Photo: Christine McAvoy

Hello, there.

I am incredibly proud to announce that I am performing with dear friend Shane Koyczan on NBC’s “Today Show” with Matt Lauer, airing 8am (PST/EST) on Friday, February 26th!

If you perhaps found your way to this site via the magical interweb on behalf of this broadcast and are seeking confirmation that you’ve found the right place - you most certainly have.

I watched Shane blow the world away with one of his poems “We Are More” at the 2010 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies. An undeniable highlight of the event, Shane Koyczan just stepped up to the proverbial plate. How many people watching? 2 Billion? 2.5 Billion? Some say 3 billion? I’d seen Shane tame a crowd of thousands with words alone before, but never with the added power of modern television. Koyczan 2.0.

On my first ever tour in March of 2006, I played for 8 people in a small bar in Penticton, British Columbia. One of the locals in attendance was Shane, and we got to talking. I knew nothing of the spoken word scene in Canada, but I quickly learned. Shane took me under his wing, introducing me to his world and the cut-throat universe of Slam Poetry. At this point, Shane had already won the International Grand Slam, and subsequently had “retired” - sick of the boxing-like intensity of the competition.

Combining our very different but cohesive talents, we started gigging together in Vancouver and throughout the Province (that’s what we Canadians call States) - we would create collaborative concerts comprised of music, lyrics, poetry, and what grew to be a mutual appreciation of our respective bodies of work. Dozens of gigs later, it became all too apparent that Koyczan is a talent-monster. I have learned so much from Shane over the years, and am so uncontrollably proud of him as he steps up to the world stage. Everyone deserves to know his work - and to hopefully see it live at some point. That’s where Shane truly comes alive.

I’m completely honoured he has asked me to join him for his performance on NBC.

To celebrate this event, I wanted to offer a free two-song download to new (and old) visitors to the website.. Road Regrets is the lead-off track to my new album Nice, Nice, Very Nice, and Tragic Turn Of Events / Move Pen Move is a fairly heavy piece that Shane and I originally recorded for his album A Pretty Decent Cape In My Closet and was eventually released again on my Roboteering EP in 2009.

Below is a live performance by Shane and I of “Tragic Turn Of Events / Move Pen Move” at The Vancouver East Cultural Centre in August, 2009.