I have been mentored by many artists and music industry people both formally and informally over the last 25 years. Mentoring comes in many forms, one of those being good old plain advice.  Much of the mentoring I have received has been helpful and solid advice. 

Destination:  Red Deer. It was back on the road again today to play an intimate show for Janet who started doing house concerts in Red Deer fourteen years ago. Those house concerts grew and recently Janet with a few helpers became Little Log Cabin Concerts.

I believe that each guitar holds a certain amount of songs. I don’t mean their hiding inside. What I mean is that the songs are hiding inside of you but each guitar is a key that opens the door to those songs. Something about a guitars tone, sustain, and timbre will draw songs out of you that you didn’t even know were in you.

My day was mostly taken up by the "biz" part of my music life.  It started with a Teams meeting with Kindy Joseph, Assistant Deputy Minister, Status of Women and Creative and Community Development (SWCCD) and Jeff Brinton, Executive Director, Arts Branch/Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) to discuss my upcoming year.  They offered congratulations and their assistance in navigating my proposed project , "Everyone Has A Story".

I spent some time this morning talking with Aaron Talbot.  He is my contact with the Arts Branch for my new role as Alberta's Artist-in-Residence and Arts Ambassador.  Simply put, he's my "go to" guy when I have questions, concerns, or need help.  He's also there to follow along and keep me on track as I go through the next year in this role. We meet every Wednesday now at 9:30 AM to review my week and look ahead to the next.

Well some days just don't work out the way you planned. I had full intentions of working on a song today based on a quote I saw on a coffee mug of all places.  It said:

"I CAN'T CONTROL THE WIND BUT I CAN 

CONTROL HOW I SET MY SAILS."

But this morning I woke up to water on the basement floor.  Water was leaking out of a valve on the hot water tank.

I spend a great deal of time driving.  That is the life of a touring musician in Canada.  It's part of the deal.  I left Alberta Showcase in Fort Saskatchewan this morning before it was light.  I watched the sunrise from my vehicle somewhere around Maskwacis, Alberta.  

This weekend I attended Alberta Showcase.  An event organized bt the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta.  It's sort of a trade fair/conference for the music biz. Let me paint you a picture.  Artists of all performing genres showcase in front of presenters.  Who are presenters?  These are people who book venues, festivals, concert series, etc.  Here's how it works.  Artists and/or agents of artists apply sometimes in April to showcase at the event. 

Today was a great day.  I got to do two of my favourite things - running and recording.  I started running between my first and second year of university.  I was a Pronghorn.  I ran for the University of Lethbridge X-Country Team and the Track & Field Team. This morning I ran in Fish Creek Provincial Park in the south of Calgary.  I didn't go far, just enough to break a sweat.

Today, I drove back to Calgary to begin (finally!!) recording my 9th studio album.  I'm recording at owned and operated by Calgary musician Aaron Young.  It's gonna be a stripped down sparse recording but I'll tell you more about that later once we get deeper into the recording process.

In a completely serendipitous way, the start of my Artist-in-Residence (AinR) & Arts Ambassador appointment coincides with the start of a brand new recording.  I released my last recording, titled "Long Haul", in 2021.  I feel like I am long overdue for a new offering of songs. 

I have news! On October 16, 2025, I was appointed as Alberta’s 6th Artist in Residence and Arts Ambassador for 2025–26. You can follow my travels at @ab_artistinresidence and my daily blog at johnworthannam.blogspot.com