15 Gigs down, 3 to go.

I’ve forgotten what it’s like to start a band from scratch and build it to an awesome concert machine. I have not had to do that in quite some time. I remember heading to Australia to work with Russell and the TOFOG guy and I wondered if we would be starting from scratch. As it turned out, we were not, really. Those guys had a dozens, if not hundreds of gigs behind them and knew each other’s turns and twists.

The band that sleeps behind me in this bus has been together for just over two weeks, and have exactly 15 gigs under it’s belt. Yet somehow, we’ve managed to fast track the works of it and become something more than a bunch of musicians playing someone’s songs. Somehow, in a short period, we’ve become a band. I should not be surprised considering the guns that rest their heads while I type in between early morning phone interviews. These guys and gal are not just good players, they know what it means to be in a band; to join forces to make something bigger than the sum of its parts.

Its been a bit of a whirlwind. Much press in the mornings and daytime, sound checks in late afternoons, gigs in the evenings and driving overnight to do it all again in the next town. I jut crossed the US Canada Border for the eighth time in just a little over two weeks. Busy times, but grand fun.

Getting close to home now. Getting nervous about it, I confess. As I’ve noted here many times, Home can be Hard. There’s so much history and so much I owe to the folks and fans in Atlantic Canada that I am terrified to disappoint them. I can’t help it. I’ve travelled a lot and seen some amazing places but this is still the most important part of the world to me and as the bus rolls ever East the weight of it all pulls me to a familiar set of butterflies and nerves. The nerves that don’t want your Mom to see you do anything other than something excellent. So excellent it will have to be.

Moncton tonight, Halifax tomorrow, St. John’s on Sunday.

See you there.

Cheers,
Alan

Got upgraded to Executive Class on this 5 hour flight. Very nice. I started this morning at our families cabin, about 200 kilometers drive from St John’s. I flew to Toronto and had to make a connection at Pearson Airport. As I approached the gate I heard them call my name and when I got to the desk, they exchanged my boarding pass for a ticket to Seat 2C. Yes b’y. Maybe I should be drinking. Hmm. Don’t think it would be a good idea. Need the clear and sober headspace to face all that is to come.

Let me first say that I am happy and delighted beyond my mind to be heading out on this tour. I am practically giddy with excitement. But I confess to being a bit nervous and a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things to remember, consider, plan for, etc. There is, as you can imagine, a pile of new lyrics to remember and new melodies to deliver. There are new chord combinations to play and new pedals and buttons to push at the perfect time. There are new harmonies to sing and new harmony singers to sing them with. There are new sounds to mix and new problems to solve. New questions to ask and hopefully answer on time. I have every confidence in the world in the band, and the crew guys to pull all this off in a spectacular fashion. It’s me I’m not so certain about, but I look forward to giving it a real serious go.

Of course there’ll also be new jokes to tell and hear from a new team of people on a new bus with new stories to tell and new iPod Battles to wage. There are new hands to shake, shoulders to hug and faces to kiss. There are new victories celebrate and new missteps to learn from. New successes to cheer and new failures to bounce back from.

New. What’s so awesome about new, I wonder. Why does this whole thing thrill me so much? I don’t really like new clothes. I hate new instruments. I beat up new shoes before I’ll put them on. So what is it about all this new–ness that has me so wound up? I honestly could not say for sure. I just know that I can’t wait to get rolling and to make some awesome nights out for all of us. New nights with more songs to sing. That’s all I ever want, I guess. I suppose I’m not that hard to figure out.

Over at alanthomasdoyle on Twitter, I’ve been discussing doing a Twitter Request section in the middle of the shows. I was thinking that if you are at the gig and would like to hear something you’ve recently or always wanted to hear, this would be a great time to do it. Perhaps it could work like this. Come early enough to check out Dustin Bentall, who is awesome. Between Dustin and my set, just Tweet to me what you’d like to hear. Now you know the kind of thing we are talking about right? You know, maybe a GBS song that I wrote or whatever that you’ve never heard us play live. Or maybe one of the Crowe/Doyle Songbook tunes or one of the tunes RC and I wrote for TOFOG. Perhaps there are tunes you know I wrote for other artists or from a TV show or film or whatever. You get the picture. Don’t ask for something you would have heard me sing a million times or something I would not have a chance of knowing, I suppose. But use your discretion. I’d love to do whatever. Can’t promise the band will know these tunes but I’ll be happy to embarrass myself trying to recall the lyrics and chords. Should be fun, I figure.

Just looked at the SAT Map on the screen. Not even at Calgary yet. Jaysus, Canada is f*@king big. Even on an airplane. Hard to believe that the bus that is to pick me up in an hour or so will drive me and everyone else all the way back to Atlantic Canada in less than three weeks. With a few radio shows ad a corporate appearance or two thrown in the mix, we are planning to do 22 shows in 20 days.

Sorry, you probably know all this but, the CD is called Boy on Bridge. I’d be very grateful if you picked it up. The Tour starts tomorrow in Seattle. Love to see you at a show near you. The single and soon to be released video, (more about this later) is ‘I’ve Seen a Little’. I appreciate you requesting it on your fav radio and video stations.

The SAT Map says we are 62 miles from Lethbridge. There are mountains in the distance. That’s a good sign.

Many good signs today. Thanks for all of them..

Cheers,
Alan