Books by Dale Harris

Books by Dale Harris
A Feast of Epiphanies

Though I Walk, A Novel

Daytime Moons and Other Celestial Anomalies, a book of poems

Second Wind

Second Wind
An album of songs both old and new. Recorded in 2021, a year of major transition for me, these songs explore the many vicissitudes of the spiritual life,. It's about the mountaintop moments and the Holy Saturday sunrises, the doors He opens that no one can close, and those doors He's closed that will never open again. You can click the image above to give it a listen.

The Song Became a Child

The Song Became a Child
A collection of Christmas songs I wrote and recorded during the early days of the pandemic lockdown in the spring of 2020. Click the image to listen.

There's a Trick of the Light I'm Learning to Do

This is a collection of songs I wrote and recorded in January - March, 2020 while on sabbatical from ministry. They each deal with a different aspect or expression of the Gospel. Click on the image above to listen.

Three Hands Clapping

This is my latest recording project (released May 27, 2019). It is a double album of 22 songs, which very roughly track the story of my life... a sort of musical autobiography, so to speak. Click the album image to listen.

Ghost Notes

Ghost Notes
A collections of original songs I wrote in 2015, and recorded with the FreeWay Musical Collective. Click the album image to listen.

inversions

Recorded in 2014, these songs are sort of a chronicle of my journey through a pastoral burn-out last winter. They deal with themes of mental-health, spiritual burn-out and depression, but also with the inexorable presence of God in the midst of darkness. Click the album art to download.

soundings

soundings
click image to download
"soundings" is a collection of songs I recorded in September/October of 2013. Dealing with themes of hope, ache, trust and spiritual loss, the songs on this album express various facets of my journey with God.

bridges

bridges
Click to download.
"Bridges" is a collection of original songs I wrote in the summer of 2011, during a soul-searching trip I took out to Alberta; a sort of long twilight in the dark night of the soul. I share it here in hopes these musical reflections on my own spiritual journey might be an encouragement to others: the sun does rise, blood-red but beautiful.

echoes

echoes
Prayers, poems and songs (2005-2009). Click to download
"echoes" is a collection of songs I wrote during my time studying at Briercrest Seminary (2004-2009). It's called "echoes" partly because these songs are "echoes" of times spent with God from my songwriting past, but also because there are musical "echoes" of hymns, songs or poems sprinkled throughout the album. Listen closely and you'll hear them.

Accidentals

This collection of mostly blues/rock/folk inspired songs was recorded in the spring and summer of 2015. I call it "accidentals" because all of the songs on this project were tunes I have had kicking around in my notebooks for many years but had never found a "home" for on previous albums. You can click the image to download the whole album.

random reads

It's My Happy Place

Another thing I've grown to love about Saskatchewan is Corner Gas. One of our family traditions is the Corner Gas party, where we pop a big bowl of corn and hunker down together to laugh our faces off over three or four episodes for an evening.

Now, I realize (from the "thanks-but-no-thanks" expressions that sometimes greet my recommendations of the show) that Corner Gas is a bit of an acquired taste. But, what with it being filmed only 30 minutes down the road from us, and what with the very good chance that you might actually catch a glimpse of someone you know appearing as an extra, it was kind of hard not to be a fan. And the writing, really, was brilliant: lots of subtle word-plays and wry wit, mixed in with bizarre hyperbole and corny situational comedy. Corner Gas has added a whole repertoire of one-liners and disarming rejoinders to our family dialogue (though we've talked pretty carefully with our kids about the J-word).

But I don't think these were the things that finally cinched me as a fan: it was the way the show so effortlessly evoked a sense of place. There were times I was almost sure I could have turned off the TV and just walked out on my front porch to watch the rest of the episode. Scenes in Phil's bar, I could have sworn that if I took a deep enough inhale, I could smell the stale smoke and sour beer on the air. And I'm sure I've been in the cafe that inspired the Ruby, and a half-dozen others like it between Edmonton and Regina.

And, of course, the light. Sometimes the show so overflowed with Saskatchewan light that you were tempted to wonder if you left the curtains open.

Every place has, I think, a certain ethos, a texture you learn when you linger long enough. You don't know what it is, but you know when you're touching it-- when it's brushed against your face unexpectedly, or across your heart. In so many ways, Corner Gas evokes the texture of Saskatchewan that my time lingering here has taught me to appreciate.


1 comments:

Randy Nolan said...

If there's time before the moving truck arrives, Dale, you should roll down to Rouleau and have a bite to eat in the local--the bar scenes were filmed on location. It's authentic, all right (though sans Phil), and the food was pretty good when we ate there a couple years ago. Speaking of stepping outside (inside) and continuing the episode, though . . .