I have just returned home to Canada from a month long tour in Europe that took me all the way from Dresden to Milan and then up through the heart of Germany all the way to the Island of Sylt. Twenty dates in all, some larger gigs but mostly house concerts and seminars. Tours like this are often exhausting because I am travelling mostly solo and I am constantly in the close confines of living rooms mingling with strangers as opposed to waiting backstage somewhere for the show to start and then walking off to retreat backstage again after the show.




However, being a singer/songwriter has always been not just about the show but also about the people I get to know along the way. This is the best part of being an artist. I came back from this trip greatly impacted by the sheer amount of wonderful folks I got to know in the last month. Folks who attended or hosted a house concert who were strangers and then friends in one evening. I have amassed a huge fortune in relationships all over the western world because of what I do for a living. I feel like a rich man, so many great people. There was the optician who gave me a free prescription and a pair of glasses after he heard I had lost mine on the plane. The lady who owned a wellness spa who insisted I have a hot paraffin bath for my hands. The Syrian couple who always host me for a Syrian feast every time I am in town (I eat until I can’t stand up). The old Italian guy who insisted I take home a bottle of his best red wine and the man who took me sailing for a day on the Bodensee and many, many more. Kindness running rampant all the time on these small venue tours when I can’t hide behind any superstar image or stage lights and I have to look people in the eye. I like feeling less like a celebrity and more like a common troubadour. The crowds are smaller and the CD sales are less, but the perks are through the roof.