BIOGRAPHY
Jerzy Smokey Dymny started performing songs publicly while working with ACT for Disarmament, a peace group in Toronto. He played at peace demonstrations and was the host at their coffeehouse The Fallout Shelter. Over the last 30 years Smokey has played numerous strikes, rallies, union picket lines, labour conventions, anti-poverty events and anti-nuclear events.
Smokey has written over a hundred political songs for events and a over a dozen childrens' songs. During the early 1980s he began to lead song-writing workshops with people as a way to involve them in writing their own political songs. A number of songs were written with the homeless community this way at the “No Place Like Home” conferences in Toronto. He's also written collaboratively with striking unionists, environmentalists, anti-globalization activists as well as with children. He once wrote a song over the phone from history supplied by a member of the American Indian Movement for the anti-Columbus 500th Anniversary event.
In the late 1980s he compiled the first Canadian Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) songbook. These songs were collected from songwriters across Canada, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. The songbook hit the streets on May 1st, 1990 when the Toronto Wobblies (I.W.W.) spread the last of Joe Hill’s ashes at the Sears picket line on Jarvis Street and at the May Day celebrations at Trinity Bellwoods Park.
Smokey has continued to write and to perform for anti-nuclear, anti-government, anti-G-8 and anti-boss events in St. John's & Vancouver Island and even the odd foray into the United States.
A 2006 project was in response to a call from the Christian Peacemakers group. With a small committee, Smokey Dymny helped organize 6 weekly performances at the El Mocambo rock club to help raise money to free C.P.T. members who had been abducted in Baghdad, Iraq.
In June of 2006 Smokey held a CD release concert at the Free Times Cafe in Toronto with backup by Kevin Barrett of the Kevin Barrett jazz group and John Millard of Happy Day. Many friends and acquaintances, six political singers, several human rights lawyers and a few curious strangers made the show a financial success as well as fun.
With a different, three-person back-up band (drummer Steve Moore, guitarist Moe Davenport and fiddler Jaron Freeman-Fox) they packed the Landing Pub on Quadra Island for the west coast CD release concert. Since then Smokey became a full time performer and spends the winter months performing in Ontario while his bicycle shop on Quadra Island is closed. Smokey Dymny likes playing with backup musicians but usually performs solo.
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The Smell of Money x - #01 - Anthem - Lyrics x - #02 - Axis of Evil - Lyrics x - #03 - Candidate & Elector - Lyrics x - #04 - Digger's Song - Lyrics x - #05 - Extreme Golf - Lyrics x - #06 - General Strike - Lyrics x - #07 - I Wanna be a Right Winger Now - Lyrics x - #08 - Streets of Toronto - Lyrics x - #09 - Take a Nap - Lyrics x - #10 - Talking Global Warming - Lyrics x - #11 - The Smell of Money - Lyrics x - #12 - Trust, Trust in Us - Lyrics x - #13 - United We Stand - Lyrics x - #14 - Voting Fixes Nothing - Lyrics x - #15 - White Man's Blues - Lyrics Contact / Purchase CDs smokeydymny{at}rogers.com CDs are $15 CDN + Shipping Charges
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Solidarity is EasyMusic / MP3s Pre-released Version. Not available in CD until 2010. x - #01 - Don't Give Yourself to The Cause - Lyrics x - #02 - Gaia - Lyrics x - #04 - I Recycle - Lyrics x - #05 - Last Selfish Generation - Lyrics x - #06 - Love Songs - Lyrics x - #08 - Sell All the Water - Lyrics x - #09 - Solidarity Is Easy - Lyrics x - #10 - Thousand Dollar Suit - Lyrics x - #11 - Tons of Coffee - Lyrics x - #12 - Trinity Dog Shit Park - Lyrics x - #13 - Wind Power Farms - Lyrics | ||
