NEW MUSIC AND POETRY
PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME
The first two singles – People Like You and Me and Outer Peace are out already. The whole Jaymz-Bee-produced CD drops Feb 18, 2024.
LOVE IS HARD
Robert’s 2022 album produced by Bob Wiseman now on streaming services world-wide
“It’s controversial yet riveting at the same time. Robert Priest is an incredible poet.” – Duke Eatmon, music columnist on CBC Montreal’s Let’s Go
POETRY
From John Robert Colombo of Colombo’s Canadian Quotations:
Ages have passed since I have opened a newly published collection of poetry, read the first poem, and then muttered to myself, “That’s brilliant!” Then I read the second, third, and fourth poems, muttering to myself “Wonderful … deeply moving … fantastic!” Unbelievable as it may seem, each and every one of the eighty poems in If I Didn’t Love the River is outstanding, “a keeper.” They were composed by Robert Priest. One of his poems concludes with these two lines: “perhaps my silent wonder / pleases you as I walk by.” It certainly does.
POETRY/MUSIC PROJECT
MORE
Robert recently co-wrote the screenplay MAGICLAND with producer/writer Jaymz Bee. It will be going into production in the fall.
One of Robert’s children’s album, Summerlong with the Boinks (produced by Allan Guettel in 1984) has been remastered and is now available on Spotify where it joins the recently remastered Winterlong.
On Spotify you can also hear his album Feeling the Pinch (produced by David Bradstreet).
All three books of Robert’s Spellcrossed trilogy for young adults are now out and available in bookstores and online. The titles are The Paper Sword, Second Kiss, and Missing Piece (Dundurn Press). Robert recently finished the first draft of a new young adult novel, Fool’s Day, which is about a prankster.
Robert’s latest book of poetry for adults, If I Didn’t Love the River, is available through ECW press and outlets like Amazon.
He does a lot of things so here are some other items of note.
A previous collection of poetry for adults—Reading The Bible Backwards went to #2 on the Globe and Mail’s Poetry chart.
Co-wrote the number one hit, Song Instead of a Kiss, with Alannah Myles.
He co-wrote indigenous balladeer Julian Taylor’s recent top five hit Seeds (They Tried to Bury Us).
His aphorisms have appeared in The Farmer’s Almanac and Colombo’s Canadian Quotations.
His musical play Minibugs and Microchips received a $25,000 Chalmer’s Award.
His children’s novel, Knights of the Endless Day got an ‘Our Choice Award’ from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
Both of Robert’s previous books of poems for children: Daysongs Nightsongs, and The Secret Invasion of Bananas made it to the CBC’s recommended reading list.
His book The Mad Hand won the Acorn People’s Poetry Award.
As Dr. Poetry he wrote and performed thirteen segments for CBC radio’s spoken-word show Wordbeat.
For two seasons Robert and Eric Rosser were resident topical song writers on the CBC radio show “Is Anybody Home”. Here they wrote two children’s songs a week dealing with the news of the day.
Robert has toured the world as a poet and singer-songwriter. For ten years he performed a set of songs on the third Sunday of every month at the Tranzac club in Toronto. He is available for house concerts with his trio including Bob Cohen and David Hines
He is available to give talks, workshops, recitals and concerts in schools through the League Of Canadian Poets and The Writers Union’s writers in the schools program. He can also be booked privately through his contact coordinates above.