MYSTERY GUEST POST: On a cold Thursday night in Winnipeg, Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club was alive with its usual chaos — people drinking, talking, tuning their guitars, and waiting for the next act. Sam Singer was just settling into his hosting when a figure pushed through the door, stumbling a little — Doug McArthur, a local musician with a reputation for wild nights and long stories.
Doug’s eyes darted around the room until they landed on the crowd, and he made his way straight to the bar. “Hey,” he said loudly, voice trembling. “Anyone got any drugs? I wanna feel that magic. I wanna know where it goes.” His words were desperate, almost pleading. Some patrons looked uncomfortable, others gave him a wary smile, and a couple chuckled quietly.
As the night went on, Doug kept asking — pot, acid, pills, anything to chase that feeling. The more he talked, the more frantic he sounded, until he finally pulled out a ragged notebook, scribbling something on the page. The words read: “I want to feel that magic.”
By then, Doug looked almost hollow. Frustration and a strange kind of hope pushed him over the edge. He grabbed the mic and said, “I wrote a song. It’s called I Want to Feel That Magic.” The room got quiet, people curious now.
He started to sing, voice raw and trembling, pouring everything into that first note. As he hit the chorus, something unexpected happened — a table in the back began to sing along softly, their voices lifting the song like angels. Kacy Anderson, William Prince, Alyshia Grace Hobday and The Secret Beach — they all joined in, their voices melding into something almost supernatural.
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To read the rest of this review — and more by Steve Schmolaris — visit his website Bad Gardening Advice.
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Steve Schmolaris is the founder of the Schmolaris Prize, “the most prestigious prize in all of Manitoba,” which he first awarded in 1977. Each year, he awards the prize to the best album of the year. He does not have a profession but, having come from money (his father, “the Millionaire of East Schmelkirk,” left him his fortune when he died in 1977), Steve is a patron of the arts. Inspired by the exquisite detail of a holotype, the collective intelligence of slime mold, the natural world and the suffering inherent within it — and also music (fuck, he loves music!) — Steve has long been writing reviews of Winnipeg artists’ songs and albums at his website Bad Gardening Advice, leading to the publication of a book of the same name.
