The June 6 issue of Ottawa Life Magazine has identified “Blues Guitar Sensation” Robert Farrell as one of Ottawa’s top 50 people. Click here to see the write-up.

Robert is performing at The Merchant Tap House on June 23 as part of the Podcasters Across Borders 2007 conference in Kingston, Ontario. The concert is open to the public.

In 2004, I started work on a music CD — a lifelong dream that I parked when I discovered Podcasting. As a birthday present to myself that year, I went in to a studio to record a re-worked version of a song I had co-written with Robert Farrell for his debut CD, Freedom For My Soul (released 1995 1996).

I was taking my time writing new songs in the hopes that the results would be strong and I would be happy in the long term, not just in the weeks following the release of the CD. Okay, I really took my time. Then I discovered Podcasting.

I ended up parking the music project and plunged head-first into Podcasting in April 2005. The good news is that my recording is strong and I decided to post it on the Podsafe Music Network shortly after that service was launched. To distinguish between my music-self and my Podcasting-self, I released the song under the banner of the Mark Harold Band — Harold being my middle name and MHB also being my initials. I know, it doesn’t make any sense.

My version of Freedom For My Soul has done amazingly well, particularly since I haven’t done much to promote it.

Over time, I’ve let my music project stagnate and the website disintegrate. I find myself thinking more about the project, again, so I’ve relocated the website for the Mark Harold Band to a page of this site. Now I have to find the time to invest into songwriting.