Tim Isberg – update on a Listening and Reading Recommendation

This is an update of Tim Isberg’s Listening Recommendation, published on my main blog on May 8, 2017. I’m now featuring Tim on Reading Recommendations, because as well as creating new music, he has also contributed to a book that was published since his first appearance on my blog.

Tim Isberg

Brief Biography:
Originally from southern Alberta, Tim Isberg is an accomplished singer-songwriter and multiple ACMA nominee who is emerging in the scene after a lengthy hiatus to serve in the Canadian Army. From Rwanda to Afghanistan, Tim experienced the many life-changing challenges while deployed in different cultures and conflicts, and amid the best and worst humanity has to offer.

As a performer, Tim has entertained audiences in many corners of Europe, Africa, and Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East and Levant. Many of his storyteller songs stem from these life adventures. In his years abroad, Tim was a favourite on folk club circuits and in group performances for deployed military and civilian personnel.

Tim brings an Americana style blend of well-crafted Alt-country, Roots and Contemporary Folk songs to the stage along with an appealing vocal timbre, and a unique and endearing array of life experiences he shares in a way that makes each listener feel connected. Tim is also touring a special multi-media concert entitled 25 years After: Songs & Stories of a Soldier in Rwanda, based on a personal account of Tim’s year deployed there in 1994. With a genuine sincerity and sense of humour carefully woven through stories and songs, it is Tim’s live show – whether solo or with his full band – where he shines most. Tim’s shows are not to be missed!

Tim’s latest album Running on the Edge, also recorded with Grammy nominee and JUNO celebrated producer-engineer Miles Wilkinson at the helm, was released in 2019 and nominated as a Top 5 Best Album of the Year by the ACMA. It is an eclectic mix of original contemporary folk/roots songs, and includes a rousing cover of Bob Seger’s Turn the Page. Prior, an international tour in spring 2016 followed Tim’s album Tears Along The Road released in October 2015 which was also recorded with Wilkinson, was selected by Music Canada in the Top 25 Favourite Albums of 2015.

What Tim is working on now:
Covid 19 has altered plans significantly, so I’m doing some limited live stream ticketed or tip-jar shows on my social media or other media, I’ve produced a live recorded isolation video with my trio for release on my Youtube channel, and a lyric video for the song Baghdad Cafe from my latest record. No shows means no merchandise revenue so I’m also trying to enhance on-line sales.
(From Tim’s Facebook page: Before I knew the world would get a bit weird and hit the pause button… I ordered more merchandise for my shows. A few thousand dollar$ later.. here hundreds of CDs and books sit impatiently awaiting opportunity to be shared. Problem is, no shows means pretty much no merch sales. However, for those so inclined that might like to have some items or gifts sooner than later, you know how to find me… Thanks in advance!)

Tim is also a published author. In October 2017, Simon & Schuster Canada published the book Everyday Heroes which includes a chapter by Tim on one of his many experiences in the line of duty. It is a national best-seller!

Here’s a link to Ted Barris’s website post, A Soldier’s Voice, in which he talks about Tim Isberg’s role in the Canadian military, his music, and writing.

And a link to a video about Tim Isberg and fellow musicians who got together as The Band With No Name in Kabul while they were on a NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan.

Tim’s Listening Recommendations:
I listen to genres from rock to classic country to big band to bluegrass and all other things in between. Too many to list. Go exploring music outside your box!

Where to purchase Tim’s music and the book:
Website
Everyday Heroes published by Simon & Schuster Canada

Linda Granfield – release of a new book

Linda Granfield has visited Reading Recommendations previously, here and here. She returns now to tell us about a new book on a little-known story from WWI.

www-scholastic-ca

The Vimy Oaks
by Linda Granfield, illustrated by Brian Deines
Published by Scholastic Canada
Genre: History, Ages 7-12

A soldier, a handful of acorns — and a hundred-year legacy of hope, remembrance and renewal.

“I am writing seated at the foot of a large oak,” wrote Leslie Miller in his diary in 1916, while war raged around him. Little could this Canadian soldier have imagined how future generations would come to enjoy the majestic oak trees he grew after his return to Canada.

Standing amidst the devastation of war, Leslie picked up a handful of acorns and mailed them home, where they were nurtured. This small but amazingly hopeful act continues to be felt just as powerfully today, one hundred years after the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The living legacy of Leslie Miller’s “Vimy Oaks” inspires hope as the world remembers and honours the soldiers who served in the First World War.

Également disponible en édition française

Where to purchase Linda’s book:
Scholastic Canada
Amazon
Chapters/Indigo

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J.A. Stinger

AuthorsPicMy name is Jennifer Stinger. However, I write under J.A. Stinger.

What is your latest release and what genre is it? My latest release is called Generations Beyond. It’s a military sci-fi book with elements of romance.

Quick description: There were secret human experiments conducted on military personnel and civilians without their knowledge. The last recorded name of this initiative was MKUltra. It was thought to be a failure since none of the test subjects displayed traits that the scientists were aiming for. When the project came to light in the early 1970s, it was shut down and most of the official documentation was destroyed.

Descendants of the test subjects have begun to appear with abilities similar to what was in the MKUltra files. The military is now scrambling to find them, labeled Generations, before their secret is out. Keeping in the fine military tradition, those that will not join them are labeled a threat and are treated as such.

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Brief biography:
I was born in Vero Beach, FL. My co-author is my husband, who I met through an online writing forum. We started writing seriously after I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and needed a creative outlet. I’m a wife, mother, and Army veteran. We lived in the Midwest before relocating to the Greater Atlanta Metro area.

Links to buy J.A. Stinger book:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBooks
Kobo
Scribd
Intera
24 Symbols

J.A. Stinger promo links:
My Blog
FaceBook
Twitter

What are you working on now?
Right now, my husband and I are working on the third book in the series, Generations Gone. Generations Beyond is the first book. Generations Unbound is the second and is currently being edited.

J.A. Stinger reading recommendation:
I would strongly recommend the novel I Hero: The Beginning by Jason Zandri. I met Jason through an online book club where we help promote, and sometimes inspire, each other.