The Last Town Chorus’ Travelogue

Lots of car today, lots of car radio.

Mom,

"Where the h*ll have you been?!"

- Sailor

Tonight’s my last night on the tour with Kathleen Edwards. Sad. It’s my second tour with Kathleen and third tour with her guitarist Jim Bryson, who’s the reason I met Kathleen. Touring with people is like joining a temporary wolf pack. You travel city to city, inches apart. You carry and protect others’ posessions. The well tend to the sick. You share cabs and amps and makeup and books and chips and lots of stories. You know how each person likes his eggs cooked. You’re all far from home so you talk about home in a way you only can when you’re away from it, and you talk about those wide-angle zoomed-out expansive kinds of feelings that only being away from home seems to afford. Then suddenly the tour’s over. The pack disperses into various stretches of wilderness and what’s left between us is some kinda hazy little tribal branding mark that burns in the good way.

The last load-in of the tour at McGlohon Theatre in North Carolina.

Jim and Gord commune with a Merle Haggard photo at The Birchmere after our show there. What an awesome mecca to live music this place is… hundreds of devotees worship nightly at long numbered tables. Despite the tanking economy, people are coming out in droves on this tour… Maybe music and camraderie matter more than ever these days.

I guess my two year-old neice figured out how to use my camera phone. I was blessed with a bit of family time soon after arriving at the Birchmere for soundcheck.

Ruh-roh. Almost midnight. One minute we think we’re a few minutes from much longed-for hotel beds earned by a show and a long day. Next minute we’re waiting for the Norfolk Police to arrive after our van’s trailer nearly shreds off a car’s door after a woman clumsily opened it into moving traffic. The hotel turned out to be a popular destination for Norfolk navy guys on shore leave. It’s Saturday night. Amen for earplugs.

I woke with my voice back and lots of energy for a longish sunny ride south to Virginia. It’s rare that a city owns and operates a performance venue. The City of Norfolk operates seven. Chris (an Aussie) and Scott do some adventurous programming, even without the promotional advantage of a local Triple A radio station or even a newsweekly. Theresa Andersson plays next in this series… she’s the bestest! The Attucks theatre felt a bit haunted. Sounded terrific in there. The crowd was very warm. I like the South.

World Cafe Live was at capacity tonight. Singing felt like a knife in my throat. But I sure liked watching lil’ Kathleen Edwards and lil’ Jimmy Bryson and lil’ Gord Tough. The Lil’ Canadians.