Day 1: Well, we’re officially on the road again! Not a bad start, we left London around 10am on Friday and drove for about seventeen hours to Nipigon to get a few hours of sleep before heading to Kenora for our first show at Lake of the Woods Hotel. Not sure if I’ve told any of you before, but if you’re ever traveling through northern Ontario (especially at night) fill the gas tank whenever you see a gas station… even if you’re three quarters full, especially between Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay.
Day 2: Driving past Thunder Bay we got pulled over by the OPP for… I’m not sure what for. We rolled in Kenora later that day, ate a pound of hot wings and an ice-cold beer then loaded in our gear for the first show of the tour. We had a great reception, thanks to everyone who made it a great experience once again! Here’s a video capturing a few moments from the day.
Day 3: Drove for ten hours from Kenora to Saskatoon. That is all.
October 22: Ok, I’m changing the format from what day it is to the actual date the I wrote my journal because to be honest I don’t know how many days we’ve been on the road now. I have lost all sense of time and space and my world has shrunk to a few basic items and principals and they are:
I don’t want to cloud my good feelings with the beautiful panoramic scenery right now while typing this en route to Calgary so rather than step back into time and tell you about Saskatoon (I don’t really remember much to be honest)… that’s not entirely true. I remember that we met some honest, good hearted and very generous people who were quick to share their world and treat us like old friends would. So now, let’s take a journey through to Lethbridge, the beautiful open fields of the prairies mostly untouched by commercial development that I’m so used to seeing in Southern Ontario, a wonderfully simplistic life void of billboards and unnecessary inner conflict deciding on which store or restaurant to go to because there’s only one rest stop between towns. I can see the rolling hills off in the distance dotted with wind turbines and snow capped mountains even further in the distance. There’s an indescribable magic in the air here, a feeling of great certainty in the complete lack of certainty.
October 26, 2009 : Has four days gone by already for real?
Lethbridge is always a welcomed stop, we met a really cool folk band named The Gruff (please take time to check them out) and I’ve never hung out with people from a folk band but these guys were more rock and roll than I am… what does that mean? Does it matter?
So Calgary… what to say… again, these are only my personal experiences so if you want a different take or form your own opinion watch Sarah’s videos on Facebook, Myspace or YouTube on the LINKS PAGE. The Rusty Cage is a probably one of the last true rock clubs that I’ve had the pleasure of performing at in quite some time. If you’re looking for hot waitresses, awesome staff and incredible sound that pounds your chest then this is the place to go to. Thanks for all the hospitality guys and gals, and to the sex show going on in front of the stage.
The next day we awoke to a flat tire on the trailer, nothing new, but still not welcomed. After going to the second tire shop (the first one couldn’t get to it till the next week) we found a place that could change the tire after calling many other stores to find one that fit our trailer, and headed off to Canmore and I can’t say it enough… I love the mountains and the people that live here! The Canmore Hotel had rooms ready for all of us, great food, wireless internet and we all felt very welcomed and comfortable. Sorry about the smoking of sorts in the common room, I thought the guy that OK’d it worked there. Won’t happen again.
The next morning we stopped at Bruno’s Bar in Grill in Banff for a great breakfast after being invited by Gary and met up with Amanda Rheaume and the rest of the Babes for Breasts. Google it. On to Lake Louise.
Lake Louise: Another Chapter… or at least another couple of paragraphs.
I felt like royalty, treated top notch, lake view rooms and an amazing dinner at the chateau. We played at Stables for the staff and had a great time, maybe too good. Glad to meet all the people we did, and again the same western hospitality. Sar and Kev went for a hike around the lake, I hung out in the room and had some good times with myself and I’m not sure what Ken did. I think he watched the football game. A couple of days there brings us to lovely Kamloops after a six hour drive through every possible form of precipitation there is known to human kind or unkind. Time to unwind, stretch and go for a walk.
P.S. (postscript: a note appended to a letter after the signature) websearch it… it’s true
I have become a fan of Bill Maher
November 1st 2009 – I can’t believe it’s November…
So where did I leave off… oh yes, Kamloops… and we played with a great band called Too Much Unsaid from good ole London Ontario. Who would have guessed that we’d be on tour in the same city at the same time? Sorry about the mahogany, hope it’s ok.
We left the next day for Jasper, and what a beautiful drive. It really makes the time pass quite a bit faster when there’s such breathtaking landscape to look at. As always, Rico, Karen (sorry Nancy), Jeff, Wendy and the rest of our good friends at the De’d Dog. Go to Jasper and check it out! If you’re looking for great food, quaint and distinctly cute rooms, a beautiful view, tons of winter and summer activities… go there. Too Much Unsaid played with us again followed by too much to drink… again. But the diets have been good! Eat well, sleep well, all is well. Where the heck did we go next? Good question, gimme a minute while I check the itinerary…
Ahhh right, Grande Prairie… it’s the first time I’ve seen a substantial amount of snow on the road.. Sarah drove that day and I remember feeling five hours of slushy sounds in the wheel wells and the rumble of partially broken ice stuck to the road. So much that it felt like a four hundred kilometer rumble strip. Those guys.. and I know it sounds like a cd on repeat… but they really did treat us well. We had the pleasure of playing with an Ontario band named The Waxbills. Great group of guys, great songwriters and players. Check them out please.
That brings us to the last show of the tour in St. Albert just north of Edmonton for their Halloween party. It was great to see some familiar faces there, new friends from town and old friends from back home in London. So now I’m sitting in the hotel room while Sarah clicks away on her laptop, en route to Winnipeg to finish our upcoming studio album (still yet to be named…) we’re talking and thinking about the concept while on tour, and though it’s a lot of ideas flying around I know the end result will be nothing short of pleasing to everyone in the band and hopefully you guys enjoy experiencing it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it. See you in a couple of days, I’ll update you on how it’s going in the studio day by day.
It's over... for now. I mean the tour.
So as promised I'm going to let you know how the end of the tour went, as well as the last few days in the studio. I'm sorry this hasn't been posted until now but I couldn't upload anything up to our website server until now... better late than never, unless it's anti venom and you were bit by a poisonous snake three days ago.
The three days spent in the studio last week were mainly used to finish up some of Sarah's vocals, a small guitar part and some percussion and background vocals and harmonies... just basically adding the sprinkles on top of the cake. Not something you'd necessarily miss if it were not there, but will appreciate the fact that it is. I personally would love to thank Dale Penner for his help in guiding us through our voyage in creating and finishing up what I believe is our best album to date. And by best I mean... the best group I've ever worked with, and the most honest and heartfelt music created by a team of amazingly kind and talented people. So that's it! We're waiting on the mixing and mastering of the songs, and over the next few weeks the band will be coming up with a concept title and artwork to try and capture over a year's worth of experiences and hard work.