I first met Tim Harrison in '93, when playing as part of Laura Thomas's house band for a weekly jam night at Toronto's Fallen Angel. He was just starting to record a new album in Joao Carvalho’s Umbrella Sound, with Dee Potter on drums, and several others, and asked me to play cello on it. That soon became being singing on it as well, and soon becoming part of his trio, along with the man later to become my second husband (I forgave Tim for that, LOL). He brought me along to play at my first folk festival, Eaglewood, in '94 and then several more around Ontario and later the very first Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Canso, NS.

Absolutely every contact and opportunity I've had in the folk world came because that random dude bought me a beer at the Fallen Angel one night.

The reason why I'm a cello-playing singer-songwriter is because that random dude bought me a beer at the Fallen Angel that night. (I remember telling him he was insane to expect me to sing and play at the same time, because doing that on an instrument without frets was impossible – he ignored my protests, and look at me now.)

My company, Take Note! Promotion came into being because of him – I'd been working as a publicist for Hart/Murdock Artists Management (classical music), and he (and the erstwhile second husband-to-be) wanted me to do that and bookings for them (the bookings part quickly fell by the wayside, because I hated that shit).

In a roundabout way, it was via Tim that I ended up creating the music for Sarah's Daughters, which got me nominated for a Brickenden Award, and helped me understand what a not-a-one-woman-show could do – which, of course, helped me shape Music for the Changing Voice.

While the Tim Harrison Trio ended not-so-gloriously (in no small part because of the erstwhile-second-husband-to-be), recording Bridges and the years of shows with Tim remain some wonderful memories – and are a huge part of my branching out into non-classical playing. Not to mention singing.

We did get back in touch after erstwhile-second-husband died and after Tim returned to Ontario (no connection between the two, separately-timed events), and each time, it was like those years in between had never happened. Still, living in the same province is different than living a few blocks away from each other, so I hadn't seen him in person for several years, and hadn't known he'd been ill.

So this is a shock, and a very sad trip down memory lane today.

Thank you, Tim, for all the doors you opened in my life, for your friendship, and far too many beers and jalopeno poppers over the years.

This is a big hole.

🎶  Oh lord hear our prayer for the ones who are living  🎶
🎶  Oh lord, hear our prayer for the ones who are giving  🎶
🎶  Oh lord, hear our prayer for the ones who are trying  🎶
🎶  Oh lord, hear our prayer for the ones who are dying  🎶