A Chat with Heart - with Christina Martin
Canadian singer-songwriter Christina Martin started a podcast to hold sacred conversations with friends, family, and colleagues, gathering resources to help people navigate their own life, with expert tips and tricks on how to support a path with heart and personal growth. Authentic, playful and free from regulations, A Chat with Heart gives listeners an opportunity to call the Heartbeat Hotline, help shape future episodes and be featured on the podcast.
A Chat with Heart - with Christina Martin
Louise Triance: British Recruiting Expert and Customer Service Manager
Louise Triance interviews A Chat with Heart Podcast host Christina Martin. They chat about her start in music, meeting Her Majesty the Queen of England, and her upcoming tour in the UK. There are fun British quiz in the mix to help prepare Christina for her upcoming tour dates.
Louise Triance runs a community for recruiters, she is an accidental customer services manager for a platform we both work for called Crowdcast, she has three awesome children, two dogs and a husband named Mike (who I hope to get to meet soon). For someone who doesn’t want to be defined by her job spends a lot of time at work. She loves coffee, toast and a nice chat. That makes Louise perfect for A Chat with Heart!
Got a question for Christina? Call her Heartbeat Hotline in Canada: 1-902-669-4769
Explore Christina's music, videos and tour dates at christinamartin.net
S3E6: Louise Triance
Christina: [00:00:03] Welcome to A Chat with Heart. I'm your host, Christina Martin. I'm a singer songwriter. I live on a dirt road with my best friend Dale in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. A Chat with Heart is just me having chill conversations with people I want to celebrate, and topics that I'm curious about. If you have a question or a comment for this podcast, call my Heartbeat Hotline 1-902-669-4769. To send this podcast even more love, visit me online at Patreon.com/Christina Martin. I'm so happy you're listening. Our personal stories have great power to heal, influence and inspire. All we have to do is show up for the conversation.
Podcast Theme Song 'Talk About It': [00:00:49] If we just talk about it, we can shine a light, we can make a brighter day. If we just talk about it, we can cut a way, we can make a brighter day.
Christina: [00:01:14] Hello my little heartbeat listeners. I'm a few weeks away from a tour in the United Kingdom. 12 shows. Check my website Christina Martinet for the dates. I'm very excited about it. I'm also pleased to say that my album, storm, has an East Coast Music Award nomination for Solo Recording of the year, and I was nominated for Fan's Choice Entertainer of the year. And guess what? You you can vote for that. You have all the power. You can vote daily up until February 29th. The links to vote, um, you can find that on my Instagram profile page. Um, there's some posts on my Facebook and and Instagram that will direct you on where to vote daily. Um, and, uh. Yeah. What? I'm just tickled pink, everybody. Um, so anyway, this episode is a bit different because I approached my friend Louise Tiance, born and raised in the UK, to be a guest and she asked if she could interview me. She's such a delight. And I thought, okay, well, you can interview me, me. But, um, only if it'll help, you know, get me ready for this upcoming UK tour. So in this episode, we chat about how Louise and I met, and she has brought a fun quiz to help me blend in. Um, when we are on the ground in the UK. And she asks me all kinds of questions that, um, some of you may or may not know about, um, my life. And, uh, yeah, I hope you enjoy. Uh, she's such a she's such a treat. She's so fun and funny and good at. She should basically, I think, take over a chat with heart and be the host.
Christina: [00:03:22] So, Louise Triance, uh, a bit about her. Um, she runs a community for recruiters, and she's an accidental customer service manager for a platform that we both work for, we're both happy to work for, called Crowdcast. Louise has three wonderful children. I think they're wonderful. I mean, I haven't spent time with them, but, um, just, you know, pictures. And from what Louise has told me about them, uh, she's like a really cool mom. She has two dogs, and she's a husband named Mike, who I hope to get to meet soon. For someone who doesn't want to be defined by her job, Louise spends an awful lot of time at work. She loves coffee, toast, and a nice chat, and that makes her perfect for a chat with Hart. Couple more things I want to say about Louise having worked with her now for a few years online, and having met her in person in London this past summer, finally, Louise is a blast. She's a great storyteller, super curious about others. She's very generous, a great leader, tons of fun. She has creative ideas, she takes things seriously like she really cares, but also doesn't sweat the small stuff. And she really knows how to cut the tension with a good, um, English curse phrase. She is a really good listener multitasker. Something I cannot do well anymore is multitasking. So I'm always impressed when someone who's just already swamped with life, uh, still manages to multitask. She's basically a Wonder woman, and I really do, um, respect and value and appreciate and am appreciative of, um, our friendship and, uh. Yeah. So sit back, make yourself a cup of tea and toast and enjoy this chat with Heart with my friend Louise Triance.
Christina: [00:05:41] Hey, Louise, welcome to A Chat with Heart podcast.
Louise: [00:05:44] Thank you very much for having me.
Christina: [00:05:46] This is so fun.
Louise: [00:05:48] Let's talk about how we met when you accidentally got a job you didn't probably even really want. And you're still stuck.
Christina: [00:05:57] No. I needed, listen, during the pandemic, the Canadian government stopped you know, paying us to stay home. And I still didn't have work as a musician. I wanted a job, I needed a job, and I legitimately prayed for a job like the one that you gave me.
Louise: [00:06:20] It was it was, um, it was proper serendipity. You know, people use that word, but it really was that. So at the start of the pandemic, I got a job that I didn't know I wanted, um, which was working for Crowdcast, which is an absolutely lovely online video broadcast platform. And I got a job working for Crowdcast. Um, and that's a whole story in itself. And then I know a year after that, there was still a gazillion customers using Crowdcast, and customer support was just so overwhelming. And you were running shows on Crowdcast and you were giving us feedback about some of the things that you thought we could do better. Um, and I think it was Annette who said, I've been messaging back and forth with Christina. She seems really lovely.
Christina: [00:07:09] Awe, Annette, she's our co-worker.
Louise: [00:07:10] Uh, yeah. Annette is absolutely lovely. And we did the, um, least interviewee interview ever where basically I said, what would it take for you to work for us? Uh, with absolutely no real interview taking place, apart from the fact I thought you were great and that you could do the job. And it turned out both of those things were true.
Christina: [00:07:32] That's, I was shocked. I'm still like, wondering, do I really have a job? It's been a couple of years now. Okay, so so tell me. And in my little heartbeat listeners, where you live, and a fun fact about the place that you live.
Louise: [00:07:48] So I live in the countryside, kind of halfway across the UK. If you're looking at the UK, we're about three quarters of the way down or quarter the way up and about halfway across. Um, so, um, there's two big towns near us, both of which are a bit grotty, so I won't mention them, but near us is a village called Marlborough, and Marlborough has the widest high street in the United Kingdom. Oh, it's. Yeah. Very weird fact. I had to actually try and think of a facts. I knew you were gonna ask me one. Um, but this is true. So it's got an incredibly wide, um, high street. It's 30m, which is nearly 100 foot wide, and apparently it's the wingspan of a Boeing 787 or almost two two baseball pitches. I tried to find some American to compare it to, but it's super, super wide. And the reason it was so wide, it was a market town. There's lots of UK towns are. And so you needed to have the market right in the middle and still for the horses and carts to be able to go around. But it is the most dangerous high street to cross because there's literally cars parked on one side, then enough space for three cars to drive, cars parked in the middle and the same on the other side. So it's very dangerous to cross the road.
Christina: [00:09:16] Is there like a statistic of people that die?
Louise: [00:09:19] Do you know I should look that up, really, shouldn't I? Um, but they do have an annual fair called the Marlborough Mop, which dates back a very long way. They close the whole high street, which just causes chaos, obviously. And there's some idiot who's parked there four days ago doesn't move. Their car has to be towed away every year. So now that's my little local town near me.
Christina: [00:09:39] I love it. Okay. And, uh, fun fact from you, worst job you've ever had.
Louise: [00:09:48] Um, this is a job which definitely doesn't exist anymore. So when I left college, I did some temp work and I ended up going to loads of places, just office work. And one of the jobs was to fold pieces of A4 paper, um, into a C6 envelope. You see, I'm getting all the technical terms in here I like, so you have to. If everyone at home could get a large piece of paper out and you fold the bottom. Yeah. Fold the bottom third.
Christina: [00:10:20] Got my paper.
Louise: [00:10:21] I was shoving letters into envelopes, and that was a job I did all day, every day for two days. And then I was like, screw this, I'm going to get a different job.
Christina: [00:10:33] Amazing, my dad would have loved you because he had secretaries that did that job. And he also he hired his kids. I did this, stuffed envelopes. And I actually found it a little rewarding because it's like as soon as the piles down, like, you start to get excited and then there's always another pile, like right behind it. So that's kind of depressing. It's like never. But anyway, yeah. So we're well that's. Yeah. I'm glad that you're not, um, stuffing envelopes anymore. Yeah. My dad would have hired you for sure. He probably would have wanted to, like, hit on you and stuff too, but whatever. That's another.
Louise: [00:11:10] Well, that is another story for another time about some of the jobs I've had for sure.
Christina: [00:11:15] Yeah. We're gonna like I want to have a future episode with you, Louise, where we dig into your, um, your scandals, your life, uh, history and and and some dirty details. But when we talked about doing this episode, you pitched the idea that you interview me, which I, I, uh, I love, um, because I have that little heartbeat listener in one of my good friends, France, who asked me one time not long ago, hey, you know, what? About having somebody interview you for your podcast? And I was like, I don't know, do people? I mean, they hear enough about me, but, um, I was like, yeah, sure do it. I mean, I love you, I love I have fun with you. So I'm like, excited about this.
Louise: [00:12:02] I've got some questions for you. I've got a little quiz. I've slotted in. I you're I think you're right. I think loads of your listeners know probably quite a lot of little things about you. Um, but. And how many shows have you done so far in this series?
Christina: [00:12:17] Uh, three. So this is season three. This is episode four of season three. So we've done 44. So, you know, not that I mean, that's not a lifetime, but still it's enough. And and the reason we're doing this two is because I'm coming to your neck of the woods. Yeah.
Louise: [00:12:32] Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And I think that so what I've done is I've pulled out some thoughts and some questions I want to ask you about you and your music and the UK tour. So I am going to ask you some stuff about that. I've got this weird random quiz I've shoved in the middle just because, um, and um, if I haven't asked all the questions that your listeners wanted ask, they're going to have to just ask you themselves.
Christina: [00:12:55] They can call my Heartbeat Hotline. They know the number. They know the number it's in. It's in every episode. Uh, and you know that heartbeat hotline people, anyone can call it. And prank calls are welcome. It doesn't get hit much, but I do occasionally will play a message that, uh, on the episode at the end of the episode. Uh, yeah. And and this is also to get me kind of prepared right for the UK and like, get my wrap my mind around this upcoming tour. I'm so excited about it. So I'm all yours. I'm all yours. I'm going to shut up.
Louise: [00:13:27] Okay, cool. My last question was going to be when is the tour? But let's ask that first okay. So what what dates is it?
Christina: [00:13:33] It starts on February 29th, 2024, and then it ends on the 17th of March. So it starts in Milton Keynes and oh shit, I forget where the last one is, but that's okay because that's what websites are for.
Louise: [00:13:53] So you've got a month to prepare. I'm going to be asking you about that prep in a minute, but let's take a step back. Let's do a quick review of the basics. So and this is the stuff I think probably loads your listeners know bits about. But are you okay with telling us a bit about where you grew up, like your family, things like that?
Christina: [00:14:11] Yeah, sure. Good question. Actually, I was born in Florida, and uh, after about eight months, I think I was 6 or 8 months old. My family, um, moved back to New Brunswick, which is a province in Atlantic Canada. So my family, my mom and my dad and my two brothers, Stefan and Alexander and I, we were all living in Florida. My parents are from this province of New Brunswick. Right. And we we kind of moved around a bit. And yeah, that's kind of a little bit of a background. So I'm from Atlantic Canada, really.
Louise: [00:14:48] But you don't just have two siblings, do you?
Christina: [00:14:51] No. Fun fact I have, um, I believe there are eight of us that we are aware of. My dad used to joke about that, too, saying there might be more. So I didn't know, um, four of my sisters I'd never met, uh, until after my dad passed away in 1999. And now I actually have, uh, I'm in communication with some of my sisters and my oldest brother, Robert. Um, we did get to know him growing up. He would visit with his wife, Sue, and, uh, two kids at the time, too. Now he has. Now they have more.
Louise: [00:15:30] I do know other people who joke about, you know, the dad of the family saying maybe there's other siblings who she might turn up one day, but you don't expect that to actually be true.
Christina: [00:15:39] I know it's, uh. And the reason we think there might be more is because my dad, he he did like he had a mistress. Um, and my brother Stephan, who I grew up with, his mother, Diane, um, lived in Montreal, and my dad would travel to visit her often. And, um, she had twins that were about my age. And. Listen, I'm just going to put it out there, but, I mean, they look exactly like my brother Alex, and no one else in the family does. And so. And they all look like my dad, one of my dad's uncles. It's. And so, I mean, there's nothing's proven, but I'm just saying there could be others out there. Dad wasn't he was a bit of a womanizer. And who knows? He had a lot of secretaries.
Louise: [00:16:30] I'll tell you what you don't hear much of. You don't hear much of women who manage to have time to have a second life. Have you noticed that? It's the men.
Christina: [00:16:37] Yeah. The men keep the women busy in the old days anyway. Or. And, uh, my mom was very busy. She kept the whole household going, and she was very active. And she worked for my dad as well when he was away for weeks at a time. You. That is a really good point, Louise. We don't have time to have amazing affairs. No, if that's a take, that's a take away, Louise, if we just want our listeners to know we need to make more time in our lives for infidelities that.
Louise: [00:17:10] No, actually, the takeaway is this men need to make less time for it. I mean, you make an interesting point, but it's not the right one. Um, let's talk about your music, because that's what we're here for, okay?
Christina: [00:17:21] Okay.
Louise: [00:17:21] So, uh, obviously anybody who listens to your podcast is going to know your an amazing singer, a songwriter. Can you tell us what the journey was?
Christina: [00:17:31] Yeah, sure. The Coles Notes are, my mom enlisted us in, uh, a rhythm class. My brother Alex and I, when we were super young, and I, that was my first, earliest memories. Like, in a musical setting, I think. Um. And I loved it. I loved just playing with the instruments and whatnot. And then they enrolled us in piano lessons, and it was really fun. Initially, I had a teacher who half of the class, I had to, you know, do my kind of classical, traditional, um, training. And then if that went well, I had 30 minutes in with her in her synthesizer room, and she was in a pop rock band. And I always thought that was cool. And being really young, I thought, this is something I could do. Like, I want to be in a band like, like my teacher and play rock and roll and and play around with synthesizers and and so that was kind of my earliest memories of thinking I could do this thing. Maybe I would have been, I think between the age of six and 8 or 9, and then we moved and we moved to another town, and I had a new piano instructor, and I hated it. I quit, um, I fought very hard to be able to quit. Um, and, and I mean, I that's for years after that. I mean, I did sports in school. I was in everything else, but I, uh, I didn't really, you know, pursue that.
Christina: [00:19:03] And I think there was there was a couple of times like, I would, you know, apply, uh, or audition. Sorry to be in like, the musical and my elementary school and I never got the parts I wanted. I, I, you know, maybe was like, uh, somebody in the choir, like, they would take any kid, right? But I never got the parts like I didn't. Yeah, I just had a lot of anxiety about that. But I did love singing in private, and I, um, in high school, I was in a band called Headrush, a cover band. That was fun. Just did a couple shows with them. Um, started singing the national anthem at, like, university hockey games and. And in. When I was totally drunk, my friends could convince me to sing and I loved. I loved that, and they were the ones who told me, like you, you know, you have a good voice. I didn't know that about myself. And and so but it wasn't until I moved, uh, after my dad died, I quit university for a bit, and I moved to Austin, Texas. And that is really where songwriting and performing and recording started for me back in 1999, was my first summer in Austin, went as a nanny, discovered live music and singer songwriters, and then I was that that that was it for me, I was obsessed.
Louise: [00:20:26] And when you started writing, was that for yourself or for other people?
Christina: [00:20:30] Definitely. For me it was definitely and still is very much, um, a way I can process, uh. Back then. Back then, it was processing difficult things I didn't know how to talk about. Um. And it always felt good to finish a song even, you know, even though now some of those songs I look back on, I didn't get recorded or anything or like really embarrassing, but just that form of like journaling and I my, my, my host mother, Kim Oswald, gave me a book called The Artist's Way, and I was I was, um, yeah, I was also sober at that time. Uh, I was I felt kind of in recovery, really. And this Artist's Way is a is really kind of follows a path of recovery and, uh, for artists, but also for, for people who are, um, trying to be sober. And so I was following that and it was all just really like it was really good for me, my soul and and, um. Yeah.
Louise: [00:21:38] But to go from needing to be drunk for someone to get you to stand up and sing. Yeah, to then being. I am confident enough to want to sing in front of other people and I'm absolutely sober. What was that?
Christina: [00:21:53] Well, there were periods where I went back to drinking for to help my nerves with getting on stage. And then there were periods of sobriety where, like my first songs that I wrote, I would have been sober. Um, but then when I started performing, I believe I started drinking again in those settings because it was really hard to be in a social setting and be sober as it is for people of all ages. Even now, I think there's a pressure. I've spent many years now sober. Putting myself in that really uncomfortable position, I was able to move through it. I still sometimes I'm like, God, if I could just do some a shot of tequila or fireball and get everybody doing that, you know, that'll help. And it probably would, but not like the aftermath or, you know. Um, so yeah, it, uh, it takes a lot of courage and, um, I guess, to tenacity to like, um, conviction and all these things. It really does, like, I, I. Yeah, but but as time goes on, less and less becomes an obsession in my brain, like, uh. Or I don't think about it anymore. I'm just. I'm sober, like, I don't mind. I'm happy to be the deed. And, uh. I kind of now, uh. And I've heard my some of my friends who are kind of on the same journey talk about this, how you you take that energy from the anxiety, um, and use that as. Yeah. Fuel and and just accept that, you know, it might be a little bit nerve wracking and nervous energy and that might come across. But people are pretty forgiving and understanding and appreciative that, you know, you're you're just being yourself in the moment at the time in your life.
Louise: [00:23:42] I wonder whether there's something in the fact that once you no longer have that nervous energy, you just don't care enough. And if you don't care enough, do you perform as well anyway?
Christina: [00:23:52] Well, when you don't care. Uh, so I guess. Yes, when you're not, when you want to care about the material for sure. And the meaning behind it and those things. Right. That, um, but when you stop caring about what other people think, um, how you look, whether you're good enough, uh, these are all things that I will struggle with for the rest of my life. Probably. But, um, if I don't, you know, work on, like, use the tools that I've kind of have to use to if I don't apply those tools. Um, but, yeah, once you stop caring about what other people think and those things, you definitely. And you can relax and be in a more relaxed, grounded, I guess I call it authentic. Like you're you're being yourself. When you could tap into that. That's super powerful. And the audience appreciates that because they want that too in their life. I think they see that you're relaxed, they're more relaxed if you're really, really nervous in front of them or like being super awkward unless it's super hilarious, like they are not going to feel comfortable and then they'll go home and be like, oh, that sucked.
Louise: [00:25:06] No, you're right. So in my other line of work, I book speakers for conferences and there's nothing you see them getting ready to go on stage and they've got that nervous energy. And if they don't channel it right, and they go on stage and they are stumbling over their words and they, you know, you're absolutely right, very forgiving audiences. But if you're five minutes in and it's still like that, you see the audience, they start to feel they feel bad for the person speaking, they feel awkward in themselves, and they can't look beyond that or hear beyond that into the stuff which is more important, which is what's actually happening on stage.
Christina: [00:25:40] You did you ever experience nerves like this? Because I've never gotten that from you. And I've seen you do a lot of presentations and, and you just carry yourself so well and you're so great, you know, spontaneously, like, but do you have a history of being nervous in front of people?
Louise: [00:26:01] When I used to, so I first started using Crowdcast in 2017, and it was this same platform more or less, that we're using now. And I would be so nervous before every single thing I did, I couldn't possibly even begin to have a conversation with somebody without everything being written down. Um, and I'm so much better now, but you wouldn't get me delivering an actual talk, a proper presentation. Um, it's just not my thing. And, um, but I do realize that I need a certain level of, um, concern that I'm going to come across. Well, and that I've done some prep, so I'm not so casual that I wouldn't go into something. I mean, it must be like you going on stage, right? So I saw you in London, uh, when you were last in the UK. Um, doing your warm up set. Now, I bet you that you could have just walked on stage and done the gig. I bet you could have done, but you wouldn't, would you?
Christina: [00:27:00] No, I mean, I actually sometimes in some cases you do have to at a certain conferences where it's like there's no soundcheck, so you need to be warmed up or I to backstage, like there's a preparation involved. Um, but like you, I think the soundcheck and now I do like a vocal warm up. Actually, this is a new thing for me. Um, having some preparedness. Like, who is my audience? Um. Ah. Is there anything new I could bring to them if I was here before? Like, I don't want to repeat the same setlist. They do want it now. And you know, they do want some repeat songs because people like to sing along, and they do like a certain level of familiarity, but but, um, you know, what are some of the things that have happened in the day or the week that I want to connect with in this space, in this place that I'm at and or do I have any questions for the audience? And yeah. So like you said, I like to come into things with a certain level of preparedness and that leaves more room for spontaneity, I think, and comfort, you know.
Louise: [00:28:09] And that's the thing I sometimes see in professional speaking, is people have no space for spontaneity and in with a, with a musician or a singer, that I think the audience must really want that to feel that you're not just performing a set.
Christina: [00:28:25] I think so too. I mean, I, I do I think those moments are what get the most connection. The gel like everything gels and uh, even sometimes, you know, it does happen where you, you make a mistake and you literally like, your brain farts, like you literally have to stop the song and how you deal with that. You know, I haven't always dealt with it well, but sometimes if I'm just relaxed and being myself, even if I swear in the moment, like people love seem to love that sometimes they say it's their favorite part of the show. And I'm like, oh, that's fucking too bad. But whatever. Whatever. That's what you like. Um, yeah.
Louise: [00:29:11] Um, I'm gonna ask you about the actual you UK tour. So I mean, you or you are touring Europe, um, the States, Canada, UK. Have you been to any other parts of the world?
Christina: [00:29:25] Uh, I've done a little touring in the US. Um, have I toured anywhere else? The unessential Europe, because there's a lot of countries there. We've done, you know, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, um, a little bit of France, but not much. And the UK. Um, I did a tour in 2010. In Ireland. We did ten dates as it was a song circle that was really fun. And, um, the thing about, you know, it's like, of course, most singer songwriters like me want a tour anywhere, everywhere where they want to have them. But, like, you know, one thing I will say, I don't want to, you know, focus in on this, but I will admit that I feel sad that I don't have any shows on this tour in Scotland because I've had a few people say, well, why no Scotland? And and believe me, we tried. It's just I think sometimes it's just the gigs, the opportunities. Like there's a lot of artists that are touring. It's like we we can't get the spots we want when we want them, and we just hope we can get them the next time, you know, kind of thing. So but that, that is, um, a little heartbreaking sometimes when you come so close and then there are people asking like, why aren't you coming here? And I'm like, I'm sorry. I know it's it's nice to get to that point where a couple people are asking, but yeah, you feel I feel bad too. Um, yeah.
Louise: [00:30:52] So what is exciting you most about coming to the UK to tour?
Christina: [00:30:57] Let's see. I well, there's some venues that we've played before that I'm excited to come back to. Like, I mean, the Green note in London, which is where you saw us this last summer. So some of these like return venues. Little Rabbit Barn, um, is another one fun one. And there's others on the tour too. I think we're doing a total of 12 shows. I look forward to coming back because it is like a coming, coming home kind of home, you know, thing where you see more familiar faces. And also it's been so long since it's been 2017, since I last really did a tour in the UK like we did Maverick Festival. That was just so fun this last summer and the London date, but that was it. So um, so the return venues feel great. Uh, but then the new venues are fun too, because, I mean, I like to squeeze in some old stories and older songs and everything feels fresh and new at some of these new venues. So we're playing like Pocklington at the Arts centre there and yeah, the new venues too. I look forward to because they're fresh and new people, you know.
Louise: [00:32:07] So when you've got one month to go. What? What are you like? What's your prep you have to do? I know you are a lover of lists and fake leather. So outside of packing everything black and shiny.
Christina: [00:32:20] Yeah, well, I do find it kind of stressful to, like, I'll lay all this shit out in my room, and then I have to eliminate, like, 80% of what I really want to bring. And I have to commit to wearing 1 or 2 things almost every night. Um, anyway, you know, this is not a big problem to have, really, but that's that's a real annoyance for me. And, uh, I have these. So, I mean, I've been touring now, uh, I've been writing and performing, you know, since 2000 to 2000, really, but not touring since, uh, like 2009. So after a couple of years of touring, quite a bit in Canada, initially. Um, I started making these templates for my tours, like checklists, and that includes, like packing my personal stuff, but my gear. And what do I have to do for my home life before we leave? And I certainly have a really long list of, like, um, that that involves, uh, making sure the venues have all the promotional items they need. Have I made the assets or hired somebody to do that? Um, you know, I coordinate with the booking agent if an agent's involved. Um, my. I have to schedule the marketing team like I've got for this UK tour. A great PR and radio team helping get the word out. So making sure they have all the links to everything they need. Um, and making their lives easier makes my life easier. Um, so every. So I've got all these lists, like you said, I love lists and I check things off.
Christina: [00:34:04] And by the time it's time to hit the road, my goal is the. The only thing I need to focus on is is keeping a healthy routine. So I feel like, clear, you know, like grounded. And I can put on a good show. And I'm, um, I'm super excited that this tour is the first tour ever I was I'm able to hire a tour manager who's going to drive. And this guy is like, we we love the guy. We've been around him. We've met him a bunch of times. Everybody loves him. He's super experienced. And, uh, and that's going to be huge for Dale. Both Dale and I because driving in the UK, no offense. It's a fucking nightmare for, uh, it's a little stressful, uh, particularly in the big cities when, you know, we drive on the opposite side of the road. It's a bit of a head fuck when you're just coming into it, and you got to dive right in. And there's been numerous times we've been driving on tour in the UK, and I just happened to look up, and Dale was like looking in the opposite direction, about to turn. And I was like, whoa, like there's a car coming right at us. But he'd already looked in that direction and looked the other way and then thought, it's clear, no, you got to look back the other way. Oh. It's just oh, uh, so yeah, that's.
Louise: [00:35:27] Actually the first time we've mentioned Dale, and I feel really bad about that. I should have mentioned Dale earlier on. I adore Dale, he is such a lovely guy. Occasionally when you and I are working, I'll see him pootling along behind you. Just cracking on with something else. Pootling. Um, pootling. That's an England. I'm going to test you on some English words in a minute. So obviously you're bringing Dale as well, your sales role.
Christina: [00:35:53] Well, Dale is my best friend. He in terms of, like, musical collaborations, he's been producing, engineering, mixing, playing guitar with me live. Um, and he'll on this tour, he's the only one I'm bringing. So, uh, he's he's he. Yeah. I mean, he's he's one of Canada's, uh, greatest guitar players in my, in my opinion. And, uh, and so I'm lucky to have him and he does he does some backup vocals and, um, he is in his own right. An incredible, you know, he has two albums, um, that he's released in the past. He's, um, you know, been in bands supporting and lead and he's just a wonderful he's incredible. He's really focused on his studio work right now. So he records bands, produces or, you know, engineers and mixes whatever. He's, uh, he's a really nice man. He's also editing this episode, so I think he'll appreciate the shout out Dale Murray, everybody.
Louise: [00:36:55] Lovely guy. And maybe he should, like, shove you to one side and do a little bit of a, you know, he doesn't. When? When I saw you in London he didn't. I think he maybe said hello, but he didn't chat. You're the one who's doing the chatting, aren't you? Yeah. And and is that because Dale doesn't want to or is that because you don't let him get a word in Edgeways?
Christina: [00:37:13] Oh, no. He. Well, I wish there were years. I wished he would chat. And then I had to learn to stop throwing things his way because talk about, um, the audience being uncomfortable and me, um, he does not like that. And he. I have played in his band before where he was the front person. And in that setting, like where he, you know, if if it were his own songs and he were it was his show. He, he he can do that. He just doesn't want to right now, for whatever reason, for years. Um, I mean, he is more of a, I guess, shy person in some regards. But once you get to know him, as you probably know and remember, he's he's not he's not shy when he's comfortable, he's just more quiet. His his father, Daniel is a very quiet and stoic man. Um, and then his mum is very, like, extroverted and chatty. And then I think Dale's like a mix of them. Um, but yeah. No, I've learned, like, also like, you know, where it's like, I'm, uh, these are my songs. And I've really over thought a lot about this because it's come up, right? People look at us and they know we're married, and then they think.
Christina: [00:38:32] Oh, well, why isn't he doing something? I'm like, well, here's the story, everybody. We're like, we, you know, this is my my solo stuff and my song. So I need to be confident and comfortable as a solo artist, as a, as in my own, you know, like and not have that nervous like. Well, I should have him say something. Um, we were not that that's not us. Like, it's not our act or whatever, but, uh, not that it can't be a thing and work well for other bands or whatnot, but yeah, it's kind of like, in my mind, I mean, I don't this is probably going to sound weird, but like, I'm these are my songs and I have to represent them and it's all it is. Me. And and then he is this incredible supporting guitar player that I hired, and he gives me a good rate. He gives me a really good rate. Um, and I work really hard to, to also make sure I pay him well because otherwise he'd be off doing things with other bands and doing a great job. But I want him, so I gotta, I gotta pay him. I gotta pay him and treat him well, you know?
Louise: [00:39:39] So annoying, isn't it? Well, at least you've given him a little job of editing this. And when he edits it, he can have a go at the quiz himself. Yeah, as we go along. So I have got some, um, what I think are quite British phrases or words, and you've got to tell me what they mean. Are you up for it?
Christina: [00:39:56] I'm up for it. And then I've got some for you.
Louise: [00:39:59] Okay, well, I hope you'll do better than me, because you have been to the UK. I've never been to Canada.
Christina: [00:40:06] I think you can get these.
Louise: [00:40:08] Okay, okay. First one is let's have a butchers. Does that mean I want a mixed grill for dinner or I want to take a look.
Christina: [00:40:18] Let's have a butcher's eh? I mean, like I would. Go with the first option. Because it sounds meaty.
Louise: [00:40:29] It's, um, Cockney rhyming slang. Let's have a butcher's hook, which means let's have a look.
Christina: [00:40:37] Let's have a look. And is this something you would actually say?
Louise: [00:40:40] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right. So, um, one of my, one of my kids comes home from the shops. We love charity shops, thrift stores here. She'll come in with a bag and I'll say, let's have a butchers. And I mean, show me what you've bought.
Christina: [00:40:53] Oh, that's really, let's have a butchers. Now, are you conscious about like, who you're talking to and when you wouldn't say that because they wouldn't have a clue like would you.
Louise: [00:41:01] Um, no. Well, I probably wouldn't say it to an American or Canadian, but no, I'd say it to anybody. I'd say, uh, would I say it to my dad? I'm not sure I'd say it to my dad.
Christina: [00:41:10] Does your dad know what that meant? No.
Louise: [00:41:14] You might think I was being a bit too familiar. Well, that's a weird thing to say. Um, let me give you the next one. Okay. You're gonna like this one. This place is Chocker. Does that mean it's super full in here or it's boiling hot in here?
Christina: [00:41:28] I say super full.
Louise: [00:41:30] No. Oh, yes. You're right. No, no. You're right.
Christina: [00:41:32] I am right. Okay, good. Chalker.
Louise: [00:41:35] It's Chalker in here. Yeah. I don't know quite why it means that. Okay, next one is if I said to you that's just porkies. Would I be saying? All you're giving me is tiny sausages? Or would I be saying you're telling me lies?
Christina: [00:41:50] You're telling me lies? Did you know that already? No, but it just sounds like a cool thing that you. You're telling me, porkies, that the way you're the tone of your voice kind of helped me with that?
Louise: [00:42:01] Did I give it away? Um. And that's rhyming slang. Pork pies. Lies. Okay. Two more. If I told you I was chuffed about something, would I be delighted or cross?
Christina: [00:42:14] No. You're cross. That one I think I know.
Louise: [00:42:17] No is delighted?
Christina: [00:42:19] No, I wanted to be the opposite.
Louise: [00:42:24] No. And I've got a bonus question for you. Which, um. What word could I add to chuffed? To further express my feelings? Would I say I'm chuffed to little mint balls? Or I'm chuffed to Fat Harry's?
Christina: [00:42:39] Fuck, those are both really weird. I mean, little what? And Fat Harry's little.
Louise: [00:42:50] Okay. So you're you're going up north. It's a northern expression, which is to say I'm chuffed to little mint balls. Me? I'm over the moon. So if you get on stage with.
Christina: [00:43:03] You, could I use this in Pocklington?
Louise: [00:43:05] Yeah, yeah. When you go on stage you will say, I am so chuffed to be here.
Christina: [00:43:10] With little mint balls.
Louise: [00:43:13] I'm gonna have to come to Pocklington to hear you say that.
Christina: [00:43:16] I'm gonna.
Louise: [00:43:17] And you're going to need this. When you get to the UK. Would you say it's parky out if it was cold or dark? Parky.
Christina: [00:43:28] Cold.
Louise: [00:43:29] Yeah. Okay. And you'll be saying that a lot.
Christina: [00:43:32] It's so Parky out.
Louise: [00:43:35] Um, I don't know why, but you'd say, oh, it's Parky, and I would say that to anybody. So, you know, like we like to Q in the UK. So if I was in the toilets waiting to use a cubicle and there was an old lady in there with me, I absolutely would say to her, oh, isn't it Paki in here?
Christina: [00:43:50] I'm going to use it in, in the, in the bathrooms at the airport. I'm going to start there at Heathrow.
Louise: [00:43:58] Yeah, you could definitely say it.
Christina: [00:44:00] Good small talk, isn't it? Paki out. I wonder if that's because parks are cold in the UK.
Louise: [00:44:05] I don't know, everywhere is cold in the UK.
Christina: [00:44:08] Yeah. All right.
Louise: [00:44:10] That was it.
Christina: [00:44:10] That was really fun.
Louise: [00:44:12] 5050. Maybe. I've already lost track, but you didn't do badly.
Christina: [00:44:15] Useful. I'm going to use some of those now. You want me to, um.
Louise: [00:44:18] Yeah. Let's do it.
Christina: [00:44:20] Okay. Um, if I say. To you, Louise. Um, I would like a double. Double? Am I referring to a popular lottery ticket here in Canada, or a common way for is it a common way for a Canadian to order their coffee?
Louise: [00:44:40] A double double?
Christina: [00:44:41] Mm.
Louise: [00:44:45] I have no idea. Coffee? I reckon it's a coffee.
Christina: [00:44:47] Yeah, you're right, it's a double cream. Double sugar. And it's very. It's very common. Particularly at our, uh, Tim Hortons, um, franchise. It's a very popular, probably the best known fast food coffee donut place.
Louise: [00:45:05] Okay. I quite like a double double.
Christina: [00:45:08] Yeah. Okay, good. Um, if I know. Let's see here. Um, chirping. Is it a making fun of someone or trash talking them the opposition during a competition? Or is it the sound that, uh, a bird makes?
Louise: [00:45:28] It's definitely the sound that a bird makes, because it's the sound that a bird makes in the UK, but, um, I. I have heard a similar word for like giving the opposition a really hard time. I've never heard it used in that context, but is that what it is?
Christina: [00:45:45] Yeah. So this is the context. The context could be like those annoying fans wouldn't stop chirping. Um. But the opposition at the opposite team.
Louise: [00:45:55] I like that, though. I think it makes sense.
Christina: [00:45:57] That's. Yeah.
Louise: [00:45:59] Yeah. Like that.
Christina: [00:46:00] Okay. What about, um. Mickey? Is it our version of Mickey Mouse? That that's how we refer to Mickey Mouse? Or is it a flask sized bottle of liquor?
Louise: [00:46:15] A Mickey. Yeah, well, um, I have no idea either. No idea. What is it?
Christina: [00:46:22] It's a flask sized bottle of liquor, usually filled with Canadian whiskey, but it easily fits into a hand or a purse or a pocket like a little flask. We call them Mickey's.
Louise: [00:46:33] It's like a hip flask.
Christina: [00:46:35] Yeah, like so. You know, when I was a teenager, and we would often be like, 'Did you bring your Mickey out to the woods' or whatever?
Louise: [00:46:43] I've never heard that I like that.
Christina: [00:46:45] Okay. One more. Um. Clicks. Um, is this the. Well, this is another trick question. Clicks an act of selecting an option on an electronic interface by pressing a button or touching a screen, or is it a quicker way to say kilometers when referring to distance?
Louise: [00:47:04] Ah, yeah. Yeah. Ah.
Christina: [00:47:06] So do y'all say that.
Louise: [00:47:08] Clicks? Yeah, yeah. Because Mike was my husband was in the Army and he was in Canada. Um, and, and I suspect he knows it was in Germany as well, but he would talk about how many how many clicks something is. But we have miles in the UK, as you know.
Christina: [00:47:23] Yeah, but yeah, I forget. I forgot because I never do the driving. But yeah, it's super, uh.
Louise: [00:47:28] I like that. I feel like I would have also heard that on all of those American shows that I watch.
Christina: [00:47:36] Yeah, probably.
Louise: [00:47:38] I watch a lot of American shows.
Louise: [00:47:39] Oh, I like your quiz. All right, I'm going to go and have a Mickey in a minute. Oh, no. Not have a Mickey get a Mickey.
Christina: [00:47:46] You're going to get your Mickey and you're going to. It's even though it's midday for you. I guess it's Friday.
Louise: [00:47:53] So Friday. Yeah.
Christina: [00:47:55] I'm gonna I'll be online with Crowdcast later so you can start drinking from your Mickey.
Louise: [00:47:59] I can have my Mickey. No, I'm not gonna get that right. Okay, so I've got a few more questions, and then I will let you go off and finish packing. And I don't wanna make you anxious. You're not going to pack yet? No.
Christina: [00:48:10] Not yet.
Louise: [00:48:11] No. Okay. So music wise, if you look look back on your career so far, I mean, that makes you sound like you're 80. But if you look back on your career so far, what are some of the most, um, the achievements or the moments you're proudest of?
Christina: [00:48:28] Well, I mean, it's funny, like, I should have these, like, super. There's certainly a lot of, of of performances that involved. You know, many multiple musicians and acts that I was maybe a part of that I was really thrilled to be a part of that were fun. Um, and a couple of those were like, uh, fund raising charity events, large events. Uh, where I was just like, I can't I can't believe I'm even here. Like, this is so fun to be a part of. Um, and then there was, uh, there's one event that stands out, and this is, I think of. So I was close with my grandmother. Um, and she passed away. I would have been in, like, grade 11 in high school, and and, uh. She always had all the like magazines that like talked about the royal family, like the gossip magazines as well. But like the there was a real fascination here and certainly in my family with the royal, with the royals and um, so having that kind of history growing up just go, you know, my, my grandma would ask me to go get the latest magazine, uh, to catch up on, uh, Princess Di or whatnot, anyway. And the Queen, too. Um, and, you know, I have a spoon downstairs that my grandmother gave me that has the queen on it, and she had all kinds of little collectible collectible items like dishes and things like that to celebrate, like jubilees and things.
Christina: [00:50:03] I'm not sure exactly. But anyway, so in 2009, I was invited to perform as part of a big production for Queen Elizabeth. And then following that performance, we all, all the artists stood on stage, uh, side by side, and she came along and shook all of our hands individually and, and I, I just remember thinking, like, my grandma would just think I've made it like, this is a really proud moment, I guess. And, uh, my grandpa always said to me when I brought him a report card, he always would say, like, don't be too proud. And then he would slip me 50 bucks. So it was kind of confusing. But, um, so there's a bit of a conflict with that, actually. I struggle with, like, actually admitting that I'm prideful about something, but, um, I will say, like, the things I am most proud of are, you know, my relationship with my, my husband, what we've built together and the fact that I feel healthy and have this, the life that I have, I worked really hard for it, really hard. And I mean, that's I just I can't believe it really. And so I'm most proud of that. And my relationships with people I work with my friends. Um, that's what I'm really the most proud of. So. Yeah.
Louise: [00:51:27] I love that so much. And how cool that you met my queen. I love that your queen.
Christina: [00:51:34] Yeah. She, uh, I was actually, I have a little bit of regret that I didn't polish my boots, um, before that performance.
Louise: [00:51:44] Well, she probably didn't notice. She must have seen all sorts in her life. She really must have, mustn't she?
Christina: [00:51:51] She's seen it all. But also, they didn't prep us like I didn't find out till after about, like, the curtsy. And don't speak to her until she speaks to you. I stuck my hand right out and I was like, I'm so excited to meet you before she stuck her hand out like, that's a that's a no no. Um. But I also am like, who fucking cares?
Louise: [00:52:14] Well, um, after she met Donald Trump, no one could manage to be, uh, less polite and than he was.
Christina: [00:52:22] So did he grab her elbow and her shoulder.
Louise: [00:52:26] He was probably going for her backside wasn't he? Um. Or worse. Anyway, uh, moving on from that. And I actually love what you're proud of. That is, um, such a special thing to be proud of rather than a thing, a behavior, I love it. Um, okay, final question for you is, um, and I should probably ask a question I know you're going to give a positive answer to, and I have no idea what the answer to this one's going to be, which is, are you working on anything new, any new collaborations or projects?
Christina: [00:52:57] Well, there's there's actually a lot I'm still kind of working on for this current album that I'm touring storm. And, uh, I'm really taking my time like, I haven't done a lot of the things that I wanted to do yet. I'm working on a couple of shows and creating some video content, and it's going to take me a while. But one thing I am. Excited about that's coming up sooner rather than later is, um. I'm recording a song that I wrote, um, with a friend of mine. He's producing it out West. And, um, this song, the way this song came about is really interesting for me. Um, because I went and did my very first songwriters workshop in Austin, Texas last year in 2023 with Darden Smith and Mary Gauthier. They were the teachers, and I was a student with 15 other students of all different, like, I guess, levels and, uh, of songwriting and experience. Some weren't singers and just writers. And, um, and so we all had our time in front of everybody, nerve wracking, like sharing unfinished works and then having critique. And, um, and so after that, I was that a week after I was asked to write a song very quickly about somebody's story, who had experienced a lot of adversity, and the story was so incredibly. Overwhelmingly inspiring. Um, that it came. The song came quite quickly. Within two days I felt like, okay, this is like where we had to perform it within a week with a band that we had one rehearsal.
Christina: [00:54:39] I'd, you know, not not necessarily my band, but a house band, and I just was in the right head, you know, frame of mind, I guess, where I said yes and I'm just going to go with this and be chill. Whatever happens, happens. Right. And it ended up being I honestly didn't know if I liked the song for myself when I wrote it, but I was willing to perform it at this event. But now I really love the song, and I think that has to do with the story that it's tied to and just how how, uh, amazing it is. And, um, and so I asked a friend of mine if he would record it out west and he said, yeah, this is the exact kind of type of song and message that he's interested in working on. So it's also helping, like, I'm going out West to do a couple of solo shows in British Columbia, and that's scary, but exciting because I haven't done solo shows in over a decade. And so that's that's a long answer to your question. But those two things are coming up real soon, and I'm excited for that. And then, of course, coming back and working on, uh, East Coast Music Awards. Um, we have some nominations for the album and, and then some band stuff after that. Hopefully. So.
Louise: [00:55:56] I saw your award nomination, I was very excited to see that. And you're doing, um, British Columbia in April, is that right?
Christina: [00:56:05] That's right. Yep. Just a couple shows. Yeah.
Louise: [00:56:07] Cool. Well, I'm going to see you in about a month and a half. I'm going to be in Winchester, uh, which is a beautiful UK city with a very nice cathedral. Um, and I will see you about 45 minutes from us. So we're going to travel over and see you in the UK for that gig. And I also want to come back to the, uh, the one you did in London because you mentioned it earlier, the what's it called. What's that venue called the Green Note.
Christina: [00:56:35] Yeah, the Green Note.
Louise: [00:56:37] That was such a sweet little venue. Well, it wasn't that little, but it's like a bar, which is like a, like a long room. And you're kind of stood like, if you want to go to the bathroom, they have to kind of climb past you. I liked that, yeah.
Christina: [00:56:51] You like that. So did the musicians. The musicians love it when people are coming towards them. Mid-set and we're like, well, I'm going to take a dump.
Louise: [00:57:00] That isn't why I went into the bathroom just to be absolutely.
Christina: [00:57:03] Absolutely cool. But just, just. Yeah. And to prepare everyone just go to the bathroom before the show and then there's a break there too. But this time you'll get the two, two whole sets of us, Louise, if you can handle it.
Louise: [00:57:14] Yeah, yeah. No I can yeah. So I'm going to try and come to that as well. Um, so, uh, just to confirm, anyone who hasn't got tickets, are there still tickets available for many of these dates or not?
Christina: [00:57:26] I think so, I mean, the good thing to do would be to go onto my website, Christina Martinet, and just buy the tickets as soon as you can, because some of these shows are very limited seating. Some of the venues have already told me we will sell out like we don't even need you. Your your help. Um, because they just they, the audience members trust the venue, uh, and their selection of artists, I guess. So I would say get your advance tickets. Don't take a risk. These are. Yeah, some of them very intimate settings, small capacity. And then the bigger art centers, like there should be tickets still available, but just don't take any chances, right?
Louise: [00:58:06] I booked mine, I bought mine ages ago. So I will definitely be with you in Winchester. Thank you so much for having a chat. I mean, to be honest, we have a chat quite often, but we don't normally have an interview style chat, do we?
Christina: [00:58:18] No. Thank you for interviewing me for my podcast. This is like totally unique for me and I really appreciate it. And I, I'm in such, uh, I really am indebted to you, um, you know, for basically getting me a job at Crowdcast. But you've just been an incredible support like these last couple of years since I've met you. I. Yeah, I'm just blown away. I love working with you. I love I love the friendship we've developed. And we will always have. Even when you have to fire me like I don't care. We're now FFL. That's Friends for Life.
Louise: [00:58:57] You do have to stop joking that I'm going to have to fire you. Because then when it actually happens, it'll be so awkward.
Christina: [00:59:03] No, it won't be, because we already have that. Yeah. It will never be. I always, I just think, set my expectations low.
Louise: [00:59:14] You're not going anywhere. You're never escaping it. Because that's the great thing, isn't it? About flexi hours work is that, you know, you're managing to go on tour and still do the job. Um, amazing.
Christina: [00:59:27] Well, it couldn't do it without you, obviously. Yeah, it's been a game changer for sure. I'll do it as long as you'll have me.
Louise: [00:59:36] Superb. Well, thank you so much for letting me interview you. And I will see you in the UK soon.
Christina: [00:59:41] Yay!
Song 'I Don't Want to Say Goodbye to You': [00:59:51] I don't want to say goodbye to you. I don't want to say goodbye to you.
Heartbeat Hotline: [01:00:07] Welcome to the Heartbeat Hotline 1-902-669-4769. I'm the host of a chat with heart podcast, Christina Martin, and I'm so excited you called. Leave me your question, suggestion for the podcast or a comment about this episode. Please be aware your message may be used on the podcast and social media. Tell me your name, where you're calling from and it's also fine if you want to remain anonymous. Thanks for listening. Have a great fucking day!
Christina: [01:00:40] Thanks for listening to A Chat with Heart podcast produced by me, Christina Martin. Co-produced and engineered by my husband, Dale Murray. Dale is a stellar singer, songwriter and music producer, so check out his website dalemurray.ca. The podcast theme song 'Talk About It' and 'I Don't Want to Say Goodbye to You' were written by me and recorded by Dale. Visit my Bandcamp to find a CDs, vinyl, digital music, and fun merch like custom made puzzles and temporary tattoo packs. Become a monthly or yearly supporter of this podcast and my music endeavors on Patreon. If you're new to Patreon, it's a membership platform that helps creators get paid. I love it! Sign up is a free or paid member at Patreon.com/ChristinaMartin. I would love it if you had time to share rate, leave a review and subscribe to a Chat with Heart on all the places you listen to podcasts. Wishing you, my little heartbeat listeners, a great day.
