Tour Diary – Ridgefield, CT; Brownsville, ME; Great Barrington, MA (March 6 – 8, 2014)
We have had three days of clear blue skies. The temperature hasn't risen all that much, but the sun feels a smidge warmer, I have spotted an occasional dripping icicle and the other day I came upon a bunch of robins pecking and bob-bob-bobbing along…so change is in the air. Spring can not be far behind (at least that is what we keep telling ourselves). If we had put our marketing caps on before we began this leg, we would have printed up a bunch of “F@%K, I Hate The Cold” t-shirts for this run of dates. It has been the unofficial anthem and we have opened every show with it….it's our way of helping to chase away those winter blues.
Along with enjoying the sun we have also been enjoying the towns we've been in for the past few days. Ridgefield is one of those Connecticut postcard towns, with sprawling 18th century homes and a pedigree that stretches back to before the Revolutionary War. It's about as archetypical New England as these places come. Our venue in this town is the Ridgefield Playhouse, which we have played a few times over the past ten years or so. Its a good sounding little theater with a nice sized stage and a good crew. We did a Trinity show tonight. I thought we were a little sleepy, not quite clicking on all cylinders, maybe it was a hangover from three days in NYC.
We spent Friday at one of our favourite places: the Stone Mountain Art Center. This is a beautiful little venue nestled in the Maine woods just across the border from North Conway, NH. It is owned and run by Carol Noonan an ex-touring musician, who knows what its like to be on the road. She understands that providing the most basic things, like decent food and a comfortable clean backstage area, can make all the difference in a bands day and therefore in their mood and ultimately in their performance. Carol and her staff take that extra step to make every band that comes through her venue feel special. We had a great day and an excellent show in front of an excited full house.
Today we are in Great Barrington, MA. A very vibrant little town, nestled in the Berkshires…and today it definitely feels like Spring…I think we may have broken Winter's back. It's also the last day of the tour. We played here for the first time about four years ago and have been excited about getting back here ever since. Another very nice theatre and another excellent crowd, we gave them the last few drops of energy that we have left. It was a very good show, our tenth in eleven days.
We have a light touring schedule ahead of us for the coming year. It's time to pull back a bit and see where the post Nomad phase takes us. We'll be doing a short run in Southern California in June and then a few scattered dates throughout Ontario in the summer. We hope to see you out there, but if not, please keep in touch through the website or Facebook….pray for Spring…we'll see you soon.
