Acoustic Grill, Picton, ON

This isn't the Acoustic Grill— it's my house in west Toronto! Here's what my breakfast table looked like this morning. The garden has been doing well in my absence. Pears will be along soon. I'm always out on tour during this time of year, so being able to stop into the house is a bit of a treat. We cooked outside last night, slept in this morning. Spoke our new Italian words— some of them anyway— to the neighbours...


Cherto! Cherto!


We hit the highway in mid afternoon to beat the traffic. I hadn't planned to zig and zag this much around Toronto, but there are a limited number of good venues in Ontario and this is just how it ended up. So, we drive again. The mighty 401 Hwy spews us eastward into Prince Edward County. It's about a two hour drive, and we'll be returning to Toronto post show. We arrive early enough to go shopping at the Giant Tiger department store, and then have plenty of time to load in and set up. The Acoustic Grill is one of the best rooms in eastern Ontario for acoustic music. They've done a really, really good job of developing the room over the past few years, and it's just amazing what they have achieved. Top notch acoustic performers from local, regional, national and international talent pools. And they really know their food here as well. This is the home of the best salad in Canada!

It might not be the smallest stage on the Tour— I think perhaps it is tied for second smallest— but it is a listening room, and always a joy to play.


Owner Steve and barman Steve and me talking pints before the show. I go with the red wine. The County is an up and coming producer of wines now, and there are many local estates with quality product.


See, I told you this place was happening! I know all these guys! Tonight we have folks who have come in from Kingston, Brockville, Belleville, and Peterborough to catch the show. These are places requiring 45 minutes to 2 hours of driving to get here. That's a real compliment, and Dave and I appreciate the support! It's too bad we couldn't have put more of these towns on the Tour schedule this time. Book now for 2011!

Dave and I discover that we have left four brand new mic stands— with booms and clips— at Smoke Meat Pete's in Montreal. We had "help" loading out there. That's a break in routine, and it proves that it's better to stick to a standard plan. Normally we load all of our own gear in and out. We know where it packs, we know who is responsible for what, and we do the "dummy" checks. With many hands and much talking mistakes can be made. I'll call my pal Michael Pickett, who is doing some gigs out that way, and see if he can retrieve our gear...


Another great night! We raffle a jacket, have a ball playing, have a great meal, meet loads of old friends, make some new ones. The County roads are very still and dark at this hour. We stop at Tim's in Picton, and then blast off. We'll be back at my place in Toronto by about 3:30 AM. We talk about the West. We'll be there soon enough. But we've still got plenty of adventures in Ontario.

Drive Day to Quebec: Crossing Tours with Pickett

I'm up real early and out of our B&B for a run. I do about 8 or 10 km of mostly hilly residential town streets before making my way back. I don't want to miss breakfast! We're on the road soon enough, but not before making a stop at the local museum. It's closed today!

We search for coffees to go, and then we are out of town. It's a pleasant drive north, past Fredericton. Beyond this point it gets pretty wild for the best part of a day's drive. Just hills and logging and trucks and this little highway. They've actually done a great job of upgrading this road— most of it is now divided, smooth and fast— right through to Quebec.

That doesn't mean we don't get bored on this highway. Pretty soon we're on the new cell phone to give Michael Pickett a call. He's on tour in Atlantic Canada as well, and we wonder how his adventure is doing... Michael answers his phone and— strangely— he's on the same highway as we are, going the same direction, maybe five minutes behind us! We decide to lunch at a gas bar just up the road.

Cool, eh? For a minute I can't remember which Tour I'm on! Michael and I had a great Tour together last year. We did about 65 shows coast to coast on the National Steel Tour. Maybe we'll get to do it again sometime. We sure put some deep blues down across the land. But right now these are two tours at the gas bar crossroads. After a slow and dreadful meal we gas up and get on our way. Michael will stop at Quebec City, and Dave and I will stop closer to Montreal.

We're bored again!!! No?

I like the drive along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Strange, lumpy little hills. Little strips of original land grants stretching back in narrow fingers from the water. Soon it will be late and dark. All the motels on this road between Quebec City and Montreal seem to be equally bad and uniformly expensive, full, and in poor repair. We will find one of these eventually, and sleep— or not sleep— to the sounds of people fucking badly in the next room. Brunch will be Swartz's Deli in downtown Montreal.

Road to Fredericton, NB, Old Friends

Rolling this morning out of the beautiful White House Motel. You can see the lobby and reception area behind us. After two nights it's not quite home away from home. But it did have internet and was close to the gig. Last night we hung out with our pals Richard and Manuela, and had a bonfire on their back lawn. Overlooking the lights on the St. Lawrence River, it was a pretty view from the northern part of Quebec City.


Today it's kind of overcast as we head to the Big Pont (a pont is a bridge around here) and catch Route 20 East. It's quite a view, tearing over this big bridge. Soon the sun is coming out for us and we are enjoying the drive along the south shore.




By the time we cross over into New Brunswick we've entered another cultural zone. If only we'd brought more guns and a bigger truck... Don't worry, kids, these animals always sleep in the back of pick-up trucks around here.




Just trees and rocks for the next couple of hours, punctuated by smoke from a few mills. The highways here are real nice, so I set the truck on cruise to avoid tickets. Before long we are rolling into Fredericton. After a quick stop at the festival office we drop by the hotel. Our rooms are not available tonight! I know... we are early, but we want to be on time for our media events tomorrow. We end up checking into a little motel with a name I can't pronounce. It smells like someone may have died in our room, but as there is no sign of the body we set up a table fan and head downtown.

Our good friend Michael Pickett is on his way through town and is playing at Crumbs Cafe, on King St. Dropping by, we are treated to hospitality by Joe, the owner of the venue. While here we meet quite a few local musicians as well as out of towners here for the festival. We seem to be photographed endlessly this evening. Michael is great, as usual, and we stay for most of the show before calling it a night.


Good looking guys in good looking coats.