"Undressing the Night"/"Walkups" launch pics

I'm back from Edmonton and have plenty to report. But I also found in my mailbox these photos of last week's Montreal launch... so thought I'd share them first. Credit goes to Adrien Chevrot, Artiste-photographe.
Myself and Elizabeth Robert, reading from Lance Blomgren's Walkups (me, the English original, her, her French translation)

Above, myself and E.R. reading from Undressing the Night (me, my translation, her, the Spanish original)
Myself and Danielle Shelton, Editor-in-Chief of Adage Editions, reading from Walkups.
Yours truly, entertaining with some songs in the first intermission...
... and signing a book for a friend who had to leave early. I think this shot is especially cool, as it captures both my literary and musical selves, so rarely seen together, in one succinct image. Will definitely use on the website. It was taken from outside, through the cafe window.

Below, Marie-France Bancel (singer) & friends providing the second intermission's entertainment... mostly Brazilian bossa-nova. (Marie-France is also an excellent French-language writer and spoken word artist, by the way.)
Some of our audience at Le Depanneur Cafe.

Translators and Walkups publisher shot. We're all sweltering in the June 3 heat. The writers were in absentia for this event -- Francisco Santos, author of Undressing the Night, had family commitments in Toronto, and Lance Blomgren, author of Walkups... well, he lives in Vancouver. Nevertheless... "A good time was had by all", etc.

Hype of another sort

Click on the image, and you can see it quite big and clearly, praise quotes and all. One quote makes me out to be a perfect innocent. The other compares me to The Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, and Paul Simon. Complimentary, as well as complementary. But it's also rather disconcerting, being perceived as a perfect innocent surrounded by ghosts.

Depanner la chanson

By "playing the guitar", I actually meant practicing songs. Last week to divert myself (well, it had been set up already -- but I heartily welcomed the distraction) I auditioned to play at the Depanneur Cafe, an artsy bistro just a few blocks from where I live. It seems I went over well -- so I'll be playing there on Tuesdays, 2-3 pm -- at least, until further notice. (NB, as of February, 2007, it's now Mondays, 2-3 pm...)

Odd time, eh?

The prime times (Fridays/Saturday nights) are reserved for bands, cabarets, etc; live "ambience" music -- solo jazz, folk, etc. -- are at odd times like mine. Here's the schedule for the people like me.

I like the place: frequented by studenty and bohemian types, with tippy tables on old wooden floors and art by starving artists on the walls, it's a kind of cafe you can find in any major city but which always seems exceptional when found. The gig gives me the chance to practice with a sound system in front of a smattering of people -- an ideal way to try out new material, solidify performance and cut stage nerves in preparation for other gigs (if, when, who knows where) down the road. + of course gain a bit of public, sell CDs books tapes & maybe even my body!!!