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We drove to Banff early in the week to play Tuesday and Wednesday at the Rose and Crown on Banff ave. When we got there though it turned out that the bar and agent had doubled booked the room that night. We were contracted to play the next week, even though this wasn’t conducive with some of the shows we had booked ages ago in the prairies, for on our way back. We didn’t have much choice but to come back the next week though. The bar was great still and gave us accommodations for the two nights so we decided to stay in Banff and take a few days off.
It turns out that the band who was scheduled to come in never ended up showing. They tried to get a hold of us through the band house but were unable to due to phone carrier complications, and so the cook at the Rose & Crown ended up getting the gig!! It’s funny how the world works sometimes haha.
We were fortunate enough to play at Bruno’s on Wednesday. Gary at the bar booked us in for a showcase before the open stage jam started that evening. Thanks again for the hospitality Gary, we had a blast jamming with you and everyone. And oh yeah, those ski shots to Bruno the mountaineer sure hit the spot!
Our next show was in Jasper on the Friday. We did the drive a day early to take advantage of the clear blue sky on, what I’ve heard is, one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Well I have to say that after driving it, it’s the best drive I’ve been on so far! All the pictures from the drive between Banff and Jasper have been uploaded. Some have been cropped and adjusted for exposure, but most are untouched and still do not look real, it’s amazing!
Our show Friday went extremely well! People showed up early to catch the start of the night, or the end of the hockey game, but they stayed all night! What an awesome crowd of friendly people everybody was, it was a pleasure to play and to play the extended set with the added jam at the end! Thanks again to everyone at the Whistle Stop, especially Vanessa for having us! When in Jasper, I definitely recommend the Whistler’s Inn. Adjacent to the pub, we were treated like kings!
We drove to Calgary on Saturday to meet up with Brandon and Ramsey and ended up getting free tickets to go see Todd Snider perform downtown. My friend Teena does promotions in town and offered us the tix for Todd. It was a great show, singer-songwriter hippie outlaw country music was the best way to describe it. Though as a side note I have to say I was really jealous of my girlfriend Erika for being at the Wooden Sky show in Toronto, which of course turned out to be an epic night at Lee’s Palace.
We had a show booked for Sunday evening at the Lord Nelson’s Pub downtown. Sharing the bill with us was Evan and the Poisonous Birds who put on a great show. Good energy and good songs! This four piece of drums, bass, guitar, and fiddle put on a great performance! Thank you to the Calgary crew again for all the hospitality and the show! We’ll be in touch again soon!
On Tuesday we made the drive back to Banff to play. When we walked in we noticed that the marquee for the night was advertising the wrong band again. Turns out it was just a mistake this time!
Both shows went great at the Crown even with the Trews in town playing at Wild Bills across the street to promote their new album, we had a good crowd of locals and visitors! 
Thanks to Ali, Stan, Vern and everyone at the Rose & Crown for showing us a good time and being so damn awesome! We hope to see you all again next time!
On Thursday, we had a mammoth of a drive ahead of us. We left at 8:30 in the morning from the Rockies and had to get to Brandon, MB. It took us about 13 hours and then I remembered the time change… Kaleigh offered us to stay with them in Brandon since she knew how long of a drive it was and that we needed to get to Fort Frances for the Friday. We left early again the next morning to make the rest of the drive and got in to the Fort for 4:30pm.
Carson and Lindsay couldn’t have done a better job at promoting! The place was packed with people and I had a visit from some old friends and family, the Johnsons. Thanks so much for coming out to the show guys, it was great to see all of you again!
Joss and John, two local musicians, opened up the night and we played 4 sets afterwards. It was a special show for us not only because it was the last one of the tour, but also because it was a chance for us to play as a trio! Carson had the stage set up with his bass amp and drums and we rocked the Little Beaver until all the beer was gone! Thanks to the amazing patrons and to the newcomers to the Little Beaver Cultural Centre, we can absolutely say that we finished off our tour in style!
Thank you Canada for another amazing journey through your land, your people, your parties, we do honestly have the best people and backyard in the world.
Musically,
The Road Models!
P.S. The new album is being recorded as we speak!
So we left Revelstoke Sunday with the intention of taking a few days off. We drove down to Nelson to visit BB’s brother Kevin. Taking some time to relax and enjoy the view out the backdoor was the perfect get a way before our next show in Fairmont Springs.
Rory at the Hoodoo Lounge in Fairmont Springs invited us back this year to do another showcase. Aaron from Golden was there to help with the night and played a few songs with us on stage. Many musicians from the surrounding area were out on Wednesday to hear us play and participate in the jam we hosted later that night. Thank you to everyone who was out and to everyone who brought there instruments.
The show ended at 11:30 and we decided it was early enough to drive to Revelstoke again. There were lots of midnight deer on the road as we easily counted twenty or so, not counting the the ones we couldn’t see. Turns out there’s nothing like a night drive through the snowy peaks on Rogers Pass under a clear and starry October sky. You could call us time travellers that day, leaving Nelson in Pacific time and losing an hour at the show in Mountain time and getting it back in Revelstoke as we crossed the time zone again at 3 in the morning, bringing us back to 2am. We were glad to to wake up in Revy the next day as it cut 3 hours off our drive to Vancouver.
Booked at The Tipper for Friday night, we got to Van a day early and spent some time catching up with friends on Thursday. We had a bit of running around to do on Friday before the show but we got all our shopping needs done in time for me to have dinner with Matt and Vicki. For those of you who don’t know, Matt and Vicki cycled the continent last year and decided to plant some roots in Vancouver once their trek ended. We had some Dream Sushi and caught up since we hadn’t visited since summer when they came back to Southern Ontario for a short visit.
We set up for sound check and Shirley Gnome opened the evening with a set and dirty cowgirl country songs! If you’re the conservative type, these songs might not be for you, unless your a closet dirty minded individual, but if you’re open to some raunchy country then check this out!
http://www.myspace.com/shirleygnome
Halloween parties were going on everywhere that weekend and we took part of a few but we had to hurry and make the turnaround show on Vancouver Island on Saturday. We got to Victoria in time to drive to the Saanich Roadhouse and set up. It was great to see the crew again, thanks Leila and the rest of the staff who accommodated us that night and to Michelle who booked us in again this year! We dressed up as Blues Brothers for the occasion since the stage hosts the life size figurines of Jake and Elwood Blues.
We had the day off again on Sunday and went sight seeing on the island, visiting Cathedral Grove, the famed old growth forest of the West. Pictures are up on the fan group, and if you haven’t joined yet, here’s a link for you!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=10842490043
Cheers!
The Road Models
P.S. B.B.: “Clubs across Canada is still in effect but nothing’s been blowing my mind lately. Club sandwiches tasted in Nelson and Revelstoke. The Lady of the Lake clubhouse sandwich in Brandon MB is still in the lead.”
On Sunday we drove to Saskatoon for a prairie jam. It was our coldest stop as of yet, sitting at around -2 degrees celsius.
Tim Vaughn was on stage backing up many of the acts and stayed on to play bass with us for a set. There’s a strong blues scene not to be missed in Saskatoon which is infused with hip hop, rock and raw talent. The president of the blues society was out and enjoying the night at the local blues mecca, Vangelis, situated right next to the legendary Bud’s On Broadway avenue.
We left for Edmonton the next day to get ready for our show at the Druid.
We spent our time in the city with friends, family, and tons of laughs. We also couldn’t help but take the time to visit Rundle Park, home of one of Edmonton’s 18 hole disc golf courses.
For shots of the Road Models in disc golf action, you can visit our fan group’s ”photos” section! ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10842490043&v=photos&ref=ts )
In the downtown Edmonton shire, we found The Druid on Jasper avenue. Our set started at 9:30 as the featured artists of the week. Captain Tractor’s Chris Wynters hosts the weekly show, followed by an open stage of local singer songwriters. We had guests from Fort MacMurray, Yankee you crazy man, and from around the city who surprised us at the show. Newly renovated, the Druid has turned into a banging music venue for the downtown core. Thank you to those who came from all around to see us and made the night wicked-awesome!
Stopping in Calgary the next day to visit, we stayed for the night and made our way to Golden on Friday. With some time to spare, we stopped into Canmore, AB for some mountain disc golf as we entered the Rockies. ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10842490043&v=photos&ref=ts )
The humbling trek through the giants of the west is always a eutopic experience and Golden is always a fun town. A counsellor in town actually came up with the slogan: “Canada’s G Spot!” though it`s suffered a recent change to “Go to Golden!”
We were greeted in true fashion at the Golden Taps and had a great time playing on the new stage! Thanks to everyone at the bar and to Brandon and Ramsey who followed us from Calgary to come and catch the show that night! We’re coming back for that bottle of wine!
Revelstoke it was the next day, scheduled at the Village Idiot for eight o’clock. We time travelled into the Pacific Time Zone as we routed Roger’s Pass and arrived into town. ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10842490043&v=photos&ref=ts )
It was great to see Seabass and Emma at the Last Drop and Erik and Alli at the idiot, familiar friends from last year`s journey! We caught up with Jake, Mindy, Eric, and Julie, (BB`s friends), who hung out with us that night too.
It was great playing for all the Spicoli’s pizza and beer patrons of the far western reaches of our country! Nothing brings people together like music, good beer, and good pizza!
Thanks again and we’ll see you soon enough, especially since this blog is delayed!
To the Druid, The Taps, and The Idiot… CHEERS!
: D
The Road Models!
