Author: Marv Machura

This guitar of mine is now over 50 years old! My parents bought it for me from Geovanni’s Music in Edmonton in the fall of 1970 when I was entering grade 3. Its very first performance was at the School Christmas concert that year when I played a few Christmas songs. I will never forget the night that my parents and I brought it home: how it smelled! how it looked! So many possibilities! And now there are so many memories tied up with this guitar…sigh. I’ve been so blessed! Thank you Mom and Dad; Thank you Universe!

I have to thank a life-long friend of mine who recently sent me this picture of myself and my guitar taken sometime after performing at our grade 6 Christmas Concert. Yes, I was serious about music from the start…and by grade 6, I had already been playing guitar for three years. This looks says, “Bring it on!…I got this.” I still have that Yamaha guitar, but not the plaid pants that were all the rage back then. And yes, I still feel the same way about music: Bring it on! …I got this. Have a great day, friends.

Hi Friends,

Just sharing a post that I recently put up on the Ovation Guitar Group on Facebook. I still call this guitar my “Canada Special” because 1867 is the year Canada became Canada!My 1867 Ovation Legend that was my main gigging and playing guitar for a few decades. I bought it at Lilo’s Music in Edmonton. It was one of the first thin backs. And at the time, one of the first acoustic guitars that could be amplified so beautifully.

I was playing a lot of single bookings at that time and was always frustrated by trying to put a pick up in my other acoustic guitar (a Yamaha), so this guitar was a game-changer!I remember the day I first picked it up and brought it home! 1985? I had just started teaching full time and could not afford the $1800.00 price tag (I think it was something like that.) but I was in love and I did not care if I had to eat wieners and beans for the rest of the year. I recall trading my Fender Rhodes keyboard as part of the deal and likely a few other things, so I could just take this beauty home. It was a good day!

This guitar has never let me down. It has been through so much and so many gigs. And while I do not play it much any longer, it is still wonderful and solid. Amazing. I LOVE IT, STILL.

Hi Friends!

Here’s the link to the video for my new release, “On the Road To Toronto”. Thanks, in advance, for watching/listening. I had a lot of fun putting this together! This project allowed me to look back on so many years of playing music professionally (44 years now, by my count) and just following my own dreams and somehow being compelled to keep on playing and writing songs and performing in spite of all the changes and all the millions of things that can get a person down in this business of music. Of-course, I am a long way away from the much younger man who nearly did exactly what the principal character in this song did (go to Toronto), but I can still feel that feeling and hope that I have captured it here in this song and video.

My thanks to all the wonderful players who I have performed with over the many years. It would be a book-length saga to get into all that and impossible to put into this short video.

Hi Friends!

It has been a while since I have been back to Alberta (due mainly to our travel restrictions). And while I love where I live (Vernon, BC), one thing I miss seeing is the sight of a massive grain train pulling across the prairie and wide open blues skies of the “Princess Province.” This song came to me one day as I was watching one of these very common sights and it remains one my most requested songs. Enjoy friends! The world can always use another train song! Cheers! (Photo of VIA Rail train at Jasper Station. A few years back, I entertained the passengers travelling across Canada on this particular train. That was very cool trip!) Thanks also to my friend and colleague, Les Sawyer who made this video of this song for me. Follow this link to see the video!

Hi Friends!

A big part of my music is rooted in the rock, soil, and identity of my Western Canadian home. This is why I have put words and music to many historical events and narratives that shape my identity. One of these songs is “The Manitou Stone.”

This song tells the story of this remarkable object that is now in a place of honour in the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton. However, when I wrote the song, recorded it, and created the video, the Manitou Stone was still being called the “1866 Meteorite.” I am working on an update to my song given the new developments in the story of this invaluable piece of our history and identity.

The photo here shows how the Manitou Stone is on display today in its own room (still far away from its original location that you can see in my video.) Here is a link to my 2010 video release. Thanks to Gary Koliger who produced the song for me at the legendary Beta Sound Studios. Have a great day, friends. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana

Hi Friends, I love this music video!

This song is special to me as a songwriter/performer, and this is a great version that put in tears in my eyes as a teacher! The first time I likely ever heard anyone play and sing guitar was this song. I was about 4 years old, and Dennis Herbison (my aunt’s brother) sang it around a kitchen table at my aunt and uncle’s place in Peace River.

I remember that moment so clearly. It was the moment that gave me my life’s direction and purpose because right then I saw that music was magic, and playing music was what I wanted to do. Thankfully, some 55 years later I am still playing music and have shared this magic with many thousands of students who I have been honoured to teach over my career. I still cover this song, and love performing it. And yes, music is magic. Keep on singing, friends!

https://www.facebook.com/betty.mcivor/videos/668707274104332

In honour of Louis Riel Day, here’s a song I wrote about his partner and leader of the Metis in the War of 1885.

I read that after the war, and he was declared an “outlaw” who, if captured, would share the same fate as Louis Riel (hanging), Gabriel Dumont escaped to the USA where he briefly joined Buffalo Bill’s Show as a “Canadian Outlaw and Buffalo Hunter,” he said (as he looked around and saw what was happening to his beloved country), “This damn country is getting too soft for me.”

I took that line and put it into my song “Barbwire Fences” where I use the voice of Gabriel Dumont. Note: Barbwire was invented in 1873. Barbwire was the invention that allowed the unthinkable (at the time): fencing-in the great North American West. Cheers, friends!

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

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!