MAPLE syrup and Terrence and Philip.
The Rockies and The Falls.
Michael J Fox and Mounties.
And of course the most incredible singer-songstress of our times – Miss Joni Mitchell.
All these wonders hail from that enormous, alpine mass of land north of the 49th parallel.
For those about to Canadian rock, we salute you!
I remember driving from Boston to Niagara Falls with my mom and brother when I was seven a mammoth road trip which ended in us frantically failing to locate our pre-booked hotel.
Instead we spent the night in a dilapidated Howard Johnsons hotel eating boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts and watching The Mysterious Cities of Gold cartoon.
Yes, my first taste of Canada was unforgettable.
And so, I was very excited to return there this past week for a couple of gigs.
I was performing at the NXNE (North by North-East) Music festival.
Every bar and vacant space in Toronto serves as a festival venue playing host to one of the 500 acts in town from around the world.
The energy and atmosphere of the place turns electric from the multitude of jamming axemen at work!
Last time I was in town I played a gig at the El Mocambo Club, which according to local legend, is inhabited by the ghost of Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn.
I wrote a song about my experience.
This year my boys and I played in a venue called the Cadillac lounge, a western-style joint located on Queen St, a downtown stretch of the coolest bars, clubs, boutique shops, ethnic food stores and just about the best vintage clothes shops in the world.
I resisted the temptation to purchase the entire contents of “Vintage 79” and instead spent my cash sampling the plethora of world cuisine on offer.
One night my fiance and I got our scoff on at an Ethiopian restaurant.
The food was amazing and the manner in which you ate was even cooler! No cutlery to be found on the table and leave the etiquette at the door.
The customary way to eat Ethiopian food is to simply scoop it up in your hands.
Forget finger food, this was whole handfuls of grub slurped from your palms – elbows all over the table, slouched in position, all the noise you want to make and no worries about knife licking or confusion about which fork to use. Fun dining and full bellies all round!
Canada is such a carefree and relaxed place, it’s not a country constantly poking its nose into world affairs, kicking up a fuss and causing a ruckus in the desert.
Canada keeps itself to itself and so I tend to forget about her from time to time, just as I fail to consider some eastern European countries like Estonia and Latvia. (Let's be honest here the only time we remember they exist is when the Eurovision’s on).
It’s such a beautiful, peaceful place and the natives are incredibly chilled out.
My bass player hails from Red Deer in Alberta and he’s the most laid back cat I’ve ever come across in my life.
Canada is a huge country and with a population of only 33 million, its one of the least populated lands on Earth.
Just like our Antipodean cousins chilling with the roos in the Land of Oz, the number of inhabitants is massively disproportionate to the size of the country and therefore the standard of living is very high, crime stats are low and the weather rocks.
And to think we used to send people to Oz as a punishment!
‘’You have been found guilty of the crimes you are accused of by a jury of your peers, I hereby sentence you to a life in Australia, may god have mercy on your soul’’!