Them Days

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