Ron Taylor

Sorry to hear of the untimely passing of Ron Taylor!

I knew him well as a fellow performer and friend. He did the sound at my first CD release party and we recorded one of my songs together in his Ragged But Right studio. We have lost a true gentleman, friend to all, and fine performer, songwriter, and all-round musician. #rontaylor #edmontonfolkmusic

May be an image of 1 person, playing a musical instrument, guitar and indoor

Vernon Chamber of Commerce

Thanks Ingrid, for this photo from the Vernon Chamber of Commerce Christmas Luncheon on Tuesday! It was so nice to be with a big group of happy people again!!!! It felt so good! And thanks again to the Vernon Chamber for doing this and inviting me to perform. Feliz Navida!

May be an image of 1 person, guitar and text that says 'DOOR YoU PRIZE NIXON W LAKE CITY OKANAGAN ORCHARD SOVEREIC THE CHAMBER'

The Worst Blizzard

Hi Friends,

Here’s a song I recorded back in the 2000s and have been playing live lately! This song was inspired by songs like Lightfoot’s “Song for a Winter Night” and poems like Frost’s “Stopping in the Woods on a Snowy Evening.” I am also heavily using Pachelbel’s “Canon” for the chord structure.It’s a Western Canadian Full-on Blizzard and the character in the song is feeling feelings that can only come at such a time. The street in North Edmonton where I grew up was wide and open with high street lights. When a blizzard would blow in, the street-view from my parents’ big, 60s-picture window was magical! The air would seem to come alive with the falling and blowing snow glowing and sparkling in the bright street lights. Thanks for listening, friends! Cheers!

The Prince of Cups

Hi Friends,

The Prince of Cups is a card that indicates you are about to engage in something new, something good, and something big that will bring many benefits to your emotional life. But as always, it is up to you to act. Nothing like this will happen if you do nothing to engage in the life around you, and you do not travel onward with purpose, direction, and hope. Take care and have a great day! Card from The Millennium Thoth Tarot Deck

New Single Release

Buffalo Skinner Redux

Hi Friends,

I hope your December 2021 is off to a great start! I have just released another single from my studio in Vernon. This song is called “Buffalo Skinner Redux.” As some of you may know I released a song called “Buffalo Skinner” back in 2008 on my CD Warm Summer Night. While I still love that version of this traditional folk song that I had recorded, a couple of years ago, I was inspired to rework the lyrics to be more accurate with the story I saw in my imagination rather than the more traditional lyrics that I had followed back in 2008. This recording, thus, is a re-working or re-visioning of this classic song.

“Buffalo Skinner” is a traditional song that has been recorded by many people and sung by even more for many years. As an old saying goes, “A great folk song should have hundreds of versions to sing it and keep it vital.” This is one more version of this great song about the Buffalo, Western Canadian Roots, Justice, and Fair Labour Practices.

Spotify

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/buffalo-skinner-redux-single/1598030148

Apple Music

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kYJnpKcBGFQqzaFeY_tt8d2qBDnJUuwvs

YouTube Music

October Review

Hi Friends!

It has been a busy month as far as releases and news go: since the market season ended for me, I have had more time to get a few things out there.

I am glad, for example, to have republished my book of poems, Wonder, as a ebook. It turned out really nice with the addition of many of my colour photos that I have taken and added to the book! Please see my new release pages for more information.

Also, my book on the Tarot: The Five-Card Pentagram Tarot, also finds itself in an ebook version as of this month.

I started a long-delayed video series on Marshall McLuhan media ecology as well as producing a few more videos about the Tarot. See my YouTube Channel.

I have been busy with my recording equipment, and plan to have a few more singles released before year’s end.

I can see a bit of snow on Okanagan Valley’s highest peak in the distance. Terrace Mountain. The locals have told me that this mountain is their season-change talisman. It’s not summer until all the snow has melted from its peak, so I guess this means that winter itself is on the way!

The Five-Card Pentagram Tarot

***** Press Release *****

For Immediate Use: June 30, 2021

Marv Machura, Releases Book on the Tarot

He says this book is designed to help people move forward with their lives

Book Cover

Marv Machura has released a new book on the Tarot: The Five-Card Pentagram Tarot.

The book is a guidebook to divining your future with the Tarot Cards. Machura’s book can be used by anyone to engage with the Tarot card deck. Machura says, “The Tarot deck is an amazing legacy handed down through the ages that provides a visual and iconic representation of the complex nature of our humanity.” He further says, “This book has the potential to help many people through its explanations and divinations of each card in the Tarot deck.”

The book focuses on the five-card pentacle layout which uses one card drawn from each part of the deck and arranged in a classic pentacle shape. This five-card pentacle layout speaks to the present and near‑future in an immediate and comprehensive way, giving readers advice on various aspects of their lives including their spirit (Trumps), energy (Wands), emotions (Cups), thoughts (Swords), and money (Pentacles).

The book shows you how to use the Tarot deck to give advice and direction for your life and also provides information on the Tarot deck and its use as a fortune-telling medium.

For more information and to get in touch with the author, please see www.marvmachura.com.

This book is currently available at all online booksellers, Expressions of Time (in Vernon), and in person or through Machura’s website.

New Video and Song and Article

Hi Friends,

I have been having a great time teaching for the College of New Caledonia over the past four months. It is a great college with a great faculty and staff. I have been teaching online English courses, but alas, the term will come to its conclusion today.

In between times since my last post, I have released a couple of songs and related videos. The first release is my song “On the Road to Toronto” and the next one is my song “South of the North Saskatchewan.”

I have also recently published an article in Canadian Teacher magazine: “Reflections on Student-Centred Teaching.”

My new book on the Tarot, is nearing completion!

I am looking forward to publishing it soon.

Life is good, and I hope all is well with you and yours. Let’s keep hoping and praying that our world will stay peaceful and open up again with all the wonderful things we have been missing during the past year with COVID restricting so much of our way of life and our basic freedoms and human needs.

Cheers!

Marv

Marv Machura Releases New Christmas Single and Video

Marv Machura Releases New Christmas Single and Video

In Time for Christmas 2020

Marv Machura has released a video to follow-up his recently produced Christmas single: “First Christmas Without You.” The video is available on his YouTube Channel.

The song, written, produced, and performed by Machura, is somewhat appropriate for this lockdown Christmas 2020 where many people are not being able to see friends and family, unlike any other Christmas.

Machura says that he did not write the song specifically for this year, but he admits that its theme is timely. “I wrote the song while on a Christmas Eve walk a few years ago in Penticton. It was a quiet and beautiful night with the snow falling and no traffic.”

Machura says, the song is about getting through and carrying on in spite of heart-break and loss. It is a theme that runs through many of Machura’s songs. “I always write songs that have rays of light and hope in them.” Machura says, “If this song helps your spirit get through the tough time that a lonely Christmas can be, then my job is done.”

Although Machura is mainly known for his neo-folk songs rooted in Western Canadian experience and history, he has written many more-mainstream, popular music that follows in the singer-songwriter traditions of artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, and John Denver. He has published over 20 songs in Nashville, released 4 albums, and is soon set to release his fifth early in 2021.

Machura is also known as “singing guitarist” who continues to entertain audiences across the Okanagan Valley where he lives. He is, like all of us, looking forward to a return to normal. He says, “I miss playing live! I can’t wait to be back out there.”

The new song and video can be viewed on Marv Machura’s YouTube Channel. For more information, please contact Marv directly at [email protected] or visit his website at www.marvmachura.com

Merry Christmas 2020!!!

See video at https://youtu.be/D5853J4ZbWQ

Press Release

***** Press Release for Immediate Use *****

Marv Machura releases a new single: “On This Beautiful Night”

Produced by Ken Hartfield

December 9, 2020

Marv Machura has released a new single from his upcoming album: “On this Beautiful Night.” This song, written by Marv Machura, was produced by Ken Hartfield.

Machura met Hartfield last year when Machura approached him after hearing Hartfield’s work with the Symphonic Rock Evolution, a symphonic rock band out of Kelowna. Hartfield’s band is a sprawling, ambitious, and successful project that features six vocalists performing with a large orchestrated band performing Hartfield-penned arrangements of classic rock songs.

Machura was looking for someone to produce some of his songs with bigger, more involved production and arrangements. Machura explains, “I love that sound of well-produced, orchestrated music such as The Carpenters and Neil Diamond from the 1970s. Ken is one of those rare people who has that ability to put it all together.”

They quickly began a project that has now come together and is released. The song, “On this Beautiful Night” is a romantic ballad written and performed by Machura who is known as Western Canadian Roots singer-songwriter.

Although Machura’s singer-songwriter reputation largely stems from his repertoire of neo-folk songs, he has been writing songs for many years, publishing over 20 in Nashville and releasing four full-length albums over his career. He says, “This song is just a beautiful piece that I wrote, and I wanted to give it a great treatment before I released it. I am thrilled with how it turned out, and I hope to work with Ken on more music in the near future!”

The song can be found on all of Machura’s online music channels including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Music video release TBA.

See www.marvmachura.com for more information and links to his music channels and YouTube video releases. Call 250-307-1505. Click on the image to access Marv Machura’s YouTube Music Channel.