These past few months have been special and eventful. In June I presented sixteen new or as yet 'still unrecorded' songs in an unplugged concert at Vancouver's Pacific Theatre, ably assisted by Spencer Capier on mandolin, violin and guitar - known for his work with the Carolyn Arends Band. We had a time of feedback with the audience afterwards - everyone was given a chance to respond in writing as to what songs were working for them personally. The encouraging part was that the diverse audience took its role seriously in communicating feedback to us, and that no song bombed! I have a better sense as to what material is most suitable for the next CD. The community can play a supportive role in the process of art taking shape. More about the new album in a bit.

In July I played at the WAM festival in Ontario. This is a one of a kind 'Worship, Arts and Music' outdoor fest in a lovely sanctuary just outside Guelph. All of the acts were Canadian, mostly from Ontario. It is very unusual to have a 100% Canadian festival of this kind. As well as doing a concert, I gave a one-hour workshop on 'Working in Music - A Reality Check', that spun off several interesting conversations that weekend. A very stimulating time.

I also played two benefit concerts in the Ottawa area for the fairly new Christian radio station, CHRI. These events were hosted by Pathwaysound Productions - a great group to work with and who are organizing and assisting several concert events in the Ottawa area, including the Ottawa Folk Festival.

The trip east was capped off by a concert in Montreal, not far from where I used to live. It was sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God, who have been going through major changes in the last three years, as result of leaving the teachings of W. F. Armstrong, and embracing a more orthodox view of the Christian faith. This was a fun time of celebration and community in Christ.

New! By the way, I won the 1st prize in the gospel category with a song called 'Shine Like Stars' (from CD Soulkeeper) for the "Write-On-Song Contest" held in Vancouver Nov. 6, set up by the Center for Digital Imaging and Sound (CDIS). Other categories were pop, country, jazz-blues, dance-rap, and folk. The six winners each won a $1000 scholarship to the school, 30 hours of free studio recording time and six Peavy microphones. For more info, see Write On '98. (As of November 17, 1998, this year's winners aren't yet posted.)

Dulcimer Light - Christmas will have its second fall run this year (see Concert Dates section). But more on my heart recently is recording my next album. As I look forward to the fall, I am thinking about the process of recording #5, for release in 1999. The main issue that is taking time for me to arrange is the administrative follow-up -- sort of like a having a baby... you've still got to feed the baby after it's born!

I also have to balance a 35% position as music/praise leader at St. John's Shaughnessy Sunday Evening Service in Vancouver. It's a large service with about 500 people showing up each Sunday evening. This ministry differs a lot from my itinerant concert schedule. At St. John's, I rarely 'concert' or do many of my own compositions. My role is to primarily provide leadership for the music team so that the congregation can sing in worship. It takes a lot of energy to do this -- and thus I need to conserve and plan enough energy for the rest of my concert work and travels -- not forgetting my family either!

For those of you who like to pray, I invite you to pray even once for this needed balance and planning, that creativity would still thrive, for rest to be deep in between, and that honor go to Him who has allowed all these gifts to be.

May it all come to fruition, in God's good time.

P.S.  If you have any comments or questions as a result of anything you've seen on this site, please Email me at mhart@stairway.org. Responses are made to each individual, generally within a week.

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