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