Dirk Beck

“insomnia”

Buy It Here Now

Biggiola Records is pleased to announce the release of INSOMNIA,

the debut album of  Toronto singer/songwriter Dirk Beck, produced by Alec Fraser.

Beck was born and raised in Kitimat, a company town (aluminum, pulp & paper) in northern British Columbia. He first picked up a guitar in grade eight music class.  “And ever since,” says Beck, “I’ve been in search of a fourth chord.”  After stints in the pulp mill, a supermarket, the Forest Service, on tug boats, in a bakery, in theatre, in film, in journalism, in a cab, and in a café, Beck became a high school English and history teacher. In the process he ended up moving from Vancouver, his home of twenty years, to Toronto.

 It was a serendipitous move for Beck in many ways, not the least of which was that he met Joe Toole, former guitarist with  T.O legends, The Phantoms.  Toole, in turn, hooked Beck up with Alec Fraser, the bass player in Toole’s current outfit,  the old-timey trio Broken Joe.  Fraser also played bass for The Jeff Healey Band for several years,  and has recorded or played with people like Bo Diddley, the Drifters,  Pinetop Perkins, Mel Brown, Kenny Wayne and Norton Buffalo.  He has also produced three Juno-winning albums. 

Besides his production expertise and musicianship, Fraser brought to INSOMNIA his extensive network of veteran Toronto players: Al Cross—original drummer with Big Sugar, played for several years with Jane Siberry. Wendell Ferguson— six-time winner of the Canadian Country Music Association guitarist-of-the-year award.  Steve Strongman—guitar player for the likes of Tal Bachman, Duke Robillard, Roy Clark, Otis Clay, Jeff Healey and Watermelon Slim to name just a few. Denis Keldie—keyboards and accordion on over 200 albums with artists such as Jeff Healey, Prairie Oyster, Rita Coolidge, Ry Cooder and Etta James.  Burke Carroll,  pedal-steel player with the Bebop Cowboys and Justin Rutledge. 

Says Beck, “I feel very lucky to have had these people shape my songs.  I just hope the songs were worth it.”

ARMS of the WORLD:  Having hit the mat, there’s only one thing to do really—brush                 off your hat and go again.

The STRANGER:  You know where you are, but it feels like you don’t quite belong. The  books are blank, every day’s a birthday and rain falls up.

RIGHTEOUS:  About not being able to find the right words or finding only the wrong ones after a long walk home.

The WELL:  Water sustains life…except when it doesn’t.  Baptism?  Interrogation?  Act of nature?

HOUSE of CARDS:  The title’s a cliché but there’s no getting around it.  If your house is haunted, it’s got to come down.

INSOMNIA:  What keeps a man awake?  Everything and nothing, and then comes morning.

The NEXT MINUTE:   When the going gets weird, keep going.

MIRAGE:  For all those in Afghanistan and Iraq: the quick and the dead.

ASTROTURF:  An astronaut’s-eye-view of the apocalypse.  With fond regards to Major Tom.

SATURDAY MORNING:  The front page is overflowing with disaster but here’s the thing: it’s breakfast in bed with your lover and her cat and there’s always the entertainment section.