Well hello there. I’ve been fairly delinquent in updates. Sorry ’bout that. It’s difficult to stay on top of while traveling. We’re in Edmonton at our Bastard Compound now for a few days of downtime so I’ll try and get caught up. Let’s see, we’ve played a bunch of shows and been through a couple provinces since I last updated…
Winnipeg: Got to hang with our pal Vince and his lovely lady. They were gracious enough to host us for the night. Since it was a lovely day we BBQ’d. Can’t be in Manitoba and not try farmer sausage right? So Vince grabbed some Farmer Sausage (not to be confused with some farmer’s sausage) and chopped her right up for the Q. It was good stuff! I think Vince even had a stop by his fridge in the middle of the night to have a snack…it was THAT good.
Regina: After a fairly nice drive we found our club for the night. The Gas Light is up two flights of stairs (BOO!) but other than that we felt right at home there. They have some sweet dinner deals for you while the Ladies dance the pole …not nekkid though.. : ( Unfortunately we were told by the Bartender right away that due to the Mosaic being that weekend in Regina we shouldn’t expect too much of a crowd. The Mosaic is a food fair featuring pavilions from around the world and it is highly attended. Our Bartender was right. It was a quiet night but we rawked ‘er anyway. Had a nice chat with the owner, Joan and got to re-connect with Dan from the Regina Blues Society. We look forward to coming back in the fall to try our luck again. Did I mention there is a tattoo shop in this bar???? How awesome is that?
After our show we had a few days off and thought it might be nice to do some camping to relax a bit before our next string of shows. We tried a place called Regina Beach but all the campsites were “full”. All that really meant was they didn’t want to rent to us. Seems Regina Beach has a bit of a party reputation and the campground owners assumed we’d get rowdy…..So after a beer and some sunshine we fueled up, got supplies and drove to Dundurn. We found the campground, which is just south of Saskatoon, and set up. Man. What a find. Totally quiet this time of year and RIGHT on the lake. Shawn Bastard tried his luck at some fishing…
and we got a great sunset too!
We had such a great night we decided to stay another day since it was sunny again. The beach was a couple KMs away so we played a “through the woods to the beach and back” game of Bocce. Lots of fun, a little sun burn and loads of little bug fly/thingys that we’re getting it on down by the beach. that part was a little creepy. It was a good bocce match. Shawn Bastard came out on top and now I think that means he is up 2-1 over Karl this tour. I, sadly, have yet to win a game….That night we cooked on the fire and relaxed and enjoyed another epic sunset.
The next day we hit up Saskatoon. We were due to play the following two nights at Bud’s on Broadway. We’ve played at Bud’s a lot over the past six tours and really love the place. Great staff and always a good time. We had some folks from the Saskatoon Blues Society out as well and it was good to see some familiar faces there to rawk! Here’s a pic of one of the full time residents int he Apt. above the bar….
His name? Yup, you guessed it…Bud.
The really great part about Saskatoon is we get to stay at my cousins place and hang out with family. The really, REALLY great thing about staying there is that my cousin’s wife is an incredible cook and she knows we love to eat so it’s a great relationship really! Here’s a pic of one of our great plates of food while there…
After our last show at Bud’s we drove overnight to Edmonton. We had a fresh shipment of T-shirts coming and wanted to make sure we were there to receive ‘em. We only just got this re-order and are already finding ourselves ready to do a third order. Needless to say the T’s are selling well!!!! We played Stony Plain on the Friday and had a fun time. Great owners there that go out of their way for you. Always a treat to rawk the Stony Plainers!!!
Saturday we got up and had lunch at our fav little deli in Edmonton. “Care it Urban Deli” is home to some delicious sammies and yummy soup. We eat here a lot as it’s tasty, healthy and cheap. Three rarities in food when on the road. Before we knew it we were back on the road to one of our best gigs in Canada. Mikey’s Juke Joint. What can I say that I haven’t already said here….Mikey’s kicks ass. We always have a great crowd there with lots of old east coast friends and each time we play we make some new Calgary fans. This time was no exception. Here is some video someone took during the concert…
GREAT TIME!!!! Big thanks too, to our pals in Vista Heights for letting us crash. always fun!!! MAJOR THANKS to Justin for giving me a pair of sweet boots too!!! What a guy!
After a nice breakfast with our pals we hit the road to return to Edmonton for a few days off before hitting the mountains. We got to have a quick hang with our compound manager Jim and his son/helper/tough guy extraordinaire, Sean. We had a great time into the wee hours and before we knew it, it was Monday and we were making our patented Bastard Breakkie…..
Gonna get some rehearsing in tomorrow and then Wednesday we drive to beautiful Jasper for a few shows at The Downstream before heading into BC’s interior. Lots of fun coming up so stay tuned. There are always shows being added so keep in touch with out tour dates too. We’ve announced a couple shows that were under wraps including MONTREAL JAZZ FEST!!!!!! and a couple other fun Quebec Festivals! Mais OUI!!!
So i say to everyone, enjoy the long days and get some sun when you can. We’ll chat soon! yours in RAWK,
MB
