I had this huge idea that I would blog about my tour every day.
My first two days on the road were 8 hour driving days, and I got tired. So I didn't write anything... now my tour is over and I have decided to recount my travels in a "Coles Notes" version of the whole thing (well maybe except for the first day as I had already posted about my trip to Jasper. So let's start at day two, shall we?).
Okay! Heeeeeeeerrrre we go:
Day 2: 8 hour drive, the scariest drive of my life, and Kaslo.
Waking up is not easy for me on a good day. Let alone when I have gone to bed at 1:30 in the AM... Alas, I had to be on the road at 6am to be able to get to Kaslo, British Columbia by 4pm. So, by God, I am going to be on the road then.
I woke up at 6:45am.
As fast as I could, I throw my life into my rental car and off I go. Watching the sun come up in the mountains was possibly one of the most amazing moments in my grown life. It was unbelievable. I was viewing the very images photographers chase after...I even took some photos from the car (the "professional" photographer I am...) I would share them with you, but I have no idea how to do that in this blog, so just close your beautiful eyes and imagine how beautiful those images are. Don't worry, I'll wait.
...
Nice, right???
I kept driving, and driving, and driving. Through some beautiful scenery too. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn't stop. I had to keep trekking along. After a lovely ferry ride, I was officially in the Kootenays. Now this is where it gets hilarious. I listened to Google Maps (which is kind of the go-to in route planning for my touring) and took the less-used road to drive the rest of the 89 kilometres to Kaslo. It was a one lane, gravel logging road that had a 800 foot drop into a massive lake.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeehaw.
I drove at a steady 40 km/hour with my entire body using every muscle in my body to keep the car in check. At one point I recalled a Stephen King short story I read where a gal is trying to find the best shortcut from town to town and ends up going through this strange wormhole and returns 50 years later-without aging at all. I was certain that was going to happen to me.
(I should also note that I was listening to Louise Hay's "101 Empowering Thoughts" on repeat as I was too scared to move my hand from the wheel to change the CD. Things such as "Live every day as if it were your last" and "Remember to tell your loved ones you love them; you never know when will be the last time to see them" really stick with me because I REALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DRIVE INTO THE LAKE.
But, I survived.
I finally rolled into Kaslo at about 4:45, and after feeling like I was the latest person in the world, I quickly realized that in the Kootenays, time doesn't matter.
I found the house of the gentleman that was to be interviewing me for Kootenay Co-op Radio, and after apologizing for being late, he seemed almost angry for me apologizing. We drank some sun tea and talked about Alberta outside on his porch while his dogs ran around. Such a nice relaxing time after the crazy afternoon of "death drive: 2013". The interview went swimmingly, and after we took a walking tour of the town where he asked if I wanted to record one of my songs in what he said was "probably the smallest music store in Canada - no - North America." How could I say no? It was the tiniest music store I had been to, so I can only assume it has to be one of the smallest in the world. We recorded a song from my album, and after a short chat I was on my way to the Bluebelle Bistro, where I would be playing that evening.
The Bluebelle Bistro is a wonderful place with amazing food, and lovely staff. It was a balmy 31 degrees there that day, and most people were on the lake. I played my night's worth of music to a handful of lovely listeners, and after that I was on my way. Only thing was, I didn't have a place to sleep.
What does a musician do when they have no place to sleep and are too cheap to pay for a room?
CAR SLUMBER PARTY!
Thank goodness for the luxury vehicle because I had a wonderful sleep. I felt like a lazy camper.
After a day like that, one would hope that the next day I would only have to travel a few hours, right?
Tomorrow: NINE HOUR DRIVE TO VANCOUVER
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Our Glory Tour Day One: The Whistle Stops here.
I left Edmonton at 3:00pm today.
I had to work at one of my many jobs before leaving, which was a good thing. I actually had a chance to focus on something that had NOTHING to do with my CD or my tour, which was refreshing... but I am happy to be back to the CD/tour mindset.
Because I always take my bike or the bus everywhere, I had to rent a vehicle for my trip. I wa SHOCKED when the rental company gave me a LUXURY vehicle because they didn't have the cheap economy vehicle I wanted.
I AM A KING!
Leather seats. Sun roof. Heated seats. CUP HOLDERS?!?! This is heaven.
My destination was Jasper for my first night, which is a wee lil 3 hours away from Edmonton. A very small drive, compared to the NINE HOURS I have to drive tomorrow... (what was I thinking??)
The Whistle Stop pub was my home for the night, and it actually did feel like home. All the staff treated me like I was a regular, which is always good. I started playing music and (unlike most bars I have played at in my life) everyone stopped and listened. It was a little bit surreal. I met some lovely people in town from England, and we had a great chat about Yorkshire (which is one of my favorite places).
During my second set, things got crazy. During my last song, a bunch of people came in and yelled "WE LOVE LIVE MUSIC!!!" and sat right in front of me. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't end the night then. So, I did what any musician would do... I played all of the songs I already played in 3/4 time.
It was great. WALTZES FOR ALL!!
I had a blast, and the audience did too. Possibly one of my favorite bars to play ever. So much love!
Now, I must sleep as I have to be on the road at 6am tomorrow!
Until tomorrow,
The girl who is ready for touring day two.
I had to work at one of my many jobs before leaving, which was a good thing. I actually had a chance to focus on something that had NOTHING to do with my CD or my tour, which was refreshing... but I am happy to be back to the CD/tour mindset.
Because I always take my bike or the bus everywhere, I had to rent a vehicle for my trip. I wa SHOCKED when the rental company gave me a LUXURY vehicle because they didn't have the cheap economy vehicle I wanted.
I AM A KING!
Leather seats. Sun roof. Heated seats. CUP HOLDERS?!?! This is heaven.
My destination was Jasper for my first night, which is a wee lil 3 hours away from Edmonton. A very small drive, compared to the NINE HOURS I have to drive tomorrow... (what was I thinking??)
The Whistle Stop pub was my home for the night, and it actually did feel like home. All the staff treated me like I was a regular, which is always good. I started playing music and (unlike most bars I have played at in my life) everyone stopped and listened. It was a little bit surreal. I met some lovely people in town from England, and we had a great chat about Yorkshire (which is one of my favorite places).
During my second set, things got crazy. During my last song, a bunch of people came in and yelled "WE LOVE LIVE MUSIC!!!" and sat right in front of me. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't end the night then. So, I did what any musician would do... I played all of the songs I already played in 3/4 time.
It was great. WALTZES FOR ALL!!
I had a blast, and the audience did too. Possibly one of my favorite bars to play ever. So much love!
Now, I must sleep as I have to be on the road at 6am tomorrow!
Until tomorrow,
The girl who is ready for touring day two.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Fear: The good, the bad, and....
One of my favorite things to do is talk about fear.
I feel that if we can open up to ourselves and each other about the things we fear, then we can accept it and move on. It's really simple, right?
...
Right???
When I teach singing or guitar to students, they are often nervous of performing. Whether it is in front of me or a larger audience, they get scared.
I like to ask them "What is the worst that can happen if you do make a mistake?"
They usually look at me blankly, so I continue. "Well, I guess if you were to mess up, the world could end... or the building could collapse... or you could accidentally throw up on every single person that was in attendance... or you could open your mouth to sing and wasps could fly out and sting everyone"
That is when most of my students look at me like I am crazy.
Maybe because I am.
I am crazy, but I am also pretty ballsy. I have been told this many, many times. I would like to think I am ballsy because if I let my fear control me I would be stuck in my bedroom with my cats for the rest of my days. I don't want to live like that (no matter how cute the lil' guys are), so I have made a choice to attack fear before it attacks me.
I have just released my first debut EP this past weekend, and it was a lot of work. The hard work was the easy part in comparison to the fears I had to fight. "Will people like it?", "Will I do a good job promoting it?", "What if no one shows up to my show?" among other concerns danced through my mind.
One day, I sat down and wrote everything that I was scared of out. Every little thing about my music, my future, my life. I looked at it and asked, "What's the worst that can happen?" And immediately thought of the scene from Frankenstein where he was being chased by the mob of angry villagers.
That was the worst thing I could imagine happening. I release my album, and almost instantly an angry mob would hunt me down, obviously. But now that I knew that that was the worst that could happen to me, I knew I could survive anything else.
Mind you, I honestly don't know what I would've done if an angry mob appeared, but heck. I was mentally ready for it.
I mention this because as I am writing this, I am fighting the fear monster once again. In two days I will be heading out on the road by myself for 12 days to tour British Columbia. I haven't done anything like this for a very very long time. Heck, I cannot remember the last time I was out of town for more than 6 days.
I know, many of you may be saying "people do this all the time... you'll be fine", which is true. But this is uncharted territory for me; something I fear.
I have always been a very careful person with my choices in life. This past year, however, I have thrown caution to the wind (well as much as I could) and taken the risks and done things I wouldn't have done in the past. And you know what? Every moment, every risk, every detour, rejection EVERYTHING, has been worth it. Worth every moment. I have never felt so alive and so happy in my life. And I have never felt as though I am just getting started - which is the most exciting part of all.
So! I have looked at every option for the worst things that could happen to me on my tour, and I am ready for it all. The good, the bad, and the way it's meant to be.
Until next time I have to conquer my fears,
The girl who isn't afraid anymore.
SIDENOTE:
For those of you that are interested, I will be updating this blog along with my facebook page and twitter with all of my adventures on my tour.
I feel that if we can open up to ourselves and each other about the things we fear, then we can accept it and move on. It's really simple, right?
...
Right???
When I teach singing or guitar to students, they are often nervous of performing. Whether it is in front of me or a larger audience, they get scared.
I like to ask them "What is the worst that can happen if you do make a mistake?"
They usually look at me blankly, so I continue. "Well, I guess if you were to mess up, the world could end... or the building could collapse... or you could accidentally throw up on every single person that was in attendance... or you could open your mouth to sing and wasps could fly out and sting everyone"
That is when most of my students look at me like I am crazy.
Maybe because I am.
I am crazy, but I am also pretty ballsy. I have been told this many, many times. I would like to think I am ballsy because if I let my fear control me I would be stuck in my bedroom with my cats for the rest of my days. I don't want to live like that (no matter how cute the lil' guys are), so I have made a choice to attack fear before it attacks me.
I have just released my first debut EP this past weekend, and it was a lot of work. The hard work was the easy part in comparison to the fears I had to fight. "Will people like it?", "Will I do a good job promoting it?", "What if no one shows up to my show?" among other concerns danced through my mind.
One day, I sat down and wrote everything that I was scared of out. Every little thing about my music, my future, my life. I looked at it and asked, "What's the worst that can happen?" And immediately thought of the scene from Frankenstein where he was being chased by the mob of angry villagers.
That was the worst thing I could imagine happening. I release my album, and almost instantly an angry mob would hunt me down, obviously. But now that I knew that that was the worst that could happen to me, I knew I could survive anything else.
Mind you, I honestly don't know what I would've done if an angry mob appeared, but heck. I was mentally ready for it.
I mention this because as I am writing this, I am fighting the fear monster once again. In two days I will be heading out on the road by myself for 12 days to tour British Columbia. I haven't done anything like this for a very very long time. Heck, I cannot remember the last time I was out of town for more than 6 days.
I know, many of you may be saying "people do this all the time... you'll be fine", which is true. But this is uncharted territory for me; something I fear.
I have always been a very careful person with my choices in life. This past year, however, I have thrown caution to the wind (well as much as I could) and taken the risks and done things I wouldn't have done in the past. And you know what? Every moment, every risk, every detour, rejection EVERYTHING, has been worth it. Worth every moment. I have never felt so alive and so happy in my life. And I have never felt as though I am just getting started - which is the most exciting part of all.
So! I have looked at every option for the worst things that could happen to me on my tour, and I am ready for it all. The good, the bad, and the way it's meant to be.
Until next time I have to conquer my fears,
The girl who isn't afraid anymore.
SIDENOTE:
For those of you that are interested, I will be updating this blog along with my facebook page and twitter with all of my adventures on my tour.
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