November 17: At what point does the heart give up? At what point can a human being say enough is enough and all systems shut down? There's been too many losses this year; and here is another one that truly rips at my heart. The husband of a dear friend and work colleague was taken away at age 54 by cancer. Edoardo Hernandez left his loving husband, Francois Martinek on Thursday. I have witnessed Francois' love, devotion and dedication. I have also seen Francois' fear, resolve and endless love. How wonderful that those two men have had precious time together to share. But I cannot imagine the pain and emptiness he must feel. I have been asked and honored to sing at the ceremony. My only hope is that my voice can honor their love.
November 11: Jerusalem's Thorns, The 1st official video from Sugat Ko has been released. The immediate reactions have touched me. Descriptives like "powerful, moving, strong" repeat themselves in the comments of people who've seen it. The team, Littoral Films, who worked on the video: the concept, the filming, the editing were spot on. Here's a link to youtube. I hope it moves you as it did to me > Jerusalem's Thorns
November 3: It's another roller coaster ride that we are on. I am still in mourning for the recent losses of friends. It took a long time for me to "get over" the loss of Barry Mell and Georges Durst; two people who I would call my "crossroad folk" as they helped make me choose which way to go with my music. Then just this morning, I heard that Janet Zopfi left us. Although I wasn't as close, Janet was one of the first good folks from the Toronto Blues scene that welcomed me with open arms. At the time, Toronto seemed unreachable for me and because of her warm welcome, I consider the city my part-time home.
And now I am about to face more losses of good people in my life; a friend/colleague's husband who didn't have to acknowledge my presence but did/does. I gave him a teddy bear to help ease his pains. That particular teddy bear was given to me by someone who went through difficulties in life and that same teddy bear, helped me through tough and troubled times. Last night my friend wasn't at work because he was called to be beside his husband. I fear for the worse. There is another person close to my heart that is going through struggles, but I will be extremely selfish and unashamed with my egotistical reasons for keeping that for myself as I have so many things to do with this person still.
On another note, the high hits are so high. I've had the honor to be interviewed by Order of Canada recipient and CTV Montreal News Anchor, Mutsumi Takahashi. Click here to see the clip > Interview
Also, my 4th album, Sugat Ko, continues to get worldwide airplay and great reviews > Reviews
THEN....the first official video from Sugat Ko will be premiered tomorrow, November 5. Stay tuned!