Peace after Easter

Yesterday, Cantus sang as part of the Artists for Peace event put on by the Nonviolent Peaceforce at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul. We were performing alongside some notable Twin Cities artists: Butch Thompson, Pat Donohue, Noah Brandow, Prudence Johnson, Sabine Perrin, Peter Johnson, and T. Mychael Rambo. Each of these artists have a different sound and different audience, and to bring everyone together was very moving and impactful. Cantus sang a 10 minute set of There Is A Meetin' Here Tonight, Wanting Memories, and Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo, then led the audience in a sing-a-long of the great folk song 'Let There Be Peace on Earth'. The entire evening closed with a rousing group-sing of 'Down By the Riverside', complete with wonderfully peace-laden lyrics and Cantus gentlemen singing with exuberant enthusiasm. We enjoy having a chance to really rip into a big-time sing-a-long like that and with everyone on stage, it sounded great!

Yesterday's event followed a very nice Easter weekend for me. After working quite a bit throughout the week, my wife and I took a much-needed trip up to the MN/Canada border to visit her father in the tiny little town of Birchdale, MN. Usually at this time of year, the snow is still on the ground up in Birchdale. But this year, the balmy weather of the Twin Cities carried up to the border, making the entire weekend a snow-free affair, even if there was a bit of rain. Birchdale is about 45 mins slightly NW of International Falls, MN--the coldest place in the lower 48. It was a great Easter weekend, with great food and a wonderfully relaxing atmosphere. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go fishing on the Rainy River, due to the rain, but the day that we returned to St. Paul, my father in-law Kit did catch a 32-inch walleye.