Shawn Sage: The Latest Dirt

Wow...haven't posted anything here in awhile! Well, getting back into it...the songs have once again compelled me and that pesky muse has talked me into doing another album. Just getting the ball rolling...be a ways, yet....but I've posted a couple demos I did with Mitch Girio co-producing, engineering and playing bass, Devrim Eldelekli on electric guitar, and Rob Greenway on drums. The tunes are 'Move It Along' and 'I See You.' Hope you enjoy 'em!

My new album, 'Misadventures In Song,' is now available for purchase on-line! 13 original tracks, produced by Mitch Girio and I. You can hear some tracks off it by clicking here and you can buy the CD by clicking here!

I'm very pleased to announce that the long awaited release of my second album,'Misadventures In Song will happen on Saturday, January 27th, with a CD Release Concert @ The Tranzac (292 Brunswick, just south of Bloor, couple blocks west of Spadina) in the Main Hall. Doors open @ 8 PM. More details will be announced soon. You can buy tickets here at my website -

Get Tickets Now!

And, for all the visitors not in the Toronto area, the CD will be available for purchase on-line in late-January.

I'm very excited to be finally releasing this record. Mitch Girio did a great job helping me produce it and all the musicians on were excellent. I'm very proud of what we accomplished.

Here's the press release on a very cool show I will be a part of:

Words & Music by Bob Dylan, conceived and performed by Peter Landecker,
will make its Toronto premiere at the Brunswick House, opening on
September 21, and running for 3 weeks, Thursday to Saturday night.

Called "An audience grabber..." by Variety, Landecker's show is part
theatre and part concert and created entirely out of Bob Dylan's song
lyrics, interview transcripts, album jacket poetry and program notes.
Performing are Toronto singer-musicians Michelle Rumball and Shawn Sage,
and a fine band, including Jean Sebastien Baciu on bass, with Peter
Landecker portraying Dylan. Bob Dylan's prolific catalogue of work
encompasses folk, rock, country and gospel, and all genres are included in
this play.

This show is a chance for Dylan fans to celebrate what makes him and his
words and music so compelling and for non-Dylan fans, an opportunity to
discover his oeuvre. It tells the story of a man who became a worldwide
legend at the age of 21 and continued evolving from there for over 40
years. Unlike Beatlemania, the music is interpreted by Michelle and Shawn
in their own style, remaining true to the song but in no way impersonating
Dylan's versions.

Click here to get tickets!

So, the recording of Misadventures In Song is finally finished. The album was mastered last Thursday by Richard G. Benoit and he produced some excellent results. He did have some great stuff to work with - Mitch Girio did an awesome job mixing, engineering, and helping me produce the record. Not to mention all the fine playing by the musicians on the record, including:

Mitch - bass, organ, guitar, background vocals
Tracy Jones - electric guitars
Mike Van Steinburg - drums
colleen costello - percussion, background vocals
Meher Steinburg - organ, wurlitzer
Jesse Hull - violins
Lynn Kastner - percussion
Andre De Boer - background vocals
Sam Cino - drums
Taylor Knox - drums
Dean Cavill - pedal steel.

Still lotsa work to do on the album, though. There's still the artwork and manufacturing. I'm thinking it'll be a fall release.

You can hear 4 tracks off the record here on the site. Hope you dig it.

This internet is an amazing thing. Listen. I get an email yesterday from, Mike, a gentleman in Seattle who hosts a cable access TV show. Mike wants permission to use the video for my song, 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon' on his show.

I email him back and say, I'm a little confused, there is no video of that song and if there is one out there I'd love to see it myself!

Mike emails me back and says, 'that's crazy! Check out this link' And it's a link to a video of 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon!'

It turns out a gentleman named John Malone downloaded my song and put together a video for it using news footage and stuff. I love it - he did a great job. The visuals complement the song perfectly and he adds some extra touches that take it to another level. Very cool.

So, I guess I'll have to play 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon' at my show this Saturday, January 14th @ Mitzi's Sister (1554 Queen St. W, west of Jameson Ave). I'll be playing with a rocking band consisting of Andre Skinner on drums, Miles Peart on bass, and quite possibly, Tracy Jones on guitar. Andre's band Canteen Knockout is also on the bill. Show starts at 10 PM, with me opening and then Canteen Knockout. No cover charge. Two excellent bands. Great food and brews on tap. And, 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon.'

Oh yeah... click here to watch the video of 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon,' directed by John Malone.

Let me know what you think of the video this Saturday at Mitzi's Sister!

I'm very pleased to announce that I won a spot at the Brampton Folk Festival, winning the 'Last Chance Audition Showcase' last night in Brampton. Big thanks to Tracy Jones who helped me out on guitar and did an amazing job as always. Also, thanks to festival director, Glenn McFarlane, and all the other organizers and volunteers. We're blessed to have dedicated people like this promoting Canadian music

It really was a great night of music - so many great performers. The judges must have had a real hard time picking a winner - everybody deserved to win. The nine other acts were: Honey Ears,Riverbend, Marion Parsons, Ed Winacott, Kindred Spirit, Eric Campbell, Love N' Folk, Nathan Caswell and Stone Fox. Indeed, it was a great show with a line-up like this.

It was a pleasure sharing the stage with all those fine people and now at the Brampton Folk Fest on Saturday, June 18th, I'll be sharing a bill with the amazing line-up that was announced last night. Not only will there be some of the finest roots performers around, but the headliner will be Canadian folk icon, Murray McLaughlin. If you're a music lover, it'll definitely be a day to mark in your calendar.

Got some good news this week. My song Marijuana & Alcohol won 'Song Of The Year' in the Porcupine Awards which are handed out by Steve Fruitman's 'Back To The Sugar Camp' radio show on CIUT 89.5 in Toronto. Here's what Steve had to say about 'Mary & Al':

"While I don?t want to advocate getting stoned in back seats of cars, this song does capture the party spirit with a countrified, infectious feeling that sort of does want to make you wish you could be there. This song stood out from the pack. By playing chicken with puritanical views, challenging radio programmers like myself to actually play it on air, it pushes all the right buttons. Unfortunately, due to the lyrical content, don?t expect it to get airplay anywhere else but at the Sugar Camp."

Alright, Steve! Is this a cool cat or what? Check out all the winners at www.backtothesugarcamp.com/porcupineawards and be sure to listen to this cool radio program showcasing the finest in Canadian roots music every Thursday night at 6 PM on 89.5 FM.

I was featured this past November 2nd on Election Day (night?) performing 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon' at the 'George Bush Retirement Party' on CITY-TV's 11 O'Clock News and Breakfast Television and CBC Radio.

The press was nice, but I would've taken a different election result over it. So, it was more of a 'Let's get drunk and bash Bush party' than a 'Bush Retirement Party', but it was still alot of fun with many entertaining and thought-provoking performers.

Well, I guess 'Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon' will be a staple of my setlists for the next four years. I love playing it, but it would've been nice to retire it.

I just found out that I won runner-up in the humour category of the OCFF (Ontario Council Of Folk Festivals) Songs From The Heart competition for Let's Get Bush Off The Wagon (which is available for free download HERE). It's a great honour to win runner-up in a very prestigious competition that received 566 entries from 221 songwriters.

'Bush' is a song I am very proud to have written and it feels so good to receive this kind of recognition for it. In spite of the song's irreverent humour, at the heart of it is a sense of basic human decency that I take very seriously. I always love playing this song; but I hope that, when the dust clears this November, I will never play it again. There aren't too many things more important than songs, but this is one of them.

Big thanks to the OCFF for the honour.

Well, as you can see I've got my very own website now. My web page at coffeehouse.ca definitely got the job done for me on the net, but it's about time I had a site of my own. Looking forward to working with this. Still working out the kinks, but we'll have this baby running nice and smooth in no time. In the meantime, though, shawnsage.coffeehouse.ca is still the main place to get the lowdown on what I'm up to and get FREE downloads and stuff.