tag:derekharrison.ca,2005:/blogs/blossington-post-mortem?p=2News/Blog2021-01-07T12:48:55-05:00Derek Harrisonfalsetag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/65156472021-01-07T12:48:55-05:002022-01-28T01:38:18-05:00Gaslighting the Left<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/4f9850b6a3bc83a68ef02681205f8ceaa37a6057/original/twidiot.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>On election night 2016, I was at the Mod Club (RIP). When the results became clear, there was a real sense of tragedy in the room. But there was also a feeling of hope. We were united by the love of writers with such a wealth of empathy, John K. Samson and Christine Fellows, singing "I know this world is good enough / because it has to be." </p>
<p>This hope evaporated when the concert was over. The world outside was a scarier place than the one we had left a few hours earlier. But a clear message emerged almost immediately: "It's the Left's fault Trump won. Leftist 'identity politics' are the cause of the division in our society." </p>
<p>Enough. After yesterday's attempted coup, I never want to hear this bad faith argument again. </p>
<p>The 2016 election empowered racists and bigots on both sides of the border. It made things worse for the Mi'kmaq fishers and for Indigenous women. It made things worse for Black and LGBTQ people. It made North America a more dangerous place for anybody who's not a straight white male. And claiming that the Left was responsible for Trump's victory? It's classic blame-the-victim. </p>
<p>The road to Trumpism is long. It's easy to trace it to 9/11, with the radicalization of many whites and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theory. In the 80s, Reagan planted the seeds that led to today's out-of-control wealth inequality. And between the two we had the emergence of the climate change crisis, which inspired the Right to break up with science and build the "alternative facts" playbook that is their secret weapon. </p>
<p>But still, I still didn't believe Trump would win. I thought Bush was rock bottom. I had hope. And then he won. I called it a tragedy, and people called me crazy, told me I was being dramatic. People said that politicians change and daily life stays the same. "It's all just a show. And besides, that's just America. We're in Canada. We're different. We're better." </p>
<p>For the past four the past four years, things steadily escalated. The Trump administration is now responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, disproportionately affecting non-whites, and has dragged the country's international reputation through the swamp. </p>
<p>It is a tragedy. We were never overreacting. And the hate doesn't stop at the border. </p>
<p>Yesterday's insurrection in Washington came straight out of the American playbook, a fascist coup modeled after the dozens that the US military has successfully orchestrated in South America and around the world to protect the interests of wealthy white Americans. The difference, this time, is that when the insurrectionists took the capitol, they didn't do anything about it. They were decorated in imagery that showed their intentions – some were explicitly Nazis, some explicitly pro-slavery, some explicitly trying to incite a civil war – but they didn't defend their prize with bullets and barricades, and a few hours later they just went home. Why is that? </p>
<p>Peaceful civil rights movements like Me Too, Black Lives Matter and Antifascism get violently suppressed while violent white supremacists get peacefully escorted. That's not just injustice – it was the whole point of the show. </p>
<p>The message of January 6th is this: Look what we can do. We want you to know what we can get away with. We (the white supremacists) want you (all non-white, non-cis people) to know whose side your police are on and whose side your government is on. </p>
<p>This morning, not even 12 hours later, the House and the Senate have adjourned until after inauguration (the 20th) and January 19th respectively. There will be no consequences. </p>
<p>And this morning I already hear a familiar refrain: the Left is responsible. It's the fault of progressive people that this happened. Putting aside liars and delusional conspiracy theorists claiming that it was literally "fascist antifas" that stormed the capital (you're half right!), I've heard people blaming leftist identity politics for laying the track for this insurrection. It's nonsense. </p>
<p>Listen, it's very simple. The Left believes that everybody, all people, deserve respect. The Right wants to protect the systems of power and privilege that benefit the white, the male, the cis and the wealthy. If your argument is that progressive people should be less inclusive – and more forgiving of bigotry – in order to prevent white supremacist uprisings, then you need to rethink your priorities.</p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/64474272020-10-02T00:05:00-04:002020-10-02T00:18:50-04:00Blossington Too<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/c0597f3a285e79c4c03f115f01b3ab1877c0d75d/original/oldtimesb.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Today my new recording project Colchester Harbour releases its first album, a song-by-song remake of Blossington that turns my most subdued and acoustical album into a loud, garage-punk thing called Blossington Too. It comes out <a contents="exclusively on Bandcamp" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://colchesterharbour.bandcamp.com/album/blossington-too">exclusively on Bandcamp</a>, for now, and I'll explain why in a minute. But first, I wanted to share a few facts about this project: </p>
<ul> <li>I played lots of electric guitars while Tish, who sang BGVs on the last two DH albums, takes over as lead vocalist (I did some BGVs but mostly just stayed out of her way because she's a much more charismatic singer than me). And my brother Jef was called forth to bang the drums (remotely since he's in Toronto). </li> <li>If we weren't forced to do this remotely, this thing probably never would have come together, because it hurts my ears to play loud music in the same room as the drummer. </li> <li>Jef and I didn't give each other ANY NOTES before recording our parts. Tish and I would record a scratch vocal and guitar, send it to Jef as an attachment to a blank email, and he would send back whatever he came up with for the drums, again without commentary. Then a little while later I would send him what was essentially the finished track. </li> <li>We probably would have called the band Harrow Fair <a contents="if it wasn't already taken" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.harrowfair.ca/">if it wasn't already taken</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p>You can listen to it here, and buy it if you're feeling generous: </p>
<p><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1611953707/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;">Blossington Too by Colchester Harbour</iframe> </p>
<p>Now, why only on Bandcamp? </p>
<p>Don't worry, Blossington Too will be coming to all your favourite streaming platforms on November 6th. But in the meantime, I wanted to try a little experiment. </p>
<p>Think of going to the movies. I know it's hard to remember the movies right now, but forget about Covid for a second. Typically, a movie comes out first in theatres. People pay 12 bucks or so to go see it. They're paying for two things: to get the movie in the highest quality available, and to see it earlier. They know it's going to be on streaming platforms (VOD) within the year, but that doesn't stop them. </p>
<p>So I'm trying something similar. First, an "exclusive" release on Bandcamp, where you can pay for higher quality music (which you can download and keep forever), before a "wide release" through my distributor that will put it out on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. (Note: on Bandcamp you can still listen for free before you buy, as many times as you want.) </p>
<p>The reason behind this experiment is that the now-ubiquitous streaming platforms aren't a fair or sustainable source of income for the creators of the music you listen to. Even major artists are making negligible amounts from Spotify – so a nobody like me is making zero. Bandcamp has its problems too, but when live music disappeared this year it seems to <a contents="have emerged as the preferred anti-Spotify out there" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.inquirer.com/business/bandcamp-spotify-covid-artists-apple-music-pandora-youtube-20200924.html">have emerged as the preferred anti-Spotify out there</a>. </p>
<p>In its first year, my last solo album "And a Roof" sold 1 copy. Before 2019, I was consistently selling at least one CD per show, but those sales disappeared along with CD players in laptops and cars. The cost of manufacturing is so high that I still haven't broken even on the production of Blossington, which came out in 2017. Like it or not, music is a digital medium now 99% of the time. </p>
<p>And for this reason I'm grateful for streaming platforms. They allow me to distribute my music to people at a tiny fraction of what it used to cost, and they make it incredibly easy for those people to listen to it. But we're still waiting for a solution that is good for both the consumer AND the artist. I don't know if Bandcamp will be that solution, but at this point I just want to try something new and see what happens. </p>
<p>Love, <br>Derek</p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/59714082019-11-24T13:58:15-05:002020-04-03T09:47:51-04:00Derek Harrison and a Roof<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://imagery.zoogletools.com/u/282537/c135c108ab0498f0f1cbbcd87d3ce8f5cc0f1634/original/andaroof.jpg/!!/b%3AW1sicmVzaXplIiwxMzQwXSxbIm1heCJdLFsid2UiXV0%3D.jpg" style=""><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/c135c108ab0498f0f1cbbcd87d3ce8f5cc0f1634/original/andaroof.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></a>This is two pictures I took of the same house, superimposed and mixed together. The house is gone now. I caught the process of the trees coming down.</p>
<p>I had a few idea for what to call the album but none were sticking. One day I was looking through my photos and saw the earlier of the two that would make up the cover. Then I walked down the street to the same spot where I took it, and I took another while I still could. </p>
<p>About a year ago my partner and I moved to Kingston, next door to the future foot of the Third Crossing Bridge. It brought a new relevance to "<a contents="Four Walls" data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/1829337/four-walls" style="" target="_blank">Four Walls</a>", inspired by a story in the news about the demolition of the Indian Road neighbourhood in west Windsor, just below the Ambassador Bridge. The first of nearly a hundred houses to come down in late 2017 to make room for a new Ambassador Bridge was the centre of a big news day, as a crowd of people formed to watch the show. <br><br>There's something always sad about a house coming down. People used to live there, maybe somebody grew up there, and people could live there again. In "Four Walls" I tried to capture the idea of grieving a house that's no longer there, but most of the songs on the album share a similar theme: "Here We Are" is about appreciating where you came from. "Wasted" and "Winter Hours" are about leaving Montreal, my home for 5 years. "No Service" is about finding home in another person. </p>
<p>So if "Four Walls" inspired the cover, then I decided the name of the album should finish the phrase. Four Walls and a Roof. </p>
<p>I hope you like it.</p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/59211762019-10-09T17:33:31-04:002019-10-09T17:40:52-04:00Four Walls<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/60214bebc70a9a8fb841adeb03fcbf59a57c837f/original/fourwalls.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>"Four Walls", the first song released from my new album <em>And a Roof</em>, is streaming now on all the things.</p>
<p>It was inspired by the neighbourhood in west Windsor just below the Ambassador Bridge, where almost a hundred homes were bought, vacated and boarded up a decade ago to make way for a new bridge. Since Moroun, the billionaire owner of the bridge, didn't yet have permission to build the new one, the city refused to hand out demolition permits in a bid to save the neighbourhood. They also required the owner to maintain the houses, but this was ignored and they fell into disrepair, sealing their fate (intentionally I'm sure). Eventually the federal government ordered the houses demolished and they came down in 2017 at this time of the year. </p>
<p>Elements of the song have been kicking around for years, but the impetus for the final version was a picture in the news about two years ago of a group of people watching the first house come down and I wondered about the people who used to live there. I walked by these houses almost every day when I was in university and it seemed to me that, inevitable or not, it's always a little bit sad when a house comes down. </p>
<p>So I wrote a song about it, and The Old Salts helped me whip it into shape. </p>
<ul> <li>Erika Christou on bass </li> <li>James Da Mota on acoustic guitar </li> <li>Jef Harrison on drums </li> <li>Devin Staple on electric guitar </li> <li>Tish Gaudio and James on bgvs </li> <li>I'm playing mandolin and singing. </li>
</ul>
<p>Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1z8nUtTRuZE84jKKNeZib5 </p>
<p>Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/four-walls/1482053293?i=1482053294 </p>
<p>Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Derek_Harrison_Four_Walls?id=Bvzt2e4h3cfgbdoii4577rwbxhm&tid=song-Tjfuj5qats7vlb7h2vtbz24fqri </p>
<p>...and all the other ones. Search for it, save it, etc.</p>
<p>More about the story: </p>
<p>https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/world/americas/windsor-residents-caught-in-shadow-of-bridge-that-isnt-built-yet.html</p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/56796932019-03-13T23:39:34-04:002019-03-14T00:35:19-04:00The Weeds<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/a736bc524f32b5a9f7a59296ad42dd06b1236111/original/img-20180902-125640.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_" />Everybody's favourite part of making an album. The bulk of the recording is done and now I'm sifting through hundreds of audio files, comparing takes and resisting the urge to polish out too many of the imperfections and idiosyncrasies. </p>
<p>Self-producing is hard. There were moments in the studio where I hit a wall and tuned out and now I'm paying for it, with small details in the recordings that I should have caught and corrected if I had been paying close enough attention. One entire song is getting rejected because of something that, on the day of recording, I wasn't sure about but which I had decided was "good enough". </p>
<p>That said, cutting only one song is a new record for me, since there were two cut from "Dead & Gone" and four from "Blossington" (and from the first record I ever made, I rejected every track).</p>
<p>The difference is that on my last two records I let somebody else handle most of the production duties, while this time it's my job to take hours of raw .wav files and decide what to do with them. I've spent most of the last two months gradually layering in vocals and mandolins, reamping bed tracks, noodling on the keyboard, stitching together different takes and second guessing every arrangement decision already laid on tape. </p>
<p>I am in the weeds, but I can still see the sun. Recording is probably about 80% done, half of the tracks are very close to the state they'll be in when I send them out for mixing, and my window to make any more radical changes to the shape of this record is rapidly closing. One more recording session, a few more overdubs, some editing (which feels neverending but which I WILL FINISH) and I'll be able to move on to mixing. </p>
<p>In the meantime I'm going to get out of the studio for a few days later this month for some solo shows. My Furch and I will be appearing at the following gigs: </p>
<p>Sunday March 24th, Noon – Vibration Studios, Osgoode ON <br>Thursday March 28th, 6:00pm – Burdock, Toronto ON (w/Chris Sprake) <br>Sunday March 31st, 7:00pm – The Mansion, Kingston ON (w/Graven & Chris Sprake)</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/0cb2b6ac1df3a4daad0ab2afbe2a7f06cfced002/original/late-march-banner.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/55542442018-12-14T13:44:04-05:002018-12-14T13:48:15-05:00Breaking Ground on Album #3<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/45555040ad3bbe92cef9020c5032e1ace8f3ed80/original/20181205-150734.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_right border_" />Hi folks,</p>
<p>This is me in the car, driving from Kingston to rehearse with the Toronto-based band I've put together for my third album. It feels weird and exciting to be starting pre-production on Album #3 already... Blossington still feels pretty fresh to me even though it's been out for exactly a year as of tomorrow.<br><br>I used to think that a year was a long time, but as I've become more serious and professional as a musician (and also as a product of age) years have gotten shorter. Most of the better venues in Ontario are filling up their Spring 2019 bookings, festivals are already accepting applications for next summer, and most grants applications should be submitted over a year before a project's realization. It's December now, which means my brain is filled with May, June, and beyond. It can make it really hard to live in the present.<br><br>When I met with one potential collaborator on this album, they complimented the fact that I was staying on top of my long-term goals and aware that to release a record in 2019 I needed to get started now. It's surprising to hear that from someone who makes a living in music production, since most of the serious musicians I know are as temporally out of sync as me, really only snapping into the present when we get up on a stage.</p>
<p>This is all to say that I haven't had a break since I began laying down tracks for Blossington last June. If I'm not on the road or in the studio, I'm booking the next season's shows, writing applications, disguising my voice and acting as my own publicist and, most importantly, working on material. Now that I've broken ground on Album # 3 (working title), I've ensured that the wheel will keep turning well into 2020 which feels both exciting and exhausting. I hope I don't regret this in hindsight (that's a 2020 joke). </p>
<p>The busy trap is a problem that affects almost everyone, but for musicians it's also a requirement of the job. It's easy to get lost in the need to "stay relevant" and start treating life and music like a checklist. But I'm one of the lucky few that has a career outside of music that is both stable and affords me the flexibility to keep pursuing music seriously.</p>
<p>I'm privileged to be able to make music. I'm grateful that some very talented people are willing to help me take my favourite set of songs yet and turn them into an album. And I hope that there are people out there for whom these songs communicate something meaningful and who see value in my work. </p>
<p>This is just the beginning of the process, but I don't want to just talk about my plans without backing it up with some music... I am, after all, a musician. So here's one of the 16 solo demos I laid down as the initial long-list for the album, and we'll check in later to see how this tune evolves into a full-band production. </p>
<p>Thanks for listening. </p>
<p>Love,<br>Derek </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>2:36Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/54908292018-10-29T13:32:30-04:002018-12-04T17:36:21-05:00Tour Dates in November<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/2b8266c22a13e910ae847d39876b155ce9db4eb6/original/banner2.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>November 6 Shabby Motley, Sault Ste. Marie <br>November 7 The Study Coffeehouse,Thunder Bay <br>November 8 From the Grind Up*, Fort Frances <br>November 9 Royal Canadian Legion Branch 78*, Sioux Lookout <br>November 10 The Lakeshore*, Keewatin <br>November 14 Midtown Stage*, Dryden <br>November 15 La Luna Café & Bakery, Nipigon <br>November 16 Northern Superior Brewing Co., Sault Ste. Marie <br>November 20 Bar Robo, Ottawa </p>
<p>*with Max Marshall</p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/53642392018-07-27T12:59:40-04:002018-07-27T12:59:40-04:00Catch Derek in Fort Frances all August<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/03a0b775b4b2ec9c7891f6cdf9e96ce26e64873c/original/the-grind.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/53384372018-07-10T00:15:11-04:002021-10-16T03:08:13-04:00New Video / More Press for Blossington<p>Hi folks. A bunch more press about the new album came out while I was on tour. Here's a couple that I tracked down online. I'm still trying to collect audio recordings of some radio appearances and scans of article which were in print only (including a feature in my hometown paper The Harrow News!). </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>"Produced by Brodie Stevenson at his home studio "about a block-and-a-half away" from Harrison's then-apartment, the album's sound reflects the gritty, not-yet-gentrified feel of the neighbourhood in which it was made." </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">- <a contents="Neil McDonald, the Waterloo Record" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.therecord.com/whatson-story/8616245-derek-harrison-album-influenced-by-feelings-of-displacement/" target="_self">Neil McDonald, the Waterloo Record</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>"The record is reflective, contemplative, and unafraid... This intricate, finger-picked road trip does not have a beginning or an end. It’s not a comfort. It’s not an anecdote. In fact – after listening, it’s easy to reflect on our own 'unfinished business', places we’ve been with loose ends which may never get to be completely tied up. Blossington is about a place in time that Derek Harrison spent writing and reflecting. He’s since moved, but this record is a beautiful recollection of what was going through his mind while he called this area in Toronto 'home.'"</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">- <a contents="Dan MacDonald, the Windsor Independent" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://windsorindependent.com/derek-harrison-blossington-review/" target="_self">Dan MacDonald, the Windsor Independent</a></p>
<p>And here's a video that was shot by the illustrious Robert Manley in a garage in Hamilton on May 25th. This is "Snow", a song which was considered for Blossington but ultimately not chosen because I couldn't settle on the guitar arrangement (I think I've got it now). Enjoy!</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="FZBXFXpYz1c" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/FZBXFXpYz1c/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FZBXFXpYz1c?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/51950332018-04-21T22:20:04-04:002018-04-21T22:53:56-04:00Spring Tour<p>Hi folks,</p>
<p>My first solo tour since 2014 is less than a month away! I'm hitting the road to (belatedly) support BLOSSINGTON, and also to try out some material that's probably going to end up on album #3. I could use your constructive criticism so please come shout your feedback in my general direction. </p>
<p>I've put together a tight schedule of 18 shows in 19 days (which I'm probably going to regret before it's over) with stops in most of my old stomping grounds, plus one or two new ones. See you there?<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/bb313e62ecd1c459baf5ecb326c7db39c8d73f36/original/tour.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_none" alt="I call this photo " /></p>
<h3>TOUR DATES</h3>
<p>May 17 | Windsor (east), ON | <strong>Carrots & Dates</strong><br>May 18 |<strong> Windsor Folk Music Society Showcase</strong><br>May 19 | Windsor (west), ON | <strong>Green Bean Cafe</strong><br>May 20 | Kitchener, ON | <strong>TWB Brewing Co.</strong> (afternoon)<br>May 20 | Toronto (west), ON | <strong>Alchemy</strong> (evening)<br>May 22 | Toronto (east), ON | <strong>Relish Bar & Grill</strong><br>May 23 | <strong>The Old Salts live at Burdock, Toronto</strong><br>May 24 | Guelph, ON | <strong>Silence</strong> (with Luke Michielsen)<br>May 25 | Hamilton, ON | <strong>The Clef </strong>(with Mark Martyre)<br>May 26 | Kitchener, ON |<strong> The Boathouse</strong> (afternoon)<br>May 26 | Bowmanville, ON | <strong>Manantler Brewing Co.</strong><br>May 29 | Ottawa, ON | <strong>Bar Robo</strong> (with Bobby Dove)<br>May 31 | Cobden, ON | <strong>Whitewater Brewing Co.</strong><br>June 1 | Montreal, QC | <strong>Grumpy's Bar</strong> (with Bobby Dove)<br>June 2 | Ottawa, ON | <strong>Black Irish Pub </strong>(afternoon)<br>June 2 | Maynooth, ON | <strong>The Arlington</strong><br>June 3 | Sault Ste. Marie, ON | <strong>Gore Street Cafe</strong><br>June 4 | Thunder Bay | <strong>The Foundry</strong></p>
<p> </p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/50822162018-02-15T21:51:27-05:002023-03-03T05:03:39-05:00Press for Blossington<p>The first press clippings are coming in...</p>
<p>"Blossington is, not unexpectedly, an album about places—especially all the ones Harrison has left behind... It was a summer at the corner of Bloor and Ossington that shaped how Blossington came out. Some of that heat can be felt through Harrison’s storytelling and fingerpicking as he charts what brought him to that corner, and hints at what led him away."</p>
<p>- <a contents="Grayowl Point" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://grayowlpoint.com/2018/02/13/review-blossington-derek-harrison/" target="_blank">Grayowl Point</a></p>
<p>"This engaging and thoughtful album tells stories rooted not only in city life, but also in the depths (and challenges) of the heart, and digs at the various tensions we experience in our lives... Listening to this album may not leave you comfortable – it’s not that type of folk album – but it will likely leave you mulling over things in your life that are unfinished, or in conflict. And that is just as valuable a listening experience."</p>
<p>- <a contents="Great Dark Wonder" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://greatdarkwonder.com/new-insights-familiar-corner-derek-harrison-blossington/" target="_blank">Great Dark Wonder</a></p>Derek Harrisontag:derekharrison.ca,2005:Post/50224732018-01-13T17:17:36-05:002023-12-10T11:43:00-05:00Blossington Post-Mortem<p>This was the album I had to make. I don't mean to suggest that it had to get made, that it is somehow uniquely "important" or that I was compelled by some ephemeral muse to make it – none of that capital-A "Artist" nonsense. No, making an album is certainly a luxury, and I am grateful to be able to indulge in it. </p>
<p>What I mean is that ever since I recorded Dead and Gone in 2013, I've been struggling to decide how to follow it up. I've been sitting on a great long list of songs and trying to figure out what the identity of the next record would be. In retrospect, I spent years obsessing over a record that would only ever exist in my head. </p>
<p>I was broken out of that rut when Brodie Stevenson offering to record some demos for me. Driven by the fact that I was going to be moving away from Toronto for a while, we decided to just get some stuff on tape "just to have it", and it was during those loose, no-pressure, perfectionism-free sessions that Blossington began to take shape. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/282537/de54c3a3d71f292da09701dd3aaa3ffb94f44f5f/medium/blossington-front-cover.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font_small"><em>Album art & design by Sarah Rafter</em></span></p>
<p>The whole thing was recorded in two weeks. 21 tracks were narrowed down to a tight 8 and Devin Staple, Tish Gaudio, Joshua Campbell Gladston, and Nathan Smith were kind enough to lend their talents. Brodie Stevenson found a way to make everything as pain free as it possibly could be and to help me pull it off without any funding. A luxury indeed. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, the album turned out just how I had pictured it. A much stronger set of songwriting than my debut, in my opinion, though produced and performed in a looser, more laid-back fashion. Any mixed feelings I have about the result are not because we failed to achieve what we set out to do (we didn't), but because I wonder what might have happened if we had tried to do something almost, but not quite, entirely different. </p>
<p>I guess that's what the next album is for (and yes, I've already started writing track orders for that). I don't know yet if it's going to be a primarily folk, rock, country or bluegrass record, but it will probably finally contain some live favourites people keep asking me about. I'd like to use this space to track the history of album #3, through song selection and demoing all the way to the end, whenever that may be. If that's something that interests you, well, good. </p>
<p>Until next time.</p>Derek Harrison