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Tour began Feb 5th, 2006
Tour update 1 -
Feb 13th, wee hours of morn
Well I haven’t really
had a second to myself to update, I have a little one right now so here
we go:
After my sleep in
St-Ste-Marie, I headed off for a long-haul drive, wanting to make it to
Winnipeg (15 hours away) but instead I had to call it quits in Dryden
(about 11 hours). I figured if I wasn’t going to make it, I might as
well stop early and catch the Grammy’s… I wasn’t too thrilled with the
Grammy’s, I’m starting to lose touch I guess… or maybe they are…
Forget the Grammy’s,
let’s get to the juicy stuff!
So I’m looking for a
place to stay in Dryden, and I know I want to go cheap (which rules out
any hotel that has an actual recognizable name). I find 2 motels
opposite each other, one is called something to the effect of ‘cozy
comfort’ or ‘cozy shack motel’ (don’t quite remember) and then the other
one was called the Patricia Inn. The Patricia Inn said ‘Hotel & Family
Restaurant’ and it had a nice purple sign so I decided to go there. As
I’m checking in, I notice a lot of guys filing into this noisy bar, so I
asked the girl working there ‘oh, is there a bar here?’ to which she
replied, ‘Yeah… well, sort of.. there’s strippers and a bar’.
Turns out this
was a stripclub/inn, which left me desperately hoping that they didn’t
offer hourly-rates....they didn't. It ended being a decent night’s sleep
(despite being extremely cold ---the heater was in one corner of the
room and was an actual flame of some sort… did little to heat anything
but that corner of the room). So I slept the night, avoided touching
the bedspread too much and headed out in the morning after a nice greasy
(but oh so tasty)
breakfast in the ‘family restaurant’ portion of the building.
Arrived in a very
snowy Winnipeg about 4 hours later to the lovely home of Keri and Devin
(of the band ‘Nathan’) where I met up with Carrie. We shared a brief
welcome/update and then soon had to head off for business duties and an
interview at the radio station. The interview went really well, I think
we were on-air for about half-an hour. I’m kicking myself for not
taking a picture of the station, it really was pretty gorgeous with huge
glass windows overlooking the snowy Winnipeg night… We did a couple of
on-air performances after the interview and then packed up to head off
to our gig at the Cavern.
What can I say about
the gig….? It wasn’t so great for me. The people that worked there
were really good to us (thanks to Allison and Spencer!) but the patrons (though friendly people) were not
really in the mood for live music, at least not original live music. They were however very in the mood
for beer and Jagermeister so Carrie and I both got a little over-run.
That said, I managed to convince a few people to buy my CD (only after I
played the ‘Sublime’ and ‘Bob Marley’ covers (very badly) which they
were very eager to hear). After the gig, I had a bit of a mental
meltdown, really a combination of having just been in total isolation
for 2 days and awake for over 21 hours straight only to be bombarded by
a little more energy and rowdiness that I could handle in that moment…
just not my night, it could have been better had I been in a different
headspace but I couldn’t shake it.
Woke up the next
morning (after Carrie graciously volunteered to drive Keri and Devin to
the airport to buy me a few more zzzzz’s) and headed out to Regina. We
were met with HORRENDOUS weather (we saw at least 5 semis totally bent
out of shape in ditches all along the road) so our drive took us pretty
much the entire day. We arrived just in time for our load-in time at
the Gaslight, only to realize that the Gaslight was actually a biker
bar…. (the sign read: Peter Catz and Carrie Catherine tonight, Tattoo
Convention Feb…) We took a deep breath, I changed out of my somewhat
avant-garde/ slightly-not-so-manly blue cords into my way-tougher
ripped-jeans and we unloaded our gear. Much to my relief, everyone that
worked there was actually super kind and good to us, I felt a little
ashamed for judging this book by its cover (but it did have a big bike
with flames on its sign AND a big sign that said ‘No Pissy Attitudes’
above the door AND a big shiny stripper pole right in front of the stage
with posters up on the wall advertising their weekly pole-dancing
contest, with a whopping $50 grand prize!).
We headed to Chad and
Mel’s (friends of Carrie’s and fellow musicians, of the band ‘Skavenjah’)
house after load-in. We were treated to some amazing
pizza, SHOWERS (man I needed one!) and play-time with their gorgeous
8-month-old daughter ‘Jaia’ before headeding back for soundcheck. Our
soundguy, Tom, had a big ‘Medicinal Marijuana’ t-shirt on, and
apparently he’d just had a huge raid on his home growing-op. He’s
actually legally allowed to grow it but his license had just expired and
was in the process of getting a new one. He was getting some serious
press out of it, and hoping for a lawsuit against the police --- pretty
interesting guy… I have to put it down for the record, everyone I met in
Regina was borderline angelic, SUCH a friendly city (I must have had
every single door I walked through held for me).
My set went well I
thought, despite a modest audience and we were invited back to do it
again on our way back (we’ll see what happens but I’d happily go back
there, maybe even take a shot at that $50...). Certainly felt better about things than I did the night before.
Had a comfy night’s
sleep at Chad and Mel’s house, and then Carrie and I went our separate
ways (we had gigs in different cities). I headed off alone to Swift
Current (about a 3 hour drive). My destination in my tourbook was
listed as ‘Green house at the bottom of the valley, before creek’,
needless to say, I got a little lost and drove around endlessly before
finally finding the place (I pulled into some wrong driveways…. and went
WAY past the creek). When I did arrive, I was greeted by the delightful
Shann and her family. We had a nice visit/get-to-know and geared up for
the show (I was booked to play in their living room as part of Ray’s 40th
birthday celebration). They had about 30 people show up and I played a
couple of sets, right there in the living room. It was the first
house-concert I’ve ever done and it was a total blast. I must admit, it
was somewhat terrifying to be playing in such an intimate/odd setting
for complete strangers, but I adjusted my arrangements and latched on to the
material that worked the best in the end (more of the country/folk based
stuff). The guests were really good listeners and I had many great
conversations throughout the night (my new guitar was getting lots of
attention, she is a beauty...) Beyond their listening
abilities, they also had great drinking abilities.
Once I finished my second set, I was promptly offered a beer… 5 hours
later, it was 5 in the morning and the core group of us were still up
chatting and singing and having a grand ‘ole time. We finally retired
to bed at around 5.
The next morning
(today), I was treated to an unbelievable farm-fresh omelette… mmm.
After breakfast, we all decided to go back to bed! So I basically slept
and ate all day, got treated to an AMAZING dinner (their middle-daughter
Carly, just so happened to go to Chef school…) and then headed off for
Saskatoon around 9. The drive was really nice, fields of snow lit up by
the moon… It made me think of Matthew Shepperd, sitting out there that
night tied to the fence, looking down at the city lights from an open
field. It was beautiful, though somewhat upsetting as I
knew in my heart that that view must have been very much like the one he
had in his last moments. I
could feel in that moment, alone with the stars, the
moon and the sky.
So here I am, in
Saskatoon at Carrie’s grandparent’s house, ready for bed and a long
drive to Calgary tomorrow. I have a radio interview before I go which
should be fun. I know I’ve already left out so many details, but there
you have it.
Tour Update 2 - Feb 15th
Well folks, here I am in lovely Calgary at
my friends Laurel and Kevin’s place (we know each other from a few years
back when we spent the summer together at the Caravan Farm Theatre).
I’m trying to think back on what’s happened the past few days, let’s
see…
Carrie and I left Saskatoon in the
morning, after a nice lunch with her husband Curt and my radio interview
(which went well, I played ‘Hum’ and ‘O.k.’). We headed off on a long
drive to Calgary which was actually really great; we were both a little
more settled and ready to take this thing on. We chatted the whole way,
and I gave Carrie a little sampling of my musical library. We rolled
into Calgary around 9, and crashed at her brother-in-law’s place, after
some good conversations and play-time with their 17month old Magnus…
MAGNUS, great name...they drive a Magnum too!... he was pretty darn
cute.
Next morning we got up, had a brief lunch
in town and headed down to Lethbridge for our gig there at the ‘Tongue
and Groove’ (another great name). The show went pretty well, it was a
little bit of a sparse crowd but the people that were there were
wonderful listeners and seemed to really connect. I tried out some
material I don’t normally play solo (‘Slate’, ‘IX’, ‘The Days’) and felt
pretty good about it all. I almost lost it during ‘o.k.’ and
‘pictures’, the lyrics hit me pretty hard in context of ‘the road’…
The next day, we headed out to Calgary, I
dropped Carrie off at her friend’s house and I hooked up with my friends
Kevin and Laurel. It was SOOO great to see them and have what felt like
a little home away from home (I’ve been feeling a little disoriented
this trip, seeing them gave me that sense of self again). Had a great
time with them, went to hear Susan Musgrave read some poetry at the
University (she’s a pretty interesting individual, her husband is in
jail for armed-robbery and she talks quite candidly about it, they’re
making it work ---really great poetry) went back to Kevin and Laurel’s
for some nachos and cheesecake (oooohhhhh yes) and then crashed into
bed. The next day I met up with my friend Vanessa for lunch (despite
minus 32 cold!!!) and then headed off to see Kevin present some of his
poetry. It’s pretty amazing what he does, he basically makes these
portraits of people, using a typewriter and pertinent text as his
‘pencil’. I’ll have to post a picture of it, hard to get a sense of it
without seeing it…
After that, I picked up Carrie and we
headed off to ‘Jackdaws’ for our soundcheck. Turns out there was no
soundperson so we had to do the setup ourselves (which was fine as it
was pretty straightforward). Got all set-up and then went our separate
ways for dinner with friends. I met up with Vanessa and Ed for a great
meal before heading back for the show.
Let’s talk about the show, it was the best
yet. When I walked into the room, it was full of people, ready for
music and I couldn’t have been happier. I started playing and knew in
my heart it was going to be a good one. I got a few requests (‘Posters’
and ‘Apples’) which was pretty nice (you don’t expect to hear requests
in a town you’ve never played) and had some great moments throughout the
set. I ended off with ‘the fence’ and was able to do the second half of
it off the microphone. They were so attentive and giving, just loved
that crowd. I finally felt like I could sink into the tour, ‘do my
thing’ if you like. Carrie’s set was great too, we shared a beer
afterwards, both so happy to have finally had that first ‘great show’ of
the tour… here’s to many more!
We’re off to Edmonton tomorrow…5 shows in
the next 4 days!
Tour Update 3 - Feb 19th
Hey folks, I’m updating this one from
Kimberley, BC (at the Bean Tree Café)
So…after saying goodbye to Kevin and
Laurel (I’m going to be seeing them again in 2 weeks so it wasn't too
sad) I picked up
Carrie and we headed out to Edmonton. We rolled into ‘the Blue Chair
Café’ about 3 hours later and setup shop. The owner there wasn’t in the
best mood that day, but we made due… he lightened up by the end of the
night, sort of. The venue itself was pretty cute, a little stage in the
middle of the restaurant, GREAT food, good atmosphere, I knew it would
be a good show. We met up with Carrie’s friends, had a great meal and I
played my set. It went well, I think I held back a little too much,
still trying to figure out how ‘big’ to be in a small room, I think I
could have pushed it a little more. I did have one moment though
that felt really 'right'
where I got down from the stage and played 'the Fence' for the audience
from the floor right in front of them. They were great listeners!
I’m just realizing while writing this that
I’m being really ‘polite’. I honestly don’t have too much dirt to dish,
people have been really good to us all along. I get a little worried
about people reading this, but I guess I shouldn’t write it if I’m going
to be afraid! Alright, detour, back to the adventures.
After a great game of 'Yahtzee' with our
gracious hostess Allison, and a rather uncomfortable sleep on the
floor (well, I was on an air mattress, but it had no air in it…) we
headed out for our long trek to Fernie. What a gorgeous drive! I got
so excited as we finally reached the foothills of the Rockies. I’ve
always wanted to drive through those gorgeous mountains and finally got my
chance. We rolled into the picturesque Fernie in the late afternoon and
were greeted with separate hotel rooms (our advance sheet had said, 'one
queen size only' which meant one of us was looking at the floor or a cot)
so the surprise was MUCH appreciated. It felt so good to have a little
space to myself for a bit; while Carrie and I get along really well,
we’re both having to adjust to having another person in very close
quarters (a CRAMPED car) for nearly 2 months. I just laid there in bed
for a couple of hours, finally getting a chance to play guitar, work on
my sister’s wedding song and really just catch my breath (first time
this tour…). Carrie and I met up in the evening and were treated to an
amazing meal by her friend Jeff at the Fernie Arts Station (good food
seems to be a running theme in these entries… I think I’m still trying
to recover from 3 days of Tim Hortons in Northern Ontario…). We headed
back for the show, another smallish audience but… towards the end of my
set, a group of 10 rowdy and highly intoxicated English young men came
in and a whole new kind of night started. They basically rushed the stage
and were clapping (way out of time) and dancing and singing. They
insisted on an encore and I had these 10 guys singing Cindy Lauper’s
‘Time after Time’ at the top of their lungs with their arms around each
other… pretty great moment, they even came up on stage! I was a little
worried for Carrie’s set, but when she got up to play they all sat
cross-legged in a semi-circle at her feet and showered her with utter
adoration. All in all, we had a grand time together and they all were
wearing my t-shirts by the end of the night! Wherever they are, we
thank them!
Woke up far too early the next morning,
headed out to Kimberley and here I am now. We had a little lunchtime
set which went really well and are now gearing up for our evening show.
I’m looking forward to having the next 2 days off, I just want to stay
in one place for a moment, I have no sense of ‘home’ right now,
everything's changing so quickly…
Hope all is well back in Toronto, can’t
believe I’m still out here for another month… So many more adventures to
come.
n.b. I must confess, I’m a little sad right
now; it’s my 2-year anniversary with Andrea and we’re on opposite ends
of the country. Such is this life I suppose, but this part of it I’m
finding difficult. I’m really wishing the ‘teleport’ actually existed…
I have a new song called ‘More nights’
which is kind of about this, I think it’s a keeper.
Well, I’m off to meet up with Carrie, I’ll
check back soon, Peter
Tour Update 4 - Feb 20th
Writing this one pretty soon after the
other one, just felt like writing some more…
I’m actually in the passenger seat right
now, Carrie’s driving us through the Rockies…
WOW!
Just wanted to tell you about the show
last night, which was definitely the best yet. What was a cute little
coffee shop during the day (The Bean Tree), turned into an amazing
performance space in the evening. We had a totally packed house, full
of warm, gracious listeners, while we played in front of the fire
place... I started off the night, felt great about my set and got some
really positive feedback. Carrie played her set brought the house
down. I was having such a great time; I decided to do another set after
Carrie’s. There were a few people in the audience who had apparently
been supporters for a while and were really excited that I was coming to
their town. That blew my mind; I just didn’t expect that to
happen this time out. I also had some surprise guests: one of the
couples I met in Mexico happened to be skiing in the area and had seen
my name in the paper. They came down for the show, so I played ‘Que Porque Te Quiero’ for them (the Mexican love song I learned during my
trip). I even got an encore (I played ‘Carried Away’ for it, but I was so
darn flustered and emotional that I could barely sing and play guitar.
They were forgiving…)
I had been feeling pretty sad, being away
from Andrea on our anniversary and trying to figure out why I was
constantly away
from my loved ones. I guess I realized that THIS is what they want me
to be doing. The people who are closest to me, have always been so
supportive and encouraging, giving me the strength and the courage to do
this. It’s not exactly painless, but it somehow made a lot more sense
last night; I could really connect with why I want to do this for the
rest of my life. Pretty amazing night.
After the show, we headed to our cute
little hotel. This local Schnitzel house rented out a few rooms above
the restaurant for really cheap. It was really quirkily decorated and
super cozy. We woke up bright and early this morning and headed out on
our 10 hour drive to Vancouver….
We’re about 4 hours along now.
I’ll check back soon!
Peter
n.b. hey, we just saw a Lynx! man this
drive is beautiful...
Tour Update 5, Feb 23rd
Hey folks,
I’m writing from the coast of the pacific
ocean! We’re waiting to get on the ferry to Victoria, I’m super excited
about it… I haven’t been here since I was a wee one so I really don’t
remember it (other than those general feelings of excitement and wind --not unlike right now!). Let’s backtrack though for a moment…
So after our BEAUTIFUL drive through the
Rockies (especially driving down into Osoyoos…. wow), we rolled-in to
Abbotsford (about 45 minutes outside of Vancouver) to stay with Carrie’s
best friends mother (Doreen and Brian). I had my own room, own
bathroom, own internet…. Pretty great to have a little space to myself
for a few days (that’s when I had the chance to post the blog, update
the webpage, etc.) So we holed up there for a few days, I stayed in my
pyjamas all day and wrote a new song! The next day (yesterday) we
headed into Vancouver for our load-in/soundcheck at 2… unfortunately,
when we showed up, the place (the Cottage Bistro) was locked and there
was no one around. Also, the sign said they only opened at 5 (when our
show was supposed to start) and we weren’t listed as appearing there
that night (they had an ‘open stage’ on the schedule..) so we were
slightly concerned, but shook it off as an oversight and went out for
coffee for a few hours. When we got there at 5, the owner (Eugene) let
us in, we did our setup and Carrie started. We had to end
an hour earlier than scheduled because there was an 80’s band slated to
go on (80’s at 8) and then the open mic. It was a little
frustrating as my friends were supposed to be coming at 8, ---but I
played a little longer, they came a little earlier than expected, and
all in all, the place was full of people and the set went really well. 3 of the people I met in Mexico came out to see me!
(I’m loving the Mexican re-visits this trip!)… Also, I had a group of
people from the Caravan Farm Theatre come out too (I’m loving the
Caravan revisits too!)… the Caravaners are know for their ‘party’ so we
had quite the night last night. My old friend from Montreal
(my first neighbor) Annabelle was also there and we all lived it up
together ‘till the wee hours of the morning. It felt so good to be
around familiar faces and friends, another little bit of ‘home away from
home’ (precious on this trip). I stayed at Marina’s place (she was the
costume designer from the Farm), had a nice visit with her in the
morning and then Carrie and I headed out to the Ferry. So here I am,
waiting for the Ferry, just went for a nice little windy walk, I feel so
great by the water, I always love being by the coast, something so
exciting about it…
Our load-in is at 6 in Victoria, show at 9
(I think) and then we have another few days off. I’ll be staying with
even more friends from the Farm in Victoria (Calvin –The violinist and
Paula – Front of House Manager and their daughter Lucy). I’m really
excited to see them, it’s been a long time. Well, I guess that’s pretty
much it, Ferry-land here I come! Take care, Peter
Tour Update 6, Feb 27th
Well Folks, my time in lovely Victoria
will be ending tomorrow; it has been a great stay.
After an amazing ferry-ride to Victoria (I
love Ferries so much…I think it would be so romantic to fall in love on
a ferry…)
We drove into town to the venue (Lucky
Bar) and set up for the show. It was an 'intimate' audience, but the people that did come
seemed to really enjoy the show, and it was a great venue, with great
sound and really friendly employees. Carrie and I shared a beer
afterwards (and a shot of JD courtesy of the bartender…my favorite), and
I poured my heart out about all my inner struggles with living this
life, etc. etc. I’m having such a great time all in all, it’s just been
hard for me to accept where I’m at (at the beginning) and at the same
time, I’ve always wanted to have a slow, natural, grass-roots build to
my career. Carrie says I’m a contradiction ---and I agree. I
want it all now, and at the same time I want to wait. I just feel like I have so much to give; I’m
dying to give it to more and more people. At the same time, I want to
keep writing, keep getting better as a
performer/singer/songwriter/guitarist, before I’m really in the heat of
the fire.
I’m a contradiction, and there you have it.
After the show, Carrie and I went to our
respective host-homes. I stayed with Paula and Calvin (I think I
introduced them in the previous entry) and had such an amazing time with
them. The first day was quite a glorious one. It began with Calvin
taking me along with him to ‘Namaste’, which is this weekly get together
at the local church, where all the mentally-handicapped members of the
community come together for this
jam/sing-along/variety-show/wedding/insanity! Calvin and 3 other
musicians serve as the main band and then anybody is welcome to come up
on stage (even all at the same time) and bust out the classics. Even if
the band doesn’t quite know the song, they make it up! Also, there’s a
huge box of percussive instruments, whistles, harmonicas, sticks,
whatever, that everyone is welcome to dig into and partake in the
chaos. It was without a doubt, the most JOY I’ve ever seen in a room
(over 100 participants were there!), one hour of complete and utter
pandemonium, full of dancing, singing, screaming, banging, crashing,
whistling --–beautiful. There was even wedding! –one of the girls
showed up in a wedding dress, and her 'husband' was wearing Mr. T. shades
and shorts, amazing. I didn’t take any pictures though so you’ll
just have to use your radio-eyes and imagine it.
After that, Paula and I went for a super
long walk by the ocean, taking in the gorgeous weather (and the day
off). Then we went home for tea and lemon-meringue pie.. (I know, I’m
totally spoiled). After snack, we headed out to ‘the Irish Times’ to
see Calvin playing fiddle with a local songwriter, and then we headed
out to ‘Rebar’, this unbelievable vegetarian restaurant…. All followed
by a nice long walk home… pretty luxurious bohemian living for a day,
I’ll admit it…
The next day, Paula had to go into
Vancouver so I’ve spent the past two days with Calvin doing all kinds of
construction/chore stuff around the house. I chopped a whack of wood,
we’re rebuilding part of the woodshed, hauling stuff from the neighbors…
It has felt so great to actually be doing ‘human-being’ things for a few
days. I forget how important those things are to my soul, they really
reconnect me with my humanity, my sense of self. Not to mention the
fact that you start to feel a bit useless after a month of people taking
care of you, feeding you, putting you up, etc… it felt nice to be able
to actually make myself useful!
After a nice ‘shed-rebuilding’ session
today, I picked up Carrie and we headed out to our gig in Duncan (about
an hour outside of Victoria). The venue was owned and operated by this
very interesting guy by the name of ‘Longevity John’ (a long-haired
Goliath of a man). He’s got a GREAT space that he runs, and he’s go all
his crazy collectibles throughout the place (an electronic head
massager, 68 chrome-plated ducks, a collection of table hockey games, a
one handed flip-spatula , a gravity-defying spoon, just piles of crazy
stuff… he also has a van with 11 dogs in it, who are let out at night
and go nuts all over the place, eat the leftover popcorn and freak out
young-touring-songwriters (not unlike myself)). In fact, he has 2 vans,
one for the males and one for the females, “for when the bitches are in
heat” (I’m quoting him there)…really interesting guy….
The show went really well, I played a
whack of new songs, and I even had some surprise guests from Toronto (my
friend Steve Fisher is in the reserves and is stationed in Victoria
right now, he came up with a bunch of friends). We headed back to
Victoria after stuffing our faces at the local ‘White Spot’ and then
here I am, about to hit the hay. Time to get to it, ‘g’night, PEter
Tour Update 7, Monday March 6th
Hey folks,
Just doing the long drive from Calgary to
Saskatoon right now (Carrie’s driving at the moment) and I’m taking in
the prairie scene… time to check in!
I guess I left off after the Duncan show:
So we headed out of Victoria at a
leisurely pace the morning after our Duncan show; I was really looking
forward to the Ferry ride again!
The ferry this time around was not quite
the ultra-modern one that we took over to the island. This one ‘the
Queen of the Saanich, Sandwich…’ something to that effect, was a little
more run-down (though still had a spectacular view). I took my ‘ferries
are romantic’ concept and tried to apply it to writing my sisters’
wedding song out on the deck…sadly, after about 2 minutes of
bone-chilling winds, I had to head back inside and admit defeat
(although I did get a few great lines in those 2 minutes!).
We got into Vancouver around 5, headed
into town to meet up with Carrie’s friends, got some GREAT sushi and
then I went off to meet Courtney and Ajineen (more farm friends) at this
local Jazz/flamenco bar. Had a great chat, listened to some great
tunes, that pretty much sums it up.
The next day I met up with my friend
Annabelle (she was my very first neighbor in my first apartment when I
was 16 in Montreal) and we had an amazing day together. She took me to
this DElicious vegetarian restaurant called ‘Naam’ and we had a 3-hour
lunch/chat together. After that, we headed down to the waterfront and
walked all along the shore, taking in the spectacular view of Vancouver
(pretty darn beautiful city…). We also saw a pug; those dogs are a real
‘special’ breed…Darwin is surely scratching his head.
After parting ways, I picked up Carrie
and we headed out to Abbottsford for a couple of days off at Doreen and
Brian’s house (Carrie’s best friend’s parents). Carrie and I had a
great productive few days there, both doing a LOT of writing. We also
were able to actually spend some ‘friend’ time together, sitting in the
basement, drinking beers and bouncing song ideas back and forth. We
even figured out some harmonies together for one of her songs. The next
day, I woke up inspired and really wanting to finish my sister’s wedding
song so I worked on it pretty much the whole day, sifting down the pages
and pages of notes I took on their letters (I guess I should explain: I
sent them each a letter asking them to write about the other, mostly
about ‘their story’ and how they fell in love. Theirs is a pretty
unique one because they actually only had 1 day together when they first
met and then were apart for 3 months! So they really fell in love over
the phone, through mail and email. Old fashioned love, with a modern
twist… They both really drew a lot of strength on how it all happened,
and their letters about each other had me laughing out loud and crying
my eyes out…) So I really wanted the lyrics of the song to be mostly
their words and I made pages and pages of notes of things that they had
said. It meant I had a lot of sifting and organizing to do; it also
meant that I had a lot of lines I loved that I wouldn’t be able to
use… Well, I finished the song and am SUPER excited about it. In
fact, the next night in Kelowna, I played it! It was really a dinner
kind of place so people were mostly listening in a ‘background but
respectful kind of a way’ and they seemed to really respond to that song
in particular. We also had an amazing meal there, really gorgeous place
near the lake…
After the show, we debated starting our
drive to Calgary (because it was a long one and we had a show the next
day), but we decided to take Laurel’s offer to stay at her parents place
as they were out of town. We crashed quickly there, got up bright and
early and started the doozy of a drive to Calgary.. We made it in about
8 hours, lost another hour because of the time difference, just in time
to get to soundcheck at ‘The Barfly’. I was feeling unusually insecure
and grumpy, way overtired and I knew it… Fortunately, my friends
Vanessa and Kinnon were kind enough to make me dinner and got me on the
right foot (veggie tacos!...mmmm, we even had ‘appetacos’..appetizer
tacos…get it?). By the time I made it back to the venue, I was rarin’
to go… Much to my surprise and delight, the place was PACKED to the
brim, people just kept coming in, and they were really there to see the
show (which was so exciting!) So we had a high energy crowd having a
great time and really getting into it, I felt really great about the
show (and encouraged that our second time around actually resulted in
growth!) Finally got to bed at 3 in the morning, only to have to get up
the next morning to head out to Edmonton (fortunately not as far away).
We rolled into Edmonton just in time for our soundcheck there (at The
Velvet Underground). The Edmonton show was definitely a weird one, but
a good one. The opening band ‘Forever and a Day’ were really nice guys
and brought out a good crowd. I struggled a bit to get their attention
in moments and I was thinking that maybe I hadn’t, but after my set I
actually sold a bunch of cd’s and everyone was happy to sign the mailing
list. Just goes to show that you never know what people are taking
away, it’s not really up to me to decide….
Carrie’s set was off the wall, she had a
crew of fans from Fort MacMurray come down who knew every word and were
dancing (and drinking) the whole time. Then there were a few people who
walked in and were air-drumming and air-guitaring along, while others
sat quietly listening, and others got busy in the dark corners of the
room… weird scene, but Carrie was great and it was an excellent,
well-received set. The staff at the bar were really great to us, and
felt compelled to buy me several shots of Jack Daniels at the end of the
night…I couldn’t resist so we had a bit of a party together that
evening, Carrie drove home… (I really wasn’t that bad, I’ve just been
pretty tame this whole tour and got a little swept away by my gracious
new friends)
Woke up the next morning and managed to
squeak-in a game of Yahtzee with Allison (Carrie’s friend/ our host) ---
I got 2 yahtzees! before heading out to Calgary for our house concert
there.
Alright, let’s get to the house concert:
So Anna and John were the hosts: we met
when I was playing in Mexico. They were so kind in Mexico that when I
sold out of my CD’s, they gave me back the ones that they had bought so
I could sell them again, as long as I promised to hand deliver copies
when I was on the road someday. Well, ‘someday’ came last night, and
they had a great setup in their living room/kitchen (a huge space) and
invited out about 40 of their friends. There was great food and wine
and great people all around, all eager for the show. Carrie started off
the night with an incredible set, I was sitting there totally terrified
to follow her; she was so solid. I got it together though, planned out
my setlist and started my set. It was a roller-coaster of emotions, and
the audience was so giving and attentive, I really felt like we went
places together. I was definitely a ball of emotions, I played my
sister’s wedding song, Mikaylas’ song, Seaside Café, totally mixed bag
of material and they seemed to be willing to go along with it. It was
‘one of those nights’, like the Kimberley show, where I could really
feel the power of a bunch of human beings in a room, sharing a space in
time together. Always blows me away: THAT’s what I want so badly…every
night! To everyone there that evening, THANK YOU!
*thanks also to Kevin and Laurel for once
again housing me, and giving me cheesecake, again...trying to fatten me
up I suspect... *
So, here I am, next morning, on the way to
Carrie’s hometown of Saskatoon, with a few days off before the show on
Thursday. I’m looking forward to this week, only 1 show for me
(although Carrie has invited me to do a few tunes at her show on
Saturday), but still, not a heavy schedule this week. I’ve got a lot of
writing to do, a lot of ‘office-work’ to catch up on, and a lot of
exploring… I can feel home getting closer and closer, I’m ready for it…
I do think I’m really starting to understand the ‘rhythm of the road’
(as Carrie puts it). It definitely has its charms; something very alive
about it. I can also appreciate how badly I want to not unload and
re-load the car, live out of a suitcase and wake up every morning not
knowing where I am. I know that this is what my life is going to look
like for an indefinite amount of time, and I’m excited about it. I’m
also kind of sad sometimes, knowing that I’ll be away from the people
who are closest to me in my life, and I’ll need to figure out a way to
keep those relationships growing and nurtured, in an unconventional
way… lots of thoughts, lots of experiences, still more to go! Hope all
is well with you, I’ll check back soon, take care, PEter
Tour update 8, Friday March 10th
Hello hello from lovely Saskatoon,
It’s Friday night, I’m heading out soon to
catch some live music but I thought I’d update first. Not too much on
the music front happening this week, I had one show last night which was
certainly ‘eventful’. I’m not going to get too far into the
nitty-gritty of all that happened but basically there was some ‘contract
disputes’ and the situation was not ideal. Fortunately, I had lots of
support around me to help deal with the situation, and more importantly,
I still managed to play the show and the people that were there were
really responsive and great to me (especially Megan Lane and her family,
really great folks).
Earlier in the day, Carrie and I had a
great interview on the local radio station (we performed her song ‘Talk
to You’ together) and we even got a big feature in the daily paper! We
had a few people come out to the show after hearing us on the radio,
which was pretty cool I thought...
Apart from that, I’ve been doing a lot of
writing, a lot of good eating (had a GREAT lunch today with one of
Carrie and Curt (and now my) friend, Jackson). Honestly, not too much
to report, I feel like things are winding down with the road portion of
this journey, and at the same time, I’m in total go go go go mode for
all that needs to get done when I get back to Toronto. We have the BIG
finale show at Revival on April 7th which is going to require
a LOT of work (including rehearsing our new drummer Greg) and trying to
get a few special little surprises together… I'm excited!!!
We’ve also got a few shows as a trio (Scottie, Ben and I) which we need
to figure out how we’re going to work. Much to be excited about, much
to be doing, I’m definitely going to need a few days of lying in bed
doing absolutely nothing after April 7th! Hope all is well
back home, I’m coming!!!!
take care, PEter
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