I arrived in Toronto five weeks ago and started a new blog post about once a week for the first few weeks. Somehow I never got to the end of one, it's been that much of a whirlwind since I touched down!

I'm taking part in a program called Canada's Music Incubator here in Toronto, which trains emerging artists on the business aspects of being a musician. So I'll know how to get rich by the time I'm done. (Hahaha.) 

It's a 10-week long program and I'm here on my own, with my husband holding down the fort with my daughters at home. They are sacrificing a lot for me to be here, so I am packing as much as I can into my time here. I've been to a dozen jazz jams, a handful of concerts of various genres, and I'm planning to pack in lots more!

This past week I even played The Jazz Bistro, which is a beautiful listening venue with a gorgeous Steinway piano. I was thrilled to be joined by two acclaimed Canadian musicians, David Restivo on piano and Jim Vivian on bass. It was a lovely evening, but what surprised me most was the feeling of warmth and community I found there. Some of the people I had just met in the previous few weeks were there to listen, so it felt just like doing a concert at home. I've pretty much always been a small town girl; what an amazing thing to discover in the big city! 

I've got a couple more shows coming up. Next week I'll be participating in a tribute concert to The Guess Who. That will be lots of fun! I'm in the process of learning to sing two songs I "know" but have never sung before. And the week after that I'll be doing a vocal duo show with Daniel Janke at the Musideum. I can't wait to sing with Daniel again!

On top of all that is the program I'm doing, of course, AND I've got a date set to record some tracks for my next album, with some stellar musicians lined up to play on it.

Did I mention I'm trying to pack as much as possible into my time here?