I have a feeling that there are six or seven diaries/blogs that have beaten me to the punch (everyone on board seems to be scribbling/typing away at something) and they are all, probably, a lot more detailed than this is going to be. Time should be a plentiful commodity on board, but it just seems to eke away. I also have my daughter, Xiu, along for the ride so my attention is focused in other directions when I'm not performing. But I'll give this my best shot….

We are just pulling in to the station in Edmonton. It's early Monday morning and it seems that the trip really hit its stride yesterday: everyone, patrons and musicians, seemed to settle in to train life and how to best survive the cramped quarters and constant motion. Or maybe it was that enough alcohol was finally consumed to make everyone relax a bit more. The result of this new found looseness was a very fun concert last night.

It’s not easy performing on a moving train. The side to side motion and the sudden lurching doesn’t help but the real issue is the general, non-stop noise of those steel wheels spinning on those steel rails. That hum (roar) makes it very difficult to hear, so playing with any subtlety or nuance is almost impossible, which kind of eliminates one of our strong suits, but after our first show on Saturday night we figured out what we were dealing with and adjusted. The music in general has been great. The daytime workshops have been loose and fun, with some inspired collaborations: and the nighttime concerts have been a great spotlight for everyone’s talents. The open mic sessions, hosted by Andy and Josh, have probably been the most surprising success. Both Al and Pete have finally found a form where they could emerge from the shadows and bask in the spotlight. Who knew….

Aboard for the ride is a wide assortment of nationalities; eight or nine Brits; a couple of Ozzies; a Norwegian; a German; many Yanks from all parts of the country; and a healthy sprinkling of Canucks. It is amazing to us that our music (and the prospect of a train trip across the country) has brought all of these people together. We also have a nice assortment of musicians along for the ride; Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson of the Skydiggers; Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson of Blackie and The Rodeo Kings; Fred Eaglesmith (who was only with us on the Toronto to Winnipeg run); and Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiller from Over The Rhine, who hopped on the train in Winnipeg. It’s a good bunch of friends and players.

On board life has been surprisingly easy going. The food is very good (considering we're on a train). The sleeping quarters are very prison-like (right down to the size, lighting and paint job) but, after the first shock, everyone seems to have figured out how to make their space work for them. The production crew has been outstanding and any hic-up or logistical problem has been dealt with immediately and efficiently. The train crew has also been a true pleasure to work with; they have been courteous and professional. And, most importantly, the bar car never closes and the bartender, our best friend Martin, never sleeps.

I should also mention “the patrons” as they are called in the train literature (they use to be the "paying customers", but "patrons" has a nice formal, Renaissance ring to it so maybe we’ll adopt it from here on in. When we pull in to town on tour we’ll ask the promoter, "how many patrons are coming tonight?" ... "hey Marg, one of the patrons would like his photo taken with you" ... "the patrons were terrific tonight"...). In any case, the patrons, have been great. A handful we know from the road (Jason, Marsh, CJ Bob, Ian, Chuck etc..) but the great majority are new to us and they have all been great to sit and talk to and exchange stories.

The scenery has been spectacular at times but only in pockets: maybe I'm just jaded from staring out the window of tour buses for the past twenty years. Ontario stretches on for ever, I love the Canadian Shield and its rock, water, birch and fir tree geography, but 24 hours of it is enough. The prairies disappeared under cover of darkness and it looks like the Rockies are going to disappear under cover of snow.

Time to search for breakfast. I’ll pick this up later.

******

Safe in my hotel room in Vancouver. Exhausted. Thankful that the constant roar and motion of the train has subsided.

So the mountains did disappear. It snowed and remained very foggy through all of yesterday. We did happen to see a few mountain goats and rams and a lone wolf sitting beside the tracks. An hour stop in Jasper provided us with enough time to wander the town and browse through its dozens of useless-souvenir shops. And then night overtook us again.

We performed The Trinity Session last night in its entirety. It was a little odd. Albums are sequenced to be listened to as albums not necessarily played in sequence in concert. It was a good concept, but not entirely successful from our point of view. It was fun but a little odd.

As I said…I'll let others fill in the details about life on board (check out Jason's blog, he seemed to be keeping on top of things and some of his photos looked great). We had fun. The music was, overall, very good and the trip was nothing if not an adventure, which is what we signed up for.

So start saving those pennies…the next one we plan to do (two or three years from now) will run from Arizona and in to Mexico.

We hope to see you all in the new year, with a new album in hand.