Entry #: 08
Date:
September 1, 2008
Time: 11:10am
By: Heather
One of the final shows of the Canadian tour was performed in our hometown area Deep River, Ontario. Our parents and friends we're able to make it out. It was great for everyone to finally hear us perform our new album live. After the show we headed into Pembroke for a couple of beers at G'Day's and the chance to catch up with some friends. Find out what everyone else has been up to all summer. When the bar kicked us out we went to our parent's farm and caught a few hours sleep.
It was an early morning leave to Kincardine. The town was hosting a reunion and people came from far and wide. There was no shortage of bagpipes. We we're happy to find out we were not sleeping in an old folks home again.
The floating stage of Bemus Point enjoyed beautiful weather and great people. We were worried we were going to miss it all. We were held up at customs for a couple of hours. Trouble getting our manifest stamped. Luckily we made it through and did the show. Than we were treated to a fest. From mussels to nachos it was fantastic.
I always love playing Muzicfest in Bethlehem. The crowds are enthusiastic and make the show alot of fun. It was great to see faces we haven't seen in quite awhile. This was the first stop in the states with our new cd. It was a nice compliment having people anxiously awaiting the CD.
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Entry #: 07
Date:
August 4/08
Time: 12:58pm ET
By: Colleen
ok! its been a hell of a drive! trip! excursion! whatever the hell you want to call it!!! We have partied with a professional bullrider, eaten arctic char, met an amazing band from australia, (check them out!), went mudrunning in B.C...... the list goes on and on!!!!
Ok, so since its been a long run, (the 3rd week of june if i'm remembering correctly) i'm definitely NOT going to remember the cronological order of things, so i am going to write a collection of random memories. And, if anyone is awake at all while i'm typing this, hopefully they'll give some good imput (or juicy gossip)
First thing i remember is meeting Leonard in Atlin B.C. His family's from the valley, so i think something clicked right there. Not to mention that he was such an awesome, caring, cool guy! On the saturday night he took us all the way up a mountain in a dune buggy. Swear to god. if you ever need a tour guide ask for Leonard!
Erin, Andrew and myself went to Iqualuit, Nunavut a day early then the rest of the band. we were determined to watch the sunrise because it only sets from about 11pm to 3 am (if my memory is spot on.) we climbed all the way up this gynormous hill, were sitting at the top waiting. as andrew put it" the sun didn't rise but the skeeters sure did." The size of dragon flies i swear!
So many of our cousins came out to our shows in Saskatchewan! We love our mom's family and do not get to see them enough, Charmaine, Ron, Rick,Terri, Tom, Roger, Sandra, Lorraine thanks so much!
Finding out that the new drummer is addicted to onion rings... so bad that when he was at a fancy schmancy buffet that was all he ate!
Watching the new guitar player on the prowl from timmins ont. to whitehorse, yellowknife and back!
Cinnamon arse! we were stopping for gas in Long Lake on our way north. You gotta love it when the liquor store is right on the highway and it has piles and piles of tourist junk stocked up since the 80"s. Well i found the perfect car freshener picture of a hot little lady posing in her trailor, skantily clad. Yes, yes Cindy- Lou... we all love looking at you and admire how you keep our car smelling cinnamon arse fresh!!!
Heather wants a time check 1:35 am... i'm a slow typer
We stayed in this awesome house with Rick and Sue in Atlin B.C.it was part way up the mountain and we overlooked the lake and mountains on the otherside...(i think the peanutbutter muffins were a close second)
Going to the west Edmonton mall being disappointed that its just a mall.. with alot of repeat stores boooooo!!!!!
heather won a free helicoptor ride...she saw mountain goats, bears,and caribou.
It was low tide that first day in Iqaluit. erin and i were walking around town, "awh how cute! a little toddler playing with a ball. Wait,what is that? oh my god! there's a dead seal hanging over that boat and the kid is playing with it!"
Andrew and Mike stayed at the taxidermy's house in Atlin ;Bobbie and Gary's. i think they loved the boys so much that they stuffed them with food everyday! That first night they had 2 dinners, and there was always homemade sweets out in the kitchen... match made in heaven, she loved to cook, they loved to eat.
well our trailer broke down again on this trip,,, back roads middle of nowhere. Some of us got a ride with another band Wills (check em out!) poor erin and heather waited for caa for 2 and a half hours, but while they were waiting at 4 in the morning, the van battery died and it was so cold they were spooning half the night.
we went iceburg hopping out on the ocean. andrew leaping, me with my head stands, erin almost falling everytime, and mike our father saying" come on guys thats far enough!" check out our pics of seaweed beard!
in Iqaluit there is a road to nowhere. big bonfire at the end of it. even bigger catfight! beebop & bubblegum started it; that was the rumour.
Athabasca- erin and Andrew were the kareoke king and queen.their alias was Linda and Marty silverbullet
Saville theatre in Saskatchewan. Jim has hosted everyone from Searson to the Governor General. Met this awesome band called the RE-MAINS from Australia.
We were extremely lucky to travel across Canada this summer, went can't get over how professional it was to work with everyone from the rocking bars to all of the festivals. Being able to see so many talented bands..wow...working with so many talented acts who are Canadian was so much fun and such a treat....I can't wait to do it again!
till next
time! 'I think the ivory tickler' is next
Colleen
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Entry #: 06
Date:
July 4/08
By: Erin
Where: Timmins, ON at the Bon Air
Trying to remember any details from the last trip in the U.S.,
was it really only a week ago?
Playing at Nine Irish Brothers is always a great way to kick off any week. It was a Tuesday night and the place was packed! We had some great coverage before and during the night of the show in the local media- which reminds me I have to get those video clips put online for everyone. We introduced the boys to the amazing hospitality we always get in Indiana and can't wait to come back for our CD release show. Ballydoyle was another great night, with Phil arriving a little late because of a strenuous golf game that day with the staff. We were eagerly awaiting John to bring our homemade cookies that he always bakes for us. I really think he outdid himself this time and as I know he'll be reading this I have to say the Toffee Chip cookies and Pecan pie cookies were my ultimate favourites for this round. The owner was asking us where he could order them to serve at the bar and suggested having a CD release/Chocolate party with us the next time we come to town in October! No complaints from us.
The next day was Galen, IL and the hotel was full which meant a busy night at the Cottage! Basil, Jack and the crew spoiled us as always and we had a lot of people drive a long way to come see us play which always makes it worth while to me. The next morning we headed back to Oakbrook, IL for what was, so far, the hottest festival of the year hands down. After several thunderstorms, covering and uncovering gear the sun came out and it didn't leave. We played one show Friday night and three shows on Saturday and I think the last show was my favourite as everything else at the festival was wrapped up so the crowd was able to relax, celebrate and enjoy the music. Also had the opportunity to represent Canada in true Erin fasion - singing O Canada at the closing ceremonies of the games - didn't even mess up any of the words. Not a single one.
After another
famous Searson Drive Day on Monday we wound up in Ithaca, NY to
perform at Cornell University. The theatre was gorgeous and I
have decided that playing a theatre is always a great way to end
a tour. The concert was free to the public and we had a great
turnout....would've been a little embarassing otherwise, since
it WAS free!
We have a 15 hour drive tomorrow as we head up to Northern
Ontario and have decided to do the road diary for Iqaluit,
Nunavut together as it was an absolutely incredible trip and
have too many memories to jam in and don't want to forget
anything.
Stay tuned for: step dancing on the Road to Nowhere and Handstands on an iceberg!
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Entry #: 05
Date:
june 22/08
By:
Colleen
Where:
Indiana
road
diary...... my love, and my curse!!!!!
well it's been a hell of a long time since i wrote in the last
one....i think Andrew's grown a few more hair's on his chin!!!
well for everyone who has been seeing our live show lately, yes we have 2 new wicked awesome musicians touring with us.... Andrew Krause on guitar (another fellow valley boy) and our "new kid" we are still initiating- Mr. Mike. He hails from ottawa....... any more details you must come out to the show to see this kid in action........wow!!!!! best drummer in quite some time!!!!!
well we started treking in syracuse last thursday, and played at the famous kitty hoyne's..... well once again i dont remember going to the hotel room.....but before that magical partof the evening we sampled the plethora of cocktails,,,,,, (side note.... who knows all of the ingredients in an apple sauce shot??????? i need help on this one) once again all of the boys at the bar took excellent care of us!!!! (luke, all of your pics you are flexing in them!!!!)
the only down note of thursday night, heather's bass crapped out within the first set.... so we were without a bottom end all night.... friday night we woke up early to buy heather a cheap bass to get us through this tour.... after about 6 hrs, we finally found a place that would service us.... ten minutes after acquiring the bass.... erin's says "holy shit! our trailer is smoking!" so we pull over and our ball bearings are shot.... we are stuck in Binghamton till about 7 pm and unfortunately for us... we had to cancel our show in toms river at Mcintyre's pub... And contrary to some people's thoughts this is our 2nd show in 10 YEARS that we have ever had to cancel....Jim, sorry! we miss all you guys very much!
Saturday was our first festival of the summer....what a day.. we all got 3rd degree sun burns!!!! lots of fun!!!!! but there was another band there who rocked out all afternoon!!!!
well erin is taking over for next week's road diary.... a little hint......my foot is broke .... and i got into a fight with a robin...the bird won!!!!!!
xxoo
Colleen
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Entry #: 04
Date:
April 2, 2008
By:
the brains of the operation...
that's right, the bass player
Where:
From a cafe in Ottawa
Once upon a time there was a Canadian band that rarely played in Canada. They loved playing in their country and missed performing for friends and fans. People kept writing into to the website asking, "When are you coming to Toronto?" The band kept searching for an answer. On a beautiful March 13 day the answer arrived. Searson will be playing in Toronto at Fionn MacCools. Friends, family and fans gathered where they spent the night happily ever after.
There were so many familiar faces in Toronto I felt like I knew the entire bar. This made for one huge party. Dancing and drinks we're flowing. The high school crew were even performing strategic bar dancing competitions over a pint that left the crowd in suspense. I haven't seen moves like that since Lakeside in the Quebec. We we're excited just to play a prime pub. We use to perform this circuit of pubs all the time ccross Ontario and we became addicted to their food. The entire trip down we discussed what we would eat off the menu. It was a good thing we fueled up for the show a lot of energy was spent.
That night we crashed at our grandparents in Oshawa. In the morning we woke up to fresh coffee, homemade french toast and sausages. We we're piled into the car by noon and driving off to the Thousand Island Border Crossing.
Watertown has become a St. Pat's Searson tour tradition. We always look forward to the party on the 11 floor. These people do it up all weekend long and we were there for the kick-off. Everyone dressed in green, with a pint in hand, dancing to the music. Andrew the new guitar player was even a little nervous to perform to a bigger room. This was only his fourth show and the other three we're all bar shows. As luck would have it he fell in love with the stage and crowd, he blew us all away with his playing. A highlight of the night for me was performing one of our new songs, Go To That place. This is a number we wrote in support of our troops. Watertown has a base, there was a lot of friends and family supporting their troops out in full force that night.
Fredonia, NY has a beautifully restored opera house that was more than a simple a treat to play. My sisters and I kept commenting how it reminded us of an opera house from a classic musical, Calamity Jane with Doris Day. Colleen was so excited, I thought she might perform one of the numbers from the movie. People we're traveling from all over to attend, even a bus load from Buffalo made it. We were very touched by the effort people made to see us perform. Erin was in heaven all night. She had the joy of performing on a restored 1918 Steinway the hall provided. I was a little afraid that she might try and steal it at the end of the night. We would all be her accomplices since she would need our help stuffing it into the trailer.
This is the part of the tour where life became a little more difficult. We had misjudged the distance to Hanover, PA. The band was going to have to leave by 4:30 am to be on time at the theatre for load in. Before we went to bed that night Erin, being the smart red head that she is checked map quest again just to be sure of our route. She made an interesting discovery. We actually had to leave by 3:30 am. Everyone had to sleep fast to enjoy their two hours of sleep. The only upside was the Tim Horton's next door. We all got a coffee and a chance to win a prize in the Roll UP the Rim contest. Everyone in the car won something but me. Don't feel bad for all the years this contest has run I've never even won a free coffee. My Tim Horton's karma is way off.
We arrived in time for load in. It was another beautiful theatre, we we're becoming quite spoiled on this tour. Wouldn't you know they had another baby grand piano. It even had the huge bench to go with it. Us girls had flashbacks to competing in the Kiwanis music festivals. There was a time when we were too little and weak to move the bench before we could sit and play the piano.
As luck would have it we had to hit the road right after the show. Andrew had to work Monday morning. We're lucky to have such a dedicated guy! We stopped at the hotel so everyone could shower. We didn't want to be a moving stench of B.O. back to Canada. Everyone arrived alive by 7 am. I caught up on my sleep, than I went out to celebrate St. Pat's with friends. This is the first time since I was nine years old I wasn't working on March 17.
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Entry #: 03
Date:
February 11/2008
By:
the Stellar Bass Player
Where:
my Ottawa Apartment
Friday was an
early morning start, with blizzards and banking to do before
Syracuse. Erin began the trip by filling the tires with air,
only to discover that we needed new tires. The mechanic told us
there was no way we would make it to Syracuse, Erin informed him
how we just made it back from Omaha. Thank our lucky stars that
we made it home safely and the van and trailer were good to go
for
the next trip.
We made it to
Kitty Hoynes by afternoon unloaded our gear and setup. As always
it was a fun night in Syracuse. Good people, good food, great
drinks and the music wasn't bad either! What made the weekend
extra interesting was Kitty Hoynes hosting a fiddle fest
weekend. Saturday afternoon Colleen did a fiddle workshop. Some
people brought their fiddles and played, while others just sat
and listened. She performed a number of Old Tyme fiddle tunes.
This is the music we grew up learning from the Ottawa Valley,
not to mention my Grandpa requests every Christmas. Colleen also
taught those with a fiddle in hand a set from our Live CD,
Glengarry's Home to Me. It's traditional tunes, the first one
being written by our old neighbour. Many people stayed right
from the workshop to the show that night.
It was packed Saturday night, there was no where to go but to
stay on stage.
After the show we had a sit down with David and his staff. David even surprised us with with a new Crown Royal Drink we had not discovered yet. He also spoiled us with a box filled with tasty treats from the local chocolate shop. My favourites were the chocolate covered raspberries and the chocolate covered oreos. We were also inspired by the musical stylings of a staff member who performed a few numbers of his potato rap.
By the time we hit the bed that night, it was time to shake off the covers and head back to Canada. Luckily we only drove through a blizzard for about 45 minutes. We made it home safe and sound. Now just to rest up for next weekend, Mid-Winter, see you there!
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Entry #: 02
Date: February 11, 2008
By: Erin
Where:
In the studio,
Listening to: Colleen record her fiddle parts on a new
song
After our
shows in Omaha we headed back to Galena for a few days. Monday
night we were treated to an amazing dinner from Fred at Fried
Green Tomatoes. Cocktails, several appetizers (including the
best escargot I’ve ever had), bottle of wine, soup, salad,
bottle of wine, seafood pasta, bottle of wine and a dazzling
array of the best desserts we’ve had in a long time. Colleen’s
favourite was the chocolate brownie explosion. We all enjoyed
having a night off, thanks for the hospitality Fred! Tuesday
included catching up on some work, Colleen and I jammed and
wrote some tunes for the next album, and watching Wayne’s World,
Wayne’s World!
Wednesday we were on the road early and arrived in West
Lafayette in the afternoon, set up, sound check, dinner and a
quick nap before the show. Nine Irish was packed, it was great
to be back. Thanks Katie and Andrew for the large box of candy
you brought the band….it’s a permanent fixture in the van.
Thursday we arrived in Fishers, IN and had a great evening
sponsored by Jameson and Kilkenny. Lots of musicians out this
night and it was great to catch up with everyone. We got some
cool photos with a gentleman who had a Colts Superbowl ring –
photos should be up shortly. It started freezing rain early on
this night, so we had to a good start on the drive the next day.
Haven’t seen that many cars and transports in the ditch in a
long time, but true to our Canadian upbringing we handled to
snowy road conditions like pros.
We were back
for our second performance at Ballydoyle in Downers Grove. It
was great to get back here and I thought it was a great night.
There was Irish Dancers before the show and they did a great
job. As always, Phil toasted the band before the show and then
we were off! Our new friend John baked an astounding amount of
cookies for the band – death by chocolate, skor bits, toffee
shortbread (my favourite), white chocolate macadamia and sugar
cookies. There was so many cookies surprisingly some even made
it home for friends and family to try as well! Thanks John!
After a few short hours of sleep Saturday morning, we headed to
Cleveland for the final concert of the trip. We have not been to
Cleveland in a long time and we really appreciated the great
turn out as we only booked this show a few weeks before we left
on this tour. There were lots of kids dancing throughout the
show and it turned into a really fun night. Thanks to Pat and
Kevin for the great hospitality as well. We were all pretty
anxious to get home after all the driving on this trip so we
packed up that night and were back on the road to home by 12:30
a.m. and 10 or so short hours later we were home!
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Entry #: 01
Date: February 5, 2008
Road diary!
Road diary! By Colleen! Colleen!
This is definitely my favourite part of the job.
Well I’ve got a lot to recap over this past week. The plan was to start out early from Ottawa around 7am. Well of course there had to be a blizzard that day and we didn’t actually leave home until around 9:30. It was a little scary to see tons of cars, transports, and yes tractors in the ditch all the way to the states. Tuesday was a complete driving day. We arrived in Dayton, Ohio. Wednesday we played at the Dublin Pub. It was great to see so many people out on a weekday night, and at a place that we have never played. Obviously we fell in love right away when the owner told us it was tradition to have a shot of Jameson before the show…..he really had to twist my arm for that one!
Thursday was another great experience at the Irish Cottage in Galena, IL! Played to a packed house, and there was many familiar faces in the crowd. It was a couple of friends’ b-days ( including heathers on the 26th!) needless to say there were some great shots of some boys in kilts and a few “scandalous” party pics after the show (eh Erin and Heather?). (fat man in a little coat!)
Friday and Saturday was in Omaha, Nebraska at The Dubliner. This place is awesome for live music. It’s in the basement of a building downtown. Always packed, always full of drunks!! My kind of mix. We were staying at a casino just across the river called Harrah’s. Lots of buffet food. Adam had some bad luck on the gambling floor, but it could have been hell of a lot worse. The second night we decided to go on the town and explore! Explore! So we ended up at a very high established place called Surie’s. Let me tell you there must have been some of the most beautiful people in Omaha there. You know it’s a popular spot when there is a guy selling street meat (hotdogs) for 8 dollars apiece. Wow, looking back at what I have written I’ve realized that all I do talk about is booze and food. So anyways, on to Sunday!!
We had a few days off and decided to spend the down time in Galena. Basil, and Jack definitely held up there end by showing us girls what their town has to offer. One of their close buddies owns Fried Green Tomato, an authentic Italian eatery. Let’s see: we had bruschetta, escargot, stuffed mushrooms, bread and oil, and crabcakes. Then it was the soup course, the salad course, then our pasta course. DESSERT.. oh man the best pecan pie, best brownie, coffee ice cream, cheesecake and apple pie.. mmm mmm…
The next day was another day off… Erin and I had a little jam session, a small practice then we all watched Wayne’s World. That’s it for me…. I Believe that big red is taking over road diary for the second half of the trip….West Lafayette, Fisher’s, Downer’s Grove, Cleveland… you know we are going to get into trouble somewhere along the way.
Later
Colleen
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