YOLO Repair and other anomalies.

After weeks of holding back, the guys decide its time for Cody to reveil his massive left hand.

JK.  That's only a camera trick, and an unplanned one at that.  This image was taken in Kelowna after our show at Fernando's.  With no place to stay, I called upon the audience for some help.  Our new friend Mariah answered the call.  We weren't really that tired after the show so Mariah took us on a little walk to the water.  Before we left we stocked up on beverages and smokeables, and then this picture was taken.  No one had really started drinking yet.  

I guess this is what happens when we feel well rested and looked after.  We left Vancouver feeling like we had had a little vacation even though we weren't there for too long.   The combination of being back in Canada, being among close friends, playing a great show, and sleeping really helped me feel level headed again.  It all started with that hug from Garland.  

I'm sitting at my cousin's place just outside of Calgary right now and I have developed a deep love for her new dog, Yoshi.  I don't normally like small dogs, but he is well mannered and cute as fuck.  Hmmmmm, that's about as much as I want to write today.  I need to go pump the water from the lawn or it might seep into the basement.  And the day is getting away from me because I slept like a little baby child in the darkest room in the house on the most comfortable of beds.  I want to pump the water, then do some running.  

PICTURES WILL TELL THE STORIES.

 MING and Cody wait while I get a coffee.  

 A crows nest.  I later found out that it was an art installation.  The crows had a nest, then someone claimed it as their art.

 First time I swam  outside this year and it was in an ocean.  My fav ocean - the Pacific.

 While Cody, Mind and I were at the beach, Karl and Brennan were hanging with their bud.  Here are some pictures from that adventure.

 I just saw this picture, and it makes me wish I had instagram.

 Brennan noticed this bike outside of Ming's place.  Cool move, Vancouver.

 After our show we went to Guilt & Co. to have a drink.  My bud Nic works there and he made us his signature drink, the Margaret Thatcher.  It's a blueberry whiskey sour and it was amazing.  I also ran into my friend Rococode there too!  Small world.

 Here is the drink with it's maker in the background.

YOLO Repair.  Enough said.  

 The last day in Vancouver on our walk back from breakfast and shopping. 

 This is The Backhomes.  Check them out because there are awesome.  We played with them in Kelowna.

 And this is Jay Arner.  You should check him out too because his show was phenomenal.

 Here is a picture of me looking like an animal in a tree.

 He achieved the light in this picture by shining our phones lights at each other.   It work as well as it could with an iphone taking the image.

 The moon was huge that night.  It looked much better in person.

 Classic Ricardo foot shot.

After we had drank/smoked all of our goods and after we had evade capture by the beach police, we got into some conversation about something so interesting.  As soon as we saw this, we all forgot what we were talking about. 

 The drive yesterday from Kelowna to Calgary was wet and dark, but it covered the mountains in cloud and fog.

That's Yoshi and Bear.  I'm going to get the yard cleaned up now and then go play with them some more.

Have a good day, everyone.

Cloud kingdom

One day I will figure out a way to live in the clouds.  Literally, not figuratively, as I have already mastered that move.

We left for the west coast early Saturday morning feeling refreshed and a little less frazzled from the few weeks we had been out on the road.  The drive home from Des Moines happened directly after the show there, so we had three whole days back home.  When I pulled up to my place I was pleased to see that my lawn was no longer the mud and garbage pit it had been; it was covered in mostly living green grass.  Did you know you have to water fresh sod every day for at least an hour for a week?  I've never watered my lawns as I consider it wasteful, but to lose an entire lawn because I didn't want to spend the money on water would be a silly life choice.  So when I found time to spend the time to water my lawn, I felt pretty silly doing it.  Luckily I had a friend and some neighbours to chat with while it happened which helped to pass the time.

The next morning it rained, which means I didn't have to spend the money!

The drive to Seattle was a long one.  We left at 10am and arrived at noon the following day feeling completely ragged, dirty and tired, but I was super excited to play shows again.

Seattle is a cool town.  We saw a very small part of it, but we had some great pizza and coffee, sat in a park and after the show ate the best burger I've had in a long time at The Honey Hole.  We were all super impressed with the food there, so if you ever find yourself in Seattle, check it out.  The show we played felt more like a warmup for the Canadian dates.  The venue itself had a few people there, but the real party was outside on the sidewalk.  The Comet Tavern is located on a busy street in Seattle and people are walking by in large numbers, so it's easy to attract a crowd if you have the music to do it with.  I like to think that we do.

At some point, all I could see out of the doors and windows were people looking in at us while we played.  There were a few women dancing outside for the entire set.  They obviously didn't want to pay cover, but I think it was pretty awesome of them to just dance on the street like that.  At some point I wasn't even playing to the room; my attention was focused on the party outside.  They left before I had a chance to go thank them.

After the set, we ate and drove to Vancouver.  Sitting in the van at the border, I got was filled with pride as I realized that I had completed my first US tour with some success and a lot of great times.  We had a lot of help from people down there with places to stay and with the booking of shows.  Big thanks to Clockwork's manager, Jimmy, for hooking up all those shows with Clockwork.  I am super grateful.

I handed the work visas over to the border guard and we were on our way to meet my two besties in Vancouver, Ming and Garland.  I love seeing those two.  The live so close to each other and they are always able to house the band.  We rolled up to Garlands apartment and she came out and give me the biggest, most welcoming hug.  I felt like I was back home.  Although the feeling that the US is a very different place from Canada is gone, it was still great to be back across the border and in the arms of one of my dearest friends.  Then I had the best sleep I've had on this whole trip.

So now I'm in Vancouver at the Railway club waiting to play our first Canadian show since the 1st of June.  Very exciting stuff.

 We left Winnipeg as a three-piece and picked up the fourth in Brandon.  Cody's sister lives by the border on the way south so we stopped in and luckily had a chance to meet his niece and sister!  She is very stern.

 Jump ahead a few hours to after we've been cleared to work for a night in the US.  Brennan is doing some weird stuffs.  This really should have been a video.

 There will be a lot of nature pictures on this one.  I've always been fascinated by clous and the way they move and gather or separate.  It's always so distracting to me when I'm driving.

 Here we have short stop on the trip to Seattle where Cody and Brennan try on some local hats.

 I think the woman behind Cody was very impressed.

 Puget Sound.  Never try climbing down this terrain in flip flops.  Always climb any terrain in whatever footwear or you might miss out on some awesome views.

 This is from across the river now on the other side.

 This picture can't even capture the amount of insects we have killed on this trip.

So inspiring chalk art in a park in Seattle.

Found this too.  He-man and Skelly in a future where their not ashamed of their love and accept themselves and each other for who they are.













Right on.  Kelowna's going to be a great time.  Time to drive into some more mountains.  Or through them.

Breaking, breaking

These guys can't even handle it right now.

***THIS POST WAS WRITTEN LAST NIGHT.  UPDATE TO FOLLOW***

Sitting in at The Frequency in Madison, Wisconsin, I am worried that tonight might be the first night that we don't find a warm floor to crash on.  There wasn't much of a crowd here tonight and no one has approached me yet to offer their place.  The Clorkwork guys are going to stay in their van, but they have a bigger van then we do.  Another hotel would set me back quite a bit, but maybe it's best idea.  I'm not sure.  I haven't done any research into the local prices for accommodations yet.  The young lady working the bar just bought me a shot of Makers after I explained to her that I would be taking home a few bottles once we crossed the border into Canada.  She was surprised at how strict the laws are for Canadians going back with American goods.  I gladly took the shot.  If it comes to a van sleep, then at least the booze will help me to pass out quicker.

This is a room full of history.  The bar is made of old band stickers and picks.  It looks like they're all suspended in glass, floating within the sparkles.  Tomorrow we play our last US show until the 16th, when we make our way to Seattle.  We've decided we're going to head back to Winnipeg tomorrow night after the show and hang around in our own spaces for a few days.  At first it felt like a failure because I couldn't secure enough shows to keep us on the road the whole time, but with every day that passes it feels more like a chance to regroup.  It's been a rough go on this one.  I always expect for things to move quicker then they actually do, and I always find myself disappointed by the lack of results as I imagined them.  Unreasonable expectations are always the way I end up hurting myself.  I've gotten better at managing my expectations, but old habits die hard.  So, back to Winnipeg we go before hitting the west coast.  My roommate tells me I have a lawn now, which I'm going to lay in so hard when I get home.  I can't wait to see how my property looks without piles of garbage and mud.  AND apparently I'm getting some free storm doors installed.  You have no idea how happy I am about that.


Last night we stayed with the Clockwork guys at their parents house again.  What wonderful people.  They fed us, let us do laundry, sent us off with food and treated us like their own.  The show last night was super fun and we've made some really great friends in St. Louis.  We're on tour with some of them now.  The Clockwork guys put on an amazing show every night.  Their harmonies are soaring and there is so much energy on stage.  BIG FAN OVER HERE.  We all left their home just after noon and made our way to Madison.  These guys haven't been on a road trip without a chaparon before, and I've promised their parents I'll look after them.  The oldest in the group is 21.  So now it's me and a hilarious group of young men, wide-eyed and awe-struck.  Some of them anyway.

The show in Madison was great.  We're all feeling more comfortable with the material and now we're focusing on the performance and how each song takes it's own feeling while making the whole set feel like it's engaging and entertaining.  This is a good group of guys and I'm glad they're on tour with me playing this music.  It all means so much to me.


***THE FOLLOWING IS AN UPDATE***

I feel gross today.  I have not been exercising and I'm feeling it.  I also re-injured my neck while doing my hair yesterday morning.  The pain is frustrating because it denies me sleep.  That, and some disturbing news back home are enough to really want me to get back home for a few days.  We're driving right after we're finished playing here.  See you soon, Winnipeg.  See you soon, Peanut.

 BABY SHOWER.  So much fun.  So many great people being so great to us.

 Here's the gang eating bbq.

Tom and Julie's backyard is a park.  It should just be a neighbourhood park.  It's massive with maybe 10 trees, probably more.

 I didn't realize that their address was Winnipegs area code.  Always at home.

 The bar we played in was in a strip mall.  Strange, but the venue was great.

 Here is the venues neighbour.

 Clockwork - killing it.  They have so many fans!

 This is Jordan.  He is the younger brother to two of the Clockwork guys.  He and his bud made this tower of wristbands and stickers which they were super proud of.

 This is Jack.  He doesn't like ballons.

 Chocolate cupcake with pulled pork icing.  My invention, it's delicious.

BRENNAN IS PEEING IN THE VAN AGAIN.  I set my hand against his back while he did it and he felt so awkward.  It was a new experience for both of us.  He also filled the bottle before he was done.  What a man.

 The butthole tacos.  Thankfully they went with surfers.

GINGER HONEY ICE CREAM.

 This one is for Garland.

 Clockwork.

 This is Courtney.  She was the wonderful barkeep that keep the booze flowing for me last night.

 Here she is pouring a shot with a scorpion in it.  You eat the scorpion after.

 These are the guys doing the shots .

 Here's the scorpion in mouth.

 Here is a Logan on a van.  Parkour.

 Here is a series of pictures of Cody dancing.  Have a good laugh at it.  I did.

 

 Then Chris, the other barkeep BLEW OUR MINDS with his skills at the cube.  One handed, two handed - it didn't matter.  He figured it out no problem and it was amazing to watch.

 Champion.

 Brennan wanted me to include his weird left handed guitar.  So here it is.  You can take a break if you need to because your brain melted from thinking about how you would ever play one of the monstrosities 

 This is his pedal board.

 LOOK.  We made it to #1 on the UMFM charts!  WOOO.

Clockwork.  Love them.















WE"RE GOING BACK TO WINNIIIEOOOOPEPEPEPEPGPGGGGGG!!!!!  SO EXCITED.  I'm drinking PBR right now.  I hate it but it's 1$.  Long hair, don't care.  See you in Seattle.