Well Hello!!!! We roll late afternoon into Hugh's Room, Toronto. This is one of the best acoustic rooms in Canada, and we are very pleased to be launching the National Steel "Century" Blues Tour here. This room features great sightlines, good food, nice bar, great service, great sound. Ann gets us set up and running in no time. The sound techs here are all excellent, highly experienced people who have been with the venue for years. It shows!
We've had a busy day picking up the Tour truck, going to Long and McQuade for our sound system, out to DPI Graphics to get some extra posters, going to Silverbirch Productions to pick up the new Big Road Blues cd in quantity. The cell phone has been ringing all day. The emails have been pouring in. But we are in motion. We drop back to my house to change into our working clothes...
Brian Blain dropped by to say hello and see us off. Always great to run into him around Toronto and at the various festivals. You can check out his music on the Northern Blues label. Nice to see you, Brian, and thanks for your help promoting our shows in the Toronto region.
Sales for this show are softer than anticipated, but promoter Richard Flohil does not appear to be too worried. We have a great meal, greet friends and fans, and then get down to launching this Tour!
Do you think Big Dave McLean is the meanest guy in Canadian show business? No, but he sure does deliver an intense performance. It's a real pleasure to be back on stage with him.
Y'all know how mean I am... I guess I'm in the zone for Angola Prison Rodeo. Dave is sounding great, and we are in the pocket. No jacket raffle tonight, but I gave Richard the first night's Tour Jacket. Flohil and Associates have been doing an amazing job of getting the word out across Canada. Many of the upcoming shows are already sold out. It's a real treat to work with Richard.
We were pleased to have quite a few family members in the audience at Hugh's Room— my Mom, brother and sister! Gosh, a family re-union! I was hoping that my mother and my son would get up and play something with us, but that didn't work out for logistical reasons. Next time! Thanks for coming! Dave's mom played the last show of our last tour... Anyway, Dave and I are glad to have the first show behind us now... looking forward to the next 103 dates. This is going to be a blast! We've got some video of the tonight's show, but I need to figure out how to post it here. Check back and see if I've managed to do this.
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