My West Coast Adventure
When you're out on the road it's all about time. Fifteen hours to Calgary, seventeen more to Vancouver and so it goes. All you can do is be patient and wait it out. It's all about moments in time, little drops in the river that punctuate a life.
My most memorable moments always involve water. Last year it was swimming in most of the Great Lakes. This year it's all about the ocean. In total this trip involved seven buses, seven ferries, eighty hours on the highway and fourteen hours on the ocean. Why did I go on this 5000 km odyssey? I went to attend the Red Cedar Songwriter Camp on Pender Island BC.
The camp instructors included Lester Quitzau, Mae Moore, Shari Ulrich and David Essig. The three day camp covered skills development, one-on-one mentoring sessions, home recording tips and culminated in a concert and a CD featuring all of the campers.
We stayed at Hope Bay Bible Camp. This Baptist camp is run by an orthodox Dutch family. We were minutes walk from Hope Bay where you could drink a beer overlooking the ocean. Our hosts forbid alcohol in the camp but of course we're musicians. You know there was at least one secret stash. I'm sure they must have wondered why we all crowded into Saturna cabin every night. On Saturday night there was a "recording" session that involved everybody in the camp and Sunday we stayed up till 2am finishing the CD. It might have gone quicker without the liquid refreshment but it wouldn't have been any more fun!
Meet Joanne Stacey. Joanne lives in Revelstoke BC and is a terrific songwriter. She is my new collaborator and together we wrote a song called "My Dyin Day". It's a hot little gospel number and it really jumps.
My Dyin Day © Hal Brolund/Joanne Stacey 2006 (SOCAN)
Take me to the water
Lead me to a boat
I'll throw myself out on the waves
Resign myself to float
Every sin that I committed
Will be washed away
Let that water carry me
Until my dyin day
Baptised by the water
Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Gonna wash my soul clean
on the Sunshine Coast
I met Jesus in a juke joint
He taught me how to play
I'll let my saviour carry me
Until my dyin day
Goin up to glory
Shoutin all the way
Singing blues for Jesus
Till My Dyin Day, My Dyin Day
Come that Ruination
When the Holy Wind blows down
Picking on my guitar
That's where I'll be found
No it ain't the Devil's music
It's just how I pray
I'll sing these blues for Jesus
Until my dyin day
All in all it was a wonderful experience and a very rewarding trip. I made new friends learned more about this artists path that I continue to walk. And I got to see the Pacific ocean again. It was a great vacation!
