2022 Baby! CD release, new music and a FREAKING NEWSLETTER

It’s 2022! Hurray! It’s -35ºC right now and they’re calling for some -40’s this week. Instead of going outside, I’m going to tell you about the new projects I’m currently working on.

Dogs For Emma - Out January 27

My new EP, Dogs For Emma, will be released on Bandcamp January 27th. You can now pre-order the digital album and CD’s on Bandcamp. If you’re unable to shell out them bucks, just wait a few extra weeks and it will be out on most streaming services.

The Jenni House Residency

I just started a very cool residency at the Jenni House in Whitehorse. For most of January, you’ll find me in one of the cool looking old-timey log cabins by the water besides Shipyards Park. I’m currently writing music for a new ensemble TBD, and I’ll be announcing some fun events later this month. There will be some open house days and some performances, but with C****-19 exploding there might be some changes to my original plans. Stay tuned!

The Great Olivier Newsletter

I’m doing it! I’m starting a newsletter! I might be overcommitting myself here, but I’m determined to try to make this happen.

It’s going to be a monthly(ish) newsletter filled with music updates and outdoor adventure stuff. Come for the quirky Olivier news, but stay for the Emma food section. I’ll be working with my partner Emma on an outdoor food section with recipes and tips and tricks for having the best food in the back/front country.

Who knows how well this newsletter experiment will last, but go try it out!

Our trip to Ontario - a photo essay

Last October, I flew over to the Ottawa Valley to visit Emma’s family. The weather was warm, the mushrooms were out, and we had a wonderful time exploring the farm and canoe camping in Algonquin park.

The Ruby Range - A hiker's paradise

I returned to Whitehorse from a month and a half of guiding on the West Coast Trail, eager to get to the mountains before the winter set in. I felt pressure to get out there and explore because the cold comes in darn quick up here. By late August when the sun sets, the down puffy jackets come out. Early September brings sub-zero nights, and by mid to late September, snow is falling in the higher elevations and most mountain trips become a little too cold and challenging.

The Ruby Range was still high on my bucket list and I was determined to explore it before the season ended. To ensure I had the best odds of success, I decided to build a backpacking dream team with Mowgli as our leader and Sarah-Monique and I in tow.

Our fearless leader, Mowgli

Mowgli is the ultimate adventure dog. His long hair offers the ultimate insulation (got cold hands? Just grab his luscious coat of warm softness), his physical prowess scales mountains with ease, and his incredible training means ultimate dog control in the face of grizzlies and angry squirrels. Behind every great dog is a great dog owner, and that’s where Sarah-Monique comes in. Sarah-Monique is one of the fittest, strongest and positive adventurers I know. If I’m in running shoes carrying nothing, I can barely keep up with her carrying a 70lbs pack. She’s also incredibly positive, funny, and her smiles get exponentially bigger the harder things get. I carry an InReach to contact Search and Rescue if there’s an emergency, but I bring along a Sarah-Monique to make sure she can carry me out. She also has a big truck (which is what we needed for the river crossings).

Our plan was to drive along Łù’àn Mǟn to Tl’àt Kwäshäw, park somewhere in the area, hike up Printer Creek to gain the Ruby Range alpine, and explore the valleys around Swanson Creek. The area we’d be hiking in lies on the border of three different traditional First Nation lands; the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation (CAFN), the Kluane First Nation (KFN), and the White River First Nation (WRFN). The Ruby Range are important hunting grounds and Tl’àt Kwäshäw was a major traditional fishing place. The area is often used by all three nations and the CAFN have a culture camp nearby. We had heard that there was some kind of hunting trail going up to the alpine and we were hoping to avoid any major bushwhacking on our way up.

“Tl’àt Kwäshäw - Big Deep Bay / Cultus Bay

Łù’àn Mǟn - Big Whitefish Lake / Kluane lake

Äʼäy chù - Glacier Water / Slims River”
— Southern Tutchone

I left bright and early from Whitehorse, hopped into Sarah-Monique’s red truck in Haines Junction, and a couple more hours and three creek crossings later, were parked on the side of the road staring at a wall of dense trees. I looked at the map, looked at my compass, pointed at the trees and off we went!

What bad bushwhacking looks like (can you see me?) - photo: Sarah-Monique

Within a few minutes, we started finding well-worn trails that crisscrossed the forest. Given the extensive patties on the ground, we thought these trails might be the result of a herd of bison or cattle nearby. We followed these trails for the first few hours and were absolutely elated at how easy the hiking was. We were aiming for a notch in the pass above us and while we had a lot of elevation to gain, we felt like it was going to take us no time at all.

As we gained more and more height, the trails started getting thinner, sporadic, and less defined. The last game trail finally petered out and we were engulfed in some truly heinously thick black spruce, willow and berry bushes. We peered across to the other side of the drainage and realized that we had let this cattle shortcut lure us into the bushier aspect of the valley. Fighting our way forward at less than a kilometer an hour, we decided to cut across to the other side of the drainage to what looked like marginally less thick vegetation.

While I was busy trying not to be entirely consumed by the bushes pulling at my legs, I looked back and Sarah-Monique was stuffing herself with berries. In my horse blinders/“I’m a guide I need to navigate” mindset, I had completely overlooked that the bushes surrounding us were covered in every berry imaginable. Crow berries, bearberries, cloud berries and cranberries galore!! You could reach down and pull up a handful of berries every time. We had lucked out and arrived in peak berry season.

A few more hours and many gratuitous handfuls of berries later, we reached the pass and entered a completely different landscape. Entering the Ruby Range proper, the terrain transformed into an alpine tundra devoid of any trees or thick bush. We were also relieved to find a well worn packhorse trail down the middle of the Swanson Creek drainage. We turbo’ed down the trail, stoked to be past the bushes and found a nice little bench overlooking Swanson Creek for camp.

Hanging out with Sarah-Monique and Mowgli in our cook shelter, I pulled out my trumpet mouthpiece and started buzzing. I couldn’t bring my trumpet with me, but a little bit of mouthpiece buzzing is a good substitute when you can’t practice on the real thing. Mowgli immediately got up, started pacing in circles and compulsively digging beds to lie in. When the buzzing stopped, Mowgli would give us a “what the hell is going on” look, then immediately start acting weird again when the buzzing resumed. We were in stitches laughing at this broken dog losing its mind over the mouthpiece noises.

Berries!

Gaining towards the pass - photo: Sarah-Monique

The next day we went exploring to the east of Swanson Creek. The weather had rolled in and we spent the day hiking in low visibility and against some pretty intense winds. The terrain around us was funneling and focusing all the wind and the lack of trees meant there wasn’t anything to break the wind’s energy. Any tarp shelter we tried putting up would either billow up like a sail, or completely flatten in the relentless gusts. While the hiking terrain was relatively easy, the wind really beat us up. We got back to camp with wind burnt cheeks and ringing ears from wind howling around us. The evening brought some calm to our campsite, and we enjoyed some great food huddled for warmth around our little white gas stove.

On our final day, we headed west and gained a ridge that extended straight into Łù’àn Mǟn. We had spectacular views of Kluane National Park, Łù’àn Mǟn, and Äʼäy chù. It was so cool to see Łù’àn Mǟn extend for tens of kilometres on either side of you, fenced in by the imposing rock walls of the Kluane Range. We were able to easily follow this ridge with very little bushwhacking all the way to the road going along Łù’àn Mǟn. A 30 minute jaunt along the road and we were back at Sarah-Monique’s truck.

The Ruby Range is such a cool place! It doesn’t take much before you’re immersed in the alpine tundra and it’s beautiful, hypnotic rolling hills. We only scratched the surface of this place and I can only imagine what lies deeper in the range.

All Southern Tutchone place names were taken from the Yukon Geographical Place Names Board with help from Luke Campbell (CAFN).

Bock's Lake - When plan A doesn't work

Just before leaving Whitehorse for a month and half of guiding on the West Coast Trail, I wanted to head out into the mountains to explore some new places. At the top of my list of places I wanted to explore was the Ruby Range. The Ruby Range mountains are essentially the easterly foothills of the St. Elias Mountains. I was really interested in exploring this place because it’s not in the National Park (no permits required), the mountains are slightly rounder / easier to navigate, and the terrain a little bit more conducive to hiking. On one of the hottest days of this years summer, Emma, her sister Loreena and I had packed our bags and were off to try to get into these mountains

We turned off the highway and after 15 minutes on an old dirt road were blocked by fairly large creek flowing across our path. We scoped out the creek, measured the water depth, and tried to convince ourselves that our vehicle could make it to the other side. Unfortunately, our confidence just wasn’t high enough and the last thing we wanted was to wreck our Nissa Xterra (nicknamed Crossfit Janet) 20km before the start of the hike.

It was pretty disappointing having to turn around, but there wasn’t much else to do.

Pictograph? Graffiti? Glacial scarring?

Luckily, Emma is awesome and within a few minutes had come up with a great alternative plan, Bock’s Lake. Bock’s lake is a little alpine lake nestled at the mountainous gates of Kluane National Park. It’s a bit of a sun exposed grind up Bock’s creek, but once at the lake you’re rewarded with incredible views of Kluane National Park.

We got to the trailhead, strapped our packs to our backs and headed up the creek. For once, there isn’t much to talk about the trip. The hiking was nice, there was no drama, the weather was spectacular, and the views phenomenal. Hard to ask for a nicer three days.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some stories from my fall season. I was lucky enough to get two more backpacking trips in and fly out to Ontario to see some family. I’m also working on a new project that I’m excited to announce soon!

Concert Update

Well, luck is definitely not on my side. For those of you who aren’t in the Yukon, a few weeks ago we had a huge spike in COVID cases and our territory has had to declare a state of emergency. This has resulted in a bunch of restrictions around both public and private gatherings. Unfortunately, and it kills me to say this, my concert this upcoming Wednesday will no longer be open to the public.

I can’t tell you how bummed I am about this. This project has been a year in the making and I’ve spent every waking moment for the last few months preparing to present my new music. The silver lining in this is that the live streaming portion of the show will go on. You can purchase tickets to the stream here. I know that online streaming is nothing compared to a live performance, but if you were at all interested in the concert consider supporting the concert organizer, Jazz Yukon, by purchasing an online streaming ticket. Jazz Yukon has been instrumental in helping get this new project off the ground and I can’t tell you how supportive they’ve been through these difficult times. I’ve never before received so much support and funding from ANY other organization in Canada.

The band is really spectacular and we’ve been working really hard to get this music together. Austin Tufts, from the acclaimed band Braids, will be playing drums and percussion. He helped record the drums for my EP and I’m super excited he’s able to come up here to play. Andy Slade is a great jazz pianist that just moved to Whitehorse from Toronto and he’s been killing it on the keys. He’ll be playing everything from a grand piano, Wurlitzer, and something like 10 different synthesizers. Gord Clements, (my Dad!!!!!!!!!!!) is also coming up for the show to play baritone sax and bass clarinet. He’s from Victoria and has been professionally performing, recording and teaching saxophones and clarinets for over 50 years. Adrian Burill will be joining us on trumpet and flugelhorn. He’s a wicked local trumpet player and leads the funnest local band around, Major Funk. Finally, we’ll have Daniel Janke laying it down on bass. Daniel is a composer and performer and has performed his orchestral works on stages across North America and Europe.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for being interested in this crazy musical endeavour. After I stopped touring 5 years ago, I’ve often felt that the music chapter of my life might be over and I didn’t think something like this would ever happen again. Even though the performance will be in a less than ideal format, I’m really excited to be able to present the music from my upcoming EP, “Dogs For Emma”. I was hoping to sell some CD’s at my concert but instead I’ll be making my EP available for download on November 24th on Bandcamp for PWYC. It won’t be out until January, so make sure you get it while you can!

I hope you enjoy this crazy, weird, genre bashing project!