The tour has begun...

Hi folks!

We're already on day 3 of our tour, and finally getting down to this business of blogging, after a couple of not-so-subtle requests. :-)

The GREAT news is that Don's back medication worked very well, and the driving was not so bad at all -- which was especially important on day 1, when we had to put over 12-1/2 hours on the road. Thank Dog for whoever had the good sense to invent anti-inflammatories!

So yes, day one was just driving... driving... driving... We didn't encounter any moose or deer at their various crossing signs, although there was a wayward donkey catching a snack in a ditch east of Quebec City. Spent the night in Cabano with a nice bottle of red we snagged from the depanneur earlier that evening -- oh yes, it's like April all over again, except I forgot to make a note of what kind it was... Italian, I know, and quite good, considering we got it at the same place we filled up the car and Don bought fruit squirts (they had no wine gums -- how's a man supposed to tour?!?).

That left us with only five hours we had to drive yesterday, before our gig in Sackville, NB. A nice coffee house (avec biere) called the Bridge Street Cafe. The first thing we saw when we walked in was a now-laminated poster of Taylor Mitchell, for the gig she played there just a few weeks ago... We counted our blessings and tried not to let it get to us.

Unfortunately, OUR posters had still not arrived (curse you, Canada Post -- three business days, my arse!!!), so there were many patrons who were (pleasantly, we hope) surprised that there was music happening that night, and we found ourselves explaining to many people who the heck we were.

The staff at the Bridge Street Cafe are all very nice, and quite supportive and enthusiastic. A nice crew, although they could, perhaps, have run the cappucino machine at some more opportune moments than, say, the beginning of our quiet instrumental After (like, I dunno... AFTER!).

Here, we also found ourselves part of a young student's term paper, which was kind of interesting. He's doing a double major in music and psychology, and is writing about sound in urban spaces. This was phase one of his project, where he records some typical sounds in various places -- a cafe, library, and... I forget the others. The next stage, he's going to mix things up a little, and introduce atypical sounds into the same places -- he's also going to write a composition that brings everything together in the end. Very cool, and we had an interesting conversation with him about music and sound and stuff.

We also met Edward, who seems to be Sackville's number one music fan -- I think he spends a lot of time listening to live music, and apparently plays a bit too. We ate dinner with him on our break (FABULOUS food at this cafe!!!), and talked about many musical things. Our friend David Francey is playing in Sackville tonight, so we told Edward (and anyone else who stood still long enough) to go check him out -- any Sackvillians reading this post should get their cute fannies out the door too! Sackville United Church, David Francey -- go, you won't regret it! :-)

After the show, we headed back on the highway for the final two-hour drive to Halifax -- avoiding aforementioned deer and moose, which is good, because Edward was very concerned about our safety along that stretch, which was making me very nervous! Got in to a very dozy Mom, who said hello and then went right back up to bed, leaving us alone with the plonk-in-a-box. (silly woman...)

This morning, we were wakened by the lovely Lilly, my four-year-old niece, and she and I spent the morning baking sugar cookies. Can't get any better than that...

Don's now tapping his toes to get me out the door in time to grab a sandwich before our show tonight, so I'd better vamoose (how the heck do you spell that?). Tonight we're playing for the HarbourFolk Society at the Rose & Kettle Concert Sessions in Cole Harbour. Don met some of these folks when he was out this way recording our friend Bob Ardern this summer, but I'm looking forward to meeting them myself. It sounds like a great venue, too. And did I mention they have baked goods? :-)

OK, I'll stop talking about food and wine, but just for a little while... (We're staying at Mom's house tonight, so it'll just be plonk-in-a-box, anyhow!)

Thanks, as always, for reading!
Alyssa