Street Art

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Playa del Carmen is an odd city with some beautiful modern buildings but there are also some terribly crappy areas. Some of each are found on our resort's doorstep.

I'm a fan of street art and there is an abundance around the city. While we didn't leave our resort very often I did get out a few times and captured some of the street art. Some of it is political, much of it is very well done, very little of it is the ugly tagging graffiti you sometimes see elsewhere.

While not "art" the store front for "My Fucking Restaurant" is one of the oddest I have ever encountered. 

I really like the devilish creature pictured at left.

Greetings from Canada

While basking in the sun we remember that all is not well in this world. I write to our friend Igor in Kharkiv:

"Greetings from Kate and Reg. We hope this finds you. (sic!)

We haven't written in some time but you're often in our thoughts. As winter settles in Canada and Ukraine this is yet another tough season ahead for you and the war in UA. Today we're escaping the cold in sunny Mexico but return to Canada soon for the Christmas season. You cannot so easily escape the hardships of winter and war.

We see that Russia continues their daily barrage against the civilian population and energy infrastructure throughout UA. I hope you are safe and doing well in spite of all that and can be comfortable this winter.

We are pleased to see long range strikes into Russia with locally developed drone technologies. Congratulations there. We see EU members continue and escalate their support with aircraft, missile defence, access to frozen Russia assets and more. Much more should be done to support UA and end this war.

Trump, the Lyin' King, continues as an embarrassment to the free world, a fickle friend to NATO and UA, and an obvious Putin Puppet. Recent US "peace" plans seem to be, yet again, a capitulation to Russia that cannot be supported.

War can easily end; all it takes is for Russia to leave!

For many years now we have escaped winter for a month or so in Texas. Not so this year.  We have sworn never to return to the US until fascism is defeated and sanity returns. That will be a long time, but we are hopeful.

I must go now. We pray for a UA victory, a unification with the EU and NATO, a rightful just peace in our time.

Stay strong, you have friends even in the darkest hour. As Churchill said early in WW II, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Slava Ukraine!

Heroyam Slava!

Next summer, or a summer soon enough, I hope we can share a drink together on the sunny beaches of UA Crimea.

XO K&R"

And a few hours later Igor replies:

"Dear Kate and Reg!

Your thoughtful and empathyc messages always lift my spirits.

It's always nice to feel the support of friends.

This winter in Ukraine will be truly difficult.

The gas supply is working without interruptions, so my house is warm. But the electricity is intermittent for six hours, twice a day. So, I bought a gasoline generator. Along with the electricity, the water supply is also cut off.

But Ukrainians are a resilient and resourceful people! Today, I built a makeshift water tower in the attic of my house :)

I'm sure we will overcome all difficulties and prevail!

And then, of course, we'll meet in Ukrainian Crimea :)

Best wishes,

Igor"

We are so pleased that we can still connect, he's still there: alive and kicking. I reply 

"So glad our message found you. We can't imagine the hardships your compatriots are experiencing. It's like some bad movie.

We hope for and believe in better days.

Until next time. 

Your faithful feckless friends from Canada"

And Igor signs off a smile :)

Frida Kahlo

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Kate has discovered that there's a Frida Kahlo gallery/museum in Playa del Carmen (see Museo Frida Kahlo Riviera Maya on Facebook). It's an opportunity for us to get out of the resort, see some art and some of the city. We have a taxi pick us up and drive us near the museum about 20 minutes away near the city center. 

Taxi rides run $200MX for most destinations in the city; that's about $16CA, but we usually just divide by 10 to figure out the exchange. 

There's a modest entry fee and we are given a conducted tour with a young woman who tells us the story of Frida Kahlo's life on display in series of exhibits. I knew a little bit, that she had lived her life in pain, but it turns out I knew very little. She had childhood polio which crippled her one side and as a young woman nearly died in a tram crash that crushed her spine. Throughout her life she had many surgeries and many cumbersome braces to "fix" these problems. But nothing ever worked, she lived a life of pain.

This is more a museum than a gallery. There are no original works of hers but several digital copies on display. I understand that she only painted 150-200 pieces in her life; that's not a lot for an artist of her renown. But like many artists her fame is largely posthumous. One of the recreations in the museum was a physical replica of her bed (cf. pictured above which broke records in a recent auction):

An arresting self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, featuring the artist slumbering beneath a tangle of vines in a carved canopy bed with a skeleton reclining above her, set records at a Sotheby's auction on Thursday night in New York. The 1940 painting, called El sueño (La cama), sold for $54.7 million, the most expensive artwork by a woman ever auctioned. It also broke the previous auction record for Kahlo's work. — See NPR article 2024/11/19.

The tour guide, noting Kate's mobility issues, finds a wheel chair for us and leads us through the museum. There aren't a lot of patrons today. We learn of her birth, her family, her childhood, travels to the US and Europe, and much more. For much of her life, because of the polio and tram injuries, she painted from her bed as in the picture above. That explains why many of her works are pictures of herself; she was painting from a mirror hanging over her. Her uni-brow is a well known feature of these paintings. She was adamantly proud of who she was and how she looked.

She had an interesting, eventful life, nonetheless. She married the same man twice, Diego Rivera (an likewise famous artist), had several lovers, she was bisexual, a communist (there's a connection to Trotsky), and an advocate for Mexican traditions in art (like the day of the dead folk art) and dress.

One of the exhibits was a day of the dead altar; we've seen these in Austin. On the altar are several offerings, Mezcal and Tequila, and several large skulls. We are told by the guide that one of Frida's favorite candies was the "Day of Dead" sugar skulls. There's a picture of her holding a life size candy skull. Our guide gave us a couple of small candy skulls as souvenirs of the museum.

Frida Kahlo died in 1954 at 47years of age after a lifetime of pain. Apparently her last recorded words were written in her diary shortly before her death: "I joyfully await the exit — and I hope never to return". I also have read of an other equality poignant ending, 

Shortly before her death, Frida said: "When I die, burn my body. I don't want to be buried. I spent a lot of time lying down. Just burn it!" On July 13, 1954, the rain said goodbye to Frida Kahlo, who for her funeral had been dressed in a typical Mexican and with her right hand resting on her chest. Her body was cremated and her ashes are kept in the Casa Azul in Coyoacán, the place where she was born. Her last painting is exhibited at the Frida Kahlo Museum. It is an oil painting that shows several pieces of watermelon in very bright tones. In one of them, and next to her signature, it reads: "Viva la vida. Coyoacán, 1954, México".    — See Handmade by Paola Pizzaferri on Facebook.

With the fuss about the auction, only a few days ahead, Noelle, our gifted artist niece, posted on Facebook one of her digital works commemorating Frida. I really like that work and have left a copy in the photo gallery above.

P.s. this Museum/Gallery in Play del Carmen should not be confused with the Museo Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán, where Frida was born, lived and died, which is a much larger proper gallery with original artworks.  Nevertheless, I'd recommend visiting this museum when in Playa del Carmen.

Winnipeg

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We had a short visit to Winnipeg October 30 through to November 3 to visit family, friends and Kate's childhood stomping grounds. We've been back to Winnipeg many times over the years, there were more family and friends when we were younger but all the aunts and uncles are gone.  There are cousins that remain.

Alison (aka Sam), Kate's BFF since grade school, has a birthday while we're visiting and we want visit with her at least once a year — sometimes here, sometimes there, sometimes where we're traveling. Last year we got together in New Brunswick where she and Barry married at the sea side condo where we were staying. See their Wedding Day 2024/09.

We haven't been back to Winnipeg in quite a while. Kate was born there and grew up in Norwood near the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Alison and Barry still live there in a nice neighborhood with shared green space at front and a road behind the house. Kate moved to Belleville when she was in grade 9 (and was put up to grade 10!) but has maintained a very close relationship with Alison. Alison was Kate's maid of honor at Our Wedding 1980/08.

I'd like to drive out again, when the weather is warmer, but the preferred route, through Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota is barred to us so long as the Orange Metamucillini is in power (I'm writing this shortly after the ICE killing of Renee Good, January 7, in Minneapolis). We have decided to fly out.

There used to be a regular direct flight from London on Westjet but that is no more. Instead we drive to Toronto and fly from Pearson on Porter Airlines out of Terminal 3 on Thursday afternoon. We return Monday morning. The flight is uneventful; this is our first time on Porter and we'd happily do it again. We had arranged for some assistance to get Kate to the gates and had booked better seats — near the front with a bit more leg room. As a smaller airline they don't really have a "first class" cabin but for a short flight this worked well enough. At the Winnipeg airport we picked up our rental car.

We rented a 2 bedroom 2 story AirBnB a block from Osborne Village (near the corner of River Ave and Osborne St). There's a big Safeway and a Manitoba Liquor Store at the corner.

The first night we took an Uber and met up with Sam and Barry for a quick bite and a drink downtown at Hy's Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar in the Exchange District at Happy Hour. This is one of their favorite hang outs and they seem to be well acquainted with the staff and menu — I don't know why but "Hy's Famous Cheese Toast" is actually pretty tasty. I don't know how widespread the fame is ... oh gosh, there's a Hy's in Toronto, Whistler, Calgary and Vancouver! I've never been; but then it's a steakhouse and living with a pescetarian means we don't often go out for steak.

Anyways, afterwards we took another Uber (a very good mode for travel when you're out drinking and carrying on) to the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Portage & Osborne) for a live recorded concert by Scott Nolan. Barry and Sam had arranged tickets; we wanted to avoid "standing room only" "late night" bars. This was a perfect setting for us. I wasn't aware of this folk singer but he's been around for quite a while. We enjoyed the music and stories, the sound was very good (well worth recording). Unfortunately, the concert wasn't well attended and we had to cut out early and to head off to bed.

On Friday we picked up Sam and Barry (they live in the Norwood commuity across the river from us — Kate's old stomping grounds) to have lunch and visit The Leaf in Assiniboine Park. We follow Wellington Crescent along the river looking for the home of Kate's Graham grandparents — we have a picture and the number but don't find it until later the next day. The Ritchie grandparents were from Portage La Prairie.

Assiniboine Park is a large green space on the south side of the Assiniboine River to the west of the city center. The airport is on the other side of the river. On a warm summer day one would explore more of the park, but it's a cool fall day and we're here for the Leaf. It's a modern impressive bit of architecture that opened in late 2022 that forms a multi-story green house with a waterfall and contains the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden — 6 floors up! They actually raise butterflies here. The green house display is impressive; the architecture is stunning; there's an outdoor "Diversity Gardens" as well, but the weather is against us.

We have our lunch at the Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar within the Leaf. During the summer months much of the fresh vegetables, herbs, etc. come from the Diversity Gardens on one side of this complex. We enjoyed our lunch.

After dropping Sam and Barry back in Norwood, Kate and I go searching for her childhood home on St Vital Road. It's much further south off of St Marys Road and would have been at the city edge when Kate was a child. The home remains much as it was when Kate was little (the picture above shows Kate at the house). She tells me about walking to school (and back and forth for lunch) at a not so nearby school — Norbery (grades 1-2) was 1 mile away! She went to Hastings for grade 3, Nordale for grades 3-8, and Nelson Mac for grade 9 (all in Winnipeg) before finishing high school at Moira in Belleville, Ontario.

The area around the home on St. Vital, wooded when Kate was little, is now built up with lots of houses. The large lot where Kate's home sits is now divided into multiple lots with more modern homes. We meet a lady with her children returning from a Halloween party. She lives across the street and she tells us that they've had to cut down some of the trees which have grown quite large. Kate moved from here to the home on Claremont in Norwood in grade 3.

That evening we're at Sam and Barry's for Halloween. We meet Lennon, their very old dog, a White Siberian Husky, who they both dote on. It's one reason they're not taveling any more — there have been some recent scares. Barry has a great time teasing the kids who are "Trick or Treating".  He's quite the kidder — "Can I pet the dog?" "Sure, she's not hungry now. She bit the arm off the last kid." Lennon is a gentle quiet sleepy old dog who couldn't/wouldn't bite anyone!

The next morning, Saturday, we continue our search for the Grandparent Graham's home on Wellington Crescent and this time we're in luck. It's actually on a little diversion — Wellington Crescent South is a separate street that takes you off of Wellington Crescent and out to Academy. The house is exactly like the photo we have. It's a well maintained craftsman styled stucco home with two planters at the steps just like the picture. Next door someone has replaced what would have been something similar with a California modern white box concrete and glass home. I wonder how these flat gravel roofs work in the Winnipeg cold and snow?

We meet up with Kate's Graham cousins for an early lunch/late breakfast at a Salisbury House (Pembina & Stafford). Moira is our strong connection to this group. Cousin Cam we've met before, I don't recall meeting his wife Jan before but apparently I have. Cousin Bob, who reminds Kate as a spitting image of her dad, and his wife Audrey I've never met, and Kate has not seen "Bobbie" since he was a child. There's a lot to catch up on.

These Graham cousins are quite close and meet regularly for lunch. Kate is pleased to see everyone again. We have a long leisurely lunch, the "Sal" doesn't mind our lingering, and afterwards we go to Moira's home, across the river, to meet up with her little dog (Charlie??) and her close friends Dave and Peggy (of Morris Dancing fame) who we've met before here in Ontario — they've come for Stratford Theatre and we encourage them to do so again.

Saturday evening we Uber to meet up with Sam and Barry for dinner at the Resto Gare And Train Bar Bistro, a St Boniface institution in an old Train Station (Gare) with a French inspired menu. There's an outdoor brick courtyard which would be lovely on a warm summer evening; instead we sit in an old train car. It's cosy and quaint; we enjoy our dinner and have a few laughs.

That evening, back in Osborne village, we catch the last game of  the World Series on our laptop — LA Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. It was a squeaker with the Jays losing the series in this final game in extra innings. Dang!

Our last day, Sunday, starts with a tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at the Forks. The museum, with initial plans in 2003 through to grand opening in 2014, is another impressive modern structure. A stunning building with an important message. We have some mobility assistance and I take Kate through the many exhibits starting with a birds eye view of the forks and city from the very top.

That afternoon we find Kate's childhood home on Claremont Ave in Norwood. This was the home she lived in after St Vital and would have been where she met Sam and where they went to grade school together. This house has seen some drastic renovations. Several years ago we had been here and the lady who lived there invited us in to see the renovations at that time.

That final Sunday evening we met up with Sam and Barry, Barry's son Sean with his wife Kim for dinner at BabyBaby on Osborne at Stradbrook around the corner from our River Ave AirBnB. Sean and Kim are a lovely couple, quite funny, and very good support for Sam and Barry. We had several interesting dishes to share.

On our flight home I got some pictures of the meandering Red River.

It was good to be back to Winnipeg. I'd still much prefer to be there in the summer weather (cf. the Winterpeg fridge magnets in the photo album) and it would be fun to drive out. There's much of Ontario that we have not seen in many years.

Hayes Carll

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Kate and I went to Toronto on Tuesday to see Hayes Carll and his Gulf Coast Orchestra (guitar/banjo, bass, percussion/drums, mandolin/violin, and keyboards) at the Horseshoe Tavern. He's touring to support a new album, "We're Only Human" (2025) but the show dives deep into his catalogue. We were there only recently to see James McMurtry with Gord and Leslie. In Austin, Hayes Carll is considered by many to be the next best thing since sliced bread — although I believe he lives in Nashville these days (sort of like Guy Clark who was famous in Texas but lived and worked from Nashville). I understand that Hayes Carll is married to Allison Moorer (see "That's the Way Love Goes"), another singer in her own right, whom he "stole" from Steve Earle. If you like Americana you should know of him.

We've seen him live a couple of times in Austin but only at award shows and that sort of thing — we've never been anywhere where we could catch a whole concert. In Austin he plays large halls. He sold out the Horseshoe in Toronto, standing room only, perhaps 300-400 patrons. He has fans here and could probably sell small concert halls in Toronto (which would be nicer for us).

We booked an overnight room at the Chelsea Hotel (Yonge and Gerrard). As it happens it was the cheapest and we have lots of fond memories from staying there over the years. The intention was to arrive early in the day and enjoy a bit of R&R; especially at the pool. But then our next door neighbour's dad, Bill Armstrong, had died and the funeral mass was that very afternoon. Bill was the father to Dianne (of Dianne and Chico), Gloria (of Gloria and Al) and Danny (of Dan and Wendy) and we had spent lots of Christmas Eve's with all of them, next door making music, drinking and chatting. We knew and liked Bill and his extended family — so we couldn't miss the funeral mass. That made us pretty late leaving for Toronto; but it still seemed workable. So we went to the funeral but skipped the internment and reception afterwards and instead headed out for Toronto.

Our plan was to get to the hotel by 6:00 and check in. Reg would immediately take an Uber or cab to the Horseshoe and stand in line to make sure we got good seats, and Kate would lie around resting until the show was ready to start. She hadn't decided whether to go for the fronting act, Aaron Raitiere, or just go for Hayes Carll. The traffic was awful, we ran into a parade (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), and it was looking like we wouldn't get to the hotel until 6:30 or later so we decided to park the car near the Horseshoe, and Kate would take an Uber to the hotel and come back later. Reg would have to watch his drinking since he would need to drive back to the hotel later. Kate had a nice Uber driver from India; Reg arrived at the Horseshoe at 6:30 and met some nice people early in line and of a like mind. He was, like, 4th or 5th in the general admission line. Good plan — doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00 with Hayes Carll on around 9:00.

However, when Reg got in, there were no seats, absolutely none. It was standing room only. The best he could do was get a standing spot at stage left by the speakers. It seems they sell VIP tickets, which gives early admission, and they sold so many of these that the VIP's took all of the seats. We could have bought VIP tickets but we weren't particularly interesting in the various perks — there was no mention about seating. So we texted back and forth but in the end, we couldn't figure out how it could work for Kate to go at all. For one thing, for her to get in, Reg would have to lose his spot by the stage in order to meet her at the entrance with the cell phone app that would get her in. Plus, Kate, with her ankle injury, couldn't stand for that long. So she missed the show entirely. Reg stayed and enjoyed the music very much — both acts — but came home with every part of his body aching from the prolonged standing. Plus, he could only have one beer while there, the one he bought while in line, because if he left to get a beer, he'd lose his spot. But being up front he got some good pictures and really enjoyed the music. He took notes of the songs performed and some of the chatter that form the basis of the following.

Opening Act: Aaron Raitiere

The opening act at 8:00 was Aaron Raitiere, who hails from Danville KY, see his YouTube Channel. He was quite the hit coming up on stage and immediately grabbing the audience's attention. He was wearing a "Turtle" green hockey shirt and started the show with a "Go Turtles" holler with the audience. It turns out he didn't bring any "merch" to sell so offered to auction off his Turtle shirt to the highest bidder over $200 (is that Canadian or US dollars?). Hayes told a story later about another time time when Aaron toured with him without bringing any merch; instead he did sketches of Hayes with titles like "Music Righter" and did quite well selling these — Aaron did better than him!

Aaron is an interesting multi-talented performer/artist and has quite a few co-writes (including with Hayes). Hayes tells us that at the 2025 CMA awards (coming up November 19), of the songs nominated for "Song of the Year", Aaron has co-writing credits on 2 of the 4 songs: “4x4xU” (Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere, Lainey Wilson) and “You Look like You Love Me” (Riley Green, Ella Langley, Aaron Raitiere).

• There were a lot of jokes and some very brief one-liner humorous songs. One line I've written down was "I'm so miserable without you, it's just like you're here" and that seems to be from a 1992 song by Billy Ray Cyrus.
• Another drunken doped up story song is "Armadillo" (Aaron Raitiere, Jon Decious & Parker Twomey) from Miranda Lambert's album "Postcards from Texas" (2024). The premise of the song is telling a tall tale to your partner when you've arrived home late, stoned and drunk. The excuse is "Met an armadillo with a gun, that's where I was last night".
• Aaron is quite self deprecating and describes his schtick as singing "Songs about boogers and such". There's a song about ADHD and being OCD (he likes these acronyms). See "ADHD Hypomanic Alcoholic Son of a Bitch" (by Frank South, Aaron Raitiere, Colin Raitiere circa 2012) on YouTube.
• This ties to a song about "Cold Soup" from the album "Single Wide Dreamer" (2022) that tells the story of the homeless; perhaps those with ADHD or OCD?
• "You're Crazy" from the same album has the notable lines "And I don't know what else to call it, baby, you're crazy. 'Cause if you had any sense you'd a left him by now".
• "Dear Darlin'" is a breakup letter from the same album. Things are not going well; the notable line is "Cussin' you in cursive, hope this letter makes you cry".
• Kate had found a Youtube video of "Single wide dreamer" from that album. Notable lines include: "Single wide dreamer in a double wide world" and "He works extra hard to not work too hard". The video is cartoonish.
• Someone in the audience called out for "Jesus Jenny" (performed by Ashley McBryde & Aaron Raitiere, writers Aaron Raitiere & Jon Decious) from Ashley McBryde's concept album "Lindeville" (2022). There was a reference to the line "Titties popping out of your turtleneck" but he didn't do the song
• Aaron did perform "Excuse me, you look like you love me" which I mentioned earlier. If you chase the link you'll be taken to a 2024 version with Shelley Fairchild. It's a silly story about bars, gals, guys and closing time pickup lines .. that don't work (at least for guys it doesn't work). The song has been recorded by several artists.
• Aaron refers to Uber, the ride share system, as Hubert, my dog. He played for a little over half an hour and was quite a treat. A lot on the gallows side of humor but well worth a listen.

I'd encourage you to check out Aaron Raitiere (here's his YouTube Channel) there's lots to listen to. "Live at the Basement" (2021) is a good sample of what I saw. If you like a mashup of John Prine, Kinky Friedman and Shel Silverstein he's your guy!

Headline: Hayes Carll and the Gulf Coast Orchestra

After a short break Hayes Carll and the Gulf Coast Orchestra came on stage at around 9:00. The touring band is: Thayer Sarrano on keyboards, Mike Meadows on drums/percussion, Noah Jeffries on fiddle/mandolin, Scott Davis on guitar/banjo, and Jared Reynolds on bass. I didn't catch where all the members were from. His colleague on electric guitar (and banjo) was a high school classmate from back in Houston. The bass player was from Nashville, I think the drummer was from Austin, there was a fellow on mandolin and violin, and a young woman on keyboards who was from Nashville.

• The electric set starts with "Drunken Poet's Dream" from "Trouble in Mind" (2007). I think that's a cowrite with Ray Wylie Hubbard. Lots of notable lines, but I like: "Well, she laughs for a minute 'bout the shape I'm in. Says, "You be the sinner, honey, I'll be the sin".
• "Faulkner Street" from "Trouble in Mind" (2007) is a tune I'm not familiar with. It's a fond remembrance of his drunken early times. The chorus is: "Trouble in mind. How'd we ever lose that time? Livin' for the best. Leavin' all the rest behind".
• "What I Will Be" from "We're Only Human" (2025) is a turn around from those drunken days and talks about living a quiet life by the ocean. Notable lines: "I am what I am. An insecure mountain. Long-winded fountain of useless advice" and "From now until the end; I'm gonna be what I will be."
• "You get it all" from "You Get It All" (2021) is a love song, a ballad, that he often sings solo on guitar. Tonight he did it with the full band. Still a lovely song.
• "If I May Be So Bold" from "What It Is" (2019) is a Highway 61 tinged rocker. I'm not sure what it's about. The chorus includes "There's a whole world out there waitin'; Full of stories to be told; And I'll heed the call and tell 'em all; If I may be so bold".
• "Any Other Way" from "You Get It All" (2021) is another cowrite with Aaron Raitiere. Features violin and reaches back to classic country. I like the lines of the chorus "There ain't nobody; Who knows how life's gonna happen; Only thing to do is live it 'til it's gone". Hayes tells us about Aaron's CMA nominations and the merch stories.
• "High" from "We're Only Human" (2025) is a a slow one; likely about enjoying the moment with some libations or drugs. But it's also about being content and comfortable with where he is now in life.
• "Progress of Man (Bitcoin & Cattle)" from "We're Only Human" (2025) is a co-write with Aaron Raitiere. A great word play with some biting commentary: "The world's gettin' turned on by assholes and racists. And it's all for the progress of man". The title reminds me of a Townes Van Zandt song, "For the sake of the song" but only in the title.
• "Stay Here Awhile" from "We're Only Human" (2025) , another slow one, was introduced with a story about being comfortable in life in Tennessee and watching a blue jay building a nest out the window (the Toronto Blue Jays had just recently won their division title and that got an audience response). "Let me be that blue jay, Knowing I belong. And no matter what lies on the road up ahead; May I always have my song".
• They did a rockin' version of "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (a Tom Waits song made famous by the Ramones) which appeared, as a much more gentle tune, on "Trouble in Mind" (2007).
• "Down the Road Tonight" from the album "Little Rock" (2005) is another Dylan/Highway 61 spoken word mouthful telling the story of wild times on the road. The line that stuck out to me was "My first girlfriend works at Hooters". I'm not familiar with this album, it's not on Youtube, but gosh, it's 20 years ago!
• "I Got Away With It" is a slow one from "We're Only Human" (2025) that tells the story of a broken relationship where he's at fault. "And I acted like some kind of stranger. When she desperately needed a friend". He may have got away with it but lives with regret.
• Hayes was talking about Fred Eagle Smith, how he had helped him out when he was touring in Texa. He mentioned Roger Marin and Darcy Yates who where both here tonight. He talked about a cross country tour of Canada where gigs where missed, and long days spent travelling to the next gig. Someone from the audience called out for "Bible on the Dash" (2012) with Corb Lund. Another funny tune spearing Christians. He didn't do it tonight. He told a story about touring in Canada and the border hassles — inadvertently they were caught with an orange on returning to the US. They were fined and crossing borders thereafter meant he'd be stopped and searched. Border services in the US (ICE and CBP) have been arseholes for a long time.
• "I got a gig", from the album from "Trouble in Mind" (2007), tells the story of his young days starting out at Hurricane Bob's on Crystal Beach Texas where getting a gig was an accomplishment. There's a banjo prominent in this tune with his friend from Houston, his electric guitarist.
• "What it is", from the album of the same name (2019), is one of those songs of regret and hope for the future. The chorus includes: "And what it is is right here in front of me. And I'm not letting go".
• "Good People (Thank Me)" is another co-write with Aaron Raitiere from "We're Only Human" (2025) . It's become a popular sing along with a simple story and easy chorus: "Thank God for good people, thank people for being kind". We were all encouraged to sing along (unlike the encore).
• "KMAG YOYO" from "KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories)" (2011) is a rocker with Dylan like spoken lyrics (cf. "Johnny's in the basement, mixing up the medicine, I'm on the pavement, thinking about the government") that tells the story of a young fellow who signs up and ends up in Afghanistan ... selling heroin and going down some strange paths with the CIA. The acronym KMAG YOYO is "Kiss my ass good-bye; you're on your own."
• "To Keep From Being Found" from "You Get It All" (2021) is another nice tune I hadn't really listened to before. It's another sad story about the hard life touring and travelling and loves lost. A line that leaps out to me was "I ain't ever going back to Texas. I'll pay the cost, Of being lost, Just to keep from being found".
• "Nice Things" from the album "You Get It All" (2021) is funny commentary on our world — God comes down to earth and she meets all sorts of dumb things we do: pollution, drugs and a hypocrisy.
• "One Day" from "We're Only Human" (2025) is a quieter tune with a hopeful. "One day I'm gonna get there. right where I belong."
• The set ended with "We're Only Human" (2025) from the album by the same name. This is another quiet reflective tune, a little sad -- "We're only human, nothing more".
• For the encore, Hayes came on solo, without the band, just his guitar, to sing "Beaumont" from "Trouble in Mind" (2007). A lovely rueful story of a failed romance "I could not wait forever, I hope you understand". A couple of guys behind me seemed to love and know the song by heart; they sang along ... loudly. I wished they had just sung quietly for themselves.
• The encore ended with the band returning. They did a couple of rockers, "Hard Out Here" and "Stomp and Holler" both from the album "KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories)" (2011). Both songs about touring and living on the road.

We have been listening to Hayes Carll for several years now. This show impressed me with the depth of his catalogue and the quality of his song writing. If you like a bit of John Prine, mixed with a large dash of Highway 61 Dylan, lots of blues and Ray Wylie Hubbard then Hayes Carll should be on your must-listen list. Here's his YouTube Channel.

See also Hayes Carll on Wikipedia.

Lynn River Farm

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Last evening (Thursday) the local Beefsteak and Burgundy wine club (St Marys Stonetown #227) held an evening members and guests dinner event outside at Lynn River Farm. The location is slightly north and east of Stratford not too far from Shakespeare. A big yellow school bus had been chartered to get us safely there and back  as we don't want any DUI drivers. There were a little less than 20 of us; we would have liked to have a few more.

There had been a similar event here last year. I'm not sure how/why I missed that one. In any case, although the weather leading up to the event had been cool, it was a lovely warm night for us (last year it had been quite cool). We ate outside under a tent overlooking a pond (actually a gravel pit that had filled in with water). There was a small sail boat docked on the water. There's some livestock wandering about, including some geese, and some turkeys penned up/fenced in. It's a well tended rural environment that handles special events. It's advertised as a "Countryside Dining Experience".

As the evening progressed we saw a hot air balloon pass by in the distance and enjoyed a clear night with a lovely orange sunset. 

We had a lovely 4 course dinner prepared on site with locally grown ingredients. Each course had a matching wine our wine steward for the club (Jere) had selected. For the main course, a lasagna pasta, a red wine was served blind and the game was to determine what the wine was, what it cost, etc. Tom had select the wine which turned out to be a reasonably priced Chianti Classico Reserva by Melini which matched well with the pasta. I guessed that it was a Sangiovese, didn't catch that it was a Reserva, and therefore missed out on the price point. The winner of the game is tagged to do the same at next years event — i.e., he would have to select a wine and speak to it next year.

For the dessert our president Claire had selected a brandy that he thought was particularly tasty and a good value. I'm not usually a brandy drinker, but he was right on both counts.

One of the very nice things about the location and the evening was the ability to have a conversation not only with your immediate neighbors but also with chums across the table and further away. Many times restaurants are far too noisy to be able to have a conversation — flat walls echo noise, music is cranked up, etc. Outside at the farm conversation flowed easily.

With Jere's help here's the menu and wine pairings we had that night

• We started with a Burrata Board served with dry Tawse Sparkling Riesling (Vintage 370361): homemade sourdough and focaccia; whipped herb butter; fresh burrata with hot honey; fresh tomatoes and ground cherries from the garden with balsamic carrot top pesto.
• Salad course was Roasted Honey & Lentil Salad served with VQA Burnt Ship Bay Sauvignon Blanc (LCBO 517185)
• Entree course was a Sausage & Beef Lasagna, home made pasta, on a alfredo and pesto sauce. Served (blind) with the Melini Chianti Classico Reserva (as above) and an Antinori Pèppoli Chianti Classico (Vintages 606541)
• Dessert course was a sticky toffee pudding with a homemade hone ice cream. Served with a brandy (as above)

I recall the Burnt Ship Bay being particularly impressive and good value. The meal was excellent with lots of locally sourced products. 

Many thanks to Lynn River Farm, Claire, Jere, Tom and others for organizing a great evening. I'll be back ...

James McMurty & Betty Soo

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Gord and Leslie came to visit us for some theatre (especially MacBeth at Stratford). We have arranged to meet with them in Toronto and went to see James McMurtry (with a band and fronted by BettySoo) at the Horseshoe Tavern on Queen near Spadina. Both James and BettySoo are artists we've seen many times on our winter stays in Austin TX (search this blog); we usually we see them as solo acts.

Gord and Leslie arrive by train from Ottawa, we drive from home with our car.

Tonight, on this tour, James is performing with a full band — electric guitar, bass and drums. BettySoo accompanies him on an accordion for a few songs as pictured! We had seen her this winter at the El Mercado Sunday Morning Purgatory Players gig and she said then that she was just starting out on the instrument. James we've seen many times as an early evening solo act at the Continental Club Gallery (Austin) where he has a long standing residency. He also plays late at night once a week downstairs at the Continental Club with a band — perhaps these guys he has tonight. Of course these residencies are interrupted when he's on tour. When in Austin we much prefer to see him as a solo act and early in the evening. We're not long ball hitters anymore.

Doors open at 7:00pm, BettySoo comes on around 8:00 and there's a break before James around 9:00. Kate misses seeing James, at the break I take her back to our AirBnB via Uber, and I miss perhaps the opening tune of James' set. The audience wasn't very attentive to BettySoo but were very attentive and supportive of James. Many times the audience would sing along! One neat trick James does here (and at the Continental Club) is to sing one song without any electric amplification. That quiets down thing; people stop yacking to listen closely to what he has to say.

James did songs from across his catalog (he's touring to support his latest album "The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy" (2025)) but can reach back through to his first "Too Long in the Wasteland" (1989). Of course he did Choctaw Bingo; a big hit. Given the times we are suffering through with the Lyin' King in Washington I'm surprised he didn't do at least some protest songs. But then he's not known for that ... well, there's We Can't Make It Here Anymore (2007) and Cheney's Toy (2008) but they are now quite dated.

I like seeing acts here and have over the many years seen some of our Americana heroes —  Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver, Robert Earl Keen and Eric Bogle (Australian Folk). The setup is pretty good but there aren't many seats; Kate needs to sit down and get off her feet. There is a largeish "dance floor" in front of the stage but that's filled with a standing room crowd who block the view for those sitting down. We met our friends Tom and Tara from London who have grabbed themselves a spot right at the stage left. They were just  a few feet from the performers. Tom has posted some of his pictures to Facebook.

I got my pictures by wheedling my way through the crowd to the front. With a camera in hand people let you do that. Pretty much all my pictures were taken with a flash and bounce card. Someone in the audience seemed to think using a flash was forbidden. If it was nobody, other than her, said anything.

We stayed overnight at a two bedroom AirBnB condo near Bay and College. Gord, Leslie and I stayed up late after the show and at least one of us had a painful hangover the next day.

Next week we will return to see Hayes Carll at the Horseshoe — another TX Americana singer/song writer that we follow.

See also — on YouTube James McMurty and BettySoo.