Evidence of Ecstasy
Evidence of Ecstasy: David Woodhead's musical journey in photographs
David Woodhead
ISBN 9781998248162 / paperback/ 194 pages / full colour throughout / 196 photographs / 11" x 8.5"
A Greenbank Book Publication date: November 21, 2025
Not just the story of one person, David Woodhead's Evidence of Ecstasy is a photographic window into a generation of Canadian independent musicians. It traces his journey through a lifetime of images, inviting us behind the scenes at recording studios, folk festivals and touring adventures while working with many original and influential musical artists.
Through the lens of his camera we catch glimpses of several different transitory communities of musicians, mostly through the 1970s and 80s and mostly in black and white. There is a fierce sense of uncompromised creativity here, and each photograph is chosen to highlight that sense of being somewhat off the beaten track, and not part of the ”star-maker machinery” of commercial culture.
From a Montreal family that valued music in everyday life through teen-age influences from Brownie McGhee to the Fugs and Zappa, we see David progress through his first band experiences to a breakout to Stratford, Ontario's Black Swan coffeehouse and the counterculture collective that was Perth County Conspiracy (does not exist). The next chapters follow his adventures as bassist with Stan Rogers, with another breakaway to Canada's rustic West Coast and then back east for a taste of Toronto's Queen Street scene of the 1980s. Working with inspirational fiddler/composer Oliver Schroer is featured, and we close with a short chapter bringing us all the way from starting a family in the late 80s to recent events.
But the emphasis of Evidence of Ecstasy is on earlier times when people were not armed with cell phones and much less was documented visually. David did not intend to be a documentary photographer, but he certainly managed to capture some memorable images and has assembled them into a compelling story.
About the author/photographer
Immersed in the world of independent music-making from the start, David Woodhead has contributed to some 350 recording projects and worked with many influential artists including Perth County Conspiracy, Stan Rogers, Oliver Schroer, Gil Scott-Heron, and David Sanborn. His live gigs have included working with Malagasy guitarist Donné Roberts (a recent Juno nominee), classical-folk fusioneers Ensemble Polaris and veteran jazzers Manteca, as well as touring internationally with master songwriter James Keelaghan. Recently he has worked with Fujiwara Dance Inventions on several mountings of their “Moving Parts” presentation, and has been a regular contributor to Balfolk European folk dance events.
David's Confabulation ensemble has a somewhat exotic and rambunctious nature, and his ongoing residency at the Tranzac Club in Toronto, “Precious Little”, features a different group of players with each iteration, featuring compositions and improvisational directions from all the participants. During those extraordinary pandemic times, he explored a wide range of musical ideas in a group of videos called The Imaginary Album, viewable on his website.
David has done instruction at the Folk Alliance International conference (Kansas City), Haliburton Winter Folk Camp, the Goderich Celtic College and Ontario’s The Woods music camp. He's produced numerous recording projects for other artists (as well as three under his own name), been an invited guest improvisor at Arraymusic and Casey Sokol’s improv soirées at York University, and done a Music Residency at the Banff Centre, working on music which led to his most recent CD, Tunnels and Visions.
Contents
Intro
Verse 1: Early Times in Montreal and Ottawa
Verse 2: The Black Swan and Perth County Conspiracy 1974–1976
Verse 3: With Stan Rogers 1976–1978
Verse 4: The West Coast 1977–1979
Chorus 5: Folk Festivals
Verse 6: Scenes of the 1980s
Verse 7: With Oliver Schroer 1988–2008
Coda 8: Kids, and a Few Scenes of the 1990s and Beyond
The Button
