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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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