Singer/songwriter decides to follow his heart. He leaves everyone and everything he knows behind, packs his bags and moves to another place to be with someone. He doesn't speak the language, and all of his previous social and musical connections are an ocean away.

In Ryan MacGrath's case, this isn't a movie script; it's his life. 

MacGrath moved to Austria after falling in love with a man who was leaving the country to go to Innsbruck. His upcoming EP, The Pink Lark, is a collection of songs about that experience. Down East chatted with MacGrath via email about the new album, which will be released on March 4.

It's called The Pink Lark. It's essentially a collection of songs that follows my moving here to Innsbruck from Halifax. They were all written here over the past year. The one exception is "Speechless," which was written a couple of years ago. It just made sense somehow to include it with this group of songs. The songs are very stripped down and sparse, something of which was a bit of a challenge for me in the studio. I love layering melodies and instruments, so when I decided to approach the songs more acoustically, I really had to shift my brain and trust in the bare bones of the songs -- that they could carry themselves without all the support of additional treatment/production.

I worked with a young gentleman named Chris Vano on the project. He's a native of Austria and an established piano/keys player. We recorded it in his studio over a three-week period, on and off. I had expressed to Chris prior to making the record that I wanted to KEEP IT SIMPLE (that's been my new motto as of late), and he was up for approaching the songs with restraint. He also reined me in when I might have otherwise had a tendency to want to add more to the songs.

What was it like to leave Nova Scotia, and Canada, for a new country, a new culture, a new language.

It was pretty fucking scary! And exciting. I was in need of a change of scenery after having lived in Halifax for 15 years, and this opportunity couldn't have come at a better time.

Of course, the language difference was (and is) the biggest obstacle in the move. Also, I was faced with the fact that no one here knew my music, and I was essentially starting from scratch as far as promoting myself went. Over the last year I've met some great people who are helping to get my music out there into the Austrian and EU scenes. Just takes a bit of patience and work. 

Another major obstacle is being away from family and friends and the support network of fans and fellow musicians in Halifax. There isn't the same kind of musical community here in Innsbruck as I was used to being a part of in Halifax. You know, musicians collaborating on each others' records and shows and writing . . . that singer/songwriter scene just doesn't really exist here. But, there are people who want to hear the music, and that makes things better.

I'm playing more and more shows, thankfully, and I have some people helping me to book a tour in Germany in June as well as a UK tour in July and August. I'll also be playing at the World Out Games in Antwerp, Belgium, this summer. During the rest of the winter and in early spring, I'll be playing shows throughout Austria, one in London and a few more in surrounding countries.

What about distribution? How will your fans get access to it?

The EP will primarily be released online via Bandcamp. There will be physical copies available, as well, through CD Baby and in select stores in Canada and over on this side of the pond. The best place to keep track of how to get a copy is on my website, ryanmacgrath.com.

Also, I'll be selling the EP at shows! And I plan to tour Canada in September/October. Date will be posted in the near future on my site.

After their lovely homage to Wilson Phillips with "Chick-fil-A," Willam Belli, Detox Icunt & Vicky Vox have done it again, this time with a very NSFW-ish video. 

"Boy Is a Bottom" is about a "total tops total dream," with a little bit of a nod to En Vogue (watch it and you'll see/hear it). 

Check it out.

Tuxedo Stan, the much-beloved kitty candidate from Halifax's 2012 mayoral race, is ill.

The penguin-suited cat has renal lymphoma, a type of cancer common in cats, reports The Chronicle Herald.

The cat made local news when he ran for mayor, opting for a platform that would help with the local pet population. He later became known globally as his story was picked up by news reports, even being mentioned on such shows as Ellen and Anderson Cooper.

You can find out more about Stan's health, as well as his ongoing campaign, at tuxedostan.com.

We here at Down East wish him a speedy recovery.

Anderson Cooper decided to throw his hat into the ring over the whole "Did she or didn't she?" fracas in terms of Beyoncé's recent performance during Obama's inauguration.

Although one may have expected him to perhaps have a giggling fit, he was able to contain himself and applauded her performance, no matter what it turns out to have been.

According to Robert Allan, one of the principal investigators, the research project "evolved out of discussions between myself and Russell Westhaver, chair of the Sociology Department at SMU. We both have an interest in doing research with gay men and furthering the literature about recognition on a variety of levels -- personal, relational and social."

Allan and Westhaver plan to focus their research on a couples enrichment program entitled Hold Me Tight. "It is based on the book by Sue Johnson and an approach to working with couples called emotionally focused therapy, or EFT," says Allan. "EFT works with couples to recognize that we are emotionally attached to and dependent on our partner for nurturing, soothing and protection. EFT focuses on creating and strengthening this emotional bond by identifying and transforming the key moments that foster an adult, loving relationship."

Couples are invited to participate in a three-session program on Saturday, April 6, 13 and 20, from 9am to nooon, on the Saint Mary’s campus. Each couple will be required to complete four questionnaires on four occasions over an eight-month period and complete two interviews with Westhaver.

For more information, couples can contact Russell Westhaver at 902-491-6278 or Robert Allan at robert.allan@smu.ca.

After starting his Rad Queers with a short documentary on LA's the Payasos,  artist/curator/videographer Graham Kolbeins has recently posted a second video in the series.

The video tells the story of what Kolbeins calls the "fabulous and fearless performance artist/playwright Ian MacKinnon. In his one-man show Gay Hist-Orgy, MacKinnon guides the audience on an erotic journey through the hidden history of same-sex love, examining homosexuality’s impact on 'the progress of art, philosophy, culture, and politics with equal parts insight and wit."

It looks like Halifax Pride is looking to fill three vacancies on its board of directors. 

According to Halifax Pride's Christopher Scullino, applicants to the position do not need to be current members of Halifax Pride. Applications are due Tuesday, Jan 22. For more information, contact Halifax Pride at communications@halifaxpride.com. 

There will also be a meeting on Tuesday, Jan 29 at the North End Library, on Gottingen Street, as the organization is looking to "establish a new hire steering committee to conduct a needs assessment and report back to the membership in January 2013." A press release states:

"A committee has been established and is currently working on collecting and finalizing the data. As per the motion, a meeting has been set up to report these findings back to the membership. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 29th at the North End Library, and is open to all members of Halifax Pride. Those interested in attending, but not currently a member of Halifax Pride, are free to come early and sign up to become a member."

Doors open at 5:30pm, with the meeting starting at 6pm.

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Halifax's Queer Acts is making sure they don't lose their knack during the winter by warming themselves up with a comedy show this Tuesday, Jan 22 at 8pm at the Company House. The theme of the evening is a twisted homage to mothers, entitled Mommie Dearest.

The lineup includes Scott Contessa Bosse, Megan MacKay, Travis Smith, Megan McDowell and Ian Mullan.

For more info, check out their Facebook event page.

Original Plumbing, a magazine and website started by Amos Mac and Rocco Katastrophe, is looking for some help.

The website for the magazine is no longer able to fulfill the needs of its readers and content providers, so Mac and Katastrophe have created an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for a new site, as well as those who will be working on its creation. 

OP and Amos have been featured in the pages of Xtra, and this is an opportunity to help a great publication and website, as well as the people who write for it and especially for those who read it.

Check out Amos and Rocco's video, explaining all of the deets. Give and give often!

In early December, I posted that filmmaker Bruce LaBruce was working on a new project entitled Gerontophilia. BLAB was taking the crowd-sourcing route for some of the finances for his latest project, a fundraising campaign that is ongoing.

Recently, queer blog Accidental Bear posted some stills from the production, including images of Halifax's own Walter Borden, who plays one of the main characters. Take a peek.

The life of a celebrity is one of secrets, some of them open and some of them carefully (and sometimes expensively) hidden.

One of the most well-known open secrets in Hollywood was about Jodie Foster's sexuality. 

In a time where our attention span has become minute, it's sometimes important to remember how and why Foster is a special case. She's been in the spotlight since she was a toddler and was even the object of desire for a very disturbed individual who ended up shooting a president, "just to get her attention." To say that she's been in the spotlight her entire life is to put things mildly.

Which is why it makes sense that Foster has kept certain things private. Yes, her career was strong enough for her to do and say many things that might be deemed controversial, even outside of coming out. This is a woman who has publicly defended Mel Gibson.

So in her speech last night during the Golden Globes, where she received the Cecil B DeMille Award, Foster took the time to say a few things she had on her mind. To some it may have seemed to be a "rambling" speech, but if you take into consideration the context of what Foster's life has been, her pressure-valve release of a speech is a moving example of what it's like to be a celebrity in today's world.