We are about to start recording our new record! The process should take us through the winter, as we tour/record/tour/record our way along. And, you never know quite how long it will take, as the details involved are really quite endless… But I think we’re all very excited and are prepared to work hard to make it real. The songs that everyone has brought to the table are wonderful and intense. We are diving into what feels like a very profound space here. It’s going to be quite the journey. Right now it is a bit of an abyss to stare into, all potential, formless and unknown. Slowly it will evolve, and become something, then we’ll polish it up all nice and have it for you, we hope, soon after the spring flowers start to bloom. Wish us luck!
Mexican Food, a New Tattoo, and Album Work
We are on a plane on our way to Vancouver for our show at Capilano College. This will be the last show in western Canada for quite some time as we start recording the album in a week and then spend the next few months splitting time between the U.S., eastern Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Our itinerary is daunting but we are looking forward to starting work on the record. We have tried to find time on the road to rehearse new material and it has been exciting to hear things take shape. Lots of things to think about!So some random thoughts and impressions about the last few months: lots of Mexican food in Indianapolis, off the highway on our way to Bloomington, Indiana and other places far from the Mexican border (someday we will visit our culinary homeland), catching a jaw-dropping set by Ruthie Foster at the Lotus Festival in Indiana, getting my Orca tattoo in Philadelphia after months of deliberation and debate with friends on the folk circuit, helping our producer David Travers-Smith choose the band for the album (just you wait!), having my partner Grant on the road as our tireless road manager/sound engineer/driver/schlepper (yay!), finding Chinese lessons in our fortune cookies in Cedar Rapids and teaching Grant how to call me his boss (Lao Bahn, I think? - he humoured me for a while), filling in for Loudon Wainwright in Chicago and adding our name to an autographed wall featuring Joni Mitchell and Bruce Cockburn, listening to Burton Cumming's phone conversation at the Minneapolis airport (he's not much of a quiet talker), finding a new and interesting piece of rotting produce in our van every day. Good times.So after 5 days at home spent mostly on my computer with brief forays out to fail spectacularly at fishing and then catch The Arcade Fire in all their mulit-layered glory, I am back on an airplane. Still working on my invention to help stabilize people's heads while they sleep on planes. Busy, busy, busy. Hope you are all well out there. We have met some great people out there at shows and we are grateful for your interest and enthusiasm. See you soon!P.S. I wrote this entry before the show and had to wait to post it. Thanks so much to our incredible audience at Cap College. You made the night very memorable and we loved performing for you!~ Nicky
A Brief Note about a Pink Briefcase
P.S I almost forgot to mention, Annabelle is now traveling with a pink briefcase. She says it's lightweight. I just thought that was noteworthy.~ Ruth
Questionable Sunflower Seed Pate
Hello,Well it's definitely my turn for a journal entry. Funnily enough I used to be an avid diary-writer as a kid, but apparently it takes more effort these days. Still, I promised my friend Larry I'd write entries more often, and I know I can keep that promise. We've been traveling so much recently so there is certainly a lot to tell.We are in the States right now. We have crossed the border 7 times so far in the last three weeks. This last crossing was particularly strange. I was forced to eat my sunflower seed pate in an isolated glass room before going though security. Because of Mad Cow, he told me. I didn't realize there was such a relationship between Mad Cow and vegan food these days. I ate two pieces in one sitting because I couldn't bear to throw it out. I felt a little sick. Then I got thoroughly searched, my baggage and person included. What is it about accordions that appear so menacing?A slightly challenging journey, but worth it. It's great to be here. We spent the first few days of this tour in Indianapolis where we showcased twice at the 'Arts Midwest' conference. I think it went well. These showcases are only 15 minutes long so even with two of those there was a lot of time to kill. We spent most of it in our hotel, working on the material for the upcoming recording. It's exciting (and somewhat daunting) to be developing the new tunes. We also explored downtown Indianapolis and discovered a great Mexican restaurant, 'El Sol'- apparently we didn't get enough Mexican food in Albuquerque last weekend. It was authentic and delicious and Nicky was once again reunited with her long-lost love, the margarita. We did some window shopping and I got lost in a parkade. We also met up with Grant, our road manager and soundman for this tour, which was very exciting for us because we usually don't have someone helping out with the lugging and driving when we are on the road (not to mention making us sound good!) and it really does help a lot. Thanks Grant!Last night we played in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to a very lovely audience and it felt great to play a two-set night again. I think it's been since before the festival season. We tried out some new material and it felt good. Annabelle felt all warm and fuzzy when she learned that CSPS (the venue/gallery where we played) stood for 'Czech and Slovak Protection Society'. We all enjoyed the license plate collages that adorned the gallery walls. Stay tuned for silly pictures.And now we drive...it's an eight hour trek to Ann arbor and I have a plan. Who says you can't play banjo in a moving vehicle? I need the practice, and Annabelle is reaching for her mandolin, so at the very least we'll see how long we can jam it out before we get told to keep it down by our parents in the front seat.Happy frails,Ruth
Mourning The Gulf States
I woke up yesterday morning in St. Paul by the north end of the Mississippi, went for a brief walk before catching my flight home to Montreal. Prairie Home companion was joyful, as ever, but intense with the awareness of disaster in the gulf states. I am ever more grateful to be able to return home these brief moments between tours. Not everyone is so lucky. We shared the stage with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans, bonded with Efrem the trumpet player who is trying to figure out his next steps, going home not an option right now. The PHC crew of musicians gave a heartfelt tribute, gorgeous sad songs referencing broken levys and floods of the past in that region. I kept my head tilted back for that set. Mascara runs donǃ
New Jennys Material and An Amazing Summer of Music
It's been a while since we have written a journal entry and we're already almost halfway through the summer. We're hanging out in Calgary right now working on new material for the album and we're getting very excited about the recording. The studio is both an inspiring and scary place to be but all of us are really pumped about this next record and really happy with what each other is creating. Nothing like arranging new songs and creating lots of harmony. Yay!The festivals so far have been chock full of good experiences. A few off the top of my head: three amazing workshops in Vancouver with the likes of Sarah Harmer, Dona Rosa, Juana Molina, Bill Bourne and Eivor Palsdottir, Dochas, John Reischman and the Jaybirds and more. The weather was great and the festival did well so we're happy to see that it will be around for at least a good while longer. Please support that festival!We spent some time with friends in Vancouver (you can check the "Images" page for shots of my friends Gill and Neil's beautiful dog, Sherpa as she chows down on sushi) and then headed to Calgary. This was our first time at the Calgary Folk Festival as the Jennys and we had a blast. Seeing the Indigo Girls live for the first time in my life was actually more of a thrill than I anticipated. Those women are the true definition of pro and their songs have definitely stood the test of time. We were also treated to shows by K'Naan, Iris Dement, Jeff Tweedy and the ever-fabulous Ron Sexsmith. I never cease to be amazed by all of their incredible writing.We had the pleasure of performing with the Holmes Brothers and Hungry Hill in a Sunday morning workshop that saw a devoted clan of people stand out in the pouring rain and cold for an hour and a half! We couldn't believe it - it was an utterly magical experience. We also had a workshop with the legendary McGarrigle Sisters which was a pretty profound experience as well. There is something about sharing stages with heroes that defies description. I thought Ruth was going to lose it when Kate and Anna told her how much they enjoyed "One Voice".By the end of both festivals we were quite tired but truly inspired by all of the fantastic musicians we heard.We are off to Canmore tomorrow where we will meet up again with the Worms, Eliza Gilkyson (who we loooove and who we had the chance to talk to), The Bills and more of our favourite people. Performing at the festivals is always a welcome way to reconnect with our road families and its a great way to take in music. That's actually a rare thing these days for us.Hope to see you all at the rest of the festivals this summer.~ Nicky
Thundering Women
Ah, the THUNDER! The festival in Thunder Bay this year was lovely. This is only the second year for Thundering Women, and as ever, Jen (the bent) Metcalfe managed to pull together a spectacular crew of ladies, and the inspiration and loving good vibes did toss themselves around abundantly. Leela Gilday from Yellowknife was a wonderful discovery. She had all of us swooning. She is a beautiful songwriter who seamlessly blends a unique modern style with Dene roots. Incredible voice, powerful messages, funny and damn sexy. Her in a workshop combo with Sweetwater women and the Mush-cow-zee-ek-we-wuk Drummers was a massive spirit lift. Great weekend. Tons of great performers. The journey to Thunder Bay is always a sweet one, and this festival of women is a gem to be celebrated and enjoyed by everyone. May it grow and grow. We have an incredible summer coming up. The festivals we are doing have us sharing the stage with many artists we love, artists whose recordings get multiple spins in our van as we criss-cross the nation. I am SO PUMPED!
A Prairie Home Companion
We are currently flying to Toronto from Minneapolis, where we have a quick stop-over before heading out to Vancouver. As much as we always love going to BC, we are a little sad to be leaving the States this time, as we've had such a great time down in Minnesota and Wisconsin.It started with a show in Minneapolis at the Cedar Cultural Centre, a venue I have been hearing about for years but have never had the chance to play before. A great room - and a wonderful, warm audience. Thanks to Chris for the stellar sound, and to Bill and Dave at the Cedar for taking such good care of us and for the fabulous curry. Mmmm... curry. We finally got to hang out with our Red House Records family in Minneapolis/St Paul (thank you Ellen, for letting us take over your house) and thanks to them, discovered some awesome new restaurants (check out the Birchwood Cafe). I'm sure Nicky will be posting them up on the site soon.Saturday we had the priviledge of appearing on 'Prairie Home Companion' with the legendary Garrison Keillor. The show is usually broadcast from St. Paul, but happened to be on tour in Madison, Wi., this past weekend, so, after successfully kidnapping Alex Seitz from the Red House office and forcing him into the driver's seat, we set off for Madison. What a thrill. The show was an amazing experience, except maybe for the fact that I've had 'Up On The Roof' (aka 'Out There In Space - Garrison's rewritten version') stuck in my head for three days - a small price to pay, however, for knowing your music is being beamed up to the International Space Station; apparently there is an astronaut out there who is a very dedicated PHC fan and listens to the show every weekend. Very cool. Thanks to everyone on the show for making us feel so welcome, and to all of you who have written in to the guestbook to let us know you were listening. Thanks to Alex 'MacGuyver' Seitz: you've set a pretty high standard for road managing, with your resourcefulness and your inventiveness. Your sprint through downtown Madison to make sure Muramoto stayed open for us was awe-inspiring; if we hadn't already been convinced at that point, surely that would have sealed the deal. You and your gadgets are welcome to come on the road with us anytime.So now we return to more familiar territory, to play some of the most beautiful places in Canada: Victoria, Nelson, and the Sunshine Coast to name a few. It's been a long time since we were last out West and we are really looking forward to it. We've also put aside some time at the end of the tour to work on new material for the new album, so that will be excting.That's it for now. More as the tour progresses.~ Ruth