The Exchange, Regina, SK

This was a blast. The Exchange is a wonderful concert venue, and the Regina Delta Blues Association sure knows how to put on a show. We had great sound, lights, monitors, and hospitality on a huge stage in this vintage building. It was a good haul out of Kenora to get to Regina today, but the van is comfortable, and cruises well. We had Muddy cranked up on the stereo, the weather was nice, road life was good. Here's what it looked like-

Nice shoes, dude.

We went over to Long and McQuade Music to check out portastudios before loading in. I had thought that maybe we'd rent one and record a bunch of shows along the way. We elect not to do this. We will regret not recording some of these shows, but the truth of the matter is that we are carrying all the gear that two guys can manage to pack in and out in the context of doing a show. We've got the merch booth, the merch, the inventory sheets, the guitars, stands, suitbags... We decide that we simply do not have enough hands for another piece of gear, nor do we have time to worry about setting it up or operating it. Maybe we'll get to record a show somewhere down the road.

Soundcheck was quick and easy- are we getting spoiled? The show went well.

We had fun and played a couple of encores before calling it a night. Here's the lucky tour jacket winner!

I couldn't find a late night food place near my hotel, so I bought a soft drink and surfed the channels for a few minutes before going to sleep. Regina seems nice and friendly. I can't play here often enough!

Kenora, ON

Big day to get here! I flew in from Toronto this morning, and Dave picked me up at the airport in his Cadillac. Nice ride. We picked up the rental van, and the western swing of the Big Road Blues Tour is in motion!




A capacity show at Kenora. We performed in a ballroom at the downtown Best Western- sold a pile of CDs and had a fun time raffling off a tour jacket. A whole bunch of Dave and Doc fans showed up, too. Nice to be on the western swing! We're on a roll now and can do no wrong! Promoter Mort Goss took us back to his place in the deep woods after the show. Wolves in the yard! Wild business. Mort and his partner showed us plenty of northern hospitality, and taught us the best way to make oatmeal. Good gig. It was pretty neat to visit this town.

Le Zaricot- tres bon!!

Le Zaricot in Ste Hyacinthe, Quebec, is one of my favourite venues anywhere. Hands down. I love playing this place, and Saturday's show did not let me down! The owner, William, came to Canada from France several years ago with the intention of opening a blues club. Somehow life brought him to Ste Hyacinthe- a very cool little town on the south shore, about an hour east of Montreal. Here he built a room specifically for acoustic blues concerts. It's a beautiful, all wood space with great sight lines, state of the art sound, lights and stage.
William has trained his audiences well- people who make noise during a show will be thrown out- so it's more like a concert venue than a bar. Here's Dave and I relaxing in the Green Room before the show.

Our friends Little Miss Higgens (Little Miss and Foy Taylor) from Saskatchewan, had a night off in their touring schedule of Ontario, so we invited them out to Ste Hyacinthe to open for us, meet William, and experience the vibe. Chris, the sound tech, met us on the street to help us load in. This was only the begining of the courtesy and hospitality we were to experience here. Sound was close to perfect on stage and in the mains. Maybe it was perfect. It sure was easy to play. Likewise, the lighting and stage presentation was great.

Little Miss Higgens put out an intense opening set. Big applause from the crowd. Miss Higgens didn't play an encore, but could of. Very cool show. She's a really good guitar player and presents a contemporary blues show built on influences like Memphis Minnie and early Big Big Broonzy. Foy nails in the second line. Very strong original songs with a strong sense of place. These folks are from a little place called Nokomis where you can look down the street and see the horizon! Little Miss Higgens will be showcasing next week at the OCFF Conference in London, Ontario, as well as doing a couple of dates in the Toronto area. They are well worth going to see, and I bet you'll be hearing them at quite a few festivals next season.

Dave and I had a great time playing for the Ste Hyacinthe crowd, despite being a little nervous at delivering our show in English to this french speaking room. I used what little french I know, and we cut our storytelling down, and everything was tres bon. You could hear a pin drop in that room, and this crowd was with us from the moment we started. Ended the night with two standing ovation encores. We shook hands and waved to the room at the end of the night. What a fabulous way to end the eastern leg of the Tour! We've had a great time, and it all just seems to be getting better.

I sampled a local beer made with hot peppers before going back to the hotel- very tasty, indeed. Thank you Ste Hyacinthe! In the morning I'll be dropping Dave at the Montreal airport before taking the truck back to Toronto. Dave's doing a band gig in Winnipeg on Sunday night. I'll be flying out to meet him on Wednesday, at which point the Tour picks up in Kenora, ON. We'll be playing all but three days of thirty-some odd days on the upcoming western Tour. Could get kinda wild!

The Yellow Door, Montreal

Great to be back in Montreal. We checked into our hotel and headed out to Swartz's Deli for dinner. Shared a table with a couple of charming young ladies, and had our first major language difficulty as Dave's dinner arrived! Not a medium smoked meat sandwich, but a giant plate of medium smoked meat. Dave dug in like a good sport, and had enough left for sandwiches at the hotel later in the evening.

Got our truck back from valet parking at the hotel. Sure wasn't fast, or worth $18 and change and tip. A quick run over to the gig. The Yellow Door is one of Canada's oldest coffeehouses- left over from the draft-dodger days, when it was once a major information center and meeting place for American refugees. I remember the place being jammed to the rafters 6 nights a week, with lunch being served as well. We used to sleep up in the chapel, and carouse around town after gigs. At that time the place was filled with poets and musicians. Everybody who was anybody played there at one time or another. So here's a slice of history, and I'm bringing Big Dave to be a part of it.

Rolling up to the door I saw no sign of any of our Tour posters, or any other indication that Dave and I were to be playing a show there. Everyone was very friendly in a coffeehouse kind of way- but the evening turned out to be the sleeper I had imagined it would be when I saw there were no posters up. I gotta admit, I get a little put off when this kind of thing happens- but what can you say to a bunch of volunteers- try harder? At least if there's money involved one can vent! We resolved to have fun anyway! Richard Carr, a Montreal blues singer-guitarist, came out to open the night for us. I'd met Richard last year in Memphis, so it was nice to connect with him again in Canada. He's a smooth singer/player and was well received by the Montreal audience. He's also a pretty good photographer- took the nice pics of Dave and I. Thanks, Richard! Off to Ste Hyacinthe in the morning!

The Rainbow, Ottawa, ON

Another perfect day out here in southern Ontario. Checked out of our B&B and spent a little time doing merch inventory and organization. After checking into the local library to do the blog on their computer, we had a relaxed ride to the ferry, and a more relaxed ride into Kingston, ON.

Arriving early in Ottawa we went directly to the club and found it pretty easily. Both Dave and I have done this one before, so we had it figured out. Actually, Mapquest helped quite a bit. From the club to our hotel proved a little more difficult in rush hour traffic- it took us an hour and twenty minutes to get to the hotel from the club- and it wasn't that far!! Here's some of what we saw on the way.
A late start at the Rainbow. It's a spit level club with a friendly bar and a big stage. Dave, our sound guy, is right on the money and has us up in no time. The monitors are near perfect and the mains seem to be top notch as well. We play a very good show to a small house. One guy from Calgary came by and brought some friends, and we had an amazing joke session at the bar. "So what did the elephant say to the naked guy?" An early night and back to our hotel!

Acoustic Grill, Picton, ON

Blow that Big Smoke, we're gone! Dropped into Grossman's Tavern on Spadina last night and caught a few songs by the Wickham-Knight band. They've got a new name now, but it escaped me in all of the excitement. On the Big Road and down into beautiful Prince Edward County.

The Acoustic Grill is a really nice venue in Picton, ON. Steve is bringing in all kinds of great shows, and the walls are covered with signed pictures of everybody. Neat. The Galaxie blues in the background is great, too. It rained most of the day, but by showtime it is warm and clear, and people are coming in.

Dave and I are eating quality food here. steve makes the best salads this blues guy has ever had, anywhere. Hands down. This is not rabbit food!! The sound was great, the audience loyal and attentive. Some folks drove out from Kingston and Guelph to catch this show. Thank you so much- those are pretty long drives for a night out!

We really had fun playing this show. I think we played great, too. I look forward to coming back to this club. Picton is cool. We're going shopping at the Giant Tiger in the morning, and then we'll be on the road to Ottawa. The trees have mostly turned color- so it's going to be a beautiful drive up the backroads.

Fun with Brad and Janice

We hung out down at the beach during the afternoon before the show.

A really fun last night at Brad and Janice's house. Here they are with me and their big ol' cat. We performed in their large living room without a PA to about 50 people. I gotta say, it sure is nice to be able to do shows without mics, monitors and cables! The room sounded great, and Dave and I went way out on a limb once in a while, pulling out all kinds of stuff just for the heck of it. The Tour Jacket raffle went well, here's our lucky winner! Just a great night with a room full of great people. A listening crowd like this really makes you want to play your best- and I think we did! Dave says "hi!"