I hope you’re all enjoying the 2 new songs I’ve posted. I can’t wait to eventually release the album and start touring.

The title is DO YOU FEEL THE WORLD?

Looking forward to seeing some of you at my shows coming up in Montreal, Toronto and Quebec. I’m adding more shows soon, so keep visiting!

I’m particularly excited about my double-bill with Andy Creeggan on July 20 in Montreal. Spread the word!

Love,
Mike

The new album is mixed. I’m very excited! The March recording sessions in Nashville went even better than the October sessions. It was such a pleasure to be back down there and working with Brad and Jason again. These are the songs that ended up making it onto the album:

Do You Feel The World?
The Bach Family Sing-a-Long
We’ll Meet Again
Takin’ You With Me
Real Tight
Shuffleboard Prince
Bound To Be Okay
The Magical Tape
Seagull Spell
Gotta Sing
Sweet Emma’s Group
Corner of the World (featuring Ron Sexsmith)

I’m so honored to have one of my heroes, Ron Sexsmith, singing harmony on Corner of the World. Right now, as we wait to have the album mastered, we’ll be playing it for anyone who could help us release it and get me on the road to perform for all of you.

In the meantime, check out the new video and a sneak preview of two of the album’s tracks in their “unmastered” state.

Love,
Mike

I’ve arrived in Nashville. I apologize for being out of touch the last few weeks as I’ve been preparing for the trip and raising money. The fundraiser show was a giant success and a lot of fun! One of the best musical experiences of my life so far.

I’ve been here in Nashville for a few days now. I had a show last night at the Basement and it was fun. It was the first time I played live with Jason Cheek on drums and Will Harrison on bass. We tried out some of the new tunes.

Tomorrow I get to move into the studio and get more settled. It’s been a bit hard to loosen up and have some fun again here in Nashville… I find myself all serious and ready to make an album. But I keep forgetting one of the most important elements: FUN. I want to just let loose and get into the rhythm of life here in Nashville.

I saw an amazing band Monday night at the Station Inn, a great funky little whole in the wall venue. The band plays there every Monday night and is called The Time Jumpers. Fantastic. They are the best of the best. And the regulars there were so nice too. They took the time to introduce all of the members of the band for me. They were just really excited to share it all with a newcomer. The highlight for me was watching the pedal steel player, named Paul Franklin. He Supposedly he is the best of the best, and I don’t doubt it. But what really moved me is seeing the joy on his face throughout the night. He was like a little kid up there!!! So inspiring.

We start recording again on the 14th and go through till the 28th — with 2 days off. Nervous and excited. Mostly excited. I hope I don’t get sick…but I know the more I think about the worse off I’ll be. Trying to stay positive.

AHHHGGG!!! YEAH!!! Come on Nashville…. I wanna let loose. The ball’s in my court. I think Nashville has already stepped to the plate.

What should I do tonight??

Haven’t been to the Belcourt theatre yet.

Talk to you guys soon….

Mike

I’m really excited about the upcoming fundraiser in Montreal this Wednesday, March 3rd, for to raise money to finish recording my new album down in Nashville.

Here are the special guests to appear with me singing their own stuff in the first set!

Amanda Mabro
http://www.amandamabro.com

Daniel Isaiah Schachter
http://www.myspace.com/dischachter

Leif Vollebekk
http://www.leifvollebekk.com

Alan Mann
http://www.alanmannmusic.com

Miss Sugarpuss
http://www.misssugarpuss.com

Li’l Andy
http://www.lilandy.net

Brad Barr
http://www.theslip.com

All of them so talented and it’s an honour for me to share the stage with them.

The venue is Centre St-Ambroise (5080-A St-Ambroise).
http://www.mcauslan.com/en/centre/centre_content.htm

Door open at 8 pm and showtime is 8:30 pm.
The admission is $10.

Hope to see some of you real soon!

Love,
Mike

I’m heading back down to Nashville on March 6th and will be finishing my new album over 13 days in the studio there with Brad Jones. I’m incredibly excited. I can’t wait to finish it (but I wanna enjoy every moment while I’m making it).

I still want to raise money so that I can pay for the studio and musicians while I’m down there. My goal is to have $6500 in hand in a month’s time. I know I can do it. I know because I know I have the support of you guys. So — now is the time, if you haven’t already, to help me finish this record. Every little donation will help. I want to thank again everyone who has donated so far (around 60 people).

Here’s where you can donate:
http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers

So far, we’ve narrowed the songs down to 12. But I’d like to tighten it up to a 10 song album. So it’s gonna be tough. Here are the songs so far:

BOUND TO BE OKAY
DO YOU FEEL THE WORLD?
THE BACH FAMILY SING-A-LONG
REAL TIGHT
TAKIN’ YOU WITH ME
SHUFFLEBOARD PRINCE
SEAGULL SPELL
THE MAGICAL TAPE
MIKE EVIN’S DREAM
SWEET EMMA’S GROUP
HIGHS AND LOWS
CORNER OF THE WORLD

Here’s one of the newest songs I’ve written (last week). Still very much a work in progress:

Guys — I can’t wait to get out there and perform these songs (and my old songs) live for you all and a whole bunch of new people. It’s gonna be fun – it always is. But especially now. I’m feeling more grounded than I’ve ever felt before in my life, and I know I’m gonna enjoy being on the road more than ever before.

I also can’t wait to see a lot more of the world. I’ve been coming to this library here in Montreal on Cote-des-Neiges Street – it’s called the Intercultural Library. Great world music collection. And the people here are from all over the world. It makes me excited every time I come here.

That’s what a lot of my new songs are about. Excitement for the world and people and just all of this. Excitement about friendship and all of the phases of life.

Okay. I think you get the idea…. still making the album. Still need more money. Excited….

Oh yeah!!! One more thing…

I just found out that while I’m down in Nashville, a few days before I start recording, I’ll be going into the studio with my friend Bill Davis to help record one of his songs…. and the studio we’re recording in is …. RCA Studio B: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Studio_B
That is way out!! I’m counting down the days.

Okay… now I’m really finished.

Love you guys and will see you soon enough.

Mike

Happy new year. I had a great holiday. Played a lot of music in Toronto while I was there, and did some co-writing too. Ron Sexsmith even helped me to polish off a song that I was blocked with – ‘Corner of the World’. The Toronto show at the Tranzac was really off the cuff and fun for that reason. Thanks to everyone who came out. I hope you all had a wonderful New Year.

I’m heading back down to Nashville in March to finish off the new album with Brad Jones and the musicians down there. We’re all super excited to get back to it. We’re hoping to have the record mixed by the end of the month.

In September/October I raised $6000 to pay for the initial recording trip. All of this came from you guys – Mike Evin’s Dreamers. I appreciate it immensely. Now to finish the record I will need an additional $13,000 to get the rest of the album recorded and mixed. That’s a lot of money to raise, I realize. But I’m hoping to raise as much of it as possible from you guys. Any and all contributions are so important. Even if you just donate $10, that’s gonna make a difference. Please please please don’t hesitate to get involved, no matter how much you feel like donating.

Here’s where you can donate and read about the project: http://www.mikeevin.com/dreamers

I believe in this album so much and I want to finish it properly, so I’m going to need all the help I can get. Please spread the word.

Here’s a photo of my good friend David Celia at his home studio in Mississauga while we were recording a nylon string guitar part for the song ‘Real Tight’ last week. The song was inspired by him.

I can’t wait to share the album with the world and start playing concerts in earnest.
I love you all!

Mike

i’m in montreal right now, but in a few days i’ll be heading to my family’s country house in the laurentians north of montreal for a few days, then it’s off to toronto to play a show and do some co-writing with one of my heroes (i hope that works out). i’ll tell you more soon.

i hope you guys are all feeling grounded in this crazy time….

it’s been a challenging time for me. started a new recording project (and having to wait a number of months before i can go down and continue it) has brought out a lot of self-conscious and anxious feelings inside me. i’ve been awakening to a lot of patterned behaviour that i didn’t realize was so self-destructive until only recently. nothing too heavy. just a tendency to abandon things that i start because of fear. so i’m making sure to not abandon this new project. it’s definitely an adjustment, and i want to not back down as much as i have in the past. i hope for 2010 that i’ll be able to follow through with my projects more and not be afraid to go after what i really want. but most of all, i want to continue my journey of self-discovery and to be more centered and happy. to live in the moment. nothing really different from what all of you want, i’m sure.

sometimes i can sound so corny…. and earnest.

i was watching some interviews with randy newman on youtube yesterday. he’s one of my early influences!! i love him.

so, it looks like i’ll be heading back down to nashville at the end of february to start recording again the 1st of march. i’ll get back to talking about that soon.

happy holidays everyone!!!

love,
mike

it was fantastic.

here’s a video of highlights from the 4 days of recording. folks that are in it are:
brad jones (producer, bass, moog synth, banjo, percussion), jason cheek (drums, percussion), will harrison (guitar), bill davis (handclaps, vocals), melanie collins (photographer) and jay coyle (friend and mentor).

PLEASE!! IF YOU’RE STILL THINKING OF GETTING INVOLVED AS ONE OF MY ‘DREAMERS’ AND HELPING TO FUND THIS PROJECT, DON’T HESITATE TO DONATE. VISIT THE ‘DREAMERS’ PAGE AT WWW.MIKEEVIN.COM/DREAMERS AND I’LL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL. I’LL NEED SOME MORE LOVING FROM THE FANS TO CONTINUE THIS ALBUM.

Okay, the capitalized portion of this post is over.

things really clicked with brad jones, the musicians and me, and everyone had a great time. we started 6 songs:

the bach family sing-a-long (listen to the rough mix so far HERE)
real tight (listen to the rough mix so far HERE)
bound to be okay (listen to the rough mix so far HERE)
seagull spell
the magical tape
shuffleboard prince

the bed tracks were recorded over 2 days and the remaining 2 days were spent doing a bit of editing and overdubs. overall, it’s given me a taste of what the album process will be like. fun.

it’s just the beginning and i’m probably gonna spend a good couple of months in nashville early next year to continue working on the record. but it feels great to know that we’ve begun. i’m being careful not to thwart the process by being too critical this early on in the game. i’m working on allowing it all to unravel in its own way.

there’s lots more action to come.

here are some photos:

(ps… it’s not allowing me to type normal type to describe what’s in the photos… so, most of the photos were taken by Melanie Collins on the last day of recording. that’s will playing guitar. the guys with the longish hair is morgan the intern. the guy dancing with me is bill davis. and the dark photo of three guys making funny gestures was taken after the first day of recording and is of me, brad, and jason. the photos of me wearing headphones were taken while singing harmony on Real Tight)

so, this is the start of what looks like a really cool journey. i hope to share a lot of it with you and i can’t wait to go back down to nashville for the next round!

thanks for all the love and speak to you real soon.

love,
mike