Final Entry

Well folks, here it is… the final entry and last few days of our journey. From Canmore to Medicine Hat (and wonderful hospitality from Ken's extended family), to Prince Albert where life seemed to be a little tougher, to an incredibly friendly Moose Jaw and some good friends (thanks Rob aka. Mark ), Winnipeg to Thunder Bay (thanks for the tasty meal and beers Keith) and now our final foley in the fabuvan toward home for an 18 hour straight drive. No messing around here, we're going home and as much fun and adventures there were to be had on this tour it's going to feel really good to get some love, home cooked meals and my own bed! I'm going to speak on behalf of the whole band and thank everyone very deeply for your friendship, kindness and support. I don't always understand what we do earn that connection but for it all we are grateful! Peace, love and good health. See you soon!

April 6, 2010

Hi again everyone, sorry I haven't written in a while. It's been a busy few days, lots of driving and playing shows so I'll give the recap of the last few days:

Jasper: the drive was brilliantly beautiful as always and the weather in the mountains has been great! Rico, Karen and the rest of the staff treated us like family and made us feel extremely welcomed and comfortable and I absolutely love it there! Great people, breathtaking scenery, and we had an amazing show and met people from all over the world from England to New Zealand and Australia. I really do love meeting people from all over and sharing stories about culture and social behaviours from different countries. I met one guy from Spain and apparently it's a humble and and a sign of mutual respect to toast drinks from the bottom of the glass rather than the top. That's an invaluable piece of knowledge don't you agree? The new songs have been going over like gangbusters, and the other cool point I've thought about is that our cds and merchandise are being purchased by people who are going to take them all over the world and share with their friends… that's priceless!

Grande Prairie: the next day we drove for about five hours to this lovely prairie town and had a double night at Better Than Fred's and John (the owner) treated us very graciously to some great food, drinks and his home. That was easy!! Had some friends come out both nights and met some new people, smashed some equipment at the end of the second show for our grand finale all in good fun! It feels good to break shit sometimes. Not so much when I have to pay to get it fixed…

Canmore: It's some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen, and apparently frequented by Hollywood stars and there's even been some films shot there. I haven't done any research on it so not sure which ones, but if you feel like it check it out and let me know. I wasn't sure what to expect playing on the Sunday of Easter weekend but there was a pretty decent turnout and a great night for merchandise! Thanks to the Drake INN for putting us up and feeding us, greatly appreciated! So again, I'm sitting in the van while Sarah's driving, Kevin is snoring on the back bunk and Ken's being Ken. We're en route to Medicine Hat for a show tonight and making our way east toward home. I've got mixed feelings of melancholy toward leaving all these wonderful places behind and feelings of relief and happiness of going back to my wonderful home and friends and being able to make a ham sandwich any damn time of the day! I'm actually looking forward to cleaning the yard from the winter if you can believe it. I guess we've got the best of both worlds, and even though I miss one thing or another from time to time it's good to know that discomfort comes from knowing that it felt good and will again! Bye for now, eat right, lots of veggies and hope to see you soon :)

April Fools, 2010

I can't believe it's almost April already, I'm keeping my eyes open for the first robin of the year which is what I do every spring to reassure myself that summer is almost here. Spring has got to be the best time to tour the southern states because it gives me a taste of the sunny warm weather and by the time we get back home mid-April the foliage should be starting to bloom and the mercury beginning to rise!

Seattle: yes we made it, but not until after a twelve hour drive, driving rain and a car that had driven six miles south in the northbound lane only to be stopped by an oncoming transport… permanently. So we got a few hours sleep at the hotel and made our way downtown to the Central Saloon where some great bands like Pearl Jam, MotherLoveBone, Nirvana and Soundgarden have played. Had I not known that I was still intrigued by the architecture and the story about how downtown Seattle had burned to the ground years ago and completely rebuilt on the rubble. We even got a guided tour of the basement and told how that used to be street level. After about six scotches we're on our way back the hotel for a good night's sleep and off to Vancouver the next morning with our quota of liquor and cigs from the local store before crossing the border. Wayyyy cheaper! Beer is cheaper than water in most places south of the 49th, no drinking problems there.

Vancouver: turned out to be a delightful surprise, a great sushi dinner then off to the Railway Club downtown for our show. A wonderful guitar/keyboard duo opened up for us… the heroin sisters, nice people. I was amazed at the turnout and the number of fans we have there, where did that come from?? I'll take it! Top notch performance for a top notch audience that night, cold beer and good times. We even had a bum help us load our gear out at the end of the night for a few bucks and a couple of cigs and almost saw a territorial scrap between him and another one trying to scam a couple bucks off me for an expired bus ticket. Now that's entertainment to me, I don't care what anyone says… the best part was when the second dude asked if god owns the street. reply: yes.

We're driving into the mountains now on the way to Kamloops for an acoustic show, which to me is like a night off… all I'm carrying in tonight is my guitar and a cord and that's it. Then tomorrow we actually have a real night off in Jasper so I'm looking forward to chilling out maybe do a little recording on my portable studio and a bottle of scotch! Single malt.

Everyone in the band is doing good, Ken, Sar and Kev say hi. I'm going to lay back, listen to some tunes and enjoy the scenery for the next few hours. I just found out about Ryan Bingham, a southern artist. Check it out. Peace.

March 27, 2010

El Paso: We played with a really cool bunch called Liquid Cheese… interesting name guys… it doesn't do these amazingly talented musicians justice, what a great rhythmic funkadelic band! Thanks for the PA and being professional. Fish and the rest of the gang treated us really well again which leads me to a recurring thought that I've been having and would like to share it with you...

I'm beginning to feel a bit like a self appointed ambassador on this trip to the states, and I feel that way because I believe it's our duty to represent our way of life in a friendly manner and to learn and understand other cultures. So with that in mind, I tried to keep an open mind and forget about all the narrow minded propaganda that's been pumped into my head from the years of being subjected to north american media; and what I've noticed is that everyone (and I do mean everyone) that I've met on this trip have been kind, gentle and considerate and want the same things as I do. A decent quality of life and to live in peace. Not the war mongering tough image I've been led to believe at all… so that's the message I'd like to bring back with me. Not to say there's no assholes here because I've met them everywhere, although I'm sure that if enough time passed I'd meet some anywhere.

Ok, on we go...

The Desert: Stark, hot, beautifully empty. I laid on the bench wearing nothing but shorts and had to peel myself off when we stopped… really sticky, but I'll take that over the cold weather any biday. We arrived in LA after a fifteen hour drive a little road warn and stiff (backs), checked into the hotel and went to bed! The next day I spent the day taking a walk and enjoying the sunshine, worked on my computer across the room from Sar until we left for a friend of ours who invited us for dinner with his family. Bob Hunka, Fran and Marlee have a beautiful home overlooking the hills and treated us to some great margaritas, mexican food and a wonderful rendition of a broadway musical (what song was that?) If anyone who knows anyone on broadway reads this… Marlee really wants to be cast in Glee! Hope it works out Mar :) After dinner and too many hunka-ritas we went to a club to watch a really cool band called Delhi2Dublin… check them out if you're into world music, great live performance.

The Good Hurt: This was the place where we did our first LA show, a cocktail club, servers dressed in sexy nurse outfits and the main bar was closed off in glass like an OR. Bob and family came out with some friends of theirs, thanks for the hospitality and a great time guys! We had a few drinks afterward, mingled with some locals, Kev took off with some LA friends of his for the night and the rest of us went to the hotel for another lovely sleep. The next day Ken and I went for a walk in the lovely sunshine down to a music store to get some needed supplies and I have to make note of the foliage… it's really tropical, palm trees and exotic shrubbery. That's right, I said shrubbery.

Trip: Another successful show, new fans and another 3am footlong sub.

We're making our way to Seattle, staying in Medford tonight which is about two thirds of the way. We got pulled over by Ponch just outside of Sacramento for speeding and not driving in the right hand lane which is apparently law for any trailer towing vehicle in the state of California. Thanks for letting us off with the warning Poncherello. The weather is still nice and sunny, lots of vineyards and flat plains to the right, mountains to the left, memories behind and adventures ahead. Canada in a couple of days, and though I've loved the trip so far it's going to be really nice to be able to use my cell on a regular basis again and access money from my bank! Thanks to the people who develop and service the internet for allowing me to have contact with family and friends, I love you. My friends and family I mean… the other guys, I appreciate the work.

Ok, I thought I was done that last entry but I've got one more lovely little story to tell before I take a break for the next couple of day to gather some new stories… en route to our halfway point of Medford toward Seattle our van broke down on the side of the highway just outside of Woodland CA and had to get it towed… so after a 550 dollar tow truck ride and a 100 dollar cab, and staying in a hotel here I'm writing you from the waiting room at the repair shop while they pull the gas tank off the van and replace the fuel pump which I'm hoping is the problem! There's a whack of rust so they're cutting and cleaning and operating on it like skilled surgeons… I don't think they've ever seen this much rust, if any at all. No salt on the roads here. So I'm patiently waiting, dreading the bill and how we're going to pay for it and hoping that we don't have any more major problems like this on the tour. Hello Seattle!

March 21, 2010

So now I'm not even sure what day it is or how many days we're into this tour, let me look at the last journal to see where I left off. And before I go any further I'd like to point out that I feel pretty confident that I didn't forget too much and won't leave out too many important details… from every city, to every hotel room and toenail clipping. I remember it all.

Ok, I'm back...

Dallas: we stayed on the outskirts of town in a hotel next to the Men's Club.. no shit. That was the name, but it wasn't your typical strip joint. They had valet and a dress code, so we didn't go in. We did however walk down to a really neat authentic Mexican restaurant and I had fajitas… but not the boxed version, the real deal, and real diarrhea the next day. The next day I hung out in the hotel mucking around with some new recording software I got on my mac, Sar clicked away madly on her laptop for the better part of the day, Ken and Kev… not sure what they did. Saw them walk by the window with a beer in their hand periodically. Later that night we went to Bill's Records to do an instore appearance and had some wonderful friends from Canada stop by and it really brightened the day! An hour later we packed up and walked across the street to see Amanda Rheaume, Tara Holloway and NLX (all from Ottawa) perform some of their own songs over a beer or two.

Trip to Austin: Started out fine until we dropped into a service station to fuel up the tank and empty our bladders… Kev really wanted into the bathroom but I was already in there, and commented on how badly he wanted to get in and that he'd been dreaming about it all day. The very unpleasant woman behind the counter took offence to this and the situation escalated into her calling the police who questioned us for about twenty minutes, dumped our beer out and let us go… of course. Actually, I have to say the the Dallas police were very kind and considerate and at no time did I feel threatened or like I was going to be one of those people who gets hosed on COPS! All good, and onto Austin and only an hour behind schedule.

Austin and SXSW: YES! What can I say?? Hundreds of bands from around the world, hundreds of venues, thousands of people and lots of free beer!! It's probably a good thing I got the flu the third day to give my body a rest. Some of the highlights for me… David Francey, Angry Vs the Bear, free beer. Kevin got a free massage from some guy. I was envious. Oh, and a boat cruise put on by SOCAN with you guessed it… free beer. Shit, I didn't even mention our showcase at Jaime's (pronounced HY-MEES in case you're interested). Mentioned. Actually, it was fantastic. Lots of people, great sound and some friends from Canada and the States were there to our smiley faces.

So after two days going between my bed and the toilet I'm back in full force, the rest of the band all in great spirits and feeling lively and strong, just finished the beautiful eleven hour trip from Austin to El Paso and let me tell you… the only signs of life I saw other than the fellow motorists was a coyote and a few buzzards circling something that was either dead or was about to die. Lots of rocks, sand and a few bushes but beautiful nonetheless. Looking forward to playing Bombardier's tonight with another band called Liquid Cheese for our second appearance at the club. Should be a good crowd and some good times!! Catch you all in a couple of days, leaving for California in the morning and we're going to be staying there a few days to soak in the sun and play some music. Hopefully I'll have some time to send out another note to you guys sometime while we're there and send some good vibes!

March Whatever it was... the one before the one you just read

Welcome to the all new and improved tour journal, and here’s the very first entry! I’m going to keep these going every few days, and try to recap everything that I remember happening so far. That’s not to say that everything I write here is the only events that occur in a typical day because there are three other people in the band but you can always check in to everyone’s facebook pages for regular personal updates if you’re so inclined to do so! The first day started off with the guys stopping by and picking my ass up at home near Sarnia and heading to the Bluewater Bridge to cross over into Port Huron on our way to Rock Island Illinois for our very first official show of the tour. I was expecting to get pulled over at the border for the customary rubber glove treatment but to all of our elation he just asked a few questions to see what our business was going to be and what our reactions were to him asking… and let us through! Five minutes, that’s a first. I think Kev had a special brotherly connection with the guy, which in my opinion probably contributed to the expediency of the experience.

Van Ride from Port Huron to Rock Island: not a whole lot to say, we left in the afternoon so it was pretty much dark outside for most of the six hour ride but the whole mood in the van was excitement and a familiar sense of adventure that preludes every tour. A feeling of not knowing what lies ahead and confident that we will prevail and enjoy all the experiences that the road has for us no matter what crosses our path. It also helps to know I got medical insurance in case I have to go to the hospital for anything…

RIBCO (Rock Island Brewing Company): I can just sense the history in this one of four areas that make up the Quad Cities, bisected by the great Mississippi River. It’s big and brown and wide… sounds sexy? I thought so. Very cool club, and we had some friends drive from Ontario and from out of state to see us, so that was a great surprise! Thanks Jeff and Mary for your help and continued support! We made some new friends, had a fantastic show thanks to the help of our wonderful soundtech and tour guide named Al. Apparently he was the bass player for Survivor, neat. Eye of the tiger indeed! Feet. Meat. Seat. Greet. Pleat. Peat. Treat. Beet. Cheat. Eat. Heat. Cleat. Wheat. That’s all I can think of at the moment.

Up by noon the next day, my head hurt a little… I’ll learn eventually. Back into the van and off to Chicago and a pleasant short drive to add. I think it was only about three hours and that to me is a nice treat and very tolerable! We got to the Super 8 and Sar carefully navigated the van and trailer through the tight parking lot into the last two remaining parking spaces. Nice work! And thanks to the staff for holding the spaces for us until we got back from the show… never a finger in the pie! Again, great show and we shared the stage with a couple of other bands who were great people and great musicians. I love Chicago… and we were right across the street from the world famous Wrigley Stadium, not that I’m a big baseball fan. But I do believe in the “three strikes and you’re out” rule. Colleen and the Ma’ams… I think that was the name of the all female band that opened the night… I really enjoyed the tittie song… big titties, floppy titties, titties all around. Those were the lyrics, honestly! Funny shit. We’re all in the van right now en route to Missouri for another show tonight then off to Dallas for a couple of days and I can’t wait for some warm sunny weather. Kev’s driving at the moment, Sarah just finished the first shift and relaxing in the back bunk, Ken reading a book as I type this to you. Keep well so that we can see you again and I’ll post another letter up in a few days. Everyone says hi!

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