I came of age in the 1960s in Montreal, the only child of Jewish immigrant parents. During my late high school years I was completely immersed in the music of the folk revival and through consistent practice became a fairly proficient guitar player and capable enough singer. While at university, I began to write songs and gained acceptance as a performer in Montreal’s nurturing folk music community. My hope was to achieve significant public recognition for my work even if I had to support myself with a day job.

My ambition met hard reality when I moved to Toronto in the early 1970s. I had little success as a solo performer and found it difficult to write new songs. Still intent on making a living in the arts, in the following years I developed a career in documentary film and television, both at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and as an independent filmmaker. More recently I have dedicated myself to fine art photography, specializing in architectural imagery. Yet through all these years I have continued to feel the pull of my unfulfilled short career in music.

Approaching my seventieth birthday, I decided to give myself a gift that I never had when I was a young performer, a well-recorded album of my songs. Thanks to Jason Fowler, a prominent Toronto guitarist, singer-songwriter, and music producer, I have been able to realize my long-held desire to make a permanent record of works written mostly during that intense early creative period of my life. Whether these songs gain a small audience or a large one is immaterial. They will at least now exist in a form readily available to family and friends and anyone else curious enough to listen. That is satisfaction enough for an older me.

David Kaufman, March 2018