Fall 95 'solo' Tour Synopsis

The short story: The tour - 64 days / 32 gigs / 31 venues / 1 car wrecked / 15,230 Km driven; The routine - driving / making calls / promoting / booking / playing / eating / not eating / sleeping / not sleeping; occasional pleasant surprise / occasional unpleasant surprise. It was a success: good audiences, lots of old friends, lots of new friends, invites back, and lots of media. Still, its nice to be home. The longer story: Day 0, September 16, 1995: too much to do, day late leaving D1: 6 hr drive to Wakefield PQ, setup, eat, play, nice place, slept D2: 19 hr drive/ferry to Montague PEI, collapse, visit family, calls, fun, sleep D4: 1 hr drive to & from Charlottetown PEI, calls, setup, eat, played, familiar faces turn out to be long lost friends from Toronto now living there, slept D5: calls, played in Montague PEI, half the audience there to listen / half there to get hammered, everyone successful, slept D6: 5 hr drive/ferry to Pictou NS, setup, eat, play, nice place and people, slept D7: 2 hr drive to Halifax NS, visit friends and family, media stuff, calls, fun, slept D10: calls, did a Much East interview, shot a piece for CJCH-TV, played gig, ran into more long lost friends, more fun, slept D11: up at 5 am to play Breakfast TV, calls, slept, played gig, slept D13: 2 hr drive to Liverpool NS, setup, eat, play, nice place and people, 2 hr drive to Yarmouth NS, slept D14: Yarmouth NS, visit family, setup, played gig, fun, calls, calls, calls D19: 4 hr drive/ferry to Saint John NB, played CBC Radio show to pitch evening gig, received call saying gig cancelled, no sensible reason given but accommodations available, 1 hr drive to Sussex NB, wound up playing matinee next day, beats me, very strange D20: 2 hr drive in pouring rain to Fredericton NB, played CBC Radio show, 6 hr drive to Trois Rivieres PQ, lots of NON/QUI signs, slept D21: 6 hr drive to Ottawa, and Trish (my wife) and over with family D22: 3 hr drive to Peterborough ON, no turkey dinner, gig double booked, split bill, 2 hr drive to Toronto ON, slept, calls, slept, calls, slept, calls, slept, calls, slept, calls, slept D27: 2 hr drive to Huntsville ON, setup, eat, play, sleep, nice place, calls, visited friends D29: 2 hr drive to North Bay ON, opened for Barnie Bental, slept D30: 2 hr drive to Sudbury ON, calls, played CBC Radio show, slept D31: 3 hr drive to Sault Ste. Marie ON, calls, slept, setup, played, slept D33: 4 hr drive in the rain and fog to Wawa ON, took picture of the Goose, setup, played, slept D34: 4 hr drive in the rain and fog to Thunder Bay ON (appropriately named), setup at venue, played a CBC Radio show, played gig, slept, snowed overnight, melting by morning D35: 2 hr drive heading for Kenora ON, roads went from ok to bad to worse, slush and ice, car rolled in ditch, write off, I'm ok, no one else involved, lots of people stopped, towed back to Upsala, called presenter in Kenora and cancelled (big disappointment but alive), left car for scrap, Budget Car Rental in Thunder Bay were great, sent driver with van to retrieve myself and gear, settled into Motel, soaked in tub and wondered that I was alive let alone uninjured, wondered how to save tour, slept D36: called friends in Winnipeg to say delayed, called Trish with progress report, Trish said buy a used 4x4, sounded good to me, got the Buy and Sell, checked car lots, slept D37: car shopping, this and that, bought used 4x4, licensed, insured, etc. by 5:30 pm, slept, snowed overnight, melting in morning, liking the 4x4 D38: 8 hr drive to Winnipeg MB, roads ok, visited with friends, slept D39: 8 hr drive to Regina SK, very flat, visited with friends, slept D40: 4 hr drive to Swift Current SK, setup, calls, Kamloops on 30th cancelled, pulled list of BC coffee house I happened to bring along, booked gigs in Fernie and Armstrong, eat, played, slept D41: 8 hr drive to Fernie BC, coffee house gig redirected to bar down the block in the old Royal Hotel, folks there were wonderful (cross between the Yukon and Nova Scotia), had a great night, more long lost friends, slept D42: 8 hr drive to Armstrong BC, Halloween party night, coffee house says lets close and go to excellent party in Vernon, dawned costumes, excellent party & jam, slept D43: 15 min drive to Vernon BC, played matinee, long lost Maritimers present, 5 hr drive to Winlaw BC, stayed with friends, relaxed, fun, slept D47: 4 hr drive to Salmon Arm BC, calls, setup, guy working at club used to live in Sussex NB, knew people who cancelled gig, interesting, small world, etc., slept D48: 4 hr drive to Hope BC, took Douglas Lake Road, lots of cattle on road, beautiful drive, setup, calls, played, slept D49: 1.5 hr drive to Vancouver BC, setup, played, more long lost friends, fun, stayed with long time friend, fun, not much sleep D51: 7 hr drive to Kelowna BC, snow in passes, etc., really liking the 4x4, slept D52: 9:30 am TV interview shoot, snowed all day, calls, liking the 4x4 more and more, setup, played, fun, slept D53: 4 hr drive to Kamloops BC, 4x4 very nice on those slushy roads, played, slept D54: 2 hr drive to Vernon BC, taped radio interview, setup, played, slept D55: 7 hr drive to Golden BC, lots of snow, 4x4 is the most wonderful thing in the world, eat, played, nice place, slept D56: 5 hr drive to Canmore AB, snow & ice, not pleasant even in 4x4, arrived without incident, setup, played, more long lost friends, slept D57: 1.5 hr drive to Calgary AB, stayed with long lost friends, much reminiscing with excessive consumption, slept D58: 8 hr drive to Regina SK, rough shape so long straight stretches good, slept D59: 4 hr drive to Brandon MB, feeling better, slept D60: setup, played gig, met brother of long lost friend from Charlottetown, slept D61: 5 hr drive to Winnipeg MB, more snow, taped TV interview, setup, more snow, played, slept D62: 9 hr drive to Thunder Bay ON, roads so-so to lousy, slept D63: 8 hr drive to Sault Ste. Marie ON, setup, played, slept D64: 8 hr drive to Toronto ON, there's no place like home, etc.

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