Entry #: 25
Date: October 25/07
By:
Erin
Oktoberfest in Petawawa? Who knew it could be so much fun! All of the military personnel feasted on a fantastic Oktoberfest meal which of course included a lot of beer. By the time we started to play, everyone was in very good spirits. We knew a lot of people, which made the whole evening that much more fun and entertaining....especially with all that interesting dancing happening on the dance floor. I think we made a lot of people home sick as there were a ton of East Coasters there that night but they were loud and proud! It was great to see our good friend Brian, who engineered on our last studio album. He has been in Afghanistan for the past year, and it's great to have him home. It was also great to play live again after a much needed break!
You may be wondering - "What has Searson been up to lately?" or "Are they just lazy?" Besides catching up on some precious sleep and visiting our friends from home (yes, we do have a few friends still) we've been lining up the 2008 tour schedule, writing TONS of new music for the next album and have been back in the studio. We have some new songs that I'm really excited to share with everyone and lots of interesting things happening over the next year, so stay tuned!
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Entry #: 25
Date: October 1/07
By:
Erin
Syracuse Irish Fest seems like a long time ago, but I do remember that it was an awesome night. The evening consisted of all Canadian bands – Greenwich Meantime, Searson & The Town Pants! The show was a ton of fun and the crowds were so energetic – I love playing in Syracuse. After the show, everyone ended up at Kitty Hoyne’s, our fav place in Syracuse…it wasn’t an early evening.
Saturday,
all the Canadians headed off in different directions with us
heading to Toms River, NJ. Most of the crowd had been in a golf
tournament all day, sponsored by McIntyre’s. It was a lively
night as always there, and the hospitality was fantastic. Thanks
guys!
We were looking forward to spending the next few nights in Spring Lake Hgts, NJ ‘cause we got to stay in the same hotel for 3 nights in a row, plus it was right beside the ocean. Beautiful days by the beach and great evenings at St. Stephen’s Green…couldn’t ask for more. We had our fill of seafood and the staff really looks after us here – thanks again.
Tuesday we
were back in Maplewood, NJ. We had been telling Adam about the
mussels all week, my favourite in the U.S. by far! This was an
early evening and after the show we all headed back for some
much needed rest as we knew the next couple of days were going
to be long ones.
Wednesday found us in Warrenton, VA where a lot of the crowd
drove quite a distance to come and see us play and we really
appreciate it. It was great to see our friend Stephen, who we
hadn’t seen in a few years – he has the best hunting and fishing
stories out of anyone I have met. We’ve had the pleasure of
staying at his home in the past – just gorgeous. After the show,
we had a quick shower and then we were back in the van for a
quick 12 hour drive to Fishers, IN. We arrived late morning, set
up and did sound check and then made it back to the hotel. I
tried sleeping, but you can get pretty screwed up driving all
night, so Heather and I hit up Target instead! We don’t have
Target at home and they definitely made some money off of us.
Fisher’s was a blast, they did a great job advertising the show
as we hadn’t been there in a couple of years. The crowds were
great and it was a good pre-party for everyone heading to the
Indy Irish Fest that coming weekend. Although we weren’t
performing there this year as we were heading to Chicago, I’m
sure it was a great time at the festival.
Friday brought us to Nine Irish Brothers in West Lafayette, IN. What a night! I have never seen the place so busy, there was line ups outside both doors and people had their faces in the windows all night. It was crazy! Jerry & Jan had a surprise birthday cake for Mike & Colleen, which of course by the end of the night ended up all over Colleen’s face. Can’t wait to come back, it’s always a great time!
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Entry #: 24
Date:
September 25/07 12:02 pm
By:
Heather
Where: From my front porch in Ottawa
Chicago has always been a favourite city of mine to visit, so I was beyond excited to finally perform here. Playing downtown in Grant park was the perfect setting. Our first show was in the afternoon on Saturday. We made it through the Chicago traffic, safely arrived trailer and all. After unloading all our gear we went to lunch. They provided an amazing spread, even got my vegetables for the day. Our first show went off well. There was a great crowd of people dancing and enjoying the music.
After the show we were in for a special treat. We were invited to a private Canadian party promoting Nova Scotia. We socialized with many different people all the while eating mussels, scallops, salmon and other great food. The best part was washing it down with Canadian beer brought in for the party. You think it couldn't get better, but it did as they had live music with musicians from the East Coast.
To end the night we watched Dolores O'Riordan, former lead singer of the Cranberries perform. Having always loved the Cranberries but never having the opportunity to see them live us girls loved our backstage seats. Normally we like going out in Chicago, catching some live blues music but that night we were so tired from being on the road for weeks that it took all our energy just to shower.
The next day we had a 1pm sound check.
After that we wondered around downtown and of course went shopping. That night we opened for the headliner and had a fun night on stage. Everything went great minus Colleen breaking a couple of fiddle strings. From the staff dancing in the aisles to the crazy crew with dancing lobsters, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and look forward to coming back to Chicago.
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Entry #: 23
Date: September 12/07
By:
Colleen
Where:
Still in the
car (Somebody kill me!)
Title: Oh my God! There are cities
in Canada?
It’s 1am and I think we have finally passed the Ohio border and are trekking our way though Pennsylvania. All I can think about right now is how Buzzz has been poolside all day at Ian’s, but I’ll get to that later.
Where do I start off? Its already such a blur and it hasn’t been more than 24hrs. since our last show. Wednesday saw us playing at Ballydoyle’s for the first time. I can’t even get into the copious amounts of food we all consumed; I’ll just start salivating again! There was a great crowd, and I got to be a ‘Price is Right’ girl on the break. The bar was giving away tons of prizes, and I got to rub some temporary tattoos onto some lucky ladies. Oh my God, a friend of ours came and told us that he took the afternoon off of work to do some baking for us. Let’s see, I don’t think that the white chocolate macadamia cookies even left the parking lot. There was a bag full of treats…almond cookies with chocolate cream in the middle….crown royal and cola cake…..crown and ginger cake….and crown royal fruit cake. If only everyone knew the way into our hearts!!!! thanks so much John! Thursday found ourselves back at the Irish Cottage in Galena. Another night with wild Basil! There were tons of Irish dancers- I don’t know how they all fit into the bar- and Peter Yeates started the night off with a young fiddler from the Midwest: TOMMY. Too bad we couldn’t steal a couple of mattresses from the hotel and sneak them off to Canada…comfiest in Illinois!
Friday? Friday? Friday? OH Yeah! Friday! Another new place for us, St. Ambrose University (no affiliation with the beer I was sad to find out). Small, but mighty crowd. It was an outdoor show and I know that all of us girls appreciated having our sound check during the guy’s football practice! Woo! Woo! Adam almost soaked his pants with excitement when he found out we were going to Panera Bread. He only discovered it for the first time on this trip. (What can I say except he’s from Fournier Ont.) Our favourite boys from the Davenport festival made it out that night. If only we could’ve made it out downtown to the Ottawa…next time!
Oh Saturday! Another new experience for the band. The Dubliner was a basement bar under an Italian restaurant. Another football game was on so we were unsure of what to expect. Well let me tell you, the place was so hot and sweaty by the end that you could lick the walls for dinner. Frank and company were extremely friendly (thanks for the shirts). I even had a car bomb contest with someone in the bar and Heather said I beat him even though I started late! Papa Mike said he had never been more proud to call me his daughter.
OK that finally brings me to Sunday; yesterday. It was another first for the Kansas City Irish Fest. We had the opening slot for The Saw Doctors. It was hot as hell!!! No exaggeration, you could see all of us melting on stage. Erin has never looked finer. Everyone at the festival made us feel so welcome, and once again we were able to hang out with Gaelic Storm and The Elders. There was a wack-load of new bands that we finally got a chance to see. Buzzz and Johnny, thanks so much you guys are the best! After the after-party, we parted ways and everyone was getting ready for big-time long weekend celebrations. We were mentally preparing ourselves for the 22hr drive home. Dammit I could go for a cold one and a nice BBQ right now!! I guess I'll settle for listening to Mike snore from the front seat.
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Entry #: 22
Date: September 6/07
By:
Heather
Where: Sitting in the new van!
The new van finally came. Old Bev the Chev has gone into retirement, no more getting stuck in the “Crow’s Nest”, the tight quarters of the back seat. Everyone finally has their own seat. We did experience that new car smell for the first 2 days, but sadly that no longer exists. All we have to do is think of a new name.
Nine Irish Brothers in West Lafayette was the first stop on the trip. As soon as we stepped out of the van we noticed the change in temperature. Back home in Canada we’re at the beginning of fall season, but down here there was no need for all our hoodies. We get to experience a second summer. Our second time back at this pub and it was even more fun than the first time. We all love the staff, the patrons are always up for a party and the owner can’t quit dancing on the tables. The extra bonus of stopping here is the amazing used CD and DVD store just behind the hotel. Everyone improved their collections some how. From Adam being able to complete his Brad Paisley collection to me finding the next season of X-Files.
Point Place,
Wisconsin
8:00 pm
JJ McAuliffe’s Pub
We’re always excited to play some place new and after having met JJ the happiest pub owner ever we can’t wait to come back again. That is if the town will have us back after a tiny slip of the tongue by Weenie. The football game was on, Jacksonville vs Green Bay. I must explain that our extent of watching football is going to tailgate parties and catching the half time show of the super bowl. Weenie decides to get into the spirit of the game and starts heckling over the mic. Thinking she was cheering for the right team Weenie calls out, “Screw the Packers!!” which was received with murderous glances from the crowd. Luckily the audience was forgiving and laughed it off once she explained our lack of football knowledge. We didn’t know we were in Green Bay territory.
For the weekend we were performing at two different festivals we hadn’t been to in a couple years. Friday night was Peoria Erin Feis. After our performance we were invited to join these gentlemen on their 30’ boat. We shared a couple drinks and enjoyed the music in the beautiful setting on the river. The captain of this vessel was a true pirate, well only in the sense that he had a parrot named Crash.
Saturday brought us to Davenport. It was a great day to play outside. We performed an afternoon show and at the ceilidh that evening. The entertainment for us was the three kilted lads in the front row for each show and I was even lucky enough to dance with one of them. The big excitement of the night came when Erin and I were removing the cover for my bass amp. Losing balance the lid fell back cracked me in the head and to add to the fun I was a few inches away from the wall so I cracked the back of my head as well. I never thought in all our yeas of play fighting through till now that Erin would be the sister to KO me. Nothing like a good concussion to get you ready for a show. Ruth and Mike sent us on our way with our favorite drink. It was a good thing we had just run out of Crown Royal.
Sunday afternoon we had one show in Peoria following mass. We couldn’t load in until after the service, so we decided to attend the beer tent. You could drink beer and listen to mass, now that’s my kind of church. Apparently Mother Nature had it in for Erin though. A little bird ruined her relaxing beer by relieving itself on her hair and shirt. For the rest of us it just made the event far more entertaining.
We had a movie and drinks night after the performance. Starting with Zoolander and ending with some much needed sleep.
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Entry #: 21
Date: August
16/07
By:
Erin
We started the
last trip off with a show in Stittsville, ON. It was a great
outdoor show with approximately 350 people attending. It was a
good warm up for the festival the next day in Bethlehem, PA!
This was our first time playing at Musikfest and this show is
definitely in my top 3 favourites for 2007so far. (the band
always votes at the end of the year) There was an amazing crowd
and we made tons of new fans for sure, and lots of new friends
on our
Myspace. The sound, lighting and stage production was top
notch from start to finish, so we really enjoyed playing. Kudos
to the man 'riding his pony' through most of the show as well as
all the interesting dancers. We enjoyed seeing Brother again,
they put on a fantastic show!
By the time we got packed up and out of there, it was an 18 hour day, so needless to say we all crashed that night and were up and driving home at 7 a.m. the next morning. We're getting ready for our next 2 week trip - look out!
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Entry #: 20
Date: August
16/07
By:
Colleen
From: Ottawa, Ontario!
OK The great American Irish Festival was a couple of weeks ago. There along with us we were joined by The Elders, Greenwich Meantime, Enter the Haggis, Rathkeltair (with Ashley McLeod) and Glengarry Bhoys. There was tons of food and it was great weather all weekend. It was especially nice to party with Buzzz and Johnny again. There was a really cool band playing in the bar of our hotel. 12 different players, whooping it up.
Been home for a while now. Its nice being able to play around home. Besides a fire in our neighbourhood and a huge fight across the street, its been pretty low key. Slaving away in the studio, with frequent breaks of Road to Avonlea. Well obviously we'll keep you updated about the album......till the next one. bye
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Entry #: 19
Date: August 2/07
By:
Heather
From: Ottawa, Ontario!
Closest show to home this summer happened in Killaloe. A 10 minute drive down the road from our cottage was quite unusual compared to our usual 12 hours in the van. We were excited to play for all our family and friends who haven't seen the show in quite awhile. Some had never even had the opportunity to see us perform with drums.
We setup and finished our sound check hoping to catch some of the live music happening in the park. As always something has to make the day not run smoothly and that day it was the piano. At the end of sound check Erin's piano refused to play in key. Luckily we we're so close to home, Erin drove back and picked up another piano. With disasters avoided we were ready to go.
It was a great intimate show in the hall with a little over 100 people crammed in. We performed a lot of new material from the upcoming CD and some old traditional tunes from when we were kids. Whenever our Grandpa comes to a show he has his detailed list of specific fiddle tunes Weenie has to play, right down to the tempos. It was a fine evening of live music in the Valley.
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Entry #: 18
Date:
July 24/07 (9:52 am)
By:
Erin
It's been a few years since we performed at the Stewart Park Festival in "The prettiest town in Ontario" - Perth! It really is a beautiful town. We had a great show Saturday afternoon on the main stage. The sound was good, the crowd excited and everyone on stage was really just having a good time. All the crew and volunteers were very welcoming and helpful, so everything went smoothly. Our Mom and our Grandparents were at the show, baking in the sun - it always great to see them in the crowd! After signing CD's and meeting the audience we had a LONG break until our next show. We found a patio and relaxed and then hung out down by the river for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening all of the performers play at various venues in downtown Perth and we were at the Good Wood Oven. Thanks to everyone for coming out that evening. Best part is, we all got to go home to our own beds that night!
Colleen is teaching a fiddle workshop today and I'm playing piano with her and then there's a band rehearsal tonight in Ottawa to get some more new songs ready for stage....Dolly Parton anyone?
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Entry #: 17
Date:
July 18/07
By:
Colleen
Its so damn hot here i'm going jumping off the bridge when i'm done with this!!!!!
Well it was a big, big, huge weekend. BluesFest was in town for the week so Heather and I were in attendance for its entirety. So many great acts like Steve Miller, buddy guy, Johnny Lange, blue rodeo, bob Dylan, van Morrison, white stripes... the list goes on and on. On Sunday, we peeled ourselves away from the throngs of eccentrics and made our way to beautiful Almonte Ontario. We have played this celtic festival in the past, but it has been a few years. There was tons of great acts from traditional to well... us. I saw quite a few people that we used to compete against dancing and fiddling when we were younger. But alas!! The competitive itch has ebbed. My mom came out for the day-she hasn't seen us play in awhile-and sold us out of out of our product.!!! After the show me, Heather, Sideburns, and Laurie went to see Alexisonfire. There were these great vodka cranberry drinks i had never tried called ZERO I think. Well at least i was trying something different from my usual crown and diet.!!! On to Perth Ontario for next week.
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Entry #: 16
Date:
July 17/07 - 11:02am
By:
Heather
To Kincardine
we travelled. It was a treat to not have to worry about croosing
borders, passports and visas. Little did we know the adventure
we had ahead of us. When we arrived we went to check in to our
hotel rooms, but they were exactly not that. We we're being put
up in an old folks home for the weekend. Adam and Erin shared a
floor with Howie, while Weenie and I were holed up in the
basement. We were the only people down there next to the storage
and the furnace. We figured we could get all the free pudding
and cream corn our hearts desired. We were informed that the old
folks home goes into lockdown at 10:30pm, oddly enough our show
didn't begin till 11:30pm. All the bands had short sets that
night and it all went well. We hadn't been to this festival in
about 8 years or so it was good to see how it has grown.
The next day we spent most of it trying to avoid our "Hotel Rooms" and that strong hospital smell that came with them. We went out for a long lunch on a patio over looking the lake. We went to the beach, Erin and Colleen were the only two brave enough to jump off the pier. After hearing their screams from the cold water I decided to avoid it and stay warm. That night our performance went well, except for one little misshap. The stage had a hole in it and wouldn't you know it was beside me. My foot found a way to the hole while the rest of my body kept moving. Needless to say I came home with a slightly purple foot.
After the show all the bands went to house party where we met alot of interesting characters. My favorite was the 40 year old man who asked Colleen to pull his finger.
The Sunday afternoon show had a great crowd even with the thunderstorms that morning. When we finished Adam, Weenie and I went home to Ottawa to catch the White Stripes perform that night. I did learn this weekend that if I ever stay in an old folks home again it will be too soon.
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Entry #: 15
By:
That cute, little bass player
Where: My Ottawa front porch
On the Road again and Wellington, Ohio is the destination. Our fist time at the Scottish Games and we were crashing at the Oberlin Inn. Our all time favorite singer was going to be there, Dennis Carr of the Brigadoons. You know there's trouble when that Canadian crew shows up. It was a great setting and we got to be outside all day. We kept splitting the stage all day with Needfire. It was great to see people come out from our last couple visits to Ohio.
After 3 sets that day we packed up and went home for a shower. Mike, Erin and I went out for some fabulous Mexican food just down the street from our hotel. When we came back we met the Brigadoons, Colleen and Cuddy at the bar. Weenie was enjoying leftover Chinese food, while everyone else enjoyed a martini. Between the bachelorette parties and weddings the bar was quite the place to be that night. A few of us even shared a few rounds with the mayor. Charming woman.
We hit the road home at 6am. Before I knew it we were in Watertown. But just when you think you're home free you're not. We happened to be the car that got selected for a routine check. It only added 30 more minutes to the trip but when your that close to home and it's summer you just can't wait to get home.
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Entry #: 14
By:
Erin
Where: At home, drinking
coffee
After a quick 12 hour drive to Fairfield, CT and a little bit of sleep, we headed off to the festival. The Fairfield County Irish Festival was celebrating their 20th Anniversary and had lots of great bands coming through over the weekend. This is a great festival on some beautiful grounds. I must say, Heather did a fantastic job instructing the crowd on a short step dance work shop, she's the best. Really enjoyed playing for the crowd here, everyone was in such a great mood 'cause it was so gorgeous outside. That day we shared the stage with the Glengarry Bhoys and we all worked our butts off in the heat. Since it was Father's Day, the two Dad's in our band celebrated after the show and well into the evening as well! Happy Father's Day boys!!
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Entry #: 13
By:
The best damn
fiddler in Hyndford!!
Where:
In da car!
Ok!!!ok!!! The
place was Fairhill Maryland, the time well, I can’t remember
anymore!!! It was brutally hot AND A HELL OF A GREAT TIME. The
festival went without a hitch, then afterwards we went back to
Bill and Karen’s house for a celebratory anniversary dinner…
nothing says romance like having a bunch of smelly Canadians
over for a romantic dinner (Adam, our drummer… man that kid
stinks, I wish he would shower)
So after dinner we headed outside and Bill taught us how to open
a champagne bottle with a sword. As hard as Adam tried it still
took him four attempts before he succeeded. Ahem, needless to
say I got mine perfectly on the first try!!!
The next day we played at the Cool Dog concert series. Great food, the pesto chicken was my favourite, great hospitality, and excellent dogs! We had a little baseball game before the show, Heather and Adam apologize about getting a few in the face! hehehe. We packed ‘er up and headed home!
Later!
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Entry #: 12
By:
The Red Head
Weekend of Jack Frost!
We started off the weekend with another great night at the Snooty Pig in NY! We always look forward to playing here ‘cause they treat us so good, thanks guys. The next two days we were performing at the Jack Frost Celtic Festival in PA. I really enjoyed both of these shows, great stage & great crowds! I have to send a special thanks out to Nick from Greenwich Meantime for promoting our new yellow Searson shorts with such blatant confidence in his body (and our shorts!) If you need more info than this, check out the Youtube video on our myspace….no more explanation necessary. Monday we performed in Allentown at the Mayfair Festival of the Arts – a first for us. Everything went smooth from start to finish and it was great to play to some new crowds. Hope we get to do this one again. We were very excited to get invited to watch a Senators playoff game! Awesome hospitality, cute dogs!
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Entry #: 11
By:
Heather
From:
the Back Seat of the Van
We drove all day to Ohio to the Donahue’s home who were kind enough to put up the band for the night. We flew early the next morning to Florida. Wendy drove us there so we could leave our van and trailer behind at her place and save the parking fee. We arrived in Orlando and proceeded to sleep until sound check. We were performing at Raglan Road for the week. We spent the days catching sun rays by the pool then we had an awesome dinner before going to work. We even managed to score free passes to Disney. We spent the morning at MGM. The Tower of Terror is still our favourite ride, which is why we gave it multiple visits. The Aerosmith roller coaster and the Muppets 3D were fun as well. Friday morning we left very early again to fly back to Ohio. Sadly for Adam his flight left 2 hours earlier than ours and when he transferred planes in Philly his second flight was delayed by 5 hours. Everyone else slept the afternoon away till the show that night.
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Entry #: 10
By:
Collweenie
Where:
In the damn car again
Well we’re coming home from a kick-ass festival in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Its been 3 days of work, but it felt like vacation some times. We love playing in Ohio so much the people are always so friendly. We had a great set up. All of the sound crew were awesome people to work with and we were situated in such beautiful scenery. Oh yeah. Ohio has a lot of crazy dancers, not always the good kind! Thanks for the fun party in room 502. We got lots of great pics from the weekend, needless to say we were acting up a bit after the show. Alright well I’ll end this short one with eight seven six five three oh nine!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you think I’m crazy for writing that well I guess you had to be there (most anyone you talk to still thinks I’m crazy though)
Colleen
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Entry #: 09
Date: May 17, 2007 (9:58am)
By: Heather Searson
Where:
From
Ottawa
Texas bound for the first time ever, we were pretty excited. Cuddy is away on maternity leave so we had a new drummer, Adam Lalonde with us. We drove all night to Philadelphia and made it to the airport by 6am. Once through security there is only one way to waste time at an airport, so to the bar we went. When we finally got on the plane as luck would have it my seat was next to man with a coupon booklet for free drinks on our airline. The rest of the group slept through the flight and only woke up to the sound of my voice getting progressively louder.
We arrived in Texas with all our luggage and instruments in hand. Luckily the first night we weren't playing everyone caught up on their sleep. Saturday morning we went to the festival. Our driver, Gary had a great surprise for us. Wouldn't you know it was a bottle of Crown Royal and a whole bunch of nerds. This is a close to heaven as you can get. Being our first time in Texas we didn't know what to expect but the people were friendly and enjoyed the music no matter how hot it got outside. The poor Canadians were melting in the heat.
After the last set we hurried home to the hotel since our Ottawa Senators were playing hockey that night. We went to the bar next door grabbed some dinner and watched the game. It took till second overtime but our team won and then the celebration continued back at the hotel. Sunday we travelled back to the festival where we learned hurricane season in Texas means lots of rain, luckily the festival was covered over. When we finished and were cleaned up we went out for a big steak dinner. We we're up at 4:30 am to catch our flight back to Philadelphia. Everyone had rows to themselves, so we slept the entire flight back. Once we had all the gear loaded into the vehicles the race was on. Colleen, Adam and I had just enough time to get to Ottawa before the puck was dropped for the hockey game. Wouldn't you know we made it in time and our team won again.
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Entry #: 08
Date: May 12, 2007
By: Erin Searson
Where: Packing for the next road trip!
Our Florida tour continued with a fantastic festival in Jacksonville. This was the first year for this event and one of my favourites so far this year. Everything from start to finish was well organized and a ton of fun. Plus there was a lot of great bands there including the Screaming Orphans and Rathkeltair. Big thanks to Alex for all her help with merch and to the great job done by the sound company, you made it fun to play that day! We were treated so well by the organizers and it truly was appreciated by everyone in the band.
The band all
got a few well deserved days off before we headed to the great
state of Virginia. We haven't been here in awhile and it was
great to have so many people come out Wednesday in Warrenton.
From there we headed to Fredericksburg, where I swear we had the
loudest and most attentive audience that anyone could ever ask
for. Love you guys! By the time we got
packed up and ate a late dinner we only had time for a couple of
hours of sleep before we were back in the car and driving to
West Virginia. We had an early show for an outdoor corporate
event - everyone there was enjoying the sunshine and not being
stuck in the office working! From there we continued on to
Bridgeport where we performed a short set at the Ceilidh that
night, a preview for the festival the next day. We were joined
by talented musicians such as Alasdair Frasier, The Brigadoons
and Ed Miller. We all toughed out the rain and cold the next day
at the festival and had an evening performance as well at the
High School.
Sunday we headed to NJ for a show at a great new Pub. We are definitely going to try and get back there sometime this summer - any chance to get back to the beach! Everyone was pretty anxious to get home, so we ended up driving home all night, just to have a few extra hours at home before heading to Texas!
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Entry #: 07
Date: May 12, 2007
By: Heather Searson
Where: Houston, Texas
GO! SENS GO!
I dedicate this road diary to Trigger, and Christopher H.
McLeod.
Alright alright, I know I’m really late on this one, but give me a break… I’m tired, cranky, just got into Texas on no sleep!! (I’m sorry this one is late MIKE LETTERS!!!)
Ok Florida seems so long ago… I remember a snake incident, Head Honcho bringing me pheasant feathers, swimming at 2 in the morning, oh yes and I believe that a beer funnel popped its head out in Florida as well….. All of these Americans are rubbing off on me, I’ve gone into crown royal withdrawal, and beer overdrawal. Skye, you are definitely a bad influence!!! We played in winter park, Orlando… sooo much fun just like every other time..l Lve you Donal!!! From there on in we played at raglan road head honcho came out for 9 out of nine nights!!!
Oh yeah I just remembered, one night erin decided to auction me off..”Who likes the fiddle player?” she said, (tons of screaming) “who wants to take her out?” (even more screaming) “how much is she worth to you?” silence, silence….. “seventy-five cents! ”some one yells out…. Wow did I ever feel special.. but Erin decided to humiliate me again the next night, and I went for 40 dollars….almost as special as a coffee stain on a wedding dress!!! Well I didn’t get to kiss Mickey, but I got Tigger’s number (I like him better anyways) ok I gotta get back to the hockey game, the Sens just tied it all up! ... Colleen
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Entry #: 06
Date: March 26, 2007 - 12:37
pm
By: Heather Searson
Where: From my Apartment in Ottawa
Another St. Patrick Day has passed us by in the blink of an eye. We left for Verona, NY on the Thursday night. We had an early start the morning of the 16th and since no one is a morning person in the band except Mike we figured being at our location the night before was smart thinking. We stayed and played at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino. Although some of us gambled no one had the luck of the Irish helping us out. We performed two sets during the morning and early afternoon. The Casino went all out for the Irish weekend. From a costume contest of who could wear the most green to hired midgets dressed as leprechauns. They even gave away $1000 checks to people or tried to at least. The first lady offered the check refused it because she thought it was some kind of joke. After the show we loaded up and went for some Pho to eat before the next stop.
That night we played in Watertown, NY at the North Country Goes Green Irish Festival. This was our third year so we knew what to expect and what to expect was one big party. We had a long sound check that day, which gets tiring because you simply sit around waiting for the sound guy to be ready. By the time we finished sound check we had about 30 minutes to get ready for the show. As always it was a fun party with people up dancing, drinking and singing along. It was a great first day to start off the weekend of green!
The next morning we were on the road by 9 am. After a quick stop with our accountant we were driving back to the Turning Stone Casino. We did a quick load in and went and found some breakfast. We were performing in a huge room where they had a Irish festival setup for the weekend. We were playing on a huge stage with big screens on either side making us larger than life. Once we had all our equipment loaded up again we went to this amazing dessert store at the Casino and everyone got a treat. Before you knew it we were on the road again headed to Oswego, NY. The Oswego Music Hall was sponsoring a show at The Foundry for St. Patrick's Day.
This was the 19th show they have ever put together and it was the most tickets ever sold. Once we had our sound check completed we had some fish and chips than got our hotel rooms and got ready for the show. The show was in a huge room decorated beautifully and packed with people. The crowd was lively and it was a great way to end the weekend. We were told that in 19 years, this was their largest ticketed event yet! Kevin Connelly was a great host to the band and even took us out to the pub after the show was done so we could enjoy the last few hours of the 17th. Colleen and I headed home after the show. We were 2 hours away from Ottawa and liked the idea of waking up in our own beds. The rest of the band spent the night and had a great time out at the pub. They headed home the next morning and made it to Eganville by 2 in the afternoon. Than everyone in the band spent the next 2 days sleeping trying to catch up since January.
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Entry #: 05
Date: March 25, 2007
By: Erin
Where: Eganville!
I can't believe I am actually home, it seems like a long time coming! We started off with a fun show at the Ugly Oyster in Reading, PA. We met lots of people that had seen us at the Mid-Winter festival a few weeks before and I think some people were still catching up on sleep. From there we continued on to Maplewood, NJ one of our most favourite places to eat! Gotta love their mussels. Another great crowd, we always love playing here. The hospitality is always greatly appreciated.
Friday found us at McIntyre's in Toms River, NJ. The Ocean County Observer did a great full page article on the band as well as a full page photo (see our News page), so it was a PACKED house. Lots of old and new fans in Toms River and I really enjoyed playing this night. Can't wait to come back. Saturday we made our way to Seagirt, NJ and we stayed in this beautiful old hotel right along the ocean. We completely enjoyed having a day off, grabbed some drinks, relaxed and ate some awesome Mexican food - always a band favourite. Sunday was parade day, and the city was full of people getting geared up for St. Pat's. The venue we were playing at was jam packed all day, so needless to stay we made the most of it, played our hearts out and helped build everyone's excitement for St. Pat's. We drove to Philadelphia that night and stayed with some great friends of ours.
Monday we were back for a dinner and show at the Shanachie in Ambler, PA. Nice, intimate setting and we really want to thank everyone for coming out on a Monda night, it means a lot to us to have such a great crowd - always encouraging. Tuesday was uneventful as we drove for 12 hours to Indiana, I think? I don't really remember, I try and block these long driving days out of my head.
Wednesday was a new venue for us at Nine Irish Brothers in West Lafayette, IN. What a great place! We haven't been back to this area since the Indy Irish Fest in September, and the place was full of people ready for a good time. Thanks to Andrew & Katie for the gift of Crown Royal and Nerds (Heather's all time favourite candy!) Heather & Mike were both really sick with the flu, but they pulled through as always. Thanks to the staff who took great care of us!
Next was St. Louis, MO for three nights in a row. We could actually settle down and unpack for a few days which is the best thing when you have been on the road for awhile. We all love hanging out in St. Louis, it's a great city to walk around in. Heather and I were both extremely sick by this point, so we basically slept all day until we had to play. I always forget how much it sucks to get sick on the road until it happens - all I want is my own bed, but when it's 24 hours away you just kind of put it out of your head. After our last show on Saturday night, we loaded up right after our set and drove straight through the night to play in Greenville, SC. We made with an extra half hour to stop at the Hotel, change our clothes and get down to the site. This festival is in a beautiful park and it was a gorgeous day. Loved the sunshine, loved the crowd, loved being out of the van. By Sunday night, we were all totally exhausted and everyone had a pretty early night. Monday, it was back in the van (I really need a break from the van) and we drove straight home to Canada. I got home around 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning - a whole 2 days at home, before we had to leave again. You don't do this job, unless you absolutely love it!
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Entry #: 04
Date: March 9, 2007
By: Colleen
Where: St. Louis
It's about 20 degrees here, nice and warm, been walking aimlessly for 2 hrs. Well Cornwall seems like forever ago, but I'll try to remember. it was the week after mid-winter, and we were all still recovering. at least it was a very short drive for us. Just over an hour. we set up camp, and lo and behold there were a bunch of chaps from back home. Apparently Wilno was there for the organic growers convention. had a fabulous meal, and finished it off with cool hemp ice cream. after the show a few of the lads from Greenwich meantime showed us their city. we went to lola’s, a local dive. I think it used to be a dry cleaner’s service but, you have to give the people what they want…. I guess that’s why the bar was packed. After a few tequilas we woke up ready to head to Schenectady.
Katie O’Byrnes!
what a place! great food to start it off. the place was jammed.
they emptied out all of the tables and chairs and then we had a
huge place for all of the crazy dancers who showed up. Tons of
recognizable faces from hunter mountain and other festivals in
the area. one of the best parts of the night… The bar turned the
Sens game on every TV for us. At least everyone pretended to be
into the game for our sakes! what a great ‘quickie’ it was, with
two days at home before we headed out to the ugly oyster and on
from there!
Later
Colleen
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Entry #: 03
Date: February 26, 2007
By: Heather
Friday night we found ourselves in Corning for the first time. We finally got to play at the Snooty Pig. From the moment we arrived we were treated great and knew it was going to be a fun night. Plus we had the added bonus of Cuddy's wife Melissa coming on the road with us. As soon as we walked in the door they had the crown royal ready for us. Apparently Gilles the drummer from Townpants had called ahead to warn them of our rye habit and to make sure we had a drink waiting for us. We loaded in and did a quick sound check. We had an amazing dinner back at the hotel than got ready to perform. We had a good crowd for our first time playing there and had a lot of fun that night. We're looking forward to coming back in May and seeing everyone.
Saturday we found ourselves in Valley Forge for the Mid-Winter Festival. I always like to think of this festival as the first one of the year. You get to see all your friends from other bands and make some new ones. Saturday was a 7am wake-up to get there on time. We hit the stage did a fast sound check than started playing. We than had the entire day to socialize with everyone since we were closing off the night. As always there was quite the party Saturday night. From partying at the bar, to different hotel rooms, to even my favorite the Star Trek theme room! Sunday morning we took the stage first thing to start the day. Then we were done for the weekend and got to enjoy the rest of the bands performing. It was a long drive home Monday morning and it was pretty quiet in the van which meant everyone had a great weekend.
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Entry #: 02
Date: sorry this is so late!
By: Erin
Where: Holiday Inn, Toms River, NJ
We definitely made the most of our time on that cruise ship! We had three performances throughout the week, all on different stages. My favourite was the stage at the front of the ship, where we were literally rocked back and forth on the stage - and almost off my piano bench. Wouldn't be the first time. We had some great ports of call but my favourite was the US Virgin Island because we found the most amazing beach to swim at. We literally floated in the ocean for 2 hours straight. Made us all wonder why we live in Canada. We had a great time partying with all the other musicians - special shout out to Jimmy Kelly, he kept us laughing all week. And our new friends from Ireland, Colin and Alan kept us supplied with liquids and good humour all week. We all got some cheesy photos taken on the boat together, hopefully they'll be in the photo gallery soon. Also, huge thank you to Gareth and Erick, staff on the ship who showed us some great local spots and kept us up dancing all night, every night at the disco.
There was 1200 people signed up for the Cruise of the Irish Stars, and everyone made the most of it. I know our band definitely made the most of the buffet tables and late night pizza stops. It's a good thing we weren't on there for longer than a week! Big thanks to Andy for inviting us, we had a blast.
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Entry #: 01
Date:
January 20 2007
By:
Heather
Where?
From Crisco's
Studio
We left Canada for the Florida tour in usual fashion piled into
the van and trailer. We drove to Plymouth Meeting the first day
and stayed with our good friends Bill and Karen Reid. As always
we had a few drinks and alot of laughs. They helped us get
prepared for the big cruise at the end of the trip. The next day
we drove to South Carolina where we we're crashing in a motel
that night. By the second fill up of gas we we're all enjoying
the raise in temperature. After a long walk and Mike getting
lost for a few hours on his jog we jumped back in the van to
head to Jacksonville. Our first show ever in the state of
Florida.
We setup at Lynch's pub and got our sound check out of the way. We then had a great dinner and walked it off on the beach. We weren't sure what to expect crowd wise that night since we'd never played here before but wouldn't you know it Searson fans came out. People who'd seen us all over the states. There we're even fellow Canadians in the crowd and the good old Seven Nations crew came out as well. We had a great night and we're looking forward to the next. We slept in a beach house about 1/2 hour away, lulled to sleep by the splashing waves. In the morning - who am I kidding - it was definitely the afternoon, we love to sleep in; we went for some grub at an outdoor patio. The food was fantastic and i've never seen Colleen get so messy from eating a burger. She was picking avacado out of her hair for awhile. We informed her that it probably wasn't the best first date meal for her. We walked along the beach and stuck our feet in the cold ocean. We watched people surfing and fishing. We even all managed to become tangled up in a fish line at the same time walking down the beach. I think it entertained the locals. Before our sets at Lynch's that night we caught part of the performance of Seven Nations and the Jacksonville Symphony. It made us excited to try something like that sometime. After that, back for another fun night at the pub.
Sunday we headed to Orlando to play at Kitty O'Sheas. We ate on the patio and watched some football then setup for the show. We met alot of great characters here from the man who gave us a whole a pile of different little flashlights even ones you could attach to your drink to my fav the man with the HEAD HONCHO hat. Lucky for us Kirk from Seven Nations was kind enough to put up all the Canadians at his house for our stay. With Monday and Tuesday off we made the most of the backyard, soaked up some rays and had a few drinks. We even managed to do a little skipping in the front yard to get some excercise and taught the boys how to jump double dutch. Than the card games began. From intense euchre tournaments bewteen the bands to playing auction. It was a relaxing fun couple of days. Some where in the process Colleen and I packed our bags and moved down the road to Crisco's.
Thursday night we played in Winter Park at the Fiddler's Green. The man with the HEAD HONCHO hat showed up with a little surprise for me. My very own HEAD HONCHO hat! We had great sets, tried out our new material for the next cd and got a great crowd reaction. We had a fun time sharing drinks and shots with the audience and staff both Thurday and Friday night. The Fiddler's Green had some of the best chicken wings we've ever had and Mike and Cuddy claim to be experts on the subject. With another show tonight in Winter Park we're looking forward to another great night.
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