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  • Poster/Print + Digital Album

    Bring a little of my Cuba trip home with you. All photos (front and back) are from my 2012 Cuba trip. Each postcard is dedicated to one of the cities in which I spent time in Cuba. On the back of each postcard, I write extensively about the songs that were inspired by that city.

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about

PHOTO - Crespo at Mejunje, Santa Clara

Santa Clara was my favorite city I visited. It's a university town and has such a vibrant, youthful energy. The center of the Nuevo Trova music movement is in Santa Clara at a place called Mejunje. It's adventurous, subversive and edgy. Punk rock bands play alongside acoustic singer-songwriters.

When I was there, the heart and soul of Mejunje was a man named Crespo. He was incredibly energetic and charismatic, and he befriended me after he convinced me to buy rounds of rum for him and his Mejunje friends. Crespo was all about community and kept boasting about how he lived completely off the grid - not paying taxes to Castro or having any legal papers.

Crespo trademark was banging his fist against his chest with vigor, followed by throwing his arms up in the air. Being around him reminded me of the urgency needed to live life to the fullest.

lyrics

I am back in Canada
and the stiffness in my neck
is plainer now to me than before I went away
All I wanted was just a couple of breaths
so deep I wouldn’t need to leave Mejunje

CHORUS
Oh, Crespo
bang your chest one time for me
Oh, Crespo
raise your hands to the air
somehow it was meant to be - that I’d meet you there

If I had more gumption
I would live just like you
drink rum all day, live in a ponchero
Not have legal papers
but a citizen through and through
carry speakers to Mejunje for the evening show

CHORUS
Oh, Crespo
bang your chest one time for me
Oh, Crespo
raise your hands to the air
Someone’s watching out for you - someone up there

If I could I’d send some money
to that punk rock band
and T-shirts from Montreal, but I’m shirtless now
Crespo when you talked to me
it was hard to understand
I hardly drank, didn’t smoke at all but felt Santa Claran somehow

CHORUS
Oh, Crespo
bang your chest one time for me
Oh, Crespo
raise your hands to the air
Someday I will make it back - until then take care

credits

from With Love, From Cuba, released November 25, 2015
ME - piano, vocals

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Mike Evin Toronto, Ontario

The joyous spirit of piano-pop songwriter Mike Evin pulses through his music, uplifting and soulful. His heartfelt and melodic songs have found an enthusiastic audience across North America and the UK, and among renowned Canadian musicians like Barenaked Ladies and Ron Sexsmith. ... more

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