At The Oldfolks Home: so much fun

I WANT.

Ok, so this guitar is beautiful. I played it for a good long time while I tested MY REPAIRED AMP. There was a few bad connections in the tube sockets, so the repair person fixed all the problems I didn't even know about and made my amp sound way better. The best it has ever sounded. THE BEST.

I almost sold all of my gear for this guitar though. If you're into it, send donations to oldfolkshomemusic@gmail.com...

Last nights show was a blast. We played to a great crowd a great spot with great bands. It felt like we really hit our stride last night and the audience really responded to that. Our setup is a little unconventional. We all use in-ear monitors and we bring our own mics, stands, and mixers to do that with. So far, all of the sound techs have been happy with it which is a surprise to me. I thought I would for sure get some greif for this setup.

I have found it difficult to connect with the audiences though. It's easier in Winnipeg where I can half expect what the crowd will be like, but on tour every city is different. Every audience is unique and they respond differently to the music. I think the key to the connection I'm looking for is to talk about the songs a little more and my journey with them even up until this moment. You get a lot of time to think while you're on the road. I've been thinking about what this all means to me, and all the feelings and memories are resurfacing. Although it hasn't been disastrous, the beginning of the tour had it's share of problems. I feel like I'm having to re-live a ton of experiences and take a last look at them before I can move on. Even the routing of the tour feels like the track list of the new record. Things start off rough, and there are good things along the way, and then it ends, but the ending is only a new beginning. I'm worried about the end though, the last show is in Montreal. That's where this all started, and it also happens to be where KL and I talked about moving before the divorce. She lives there now and I wonder if we'll run into each other.

It isn't something I'm thinking about all the time, but this tour feels like a condensed version of the last three years. This feels like the last step in another stage in my life.

<<<<{}>>>>

Brennan finds a lefty Les Paul to shred on as he too tests my amp. We tested it a lot to make sure it didn't fail at a show again. IT CONTINUES TO LIVE.

Ah.

Heaven. Except for when I walked in and the inventory was so underwhelming. My face was made well before I walked in.

THE FOOD AT LOCAL 510. I couldn't decide what to get, so Alex (the owner?) brought me this bacon-wrapped meatloaf. Wow.

New Friends playing some sweet ambient tunes. Also featuring video and homemade synths.

The crowd last night.

The crowd, again.

HEX RAY. It was their second show ever, and they were amazing. Keep your ears out for them.

This table was awesome. Notice the wood ribbons that hold the crack in the table in place. So cool. It was at least 10 feet long this table.

Awesome poster, Local 510.

That's it for tonight. We're at Fernando's in Kelowna tonight. The food here was devine too. More on that tomorrow.

#saysomethingright

This pretty much sums it up.

This is our friend Christian. He and his roommates had a house party last night and we played at it. It was a blast. We got no sleep, but it was a blast.

The picture above was taken in the early hours of the morning as we prepared to head out west to Edmonton for tonights show. We rented a oversized PA system and some flashy lights and partied until we could not party anymore.

Allow me to define 'partying', in my terms. I have recently decided to stop drinking alcohol as a social activity. It isn't because I don't like it, but because I don't have a healthy relationship with it. Booze has been a part of all of my bad decisions, and it's high time I have a look at that part of my life. Needless to say - being on tour and not drinking is really hard. There is free booze everywhere.

SO! Partying for me now means talking to people as a sober person, which is so much fun. I thought at first that I would find it hard to stay up late, but it really hasn't been an issue. The REAL issue is that my voice is very ill. My throat is super sore and I don't even know how I'm going to be able to sing tonight. And my amp still isn't working. BUT WE WILL OVERCOME!

Anyway, here are some more photos. We're excited to play at Wunderbar tonight.