Winter 2013 Update

20 Years…of me!

I CAN RECALL THE EXACT MOMENT when I realized that giving up my day job and making singing my full-time career was the right decision. That moment came at 8:00 pm on October 5th, 1993 at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax as I walked on stage to a full house and a thunderous East Coast welcome.  It was my first concert with my own band, and I was received with such wild enthusiasm that the concert turned into a 4-hour marathon for me. I was hooked!

Now, after 20 years and 25+ albums, I’m more proud than ever of my international family of fans, my catalogue of songs and my Veterans’ causes, including the foundation of McDermott House Canada.

Whether I’m sharing the stage with a stellar group of musical friends or touring the world as part of the famed Three Irish Tenors, I still continue to meet and make new friends with my music. Though time and travel have introduced me to a wealth of new material, I still try to connect with my audience as I did during that first show, so many years ago.

For this 20th Anniversary Tour, the band and I will highlight a variety of songs – from my early recordings right through to my latest releases.

Check my concert listings for dates near you.

Children’s Book Bank

A cause worthy of your attention! The mission of the Children’s Book Bank is to provide free books and literacy support to children who need them.

Many Canadian families and organizations own quality children’s books that they have outgrown or cannot use. The Children’s Book Bank saves these books from the landfill or recycling system and distributes them to children who otherwise would not own their own books.

You can help put books into the hands of Toronto children in low-income neighborhoods by supporting The Children’s Book Bank. From our cosy and welcoming location at 350 Berkeley Street, in Toronto’s Regent Park neighborhood, we provide gently used and new books free to children (from infants through age twelve) and their families. For more information, visit their website.

NEW RELEASE: The Ballad of Roger Maris

The true “home-run king”, 61 in 1961. Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961 breaking the record set by Babe Ruth. He was as great a role model as you can get.

Babe Ruth was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees where he set the single season home run record in 1927 of 60 home runs . The record stood for 34 years until on October 1st, 1961 Roger Maris hit number 61 against the Boston Red Sox on the last day of the season. The Yankees won the game 1 to 0 and went on to win the World Series.

In light of Lance Armstrong’s recent admissions of steroid use and the four big boys…McGwire, Bonds, Clemons and Sosa who did not make the Hall of Fame in the most recent (last week) voting rounds, I offer you this in praise of Roger Maris: he did it the old fashioned way. Roger is not in the Hall of Fame…and should be!

The Ballad of Roger Maris celebrates this sports legend, and the net proceeds of your purchase of this new single will go towards Hospice Care in Canada and the United States.

You can buy it on iTunes now and visit www.rogermaris.com for more information on this great man.

One of the highlights for me this past year was the Jim Cuddy / John McDermott Show in Hamilton Ontario. The show raised over $200,000 for McDermott House Canada and with that we were able to share $100,000 divided equally with four regional Hospices. We intend to continue this approach across the country as we raise money for MHC. We are working closely with the True Patriot Love Foundation and are grateful for the great support that they are giving us.

As we move towards our target of 3.6 million dollars for the renovation and expansion of the Palliative Care unit located in the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Veterans Wing (K Wing) I am confident that 2013 will be stellar year for MHC and we will be able to start the three stage renovation process later this year.

Another great highlight for me was the Marine Corps Birthday luncheon in Boston. The Marine Corps Semper Fidelis Society awarded me with the Ted Williams Globe and Anchor Award. Several of my good friends from the Congressional medal of Honor Society were with me that day to share in the festivities: Tom Hudner, Barney Barnum and Tom Kelley who presented me with the award. We were joined by the Commandant of the Corps General James F. Amos

We plan on presenting more concerts for MHC at the Glenn Gould Studio this year in partnership with our good friends at the BMO Financial Group. When the dates are confirmed we will post them here and on the MHC site.

John McDermott TRIO

I am thrilled with the response to the new recordings we released this year. My Gentle Harp, A Traditional Christmas (with Virginia Hatfield and Shannon Mercer) and especially The Old House, a compilation of the favourite songs of mine and my long time musical director, Jason Fowler. Jason and I will be releasing another new recording later this spring and we are working on a number of recording projects for release in the Fall.

McDermott House Canada Golf Tournament.

Our McDermott House Canada Golf Tourneys continue to do very well. We are pleased to announce the date for the next Ippolito Foundation Charity Golf Event (to benefit various charities including MHC) as June 22, 2013 at the Copetown Wood Golf Course, Copetown, Ontario. You can download a registration form here.

McDermott House Canada

Please keep an eye on the McDermott House Canada website for upcoming announcements regarding a number of major fundraising events this Summer and November of 2013.

20th Anniversary Tour (1993 – 2013)

This is my 20th year of touring! In celebration of the 20th year I am planning on releasing a special limited edition of DVDs and CDs covering my career from the very beginning until today. The DVD will have never before seen video footage from my first ever live show as well as interviews with my parents, family and friends. When it is completed we will post an advance notice to our fan club for advance orders and the Fall tour will highlight songs from the early recordings through to the latest and newest releases. More information as we put it all together.

All the best,

John