Writings from the road

A jig of joy ends a Sudbury Saturday night

Ottawa singer/songwriter Wendy DeMos has gone on the road to experience life as a travelling musician. This is the first of occasional dispatches from her tour.

By Wendy DeMos

The source of magic waits for you
Ten thousand years, the secret's due
We've rolled through time with glimpses
Of broken lives renewed
The secret's out, the source of magic is you.
- The Source of Magic, song from To Dream Again

I don't believe in miracles. I rely on them. That's how I try to look at life, anyway - particularly on this six-month tour.

It started in August when I received a voice message from booking agent Reg Sprung of RJS Music Services.

"I received your package and I've got to say."

He paused.
I braced for the worst ... he didn't like it ... couldn't help me ... my music wasn't appropriate for his contacts. But I kept listening.

"I've got to say," he repeated. "I listened to both your CDs - To Dream Again and The Great Divide. Well, I like them both but To Dream Again, it, well, brought tears to my eyes."

He likes it! He gets it!

To Dream Again is a spiritually themed recording I'm very proud of, but not everyone gets it. It was written with a vision to helping people heal and tells a story from beginning to end of a journey. It consists of mostly soft, gentle tunes with a song of celebration toward the end.

And I hardly remembered when or where I sent a package of my CDs in the first place. Where did I find his name?

This is the first example of how easily this tour came together. I figure you know you are on the right path when things come together easily.

No stress. No nose to the grindstone stuff - though I believe you DO need to keep taking steps toward your goal. But when you're on your path things simply flow smoothly.

It's been a dream of mine to tour, travel in a van and support myself by performing, but with an agent to book all the concerts for me. And here was an agent, dropped - almost - in my lap.

My heart was overflowing. I felt like I was being given a special chance to bring my songs out into the world in a way that is fun and exciting for me.

I know words and music are the reason I'm here but getting my music out there had been such a struggle. The promotion. Blah. Calling and booking gigs. Blah. Blah. Applying to festivals only to be told no. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Plying my music had become a bit burdensome, and I had to work part-time in order to pay the bills. And now, in order to tour, I had to ask for time off. Would they let me?

My boss simply congratulated me when I told her I had an opportunity to tour for six months. No problem, have a great time, she said.

So easy.

Add a colleague whose husband offered to redo my web site. And the reasonably priced 1995 van I found with only 104,000 km. Not to mention my brother who built a bed for me in the van.

And my friends, family and colleagues who offered support and encouragement.

I was off - finally a "touring" singer/songwriter - leaving Ottawa Nov. 13.

A gal, a guitar, a dog (Mieke) and a van.

First stop, Sudbury.

Headed out in early afternoon and in a few hours the weather turned bad with blowing snow and high winds, so I stopped for the night east of Mattawa, and stayed at Sarrazin's Lodge, a favourite for deer hunters and locals.

We all chatted in the lodge restaurant as the wind howled outside and the lights flickered off and on.

"This area is the worst in Canada for power outages," someone pointed out.

Great, I thought. My hope was to stay safe and warm throughout the tour.

Just as predicted, the power went out shortly after I left the restaurant and had begun organizing things in my room.

One of the deer hunters came to my room shortly after the outage complaining he didn't have a candle and, since I did, could he join me?

Nice try, guy, I figured.

I told him I'm sure there were more candles in the lodge.

The was room freezing. I might as well have stayed in my van and saved a few bucks.

Left the lodge early in the morning, Next stop Sudbury.

That night I performed at the Towne-House and opened for a local band called Ramble Tamble. Great guys in the band. I asked them if they'd come on stage with me and help me out on a song. They obliged and did a great job holding a one-note tone while I sang on top of the drone they created.

I was glad my first gig involved opening for someone else. Not too much emphasis on me, allowing me to ease into my performing sea legs. I was feeling a little rusty. I hadn't performed for an audience since earlier in the fall at the Black Sheep in Wakefield.

The 50 minutes I had on-stage went by quickly and felt fine. Mieke lay beside me throughout the show. She loves music and as soon as I start to play my guitar, she likes to come and be close to me.After my set and Ramble Tamble took over, I got into the groove. And danced.And danced. And danced.

Partly I danced for my dreams coming true. Partly for my exhilaration. Partly for the fear. And mostly for the sheer joy of it. I boogied until 2 a.m. then went to sleep in the basement room meant for travelling musicians while the band upstairs continued.

Next morning my destination was Blind River.

It didn't take long to reach this quaint little town on the northeast tip of Lake Superior.

I arrived at the host's home and, while ringing the doorbell,
read a plaque posted beside the door: "In 1897, nothing special happened here."

I liked them already.

My hosts for the evening concert, Sally and Dick Hagman, answered the door and welcomed me in.

"Do you know Ian Tamblyn?" Sally asked me within minutes.

"Do I? He's just one of my favourite songwriters."

"He's my brother," she said.

Yikes, I thought. How intimidating.

Sally told me Ian had performed at her house a few months back. I was surethe audience loved his songs of the north. (I had not one song of the north.)

That night, 22 people came for the concert and by all accounts, seemed to have a good time. I felt good about the concert. My gut feeling is my best gauge. Plus I sold a bunch of CDs.

Yahoo! I can fill up my gas tank and eat!

Next morning I thanked my hosts, left one of my CDs as thanks, and headed off to my next destination, Wawa.

This area on the north end of Lake Superior is amazing. I had forgotten the beauty of this rugged wilderness. Incredible. And along the highway - spread out intermittently - were Inukshuks, man-made stone markers perched on what was left of massive stones that had been dynamited to build the highway.

That night's concert was to be held at a lodge at Naturally Superior Adventures, a kayak adventure tour company on the north shore of Lake Superior, close to the Michicipoten River.

Musicians that had performed at this lodge included Rebecca Campbell, Terry Tufts, Ian Tamblyn, and the Wyrd Sisters. I felt honoured to be in such fine company.

That night's concert felt even better than the previous one. I felt I was getting into the groove.

What great people in this area. And such a love of the land they exuded. They spoke so sacredly and lovingly of their northern coast.

It must be sacred ground. Indeed, I felt something different in this area. So much so that I was out before the sun came up, walking the shoreline with Mieke.

What was it that made it feel so sacred? Was it because of the wide expanse of water, with no land for many kilometres?

Was it because the north coastline of Lake Superior is the burying ground for many generations of First Nations People?

I don't now what it was, but something happened to me there. Something was activated. Something clicked.

Wendy DeMos is a touring singer/songwriter and freelance writer.

Wendy