Rob at Kal Tire is a god.

Can I say that?

We went in to fix the tire that was making a weird noise on the highway and ended up finding a pretty serious problem with the coolant. A leak, actually.

Not only did Rob stay until EIGHT PM, two hours after they are supposed to be closed and he’s supposed to be home with his family, but he just so happens to have 15 years experience repairing Volkswagons.

Are we lucky, or are we lucky?

So many things could have gone wrong. I knew as soon as I started seeing the number 32 all the way down the highway in every situation possible that we would be okay. See, I have a rather weird thing that I adopted from a friend years ago. Seeing the number 32 means everything will be ok. I don’t tell a lot of people this, because I will likely get committed to the nearest insane asylum. I also believe wholeheartedly that the appearance of said number could be, entirely, the most amazing, wide-spread coincidence of my life.

At any rate, we made it to Kal Tire safe and sound, and were promptly informed that it’s a good thing the tire was making a noise!

After Kal Tire lent us their truck we got a bargain bin Hotel room and chilled out for a few. Then it was back to pick up The Greatest Car of All Time. Who tours in an ’87 VW Golf in Canada in January??? I do!!! 😀

Seriously though…this car is amazing. Much Respect little guy!

The show was not the best attended of the batch but the merch ratio was sure up there…every single person in the crowd bought something! So awesome.

The Slice in Lethbridge is a pretty sweet venue, employees and all. There is something I will always have a profound love for…a venue with a pinball machine. That is truly how I gauge a good venue or a great venue. Also, something to be said for a place that will feed you, water you and put you up for the night. Much love The Slice!
Now I’m in the passenger seat on my way to Saskatoon. It’s a 7 hour drive so I’m happy to get a bit of a break ☺

Really excited for Winnipeg. Then, we start heading West. Oh no! The beginning of the end! 😉

Til we meet again,

Billy

Wow.

Well, it’s been one of those days.

One of those…”tour” days.

In every other sense, I’ve been incredibly lucky the past few days. After the Edmonton show, we got 4 hours sleep at Dani Jean’s house (well, we were in beds for 4 hours…I’m not sure how much sleep I got though).

6am wakeup call then it was off to Swift Current, SK. Not only was it a crazy snow blizzard, but it was also one of those days where you lose an hour traveling :/

The roads were brutal but we made it in one piece. And the show more than made up for it.

Did you know that Swift Current has an amazing arts community and is filled to the brim with incredibly kind supporters of the arts? Shan, who put on the show, has been putting on shows in her area for years because she “loves music and had to bring the music to her”. Her family is also a big part of it, helping out with merch and organizing. It struck me as incredibly cool to be part of an upbringing where your Mom puts on shows and you’re part of the crew ☺ What an awesome lady.

I really didn’t know what to expect from the show but it was one of THE coolest shows I have ever played…

First of all, it was in an art gallery. After I played, artist extraordinaire David Geary brought all in attendance on a tour of the gallery, and explained in depth his pieces. I was SO fascinated. David is an extremely well spoken artist with a vast knowledge of his field and craft. This particular group of work was inspired by Russian government sponsored War-era ads, applied in the language of Saskatchewan politics!!! He basically put a modern spin on all this cool wartime propaganda. I was so impressed. I’ve always been a little fascinated with communism (more so the working class, actually) and his take on making these pieces applicable to today’s Saskatchewan was just awesome. I also have a soft spot for Saskatchewan (I have several songs written/inspired/mentioning this particular province) so it was that much more interesting to me ☺

I had played my first set then, in the middle of the tour, the power went out!!! Kinda cool, actually. I played my second set and, I will be honest…I felt a little bad…I was so tired (that whole “4 hours sleep, 8 hours drive in a snow storm thing) that by the end I was just out of it. I was even hallucinating! It was all I could do to just keep it together and get through the set. Then it made me really sad that the act of just GETTING to the show was so exhausting that I wasn’t able to perform to my fullest potential. Oh well….Shan said I could come back anytime, hopefully I can do better then…

After the show we headed back to the hotel and I was surprised to see there were TWO security guards in this hotel. I rarely see ONE security guard so I was impressed, and kinda thought it a little unnecessary, until one of the dudes had to chase down a whole PeeWee hockey to tell them to quit horsin’ around! Only in Swift Current 😉

Yesterday was a DAY OFF. Much needed! Normally I’m not a huge fan of DAYS OFF, but well, I haven’t been sleepin so good so this was just what the doctor ordered. I’m not gonna lie, I basically went on a CSI marathon. I’m not proud of it, but sometimes that’s the only thing to do during a snowstorm in Swift Current. Did I mention there was a snow storm?

“Blizzard Conditions”. That is what the weather channel called it. A big red screen and a warning not to drive. On the one hand, we sure picked the perfect day for a day off! On the other hand, it was…well, boring 😉 If that’s the worst of your problems though, I guess…

A four hour drive to Lethbridge today and we discover that the wheel is making some kinda funny noise. Long story short, the wheel bearing is hooped. AND, the coolant pump thinger. So we went in to fix one thing and (thankfully) caught a second thing before it was too late (and before two 8 hour drives, one to Saskatoon and another to Winnipeg). That said, Aaron’s car has been AMAZING and for all it’s been through, I’m amazed! Good thing we caught it when we did.

The dudes at KalTire were total bros and let us borrow their truck for the night. AND, the guy is staying late to fix it!!! I knew today was a lucky day. Well, gonna go grab the gear then it’s another show. Hope to see ya out there,

Billy

TOUR! 😀

On our way to Edmonton. Already! I can’t believe it’s already here…tour. I can’t believe it’s already happening, and I’m on the road AS WE SPEAK! Yep, Steve my partner in crime is driving and I’m here trying to process everything that has happen in the last two days.

We left Wednesday afternoon. There were some serious delays because I refused to drive without music, and had only recently discovered that the tape deck in out 1987 Volkswagon Golf DOES NOT WORK.

This might not be a catastrophe to some, but to me, it’s a seriously huge deal. You can’t go on tour in Western Canada with NO MUSIC!!!

We tried it all…iPod to cassette convertor, one of those iPod to radio signal convertors. Finally I ended up putting a new stereo system in my friend Aaron’s car.
Did I mention Aaron is letting me use his car to drive to Winnipeg in January? What a guy. Hi Aaron ☺

Everything is all good now. Listening to my friend Heather Waters as we drive on the 2 North. Yesterday was a seriously amazing time. I’m a little worried that I am already this tired and it’s only the second show haha! I had a late night getting ready and an early morning packing and running errands before we left. By the time we got to Calgary at about 1am, I was exhausted. I did get to sleep in a bit (something I haven’t done in months) and spent a large portion of the day practicing in the hotel. Very enjoyable.

When I say “practicing” I should say “Writing New Songs”. For me, one of my favourite things about tour is actually getting time to play music haha. I know, funny thing that. Every time I pick up my guitar to “rehearse” though, I end up writing something new. Hey, if that’s the worst of your problems…

I finished writing an actually happy song for my favourite person ever and then got to play it. That’s just a cool feeling…when something is fresh off the press, to get to try it out right then and there ☺

A couple cool things about this trip: I have an almost unlimited amount of documentation devices! I just got a little sound recorded thing that I’m gonna be singin’ new ideas in to after soundchecks and before show time. I also have a video camera, a still camera, this here laptop and a phone. So I will be in touch 😉

After my fun day of Remember My Songs In A Hotel Room, I met up with Brock from http://www.calgaryisawesome.com

We had such a great time hanging out, I’m so happy he asked me to be part of his video blog cause I think I made a friend for life. I got to try out my song at the Greyhound station after the security guards allowed us to film a video in the photo booth! 😀 I will post it here soon ☺

This morning before getting in the car I met up with Jessica from http://www.youthareawesome.com/. I don’t think it could get any more awesome around here haha. We had an awesome vegan breakfast at The Coup and she asked me some very well thought out questions that will be in an interview on the internet sooon! 😀

Calgary was great. Always great to be back there. Did I mention I lived there for two years? Saw some familiar faces but mostly, a lot of new faces! Both just as awesome ☺ Some people mentioned seeing me in Calgary with Raine and I’m very thankful they came out to see me again. Thank you for spending your hard earned dough to get me to the next city, and thanks Raine for taking me on tour with you so I could make all these new friends ☺

K! Talk soon,
Billy!