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Entry #: 59
Date: December 11, 2006
By: Erin
Where? Home - with heat!
Wednesday began with
a quick ten and a half hour drive to Philadelphia. We had
another great visit with Bill & Karen Reid, their hospitality,
food & wine always make for an enjoyable and relaxing evening.
Thanks so much guys! Thursday we were off to McGuinty's in
Silver Springs, MD. This was a new venue for us, great place
with a large open bar area to play to. We met many people who
have seen us at the Mid-Winter Irish & Scottish Festival, so
thanks to everyone for coming out, you made the drive
worthwhile. One of the owners used to work at a bar in Ottawa
that we used to play at back in the day, when all of us girls
were in elementary/high school! We all had a good time
reminiscing and we look forward to going back. Cuddy and I
introduced Mike to IHOP later that night....always an
entertaining place at 3 a.m.
Friday we were off
to Washington, D.C. to perform for the Annual Masonic Banquet.
This was a long day, but everything went smoothly for a change!
I especially enjoyed watching Colleen & Cuddy try out their new
stretches before getting on stage...ask them to show you
sometime! We performed in the Ball Room at the Convention Center
downtown and even though everyone had just finished a huge
dinner, we had people up dancing working it off. Met lots of new
people that we look forward to seeing the next time we are back
in their area. Thanks to John for his help on sound that
evening. After we had loaded up we had a few drinks in the Hotel
Bar, and I found a new favourite martini called a 50th
Street...I slept very well that night. Big thanks to Albert and
his wife Mary who were fantastic hosts all day. And to Mary who
sent us with a huge care package of baked goods, snacks and lots
of tasty treats.
Saturday we were
driving by 8 a.m. and made it to Syracuse by 3 p.m. After set up
and sound check, we had a quick dinner. We want to send out a
huge thanks to Bernie Coyle who treated us all to an AHL game
before we had to play. Bernie along with his friends Tom and
Chris (the girls thank you for the flowers!) and us had a great
time watching Syracuse Crunch vs. Philadelphia Phantoms. It was
a very entertaining game and we all loved having time to enjoy
something in the city for a change! Syracuse won six to one...woohoo!
Check out the pics in the photo gallery. We had to leave after
the second period to make the show, but had a blast while we
were there. Kitty Hoynes was completely packed, and I think this
was one of my favourite times there yet. We can't get over how
many keep coming back to see us here, thanks for your constant
support Syracuse. We'd like to thank Luke (bartender from the
bar who had the night off) for his limber dance moves at the
front of the stage, it's a side of you we have never seen
before. For once, we didn't have a super early morning the next
day, so we were able to hang out after with the staff and as
always they were great hosts. All of us girls want to send a
personal thanks to David Hoyne who gave each of us a box of
gourmet chocolates from a shop in town, for Christmas presents.
You definitely know the way to our hearts and are always so
thoughtful!
Well, this was the
last tour of 2006. The rest of December will be spent on
continued preparations for the next album and seeing what kind
of crazy tour schedule we can get ready for 2007! Happy
Holidays!
^
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Entry #: 58
Date:
November 22, 2006
By:
Colleen Supafly Searson
Where? At Erin’s palace, with no heat
Syracuse! We
played to a packed house. Crowd was a lively bunch, the drinks
were continuous and Cuddy was rocking the drums so hard that he
unplugged all of our power twice. Neil Emberg and Ashley McLeod
even showed up for a surprise visit on their way to Fernwood. It
was great to wrestle with David Hoyne again.
Fernwood. We
had the pleasure of hanging out with PA’s finest – Bill
“favourite colour: PINK” Reid and the illuminous Karen “red
wine” Reid. We had two great sets, and second set we had an all
female Canadian dance off: us three girls, Shelley Downing &
Ashley McLeod danced the ‘famous four’. Neil Emberg sang with
Erin on Wild Horses….what a beautiful rendition. After a night
of pleasant socialites, we packed’er in around 6 a.m. Sunday’s
set was beautiful. We packed’er up, Mike went to Myrtle Beach to
play golf and we packed’er away to Canada.
Erin jigger Searson is on deck….
^
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Entry #: 57
Date:
November 20. 2006
(6:44 pm)
By:
Heather
Where?
From The Parent's Farm
We had a quick
trip down to East Greenbush. The only tough part was getting up
at 7 am. Once we arrived there was plenty of coffee to keep us
alive. We were looking forward to playing after spending the
last month writing music at home and playing just for ourselves.
There might even be applause when we finish playing tonight! The
Schenectady Pipe Band and the Braemar Highland Dancers joined us
for a great night of Irish music.
Before our
show we were treated to fantastic catered dinner. I'm not joking
when I say us girls were a little worried about dancing on such
full stomachs. The best treat of the entire night was the
surprise appearance of the Crown Royal from two gentlemen from
the Schenectady Pipe Band. Apparently there is a rumour (that is
definitely true!) that Searson has a little love called Crown
Royal. We were given the gift of a bottle and crown royal
glasses and believe me they went to good use. Once the show was
done, people had left and the equipment was packed we headed to
our hotel. Everyone was pretty wiped from the day and knew it
was an early start the next day, to head back to Canada. Oddly
enough we drove through snow on the way home, apparently this
happened on the way down but I was sleeping. I know what you're
thinking, but the snow was in the States. I was mildly surprised
at how much warmer Ottawa was that day. Have no fear things went
back to normal the next day, it was cold but still no snow.
^
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Entry #: 56
Date:
October 2. 2006
By:
Erin
We are home!
The travelling
continued from Indianapolis for an easy 12 hour drive to
Philadelphia. We had an excellent dinner out on Karen & Bill's
back porch, I can't tell you how good it was to have a home
cooked meal, thank you! We weren't sure if anyone was going to
make it out for a show on a Monday night, but there was a great
crowd at The Shanachie. Lots of people there who said they had
seen us at the Mid-Winter Festival and are coming back again in
2007. The band was in an extra good mood that night because our
drummer, Cuddy, had just found out that his wife was expecting
their first child - Congratulations! We are super excited for
you.
Then if was
off to NYC, and yes, we got lost again, but what else is new. I
can't wait until we have a GPS system in the van. The city had a
lot of extra traffic in it that day because of people visiting
from the UN. It was so packed, that we couldn't find a parking
spot for the van and trailer, so Mike ended up driving around
for our whole first set. We had a great dinner with Marty and
his family to wrap up the evening.
Wednesday we
were back at St. James Gate and we always look forward to it
because the hospitality is awesome. We had a full, excited crowd
that evening and I really enjoyed playing that night. Colleen
also met an awesome Hairstylist, and made arrangements to get
her hair done in the morning by Kevin Serratore - she looks
amazing. While we were waiting to pick her up, the fuel pump in
the van stopped working and after a few hours of having help
unhooking and moving our trailer, we towed the van to a garage
and thankfully after 5 hours, the van was fixed and we barely
made the show to Toms River that night. Not sure if Colleen
mentioned it, but this was our second car trouble of the week
because we blew another tire on the trailer on our way to
Indianapolis. We had another great night in Toms River and by
the end of the night, we were all completely exhausted.
Friday we
headed to Bethlehem, PA - we couldn't believe this was the last
weekend o the tour. The had motorized carts to haul all our gear
around all weekend and we played various stages throughout the
weekend. Great crowds, lots of excitement, lots of fantastic
people! Everyone was so welcoming and we really enjoyed
ourselves. It was great to hang out with some of our favourite
Canadian Bands Enter the Haggis and Greenwich Meantime (sandwich
anytime !) I was also introduced to The Waffle House for my
first time ever with Cuddy on Friday night around 3 a.m....just
amazing. Hopefully we have converted lots of new fans in the
Bethlehem area, thanks to everyone who drove long (and short)
distances to see us play, we really appreciate it. Monday we
were driving by 6 a.m. and arrived home around 4 p.m. completely
exhausted and looking forward to the next tour! It was a great
month, thanks to everyone for making it so much fun.
^
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Entry #: 55
Date:
September. 27, 2006
(12:45
pm)
By:
Heather
Where: Ottawa Apartment
Our suitcases
were packed bigger than usual for the long trip. It was an
exciting week to come with everything from eating cow tongue, to
plane
rides, to an elk chasing.
We started off
at The Hooley on the Hudson. It was a new festival for us in
Kingston, NY. We had a great show and ran into alot of people
from Hunter
Mountain. We were even taken out to dinner by some New York
firefighters. We drank lots of wine and crown royal (of course
)! We even sampled cow tongue for the first time. It was very
tender and the taste reminded me of liver. Although i don't
think anyone loved it so much that they'll order it again.
The next day
was are only day off on the tour. We were only the second day
in. We decided to go shopping since none of us girls packed
formal clothes which we would need for the weekend. We tried on
many outfits alot of them with sparkles, they reminded me of a
figure skating costume. With dresses and shoes purchased we went
out for a steak dinner than spent the night watching tv in our
rooms.
Bethesda MD
was the next stop. Although we had played Flannigan's before the
bar had moved to a new location and changed its name to the Harp
and Fiddle. We had some delicious pub food and toured the town.
It was great to see many a friendly face including our stalker
family out in full force!
The Smyrna
Opera House we had only played once before but we're looking
forward to playing the venue again. It's a great room and
everyone has a fabulous dinner and than a show. Plus they make
the best chocolate brownies with a bailey's icing on top. I'm
not even going to tell you how many brownies we ate. After the
show we drove to Philadelphia to crash at a friend's place. We
had an early morning flight.
Once we were
all settled in at the airport we had a few hours to kill.
Luckily for us there was a bar right accross from us. There was
nothing to
do but drink beer and bloody mary's. We boarded the plane and
continued
drinking. Needless to say everyone was very quiet on the morning
flight
except for us. Especially Colleen and Cuddy who with every drink
we're told their accents were becoming more and more prominent.
We didn't have to play that night and since we hadn't seen the
7N boys and Brother for some time there was alot of catching up
to be had.
It was our
first time in Colorado and the shows all went well. We got to
meet alot of interesting people and made some new contacts. They
were long days with alot of playing, not to mention the dancing
was quite grueling at that altitude. On our last night there,
there was a formal banquet. We had great prime rib dinner and a
few bottles of wine. We continued partying into the night since
we only had to catch a flight the next afternoon. On our walk
down to the local bar there was an elk incident. A male elk
started chasing Cuddy and Crisco down the street. Crisco made a
clean break for it, but poor Cuddy had a wipe out accross the
pavement. Luckily everyone made it to the bar with minor
injuries. The next day everyone passed out for the plane ride
home. When we made it home, we had some pizza and went to bed.
Role call was 5am to head to Indiana and everyone got some much
needed sleep.
^
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Entry #: 54
Date:
September. 20, 2006
By: Colleen
We started the
week off on no sleep from Colorado, and left at five in the
morning to drive out to Indianapolis. We played at a place
called Fionn MacCool’s. It was a great warm-up show to prepare
us for the Indy Fest at the end of the weekend.
For the next
two nights we played in St. Louis at a bar called the Dubliner.
It wasn’t open yet, so we had two great nights of private
parties, with lots of booze and food!!. Afterwards we headed to
another bar to watch someone else play for a change. After
hooking a ride to the bar in the back of a pick-up truck, we
really let loose and closed the place down. The second day I
toured around downtown with Tom (Irish dude we met the first
night) and had the best smoothie in town!!!
Friday, it was
back to Indianapolis to play at the Indy Irish Fest. Tons of
food, booze etc. Once again we headed to the Wild Beaver Saloon
every night…. And I must say that I was doing some fine dancing
on the top of the bar!!!! Unfortunately, on my way home I
tripped on the curb and skinned the bottoms of my big toes.
(well, I guess Erin and Heather will have to do some extra
dancing for me) Sunday morning Mike and I went to our first ever
tailgating party for the Colts. We had awesome BBQ chicken,
pasta shrimp, and best of all was the people!!!! September has
been a great month!
^
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Entry #: 53
Date:
September 17, 2006... This is late, sorry!
By: Erin
Okay, so
Colleen and I are both really late with our road diaries, I
apologize. It seems like we have been going non-stop - well we
have actually. This was our first time playing at the Buffalo
Irish Festival and it was great to see many friends that we
haven't seen in awhile! We had a great time and had some really
fun shows. It was good to catch up with everyone in Greenwich
Meantime and we had a few late nights hanging out with them. I
also really enjoyed hearing the McKrells play again, they are
very talented musicians and I have been inspired again to get
practicing on that Banjo that I bought last year. All of us
girls are big fans of the new RAW tea by Smirnoff that was being
served that weekend - I don't think they have it in Canada yet,
but keep checking for it. Big thanks to Liz Mason (one of
Heather's best friends) for coming down to Buffalo! Yaah, Liz!
After we finished our last set on Sunday we drove straight home,
as we only had a few days to prepare before the September tour.
Hmmm, I don't think I should wait so long before doing the next
road diary, a few details seem to have slipped my mind. Cheers
everyone!
^
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Entry #: 52
Date:
September... really is really late!
By: Heather
Where:
Hunter
Mountain
IT HAPPENED
OVER A MONTH AGO NOW, SO IT WILL BE HARD TO REMEMBER BASICALLY
ANYTHING. THAT’S WHY I’M WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS, SO IT LOOKS
LIKE I’VE WRITTEN MORE THINGS. ONCE AGAIN WE HAD A GREAT TIME.
THE WEATHER WAS PRETTY OUTRAGEOUS, SUNNY ONE MINUTE THEN THERE
WAS A FLOOD OF WATER UNDER THE STAGE. WE MET SOO MANY PEOPLE
FROM NEW YORK, INCLUDING A LOT OF COPS AND FIREFIGHTERS THAT I
REMEMBER SIGNING ALL PARTS OF THEIR BODIES. THE ONLY DAMPER ON
THE WHOLE WEEKEND WAS THAT YOU COULDN’T GET ANY FOOD PAST 10
PM!!! SO IT WAS THE CONVENIENCE STORE FOR US ALL WEEKEND. WELL
THAT’S ABOUT IT…. I HOPE WE ARE BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR!!!!
LATER... COLLEEN
^
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Entry #: 51
Date:
August 22/06 1:49 pm
By: Heather (aka girl on
bass)
Where:
Writing from
our Nations Capitol
Packing for
this trip was a little different than usual. Since we were
playing in Canada the next couple days we didn't have to worry
about
passports, visas and crossing borders. Plus the added bonus of
being able
to sleep in our own beds instead of a different hotel room every
night.
Pembroke
Waterfront Festival on Sunday was a great way to kick it off.
The second year into this festival and it just keeps getting
better. The people of the valley were rested up from the April
Wine concert the night before and ready for the hometown
entertainment. We were sharing the stage with April Verch an
accomplished fiddler from Pembroke. April and us girls spent
most of our summers together growing up competing at stepdancing
and fiddle competions around Ontario. We haven't seen eachother
since we last competed in Pembroke, with both of our busy
touring schedules. We took the stage and much to our delight
lots of family and friends made it out who rarely get to see us
play since we spend much of our time touring the states. After
the show we headed to Cuddy's house (the drummer) for a little
house party. All in all it was a fine night.
Wednesday we
met up in Pembroke again for the big concert at the PMC. We were
performing with some of our favorite Canadian bands, Sam Roberts
and Matt Mays with El Torpedo. The concert proceeds we're for
the Kinsmen Club of Pembroke to use for community projects and
as always it was great to help give back to our area. Being a
hometown show it gave us the chance to catch up with friends
from the other bands and people coming back just for the show.
Needless to say there was many a 50 and Crown Royal had. After
the gear was all loaded and rides figured out everyone headed to
the studio for the after party. In true Valley style we did it
up till the sun was coming up.
Thursday
morning I was quite tired out but managed to do some laundry and
pack for the early Friday morning role call to the states. We
caught up
with some other musician friends in Ottawa at open mic night.
Heard how
everyone else's summers we're going and than bid good-bye till
the next we were all home. Basically we said see ya in October,
hopefully.
Cheers for now
and enjoy the last few weeks of summer. Stay tuned for next
weeks antics as told by the crazy fiddler.
^
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Entry #: 50
Date:
Friday, August 11, 2006
By:
Erin Searson
Where: Getting ready to paint my house...
We left the
Ottawa Valley at the awesome hour of 7 a.m. and arrived at Lake
George, NY around 4 p.m. Throughout set up and sound check with
the company from Albany, Heather and Cuddy had a good time
checking out the guy in the TIGHT speedo who was checking out
what we were all up to. This concert was in a beautiful setting,
we played in a bandstand and the audience was sitting on the
hill all around us. It really was a fantastic turnout of people,
and I personally really enjoyed this show. Great sound, great
crowd, and we even got to end off the night with some delicious
pizza in our rooms for a late dinner! Everyone crashed out
pretty early, as we were all exhausted from the drive that day.
Next we were
off to Kitty Hoynes in Syracuse, NY for a CD Release Party for
our new LIVE album. We always have a great time time here - the
hospitality and crowds are always appreciated and it was another
packed night at Kitty Hoynes. I don't know how we manage to
squeeze everything onto the stage area but it definitely makes
for a very close night together as a band. David Hoyne's
daughter is a great irish dancer and she definitely impressed
the crowd. Thanks to everyone for the great turnout! Most of the
band had stayed to enjoy a few drinks after the show, and I'll
never forget the rainy walk home that night - Cuddy proved to us
girls that he's not too cool yet, and can enjoy a good puddle as
much as the next person!
On Friday, we
played on the beautiful grounds of Cornell Universty in Ithaca,
NY. We played in this park in the middle of campus, and it was
fun to see so many kids jumping around and dancing to the music
for the entire two sets! They had so much energy and were
fascinated with Colleen's fiddling. Theymade the evening a lot
more fun. After the concert, we packed up and drove to Kingston,
ON where we all had comfy beds thanks to Heather's friend
Lauren! Thanks Lauren :)
Saturday we opened for a great country band at the Napanee Fair.
The fair was rocking, the music was rocking, and the stage was
DEFINITELY rocking. Literally. After working our hearts out for
a dusty/sandy hour, we met some great people in the audience.
Thanks to Kerry and Kathy for coming out! Being so close to home
was a great motivation to get everyone moving quickly after the
show. Two hours and it was home sweet home!
^
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Entry #: 49
Date:
Monday, July 31st
By:
Colleen Searson
Where: In the back seat of the van staring at Cuddy Z...
drooling in his sleep!!!)
Wednesday
started out nice and smoothly. We all hooked up in Watertown to
start the trek to Indianapolis. 18 hours in the car that first
day….the van was pretty smelly by the end. Thursday we played
downtown at the Indiana Historical Society. Outside by the
canal, the weather was only 94 degrees. I think the band shed a
good 10 pounds that day.
Went to the Bourbon St. Brewing Company for a few pints… the
special that night was Jack Daniels…we showed that bottle who’s
boss. So, a Thursday night on the town found me, Heather and
Cuddy at the bar called the Beaver Shack….yes, the Beaver Shack.
After getting on the good side of the owner, we are definitely
going back when we return to Indianapolis in a few weeks. Thanks
for the shirts boys!! At about six in the morning, we packed ‘er
in and went to bed in our awesome hotel rooms. We are probably
the only band who goes from a Motel 6 to a Hilton in 24 hours.
Friday was a
luxurious day off. Went shopping, and then we all hooked up for
happy hour at a bar called Coaches. The drink of choice today
was raspberry rum and lemonade…extremely yummy!!! The rest of
the night, well….. It’s a little dark and hazy. Woke up to the
Animal Planet on the tube.
Saturday..ah
yes… Byrne’s Pub. Never a dull moment in Columbus Ohio. We
packed the place to a very boisterous crowd and even had some
people get up on stage with us. Cuddy reminded me that he
chugged a few Guinness….shocker! ( He’s awake now, but still
drooling) Met so many new people, including the first person
who’s our new friend at
MySpace.
Where do I
begin about Sunday? Probably with me puking on the side of the
highway. Back it up a bit… we get an awesome idea to go to
McDonalds for breakfast…never again! So the displacing of my
stomach left me a little uncomfortable for the afternoon, but
once we started playing, I was fine. The show ended early
because of a storm warning, so we had the best dinner known to
man. Started out with calamari, then we each got a pot of shrimp
to suck back. Margarita’s and wine, we enjoyed a great dinner on
the water.
So today we
head back home for what I believe is 36 hours before we get back
into the car again. Just enough time for laundry and to see
Give’r.
Later
Colleen
^
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Entry #: 48
Date:
July 2006 10:53am
By:
Heather Searson
Where: Packing and writing at the same time from Ottawa
Everyone was
excited for this trip to begin, since this festival last year
prove to be a lot of fun for us. Those of you might recall last
time this
was the festival in Ohio where Mike thought he was part of the
WWF!
The first
night we crashed in Niagra Falls at the Skyline Inn. When we
arrived everyone had two thoughts on their mind food and seeig
the falls.
We decided to eat first. We passed a Ruby Tuesdays and decided
to try it
out. After dinner we all wished we passed this restaurant by. We
stretched
our legs by walking through the town and checking out the falls.
We were
amazed that for for a honeymoon destination there were sure alot
haunted
houses and wax museums.
The plan was
to sleep in and leave at checkout time to head to Eastlake
Ohio. Sadly in didn't work out this way. We were woken early by
a group of
children who found it very important to play outside our door.
We hit the
duty free where the purchase of the day for people seem to be
the ever
favorite bottle of Crown Royal! We crossed the Rainbow Bridge
and into the
States.
When we
arrived at our hotel who do we meet in the parking lot but the
Elders. Who informed us that the hotel bar is open till 2:30am
and we'll
meet there after the shows. The festival was in a new location
so we only
got slightly lost finding it. We arrived, unloaded our gear and
got
organized all while listening to the accordion stylings of a
Newfoundlander
and his wife. We were sharing our stage with the McMorrows who
brought a
surprise for Mike. Ryan Bowman of Scottsdale, AZ gave Mike a
Guild Jacket
for using Guild guitars on stage. Mike was thankful to receive
this jacket
at the summerfest and wore the coat all the way home. Much
thanks Ryan and Guild. After meeting some of the other bands and
catching a few people's sets we headed home to get cleaned up
after the days work. We met up at the hotel bar with many of the
other bands.
Everyone got caught up on how everyone was, discussed music and
did many a shot. Once the bar closed down we all headed to
Colleen's room. With all the musicians packed in I don't know
what time we went to bed supposedly it was between 5-5:30am.
There was many a drink spilt and good times had by all.
After a solid
and much needed sleeping I enjoyed a salad for breakfast at the
steakhouse across from our hotel called Smokey Bones. I ate my
greens and watched the Portugal vs. England match. We headed off
to the Summerfest festival to do it all over again. We performed
a few shows during the day and they all went well. We hitched a
ride home in The Whole Shebang's van along with some Elders. We
pulled up a seat on drum sets, guitar cases and what ever floor
space was available and began our roadtrip back to the hotel.
Again all the bands met up in the bar to continue where we left
off the night before. There was also a huge jam session in the
banquet room next door. Passing by the door once I was very
surprised to see a Miss Colleen Searson playing her fiddle in
the corner. There's nothing you can do but recruit the rest of
the band and a few others to cheer her on from the door. Once
the bar kicked us out and the jam session was over the
partied continued in many a different room.
With one show
during the day on Sunday we were up and eating lunch at the
festival. Mick's Pub provided us with the breakfast of
champions. We ate
chicken fingers, burgers and fries, while listening to the
Peelers. We
lucked out getting extra help with sound by the Elders sound
crew. They
helped us lift everything and got us water. I think we all fell
in love
with them and want them to travel with us for ever more. With
Buzz on the
board I'm sure we sounded better than we normally do. Since it
had been
pouring rain on and off all day we decided to head back to our
rooms have a
few drinks and go for a late supper. We had our drinks and
watched "The
Hulk Knows Best" marathon on TV. Once everyone's stomachs began
to growl we headed out to our favorite Mexican restaurant which
we discovered the year before. After being sufficiently stuffed
on chips, salsa and burritos we found a local gas station. We
filled up the car and purchased other
necessities so we would be ready to leave bright and early in
the morning.
We said good
bye to our hotel at quarter to seven in the morning and began
the long trek home to Canada. I arrived home to Ottawa at 5:30
pm that
night completely exhausted. Before we could sleep we had to take
care of
the much needed laundry from the weekend. It was going to be a
short week with no time to spare. As always it was a fun trip to
Ohio and we're better off for having gone!
^
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Entry #: 47
Date:
July 8, 2006
By:
Erin Searson
We were on the road at 5 a.m. and
on our way to McIntyre's Pub in Toms River, NJ. After what felt
like forever in the car, we arrived around 4:30 p.m., unloaded,
set up and sound checked. After a great dinner, we headed back
for an hour of shut eye and then we were back a raring to go!
What a great crowd, thanks so much to everyone who came! Very
exciting audience and lots of great dancers out there too! You
guys definitely kept us awak and alert after a long day. After a
few after show drinks, we hit the sack.
The next morning gave us a chance to catch up on a little lost
sleep. After raiding the local grocery store, we arrived at the
PNC Band Arts Center for the New Jersey Irish Fest early
afternoon.
It was spitting rain all day, which
put a damper on things, but the stage and audience were covered
under tents, so the party continued! After our show, we were
invited to the VIP tent for some celebration time after the
festival was finished. Thanks to Tom and the committee for some
great food and refreshments. We played a few tunes there and
step danced a little as well, Colleen just can't keep her fiddle
packed for too long! :)
Bruce Springsteen was playing at
the Arts Center that night, and we all wanted to go BADLY! Our
friend Tom on the Irish Committee had been given 6 back stage
passes and front row seats, and said he couldn't give them away
to anybody! I guess some kid found him in the afternoon and was
lucky enough to have the tickets given to him. Tom said if only
he'd known we liked Bruce's music, he would have loved to have
given them to us....next time, we'll be quicker on the uptake!
Oh well, thanks anyways Tom!
^
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Entry #: 46
Date:
July 6, 2006
By:
Colleen Searson (insanely hot
out!!!)
We left home
in the pouring rain at about 4 am Saturday morning. The rain
followed us for the eight hour drive all of the way to
Connecticut. Once arrived, we had a few quick minutes of sleep
then headed off to the festival.
We met up with
The Elders and Black 47 again. What a funny bunch of guys! One
great surprise we had, was a few fans brought us a couple of
bottles of Crown Royal….. with bags!!!! Thanks so much guys, we
had many cheers in your honour!
The last night
of the festival, we went to a local bar… can’t remember the name
of it (must’ve been a good night!) What I do remember is falling
out of a hammock, but don’t… I saved my drink! We took the
scenic route home at 2 am….too dark to see anything, but it
didn’t matter at that point! Ace was an excellent tour guide…I’d
recommend him to anyone.
We played
hard, partied harder, went home… what a great weekend!!
Colleen
^
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Entry #: 45
Date:
June 4, 2006
By:
Heather Searson
Where: From my desk in Ottawa
We met up in
Watertown as usual and loaded into the van to head to East
Durham. We had never attended this festival and we were looking
forward to the new experience. We stopped for dinner at Wegemens.
After trying the samples around the grocery store we all got our
food. Choices were same as always from wraps and sushi to
sandwiches and bulk bin food. We arrived at our hotel or resort
I should say around 9:30 pm. Once we were settled in our rooms
we decided to explore the little town we were in. At first we
thought the town deserted but than we found some action at the
local bar. We had some drinks and played some pool. Boys vs
Girls best of three games. With each team winning one game all
it came down to the third. Sadly the girls lost on a bad play by
yours truly. During one of the games Cuddy stepped out for some
fresh air only to see the local cab driver stumble drunk out of
his cab. We decided to walk home that night, but only after the
bar played Pour Some Sugar on Me for the third time of the
night.
We arrived at
the festival at noon and checked things out. We had some
breakfast, polish sausages and corn dogs. Not exactly the
breakfast of champions but what can you do if that's the
only thing on the menu. We performed our first show and we
were sweating buckets by the end. We than had to load up our
gear and move to the main stage for our evening show. The second
performance went off without a hitch. After a few beers and
chatting with different people we agreed we were all famished
and the situation needed to be rectified. We were given a
gift certificate to a local steak house and lucky for us we got
the friendliest waitress around. After filling up on red
wine and steak we debated joining in on the karaoke
party in the next room, but everyone decided we needed some
showers first.
Once we were
cleaned up, we sat on the porch outside our rooms and had some
more red wine. Colleen became restless and decided to venture
out and see who was around the resort. We called it operation
Maple Sugar! A short time later Colleen comes back to base camp
and we notice she has red wine spilt down half her body. We knew
there was a story. Colleen was walking by a group of kids on the
swings when they started teasing her by calling her Michael
Jackson. She was looking at herself trying to figure out how she
earned this nickname and apparently didn't notice the bump in
the road. She took a little spill with most of her drink landing
on her much to the amusement of the children. There was only one
thing to do, go to the bar and hear Pour Some Sugar on Me.
The next
morning began much the same, corndogs and sausage. We ate our
breakfast and listened to the music of the Kelly family. The
afternoon show had a great crowd which made the show alot of
fun. When our evening show was completed we had a few beers,
relaxed and enjoyedthe performance of the Saw Doctors. The
only thing open for dinner was McDonalds. No one felt to good a
few hours later. We hit the road home at 6am and I was home
unpacking in Ottawa by 1pm. It's beginning to feel like the
summer touring has begun and I like it.
^
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Entry #: 44
Date:
May 31, 2006
By:
Erin
Thank god we
have our visas!
We started off
last week finding out that our visas had not yet been approved,
even though Heather was very organized, and had our applications
in, in plenty of time. For those of you that don't know how this
works, basically every year we apply for a work visa that allows
us to work in the U.S. for one year at a time. Unfortunately, we
had to cancel a show in Maplewood, NJ at St. James Gate and we
apologize! We have rescheduled another date in September, and we
will make it up to you! After some help from a few congressmen
and an Irish American friend in the FBI, our visas were approved
Friday afternoon, so we hopped in the cars, and crossed the
border Friday evening, and drove 10 hours to Philadelphia. We
crashed for one hour, then we got back up and were raring to go
for a beautiful morning in Fairhill, MD. Bagpipe music greeted
us at the gates and a spread of breakfast food energized us for
the day. We performed seven sets throughout the day, but had a
lot of fun, because the crowds were great and excited to see us.
After visiting with lots of familiar faces, we packed up, got
back in the car, and drove straight home that night, arriving
back in Canada around four in the morning! Gotta love being a
musician.....Heather will be reporting soon on the great
festival we just got back from in East Durham, NY.
^
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Entry #: 43
Date:
May 25, 2006
By:
Colleen
Where:
Back at home with my new cat Give’r!!!
Maynooth!!!
It was really exciting to be playing so close to home. Maynooth
is about an hour’s drive from our home, it did feel weird to be
leaving so late at night on Friday. Maynooth is a very small
town, but luckily enough we found the liquor store without any
hassles. Friday night we played in this huge building that
resembled a barn…maybe it was. After the show we went to the 1
and only bar in town to watch the Brian Pickerall band. Once the
bar closed for the night, we checked out the town and found
ourselves at a campfire with some kids who had come home from a
country dance that night. Saw some wildlife and went to bed.
Saturday was
very relaxing, a quick stepdancing workshop in the afternoon and
our show at the barn again that night. Place was packed and very
lively. After loading our gear into the van for a quick drive
home, we are stopped at a ride program. Thank god it was
‘hottie’ Constable Pinkerton. If only I was driving, maybe I
could’ve been frisked!!
That was the
weekend. Just a little quickie trip in Ontario.
Later, Colleen
^
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Entry #: 42
Date:
May 15, 2006 12:06 am
By:
Heather
Where:
My apartment in Ottawa
It was a
beautiful Monday in Canada and we we're sitting in the van
crossing the 1000 Islands. We were headed to Philly to crash
with friends Bill and Karen. The first stop of the trip was a
fav of the band Wegemens outside Syracuse. This grocery store
has everything, including a wide variety of samples which are
Colleen's favourite meal. We made it to Philly in good time, if
you consider 10 1/2 hours with a van and trailer a record. With
the instruments unloaded we relaxed, had some drinks and caught
up with
friends.
Mrs. O'Leary's
Irish Pub was the setting for our first gig. The entire ride
there we discussed what each of us was going to have for dinner
and that we should probably order wings after the show tonight.
You might have guessed that this was a good food night for us.
With the sound check completed and food in our bellies ( I went
with the steak salad) we headed to our motel for a nap. We show
up for our show or I should say the girls showed up for the show
but the boys were no where in sight. The show was suppose to
start at 8 pm, us girls figuring the guys were on their was over
took the oppurtunity to talk and catch up with people we haven't
seen since the last time we pulled through. Finally Erin goes to
check on the boys and wouldn't you know it they are fast asleep.
Their alarm clock stopped running at 7:20 pm. Plus they are the
old guys of the group, they may have just needed the extra rest.
We got the show under way. We were a little nervous since we
were performing 7 new numbers throughout the night. Luckily we
had a great audience to support us and it all went off without a
hitch giving us a little more confidence with our new material.
Needless to say the wings at the end of the night were amazing!
The next
morning after lunch at Mrs. O'Leary's we jumped in the car for
the
not so short trip to Knoxville TN. Everyone kept themselves
entertained by
reading, sleeping, listening to music or staring into oblivion.
We only
stopped when the car was out of gas, or on a pepper run as Cuddy
would call it. The upside in all our travelling for the guys was
the hotdogs at the
Flyinf J we filled up at. They claimed they were the best dogs
they've had
on the road. That's saying something because I feel they have a
dog almost
every day. We made it to Knoxville, lucky for us there was a
liquor store
across the street. We had some drinks, sat outside and wound
down from the trip.
The next day
everyone separated to walk around and discovery the new place we
were at. We all ate at different restaurants around the square
and
everyone had an amazing meal. Part way through the day I met up
with
Colleen in a thrift shop where I believe between the two of us
we
practically bought out the store. We all met back in our rooms
for a TV
promo we were suppose to do but plans got changed. Erin and I
curled up in
our room and watched some Star Trek Next Generation. Before we
knew it we could hear the rest of the crew outside living it up
in the sun. What else
can you do but join them. We went to a roof top party that night
and
watched another band performing at the venue we would be playing
at.
The day of the
festival begins. The were some other bands there who were
good to see and catch up with. The performances went well. Than
we we're
performing at the Preservation Pub that night. This was a great
venue to
play. The audience was full of friendly people and the owner
treated us
very well. By the end of the second day at the festival we were
all wiped.
We'd been up and playing since 8:30 am and us Canadians were not
climatized to the heat yet. We curled into bed watched some
Roseanne and fell asleep.
We said good
bye to the Executive Inn in Knoxville at 6 am to head home. We
got on the 81 North and stayed there until we hit the border. 16
1/2 hours later Colleen and I were unloading the car and glad
that we weren't with the crew going back to the Valley. They
pulled into the farm at the 18 1/2 hours mark. It was a great
trip to get things under way for the summer.
Tune in next week for the Canadian Tour as told by a fiery
fiddle player.
^
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Entry #: 41
Date:
April 10, 2006
By:
Erin
Where: Good old Toronto…
It was so
great to be back in Toronto, it has definitely been way too
long. The evening and the pub were full of all of our friends
(yes, we have a few). I guess we just had to play a little
closer to home to see some familiar faces again. There were so
many people to catch up with and so little time, so we packed
the evening with music and lots of talking! Thanks to everyone
who came out, we really appreciated it. You made the CD Release
a ton of fun.
Friday morning
we were off to southern Ontario, to play at the Windsor Casino.
Playing at a Casino was a definite first for us. They are very
strict with the bands, and after been given 5 pages of rules and
regulations we came to the conclusion that as long as we didn’t
drink, gamble, sell CD’s, hang out too long by the stage on our
breaks and talk to people, and didn’t wear the same clothes in
the gambling area as we wore on stage we wouldn’t get kicked
out! Heather received her first verbal warning within 5 minutes
of arriving which I thought was hilarious….pink slip for
Heather! That’s the last time you’ll unload equipment through
THOSE doors. The stage was raised up, behind the bar, so we got
to look out at all the gamblers all weekend long. Once we get
set up, sound checked and settled in, we got into the groove of
the weekend. And what a groove it was. Let me tell you, we
definitely earned our keep this weekend. Six 75 minute sets over
28 hours, is enough to exhaust anybody. I felt like I had been
in the boxing ring all weekend.
Every night we
ate dinner around 2:30 a.m. and we were so starved, that we
ordered enough food for 3 times the people. We had some family
show up and surprise us, so it was fun to hang out and catch up
with them – thanks Kim and Shaun! We left Windsor exhausted, but
well rehearsed and it gave us lots of great ideas for the new
material that we are putting together for the summer. We are
spending the next few weeks at home, finalizing bookings,
getting lots of new songs ready for stage, and preparing for the
summer touring. So get ready everybody, ‘cause it’s going to be
a great summer!
^
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Entry #: 40
Date:
March 19, 2006
By:
Colleen “Britney Spears” Searson
Where: Drinking a 2-4 on my front
porch
It’s been a
crazy few weeks for us. We were supposed to leave on Tuesday and
work our way to the south throughout the week, but unfortunately
a few people gained some weight over the last few weeks and the
back end of the van had some damage to it. Need I mention any
names? (bass and piano player?) So our beloved Beverly was in
the garage all week getting a well deserved pampering. We were
set to leave on Friday morning and drive straight to South
Carolina, when our drummer Cuddy Z. told us that he couldn’t
make this trip with us. Scrambling at the last minute we decided
to trek on ahead without him. Being one step down from a
starving student, we needed the money.
I love the
Carolina’s in March. It was 28 degrees and beautiful. Our
Saturday show was at a local bar called Woodchuck’s. This place
was awesome. About an eighth of the place was indoors, the rest
was outdoors. There was a huge beach volleyball court, and our
stage overlooked the entire backyard. More bars need to be
outside. It was a great intimate evening. After the show, we had
a few wind down drinks and went on a mini adventure. After
discussing the philosophies of piano repair men, purple skies,
and more piano repair men, we took our night caps and that was
that.
Sunday’s
festival in Greenville, S.C. was absolutely beautiful. It took
place in a park with waterfalls, and tons of gardens. It took
about ten minutes in the sun until Erin and I resembled little
burnt tomatoes. (Damn Heather and her ability to tan!) What can
I say about the day? Good food, good booze, great music! (Some
guy asked me if I was the Britney Spears of Canada.) We went to
the cheapest, quickest Mexican restaurant in Greenville. Anyone
who reads these things knows that we like to chow down, and boy
did we ever! We ended the night at Woodchuck’s again. I
introduced them to rye and coke, they introduced me to lemon
drop shots. Win! Win! Situation as far as I’m concerned.
After a couple
of days off in Virginia, we were set to play at a new club in
Herndon, Va. Funniest thing ever- We were parking Beverly and
the new trailer (which we haven’t named yet) sorry, Erin was
parking and we were watching. All of a sudden we hear “FREEZE
DON’T MOVE!!” There was about 15 cops with ‘SWAT’ written on the
back of their jackets, half a dozen cars and vans surrounding
us, and a crap load of guns. Apparently the guys in the car
across from us were wanted by these guys. So, we watched them
take the guys down very forcefully, and arrest them. It was
pretty exciting to see! After that it got a little boring, so we
reluctantly went to go Play for the night. Heather went back out
for something, I don’t remember what- when she came back she
said there was a body lying on the pavement with a sheet
covering it. Dammit! We left to soon. Apparently something crazy
happened after we left. The 2 theories we came up with? Either
they had to take a bad guy down in an awesome shootout, or there
was a body in the trunk. The show was great as usual. We had a
pretty solid crowd since it was the first time we were there.
Our favourite “stalkers” came out in full force again, and we
got to catch up and also reminisce about the Poconos. We all got
splendid jewelry for Erin’s B-day. Check out the website at
www.MysticalCreations.org
Thursday was
driving day. We went from Virginia to Indiana, which took 10 ½
hours. That’s all I have to say about that.
Well the
magical day was finally upon us, March 17th. Woke up bright and
early to the alarm at 9am and we were off to our first show of
the day. The Claddagh Pub was jam packed with drunks by 10:30am.
We played until 2:30pm. Good people, good beer and good food. We
met some Canadians who played on a bunch of farm teams for
hockey, and basically taunted the Americans into drinking more.
After that, it was a quick pack up and we headed to Plainfield.
No matter what anyone says, outdoor concerts in March, in
Indiana-BRUTALLY COLD. We were so numb that I was literally
crying every time I had to play my fiddle. The pain reminded me
of that Family Guy episode where Peter falls from the tree and
catches his bottom lip on a branch only to have his lip
stretched over his head. We met a bunch of young lads from the
Indy Irish Fest…. Can’t wait to go back again….God I wish it was
summer…soon. Back into the car we headed for an all night drive
to Watertown, NY for another Paddy’s Day bash on Saturday.
(Don’t worry; we took some road rockets with us to celebrate in
the car.)
Saturday,
after driving all night we ended up in Watertown, NY. It was the
best way to end the tour. We had a huge show on the 11th floor
in some building. It was cool, an entire floor dedicated to a
beer garden!! Everyone was dancing, and being very naughty, I
loved it! After the show I was ready to be home… Just a quickie
of a trip to get here. Now that I’m here, I am going out to
heckle some other bands…
Colleen
^
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Entry #: 39
Date:
February 28, 2006 (9:32 pm)
By:
Heather, coming to you from the
farm
Manhattan was
where it all began. The Full Shilling kicked off the party. New
faces and old were great to see out dancing to the music. After
feasting on the delicious food we headed back to the hotel. In
the spirit of the Olympics we decided to hold are own events.
The first sport of the week long Olympics was the long jump.
There was some trouble with the marking of the jumps. In the end
the Gold went to Cuddy who turned out an amazing performance.
We were all
craving the mussels at St. James Gate; I think we started
talking about them while we were still in Canada. We setup in
the afternoon then feasted on mussels. We crammed onto the
stage, it was a little tighter than usual with the drums but we
had a lot of fun anyways.
We were off to
Tom’s River, home of the hotel with fresh baked cookies. I’m not
going to lie the band ate a lot of cookies; I think Mike ate the
most. The pub had just reopened from a little makeover and the
place looked great. I think this was one of our best crowds
there yet. We finished off the night with the standing long jump
Olympic event. After 3 jumps we were down to the finals. That is
where the jump of a lifetime came out of nowhere from the
shortest member, yours truly, me.
Mid-Winter is
the family reunion for Canadian bands. We were able to catch
lots of stellar performances and catch up with old friends. I
don’t think anyone made it to their beds before sunrise. We had
the new Live cd available and hope everyone enjoyed it. The cd
is my favorite thus far. The ride home was long, although I
missed it after sleeping the entire trip. I woke to mounds of
snow in Watertown and a freezing chill of wind. The great
weather of the trip was gone, we were back in winter. I’m
already looking forward to the next trip and the sunny weather.
^
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Entry #: 38
Date: February 23, 2006 (this is really late, I know!!!)
By: Erin Searson
We have not played
in good old Pembroke, ON in a long time and it was great to be
back. It always ends up being a big reunion of friends and
family, so it keeps us on our toes all night. And of course,
this is Cuddy’s hometown, so everyone came out to see this
‘Celtic band’ that he’s playing with. Within the first 15
minutes we had the stamp of approval from the crowd and it was a
very upbeat night…everyone was definitely out for a good time.
Big thanks to Brian Walters for the wicked job at the sound
board! And Happy Birthday to Heather who turned a ¼ of century a
few days before the gig.
A few days later we
were off to southern Ontario and I got to stay at my favourite
hotel – The Grandparents. Nothing is ever better. Thursday
morning we picked up where we left off and after many, MANY
questions at the border they reluctantly let us through. We
played at The Claddagh Irish Pub in Livonia, MI, where the
people are welcoming and the food is wicked. A few drinks after
the show and we were off to bed.
This was Superbowl
weekend, and in all honesty, I don’t watch any football…at all.
But when we arrived in Windsor, ON the streets were buzzing with
people and the hotel rates had gone through the roof. We were
playing at the Armouries where a Superbowl party was being
hosted for NFL Executives. Everything was pretty hush, hush, so
as always, we had no clue who we were really playing for, but
what else is new? After security did a sweep for any hidden
bombs, we were allowed to load-in and sound check. There was a
Motown group performing as well and man, were they good. One of
the best bands I have heard in awhile. This event was lacking
for nothing. It was decorated with a winter theme, black leather
chairs, couches, tables etc…were brought in. Big ice bars were
set up, and the food – I have never seen so much delicious food
in one place. Of course, all the entertainers (that’s us) and
workers were informed in our contracts that we couldn’t eat or
drink anything from the party. We surprisingly restrained
ourselves – that is until the party was over; I’ve never seen so
many people gather around food tables so quickly before! Mike &
Colleen had at least 30 Jumbo Shrimp each and they were only
getting started. Okay, enough about us eating, that’s all we
ever talk about.
We had one main
stage performance and then a couple in another room that was
done up as a classy ski lodge with a more relaxed atmosphere.
Great night!
Supposedly there
were a lot of celebrities in town, and everyone seemed to be
scouting for them. As we were loading our trailer, people kept
coming up and asking who was playing in there? Who’s in your
trailer?...of course they were expecting someone exciting! Since
the Rolling Stones were playing the half-time party I told them
we had Mick in our trailer. And people believed me. Must have
been the alcohol.
After we finished
loading we had to get back in that van and keep on driving.
Doesn’t matter that it was 2:30 a.m., we just never stop.
Another border
crossing and we were on our way to Jamestown, NY, a first for
us. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. and caught 2 hours of sleep in
this gorgeous old home. Then it was up and at ‘em for sound
check and a quick dinner. We were back at the theatre ready to
rock and roll. We were excited to see that almost all of the
seats were sold out and this was our first time to this area.
Very encouraging. The show began, and within the first 30
seconds, Heather’s bass amp cut out and all of the lights in the
theatre shut off. After continuing to play for what felt like a
minute or two, everything returned to normal and we continued
on. Never played in the dark like that in front of so many
people, it was pretty funny. I could hear Colleen laughing
beside me. We want to thank all of the light and sound crew at
the show, most of them were college students, and they were very
organized and helpful, so thanks guys! Another successful trip.
^
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Entry #: 37
Date: February 1, 2006
By: Colleen Searson
Where: front porch, its beautiful out!!!
Well obviously this
road diary is a little late, but I will scratch my brain to
remember all of the crazy, cool things that we did, or I just
think we did….
Started out the week in Syracuse, NY at the always spectacular
Kitty Hoynes. The place was packed, which I guess is usual, but
we had Cuddy Z. on the drums with us this time, which wasn’t
usual. I love playing with the drum kit, I never knew what “on
the beat” was until I found out I wasn’t “on it”. With Cuddy
relatively new in the celtic scene, we didn’t know what he’d
think, but alas… Cuddy was the only one leaving the bar with an
invitation to go fishing in Ontario this summer with some fans.
Sunday we moved on to Rochester to stay for a couple of days. It
was a private convention for a bunch of fair boards. We really
got our first look at a lot of the up- and coming hot new
country acts. Lo-cash Cowboys were a definite high, with the
shaking of their as_es, all of the ladies were loving it. Since
we had a day off in Rochester, we went our separate ways for the
day. At least we intended to go our separate ways. Since there
wasn’t much to do (or anything to do at all) we ended up opening
a bottle of crown royal, Cuddy had some beer, and we had a great
time till we headed out to the Dinosaur bar-b-que . We went
there for the awesome food, expecting to hear a blues band that
night. We show up to a completely empty stage and an even
emptier room. Since we were the only ones there, we had great
service and continued the party till they shut ‘er down. All in
all, Rochester is a great town if you don’t expect to do
anything.
Our final show was in Hershey PA. If anyone remembers, the
entire place smells like chocolate. And there is tons of it for
free, if you know where to look. The show was fun, and there
were a lot of the same guys from Rochester there. The after
party, as always was fun if a little different? I don’t think
I’ve ever been at a party where you are drinking rye with a
country band, an ex-clown, a ventriloquist whose doll keeps
popping up behind you, the wangers association, and searson.
Either way the night was measured the next morning when we were
waiting for Heather by the ducks and Cuddy unfortunately slipped
on some nasty ice behind the trailer.
(Yeah, I’m sure ERIN’S road diary will be great…read it…ha.)
Colleen
^
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Entry #: 36
Date: January 7, 2006
By: Heather Searson
The first road trip
of the New Year began as usual with everyone meeting at the
border for the attempt to enter the USA. With the new drummer in
tow Mr. Cuddy Z. we were ready to perform. We cut the trip to MD
down by leaving the night before and sleeping outside Scranton.
The next morning we
headed to Mrs. O’Leary’s and after a sound check with the usual
minor gremlins we sat down to a fantastic dinner. We had a quick
nap and than got ready for the show. Our first show with Cuddy
was awesome! We love playing with drums. The audience kept
telling us they can’t imagine our show without drums, and
Searson some how found a way to have even more energy. It was
great to see so many familiar faces out. After feasting on wings
we retired to the Super 6 Motel.
The four hour drive
to Virginia Beach flew by and before we knew it we were setting
up at the Whitehorse. We were surprised again by the amount of
people who made it out right after New Year’s and we greatly
appreciate it.
The drive to
Williamsburg the next day was only an hour, which gave us time
to investigate this historical place. After stretching our legs
and sampling everything from breads to desserts to wine we
decided to hit the local bar, the Green Leaf for an afternoon
drink. With our martinis and beer finished, we headed to the
Kimble Theatre for our sound check for the showcase. The wait
for the sound check to happen was quite a wait. We ended up
skipping dinner and than got ready to perform. With ten other
acts there was lots of great music to listen too. We were
singing along to all the old country hits from our dressing
room. Our showcase spot was fifteen minutes and it went over
with great reception. After meeting many people in the lobby and
answering all their many questions we headed to the Variety
Attractions suite. Here we were able to have a drink and keep
socializing with people from the many fair boards of Virginia.
We were also starving by this point and tried to subside the
hunger pains with some snack mix. Every band member was inducted
into the Wang Society (don’t ask what it is, it’s a secret we
can’t reveal) and than we headed out to find some dinner. Seeing
as it was after 2 am the IHOP or the Seven Eleven were are only
choices. We went with the house of pancakes. Crawling into our
beds well after 3:30 am everyone was beat and fell dead asleep.
At 8:30 am we were
back up and in the van to begin our long 13 hour trip home.
We’re just outside Scranton and about 6 hours from the border.
Hopefully the rest of the drive will continue without a hitch.
Knock on wood, and hopefully will be home tonight.
^
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Entry #: 35
Date: January 2, 2006
By: Erin
Happy New Year to
everyone! I have enjoyed the holidays so much and it has been
great to see friends and family after a busy year of touring. We
have been spending the last few months preparing our tour
schedule for 2006, as well as writing new music, and rehearsing
with our new drummer which we are all very excited about! On
December 26th Mike, Colleen, Heather and myself headed down to
Hershey, PA. After driving in a blizzard for 9 hours – for a 10
hour drive – we arrived. We were especially excited to be
staying at the Hershey Convention Center because they give away
so much free chocolate!! The convention center had some
fantastic restaurants that we enjoyed to the fullest and after
every meal they would give us a big plastic cup full of Hershey
chocolate bars. Nothing like waking up in the morning and eating
some chocolate! Mmmmm…..
The following day
was spent preparing for the show. We were performing for the
Free Masons of Pennsylvania and they were such a welcoming and
interesting group of people. We were treated extremely well and
really appreciated it. We had a sound check in the afternoon,
and performed early evening along with a group of Irish Dancers
from the area. After the show was completed and we had packed
up, we joined some of the Masons for food and drinks in the
hospitality suite and had some great conversation with people
from all over the U.S. I honestly had no idea how much charity
work this group did on a daily basis. On the 28th we got up
early and drove straight home, got a few hours of sleep and then
had rehearsals the next day with our new drummer as well as
preparing for our showcase in Virginia.
We have had lots of
people emailing us and asking when the new CD is going to be
ready – the art work was sent in this week and we are hoping to
have the new SEARSON LIVE CD with us by the middle of
February 2006. Keep checking the tour schedule for CD release
parties near you! That’s all for now, talk to ya soon!
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