In case you haven’t noticed, we have added Cookie Bob’s latest edition of Cookie Crumbs to the Exclusive page. It’s a very cool collection of some of Bob’s first tapings of the band starting in 1996. There are some songs in this collection that I had forgotten that we had once played live. If you have some time you can stream the collection for free or, better still, throw your eight bucks into our hat and download the collection. In any case…enjoy.
Ann Arbor is a very familiar stomping ground for us. Over the years we have performed dozens of times at various venues around this active little college town. These days we seemed to have settled into The Ark, which is one of the country’s more storied performance spaces. They could definitely do a bit of an upgrade on the back stage area and the in-house sound system could use an overhaul, but all of that can be overlooked, because the audience that turns out for these shows are always knowledgeable and enthusiastic. These shows are always fun and dynamic and tonight’s was no different. Our performance may have been a bit sloppy and loose but that isn’t always a bad thing, I thought it had an energetic edge.
****
Pittsburgh is the constant butt of those downtrodden-American-City jokes, but I have always had a soft spot for the place. For one thing it is one of the few American cities that really makes use of its waterfront. The rivers that cut through this town are a large part of its’ downtown life and profile. There is also a sense that no one is giving up on the place, there seems to be some optimism here, reflected in the ongoing downtown renewal projects. It’s also got a fascinating place in American history; it was home to some of the great builders that this country has produced; it is the birthplace of one of the country’s most revolutionary artists and is currently tops in the sporting world with the Penguins and Steelers the reigning champions in their sports. Even the lowly baseball Pirates have a place in my heart: growing up in Montreal I would tune in one of those megawatt radio stations which broadcast out of this area and I’d listen to the Pirate games as I fell asleep. I can still conjure images of Willie Stargell slowly sauntering to the plate; of Steve Blass commanding the game from his perch on the mound; and of Roberto Clemente picking them off at home plate from right field. Despite all that we have never really done that well, from an attendance point of view, in this town and tonight was no different. We were in a beautiful theater but attendance was a little light, but what they lacked in numbers they definitely made up for in enthusiasm and they did their best to spur us on. I think we were all a little tired tonight, I was particularly exhausted and so the show lacked a bit of focus. The four shows in three nights plus the flight to and from Vancouver have taken a bit of a toll. Tomorrow is a much needed day off.
I guess tonight was the “real” opening night…..in-stores and cocktail parties don’t really count.
We arrived back in Toronto around ten o’clock on Friday night and had to be at our studio at 6:45am the next day to load our gear out for an 8:30am departure: a four hour drive to Lexington (with a border crossing), two new crew guys to show the ropes, and two shows. It was a very long day. To add a little bit of extra stress, Jeff is not with us because of a family emergency (we hope that he’ll join us in a few days). Luckily Aaron Goldstein, who is playing pedal steel with Lee Harvey Osmond, was planning to sit in with us, so soundcheck was dedicated to getting Aaron integrated into the sound of the band.
This is, not surprisingly, our first time in Lexington. A very quaint little town located on the shore of Lake Huron (my favourite of the Great Lakes). A nicely renovated, quirky little theater (The Lexington Music Theater) and a well engaged audience for both shows. The only hic-up in the night was an over worked promoter who failed to understand that, yes, we like our dinner hot and serving it before we go on stage for the first show so that we can eat it 90 minutes later, just doesn’t work. Sometimes you can role with that type of thing, but when you have had the type of schedule that we have had for the past few days, all you really want is a semi-decent, relatively hot meal….a congealed quiche and stone cold grilled sandwich just doesn’t cut it. But, most importantly we had a pretty decent opening night on stage.
****
Another new town tonight, Three Oaks. I’m not quite sure where we are in the state, but I know it is very close to the Indiana border and Lake Michigan: a very weird little town with an obvious critical mass of like-minded residents, who have carved out this little artsy haven in the middle of nowhere Michigan. Some interesting shops on Main Street and the venue was in the old featherbone factory that is slowly finding a new life through creative renovations. By the way, if you are wondering what a feather bone is, it has something to do with the spine of a turkey feather used to make corsets back at the turn of the last century. It was a revolutionary design that apparently made the family that owned the factory, the richest family in Michigan at that time. In any case it is a beautiful old building and a very unique venue. We were treated royally tonight. A home cooked meal of barbeque steak, fresh vegetables, various pies….amazing.
We had a very good night. It’s a lot of fun playing with a pedal steel again. It’s been over fifteen years since we had one on stage with us.
This was definitely a weird way to start a tour, but a welcome one. This gig dropped in our laps a few weeks ago along with a big bag of change. Today the Hudson Bay Company (which is a large Canadian retail chain) unveiled their line of Olympic wear for the upcoming 2010 Winter Games which are taking place here in Vancouver. They also held a party to celebrate the opening of their Olympic superstore in which all of their Olympic swag will be sold. We were part of the celebration and played a sixty minute set in the store along with a couple of other Canadian acts; Dan Mangan and Sam Roberts. It was a standard in-store performance under bright fluorescent lights with a hundred or so people milling about. Later that evening we were shuttled over to the cocktail party soiree where the company was schmoozing all of the sponsors. We played a fifteen minute set that was listened to by no one. There was polite applause after the first song, the DJ politely applauded after the second song (he was feeling sorry for us) and by the third song we might as well have gone home: of all the species of geese in the world the Canada goose is the most hardy and vocal. In any case this was your classic “crank and bank”, not the most satisfying type of gig to play but they help to fill in the financial gaps. We fly home tomorrow, get in around the kids bedtime and leave the next day on the bus before sun up. It’s a lot of hassle and travelling but, as I said, it’s well worth it, from a bottom line point of view.
These last two months have been off for the band. August was dedicated to family vacations and enjoying the final few weeks of Summer (which is a real necessity up here in the North). September was focused on outside projects and everyone getting their kids settled back in to school. I did a bit of writing and did some studio work with Mary Gauthier. It’s always hard to start up again…but always exciting and fun once you get back at it.
Tour dates are beginning to trickle in for the spring of 2010. Tickets are already on sale for shows in St. Cloud, MN, and Brownfield, ME. We’re looking forward to returning to both places. Lots more to come!
For those of you that can access the CBC: This Beat Goes On and Rise Up, the documentaries on the history of Canadian music in the 1970s and ’80s will be on CBC Aug. 27th, Sept. 3rd., Sept. 10th and Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. EST on all nights. Michael and Margo are interviewed in This Beat Goes On about the influence of the 70’s scene on the Junkies music and about the Junkies contribution to the 80’s scene in Rise Up.
In case you need a second opinion here is some more stuff about Lee Harvey Osmond from Paul Cantin, the long time No Depression beat writer:
http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/review-lee-harvey-osmond-live
If you haven’t already checked out “A Quiet Evil” you should do so…I’m pretty sure you’ll like it….
Just in case you folks haven’t had the chance to check out some of the other artists on the new Latent Recordings website, I thought I’d point the occasional finger…in a good way…
Lee Harvey Osmond is the brainchild of Tom Wilson who has been on the music scene as long as we have. His new creation includes a whole lot of Latent friends including Josh and Andy from The Skydiggers as well as a couple of duets with Margo, Alan and Pete doing their thing and me playing some wacky lead guitar and sitting in the producers chair. It’s and incredible album and something of which we are all extremely proud.
Lee will be touring with us in October and he is as engaging live as he is on cd. Check out this live clip if you don’t believe me.
Please take the time to listen to the album and if you like it, buy it. You’ll be doing your part to support inspired independant music.
We just got word from our friends at Mountain Stage that they will be airing our May 2007 appearance this weekend, July 31-August 2. A complete list of stations that
carry Mountain Stage can be found here.
The following week the performance will be posted here and
archived for continued access.
Spokane, WA, Eagle, ID and Missoula, MT (July 23, 24 and 25)
We have never been through Spokane before. We’re not quite sure why we’ve missed it because it seems to be a happening little city. The cab driver that I had today said that the city has had a healthy growth spurt in the past few years, picking off some of the corporations from Portland and Seattle that are trying to reduce some costs. The city has a very mid-western vibe to it; clean wide streets, solid four story brick buildings, a citizenry very aware of pedestrian signals. I’ve never gotten more consistent flack for walking against signals, even with no cars in sight. Cars come to a complete stop if you step off the curb when it’s not your turn; some old man threatened to run me down with his pick-up truck if I ever tried to walk against a light again. It must be a reaction to the methamphetamine problem in these parts, control what you can, come down hard on any and all law breakers. In any case, it seems like a decent place.
Tonight was our first true theater gig of this run, a beautifully renovated Fox Theater no less. We had great sound on stage, great sound in the theater, and a very receptive audience. It’s always fun to play the outdoor venues in the summer but they really aren’t the best venues for the type of music we perform. We usually end up fighting the sound on stage and the dynamics and subtleties of the performance are often lost. It takes a theater gig like this to remember what we are all about.
We are somewhere outside of Boise today, if you are interested in finding us on the map, because I’m not sure you’ll be able to find Eagle, Idaho. The venue is the Wood River Winery: a tract of land in the middle of potato country, on the edge of a housing development, that’s been turned into a vineyard…this ain’t the Napa Valley. But the owners are trying hard and have gussied the place up with a fountain, some arbours, lots of vegetation and a few Botchie Ball courts (go figure) and apparently the wine is pretty good too (although I suspect that it has been shipped in from California and rebottled…just kidding). We were treated extremely well and if it weren’t for the 97 degree temperature it would have been a decent place to hang out for the day. Despite the heat, Jeff and Al had a raging game of Botchie Ball, with Jeff coming out on top.
If the gig in Spokane was an example of sculpting a set of music with a set of fine carving tools then tonight was the equivalent of sculpting with a chainsaw. It was a Friday night crowd in the middle of July and they wanted to whoop it up and who can blame them…so we whooped it up. Not exactly my favourite type of set to play. Usually one just needs to give in to it and go with the flow, but tonight was difficult because of how tired we all are. One more show, one more very long drive.
This country gets very big out here. The drives get longer, more scenic, but longer. At least we are in a bus, which is difficult enough; the Son Volt band and crew are in a van, which is real dedication and real work.
I don’t think we’ve been to Missoula Montana before. We weren’t anywhere near the center of town today so I never really got a feel for the place, but it’s surrounded by a whole lot of beautiful open space. I wouldn’t want to live here, but every time we come through this part of the country it makes me want to start planning an extended road trip with my family. It’s just such a beautiful part of the world and it would be nice to take some time rolling through it.
Tonight was a nice way to end the tour: a sold out show in a decent, functional theater on the University of Montana campus. It’s been a grind and we are all running on fumes but we dug deep into our reserves tonight and had a decent show. By the end of it we were sputtering but we made it thanks to a very good audience. It’s been a fun run of dates and although the promoters would argue that the co-bill wasn’t as successful at the box office as they would have hoped, from our point of view it has been a good experience. It’s been a pleasure to listen to Son Volt every night and it’s always a pleasure to be on the West coast in the summer. We head home tomorrow to spend the rest of the summer with our families and to continue to chip away at the new album. There will be some intriguing offers being made through our website in the next month so check back in every now and then, better yet, get on our mailing list so that we can let you know what is going on. Keep safe and enjoy the rest of your summer.
