Local Western Canadian

Twelve hours late, but still posted for - Friday, November 19: Day 64

This is the first song from Ben Sures that I ever heard. Since then, he has randomaly entered my life, and is frequently featured on my iPod. To make things even more coincidental, I was just reading about a new trend for folk artists to do house concerts. That sounds like a cozy atmosphere for listening to any music that "makes people feel." Reading about Ben's upcoming shows, it turns out that he does house concerts himself! It was meant to be...

If that wasn't enough, it turns out that he, too, is from "Western Canada," rather than just one small town in one of our lovely provinces. Born in Regina (a fellow SK man!), he has moved throughout the prairies, calling the Peg home for many years, but even spent parts of his youth in Greece. The son of two artists, his career as a travelling musician makes a lot of sense. His songs are always entertaining - like this one that always makes me laugh - and would make me think of Canada even if I didn't know he was from my motherland.

To top it all off, I couldn't believe the truth within Ben's reflections on writing: "Sometimes I get letters from people saying if they didn't know better they could swear some of my songs were about their life and I like that. I like to make people feel. I wonder if any one actually writes songs or if we just pull them out of the air and then if they like us they stick around and get to be ours. When I go I hope somebody lets out a big old sigh of relief and says he sang what I needed to hear."

For more on Ben, check out his website: www.bensures.com