iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 23h

This week's #HomeMadeMusic: A love song to #LondonOntario 's #HomeCounty #Folk Festival. Dedicated to Jackie & Mose (much missed) the two Mandolin Kens: Whiteley & Palmer. Regulars will recall volunteers holding tarps over the speakers when it ALWAYS rained. lukemaynard.bandcamp.com/track/one-mo...

lukemaynard.bandcamp.com

One More Song, by Luke Maynard

from the album Desolation Sound

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

That works is thrown around too lightly in other contexts, but I literally can't think of a clearer definition of it than actively working with foreign powers to completely destroy the nation as an independent political entity.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Y'all'd be plum shocked to learn how many folks what use them Roman-alphabet English letters ain't got no idea when nor how the United States done got its Alaska from. 😉

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I say this as an ivory tower nerd with 4 degrees: grad school isn't for everyone, and we should stop routing geniuses away from the trades into desk work they're not meant for because they're "smart." Brilliant people can EXCEL in the skilled trades. We should stop being degree snobs, and let them.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm wouldn't call it *PRO* based on a veiled dig that US is currently doing totalitarianism very badly—for which I'm thankful. I don't LIKE totalitarianism so don't misread that onto me. But Putin's 27 years of de facto control is different from Trump's wish-brand Pharaoh regime in ways that matter.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

At 45, I've been doing this a long time—from my teens as a sideman, then one album of my own in relative seclusion. I'm so happy to see someone at 44 going live for the first time. It's only on pop radio that you have to start at 20, and that's not what either of us do. Wishing her joy & success! 🎶

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

1.I didn't make the map, and didn't include it to weigh in on that issue. 2.It is *in* both Europe and Asia, given its size, notwithstanding its modern political place as anathemic to the EU. A real, good-faith answer would take longer than I have, but here's a start: youtube.com/shorts/_K1Fb...

youtube.com

Why Russia Is Considered Part of Europe

YouTube video by Minimal Maps

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Thankfully, a "strict quarantine" which is "not voluntary" is a very gentle way of describing how FUNCTIONAL totalitarian regimes respond. It's not a curfew that'll be broken by folks having parties because "y'all can't tell me what t'do…FREEDOM!" Here's A 20-year map of Lab-Acquired Infections:

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

2/2 …change their minds) even if we're an order of magnitude smaller in the military sense. They're like gangsters who rule a neighbourhood through drive-by shootings against gangs armed with knives, but wouln't risk a fistfight against a child (even if children are among their favourite targets).

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

1/2 The US has long cosplayed as a great warrior-nation, based on a tradition of being able to "wage war" against countries by dropping bombs on their cities from half a world away ONLY when they know the same can't be done in response. It's why they won't invade Canada (or will rapidly try to…

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

My latest, and it actually has little to nothing to do with the new #MastersOfTheUniverse film, has been to run a 5th Ed. DnD game on pre-He-Man Eternia—a *remarkably* fertile world even for grownups to borrow because it leaves space for imagination. The gentler 5E rules match the setting feel too.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

25 years on from #September11, nothing I could say about those we lost, or FOR them, will beat what #MarkKnopfler had to say. They're all love songs, I guess. But this one hits differently when you realize where it comes from. Who's YOUR last call... and what do you say? youtu.be/rH6ZW7OLhkE?...

youtu.be

Mark Knopfler - If This Is Goodbye (An Evening With Mark Knopfler, 2009)

YouTube video by Mark Knopfler

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"There's Levon in his 'city shirt,' He's slithering up the bar, All the girls who know are scatterin' Like a flock before a car, He rolls them in his snake eyes, And he says he 'likes their style', As he says through their resolve With his prepared-piano smile…" (Yes, a #JohnCage joke) #lyrics

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It's officially #bandcampfriday again! If you're on a #BuyCanadian belt-tightening, or just want to learn more about #Canada through its modern rootsy #folkmusic, my all-human double album "Desolation Sound" might be what your playlist is missing. #MusicSky lukemaynard.bandcamp.com/album/desola...

lukemaynard.bandcamp.com

Desolation Sound, by Luke Maynard

17 track album

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The last time America had a civil war, with half of it fighting the other half, it resulted in four years of bloody conflict and a death toll of 2-2.5% of the population. It's reassuring to know that the next civil war could potentially be settled in a long weekend.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I'm truly curious why people are only now going after indie writers for feeding their prompts to a highly derivative AI and calling themselves "novelists," when James Patterson has been working this way for 30+ years. He could just afford to hire ~40 humans to pretend to be ChatGPT before ChatGPT.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Wait, people are still using American mapping technology? In the Free World, we have German-Dutch provider Here Technologies. wego.here.com To be fair, Google Maps isn't lying to Canadians about the lake's name yet (see below). Like the administration, maybe it starts by lying to Americans first.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I should be sorry for posting the exact same video back-to-back, but I am absolutely not. I could shamelessly self-promote, but no; nothing I do approaches the absolute & pure artistry of #JoniMitchell at her very best, her most raw & unadorned & exposed. O Canada! www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOKE...

youtube.com

Joni Mitchell-Case of You

YouTube video by tee cee

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

"I play the least cool instrument, the mountain dulcimer..." ... ... < #JoniMItchell has entered the chat > #Canada 🍁 www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOKE...

youtube.com

Joni Mitchell-Case of You

YouTube video by tee cee

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I can never again watch #StarWars the same way. I used to see Han Solo as a hero—not a lying deadbeat criminal. But the 2020s have taught me how desperate times, against exponentially worse threats, can suppress the worst flaws & bring out the most admirable, heroic traits of almost anyone.

static.klipy.com

Han Solo's Concerned Look and Hand Gestures

Alt: Han Solo's Concerned Look and Hand Gestures from The Empire Strikes Back

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

4/4 …a song by Sheffield, UK folksinger Royston Wood, of "The Young Tradition" fame. He used the old shanty for his song "The Woodbridge Dog Disaster," made famous here by Canadian folk legend #StanRogers. The melody's almost identical, but I swear I stole it from "trad.," not from Stan & Royston.😅

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

3/x …rhyme scheme & verse structure are not at all the "Edmund Fitzgerald"-style quatrain: the melody & stanza structure are actually from an old English sea shanty, going back a long way with a variety of lyrics. The best known setting of lyrics to this tune in a Canadian folk context is likely…

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

2/x The concept album, Desolation Sound, was meant as an homage to the Canadian #folkmusic scene of the 1970s, and this song really fills out the Bingo card. Of COURSE it's a tribute to #GordonLightfoot, who's the reason every Canadian folksinger needs a documentary song about a shipreck. But the…

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

1/x I struggled to think of "a time" for today's #HomeMadeMusic until I remembered the OBVIOUS TIMESTAMP in "Queen Of The North": "It was 'round about midnight, the first day of spring; 2006." Here's the link, but see the replies for my "liner notes." lukemaynard.bandcamp.com/track/queen-...

lukemaynard.bandcamp.com

Queen of the North, by Luke Maynard

from the album Desolation Sound

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

2/2 …the COVID lockdown, just to keep sane. Some #coversongs, some #orignalmusic. Not all great, but a few bangers. I've come back to a few of them in the "Refluxions" videos. But here are the raw vids from my (chunkier-yet-healthier) days—with lengthy liner notes!: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

youtube.com

2020 Couch Concerts (Individual Tracks) - YouTube

For those of you who like all of the music with none of the filler, I'm breaking up my Couch Concerts from 2020 into individual songs. Enjoy these solo perfo...

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

1/2 I can't thank @wizball50.bsky.social enough for the new traffic & #musicfans I've picked up through the #HomeMadeMusic posts I've responded to here on #musicsky/ #musiciansky. How can I reward new listeners? If you'll forgive the roughness, I did some solo #couchconcert stuff in 2020-21 during…

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It's a few years old now (which is how you know it was a time-consuming parody lovingly done by hand using creative VFX editing, not just a few AI prompts), but the #Owlkitty parody of Titanic is as close I can get you: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEPf...

youtube.com

Titanic with a Cat

YouTube video by OwlKitty

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

On one level, this is amazing. every #drummer should watch it (and sneer along with me, "if he WERE overqualified he wouldn't need match grip!") OtOH, this is what I want to show lead #guitar players when I tell them, "don't overplay the song, bud." #musicsky #music www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UYg...

youtube.com

When you're overqualified for the job

YouTube video by AreYouNotEntertained?

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

For today's #HomeMadeMusic, my "Parking Lot At Dawn," the indulgent finale from 2018's #DesolationSound. Pickup trucks; Verse 2. My tribute to my years with #LdnOnt 's #DixieFlyers, who would've eaten me alive for a #bluegrass song with a diminished chord. lukemaynard.bandcamp.com/track/parkin...

lukemaynard.bandcamp.com

Parking Lot At Dawn, by Luke Maynard

from the album Desolation Sound

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

2/2 …trying to DENY same-sex couples the right to marry, to adopt & raise kids—in short, to participate in the very stabilizing nuclear family structure they felt was under threat. Denying #LGBTQ folks the right to "normalized" social structures isn't conservative. It's a betrayal of conservatism.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

1/2 What baffles me is that once upon a time, people weren't sure what legitimizing #LGBTQ culture would do to the nuclear family unit—the structure on which the postwar economy was built. So yes, homophobia was a conservative value in 1950. But NOW, people who brand themselves conservatives are…

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

If they're getting restless and they need an audience participation, I'll just play Norwegian Wood in 5/4 and make once side clap on 4 and the other side clap on 5. Those who can do it contribute substantially to my ability to maintain it, and those who don't hear it just stop & listen for the 1.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Observations that only make sense to the humans of #cats (right, #CatSky?): According to science, clean, unseasoned roast chicken is made up of 60% frenzied acrobatic joy, and 40% cat poop. It's going to be hard to finish my own chicken sandwich while my roommate is illustrating this principle.

A black bombay cat, quietly turning chicken into pure joy... well, pure joy with one other byproduct.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

He's been trying to track down those turkeys Biden pardoned during the last Thanksgiving of his presidency, but they just keep outsmarting him and staying one step ahead.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

I feel "Christian" has great value as an adjective, but virtually none as a noun. Some Christian [people] are really ChristLIKE people who do ChristLIKE things. But many people who DON'T say that's what they are say & do Christlike things anyway. And many who say that's what they are, do not.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

I think if I was ever so strong that I had that kind of throwing arm, my virtually limitless strength could be put to better use than paying billionaire shotput. (Though I understand some might disagree, and with good reason.) Or…wait, did you mean like enclosed in a ship?

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Tonight on Radio Imaginaire, the radio drama of the classic #PhilipKDick novella, "The Committee Would Like You To Try Sending That Fax Again," soon to be adapted for the silver screen as the Hollywood blockbuster "SIGNAL BLAST!"☄️⚡🤯 #SciFi #NotARealThingSadly #ObscureHumour #PhilipKDickTitles

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I'd say your pictures tell the whole story, but you have to zoom in a little more on that upper left one to see the totally demolished East Wing lying smashed to rubble while the *checks notes* Ultimate Fighting arena consumes the South Lawn. In the words of Childish Gambino... this is America.🗽🇺🇸

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I'm in this picture, and I don't like it. 😖🥱

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I came fresh from a guitar workshop a weekend or two back where I finally learned the USE difference between a Gsus2 (G A D) and a Gadd9 (G B D A) is. I've used them both interchangably since I was a teen and got them out of #Beatles & #JamesTaylor song books without thinking much about them.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

That depends on how he leaves office.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

My best guess: Fm9: F Ab C Eb G Gaug7(#9): G B D# F A# Cm9: C Eb G Bb D Edim7: E G Bb Db G7(#9,#11): G B D F A# C# (?!) Am7: A C E G (thank God) Db9(13): Db F Ab B Eb Gb Bb (eww!!!) Am9: A C E G B AbM7: Ab B Eb Gb (or write Cb for B, LOL) Db9(#9): bad notation, possibly "Db7#9": Db F Ab B E

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Well I'm a little embarrassed to air mine, now: If John Martyn wasn't already a hard act to follow, Clapton certainly is. Forgive the production quality; my messy little apartment isn't exactly Abbey Road, though I find a little roughness suits this song. youtu.be/txtbNlJ2eLs?...

youtu.be

Canada Plays Scotland: Luke Maynard and the Refluxions - May You Never (John Martyn)

YouTube video by Luke Maynard

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

One of my favourite Gerry Goffin/Carole King songs, which I was finally able to cover the way Nature intended this week after the weather got warm enough. (I've skipped the cornball opening with the time-stamp here) youtu.be/mAAFg7Myjuw?...

youtu.be

Canda Plays America: Luke Maynard & the Refluxions - Up On The Roof (Carole King/James Taylor)

YouTube video by Luke Maynard

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Given this reality, now that the U.S. has alienated Canada (no charity loan of our water bombers this wildfire season), I bet China has ten thousand actuaries charting & investing in publicly-traded companies who rebuild houses after widespread natural disasters in the US & shorting the insurers.

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Hi #MusicianSky! New #Refluxions track up! This one's a #RyCooder cover. 45 years old, and maybe more timely now than it was then. It's also the only #coversong I've ever licensed for commercial release, though I prefer the sync-licensed video recording to my other. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DQ5...

youtube.com

Canada Plays America: Luke Maynard and the Refluxions - Across The Borderline (Ry Coooder cover)

YouTube video by Luke Maynard

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

2/2 …guitar heroes, my only big long-time influences that aren't already on your list are Ry Cooder & David Lindley. Fun fact: YouTube handles sync licensing well enough for amateur cover songs. But Ry Cooder did the only song I ever licensed for commercial release: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DQ5...

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

1/2 It's not flattery to say, "well, you." But I lived in BC for 10 years and there weren't many local ace slide guitarists—basically you and David Essig, who I knew from the Ontario folk circuit. (Is it still "Delta Blues" when we're talking the Delta BC ferry terminal?⛴️) As for NON-local slide…

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Luke R. J. Maynard @lukemaynard.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I go through this a lot with guitarist lists (they really are more "best"-obsessed). To me one question that factors into "favourite" is, can I immediately recognize who that singer is? Especially with vocals, recognition means connection for me and trumps virtuosity (Whitney was of course both).

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