EuroTour 9-10/06

Merry Christmas!

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 08:27:53 GMT

The tree is up, the presents are out, and the kids are wound up (in a teenage, jaded kind of way). Must be Christmas.

There's not much going on around here, but being home has been pretty wonderful. If I could scare up some gigs it would be perfect!

I'll be hosting jams and giving lessons at Red House for the next couple of months. Saturday Afternoon Blues Jams run from around 3 to 5, and I'll be there all Saturdays in February, and all but the first and last Saturdays in January. I'll probably be doing some Thursday "Players Club" jams on Thursday afternoons at 5, warming up the crowd for Johnnie Nitro's Thursday night hullaballoo (spelling?). Come by and check the place out.

In the mean time, I've got to start working on my Year End Blog Extravaganza; my annual "Best and Worst Of" which I'm sure everyone awaits with baited breath.

The nice thing is, thinking about it, I believe that this is the second year in a row, if not the third, where I feel like I had maybe my best year ever! The World's Luckiest Man strikes again!

Home sweet home

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:40:16 GMT

In case you haven’t guessed by the inactivity around here, I’m home. Have been for a week now. Alaska was nice, but cold. Everyone I talked to said we should come back in the summer, when the days last forever and the town is crawling with people. Okay. If you book it, I will play. The new bass performed admirably, and I wrote a quick review on a Bass Player Message Board here, if you’re interested.

One of the drawbacks to being a touring musician is that when you come home, there are no gigs. All the thirty-seven bands I was playing with before I went on the road have found other part time bassists, and/or just kind of forgot to check my schedule for availability (the nerve!). So the last week was spent getting out and being seen. Tuesday night I hit the jam at the Mojo Lounge in Fremont, where I got a chance to play quite a bit, seeing as how there weren’t any other bassists there.

Saturday night I went to the Baltic in Point Richmond to see Tia Carrol and Hard Work. Tia’s a great, great singer, and her band features the fabulous Artie Chavez on drums. Tom Bowers was kind enough to let me sit in (I just happen to have a bass in the van) and overplay all his parts into the ground. The band, rounded out by Pierre LeCour and background vocalist Marla (I’m sorry for any last name messups) was outstanding, with a hell of a fun set list.

On the way home, Club Tac in Crockett had a band, so I stopped in to see if there were any familiar faces. Turns out the Salinas Brothers were making some noise, so I stayed and played. Pep was the drummer in Double Dose when we were both kids, and his brother Steve is a fellow Crockett…ian? Crocketteer? Well, whatever, he currently plays keys for Cold Blood. Great players and legendary smart-asses. The bass player Paul
Olguin was a very gracious host and a damn good player.

A lot of Emails and a couple of phone calls just to say “Hi, I’m back and available”. I’ll be at Red House more now also, and will be hosting the Saturday afternoon jams while I’m around, which looks like until March for the most part. Got gig?

Gold, booze and strippers.

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 09:41:49 GMT

"The gold is on the floor and the booze is in the safe."

This is how one tourist described Alaska back in the early part of the last century. After spending some of the day downtown, going to the Museum, and learning a little more about the history of the place, I get the whole frontier thing a little better.

Alaska shares some of the same features that helped to build my two favorite 'historical cities', San Francisco and New Orleans; they are geographically limited, and were 'melting pot' port cities where a large and varied cast of peoples all contributed to their becoming what they are.

Ofcourse, it doesn't snow in SF or NO. Which is big, as far as I'm concerned.

A related story is from breakfast, where we fell into a conversation with a guy at the next table. Phil was talking about the guys who work for his company that fly North for three weeks of work in the remote, frozen arctic. Three weeks on three weeks off. There's nothing up there but work and sleep. Phil talked about what he called the "Chamber of Commerce flight schedule", where the workers, flush with three weeks worth of pay, lonely and thirsty, arrive via chartered 737 at 9:00AM, but there aren't any flights out of Anchorage until 1:30AM, so the men have about 15 hours to get everything out of their system (or, I guess, into their systems) before heading to their homes in the lower 48. Apparently, Anchorage's many Strip Clubs come alive on those days, with a hierarchy all their own ("Stay away from P.J.'s").

Phil's other Strip Club Tip was this; sit next to the guy who brings a date. All the dancing girls are lesbians and flock to any females in the club, and by sitting next to a couple, you can pick up the "Collateral Damage". Let me know how that works out.

The Last Frontier

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:21:29 GMT

That's Alaska's nickname. It also says that on all the licence plates, which brings two things to mind; a.) How cruel is it for the prisoners who make the licence plates to have a constant reminder of how wide open and outlaw this place is? and b.) Are licence plates the only place where State Motto's make appearances? Don't State Seals usualy opt for some random Latin phrase? Well, whatever. I spent a good portion of the morning walking around the area of my hotel, and frankly, it looks like Monument Boulevard or maybe Hegenberger in Oakland, just with a bunch of snow. Hotels, resteraunts, tire stores, a Wal-Mart, various fast food...nothing very "frontier-y". Walking itself is kind of interesting. I've got Cowboy Boots, and while they are comfortable and warm, traction is not their strong suit. I keep my hands out of my pockets for balance and just in case I go down, and walk mainly on my heels, as the bottom of the boot is pretty slick. The other obstical is that even though they "plow" the roads and some sidewalks, sometimes it's hard to find where exactly the sidewalk is in the plowed snow. As a result, you end up walking right next to traffic, and you hope you don't slip into the lane, and you hope nobody loses control of their vehical anywhere near you! I spent a lot of time out and about today, taking in a movie, eating in a Sports Bar while watching football. I'm rooming with Mike, and his focus up here seems to revolve around certain substances...which seems to require brief Microwaving(?), so the room smell overwhelmingly like said substance, and Mike spends a lot of time watching T.V., really loud, and then yelling over it. It's kind of harsh to double us up in weather like this! The whole daylight thing is facsinating! Where we live, the Sun comes up in the East, makes it's way across the sky, and sets in the West. It's been overcast here, but it seems that at this time of the year, the Sun comes up, lingers briefly, and then just goes back where it came from. I haven't been able to detect a path. Kind of neat. Occasionally, the clouds part, and the view of the local mountain range is beautiful. I just stand with my face to the Sun, soaking up all I can! I didn't understand why people even lived here, but I was talking to a guy at the club, and he was talking about how much he loved the cold! It never occured to me that there are such people! Cold loving people! He talked about his five year old daughter visiting him from her home on Oahu, and how she liked to play outside without her jacket, and his "That's my girl" pride. It really does take all types. Everybody up here seems to hunt and fish, which is reflected in the stock at the Wal-Mart. I've never seen so many Fishing poles. I enjoyed looking around at the things I didn't know exsisted, like "Ice Fishing Rigs" and "Predator Calls". There's a DVD on the art of calling Bears! It says something like "They'll come running, ready to EAT!" Isn't that something you'd want to avoid? I would. Everywhere you go there's taxidermed animals and fur stores. Pretty "Anti-California". After all, fur pretty much fueled the existance of this whole State! I guess it's not very hard to find the Last Frontier after all, if you just look around a little.

Heatwave?

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:35:58 GMT

Greetings from Alaska! The locals swear we're in a heatwave, because the temps are in the low 20's and high 30's. I don't think "Heatwave" and snow really go together. Everything's relative. Let me take care of some odds and ends; I bought a new bass! And I brought it (and only it) with me to Alaska! So it's a 'sink or swim' situation. What is this snappy new axe that can take the place of my fine vintage Fenders? Well, it's a $300 Indonesian Squire. It's called a "Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz", and it's, dollar for dollar, an amazing bass. It's not going to become my all around "Number One", but I sure don't have to worry about travelling with it. I'll be sure to write a review after this run of gigs. Last Saturday, I played at the Elk Grove Brewery with Mojo Madness, a rare treat for me these days. I've been playing with James for years now, and now with Jim Caroompas on guitar and Artie Chavez on drums, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I played my ass off, thanks to those guys. The remainder of December, outside of this Saturday the 9th, I'll be hosting the Saturday Afternoon blues jams at Red House. Plus I'll be available for lessons, sessions...whatever! So, four shows in Anchorage, during the heatwave. Break out the sunscreen!

Catch up time!

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:55:17 GMT

I had to go back and find out where I was when I last left an entry!

The reason it's been so quiet around here is that a.) I came home for a few days, and b.) I went to Mexico City and left the laptop behind.

But first things first; Oregon. It's been suggested by my Blog Conscience, Jon, that I'm sounding depressed. Not so, says I. I'm just kind of running out of cute quips to write about motel rooms, van rides and fried foods. I'm looking forward to being at home for more than a couple of days. Which is why it was such a treat to have a "slumber party" in Oregon. A couple of years ago, a friend of the family, Pat Sullivan, moved from the bay area to a "Hilltop Estate" with her daughter Jennifer, and grand children Hillary and Hunter. Pat and Jennifer came to the Salem show, and swept me away to their compound in the wilderness along the MacKenzie River.

The place is a menagerie, with dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, and snakes. Then, outside there are goats, roosters and chickens, turkeys, peacocks, geese, and a pot bellied pig. You never know what you'll see when you look out onto the football field they call a front lawn. I was dissapointed that the herd of Elk hadn't shown up yet to graze on their lawn - just pictures from last year.

It was a real treat to get away even for a few hours and be around a family, and they were nice enough to drive me to Bend for the final show of the tour. Thanks again, Sullivans!

So the tour ended, we drove home in a day, and I had a nice little Thanksgiving break with family, not writing blog entries.

The day after Thanksgiving, I had to be at SFO at 4AM for a 6AM flight to Mexico City, for two shows at the Festival de Blues. Any "road boredom" definately got paid off by this one. We had three nights at the Sheraton Centro Historico (beautiful single rooms, mine on the 21st floor), an embarrassingly light work schedule (one 45 minute set opening both shows), a great, great sound crew, and some of the best hangs ever. The rest of the bill was Chicago blues groups of various stripe, including people like Harp legend Billy Branch, who's bassist Nick Charles is an absolute monster (but I hear he can't juggle), Marcy Levy, the legendary Sam Lay, and a bunch of other fun, nice people. Not a butthole in the bunch!

Even with all of that, the person I was most drawn to was Marie Dixon, widow of the late great Willie Dixon. Willie Dixon's biography is the blues, and his influence can't be underestimated.His widow Marie is dedicated to carrying on the traditions and supporting and fostering artists whenever she can through Willie's Blues Heaven Foundation. Plus, she's got a ton of great stories, and whenevr I saw her over the weekend, I'd grab the nearest chair! She'd talk about "the boys" acting up on a plane, and "the boys" are Muddy Waters, Son Seals and other giants. She talked about "ofcourse, the Rolling Stones would always come over to the house", and how President Reagan sent Willie some cufflinks, and how she still had Willie's main bass and the pink Electric Upright he could never bring himself to play live and...well, I was mesmerized. If I ever get to Chicago, that's one home cooked meal invitation I'd never pass up.

Oh yeah...the shows. The shows were outstanding! Saturday night we played the Teatro de Cuidad, one of those old style four tiered Opera Houses, as beautiful a setting as I've ever played. The next day was a big outdoor festival at the Monumento de la Revolucion, with the stage facing the giant tower in the big square. At both shows, the people were so responsive and so into the whole thing that it was a damn shame we only got 45 minutes. These are the gigs you live for, these make everything else worthwhile. When my time on stage is over, these are the kind of shows I'll remember. Thanks to Raul the promoter ("Thanks for coming, and thanks for going home!"), the incredible sound crew, and the people of Mexico City.

And wait till you see the boots I bought!

Wash.-ed out.

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 05:52:40 GMT

November 18th, 12:09AM

Well FINE. Apparently, here in Port Townsend, when you have a big neon sign that says “OPEN 24HRS” doesn’t mean the same as it does most places.

Or maybe, the neon sign at the Cyber Bean Café lost the bit on the bottom that said “-NOT!”

Whatever the case, they were closed. So no blog download, no checking Emails, no looking up what Hipshot model number I need. All I got was a late, after-gig walk in the cold.

The walk probably did me some good, seeing as how I ate so late. Here’s how that worked; we went to sound check at 4:00, unloaded, set up, and worked with the “sound system” and sound man. In the meantime, we ordered our food, a contractual arrangement. So we finish up our work around 5:00, but the cook says he probably can’t have the food ready before 6 or 6:30. Hmm. Okay, we don’t want to sit around there, so we arrange to come back at 7:30, and our food will be ready. So we do. And we wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, our food is ready. The problem is that it’s 8:15, and we play at 8:30. So I eat my Seafood Linguini and Cheesecake at 11:30, after the gig.

Geez. Waa waa waa. Pretty soon I’ll be whining about the color of M&M’s and the brand of bottled water in the dressing rooms.

Well, Mark who runs the Upstage is a real nice guy, and in fact all the people tonight were really nice. Dirk Anderson, an upright player whose band played the Upstage the night before was there with his wife, both very nice people. Dirk is a very good jazz bassist, with great tone.

I bought a great black cowboy hat in Seattle. I like wearing it onstage. It’s better than closing my eyes when I want to, ummm…concentrate.

What else.?...what else?...there’s a little diner here that makes great Fish & Chips, and has fantastic Milkshakes. Wish I’d eaten there for dinner. It's called "Sea J's" if you're ever there.

There I go again.

Welcome to the cold.

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 05:49:59 GMT

November 17th, 5:23PM

Friday night, the last Washington show, in Port Townsend. The Upstage is a dinky little place that serves really good food and seats the audience all around you while you play in more of a pit than a stage.

I ordered the Seafood Linguini and Cheesecake for desert. Mmmm! We’ll go back to eat at 7:30.

I feel like I’ve run out of steam on this tour. Seattle was great, and while I would never denigrate any gig, small town, small club, small stage just kinda sucks the wind out of the sails.

Hopefully I’ll see some friends of the family in Salem tomorrow. Pat?

My laptop is still wireless-less…or ‘wire’…or…well, messed up. There’s a place down the street called “The Cyber Bean Café”, so I’m hoping for a little late night download of this blog entry. We’ll see.

Also, any musicians reading this, I’ve got some time off from the Hooker gig coming up, and I’m looking for work. Drop me a line and let me know what you got! Gigs? Studio? Lessons? Confessions? Anything around home.

Seattle

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:40:37 GMT

November 16th, 11:14AM

The biggest disappointment so far, was being in Spokane for almost three days and NOT being able to see Patrick. He says he had “Location Shoots” and he’s working on a production during the day…but I think he doesn’t actually live there anymore, and for some reason, doesn’t want anyone to know it.

Terrorist? Super-spy? Out-sourced to India? I have many questions that won’t be answered without a return trip to Spokane.

The drive from Spokane to Seattle was wild. It goes like this; Spokane, then nothing, nothing, more nothing, the Columbia River, some more nothing, then the snowy mountain pass; a veritable Winter Wonderland, then Seattle.

The Triple Door in Seattle is a really cool Supper Club type of joint, with their own backline (no lifting!), a big stage, and good food. The gig itself is only from 7:30 to 9:00, which some people like, and some people feel it’s a shame to have such a nice set up for so short of a gig because after all we’re not out here because we like hotels.

After the show, we got to hang out again with The Red Hot Blues Sisters, who took us to a local jazz jam at The Whiskey Bar, and later for a surreal late-night breakfast at the 5 Points Café.

The jam was fun; we made some noise and met a lot of local musicians. I got to play “I’ll Take You There” with the Sisters, so my night was made.

The 5 Points was a great, crazy, “oh I guess the bars are closed” scene, with over inebriated denizens of the night floating in and out. Very entertaining.

Today, our last day off, instead of hanging out in Seattle, with lots of things to do, we’re going to go to Port Townsend. I’m sure it’s a nice place, but we know people here, we have stuff to do here (The RHBS’s both work at the Seattle Museum of Art!), there is stuff here. It’s disappointing.

Cyber stranded.

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:06:30 GMT

My Wireless Card has gone out! I'm stuck on lobby machines and internet cafes until I can figure this out.

Send help!

We travelled all day yesterday through some...shall we say "Wide open spaces", and arrived in Spokane last night. We'll be here for three nights, with a full, true day off today. I'm going to do some exploring, and hopefully get together with Patrick at some point.

Maybe I can find someplace to get my Laptop fixed!

Family Reunion.

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 15:55:25 GMT

Well that was a pretty cranky sounding entry! It illustrates my point about my own hypocrisy, though. I get all 'tabloid' when ruminating on the nature of my new found narrow-mindedness. What moral transgressions led to that outburst? Nothing, outside of my own crankiness. So forget I said that stuff, okay? "The jury is instructed to disregard those statements." Anyway, tonight was great. I'm in Bellingham, and I've had a red circle around this date for the whole tour, because when I saw this city on the schedule, I thought I'd get a chance to see my cousin Craig, who's lived up here for years. I haven't seen him for ten years, right after he and his wife Sarah had Grady. So I got in touch with Craig, and as it turned out, his brother Roger lives nearby, and while I was here, his mom, my aunt was visiting with her husband! So we all had dinner at Craig and Sarah's place before the show, along with their friend (stalker?) Ashley. It was so much fun, sitting around catching up. My biggest regret is not meeting Grady, but he had a prior social engagement, which I completely understand. Everybody came to the show, and we made promises to try to be better at keeping in touch. The other magic word for the day was "Food". I'm stuffed. We started the day with a pilgrimage to the "Southern Kitchen' at 6th and Sprague in Tacoma, a famous Soul Food place. Biscuits and gravy, catfish, grits, hashbrowns...heavy fair for someone who doesn't eat breakfast. But it was SO GOOD, I cleaned my plate (for the record, I had the special; Biscuits and gravy, two eggs, and hash browns for $3.99!!). I was stuffed all day. Later, dinner at Craig and Sarah's; Pork, potatoes and home made Apple Sauce. Killer. The pork was especially tasty. Oh, and asparagas too. And yes, I ate some. Then this caramel apple pie for desert that Craig made. He said our grandmother taught him how to bake pies! My aunt said "She never taught me!" Here's where the wretched excess comes in; in Vancouver, we met this guy originally from Oakland who's lived up in B.C. for about ten years. Boonie is a caterer, who's mission is to bring Soul Food to Canada. Well, tonight Boonie brought Soul Food to us, and like the ad says, "Them ribs is POPPIN'!" So there I was eating ribs, sausage, red beans and rice and corn bread at one in the morning. Check the man out; he's going to be very popular very soon. I, on the other hand, should probably take the rest of the week off from eating.

Bag man of morals.

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:37:32 GMT

There are some time honored, hard and fast rules for bands on the road. Believe me, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce may have a copy write on the whole “What Happens in Vegas…” thing, but they sure didn’t start it. The code of silence is alive and well.

Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not here to write a tell all. Let’s face it; this isn’t the freewheeling seventies. We’ve lived about a quarter of a century with the knowledge that sex can cause death. The drugs available during my High School days look like Trick or Treat handouts compared to the current crop of narcotics.

I pretty much grew up in bands. Nobody’s ever written a book called “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in the Alley Behind The Mabuhay”, but if anyone wants to, I could add a chapter or two. I’m not saying I was totally awash in decadence and excess, but I have been there, I have done that, but I don’t think the T-Shirt fits anymore.

Which brings me around to my point; when did I become such a…grown up? Sex, drugs, booze, deception…and I just sit back and say “Hey, who am I to judge, man?” but inside I’ve suddenly got this little Inner Evangelist, and I’m smiting everyone.

So I guess Hypocrisy is my sin. I certainly feel guilty about my mental heathen stonings. I’ve never wanted to be preachy about sobriety and fidelity, but I do tell people how it’s worked for me, and really, it’s not like we’re Led Zeppelin out here.

Maybe I’m just a little burned out, and looking for things to be silently huffy about. I should probably eat better and get more rest. And not be so damn judgmental. Or mental.

In other news, Mt. Rainier never made another appearance. For all I know, it moves around. Maybe I should get one of those beer cans. Also, we weren’t staying in Tacoma. The gig was in Tacoma, but for the last three days, we’ve actually been in the town of Fife. And no, I couldn’t find any “Fife Police Force” T-Shirts, but they should totally sell them.

Playtime!

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:00:25 GMT

No gig tonight, so we had a little Boys Night Out...sort of.

The story actually starts a couple of months ago. At the end of my first tour, Gig, Mike and I were driving from Illinois back to California. One of our stop-overs was Wendover, Nevada (as regular readers of this site may remember). Mike went out that night, and at one of the casinos came across a band from Seattle. Mike being Mike, he naturally made friends, with promises of getting together when we hit Seattle.

So, we're here, and another group of Mike's new friends from a previous tour, pre-Kennan, are working a Jam Night at Jazzbone's, the club we're playing in tomorrow. So Ian, a guitarist from Seattle came by the hotel, and Jeff, Mike and I got a ride to the club, where we got a little star treatment, and the four of us jammed with The Red Hot Blues Sisters, Mike's buddies.

Here again, the chance to go out and play music outside of the regular gig is a gift! We really got to stretch out and jam tonight, and everybody had a great time, musicians and audience alike. Ian MacKamey is a real nice guy and a great guitarist. Teri Ann Wilson is a great guitarist who also plays a great 'ringleader', leading people through changes. Suze Sims can bring it and sing it! Even better than that, she's one of those people that is so full of love and happiness that you just want to be around her.

People came and went, different people sang, but the whole thing grooved! Hard! And Mike once again illustrates that it's good to be nice and make friends. We had a fun night, instead of laying around the hotel, and we made nice and greased the wheels with the staff for tomorrow night's show.

Walkin' with a mountain.

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 07:48:36 GMT

Tacoma, Washington. We got here last night, a hotel on a 'Business Strip' that runs along Highway 5. There's actually a lot of hotels, strip malls, fast food joints, and, ofcourse, a Casino. Mike and I wandered down to the Casino to get a bite last night, and soak up the "American Casino Experience". Well, just a little. But that's enough for me.

Along the main road, I noticed signs posted on the street lights designating the road as a "Volcano Evacuation Route". The signs run each way, and remind me of the "Hurricane Evacuation Route" signs that run on either side of St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. The more I pondered having to evacuate from a Volcano, the more I thought I'd better check out my surroundings. Being a good musician on my day off, I was at the Laundrymat taking care of my dirty clothes, and there was a Washington State map. I could find Seattle and Tacoma, and I could find Mt. Rainier, but standing outside, I coudn't find it, and figured it was behind the hills or somewhere else out of view.

Later, I decided I'd wander down the street to grab some lunch. The beautiful sunshine from the morning had given away to some dark, dark skies making their way up from the south, and I figured I'd better hurry to beat the rain. Coming back, I was checking out the dark behind me and looking to the horizon where the sun itself seemed to be running north to escape the coming deluge, and that's when I saw it; HUGE...really, really huge. My mountains in the Bay Area are nothing. The sun illuminating one side of it's snow covered expanse, clouds covering it's peak.

And suddenly, I feel so dumb, because how did I not see it? It's pretty damn big. I'd seen Rainier from an airplane once. Well, the bit that stuck up above all the clouds, at least. From the ground though, it looks unreal - like a matte painting from a movie. I would imagine that even if it started spewing hot lava, it would be hard to turn and run, because it would still be so beautiful to look at.

Not that I really want to find out.

Back in the States

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:47:17 GMT

Let's discuss Whistler for a moment. In the not-too-distant future, most people will become very familiar with Whistler, because Vancouver is the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the Skiing and who knows what else will be held at Whistler.

Whistler is the kind of place I like to do gigs at, because I'd never go there otherwise. I don't ski. Or snowboard. Or mountain bike down ski slopes. I don't buy ski clothes, either. When travelling, I tend to favor places with history, like cities, over recently built resorts. Walking around the village in the drizzly, cold rain, with Fleece Vests for sale outnumbering actual people by close to 4, 376 to one, it's easy imagining a bustling crowd for the 2010 games.

There's lots of work going on, from hotel construction and expansion, to road widening leading up the mountain. It's a very beautiful place, and I'll enjoy watching the Winter Olympics from the comfort of my living room, warm and cozy.

So, it's back to the states now, after a brief stay at the border. We were stopped by the Line Monitor and sent inside, which caused a bit of confusion as to why. The officer at the desk said, "Let me go check with the officer on what exactly his thoughts were here."

He came back in, and while we were seated across the room, he was telling one of his fellow officers "I'm not wild about this. Sometimes these guys feel like they have to stop bands, because they're, well, bands. In my experience, it's not warranted, because these guy know we're looking at them." We were soon on our way to Tacoma, where we don't actually play until Thursday (this being Tuesday). But really, what kind of trouble could we get into with days off?

Sidebar; Sitting around watching Election Returns.

Yay! For the most part, that is. Maybe we can get back to a system of Checks and Balances and away from the Proto-Dictatorship. Maybe it's not 1984 after all.

And yes Jon, I voted Absintee before I left.

Oh...Canada.

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 01:04:22 GMT

I know; cheap title.

Victoria. Everyone said "Victoria is so great! You'll really like it!" Rain rain rain rain rain. Oh, and freezing cold.

Well, at least to my thin California blood.

I've said this before; for the most part, we're going to be playing someplace cool, in front of a good crowd, so most gigs gets ranked by other factors, like accomodations, or people we come in comntact with. Based on the latter, Victoria qualifies as a cool gig thanks to guys like Michael the sound guy and Chris the chef, both from the Central Bar. Nice guys who treated us great. Chris makes damn good food, and lots of it.

Then, we made our way via Ferry back to mainland Vancouver and headed up the mountain for Whistler. Yet another place where people get this silly grin and say "You'll like Whistler!"

Whistler is a ski resort, basically a shopping village surrounded by hotels all catering to wealthy Canadian skiiers and snowborders. The band played some Epic Shows here last January, and two nights were booked in anticipation of another steller engagement.

One problem; there's no snow! Just a huge rain front. Wait, a freezing rain front. Yeah, that's it.

There's two ways to look at this; One is the "I'm homesick and pretty damn unimpressed by all this" way, where you complain about how cold the club is while you sit around for a two-and-a-half hour sound check, how the room only has one bed up in the loft and I'm sleeping on a sofa bed, how the crowds never materialize because A.) No snow, and B.) It's Sunday and Monday night (duh).

The other, positive way, and the one I try to keep in mind is that I'm pretty damn fortunate to have a gig on Sunday and Monday night, much less one in as beautiful a spot as this. There's a lot of musicians, some better than me, not playing anywhere or making any money. The crowd wasn't that bad; it filled up pretty well soon after we started. The staff here at the Adara has been great. Stay positive.

I also didn't realize how many people I know up in the Nothwest. I'm hoping to see my cousins, who I haven't seen in years, in Bellingham. We're going to Spokane and I'm trying to get a chance to see an old buddy Patrick Treadway. A family friend, Pat Sullivan has extended a Sleepover Offer in Oregon, and I have friends, extended family, and internet aquaintances all over the two states. Social butterfly!

From here, I'm not sure of Internet access. Tomorrow we leave Canada and have two days off to get to Tacoma. That means "cheapest motels possible" for a bit. Not that that means no access in and of itself. Here at the fanciest place we've stayed, access cost me $12 Canadian for 24 hrs., and I only bought one day. We'll see.

Fit for a Queen

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 16:51:40 GMT

Tonight's gig, here in Nanaimo, was at The Queen's. A very cool place, with a big big stage, huge sound system, ample dance floor, and an extensive bar. The managment gave us all T-Shirts and Baseball Hats! Swag!

The show as great, with a ton of dancers right in front. Pretty high energy compared to other B.C. shows we've done. I'm not implying that Canadians don't rock, just that they're a tad more reserved at the beginning of the shows. Maybe they're just cold.

The funny thing was after we played. I guess the place is usualy a Disco, and they were playing music and a few people were trying to get the dance floor started, but it was pretty sparse. Until they dropped the Bryan Adams "Summer of '69", and the place exploded! Dance floor; packed! Instantly!

The magic of Bryan Adams in his native country. An awesome power that, hopefully, will only be used for good.

Blog Download

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 04:24:46 GMT

November 3rd, 12:01AM

Cumberland, Vancouver Island. That’s in Canada.

We got up this morning and headed north for the Ferry Terminals. It was one of those big, drive on in Ferry’s, and the crossing was beautiful. Rocky shores in the forest, and when you round the first corner you see all the hillsides dotted with big, impressive houses. It’s like Sausalito on a bigger scale. I grabbed a window seat, listened to some music and enjoyed the view while drifting in and out of consciousness.

I’d say “lulled to sleep by the rocking of the boat”, but the Ferry was so big, I don’t think it really rocked. It was more like a moving island. There were a couple of restaurants, a video game parlor, and a store selling souvenirs and sportswear. I didn’t really look around, but I had a flash of the movie “The Ring”, where the horse gets loose on the Ferry deck and wreaks havoc, but I think that was a smaller boat.

We’re on the Island for the next couple of days, with gigs in Nanaimo and Victoria, then back to the mainland for two gigs in Whistler.

Tonight’s show here at the Waverly was a good one. The Waverly is a funky, old neighborhood bar and restaurant, and we have rooms right up stairs. No Internet, but I’ve got a television. Right now I’m watching some crazy movie, the name of which I don’t know, with Rod Steiger, Heather Graham, Louis Nye, Lauren Hutton, and Isaac Hayes, who talks in a high pitched, baby-like voice. The only reason mention it is so I can remember to find out what the hell this is. It’s got a serious Roger Corman vibe.

Simple Pleasures

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:23:57 GMT

We played the Yale Hotel last night, a venerable old Vancouver Blues Bar where everybody has graced the stage from one time to another. Just a little over a week ago, Terry Hanckk played here, which means my friend guitarist Johnny Cat was here, as was the King of the Crockett Bassists, Fly Brooks.

An aside; Fly Brooks never recognizes me. I've introduced myself to him about eight times...pretty much every time I've talked to him. He even called me to sub for him once on a local gig (I was booked). Still, "Hi, I'm Kennan...bass player...Crockett..." He's a great player though, so I still try to steal his stuff whenever I see him play!

The Yale has several things going for it; 1.) It's one block from the Hotel, so even in the freezing cold, you can walk. 2.) They have their own back line, so I didn't have to carry anything but my bass! 3.) Start at 8:00, done by 11:00.

After the gig, I was a little hungry - not "a whole meal" hungry, just a little, so I crossed the street to the 7/11 for a Coke and a snack. Now, there's no way I'm going to touch one of those Hot Dogs in the weird 'hot roller machine', so I was kind of looking around when I spotted good old "Cup-O-Soup", and remembered seeing one of those Hot Water pots in my closet.

Perfect!

Fortunately, I carry a knife and fork in my toiletries bag - a lesson learned on an earlier tour - for just such an occasion. So there I was, having a yummy, not-too-heavy, warm in my belly Cup-O-Soup in my room by quarter to twelve!

Today, the good news is it's warmed up a little. The bad news is that it's warmed up because it's raining. We have to drive to Cumberland to play a place that has no website to help us find them, and because there seems to be a Car Ferry involved, Yahoo Maps can't help us. Should be interesting.

Foreign Customs

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 05:48:23 GMT

A tale of two cities; The day started with a drive to SFO through commute traffic, which took about an hour. (Thanks baby!) The Alaska Airlines counter was gloriously free of lines, or any other customers. Having already checked in online the night before, I just had to show my Passport and check my bags. Then it was off to the Security Checkpoint. I've been through a few of these lately, and if my experiance this morning is any indication, SFO has to be one of the best. LOTS of people actually working! The line flows line water. After a wait at the gate doing some people watching, I got on the emptyest plane I've ever been on. I swear, I didn't count, but there couldn't have been more than twelve passengers. The crew announced we were under a "Light Load Rule", which meant that we couldn't change seats because we were assigned particular seats for weight and balance. It didn't really matter, since everyone pretty much had all the room you could ask for. Upon arrival in Vancouver, I had to take quite a hike to Passport Control, and immediately got in a giant line going nowhere. There were hundreds of people funneling down to about six open desks, and every once and a while, this little woman in uniform would open a different 'path' in the line organizer and you'd move to a different line. I guess there was a method to her madness, but I don't know if it really saved any time. When I finally got to the line, they sent me to another department. First I had to collect my bags; suitcase laying on the carousel and bass across the baggage hall laying on the oversize ramp. Then back to Canadian Immigration to stand in line. Twenty minutes later, I'm at the window, armed with my Passport, a copy of John's "You may enter" form, a printout of the itenerary, the all-important Canadian "Labor Market Opinion" Number, and, fortunately, all the patience in the world. Judging by all this, Canada must have a real problem with musicians coming in to the country and becoming terrorists, or something. My work visa cost me $150 Canadian, and I was in customs for a total of an hour and a half. After another hour waiting for/riding on the Airporter Bus I was at the lovely Quality Inn at False Creek. I beat the band here! Apparently, someone, and I won't say who, (but really, who else could it be?) wasn't entirely truthful about past indescretions with the law, and the border patrol decided he could come in afterall but only after paying a $200 fine. See, they don't care about what youthful shenanigans you've done in your past, as long as you're totally honest with them about it, and make it clear you've seen the error of your ways. When I was being questioned, the guy asked "Are you single, married, or happily married?" And was serious. It's probably also a by-product of having an idiot government in the States. Nobody's very thrilled with us these days. Oh! Apparently the 'Columbia' comes from the city's proximetry to the Columbia River, and not neccesarily Britains yearning for it's own shining golden city.