Chris Ronald

With my third album now in the works, I felt it was about time I got my back-catalogue in order. My debut CD, Pacific Time, was only ever circulated among friends and family and at early live shows. Now, 9 years after it was first recorded in my bedroom using a laptop and microphone, it has been professionally mastered and packaged and officially released.

Shortly after settling in Vancouver in 2002, I began to immerse myself in Canadian and British Columbian history and culture as I worked toward becoming qualified as an elementary school teacher. During this time, my new environment inspired me back to songwriting and, in 2004, after taking a course in using multi-track recording software, I produced Pacific Time. The album features 10 tracks: some written in England, some in Canada. The level of production is quite minimalist with some guitar, harmonica, and vocal overlays, and I’ve been told by many that this adds to the album’s charm. One fan even went so far as to tattoo lyrics from the album’s title track across her back, but I’ll save that story for another post.

Physical copies can be purchased at gigs or by contacting me directly as well as through CD Baby. It’s also available for download from CD Baby and iTunes.

For a limited time, download “Shadow of the Stone” from Pacific Time by clicking here

The van and I have returned to the mainland after a successful tour around the bottom half of Vancouver Island with stops at Port Alberni, Ladysmith, Coombes, Nanaimo, Duncan, Salt Spring Island, and Victoria. The relaxed island vibe seems to go well with my music, and I came away feeling very supported with offers of accommodation, bookings for gigs and festivals, and lots of new fans.

One of the highlights for me was returning to Duncan Garage Showroom, which streams and archives all of its shows.

Video streaming by Ustream

Now that my third album is underway, I’ve been busy getting my back-catalogue in order. It was almost a decade ago when I recorded my debut album, Pacific Time, shortly after emigrating to Canada from England and settling in Vancouver. Initially, the CD was reproduced at home and only ever circulated among friends and family and at early live shows. As I write, the 10 re-mastered tracks are being professionally packaged and will be joining me on my Pacific Time tour of Vancouver Island. I’ll be playing 6 intimate shows on The Island from 21st to 28th March performing songs old and new.

• March 21^st at 7:00: Char’s Landing, Port Alberni
• March 22^nd at 7:00: The 49^th Café, Ladysmith
• March 23^rd at 8:00: The Soundgarden, Coombes
• March 24^th at 7:00: The Vault, Nanaimo
• March 25^th at 8:00: Duncan Garage Showroom, Duncan
• March 28^th at 7:30: Moka House on Hillside, Victoria

It started about this time last year with a crowd funding campaign, and ever since I’ve been squirrelling away every cent from gigs, CD sales, royalties, etc. Late 2012 I had the good fortune to be introduced to producer John Ellis, and last weekend we were in the studio recording bed tracks for eight of the 11 tracks that will appear on the album.

From left to right: John Ellis (producer, guitar, dobro, banjo, pedal-steel, wurlitzer, you name it), Pat Steward (percussion), Rob Becker (bass), and behind the camera Soren Lonnqvist (engineer)

I’ll be performing as the feature artist at this long-running coffeehouse in Port Coquitlam. Admission is $5 with all proceeds going to the Crossroads Hospice Society. I’ll be unveiling songs from the new album for which recording starts this weekend at Studio Downe Under in Abbotsford.