David Newland
Artist Bio
Friday Aug 28: Host, PFF Gala opening concert - Ian Tamblyn with special guests David Simard and the Canoe House Band
Saturday Aug 29: Host, Solar Stage 11:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday Aug 30: Ukelele Workshop, Sadlier House
AD's Notes:
David is an old friend; we've spent many nights 'round a campfire or meeting table or bottle of spirits, and I find wherever he goes he carries the spirit of Canada with him. Despite his penchant for puns, he's a well-loved host and musician, and the perfect guy to hold down the Solar Stage for us this year.
Bio:
Born in Ottawa in 1969, David Newland grew up on the shores of Georgian Bay near Parry Sound, Ontario. His earliest influences were water and the woods, books and the radio, trains and the highway. He lived a "classic Canadian rural life" until the age of seventeen, when he began a series of globe-trotting adventures.
A scholarship to Lester B. Pearson College set David on his unusual path of working and learning, which has taken him from the Pacific shore of Vancouver Island, to the clearcuts of Northern Ontario, around the world and back to the woods of Nova Scotia's North Mountain and finally to his father's family home in Toronto.
David studied literature at McGill, earned a degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University, worked as a writer, performer and photographer, instructed at community college and ultimately built a career as a web content specialist. David currently works as Editor-in-Chief at Canoe.ca, a leading Canadian web portal.
An avid musician with a particular fondness for ukulele, David is the founder of The McFlies. David is also an active singer songwriter, host, and performer.
David is the father of an extraordinary thirteen year old daughter, an avid canoeist, gardener, cyclist and an occasional meditator with lots of good intentions.
