Ambitious Musicians Touring Across Canada by Bicycle

in Vancouver at Cafe Deux Soleils on May 20th with Sarah Noni Metzner.

Ottawa, ON -- April 17, 2007-- Possessed by desire to make music touring ecologically friendly and healthier, songwriters Johnny Eden and Derek Olive are taking four months to tour across Canada by bicycle, performing over 60 shows en route, on what they are calling Eden & Olive's MUSICYCLE Tour 2007.

The MUSICYCLE tour promotes positive emissions, both musically and environmentally, and aims to highlight the possibilities for merging music touring with sustainable transportation and to encourage healthy living. Fully self-supported, with guitars strapped safely to bike trailers, Derek and Johnny begin the MUSICYCLE tour in Powell River, BC on May 11th and finish in Petite Riviere, NS on September 8th. Along the way they will perform in small towns and major population centers such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Halifax, Oshawa, Victoria, and Regina.

The unlikely pair of songwriters, traveling by one of the oldest modes of transportation, met in the likeliest of ways in a most modern way – over the internet. Serendipitously, back in October 2006, Johnny and Derek had separately begun to plan cross-Canada music/cycling tours. Johnny used a Canadian folk music forum to post his intention of going on his musical bicycle tour, and, after Derek read the posting, the two decided to team up.

Musically, Derek and Johnny are near opposites. Derek has a Masters in Music composition. Johnny is a self-taught singer/guitarist. Bringing their two musical worlds together on stage in a song circle setting, they will treat listeners to both Johnny's high-intensity delivery and narrative, theatrical-style songs and to Derek's perceptive lyrics and searing guitar style. Even their voices are markedly different – Derek drawing comparisons to the likes of clear, bold-voiced singers like Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, and Johnny to textured singers like Tom Waits and Marvin Gaye. While Derek has a recognizable style, Johnny is nothing short of erratic. And so nothing short of a great musical experience will await audiences, with something for all music lovers as these two weave their diverse musical tales together, occasionally accompanied by some very talented friends.

This odd couple also boasts opposing skills: Johnny has never gone on a cycling trip, but has toured across Canada by the Greyhound as a professional musician for three years, playing several festivals and
hundreds of venues. Derek, on the other hand, has only played a handful of festivals and venues in Canada, but has toured by bicycle through over sixteen countries around the world. While Johnny possesses the skills to
book such a goliath of a tour, Derek possesses the know-how about getting from town to town by bicycle. While Johnny works on designing posters, Derek attracts sponsors to the tour.

The pair has received significant support both from the cycling and music communities. Eclipse Bicycles supplied the bicycles and BOB offered up two Yak bike trailers for the pair to carry their instruments and gear on. VIA Rail supplied Derek with a train ticket to Vancouver so that he could avoid the environmental destruction that flying to the tour's origin would cause. Richard Paxton, a burgeoning guitar maker, built Derek a custom guitar for the tour, luthier Doug Thompson did some inexpensive work on Johnny's
beloved psychedelic painted guitar, and John Pearse Strings supplied their assurance that their tone would always be fresh.

All that's left now is for the two to get on their bikes, start pedaling, keep playing, and pray that the roads are smooth, the days are dry, and the tunes leave faces smiling. And while these two ambitious musicians barely
know each other now, they are not worried – they have six-thousand five-hundred kilometers to pick each other's guitars and brains.

For a complete listing of Eden & Olive's MUSICYCLE Tour shows, go to:www.johnnyeden.com/MUSICYCLE.htm or www.derekolive.com/shows/

Kristin Kopra, Tour Manager
Switchback Productions
613-744-4390
info@@derekolive.com

Shayne avec i Grec, Western Canadian Publicist
Pedestrian Productions
250-475-0477 (Solstice Café Office)
pedestrianpro@@gmail.com

Derek Olive + Johnny Eden
info@@derekolive.com + johnnyeden@@fastmail.fm
www.derekolive.com + www.johnnyeden.com
www.myspace.com/derekolive + www.myspace.com/thelasttroubadour

Tour Blog: http://musicycle.blogspot.com

Musicians' Cell Phone # while on the road: 613-255-8370