To echo my dear mother, 'Home again, home again, jiggedy jig'.
I am just back from a couple of weeks in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. with the marvelous Dave Lang.
He is a bright and passionate man with excellent songs.

We spent a lot of time in the car re-enforcing and re-articulating one another's opinions. I used to think this was unproductive, that it was better to engage with people with contrasting attitudes about politics and philosophy, but it's getting so that I fully welcome such company, like finding the one cool person from your sociology class at a crowded frat party.
We covered a lot of stuff, often spurred on by Globe and Mail articles (Dave's an addict): the infantilization of society (fast vs. slow, easy vs. hard), the military strategy of the Chinese government (millions of frustrated men without wives and nothing to lose), and the growing gulf between the two 'species' of human (the engaged, perceptive and compassionate vs. the greedy, stupid, and mean).
There were a lot of shit and sex jokes as well, and we dissected the infuriating enigma that is Jian Ghomesi.
Dave took me to the field near a power station in Saskatoon where Neil Stonechild's body was found, an eerie and moving experience.
We drank red wine and ate baguette and cheese by 'Squirt' the skunk in Beiseker.
After the one potentially disastrous gig in Kelowna (the owner was an uber prick, the audience clueless), we went home with a couple who were big fans of mine from Calgary- they cooked us steak dinners and we jammed and drank homemade beer.
Another visit with brilliant inventor/boat builder/philosopher Tom Flemons on Saltspring Island. His company, home and property are amazing. I always love bringing my friends and fellow musos there.
Dave and I bid farewell to each other after the Railway club show in Vancouver, and I headed down to Snohomish, a mill town north of Seattle, for a spoken word show. The sandwich board read: Featured poet, Kris Demeanor. Featured soup, Potato Leek.
I got the gig through Jack McCarthy, one of the pioneers of the slam poetry scene of the early '80s. He's a great poet, hilarious and biting, and he helps run the poetry nights at Wired and Unplugged. The poets there were mostly men between 40 and 60, left leaning intellectuals, weary of the fight but full of humour and wisdom, who mentor the few young poets there, women with hearts on sleeves, reading with the cadence and attack of poetry slammers, a young guy in an Iron Maiden shirt reading pieces about smoking and romantic possession.
The last show, at the Montmarte in Vancouver, was a highlight, as I got to play a few songs with keyboard player Andrew Arida, friend since grade six, partner in our first band together. He played on Practice, Perfect Buzz, Bring Our Boys Home and 298 Ferdinand. It was rollicking and sublime all at once.

If you want to see some video footage of some of the Crack Band's recent gigs in Calgary, courtesy of Tona Ohama, there are a bunch of new clips up on youtube. Just plug in 'Kris Demeanor', and there are live versions of 'I Have Seen the Future' and much more!

The photos were taken last week in Victoria by Caitlin Mcdonagh. yes, I know I look tired. I am.