Entry #2
Let's be clear, I am an emerging artist. This is a new endeavour for me, and I am learning the ropes. I'm learning what it means to play out of town, in cities where everything is new. In places where my every meal, my every journey, my rest, my well being...my comfort is very much in the hands of strangers. I'm also learning what it means to have support- what it means to have friends who are behind me 100%, and who sacrifice their time to help me along my way. I may have been on this first leg of my tour "solo", but I have been by no means alone. Thank you so much to the beautiful generous souls who have guided me through, and for those I know I will continue to meet.
Entry #2 finds me on the floor surrounded by my luggage as I pack up and ready myself for the next leg of the tour. in a short while I'll be flying out to Winnipeg to meet up with the old man, Arnie Naiman, for our 2 week HomeRoutes tour. For the past 4 days I've been making the most of Alberta's lovely cities. In Edmonton, Anastasia and I took advantage of some down time and went running in the River Valley- a beautiful stretch of nature that runs right through city's center. I was treated to a tour of the Folkways Alive office at the University of Alberta by Bruce Ziff. The Folkways Alive centre hosts a collection of hundreds upon hundreds of old recordings, and is an organization that has the potential to create some amazing work in ethnomusicology. Thank you Bruce for showing me around!
The Fiddler's Roost in Edmonton was the home of my first show in Alberta. The venue is tucked away in an industrial neighbourhood, surrounded by car dealerships- and inside Bernie and Carol run a sweet community hub for weekly fiddle jams and concerts. It's one of those unlikely finds that warms the heart...even when the snow falls sideways outside, as it did during sound check!
The day after The Fiddler's Roost show, Anastasia and I drove along down to Calgary, surrounded by more sky than my eyes have ever beheld! And, in Red Deer, we made the requisite stop (according to Anastasia) at the Donut Mill- where they had more donuts than my eyes had ever beheld! We arrived with plenty of time to have a nice supper with the hosts of my first house concert along this journey. The show was incredible. I love the intimacy and the community of house concerts for my music.
Yesterday I had the great and unbeatable pleasure of playing with a puppy- a joy made even brighter by the contrasting hilarity/horror we later experienced while trying to find parking at Wine-Ohs. In case any of you are ever looking for a good spot to park by the venue, you may refer to my helpful and direct instructions below. Once we did finally park that dang car, I'm happy to report the place was well worth the effort! Tom Olsen played a rockin' first set- and I met some lovely folks who came down to the cellar to hear me play.
A huge enormous thank you to the star roadie Anastasia Maywood for the hangs and the invaluable help during this first leg. If you see this lady, buy her a beer!!
Thank you Alberta! See you next time!
Let's be clear, I am an emerging artist. This is a new endeavour for me, and I am learning the ropes. I'm learning what it means to play out of town, in cities where everything is new. In places where my every meal, my every journey, my rest, my well being...my comfort is very much in the hands of strangers. I'm also learning what it means to have support- what it means to have friends who are behind me 100%, and who sacrifice their time to help me along my way. I may have been on this first leg of my tour "solo", but I have been by no means alone. Thank you so much to the beautiful generous souls who have guided me through, and for those I know I will continue to meet.
Entry #2 finds me on the floor surrounded by my luggage as I pack up and ready myself for the next leg of the tour. in a short while I'll be flying out to Winnipeg to meet up with the old man, Arnie Naiman, for our 2 week HomeRoutes tour. For the past 4 days I've been making the most of Alberta's lovely cities. In Edmonton, Anastasia and I took advantage of some down time and went running in the River Valley- a beautiful stretch of nature that runs right through city's center. I was treated to a tour of the Folkways Alive office at the University of Alberta by Bruce Ziff. The Folkways Alive centre hosts a collection of hundreds upon hundreds of old recordings, and is an organization that has the potential to create some amazing work in ethnomusicology. Thank you Bruce for showing me around!
The Fiddler's Roost in Edmonton was the home of my first show in Alberta. The venue is tucked away in an industrial neighbourhood, surrounded by car dealerships- and inside Bernie and Carol run a sweet community hub for weekly fiddle jams and concerts. It's one of those unlikely finds that warms the heart...even when the snow falls sideways outside, as it did during sound check!
The day after The Fiddler's Roost show, Anastasia and I drove along down to Calgary, surrounded by more sky than my eyes have ever beheld! And, in Red Deer, we made the requisite stop (according to Anastasia) at the Donut Mill- where they had more donuts than my eyes had ever beheld! We arrived with plenty of time to have a nice supper with the hosts of my first house concert along this journey. The show was incredible. I love the intimacy and the community of house concerts for my music.
Yesterday I had the great and unbeatable pleasure of playing with a puppy- a joy made even brighter by the contrasting hilarity/horror we later experienced while trying to find parking at Wine-Ohs. In case any of you are ever looking for a good spot to park by the venue, you may refer to my helpful and direct instructions below. Once we did finally park that dang car, I'm happy to report the place was well worth the effort! Tom Olsen played a rockin' first set- and I met some lovely folks who came down to the cellar to hear me play.
A huge enormous thank you to the star roadie Anastasia Maywood for the hangs and the invaluable help during this first leg. If you see this lady, buy her a beer!!
Thank you Alberta! See you next time!