August 1st, DAVE at the Chianti Room - A good start to the week. My Dad and Margie stopped by. They are leaving tomorrow. I  played my Dad's three favorite songs Merle Haggard's "Are The Good Times Really Over", one I wrote called "Mr. Song" and Change The World that George Reeves, Kat Korac and I wrote. It was a hot enjoyable experience out on the porch.

August 2nd, DAVE at Hurricane Grill and Wings - The rain was coming so I set up outside under cover. It rained hard for a little bit and kind of misted on and off for the evening. It was a good call to set up under cover.

August 3rd, DAVE at the Corner Bar - It was Brady Green and I tonight. Frankie is still recovering from his surgery that went well. He says he will be back next week. The place was packed. I really enjoyed the evening. John Shubert was in the house from Subert and Green, Z Band.  It was nice to hang out with my old friend for a while.

August 4th,5th and 6th, DAVE at Aunt Kate's - Friday everything went well, nice crowd until 8:30 and then a hell of a storm blew in. Luckily a customer brought the approaching storm to my attention and I had the chance to get everything moved inside before it hit. I saw some of the most intense lighting on the drive home. Saturday afternoon went good out on the deck by the water. Sunday evening was a lot of fun. I met Uncle Charley, he's a harmonica player. Thanks Brian, Candy, Dave and staff, you guys are the best!

August 7th, DAVE at JT's Seafood - This is my last gig until the first Monday in February. The rain held off so I was able to get the gig in. I would like to thank everyone at JT's you guys are the best! Looking forward to seeing you next year!

August 8th, DAVE at Oasis - It was a nice time in the land of the 44 TV's! Jack and Amy Sizemore along with their son Jackson stopped by. See you next month!

August 9th, DAVE at Hurricane Grill and Wings - It was a pretty nasty evening. The weather canceled me out of half the gig. See you guys next week!

August 10th, DAVE at Corner Bar - Frankie is still recovering from his surgery. He plans to be at Creekside on Monday with NorthStar. Tonight it was Brady and I. We had a good time.  It was a little slow but we gave the audience a good show. Thanks everyone for supporting our music. See you next Thursday!

August 11th, 12th and 13th, DAVE at The Big Deck - Another great weekend! Bryan was out of town. We missed him, the christmas shot was just not the same without you. Darlene was in town this month. It was good to play some of my songs for her. We saw Pete just for a few minutes. He wasn't feeling well. I played all of Pat's favorites. I would also like to thank Paulie for sitting in with me singing "Knocking on Heaven's Door". Paulie said he remembers when Chris and I were writing "Dance With Me. He was singing back-up. He said he'll never forget that night. I played the song for him. See you guys in September!

It's been a great couple of weeks. Looking forward to getting together with Barry at Cave Canem Studio to and get back to work on my next CD "Don't Stare At The Sun". I hope to get together with Dan at IAUGI Studios to work on my new video "Goodbye Goodbye". Thanks for letting me live my dream! Stop texting, start talking! Don't liter! Early detection can save your life! Smile it could brighten someones day, even your own! Keepin' It Real!!!- David

see you down the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 25th, Travel Day - Since the first time I played my Dads Hagstrom guitar when I was about 12 or 13 years old, I started to write music. It wasn't the "in" thing to do.  The rest of the guys wanted to learn the songs we were listening to on the radio. I was always drawn to writing my own. I'd sit alone or in the corner of a house party and play my songs. Fifty years later, I'm headed to Canada for the same reason. I want folks to hear my music. I partnered up with my friend Laurence Stevenson. We visited and played some of the most respected original venues in Toronto. We played three gigs in Toronto, one in Cobourg and one in Brighton. There could have been more people, we could have done things different, but that's for the next tour. To the people that were there to heard us, I hope you were entertained. I can't tell you how much I appreciated you all being there. It was nice to hang out with Shawna Caspi for a few days. She is a real talent, and a nice person to boot. That's a good combo, I'm sure she will reach whatever goal she sets! Laurence and Barbara, you were great hosts, you are two of the nicest folks I have ever had the pleasure to know.

July 26th, Dora's - What a great place. It was even better when we worked out the sound system they had. Mostly Laurence's friends and family plus the agent that booked us, Andrei Talbot. Everyone was real nice.  There was not a large crowd, but you have to expect that when nobody knows you. Some folks that came down: Kevin Marsh (radio guy) - Jim Rootham (knew the words to all the Gamble Rogers tunes) and Sandra Spencer (played a Hurdy-Gurdy). Also in the audience was Laurence and Barbara's daughter Moira and son-in-law Steve.  With the first night under our belts, we looked forward to the rest of the tour!

July 27th, C'est What - It was a nice place.  Laurence and I were walking around in circles trying to find the stage. One of the owners Brenda Atkinson was sitting at the bar. She noticed our plight and was nice enough to lead us there. We met Miles Lacroix (his DJ name Miles The Man).

He would also be the guy who booked us and was the sound man. He did a great job! Other notables were Jim Bailey, Richard Begley and Michael Fich. We took some great pictures before the gig. Thanks for showing us around Laurence.

July 28th, The Loft - We left Toronto for the first time since we arrived in Canada to head to Brighton today.  We stopped at Tim Horton's (Timmy's) to get a couple double doubles and a box of tim bits for the drive. This is a "must" when in Canada. We also made a pit stop at the Big Apple.

 It's on our turn off to Laurence and Barbara's. It's a pretty nifty place.  We decided we would try to get back and try their apple sausage the next day. We met Lucy the Lama. We hung at Laurence and Barbara's for the afternoon, then headed to the gig. Laurence wanted us to try Sakura Sushi, place in Cobourg that turned out to be great! We were joined by Shawna Caspi who would be playing with us for the next three days. The gig at The Loft was great. There were a few folks that showed up that had seen me in the states. Ken Drue, as always, was a great host.  John Tapscott did a great job with the sound.  We missed Steafan Hannigan.  He was in Europe touring himself. Also Perry Lictenberger and Paul Devlin were in the house. We missed Joyce.

July  29th, 78 On Main - This is one of my favorite places. Lori Dunn was nice enough to book us back. Shawna Caspi did a short set. We wanted Lori to hear her perform. It was a nice afternoon and we met a lot of nice folks. We also had a nice dinner. We headed back to Laurence and Barbara's for the rest of the evening  to sit by Lake Ontario with a bonfire. It was a special night, with some special people, Barbara, Laurence, Shawna and Theresa.

July 30th, The Free Times Cafe - We hung around Laurence and Barbara's for the afternoon. Barbara, Theresa, Shawna and I, all went for a swim in Lake Ontario at different times. Man, it was cold.

We packed then headed to Toronto to return the rental car and check into our room at the Crown Plaza. Laurence and Barbara picked us up and we headed for the show. A well known venue for the Canadian folk circuit. All the best known performers have spent time on this stage. Shawna and I shared the stage for this night trading songs. It was a blast. Just a few people but still had fun.

July 31st, Home Sweet Home - We cleared customs, then had a direct flight home on Air Canada. We were home by 3:30pm and decided to meet my Dad and Margie for dinner at Ned's. It was a great way to end our trip.  It's good to be home.

I had a great time in the North Country. Laurence and Barbara were great hosts. It was nice to hang with Shawna. She's very talented. I think next time I would like to spend more time in Laurence's neck of the woods. Toronto is cool, but I really enjoyed playing for the folks outside the city. I guess I'm not such a big city guy. Thanks Canada and everyone I met along the way (EXCEPT FOR EZ RENT-A- CAR, don't use them). I hope you enjoyed by music. See you next year!

Check out my videos on YouTube "Change The World" and "Living In My Head". Also check out my music on Spotify! Keepin' it Real! -David

see you down the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!