In Halifax, it rains and then stops. And then rains again...

Sitting on the patio of the Economy Shoe Shop, a regular musician/artist haunt here in Halifax.
I arrived this morning at 6:30am, local time. 3:30am, my time.
I've arrived earlier and my touring partner, Nick Perreault is arriving on a 5pm flight...
Needless to say, I have about 10 or so hours to kill in Halifax.
I was in no hurry and next to no sleep to go on so, upon my arrival at Halifax Intl. I found a bench and slept for an hour or so, at which point I was a little more with it and rented a car.
The fog was so thick when we landed, that half the plane gave out a bit of a yelp when we landed, thinking we were still up in the clouds... I was not among the yelpers but don't blame them, as it was a bit of a shock.
So I rented a car and drove in to downtown. As soon as I hit the city limits, it just began pissing rain. I figured I was going to be held up in some cafe for the duration of my layover. But it let up, just as I parked the car and I was able to get out and go for a bit of an exploration. As luck would have it, I parked right beside the Alexander Keith's Brewery building which also is the home of the local farmer's/artisan market.
Truly an amazing spectacle. The building was packed with shoppers feasting on the plethora of incredible products and edibles. It dwarfed the Edmonton Farmer's Market in comparison.
I settled on a breakfast wrap, which was sauteed up, right in front of me with my choice of veggies and meats. Best $5 I've ever spent on a breakfast wrap.
At this point, all the excitement had taken whatever reserves my 1 hour airport nap had provided and it was time to go back to sleep. Besides, the rain had started up again so I drove up to the Halifax Citadel, the 200+ year old fortress in central Halifax.
I parked the car and slept for another 2 hours. I awoke inspired and began jotting down lyrics for my next #1 hit...
Keep your ears peeled when the next album comes out, you may just hear a few Halifax references in a tune which, at the moment is called, "Canadian Summers".
Time to go get Nick and make the 2 hour drive to our first gig...

Driving and more driving

Just returned from the beautiful Queen Charlotte Islands.
Dave and I were playing the Edge of the World Festival.
We drove 1500 kms to Prince Rupert, got on a 6 hour ferry and arrived on the pristine island where we were greeted by our excellent billet hosts, Pat and Lucy.
We had a bit of a scare on our drive to Prince Rupert when we caught a rock in the windshield. Now this is a fairly common occurrence except that this chip made such a huge bang when it hit, I had ringing in my ears... The result was a massive spiderweb smash in the middle of my window. So hard that you can feel the crack on the inside of the window...
We were treated to local hospitality. This included a small army of a dozen or so people searching the island for diesel when we went exploring the island on an empty tank...
There were plenty of gas stations, just none with diesel. Oh, except the one that was closed...
We played a short set on Sunday to an appreciative crowd. Couldn't help but think that we would have gone over better at this particular festival if we were playing with the full band. Here's hoping we get the chance to do that next year!
The drive home was extreme to say the least. We got on the ferry at 9am, arrived in Prince Rupert at 6pm and drove straight home through the night arriving in Edmonton this morning at 10am. Now I'm off to play at the Druid open stage tonight...
Then bed.

Craziness....

Phew....
This summer seems to be flying by!
I've been zigging and zagging across the country with no end in sight.
The day that we flew out to Toronto to play with Spirit of the West at the Horseshoe, we found out that the new record, In Transit, was nominated for THREE Western Canadian Music Awards; Outstanding Pop Album, Album design and Video of the Year for Transportation!
In case you're wondering where you can find the video, we haven't released it yet but it will be coming soon so keep an eye out for it on YouTube.
This year's WCMA's will be held in my adopted home town of Edmonton from Oct 16 to 19. Congrats to all the other nominees.
Check the website or click here for pictures of the craziness at the Horseshoe.
If you're on the East coast, mark you calendar for the last half of August as I will be out there on tour for a handful of shows.
Thanks for tuning in!