Reflecting Life

The occasion of a friend’s birthday rekindles “Home Reflections”. Musician, photographer and more, Shona McMillan met Allison Crowe when both performed at the “John Lennon Northern Lights Festival” – a magical time and happening in Durness, Scottish Highlands.

Imagery of the McMillans with Goldie, Snowy, the budgies – and a wee friend, Stewart Hall, dropped by for a visit – is accompanied by Allison’s performance of “When I’m Gone” – a tune from the pen of the great topical songwriter Phil Ochs. Shona’s poignant description of this creation on YouTube, old cine films shot by her family in 1960s Edinburgh, says best what it’s all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF40lnbwOYk

It’s capped by Shona’s “mum's favourite saying which was the philosophy by which she tried to live her life: ‘I pass this way but once, any good that I can do - Let Me - for I may not pass this way again’."

In My Life: V Day Playlist #4 of 7

Here's a tune first delivered to the world by The Beatles and George Martin on the "Rubber Soul" LP. From the timeless songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it's a "John song". Allison Crowe sailed to sea and performed for Lennon family and friends come together with Scottish villagers and music-lovers from all across Europe, in Durness, Scottish Highlands. The Scotsman newspaper calls Allison a "Canadian angel" and her "In My Life" cover "one of the weekend's most magical moments". Here's a video version -



and a different performance from Allison on her "Tidings" album.

"Give Peace a Chance: John & Yoko's Bed-In for Peace" celebrated by new Allison Crowe video

“Once upon a time, there were two balloons called Jock and Yono,” begins John Lennon’s ’airy tale on The Beatles’ 1968 Christmas record.

It was a time when the actions of popular musicians and artists could be aimed to make us think - not just buy.

"We're going to sell peace the way other people sell soap", Lennon told a young photo-journalist Gerry Deiter. In the Spring of 1969, Deiter was assigned by LIFE Magazine to document the “Bed-In for Peace” staged by John Lennon and Yoko Ono at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. As performance art it spanned eight days a week - from May 25 to June 1 '69 - and was designed to bring attention to social issues of the day and, particularly, the US war in Vietnam.

Born in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, Dieter emigrated to Canada during the war in Vietnam. He was the only photographer present for the entire 8 days of the Montreal “Bed-In for Peace”. There he captured hundreds of images of John and Yoko singing, composing, visiting with friends and talking to the media. Lennon and Ono spoke to some 150 journalists during the press conferences they held daily from their bed. June 1, 1969 was the culmination - the recording of “Give Peace A Chance”, now an international peace anthem.

With war fever again poisoning mainstream culture, a few years ago Gerry Deiter retrieved his archival photos. Partnered with Joan Athey, a long-time CBC publicist, and based out of Victoria, Canada, their team mounted exhibitions to renew the message of peace and understanding.

On December 10, 2005, just days after launching an exhibition at the Royal British Columbia Museum, and marking the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination, photographer, newsman, and life-long activist Gerry Dieter passed away following an heart attack.

Dieter’s son Nathaniel inherited the iconic prints, and, keeping her promise to spread the word, Joan Athey acquired a collection of these rarely-seen images.

Now... these images come together in the book "Give Peace a Chance: John & Yoko's Bed-In for Peace". Photography by Gerry Deiter. Compiled by Joan Athey. Edited by Paul McGrath. Published by John Wiley and Sons.

The book launch happens this Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. in the Collard Room, Swans Pub, 506 Pandora Ave., Victoria, BC, Canada. International book events are scheduled for: May 12, Gershwin Hotel at 8 pm time in New York City (generously sponsored by the Gershwin); and May 26, at Toronto’s Stephen Bulger Gallery. Photo exhibitions open May 26 in Liverpool, England at “The Beatles Story” and June 12 at the Bethel Woods Arts Centre, (Woodstock Festival) in New York. http://www.peaceworksnow.com

Canadian musician Allison Crowe, one of her generation’s most independent and acclaimed singer-songwriters, is honoured to do her part in celebrating the book and the 40th anniversary of the Bed-In. In 2007, Crowe proved a sensation at the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival - named the UK's best new music festival. In 2008 she headlined a concert for the John Lennon Memorial Garden in Durness, Scotland.



This week, she’s created a new video uniting dozens of Gerry Deiter’s images of the 1969 Bed-In with a recording of “Imagine” - captured “Live at Wood Hall”, in concert in 2005 at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Allison Crowe's videos have been enjoyed by over five million people globally. Her audience online grows by over 200,000 people each month. The bicoastal singer-songwriter, (whose home territory covers Nanaimo, BC to Corner Brook, NL), has just completed a concert tour of coastal BC with her new band. The quartet next perform dates in Newfoundland before an European tour that takes them to Edinburgh, London, Aachen, Frankfurt, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and more cities. Details tba.

Imagine peace. May we all live “hopefully ever after”.

Hail to the Haggis! - two videos to celebrate!!

On my two most recent visits to the village super-market, I noticed there was a pile of haggis in the meat cooler. This seemed unusual, but, considering how much touring Allison does, I am pretty accustomed to hearing multiple languages, and facing music, food and drink of any number of countries.

Still, I wondered, how and when did haggis become so popular here - on my little island in the Canadian Pacific Ocean?

Returning home, without any "meaty pudding" in my grocery bags, I tune into the CBC Radio program, "In the Key of Charles", and the show's marvellous host, Gregory Charles is devoting the entire two hours this Sunday night to Robbie Burns' poetry and song.

Och, aye!!

Happy Robbie Burns Day!!

Haggis, it's speculated, has its origins in the Scottish Highlands - as a ration for the drovers journeying down through the glens.

Allison has roots in that bonnie land, and, more recently, enjoys a mutual love with Scotland. It's fitting, then, I've made a couple of videos, while drinking Highland Park single malt, a scotch introduced to me by Allison and Billie Woods, who picked up a bottle in Kirkwall, when they adventured in the Orkney Islands last Fall.

Me and Bobby McGee - 't'is a fine start, especially as the vid contains images of the Scottish Highlands - alongside scenes from Germany:



And, here's Wedding Song:



Billie Woods took all the pics - on tour with Allison across Europe in 2008. Allison performs all the music. Larry Anschell recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" live, in Victoria, B.C., Canada. "Wedding Song", Allison recorded - from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, Canada.

So, raise a glass, of whatever you choose.

Sláinte mhaith!!

well, my heart is in the Highlands...

This year, there's a bonnie... in the Scottish Highlands:

Northern Lights Benefit Show to aid John Lennon Memorial Garden Blooms in Durness, Scotland

"Love is the flower... you gotta let it grow" ~ John Lennon

The most north westerly village in Britain is to celebrate its links with John Lennon again.

Top Canadian singer Allison Crowe is to headline a concert in Durness, Sutherland, on October 11 - two days after what would have been the ex-Beatle's 68th birthday.

Allison was one of the stars of last year's John Lennon Northern Lights Festival held in Durness - and promoted by Prince Charles' North Highland Tourism - which went on to win the Best New Festival at the UK Festival Awards 2007.

Next month's Northern Lights Benefit Show will be in aid of the John Lennon Memorial Garden in Durness - the only permanent memorial to Lennon in Scotland. Lennon holidayed every summer between the ages of 9 and 15 in Durness -
on his cousins' croft.

He also returned with Yoko Ono - and their respective children Julian and Kyoko - in 1969 before suffering a car accident which hospitalised them at Golspie.

Durness, in particular, played a huge part in young Lennon's life - the song In My Life is said to be partly inspired by the village - and the singer even tried to buy the area's estate shortly before his death in 1980. Earlier this year Yoko Ono also praised villagers for their respect to Lennon's memory.

For next month's concert Allison will break off from her European tour and fly from Prague where she will be performing two days earlier.

"John Lennon was an amazing, artistic, peaceful, spirit. He made a huge impact on society. Durness made a huge impact on him and on me too and I am glad to return," said Allison, 26.

"I remember being terrified of the roads, but the beauty of the place managed to take over! The oft summer stomping ground for John Lennon is one of the most gorgeous places I have seen in all my travels.

"The black rocks and the turquoise waters... The wonderful people that live there in the Highlands... And the people I got to meet during the John Lennon Northern Lights fest from all over the world.

"There were performers everywhere and there was such a sense of community throughout the fest. I thought the entire time this is definitely a place I could live without much difficulty! The music and the laughter and the amazing new friends. truly, it's an experience that can't be matched. This year I plan on doing my best to create something new while I am in Durness, in homage to the Northern Lights Festival and
to carry on in that spirit!!!

"I am honoured to be able to help raise monies to upkeep the John Lennon Memorial Garden. It's an important part of the community, to be kept alive and growing along with the memory of John Lennon and the times he had in Durness. I hope we're able to recreate a bit of that magic."

There are hopes that the Northern Lights Festival will be staged next year.

"I'm excited we're able in a way to carry the torch for the fest that's not happening this year, because it's such an amazing experience that I hope it keeps happening for years to come, really," said Allison.

"I think the fact that people come together to celebrate the life of someone who was so devoted to peace and love, is, in a sense, achieving exactly what John set out to do. Keeping his spirit alive through the garden and through the festival is that sense of his presence and purpose living on in all of us. We all shine on."

Mary Mackay, chair of Durness Community Council, said she was delighted that Lennon's links with Durness are again to be celebrated.

"I could not think of anybody more fitting to celebrate John's links with Durness than Allison. She was a knockout last year and put hairs on the back of everybody that heard her," she said.

"We are hoping it will be a great day - and it keeps John's flame alive in a place that he loved very much."

Allison has recently toured across Canada and in the northeastern United States as headliner. Two one-hour television specials have been broadcast across Canada, and her version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is one of the most popular versions of the classic.

"Whether I'm Wrong", an original song of social conscience penned in early 2003, has been featured by the UNESCO-endorsed New Songs for Peace initiative.

Allison will be supported by fellow Canadian vocalist and classical guitarist Billie Woods. Billie's songs are inspired by life in Canada's Pacific northwestern coastal forest, and infused with the warmth and vitality of the sambas, bossa novas and other cultural rhythms of Brazil. Other events are also in the pipeline including a photographic exhibition of the area by Shona McMillan.

Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s and are available from Loch Croispol Bookshop 01971511777 (where a small fee for credit card bookings will apply) and Mrs Mary Mackay 01971511255.

John Lennon Festival Shines On UK Awards Night

"I always felt free in Scotland," said John Lennon.

That freedom was shared by artist and audience alike earlier this year at a Festival in Durness named in tribute to the much-loved musician, writer and peace activist. In spirit and body, family, friends and fans of John Lennon came together in the Scottish Highlands for three days of music, poetry, drama and more - under the Northern Lights.

Last night, at a ceremony in London, England, the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival was named "Best New Festival" at the UK Festival Awards - joining long-standing celebrants, such as the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury festivals, on the winner's podium. Hearty congratulations are due Festival Coordinator Mike Merritt and his team, and to all the people. Imagine ( :

Singer-songwriter Allison Crowe's honoured and delighted to be Canada's musical ambassador to the event, sharing the stage and experience with an eclectic line-up, including: the original Quarrymen (John's skiffle group which evolved into The Beatles); contemporary UK chart-toppers Nizlopi; premiere Scottish jazzer Todd Gordon and his combo; Britain's most popular living poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy (second only to William Shakespeare among university-age readers); punk poet John Cooper Clarke; members of the Royal Academy of Music; all together with the Queen's Master of Music, composer/conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (in a joyful musical triumph, his first public performance in 15 years).

During the Festival in Durness in late September, John's family gathered for the dedication of a simple plaque - now on the family croft above the waters and sands of Sango Bay. It says: "John Lennon 1940-1980, Musician & Songwriter, lived here".

Och aye. He's living there still.

In My Life

Help! - Vote for the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival

If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow... Any time at all, though, you support the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival, I've got a feeling you'll know it's only love, and that is all.

Move over Ms. L, this unique happening that's come together, in Durness, Scotland, is nominated as "Best New Festival" and "Fan Friendly Festival" in the UK Festival Awards.

Please, please me, and, especially, Festival Coordinator Mike Merritt and his team. All together now. Power to the people!

So, remember, the Fifth of November - and, by this Sunday, October 28, cast your ballots for the cultural revolution @



Across the universe, don't let me down ( :

Bless You!

And, while watching the wheels go round, here's the word today from the 'Cover Lay Down' blog's Covered in Folk series:

"Songwriter and mistress of coversongs Allison Crowe beat out Johnny Cash, Ben Lee, Chantal Kreviazuk and Shawn Colvin covers of 'In My Life' at the last minute. Buy or download all Crowe's albums via Rubenesque - her own label - and you'll know why this Canadian youngster is one to watch for the next half-century."

In My Life

Dig it ( :

John Lennon Northern Lights Festival - in review

The Scotsman, "Scotland's national newspaper", gives the John Lennon Northern Lights Festival four-out-of-four stars and this delightful review:

The Scotsman Tue 2 Oct 2007

LIGHTING UP DURNESS IN LENNON'S MEMORY

THE JOHN LENNON NORTHERN LIGHTS FESTIVAL ****
VARIOUS VENUES, DURNESS

SITUATED closer to Oslo than Liverpool, it's easy to see why John Lennon spent so much of his youth in Durness. With its white, sandy beaches and picture-perfect mountainous terrain, a story hides behind almost every rock in this remote village in the north-west highlands. The Northern Lights - the only thing to get a Scotsman to stand outside without a coat in late September - made an appearance, but the real magic was going on under the sky, as people from all around the world gathered to pay homage to Lennon's spirit.

At the Sango Sands Oasis, Lennon's first band, The Quarrymen, delighted onlookers with a skiffle set and stories about John while giving people in the audience a chance to play with them on washboard.

Meanwhile, a mile down the road at Smoo Cave - a spectacular smugglers' cove believed to be the abode of spirits who guard the entrance to the netherworld - there was the surreal sight of Mr Boom. An entranced group of kids sat between the limestone cliffs as the one-man-band entertainer took them to another planet.

A stone's throw away at the village hall, Canadian angel Alison Crowe gave one of the weekend's most magical moments, earning one of few encores for her solo rendition of Lennon's In My Life (a song inspired by Durness).

Students from the Royal Academy of Music injected new life into the Beatle's work later on with new, inspired arrangements of Norwegian Wood and Imagine. Their mentor, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, however - making his first public appearance in 15 years - played an ingenious number called Clouds on a badly-tuned piano borrowed from the local bookshop.

He wrote it, Davies said, when he was 11 years old. You could almost imagine an 11-year-old John Lennon listening to it in wonder too.

Northern Lights - the song, the sight, the festival - the phenomenon

Keeping with the natural themes of this blog - from under-the-sea octopus, to high-in-the-sky Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights...

Love IS real.

Summer's here. Temperature's rising. Allison Crowe is joining a magical mystery tour that promises to be one of the coolest cultural events of this, or any, year. The internationally-acclaimed singer-songwriter will perform at the The John Lennon Northern Lights Festival this September 28 - 30 in the Scottish Highlands. This unique happening has been endorsed by Yoko Ono Lennon along with several members of the ex-Beatle John's family, including his sister, Julia Baird.

Some of Britain's greatest artists, and, now, a Canadian, too, will travel to a tiny highland village to pay homage to John Lennon. The three-day festival in Durness (pop. 356), the most north-westerly and remote village on mainland Britain, is being called "one of the most extraordinary festivals ever to be staged in the country".

"John really loved Durness and would be very pleased that his influence was being celebrated with this festival," said Julia Baird on the launch. "I am delighted to be involved in what is a high quality event which has taste and respect at its core. We are all looking forward very much to coming again to a place that meant so much to my brother."



Allison Crowe and Julia Baird met last Summer, at a Beatles celebration organized by Hal Bruce, "The Cavern's very best friend", in Halifax, Nova Scotia - at which Julia, a teacher in Cheshire, was Guest of Honour. On that occasion Allison received a standing ovation for her solo performances of the Beatles' "Let It Be" and "In My Life" (which has roots in Durness) and John's "Imagine". The opportunity to meet again, and to share inspiration is exciting says Allison: "John Lennon was an amazing, artistic, peaceful, spirit. He made a huge impact on society." And, she notes, "I love Scotland!" (Both grandparents on her Mother's side are Scottish.)

As a boy, John Lennon would be packed off on the bus from Liverpool to a croft in Durness owned by relatives. His cousin Stanley Parkes, says: "The festival is not remembering John Lennon the pop star, but John the person, the writer and the poet." During a break from recording the Abbey Road album in 1969, the then-Beatle returned to the Highlands with Yoko, son Julian, and Yoko's daughter Kyoko.

"I have a very sweet memory of Durness," Yoko said last month, in giving her blessing to festival organizer Mike Merritt's team. "I would most certainly love to lend my co-operation to this splendid venture to bring the world's attention to Scotland, the most beautiful and magical country, with John's name, his memory and a lovely one of mine, as well."

Allison Crowe, a French reviewer has observed, creates music for people who love the '60s and '70s sound ~ even if they'd not yet been born. It's a spirit of freedom and fun. Of uncompromised, singular, artistry. Honesty and innocence. She's in perfect harmony with a wildly eclectic festival line-up that includes: the original Quarrymen, (John's skiffle group which evolved into The Beatles); poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy; punk poet John Cooper Clarke; the Queen's Master of Music, composer/conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; jazz singer Todd Gordon and his combo; actor/playwright Gary Bleasdale; contemporary UK chart-toppers Nizlopi; and a wide palette of artists in all sorts of disciplines. Music, painting, drama, Beatles' films (on Britain's only mobile cinema, Screen Machine), Fab Four memorabilia, an on-site astronomer, and festivities in Smoo Cave, (Britain's biggest sea cave), are among the attractions.

As are the Northern Lights... which shine on the festival's celestial banner alongside John Lennon. The whole brings to mind the truth and beauty of such songs from John's Plastic Ono Band album as "Look at Me" and "Love".

Allison Crowe has recorded, naturally, one of her newest songs, "Northern Lights". "And, yes, I stood on the other side of the world, but I took the Northern Lights home to you."



The beautiful images seen in the video come from Yukon-based David Cartier, Sr. David shares his colletion of Aurora Borealis pics and more on his flickr page

Here’s what David says about this source of inspiration:

" When Men lack a sense of awe, There will be disaster "
- - - - Lao Tzu --- The Tao Teh Ching
Awe is what THIS is all about!!
The Aurora is an experience of breathtaking beauty... the viewing makes you feel like you are connected integrally with an amazing cosmic force ..... Aurora watching is as addictive as any drug and a whole lot more satisfying. Once you become addicted, you stay out all night, lose sleep, forget about social commitments, nearly get wind burned and frostbit and it's all, deeply, worth it !!
Every human being who can manage it should make a pilgrimage to the subarctic auroral zone in order to see and feel this at least once in their life.
Many of these were taken with an amazing old Russian Kiev-19 35mm SLR. This camera , which I still use for night sky photos, NEVER freezes up or has any shutter problems in the cold, even at minus 60!! The more expensive Japanese and German cameras which I own always, or at least often, stop functioning in the deep cold.