I woke up this morning in a funk.  Yes a funk.  That is the only way to describe it and it can be near impossible to get out of one, particularly if you wake up already completely immersed in it!  So after plodding about feeling horrible and getting mad at myself for wasting my day off, indulging my mood, I turned on the radio to CBC Radio1 and Q and encountered something powerful and passionately different.  A friend had told me about Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers a year or so ago and I did not fully catch on to him.  This morning, however, him and this live performance was exactly what I needed to hear.  Caplan's voice crept out of the speakers growing with its intensity, backed by rich layers of drum, violin, cello and acoustic guitar, drawing the ill humours from my body.  This man's voice rises up from the pit of his stomach, he sings from the depth of his soul.  He is not by any means a pretty singer, his voice and face contort simultaneously as he pours his passion into the microphone and he also has wild and crazy hair which suits his voice to a tee!  But he is clearly a talented performer and musician.  So here is the song I turned the radio on "Down to the River".  And if you want to experience and even wilder more theatrical side of this artist check out the other song that he preformed on Q "Strangers".