Best Canal Appreciation

History may seem boring, but Laurie Michelle Caner is fascinated by it. While her jangly Americana band Hey Mavis was a Cuyahoga Valley National Park artist in residence, Caner became enamored by factoids along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail — like how a boat got stuck at Johnnycake Lock for three days. 

“I’m standing in the same spot. Can you smell the Johnnycakes frying?” contemplates the Kent singer, songwriter and banjo player. That curiosity became “Silver Ribbon Dream,” an extensively researched Knight Arts Challenge-funded album and book with illustrations by Leandra Drumm released last year. Caner wrote 10 original songs, including “Johnnycake Lock,” that are historical imaginings of life along the 309-mile hand-dug canal. Her muse was canal dweller and captain Pearl R. Nye, who proclaims his deep love for the canal on a 1937 recording featured in the song “Dearest Place.” After the canal became inactive following the rise of railroads, Nye stayed to preserve its legacy. Now, “Silver Ribbon Dream” continues to honor that essential history. “For towns along the canal, like Akron, one of the main reasons [they] became vibrant was the canal,” she says. “Who are we without those roots?”  heymavis.com