Hello,It's been quite a busy month...we're finally off the road for a few days so it's time to catch up with email and journal entries and exercise and other such things. It's lovely to be home. I have a brand new nephew and saw him for the first time yesterday. The weather is beautiful - I might just try and get out to the country and enjoy it to the fullest this weekend. By some miraculous and evil tactic the city seems to have gotten rid of our mosquito problem - what have we missed while we were gone?On Tuesday we leave again for Calgary where we will be shooting our first video - it will be a video for 'Beautiful Dawn', which, by the way was just released as the new single to Country Radio across Canada. Wish us luck!The tour was great - we went from Vancouver to Lunenburg to New Mexico all in the span of 3 weeks - so there's been no shortage of moving around. Right in the middle we spent four days teaching harmony classes in Goderich, Ontario, at the Celtic college - which was something we've never really done before aside from a workshop here and there. We are also not a Celtic band so we weren't sure how we would fit into the college. But it ended up being a really rewarding experience. Over those 4 days I felt the spirit of my mother gradually take over my body, until on the last day all her passion and enthusiasm was upon me and I found myself leading one third of a full-fledged choir. Both my parents were teachers, so it was cool to have a window into their world for a few days. Anyway, thanks to all our students for making it so much fun. We hope we are able to come back next year.That's it for now. More when we're on the road again...~ Ruth
Mourning a Guitar and Celebrating Lunenburg
Greetings everyone,Checking in from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Lunenburg's downtown is an historical site and the buildings are stunning. It's a beautiful area of the country and I feel so fortunate to be here. We have been billeted by some very generous people, Bill and Lynn Richardson and we are having a great time performing and finding some authentic east coast food with which to gorge ourselves.Speaking of which, Ruth and I sunk to a new low last night. We ordered "Fronions" (fries and onion rings) and due to the small percentage of onion rings, (and our gluttony of course) proceeded to eat an onion ring that had fallen on the grass of the CD tent (ie. high-traffic grass). How can you tell it's the end of a tour?As much as I love being out here, I am fairly ready to go home. I had a bit of an upset, to say the least, when my guitar was killed by an airline which shall remain nameless until I sort everything out with them (but suffice it to say that they have enough troubles right now that they should be trying to keep the passengers they currently have). We often have a lot of issues with our equipment when flying and in this case, my guitar was left out in a torrential rainstorm while we were changing flights in Calgary. The case filled with water and my beautiful guitar (on which I have written almost all of my songs) warped beyond repair.Thanks to John Sharples (thank you, John!), I was able to work with my insurance company and I bought a new guitar in Guelph, Ontario. It is truly beautiful. Still, to lose a guitar is a fairly devastating thing and there have been some sad days lately. I only hope that my new guitar will inspire some new songs and that I will grow as fond of it as I did of my Morgan.Sad news aside, things are going well our here. We had a truly magical time at the Goderich Celtic college and we miss our students (from our harmony classes) already. If you are ever through that way in the summer and can sign up for the courses, it is well worth it. Some of the finest players from all over the world teach at this school. It was an incredible experience for us to be included in the lineup and we can't speak highly enough of everyone involved in the college and festival. Check it out.Time to go over to the main stage and catch Suzie Vinnick and David Francey. I'll write more later.
Say It With Me - Sopapilla!
Howdy folks!Cara here. I'm writing from Albuquerque, New Mexico where my new favourite word is Sopapilla! :) Yummy deep fried dough with honey. yum yum! We are here for a few shows and then head back to Ontario for the Goderich Celtic Music School (we're teaching some harmony workshops there). Getting across the border was not fun. I think customs agents are trained in how to be as mean as possible. But at least we got in!This past weekend we played the Hillside Festival in Guelph, ON. It was a great festival --- all sorts of music, from rock to pop to folk. Saw some old friends (The Bills, The Arrogant Worms, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Tannis Slimmon and Lewis Melville) and ate some great food (hooray for the Carden Street Cafe!).The week before we were at the Vancouver Folk Festival. The weather was cookin'! I met some of my favorite artists -- Dick Gaughan, Martin Carthy and Bruce Cockburn. We actually had a worshop with Martin and Bruce! What a cool experience -- we felt very lucky! And such nice men! I have been a fan of Dick Gaughan's since I was about 11 years old (his "Handful of Earth" album is among my all-time faves) and was able to catch his concert on the Sunday afternoon. It was such an incredible show. I sat there in the sun, with my eyes closed, and let the music wash over me. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.While the girls headed home to the Peg for a few days, I stuck around Vancouver visiting friends (hiking thru the Endowment Lands at UBC and getting lost, then going rock climbing in Squamish, then ridng a bike that was too small for me across town....). Some very crazy days!It's been the summer of incredible experiences and meetings. At the Wpg festival my favorite bass player, the fabulous Hugh McMillan from Spirit of the West, sat in with me at one of my solo workshops. It was so lovely! He rocks!I'm heading to the Centre for Action and Contemplation, based here in Albuquerque, for a visit. It was founded by Richard Rohr, a well-known figure in Enneagram circles so I'll let you know how it goes! Hope all of you are having a wonderful summer!Peace out
Festival Season
Hello again,I'm not sure we've all caught up on sleep after the hectic and wonderful Winnipeg Folk Festival, but we're on our way to Vancouver tomorrow morning! We'll be playing a short set on Granville Island at 3:00 pm on Wednesday in case people can't make it out to the festival. This performance is related to the Vancouver Folk Festival and you can find out more information at http://www.thefestival.bc.ca/granville.cfm.We'll be at the festival all weekend and we are particularly looking forward to our workshop with Bruce Cockburn as well as the tribute to Leonard Cohen. We will also have the honour of having Kevin Breit sit in with us during our concert so please check that out as well. All in all, it looks like this festival is going to be a fabulous one and we are quite excited about what lies ahead.Take a gander at the On Stage page from time to time for new fall and winter shows and don't hesitate to drop us a line at the Guestbook. We have all been working on the food page when we get a chance and hope to have that up before the summer is over. Stay tuned!~ Nicky
Rocks and Trees
Hello everyone,Well, things are starting to get crazy busy again. We are trying to figure out how to fit a CMT (Country Music Television) video shoot into our busy summer and we have also been asked by CBC to create a tour diary while out on the road this summer. Lots of great things are happening. We're just gearing up to go out to the Thundering Women's Festival out in Thunder Bay and I am particularly looking forward to seeing Jane Siberry out there. That festival is new but seems to have quite the impressive roster of artists. Should be interesting.Then we head off to Sudbury the following weekend. I'm a big fan of Northwestern Ontario so I am thrilled to be hanging out among the "rocks and trees". Then we're back in Winnipeg for the very fabulous Winnipeg Folk Festival. Anybody who is remotely close to Winnipeg should make their way to Bird's Hill Park this year. There are some quality performers coming and it's not to be missed. I think we will be involved in a lot of workshops there (and most festivals) so look for us on the daytime stages.We're still working on the website, so check back for new information, photos and videos. And please let us know what you think of the whole thing. We appreciate the feedback. Can't wait to see you all on the road.Til then, take care,~ Nicky
Working on a New Site!
Hey all,Nicky here. We are leaving for Ontario in a couple of days but I wanted to let everyone know that the new site will soon be up! We have been working with my brother (who has been busy, busy, busy building the new pages) and it's looking fabulous! We can't wait to let you see it. And there will be lots of new pictures--I know I have been promising that for a very long time but soon it will all come true. Some pages will be under construction as we find time here and there to add information, but the bulk of the site will be good to go very soon. I would estimate that we should have something to show within the next couple of weeks.Hopefully we'll see some of you at our shows out east and then many more of you during the summer. Take care and have a great spring. The snow should be gone here in Winnipeg sometime soon (I wish I were joking but I'm not).~ Nicky
CD Release Tour
Hello everyone!We're back in town and I've just had a chance to catch up on my emails and read the guest book. I'm blown away by all the support and kind words people have been sending to us. Thank you so much to you all for writing and for coming out to the shows on this last Western tour. We are so lucky to be able to play for such wonderful audiences.Of course, it sure is nice to be home. Nicky's obsession with Old Dutch potato chips on the drive home from Saskatoon (and her refusal to share them), not to mention our increasingly frequent visits to Dairy Queen in the last few days of the tour, were sure signs that it was time. We now have a couple of days off before we start gearing up for our CD release show here in Winnipeg, which is happening on May 1st. After that we head out East to do CD release shows in Ontario and Quebec. I think Nicky will be sending out a letter soon with all the details.One exciting development I want to mention is that our version of 'Old Man' has been added to JR Country in Vancouver and BX93 in London Ontario, on medium rotation! We never imagined we'd get played on commercial radio, so it's kind of exciting to know that our music is being played out there and that people are actually requesting the song. So, if you live in Vancouver or London, or in the surrounding areas, we would LOVE it if you would call or email these stations and request 'Old Man'. At this point every call helps. The number for JRFM in Vancouver is 604 280 9370 (email is requests@jrfm.com) and the number for BX93 in London is 519 643 2993.I think that's it for now. It's beautiful out there (23 degrees today!) and I just love this city when Spring hits. I'm headed to the grocery store in search of dark leafy greens and other such detoxifying materials.Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. Many thanks to the CBC and CKUA in Alberta for plugging the shows, and to our out of province mums and dads for taking such good care of us.~ Ruth
McNally Robinson Appearance
Hello everyone,Just a quick note to let everyone know that we will be performing and signing CDs at McNally Robinson at Grant Park on Wednesday, April 7th at 7:30 pm. Hope to see you there!