27th Street

I heard from an old friend today. When I say old friend, I mean from the 80s, from back when I was living in my painting studio on Ossington Ave, long, long before it ever became a trendy restaurant strip – and I think he was living in Parkdale, but I don’t remember the street now. We spoke on the phone this evening and I guess it was the first time we talked in over two decades. Somehow or another we both got wrapped up in whatever we were doing along the way and we lost touch. The last time I heard from him at all was a little comment in a comment book at the old Workscene Gallery on Bathurst St. I had an exhibition in the small back gallery, I don’t remember the year – it must have been in the 90s – and one day I walked into the gallery and saw this comment that said “I see you’re still a painter’s painter.” Funny the things you remember. I’ve often wondered where he was and what he was up to.

So here’s a shout out to “Cowboy Buddha” Barry. One of the things that led to our friendship is that we shared a taste for some of the same variety of music. Here’s a tune that I remember Barry introduced me to. I recall he was surprised I didn’t know it. He liked the Don Williams and Emmylou Harris version of it as I recall, but these days I like the way the author of the tune, Townes Van Zandt  played it best…

Talking to Barry today brought back to mind all kinds of stories and people from those days. One day I’ll tell you about some of them.