Chicago, Portland and Sasquatch

Although Chicago seemed ominous, it wasn't the NATO/G8 summit that would disrupt our journey but a group of fans waiting

at the airport for James' autograph. He of course obliged and we waited, getting ever more acquainted with the process of selecting the most comfortable piece of luggage to sit on. Later on that evening we went for pizza and I did my best at tackling a Chicago stuffed pizza-imagine the dough of a pizza with cheese (stuffed) in the middle of the dough and then two to three times as much tomato sauce as normal sitting above as a topping. It was fantastic, if a little filling!

After recovering from the cheese dreams and playing an acoustic show on Good Day Chicago I took a brief walk down to the edge of Lake Michigan to take in the city. 

I wish we could've spent more time in Chicago and I'll have to go back because it has a great feel about it; the 'L' train rumbling around the city like thunder, Lake Michigan masquerading as some 

calm blue ocean and the wind ripping through the streets willing you to duck into a local bar.  I resisted though and headed back to the hotel to catch a lift to the gig.

The show went well and again the crowds demanded time for autographs and photos which lasted a good hour after the show, allowing me to sample some local IPA's backstage; I think I've got the bug for them now, thanks Dad!

It was an early start the next day for our flight to yet another city that I must return to: Portland, Oregon. It is in the heart of the Pacific-Northwest, filled with trees and covered in low, cloudy skies. It has a very European feel, with trams trundling through the tree-lined avenues and fewer high-rises than I've seen in other US cities. 

Theuns and me wandered around taking in the sights and then met up with the gang for dinner at a 30th floor restaurant to get an aerial view of the city which turned into a night of pool games, laughs and more IPA's with group of fun locals.

With a slight headache and a bottle of water in hand, I sat through our next day eyes glued to the window as we travelled to Yakima for Sasquatch Festival.

We travelled through thick trees, waterfalls, mist, desert plains, grass plains and wide flat valleys to get to the festival site, perched on the edge of a canyon overlooking the Columbia River. You could see this view clearly from the stage and I have never played in a more beautiful setting. At times it was a real struggle to stay focussed on the task at hand!

At the festival we met a couple of artists who opened up our stage called Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss. They perform as a duo with Sean singing and Zander playing 12-string guitar.  We chatted a while with Sean and he kindly gave us their CD which is the perfect companion for this journey, be sure to check them out.

We're now on the 1st leg of 3 days on the road heading down to LA with 1040 miles to cover, bags of pretzels to eat and all sorts of fun to be had.

Much more to come so I'll keep you posted. Big up to everyone back home, I hear the sun has finally been shining.

Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Bamboozle

I'm sure everyone reading this has been in a situation where they are incapable of truly understanding and comprehending the scale of things; Niagara falls puts you in one of these. The spray or 'mist' that the falls spits out soaks you from anywhere within a couple hundred feet of the falls and despite glorious sunshine streaming down, you are soaked as if being caught short by a heavy April shower. After taking the falls in from above we descended down to The Maid of the Mist boat where we were taken to the foot of the falls and doused yet again in the Niagara River. Again though, even being that close to this static beast, I felt incapable of truly grasping its scale and power, however I'm not saying I want to get into a barrel to get the feel for it. After getting our fill of Niagara and hastily exiting through the gift shop we moved on to Buffalo and had dinner at a great restaurant called Merge where various members of the band (including me) got up onto the restaurant's open mic stage for impromptu songs and laughter.
In the morning we had a 450 mile (8 hour drive) to New Jersey for Bamboozle festival the day after.
It was a long drive that took us through a vast landscape of trees, greenery, blue skies and warm sun. We passed over rivers and train tracks, on bumpy highways and flat, smooth asphalt, stopping at all manner of truck stops on the way. I look forward with keen anticipation to driving around the no doubt arid landscape on the West coast.
Bamboozle was fun. It was a fully catered (very important for the thrifty musician) beach and theatre festival. We were in one of the theatres (The Paramount) which was a relief considering the intensity of the sun outside. The Paramount held about 1200 and was host to many bands that day with speedy changeovers and even speedier sound checks, the gig was a lot of fun though as Theatre gigs always are.
Another highlight of Bamboozle is that I got to see a bit of a band called Less Than Jake which took me back to my teenage years!
Next is Chicago where the G8 and NATO summits are being held, the next couple of days promise to be exciting...
Finally, here are a couple of links to our performances over here so far...
Rachel Ray TV Show (New York)-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57I_lcDsFS8
Long Island Show-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tx5MvIeKOA&feature=relmfu
Toronto Show-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU5fRne2oxk
P.S. Dunkin' Donuts' Coffee is dangerously strong and today's hunt for breakfast was a little harder than at Bamboozle Festival. Oh, the glamour...

Toronto and the 3 degree tilt.

What a city. I've never seen the likes of the characters you come across in Toronto anywhere else; it's like a cross between Trainspotting and a Monty Python film. I wouldn't want this to reflect badly on the rest of Toronto and its inhabitants because it really was an interesting place to be, if at times a little unpredictable!
Me and Theuns decided that many of the people we met/were accosted by in Toronto are on a '3 degree tilt', just ever so slightly off the beaten track of our reality. This of course has its pros and cons; I've never seen so many lamp posts, bikes, cars and other objects being verbally abused or fondly adored by people down on their luck. On the plus side though, there's not a lot the people of Toronto haven't seen which makes for many an interesting conversation.
We played a show at The Great Hall which, I was informed, is a building originally made by Polish workers in the early days of Toronto. It's fantastic place with a proscenium arch and a seated circle; probably the biggest gig we've done over here so far. After the gig we went to a great bar called Motel and I highly advise going there on a Tuesday night to watch the live improvised music, just keep an open mind!
We are now on our way to the great Niagara Falls so plenty of photos will follow and I look forward to seeing one of the natural wonders of the world...being on tour ain't so tough after all...

400 miles of trees.

I write this post from the back of our tour van travelling on our long journey up to Montreal. Unfortunately I had wrongly assumed that the views on the drive up would be particularly spectacular or memorable; so far we have had a view of near enough just trees. It's going quickly though and the weather is beautiful so every pit-stop we take is, for me at least, spent basking in the sun.
We had our first gig yesterday at Ollie's point in Long Island and it certainly kicked off the tour with a bang. The crowd was 350 strong and cheered us through the set as we shook off the travel cobwebs and found our rhythm.
I keep forgetting to mention one of life's little amusing quirks that you should look out for next time you're in a hotel or building with a lift. I'm not sure if it was because of the style of lift doors in our hotel or if it has taken time to notice this quirk but if you are somewhere like the 8th floor, at the right time, you can hear fleeting sound-bites of conversations as they quickly appear and almost instantly, disappear. I've heard all sorts, from laughter, arguments and business discussions whilst waiting for my lift and I find each one as exciting as the last. Let me know if you've noticed this or if you have since found a suitable 'listening observatory'...

Back again.

Here we are back in the States and on the road. I guess the reason for my slight delay in posting this is because I've been indulging in our first couple of days off. So far, the only performance of note has been a short acoustic set on The Rachael Ray Show which will air on the 16th (apologies but not sure about the time or channel!).
Last night our sound man Theuns decided to take on a Pha'al curry at The Brick Lane Curry House and with much amusement we watched him on his frankly valiant, but unsuccessful quest to finish 'The hottest curry in the world'. We all sampled the sauce and there can be no doubt that the man was in for an ordeal; he probably still is now...
For me, today brings a trip out to the North Fork of Long Island to visit my Grandma and share stories and look at no doubt more embarrassing pictures of me and my Dad.
Not much more to say now other than New York is now spattered with verdant green and is as joyous as ever. Of course, being at leisure here and staying in an amazing hotel contributes to my somewhat idyllic, rose-tinted view but I'm happy to forego reality for a while and live a dream...