Saturday, May 6th, 2009:
Full moon tonight! And I thought I'd say a quick word of hello as the summer season kicks into full throttle... shows today, shows tonight, shows tomorrow... shows until the summer is over! Collaborating with some neat folks these days: Storytellers Naomi Steinberg, Ari Lazer, a circus in August, a play in Toronto in the fall, choreographers, composers, clowns... keep checking out the "shows" page... One could indeed say this much fun is served in questionable proportions! Anyhoo - full moon means go out and have fun, they say - so feel free to mind that advice in whatever doses you can manage. Meanwhile - best to y'all now the summer has begun!

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009:
Happy Birthday Melissa Bandura!... as for news: the Boston tour was a blast, big thanks to Erik & Jo... now I'm gearing up for another big production: yup. taxes. (I know, I know - you're already finished aren't you?)... but ACTually - I am also getting ready to start clown school. Taking classes with David McMurray Smith over at Fantastic Space. I recommend this course (it runs every year) to anyone looking to experience and grow. So how's about that? It's almost warm, and spring (aka love) is in the air - look forward to seeing you folks out and about and showing off your summer do's!

Monday, March 23, 2009:
Hallo, hallo! So this month was a JCS month... I've been receiving well-timed guidance from local artists such as Michael Bean, Sascha Levin and Colin Mayhew who have given me various tips on my end-of-the-month solo performances. The first show was this past Saturday in Kamloops - and went splendidly! What a warm community I found myself in - great crowd and a cozy atmosphere once the lights were set in the Barnhartvale Community Hall. Special thanks to Sylvie, Doug & Cherryl.
My fabulous friend Andrea Curtis went with me for the trip, and we both had a good time of it, taking the scenic routes, enjoying the sights and smells of the Okanagan. Looking forward to more touring experiences like this one - So! Best to you and yours now as March makes it's graceful exit (what will it be March - lion or lamb?).
PS. Wish me luck for the Boston shows this week!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009:
Quick note: the CD Release was a BLAST! Thanks to all who came and took part in that special evening, the effects of which still are still trickling along...
Now onwards and upwards!
It is a good year, this 2009 - and of late, I feel very humbled by my good fortune. I was particularly exhilarated yesterday after waking up and realizing that I am, indeed, surviving as a musician.
The news this month is Lily news: we head north this time next week, but before we do we're gonna have a li'l hootenanny down at Cafe Deux this Friday with the talented folks from Blackberry Wood... we'd love to see you there! Meanwhile - rock it with your bad self!

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009:
CD RELEASE THIS FRIDAY!!! It is very chilly outside (I was up in the Yukon last week with T. Nile... and this all feels too familiar...) so in the few warm moments before I bundle up in scarves and sweaters, I wanted to make sure to remind you all... doors at 8pm, show at 9pm (more info on the "shows" page) - it's gonna be radsauce! The Snails are doing alluring shadow displays for the show, SFU dancers have choreographed graceful somethings as well, and T. Nile, Michael Bean, Amber Dash, Kat, Maria in the Shower (featuring James Lamb) will all be adding their talent and beauty to the evening - so I look forward to seeing you! This is the home stretch!! Ok, ok... I'll get dressed... and go poster... brrr!

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009:
It's my birfday today... and I wanted to put out a little thanks to the fun group of Toronto folks I met at the Freetimes over the last few months - they helped me ring in my own little new year last night, and I felt very lucky. Family today... then back to business tomorrow. There's a friendly fellow at NPR in the States who is going to distribute my music across the US. This is too cool for my brain to compute. Meanwhile - CBC is accepting my li'l ol' disk into their library as well - so in just a month or so, request away. They'll have it. Thanks to Mark Rheaume over there. Seriously awesome.
Ok. I'm done. Loves!
(PS - J.R.R. Tolkien was born Jan. 3rd. Rock sauce.)

Monday, December 22nd, 2008:
So the CD Release is booked now!! It will be on Jan. 30th at the Ukrainian Hall (Owowow!!). It'll be a party - Candy Curlypaws is helping out with the prep (thanks babe!), and Maria in the Shower have said they'll join us to make some noise.
Meanwhile, I'm just wrapping up this ol' stint in the Toronto - two more weeks of celebrations, holiday-wise and birthday-wise. Also: the CD's available for pre-release now:

So hooray. Big time. I'm at the Freetimes as I write this, with all my new buddies around, eating delicious fries. Mmmmmm... I gotta go... Happy holidays all!

Sunday, December 7th, 2008:
Whoa! The new CD has arrived (!!!) and I wanted to make sure I made an announcement to mark the occasion. Big thanks to L.Basil McMahon for the graphic design (he's also responsible for the fancy new graphics you see here - and Rehan Delal helped with some new html biznesse... have fun surfing the all the new features...)
More info to come regarding releases, where to purchase, and various other winterly thoughts. Best wishes in the snow!

Sunday, November 9th, 2008:
I have been in Toronto for a little over a week - and what a transition. I miss my lovely road-mates, but have made a new friend of the Don Valley. What a magical spot to go. I go to watch the sunrises (not something I often get up for on the road...) over the misty fields and the beautiful CN Tower (say what you want - I love that thing!).
Early this week I was looking through the NOW magazine and saw that Ane Brun (one of our favorites to listen to on the tour) was playing at El Mocambo on Friday! I shot Ane a little myspace message telling her I was excited for the show, and that I'd love to open for her or do back-ups anytime (bolder than usual for me!). To my surprise she'd already checked it before the show, so she got me and my buddy Liam up on the stage to sing with her. I was pretty much tongue-tied for the rest of the evening. Well Hey, Ho - that was a fun night!
Now just gearing up for some in-the-city time while the snow gets ready to fall around us. All the best to you, whatever side of whatever country you may be on...
for stories from the road, check out Women in the Round's Myspace Page

Friday, October 10th, 2008:
Ok. Summer is over.
But what a busy fall this is shaping out to be! I have been on the road for a month now - first with Martin Reisle, heading all the way up the the Khutzeymateen (a reserve north of Prince Rupert, BC, swimming with Grizzlies). We caught the full moon at the northern apex of the journey. It was a whirlwind tour that has given rise to the new band: "The End Tree" consisting of Martin, myself and two others: Elliot Vaughan and Adin... the idea is to blend our songs with storytelling. On this first little tour, there were two of us and ten instruments... that made a buck or two at the farmer's market I'll tell you...
Now I am back on the road with Women in the Round: the "rollicking estrogen-injected" group. I have been greatly enjoying being amidst the mountains, trekking along outside the city and catching the fall colours of spring all over Western Canada. We are heading East tomorrow, and I will miss the Vancouver community for a time (sigh...) but am looking forward to all that awaits on the other side of this country. Hope to see you on whichever side you reside. I hear Mercury is in retrograde until Halloween... fare well!

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008:
Summer's not over yet!

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008:
If you are anything like me, then the word "magic" may send a twitch down your spine. "Magic," some voice deep down inside may scoff, "is one of those silly words thrown around by hippies and cult-types... Not practical, certainly not something you can eat." However, to that killjoy voice, I would like to offer up this Toronto summer of clarinet-playing, ceramic-exploring and midnight-bridge-walking. As for the JCS Book Club, on the list this summer are:

Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino
Cymbeline, Shakespeare
The Prophet, Khalil Gibran
Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Translated by Jack Zipes

May there be magic for all in the summer months! See you in the fall...

Saturday, May 17th, 2008:
NEWS NOW: Valley of Ashes is on this weekend - and it is a MUST SEE! Check it out at www.dustyflowerpot.org (I'll be playing clarinet in the pit) - fer reeeeal.
In other news: the "Women in the Round" tour was a knock-out success (hooray!), as was the Lily Come Down CD Release Party (more hooray!). Also: I love CBC - have I mentioned that before? They are playing Eyre Corvidae still, and now Lily Come Down, and even played "Things Are Gonna Go Wrong" from my latest album - which I haven't even released yet! Whoa. My mind is blown. So Thank you CBC. Feeling the love... Rock out in the sun everyone!

Saturday, April 12th, 2008:
And they're off...
Last night was the successful Vancouver kick-off to "Women in the Round...On the Road" a Western Canadian tour featuring Kate Reid, Sarah MacDougall and myself performing as singer-songwriters-in-the-round. This is the most ambitious tour I have been a part of to date, and I am thrilled at the talent of the ladies I get to share it with. So I hope to see some of you along the way - and I'd love to see the vancouver folks at the Railway when we get back on April 27th.

Whoa. Too excited. Getting pheklempt...

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008:
So hello after a long silence...literally! - I've had chronic laryngitis! All the same, I have somehow managed to record a rocking new album! This Friday is the last day of mixing and I am excited. I am excited, too, to get back to the stage...
This month I have a few gigs - then in April I hit the road for a Western Canadian tour with "Women in the Round" - myself, Kate Reid and Sarah MacDougall. We've got a myspace - click here to check it out (it has some of my new tunes up there!).
So life is slowly getting back to normal - and as spring rolls around, all the challenges seem just a little easier to face. A lot of friends have been having various troubles of their own over this winter - and a few of them announced that March was "Napping Month!" or "Music Month!"... very optimistic titles, I thought! My idea for March is just to have a little more fun...
I'm off to have a bit of that now - but before I go, I'll just leave you with links to some lovely YouTube videos someone posted from a live gig with the band back in November 2007:

Arbitrary Lines
Cry For The Departed

...Ciao!

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008:
Happy belated New Year - I am finally ready! More news to come...

Thursday, December 13th, 2007:
Well I am getting excited... it's now four days until I leave for Brazil for a month of sun! Meanwhile - the new tracks are sounding great (check 'em out at www.myspace.com/joannacs. One of my bands, "Lily Come Down" has just finished our album as well... pretty fun... also I am charting for the first time! Where? You guessed it: Kamloops, CFBX. I'll be there in April when Kate Reid, Sarah MacDougall and I hit the road for a Western Canadian tour "Women in the Round...on the road!". Well that's all my news. Basically: Happy Holidays. To family et al: Lots of love! I'll see you soon!

Saturday, October 21st, 2007:
So the play was a fantastic experience - thanks to those who came - but onwards and upwards. It is studio season...
I went into the studio last week to record a new 6-track EP with the band. It is sounding great - I am very excited.
Lily Come Down is just about finished our first album, and all three of the other groups I am in (T. Nile, Sarah MacDougall & The Heroes and Gamelan Madu Sari) are all in various stages of recording new albums as well - a surplus of immortality going around.
I hope to put a few new tracks up on my Myspace soon. Meanwhile, I recently updated the old Myspace - and she's looking mighty fine - check her out at www.myspace.com/joannacs. Oh, and in case I forget: Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, September 27th, 2007:
Hello all... just had to put a little autumn message up for us all getting back into gear with work and school routines. I am back playing dance classes and loving it AND I have the good fortune of being involved in a very cool play called "Out Like Flynn" that starts up next week. Yes - I will be acting. Click Here for more information. Wow. I have a renewed respect for the theatre. The intense creativity and stamina required of the cast and crew are inspiring. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. I'd love for you to come. Anyhoozers - I wish you all the best as the cold creeps steadily on. Get those cozy layers ready...

Friday, September 7th, 2007:
This was my first summer of festivals - and I loved it! - Finally getting a good look at this corner of the globe, meeting and hearing a whole bunch of incredible musicians, free food!... I just hope next summer is as full-up with fun as this one has been. So with a hearty sigh - I now turn my head up to "watch the seasons change up in the trees" (-T. Nile, Trees ). Have a great school-year everyone, and Happy Birthday Nana!

Thursday, June 28th, 2007:
Well dang folks. I've just arrived back to Vancouver following my two big firsts: my first little tour and my first big festival. The tour was a lovely three-day jaunt to the island organized by Pedestrian! Productions. I highly recommend the Duncan Garage Showroom to anyone looking to be surrounded by an air of the mysterious...
If on the other hand you go for out-and-out beauty, take a scenic flight up to Smithers, BC for the Midsummer Festival next year. What a gracious community - and so ready to jump in and dance! Thanks to the Westmans and others for playing host or just for sharing some fun times. So many summer memories already and it's only June!

Thursday, April 26th, 2007:
I've been checking up on my electronic footprints, and to my cheerful surprise I see that CBC has been playing several of my songs across Canada (Winnipeg and Ontario have now joined my airwave-map). So I am sitting here rather pleased as the rain falls softly outside and I sit working on some new tunes. All the best to you buddies and browsers on this bountiful day. Oh - and congratulations to my Mom who has announced her wedding this summer!!

Wednesday, March 28th:
Yes there's an exciting show at Rime this Friday - why do you ask? Ahhhh, but this is not all in the works this week. Festival number 2 has confirmed!! Join Joanna (my humble me) out in the Bulkley Valley June 22-24 this summer for the Midsummer Festival, the serene sunsets, and the warm summer breezes...

Tuesday, February 21st:
It's a lucky day for Jo - not only has The Atlin Arts & Music Festival confirmed for this summer (July 6-8) but Joanna will officially be the new voice of the Log Driver's Waltz in a live action remake of the classic cartoon to be filmed this summer by Ride With The Tide Productions. "For he goes birling down and down white waters..." To view original cartoon, visit www.canadaka.net

Saturday, February 10th:
Sheryl Mackay, host of North By Northwest on CBC Radio 1, played 'Moment of Green' this morning. Rise and Shine Vancouver!