Rogers Pass

And now for a special 'show-unrelated' entry! After Kelowna I drove
to Cochrane, beginning at 1am. It was a long trip through the Rockies,
with lots of snow, slush, rain and fog throughout Rogers Pass.
This is the part of the trip when nostalgia really kicked in. AVS and
I have traveled this route a fair bit over the past few years. In
fact, we've taken a group photo everytime we pass a particular gas
station.

2005 - Woodpecker Tour



2006 - 40 days and nights tour


2007 - Rude to TOurDD


And even though it was 4:30am, terrible weather AND I was weather
sandals, I made sure to continue a photo tradition.

2009 - "Windows and Doors" national release tour



Now you can see why I'm sad, as I'm now the only one screaming through the subsequent
tunnels at the top of my lungs. I miss those guys.

November 25 - Kelowna - Grateful Fed

The Grateful Fed! I've met some interseting people there over the years, including Bucky from the Liptonians (he was touring by himself at the time). On this occasion, I met David Kopp at the open mic night. We discussed our own sounds then agreed that I'd back him up on one of his songs. I did and it went over quite well! Anyway, we got to talking after and he described a script he had written, and then informed me that he wanted me to do the music for it in a film adaptation! I graciously accepted, and the film won't be in production for a while yet. However, it's a great story and I'm really looking forward to reading the script! This opportunity comes at the perfect time as I've been wondering how I was going to get more film composition work!

The roads that afternoon were a little rough!

November 24th - Kamloops - Pogue Mahone

The roads through the mountains were not the best, and I encountered snow again.



In Kamloops I finally shared a stage with an artist similar to me. Devon (of DevonanKevin) was also a solo act, using an acoustic and a lap steel through an RC-2 loopstation. Pretty standard fare, except that he also had built a wooden box out of plywood and duct tape that he would mic up to create his own stomp box that truly mimiced a kick drum sound. Before the show I did an interview with Kyle for CFBX, and he asked about my sideburns: I suppose I have been growing them for a while! Last trimmed on September 22nd!

Pogue Mahone was a really nice bar, and the promoter.

Sean is one of those guys that really understands promotion and is also helping to foster music within the youth community of Kamloops. He put me up for the night, in his well setup basement meant for film watching. So I went to bed quite late after watching Jacob's Ladder.

November 23 - Vancouver - day off

Travis and I made plans to finish some recordings and to go see a show at the Biltmore on my day off. The song we were recording was coming along nicely, but we took a break to meet up with Kirsten from Arctic, and then made our way to the Biltmore to catch Ford Pier, as he opened for Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle. I was only slightly disappointed to find out Ford was
performing sans band, but I later started talking to the guy next to me (the only other person yelling along with Ford) discovering that he was the drummer for their band! Regardless, it was an awesome set, with there only being one track I didn't recognize. He even closed with 'My New Bar', which was exciting because of the intense screaming at the end. It was certainly a change of pace for the headlining act (Ford backed up on guitar).

They were alright, except that the material didn't seem as though it was being executed with much precision (despite being a collaboration album release party). They finished their first set, and Travis and I took off, having seen what we wanted to see (of course I gave Ford a
copy of my album to listen to), and feeling like we weren't going to miss much from the headlining second set. That night, I rediscovered Pho.

November 22 - Vancouver - day off

I went skiing finally! It's been since 2000, and it was definitely long overdue!

I met up with Juan and we hit up Mount Seymour.



There was tons of snow up there, apparently they've been getting dumped upon.



After the ski-sesh, we went back to his place to hang out with some TBay-ites, have some food, and check out his unreal view from the apartment patio.


That night, Travis and I met up again after he finished participating in a 'play-piercing' session.

Open mics are funny things, and you often meet some really interesting people. I played at Darby's Pub, and met two fellows from an open mic earlier that week: a finger-picking champion guitar player, and an actor (who did a lot of voice-work on Transformers Beastwars!). Not only that, but Travis and I had an encounter with a strange lady outside of the venue. All we heard was someone muttering "suck it! suck it!" over and over again, so we looked over, to see this lady wandering across the street. Nothing too intense, until we noticed that she had 2 knives in her left hand. Weird. Then as we criss-crossed each others paths, Travis noticed she had another, bigger knife in her right hand, which she happened to be twitching back and forth, apparently in his direction. It probably wasn't intentional, but you can never be too crazy with some crazies!

November 21 - Vancouver - The Purple Crab

I managed to have a really productive day on the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver. I worked on the soundtracks for Curtis Jensen's two new short films. I also managed to finally get on deck on the ferry, while it wasn't raining!








The Purple Crab was a great show! I shared the stage with a bunch of different and interesting acts! From the folk of Evan Symons to the 80's alternative sounds of The Rain and the Sidewalk. It was also really nice to have some TBay friends in the audience, making me feel really welcome, and at home.

November 20 - Victoria - CHLY and Solstice Cafe

The sun was seen briefly today! Very briefly.

Before heading to Victoria, I stopped in at CHLY and did a live to air interview and performance. Dylan the program director even joined me on two tracks playing saxophone. It was so good! Perhaps in the next while I'll put up some of the tracks.


I drove to Victoria. In the rain. BC is not surprising me anymore. At least the show at the Solstice Cafe was awesome! Pauline Edwards did two awesome sets, accompanied by Hon on drums.

At one point, this one fellow came into the cafe, and started to talk, sing and yell throughout my second set. After about 4 songs, it got to be enough, and he was finally removed. At that point, I said to the audience "normally I don't do this, but I'd like you all to give me a round of applause for having been able to play my songs while having someone yell counter rhythms and melodies into my left ear". A solid round of applause. It was a really fun night, as I met up with Cassandra, who had come out to my St Catharines show at the Strega Cafe. Then, I spent the night at the Kelly residence. I met Alyson Kelly in Sackville, and then she told her parents that I'd be coming through Victoria, so that's where I spent the night!

November 19 - Nanaimo - VIU Pub

I finally managed to get to the island! Unfortunately, the weather again was crap, so I didn't see the sun until the next day, and even then it was only for 15 minutes. I arrived at the VIU pub, just in time to get a parking ticket. Wow. 24 hour pay parking at VIU. Lame.



Ah well, the open mic was really happening! The pub was pretty small, but packed to the max with students. During my last song, I even had some foreign exchange students yelling something along with me. I have no idea what it was, but the melody worked!

I also got to give Greg his copy of the album too! He was having a good time, as he does every Thursday night.

November 18th - Vancouver - Nyala

I had wanted to go to the island a day before my show at the VIU pub, but because of the weather (winds of 70 km/hr) the ferries were canceled. So, technology served me well, as I posted on facebook about how I wasn't able to get to the island, and soon I got a response from the person at the Georgia Straight that reviewed my album (Miranda Nelson) inviting me to another show happening that night in Vancouver. So I showed up, met her in person, and even ended up getting an opening slot for the band Jackie Treehorn (made up of members of Distracticon). It was at an interesting little African restaurant called Nyala, and I was wearing a 'Wivestale' t-shirt, and ended up having several people recognize the shirt and make the Thunder Bay connection!

November 17th - Vancouver - Corduroy Lounge

Once I got to Vancouver (after another awesome mountain drive in the rain), I met with Travis, and Bam! We started making music! I'll have something to post quite soon I'm sure!

But in the meantime, we hit up the Corduroy Lounge for an open mic. It was great though, as all the performers were more professional musicians than amateurs, so needless to say the quality was amazing. I also left my power supply for my looper at Travis', so I had to bolt back to his place and grab it. Having to return to grab some of my gear is actually one of my only recurring nightmares. Terrifying, I know.

November 15th - Nelson - Velvet Underground

Nelson was a rough drive. I left Calgary late, so by the time I was really in the mountains, it was pitch black, and then it started to snow, with tons of wind. As I started to make my descent, the snow changed to rain, which definitely didn't make the drive overly enjoyable.

I arrived at the Velvet Underground (a day early) and found myself at an all ages dance party that would run until 4 am. Dave drove me back to their place (where I'd crash for 2 nights) earlier than the close of their event, and I slept for quite a while. The next day, I awoke to an awesome view, and a fire place that kept me warm all night!


Nelson was a pretty little town, and I was excited to play at the Velvet Undergound that night. Afte a little soundcheck, I played my set to a really excited audience. Everyone really appreciated the music I was making, and I was really excited that they had all taken the chance on a random Sunday night show at a venue most of them had never been to before. Dave and Simon were very kind, and gave me food for my entire stay there. That was great, as Dave was actually a culinary artist!

November 13th - Calgary - Dickens Pub

Ah, Calgary, the town that is always good to me. It's great showing up at a show to find this:


Also on the bill was Wivestale, who played awesomely! Their new sound blends rock with alternative/prog and even bluegrass beats, but Brandon still has that characteristic scream/yell which made me write songs specifically with him in mind as a vocalist a few years ago. After that I performed, and had a great time, followed by Silo, who played 'Nickelback-esque' rock. They're good at what they do, but it's just not my thing. BUT, I will give them props for having a tour bus that they brought a whole pile of friends to the show with. That's awesome!

November 12th - Lethbridge - The Slice

I woke up in Lethbridge again, and had a stressful day. I needed to have something mailed to Toronto by the next day at 5, so I was really stressed as I put together the package to be mailed and then proceeded to miss every single courier. Thankfully Shannon helped me out big time by mailing it out from Thunder Bay, saving me many hundred dollars! This is me being stressed (but also excited that the ridiculously has ended).

November 11th - Lethbridge - Henotic

I had a few cancellations on the western portion, but I was able to make them work. I drove from Regina to Lethbridge early so that I could play at an open mic and crash at the venue called Henotic. It was a really cool place, and because of a double booking for the next night, they were able to put me up for 2 nights. It was pretty cool, I met this one guy Matt Robinson, who was a fantastic guitar player, and he even invited me to play a show the next night at The Slice, which I graciously accepted. Afterwards though, there were some other eclectic acts, such as this beatboxer!

November 10 - Regina - The Club

Regina is where my uncle lives, so we ended up hanging out, catching up on family stuff, as well as discussing everything from magic equipment to stage lighting!

I was lucky to be added to a show at The Club, opening for Geronimo and Carpenter. I played with Carpenter earlier this year in Dryden just before I went to NXNE, and we've kept in touch. They were really excited that I got to play with them tonight, so I was pumped! I busted out the good camera and snapped some shots of their set, but it was really low light.






This last photo was taken when the lens was foggy. It had an interesting effect!

The promoter that night really enjoyed my set, which is always a great compliment, but everyone else enjoyed it too (especially Carpenter!).

November 8th - Bruno - All Citizens

Bruno is a tiny little town about an hour from Saskatoon. I found the place quite easily (I looked for streets that seemed like they'd be the 'main drag', and sure enough, I spotted the very iconic blue All Citizens building.

I had a very attentive audience, which began after receiving a little gift from Tyler, the owner/host. I won't say anymore, but it was very thoughtful, and made me really feel welcome in Bruno! I love small shows because everyone gets really into it, and I get to 'pretend' to be a comedian. There are links and more coming from Tyler, so I'll post those at a later time!

November 7th - Brandon - Lady of the Lake

Brandon didn't seem like an interesting place, but when I pulled into Lady of the Lake, wow, it was one hell of a gem! Here are some photos from the inside:




It's a mixture of a store, bar, cafe, restaurant, diner, and a bunch of other things! I played to a semi-attentive crowd (it's a supper-time thing), and I was able to crash at the owner's place (it's a family business!).

November 6th - Winnipeg - Music Trader / House Party

I awoke in Winnipeg at Bucky Driedger's house (he's house sitting), and ended up heading to visit the Edge gallery (where I'm playing on December 5th), as well as to check out the facility of Polar Bear Productions Ltd. It wasn't as exciting as I imagined, but it was great to meet with people that have worked really hard on both my albums, and even took over an hour to show me around the place and just 'talk shop' about the printing industry.

After that, I played at Music Trader on Osborne at 5pm, which is always interesting. The deal there is that you get $20 worth of CD's, so I found Rowan Atkinson live album and a live CD/DVD by Justice.

That night, I also played a house party at Liptonia, with the Liptonians and From The Moon. From the Moon are a really quirky group that have songs that feel like inside jokes. Thankfully, I've now been let in on the joke! Here are some photos from the evening.

Matt and Bucky of the Liptonians

Bucky of the Liptonians

November 5th - Winnipeg - The Academy

The Western portion of the tour has begun!

I left Thunder Bay a little late, and the Winnipeg drive was partially at night, but it definitely allowed me the opportunity to check out some sunsets.

Northern Ontario really is quite lovely, and has it's own appeal as I travel across the country. Even to the point where I did see some other sunsets and did take some photos while driving. I know...I know.. but it's pretty!


I did make another mistake though, and that was get out of the car to take some photos while wearing sandals in some higher snow. No...wearing socks and sandals isn't a mistake!

I played at the Academy that night with several acoustic acts (Take Me To The Pilot and The Way We Talk), but unfortunately the turnout was a bit poor. Ah well, the staff really got into the music by the end of it, and I even had 2 people at the bar asking me to play 'Fix' a second time! They really liked it, and wanted one of their friends to hear it, as he runs a lounge and was looking for an act like me to perform there. We'll see how that pans out. I also purchased a cd from a band called The Idgets. They literally received their cd's that day, and were excited to share, so I grabbed a copy!

October 28th - Sault Ste Marie - Bottom's Up

The final show of the eastern portion (not including my two shows in Thunder Bay)! I met up with Chris Rancourt from Northern Rocks Magazine, who sadly had the flu. Thankfully, I didn't catch it, as that would have been quite problematic! The Bottom's Up Lounge was a nice place, and I'm excited to go back, as they really enjoyed my set, and want to set something up for high school kids to come and attend a show. It's good to hear, since the Arcadia coffee shop closed down recently. I crashed at Chris' and made my way back to TBay.

October 27th - Sudbury - The Night Club

Diane cooked me an awesome meal in Sudbury and we watched some episodes of the Office before I headed to the Night Club. It's right beside a strip club, so I was a little nervous. But everything worked out alright, as next to nobody showed up anyway! It's too bad, because it was a really big room, and would've been nice had it been full. It didn't help that when I got into town, I called the promoter, and he had forgotten about me being booked for the night, meaning that I knew no one would be there even before I had arrived there.

Ah well, I met up with Clayton again and we had a vegetarian pizza from nearby.

October 26th - Peterborough - The Spill

Peterborough was alright, but I knew it wasn't going to be very well attended. The previous time I was there was a little sparse, and despite being a fundraiser for the local coalition against poverty, this show had a similar turnout. The plus was that Diane came with me (I was driving her to Sudbury), and I ended up sharing the show with MoneyHoney, also from Thunder Bay! They were just starting their tour, so I hope it went well for them! We all crashed upstairs that night in the infamous band room.

October 25th - Toronto - The Central

For the next few shows, I either got bored, distracted or busy, but either way, I stopped taking photos with my camera.

However, Derek Lang of BagelHot was there and snapped a few!

It was a get together for my friend Diane, for no particular reason other than she was in town and wanted to get some friends together. So we combined it with a show at the upstairs of The Central, which wasn't the biggest of spaces. Also, I was situated right beside a furnace. VERY hot all night.

I crashed at Nick's place that night.

October 24th - Wingham - Wingham Legion

I then headed to southern Ontario again to play near Gorrie, in a town called Wingham. But first! I went through Dorking, an unfortunately named town.

...or...maybe I should just move there.

It was another metal show, but all the kids get into my stuff there, so it's always a good time. AND I went to a fireman's breakfast at a local firehall the next day. Epic meal.

October 22nd - Montreal - Bar St Laurent 2

On my way out of the maritimes, I thought I would crash in Quebec city, but I decided that I might as well keep going, and ended up in Montreal, but first, I stopped at this strange sight. It was a photography studio, with a pirate flag. Strange, but cool!

At Bar St Laurent 2, I played with The Attic (whose house I crashed at for 2 nights, thanks guys!). It was also their very first show as a band (at a bar), so they were excited, did a really great job, and had a bunch of friends come out and dance to them! Also on the bill was Nadia and the Tchotchkes, whose name is equally as awesome as the music. They had another gig that night, so they took off early, but overall it was a good night.

October 20th - Hampton - The Vintage Bistro

I drove to Hampton to play at a very small venue called the Vintage Bistro, but was fortunate because I'd be sharing the stage with Said The Whale again, as well as Hannah Georgas. It was a tiny place, but there were about 30/40 people crammed in there (I forget what the capacity was).

Afterwards, we all crashed at the owner of the bistro's place, and wow, what a place it was! Below is a terrible collage I've made using my iPhone photos to try to show you just how intense it was. There were lots of rooms off of the main space as well, and each bedroom had it's own loft. Intense!

We also ended up heading outside for a bit that night to watch a meteor shower. It was a really nice evening!