Thunder Bay Onterio, Canada

I have been looking forward to this gig for a while. I have never played in Canada and it looked like it was going to be a pretty big show. The drive from Superior WI to Thunder Bay was very cool. We did have to roll pretty early though. I am learning how to sleep sitting up in the van. This is a skill they do not teach you at Berkley School of music although they should. Our drive included crossing the Canadian border. I am told by my band mates to expect any number of complications entering Canada. We allowed 1 hour extra in our travel time for this. Before we got there we got all our ID and documents in one place ready for them. We all have current passports and we also have work permits set up by the booking company. We rolled up to the gate and were asked a few questions by the border agent. When he learned we were musicians i thought, here we go. He asked if we had work papers. We said we did and he said have a nice day. If I were a border agent and a van and trailer full of ???? us, i would want everyone and everything out onto the concrete. What do i know. I guess we do not fit any profile they teach about in Canada. We are really harmless you know. We had time to the hotel for a few and get ready for the gig. IN the hotel lobby was a local paper with a front page story about the Blues Festival. We showed up on the festival grounds and made our way backstage. The festival is right on a huge bay/harbor of Lake Superior. They provided a spot for us to pull in directly behind the stage and 5 stagehands descended on us to help. This fest is really well organized and the people were falling all over them selves to help us.... Very cool. I was directed to the drum staging area to set up. I peeked through the curtain to get a look at the drum kit that the band before us was playing so i could see what i would need. As i pulled the curtain back a little i am struck by the size of the audience. They seem to be grooving to what this band was doing. I notice that Joe, Bnois and Paul also had a wrangler each to help out. They had a big row of amps and gear for us to choose from. I got my stuff ready in a pile. As soon as the other band finished they helped us get in place. The drum kit they had for me was a brand new Pearl Brand kit up on a big drum riser. It had everything i needed and then some. My wrangler helped me get it going as the sound guys moved the mics around and tested my monitor. A stage hand brought me towels, water and a fan. I could get used to this. Everything ready and here we go.... Joe counts 1-2-3-4 (Drum intro)1 triple 2triplet 3 triplet 4 triplet, Bnois sings "Too hot, Too hot, you know it had to cool down"...... Yea this is fun. I always settle down a few measures into the first song. Now I look around and start to soak n where I am and what I am doing being careful not to get caught up in it and loose my place. It is impossible for me to describe all the feelings while we are rocking out in front of all those people. Lets just say it is great and worth all the work getting there. Our set at a festival is a mix of our old songs and the songs for the new album. On this day it is a one hour set. The hour goes really quick. We do one encore and head off stage. The crew helps us get our stuff off. Wow that was fun. Joe and Bnois head over to the merchandise table and sign autographs. The 2nd picture is the line of people still waiting to get autographs after a half hour or so. I wonder around the site and talk to Roger Naber one of the owners of the Blues Cruise. I get some of the sandwich's they provide for us backstage. I eat my food with guitarist Sue Foley who will be performing soon. I talked to some local police and then we head to the hotel. all in all a very cool day. I am blessed to be able to make music at this level.