... plus we'll be debuting a brand new song called "Dear Auntie Emm" - ooh, suspense!
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I stopped by the Renaissance cafe for Dr. B's Acoustic Medicine show and caught some great music by David Camps, Uncle Seth, Heather Dale and others. Thanks to everyone who came out!

How fun is Jill Binder's poetry/music open mic, Wordplay, last Saturday?! Amazing poets, awesome musicians, and all of them jamming together in the always warm and welcoming Free Times Cafe. Thanks to Louise and Ansgar for improv painting and playing harmonica & percussion with me. If you're a poet or musician, check out Jill's night at the Free Times every second Sunday of the month.
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Thanks to everyone who came out to the Boathouse in Kitchener for the show last night - what a sweet spot it is, a nice warm venue in the middle of a park, with a nice audience - what else could you ask for? And a special shout out to Listowellians Alice and Beau for coming all the way.

Last weekend I auditioned for INXS, went to 3 Winterfolk seminars, did an hour-long web radio interview, scoped out two of Toronto's top studios for recording our upcoming CD, caught the Trews and Rocketface at the Horseshoe's 57th birthday party, and visited some friends up North of TO... I'm now off to sleep.

The INXS auditon went great, but happily I'm still the lead singer of the David Hein Band.

We made it up to Newmarket through the blizzard and, once there, had a pretty good time - Jeff played drums, guitar, and congas and we tested out some new & old songs. Thanks to everyone who braved the weather.
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This Saturday, we'll be playing a 3 hour acoustic set at Newmarket's Corner Coffee House. We'll be testing out some totally new material, resurrecting old favourites, and rocking out with a bunch of cover tunes from our New Years set! Come out for a cozy winter show in an intimate venue with some amazing homegrown food and music!

We just booked a Tsunami benefit show at the legendary Horseshoe tavern - Feb. 19th. I've seen countless amazing bands at the Horseshoe - it's a great venue and a great cause - come on out!

I had the best birthday weekend ever - first my wife threw me a surprise party on Friday - kind of hard to explain, suffice to say it involved a massage, letters that self-destructed, and 30 people in my house dressed as super heroes. On Saturday, to celebrate my and Elvis' birthday, we played one of our best shows ever at the Renaissance Cafe with Flickershow and Snoovy. Julian & Eli covered one of my songs, "My Eyes Wide" in their set - now available online in our music section - and our set included a chase scene, Elvis impersonations, a new drinking game to one of our songs, and Jeff playing acoustic guitar AND drums AT THE SAME TIME!

Happy birthday to me! Cheers, everyone.
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Happy New Year! After New Years 2000, where a group of friends and I almost blew each other up with ziplock bags of gasoline, fireworks and something called a "flaming ball of peace," and 2004's 48-hour party, I think last night was my favourite. We played for 4 hours at The Willow, covering everyone from Dylan to Aguilera, and featuring the vocal & tambourine talents of Julian & Eli from Flickershow (I'm playing again with them Jan. 8th - see below for more details), the bongo talents of Evette the bartender, and the guitar stylings of designer/doctor (and sadly for the ladies, un-single) Sam Stone. We played "Brown Eyed Girl" to my blue-eyed neice, screwed up the start to Guilt Trip Song because we were all watching the porn on the big screen TV, played Old Lang Syne, 1999, & New Year's Day, and raised over $200 for the Red Cross' disaster relief.

Thanks to everyone who came out and spent the start of 2005 with us, everyone who donated money, and everyone who danced and sang along. Props to the Willow for having us, Julian, Eli, Sam, & Evette for guesting, and to Paul Major (and his charming and patient date, Shannon) for amazing sound & lights. Happy 2005!

2004's New Years resolution was "to play at as many Toronto clubs as possible" and as of yesterday's 360 date, we've now played at the 360, the Rivoli, the Willow, the Black Swan, the Reverb, Holy Joe's, Kathedral, the Opera House, the Renaissance Cafe, the Free Times Cafe, Rancho Relaxo, Kee to Bala, and a boat in the Toronto harbour.

This year - "less breakfast buffets at 3 in the morning."

Merry Christmas everyone. Music-wise I got the new U2 album and Sarah Harmer's latest. We've got a last-minute gig at the 360 for the 29th and are prepping for New Year's Eve craziness at the Willow. Hope you're all warm and cozy somewhere. See you soon!

How good was yesterday?! We caroled for 4 hours in Union Station and raised a bunch of money for Children's Aid and then I went a played a great gig with a "Best of" all the singer/songwriters I've played with all year including Flickershow, Michael Closson, Anson Dremet, Emma Cook, & Snoovy (check them all out in my links section - they're great!). Plus some old friends turned up - kudos to Julia especially for coming from South America! Happy holidays, y'all!

This Saturday, the 18th, I'll be caroling to raise money for Children's Aid in the Grand Hall of Union Station from 2-4. Then, later that night I'll be at the Renaissance Cafe for Scotia Entertainment's Christmas Party - 15 performers, presents, and Christmas chaos in a cozy cafe.

I went for a walk for World Vision Africa today through a beautifully snowy but somewhat muddy ravine. Thanks to everyone who donated money to help build a well!

Came in 3rd at the Paragon Singer/songwriter competition - but as Jack Black says in School of Rock, "Rock is not about getting A's, it's about putting on an awesome show." Cheers to everyone who came out and to Emma Cook (www.emmacookmusic.com) who won the competition! She got a good grade AND rocked.

What a party last Saturday! We played 40 songs for over 3 hours of music to a fantastic audience at Willow. The food was great and the bartenders, the woman who came in selling roses, and Cheryl & Irene the elves all got their groove on. We'll be playing there again on NEW YEAR'S EVE! And if you thought Saturday was fun... this is going to be even funner.

This Saturday it's the David Hein Band Holiday Party at The Willow on Danforth! 3 HOURS OF MUSIC featuring covers of Christina, Barenaked Ladies, U2, REM, and more... plus our own music. And if you're good, there might even be presents! For you, FREE!

I had a great time at Scotia Entertainment's acoustic showcase - some great performers and a good time debuting some new material (I think one song called "Pennies" was definitely voted to stay on the island, so hopefully you'll all hear it soon). Thanks to Tracey & Paul for driving all the way from North Bay just to come to the show!

Thanks for everyone who came out to our Autism Benefit this Saturday - thanks to you we raised over $400 for Autism Society Canada! Bookending us were Left of Here and Ray Boulay & The Constituents - both turning in fantastic performances. Check them out in our links sections!

I'll be playing solo at the Renaissance Cafe this Saturday, the 27th - hopefully debuting a couple new songs. Come on out!

Saturday night, we're hosting an AUTISM BENEFIT at Rancho Relaxo. Good music for a good cause - good all around. Please help us spread the word. Thanks to Ingrid Schumacher at CHUM FM for the plug today and to EZ Rock for their help!

Last night I saw Danny Michel and the Rheostatics at the Horseshoe - both fantastic. The Rheos are SO brilliant live - and are still playing there for a day or two - try to catch them. Try, however, not to stay out watching them till 3:30 am and then work the next day...

My lovely wife, Irene Carl Sankoff, just made her TV debut in the History Channel's "Zero Hour" - for those of you who didn't catch it, it'll play again this Saturday, Nov. 20th @ 8pm.
What a good day today was - I got a last minute gig at the Renaissance Cafe Wednesday night - (come out if you can!), plus I spoke to Ingrid Schumacher from CHUM FM who'll be doing a bit on our Autism benefit this Saturday during her Lost 80's Lunch show this Friday - listen in! She's awesome.

Sigh... 4 more years... Everyone from America who's reading this is welcome to crash on my Canadian couch while they look for a new country to stay in.

Irene and I had a great time down in New York - congrats, L&B! The Halloween parade was a treat - tons of grim reapers campaigning for Bush. I liked Mary Poppins on rollerblades and there were some excellent superheros, but I really enjoyed being dressed as a giant bottle of ketchup and running into a bottle of worchester sauce. Making friends with other condiments in the middle of 6th - that's what New York's about. Irene went as a cat, so we were a cat and catsup (ha ha ha) and we caught Avenue Q on Broadway - brilliant puppet sex and much more.

Happy Halloween everyone - I'm heading down to New York, dressed as a giant bottle of ketchup for some friends' wedding!

Hooray for Democracy! I just sent in my "overseas" vote for John Kerry in the US Election - some of you may not know that I've got dual citizenship - my parents were American and I've got a piece of paper that says that "David Hein, blonde hair, blue eyes, 3 foot 2 inches tall is an American citizen." Now you know.

Had an excellent show down in Niagara-on-the-Lake with the lovely and talented Janine Stoll, Erin Smith and her grooving band for Lynn Teo & Nate Anderson's wedding - congrats, you crazy kids! Thanks to Gavin MacDonald and Lynn for singing along with me and to the band for having me guest on Heard It Through the Grapevine. Check out Janine, Erin and their sideband Ladybird Sideshow this Tuesday at C'est What's music space reopening.

Happy Canadian thanksgiving, y'all!

We didn't win in the Paragon battle of the bands - honours went to a very cool Russian prog folk rock group called Pavlov's Dogs - but we were invited to play Jeff Healey's bar sometime soon and we played a great gig and had a stellar time - thanks to everyone who came out (especially you far out folks from Montreal and the Prairies), danced, sang along, and rocked the Reverb. You rule.

It's been a crazy month playing in indie week, arts week, at Second City and then for Paragon - thanks for everyone who came out to all of them (drinks are on me). We're going to take a bit of time to do some recording (and sleeping), but stay tuned for a cover gig coming up soon.

This Friday, we'll be at the Paragon battle of the bands at the Reverb. A contest where they judge you on artistic merit, give you a 40 minute set, at a decent time (8:30), and only charge $8 - whodathunkit? Come out and support your friendly neighbourhood indie musicians.

In other news - C'est What is again opening its door to music - can't keep a good club down. Although its Nia space is gone, the bar space next door is starting gigs soon. Check out what will hopefully still be one of the best live music spots in town.

On Tuesday, Jeff and I were at the Cabbagetown Arts Fest as parts of Artsweek throughout the t-dot. Together with some great talent and some excellent cookies we raised $200 for the children's arts program at the Cabbagetown Community Arts Centre.

Hey! Check out the Metro newspaper's pg. 31 today - there's an excellen pic of Dan and I (and Jeff behind a cymbal) playing. It's part of piece promoting our show tonight at the Cabbagetown Arts Festival - come out for Cabbagetown arts fun!

Hope y'all had as good a weekend as I did - at Tim Sims, I musical guested for Darryl Purvis's excellent comedy show featuring a bunch of very funny friends. Finally got to bed at 5:30 am. Next day I jammed with Jeff for a show at the Cabbagetown Arts Festival, went to see Ladybird Sideshow record a live album at the Orange Lounge and then hopped next door to see Snoovy play a farewell show at Holy Joe's - while inadvertantly catching the Skatellites at the Reverb - the band that, apparently, invented Ska!...

Come out to see the band rock the Reverb, Oct. 1st!

It's always nice when you apply to a songwriting contest, forget about it, and then suddenly find out that you were one of the finalists and won a prize... and that's what happened last night with Chart Magazine's Indie Startup songwriting contest!

We had a stellar time at the Cameron House for indiestartup.com's indie week showcase. I also caught Driveway and Five Star Trailer Park at the Rivoli the night before - both excellent - and Flickershow & The Kindly Ones, although not part of indie week - still awesome independent music.

It's Indie week - come feel the indipendent music love at this Saturday's singer/songwriter showcase at the Cameron House.

Mr. Sean Doyle, my bass player, just got hitched to the lovely Cheryl Fearns last night - Congratulations, you crazy kids!

Hey there - a shameless plug for my lovely wife, Irene Carl who just made her TV debut in England in "Zero Hour: 9/11"... it'll be playing over here in Canada in November, but I'm sure she rocked the UK.

We've got some great gigs coming up - I'm playing INDIE WEEK (www.indieweek.com) at the Cameron House, Sept. 18th, then teaming up with Darryl Purvis, the funniest man on Earth, for a night at the Tim Sim's. And then finally the band is competing in the Paragon battle of the bands at The Reverb, Oct. 1st. Come on out!

As a dual US/Canadian citizen, today I registered to vote from abroad in the upcoming US election. KERRY & EDWARDS 2004!!!

Caught Blue Rodeo last night at the amphitheatre playing with Kris Kristofferson. A beautiful show - fireworks in the background, everyone singing along and the Ex's ferris wheel spinning all night.

Ladies and Gentlemen - a moment of silence as one of Toronto's best clubs, C'est What's Nia, shuts its doors for the last time...

Saw my friend Erin Smith with her side project Ladybird Sideshow (four girls with awesome harmonies playing totally eclectic folky music) last night at C'est What (which is closing on Saturday!) LS was opening for Ember Swift, who wears her awesome lefty politics on her acoustic funk/punk sleeve... really really good stuff, but lately I can't stand seeing a set end there, so I left before her last song - it's just too sad seeing such a great space close.

We're taking some time off to do some recording... in the meantime, feel free to support us as well as other Toronto hotspots and hotshots at www.nowtoronto.com/bestof - vote for 25 categories and be in the running for an ipod!

Tonight, Saturday, Aug. 14th, we'll be playing at the Reverb (651 Queen St. W.) with Lovejoy (www.lovejoy.ca) and Trip Phoenix (www.tripphoenix.com) as well as live painting by Detroit painter Maxlow (www.ten9six.com) and local painter Mikhal and local DJ's, spinning between band sets.This will be our last show before we take some time off to work on recording, so you should all come - plus it's only $6! Doors open at 9 and we're on first soon after. See you there!

Happy long weekend, y'all! We celebrated by playing the KEE TO BALA way up North in Bala, ON. With its 8 foot high stage, great acoustics and kickass Muskoka vibe, just seeing the place was worth the drive, but we had a great show and got to play with some amazing other bands. Plus, seeing the signs for old concerts by Blue Rodeo, Colin James, Goddo, Tom Petty, etc. was pretty great.

Come out this Thursday, the 5th, at the Black Swan (Danforth & Broadview) as we open for The Heard Mentality.

Had a stellar solo show last night at the Renaissance Cafe with good friends Michael Closson, Tamara Miller & The Nick Lee Band. It's an excellent venue - and they'll now be playing my C'est What bootleg there regularly.

David Hein - best singer/songwriter in Toronto? Vote now for the best of the big smoke (& win an ipod!) at http://www.nowtoronto.com/cgi-bin/EH/EventHandler.cgi?Actn=Entry_Form&Fnm=rpoll20041&User_ID=rpoll

Last Friday I saw the Erin Smith Band play their final gig at C'est What (which is also closing - fight the power at www.cestwhat.com/savelivemusic.asp!) - a very sad, but amazing show - (Erin's still rocking on though - check her out at www.erinsmith.ca).

Saturday, the DHB played for my good friend, Clark Allore's Stag & Doe party at the Rivoli along with every musician Clark's every played with including THE KINDLY ONES, JANUS, and his current band THE SHOEFLIES. Lots of fun! Plus, I saw three fringe theatre shows (one involving a guy in a bear costuming giving the audience the finger!) and ended the weekend drinking warm beer in a geodesic dome with a clown troupe.

For anyone who missed out on getting a bootleg CD of MY last C'est What gig - we'll be selling them at the shows - come out and get double the live music! For you, $5.

HAPPY JULY! This month is chock full of gigs. July 10th, 17th, 21st & 24th - opportunities abound to get your David Hein fix. Come out to one and I'll play you some songs - come out to all of them and I'll buy you a drink! Cheers!

Emergenza's finally come to an end. We're not going to Germany... yet... but we got damn close - thanks to all of you! Thanks to everyone who came out to support us time after time. We've had a blast and we're going to miss seeing you all rocking out on a regular basis... so hopefully we'll see you July 10th at the Rivoli, July 21st at the Chicago Diner and July 24th at The Renaissance Cafe. All the best, David.

We're in the Emergenza Canadian Finals... let's say that one more time... the CANADIAN... FINALS... June 19th at the Opera House, 14 bands will play for a shot at playing in Germany! Music starts at 7:30 - we play between 8:30 and 10pm - Tickets are $18 - and we can now accept credit cards! Confirm early, not only will this show sell out, but the first 100 people to confirm get a rare David Hein bootleg CD! See you there!

Had an excellent two gigs in the last couple days - the first at the Renaissance Cafe w/ Flicker show and Saveface was great - both bands did a great set and the Cafe, if you've never been there, is a great singer/songwritery supportive place which brews its own coffee and only plays music by people who have performed there. Last night I was at Holy Joe's w/ The Nick Lee Band and Michael Closson. Michael's a great Dave Matthew-y singer/songwriter and an amazing guitar player. Speaking of amazing guitar dudes, Nick Lee and the band played a brilliant acoustic set. We first met these guys at Emergenza and they're going to go far - we'll be playing again with them July 21st at the Chicago Diner (located strangely enough in Toronto on Queen W.).

The band's drummer, Mr. Jeff Daze, is getting married today to the lovely Jessica Thompson. Congratulations, Guys!

WE WON! WE'RE ADVANCING TO THE EMERGENZA FESTIVAL CANADIAN FINALS! Book off Saturday, June 19th - because even though last night we blew the roof off the Opera House and threw the best pre-show party ever with amazing performances by standup comedians Marcia Johnson, Mike McGreggor, Teige Reid, Darryl Purvis and the sassys stylings of the Pretty Little Mrs.' dance troupe, JUNE 19th will be even better! It's the Canadian Finals, with the best bands from across the country performing for a shot at playing in GERMANY! Thank you to all the awesome performers last night, to everyone who helped out behind the scenes, and to all y'all who came out and made SO much noise! You're all the best people ever.

A great big hello out to all the Oshawa David Hein fans... hello? We had a great yet bizarre time jamming with the Shoeflies at the Atria bar yesterday. The Flies were in fine form and Rando and Clark joined Dan and I for a couple tunes.

Woohoo! The David Hein Band tied for 2nd at the Emergenza Music Fest, advancing us to the Semi-Finals at the Opera House in May (We'll let you know dates as soon as we know). Thank you to everyone who came out! You're all the best.

Had a great show last night at C'est What, opening up for the Shoeflies who were fabulous! Rando & Clark from the Flies played South Dakota, Grace & 2 Cents with me as if they'd been playing the songs for years. Thanks to everyone who came out, tried the apricot beer and enjoyed the dancing talents of Cliff, the Shoeflies' biggest fan. Cheers!

We were just reviewed for our first performance at Emergenza! "The night ended with David Hein and his band: a good rhythm section, sophisticated arrangements, catching melodies"...high praise from a contest that sees thousands of bands worldwide! Come out and catch our next round of band-battling at The Reverb on Mar. 21st @ 9pm!

Had an excellent time at the Cameron House on the 19th. Flickershow & the Peyote Kings were both in fine form and playing at the Cameron was a treat. Thanks to everyone who came out and packed the place!

NEW DATES for Cameron House & Emergenza!
Feb. 19th, we'll be at the Cameron House with good friends FLICKERSHOW and THE PEYOTE KINGS (playing a rare acoustic show!). Excellent music in an excellent club - come out and enjoy!

We've also booked our next EMERGENZA round - March 21st, upstairs from Kathedral at THE REVERB. Last time was brilliant - everyone had tons of fun - so please come out and ROCK THE VOTE!

DAVID HEIN advances in EMERGENZA!!!
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO SUPPORT US!!! I can't say that enough. We sold around 32 tickets, but thanks to everyone who stormed the stage, cheered themselves hoarse, danced their asses off, and had a great time, we played one of our best sets and came out with 48 VOTES - putting us in third place and advancing us to the next round!!! So there's 16 people who had no idea who we were, came to see another band, but thought we rocked so much that they had to vote for us! Not to mention the awesome 32 people who came out to support us in the dead of a freezing cold night, right down to the last hardy bunch who joined us for the traditional post-show pancakes.

What a bizarre night Emergenza puts on! For those of you who couldn't make it, you missed out on seeing the heavy metal catholic school girl group, the rap ska group that kept yelling "Emergenza Sucks!" and the bluesy-pop band, Blindsite, made up of some very cool 13 and 14-year olds who spent the rest of the night drinking happily at the bar. Some great bands, though. Emily Wheedon's jazz indie pop was phenomenal - check her out!

Keep an eye out for a story by crack journalism student, Nicole Feenstra, who shadowed me all day yesterday and got the skinny on what goes in to having a great show... as far as I'm concerned, all you need is the best audience ever! THANKS AGAIN! The next round of Emergenza starts in March!

Come out and ROCK THE VOTE this Saturday at Kathedral for the EMERGENZA MUSIC FEST. 8 Bands ranging from Jazz Indie Pop to Ska to Prog Rock. Here's the deal: vote for us... if we win, we go on a European tour, become famous and introduce you to Britney Spears. See you Saturday!

Had an excellent show on Friday with the Flickershow boys. Celebrating both my and Elvis' birthday on the 8th, and despite the club having no heat whatsoever, I covered Hunk of Burning Love by the King. Highlights included Julian "beatbox" Shank forcing me to rap the lyrics of two cents.... well, maybe not actually a "highlight" but definitely a moment.

Happy New Year! 2004 seems all bright and shiny and full of good music possibilities! Lots of new gigs to come out to and a new CD slowly being born. Cheers everyone!

Happy Holidays, Everyone! Hope Santa was good to all y'all. I got a new John Mayer CD and some time off to spend on some new songs. Hope to see you all in the New Year which promises not only new songs and new gigs, but a new CD too! Stay tuned... All the best, David.

So despite a sore throat and enough dayquil for the whole band, I think we pulled off a pretty damn good band debut/website launch! Thanks to Snoovy & Signe Meranda for rocking Kathedral and to all y'all who came along for the ride. Hopefully we'll get a good video of it on the website along with some wicked cool live tracks... aaaaand we still have a bunch of free TWO CENTS CD singles which make excellent Christmas presents... email me and ask for one!

Had a swell time with The Unestablished & friends at the Free Times. Darryl the standup comic said my name about 12,000 times... hard to explain, but true. One of those gigs where you expect to wake up at any minute, probably screaming... but in a good way.

Three excellent gigs last week: At SECOND CITY, I guested with ECLECTIC CIRCUS and was asked back to improv throughout ST. NOWHERE, a brilliant improv soap opera - check it out, it's hilarious.

Two days later I partied with the ever-talented Flickershow boys for their CD Release at the Free Times - Their CD is uber-cool: lots of Flickershow sad romance but some amazing rock numbers and a trippy bit in "Jacob" that blew my mind.

Then it was down to NY at the C-NOTE for the rockingest 1st & 2nd wedding anniversary ever!

Thanks to everyone who showed up for all the gigs. Only one person made it every one though, thus winning the "many drinks" prize. And the winner is... Ms. Irene Sankoff! Let's go get drunk!

Had an excellent packed gig at the Free Times Cafe in TO with the always-talented Flickershow boys. Thanks to everyone who came out, especially those brave souls who sang & clapped along, and most especially Anna, who asked me to take my shirt off.

Just started working on my website with the uber-talented Mr. Thomas Weitz! Yay Thomas!