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I am broke like an bad old joke.
Slowly the feel of the tour takes shape. Characteristics emege that will set the tone of the co-operation, communication, compassion and sleeping patterns. It's a van full of nice men, all mellow like the memebers of a bible study group on their way to the Giddeon plant for a tour. We won't hurt anyone but ourselves (and even then we'll be sorry for any inconvenience). Our bodies are not temples, they're night clubs.
Hotel door.
Showroom floor.
Torrential downpour.
Blinding flashes.
Thunderous roar.
Pelting hail and still there's more...
Day three.
Holding on 'til Regina for chili & carrot juice.
Mmmmmmm...
Loves the Husky.
First show tonight.
Feels so right.
Yes, wee moments of clarity among the blur and worry of prairie
travel.
Today we came to the conclusion that we are not going to be playing
a certain folk-music festival this summer even though we thought
we had some good connections. What ever happened to good old
nepotism? Wondering why the fools who doubted us are still
employed. I'm not parinoid, simply a justice creep. In the
first place we are the local band to have at their overerated festival.
When we are finally invited some of us say we should charge for the hummiliation
of having to grovel for a gig this year. Me? Well,
no I'm not necessarily of that party (the "charge more than we are worth
when we are worth something" party). Always the noble
one, I will try to reign in the 3000 years of hot, ruthless, vengeful,
blood lust that courses through my thin Scotish frame.
Met a swell looking woman named Giselle at the A & W between
Regina and Saskatoon. She sold me a small
black cofee and smiled shyly through her elaborate make-up job.
She may very well have a night job at a casino dealing blackjack or else
she just got into make-up too early in life and now, at 24, she is applying
an increasingly awesome amount of goo to her face and neck.
A lifetime of "cruise ship" living is in the cards when the right guy walks
in for his double teen burger and wisks her right out the drive thru window.
June 26/99 outside of Calgary after a scenic drive from 'toon town.
We played our first show last night to a small but enthusiastic crowd.
There was a good crowd at 11pm but the first band was soooo fucking bad!!
that they drove away half the people who had come in and paid cover.
This knocked the wind outof our sails along with the tardy soundman who
sauntered in at 10:30 and didn't soundcheck us instead waiting 'till after
the stinkbome band killed everybody with their crappy music before he put
any mikes on our instruments. So wsdhen we started playing at 12:45!!
neeuddydless to say the energy was wanning in the room. We did, hiwever
pull it together and play some fun stuff. Sold 6 CD's and recieved
many compliments (and apologies from the staff). Had a good bluegrass
jam at a table after the show which pleased dme to no end. The waitresses
were these two beautiful, friendly women who had a warm, sexy appeal.
I've never been so fascinated with a womens shoulder blades before in
my life.
We are fast approaching the downtowm core of Cowgary so I'll
report back with more news later. Danny is Hurtin' on the bed with
a whopper of a hangover, hopefully he'll feel better once we've
landed.
June 28-in B.C. on the road to the Slocan valley for an impromptu show
at a straw bale community centre at the top of a mountain for a bunch of
hippies. We had a smashing good time in Calgary at the Village
Hearth & Terrace. They fed us and treated us so well that we decided
to change our 3rd Vancover show into another gig in Calgary at the Village
H & T. It's during the stampede so now we'll do an afternoon/evening
patio gig and then the next night play our other gig at the Republik,
thereby allowing us to enjoy a day at the stampede and the oppotunity to
play for more cowboys (even the possibility of busking looms).
Banff was a gas, of course. Blind Al set us up with a show
at a nice pub that paid us handsomely and provܥe
MS Sans Serif
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SUMMER 1999
Journal of Events-Luther Wright & the Wrongs Western Canadian Tour in support of our CD Roger's Waltz.
THE CAST: Luther Wright-singer, acoustic guitar
Dan curtis-lead guitar and
banjo
Cam Giroux -drummer
Sean Kelly- bassist and
complete freakazoid
Brian Flynn-fiddle and madolin
Olesh Maximew-pedal steel
THE TOUR: June 25 -Saskatoon at Amigo's
26 -Calgary at The Village Hearth & Terrace
27 -Banff at St. James Gate
28 -Slocan Valley at a straw
bale community hall on the top of a mountain (no kidding)
30 -Vancover at Malones
July 1 -Vancover
at Blue Rodeos Stardust Picnic, Plaza of Nations
2 -Victoria at Steamers Pub
3 -Tofino at the Golf Course
6&7 -Duncan at The Brigintine
8 -Victoria at Thursdays
9&10
-Mayne Island at the Agricultural Hall
12 -Calgary at the Village Hearth &
Terrace
13 -Calgary at the Republik
14 -Regina at Soul Food
16 -Winnipeg at the West
End Cultural Centre
june 25-Everyone has had their shot at driving the van. Olesh is swerve-driving
around the northern shore of Lake Superior. I ate a pot cookie and
am particularily wound up. Ideas, madcap schemes and metaphorical
menageries tear through my mind with the force of a supersoaker.
Day 2 of driving towards Saskatoon and our first gig. No XY's in
the van for the first time touring. It's lonely without them but
these boys is lookin' better every minute!... ahem,
sure is hot in here!
Lots of green in these hills, they've been getting a bit
more rain than we in the south. In Tofino, where we find ourselves playing
July 3rd, it has rained for the last 11 days. We need some sun when
we're there 'cause two of our three days off will be spent on the westest/bestest
part of the island, living a young boys dream.
We stayed in Wawa last night. 6 in a room built for 6.
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ihoirk'lkbn siFkp[ o
that was all nonsense but what I really
wanted to say was that I love you all very much!
We'll be passing out of Onsquario by 10 pm or so. Then it's on
to the flat-lands where we'll push on through the prairie amber to find
the grey madness of a big city.
June 24.
5:35 PM.
Hot.
Sunny.
1000 miles behind us.
The "cooler" has already begun to get funky.
Not to mention my new shoes.
Wayne Newton is thanking some German lady for something.
I find that if I raise my leg to the right angle the vent provides
spectacular crotch-cooling possibilities.
Not to be outdone, Harry Belafonte is now wooing in Italian.
Those guys are smooth.
Luther is trying to cover as much highway as possible.
Where's my medication.
Aaaaaaaaah...
Sway on, brother.
Foliage is breathtaking.
The birch trees, jack pine, spruce, standing in solemn solidarity.
Pristine daisies, sun-soaked buttercups, and deep orange blossoms nestle
gently against the gravelly
shoulder at the edge of the forest.
A patch of loose-strife brazenly displays every imaginable permutation
of the violet spectrum.
And we're just getting started...
Friday, June 25/99
We are fast approaching Regina and then bolting north to our first
show in Saskatoon at Amigo's pub. Already a day with some "necessaries"
behind us. I ain't talking about make-up neither. We bought
two new tires and an alignment job for the van this a.m.
Now it's smooth riding.
My slush fund, mad money and unpaid rent worked out to be exactly (!),
to the fricken' dollar amount of cash needed to pay for aforemetionided
us with all the necessities. After our early set-up and sound-check
we all scattered and I went a bought a bottle of Barolo which Blindy and
I shared in his backyard as the sun blasted through the clouds and around
the mountains. A lovely dinner was served up by Al and we jammed
before going to play our show. Al and his buddy had a joint of this mind-boggling
strong weed that Dan and I smoked with them...good lord were we transformed!!
Admittedly the 1st set (or 2) was a bit spacey from my perspective
but we pulled it together. Again CD sales were brisk and the crowd
was a good mix of young folks and older folks, all who seemed to like the
kooky, heartfelt country that we purvey.
Rain falling on the road as we wheel it west. Full moon
tonight so look out for some freaky-ness. LW signing off.
JUne 29th-On the road from Kamloopie where we stayed the night at ean,
Jim & Jaime's new place. Made a plan to play their house warming
party on our way back. Had an outrageous time in Banff and then at
the straw-bale house gig in the Slocan valley. We had to load all the gear
into the back of a pick-up truck and barrel up a steep, pot-hole-filled
road. Couldn't belive that people were really going to show up, but
they did! Hippies came out of the wood-work and drank, danced, and
reviled. We met an amazing girl named Ali whko hung out with us just
perfectly for the night. Ken Bunport put on a show that had us all
in stitches. The hippies fixed us up with some herb and a jar of
liquid LSD (god knows what the hel that means!!). We are heading
into Vancover to take the city by storm. We need some nice sunny
weather for the next couple of weeks out here. LOts and LOts of trEes.
In The vAn wItH a GuY naMed dAn
aNd we driVe LiKe wEvictoria
hAd 12 hands and motel tAns.
JULY 2nd-Victoria. Outrageousness reigned yesterday at the Stardust picnic. We chose a spot directly beside the main stage to set up our stuff, and played four short sets throughout the afternoon. We parked our van and doned it with a backdrop and didn't have to ask the festival crew for nothin'!! Partied like Texans 'till the wee hours then booted it out to Dunc's new pad in Richmond and crashed 'till noon. We have successfully completed a mass laundry of all our dirty duds and our belly's are full of burgers. On to soundcheck at Steamers pub where tonight we play with a hippie band.sh
July 6/99 Vancover island on the road to Duncan. just spent 2
great days in Tofino by the ocean. We went out in Chips' boat and
saw some whales as well as whipping around in the open ocean, bouncing
off of waves like a cork
in a washing machine. We ripped it up last night at a bonfire
party, sing along. A guy named Wayne played some excellent country
numbers and we joined in on the mandi, fiddle and guitar and drums.
A group of teenage girls exposed themselves to Dan, Olesh and LW yesterday
on long beach. They went by screaming and giggling, waving their
bikini tops in the air. Hmmm. The other fellas went golfing.
This is the turn around day of the tour. We are heading east now.
The road leads home. What awaits us there we can only guess.
Travel changes everything and nothing. The sun followed us out here
and we need it to keep us squinting through the days until the darkness
opens up the boot and we unload the instruments. I was tired this
morning after the mushrooms that sent my consciousness
into the stratosphere. We breakfasted at the awesome little cafe
that had us in for a free breaky the day after the show. The show
was poorly attended by local standards but we played well and had a good
ole time with the folks who were there. Ate a tasty Salmon, saw many
large trees.
july 7 Duncan, BC We are staying at this fabulous place in the trees owned by a wonderful woman named Liz. Our man in town is the legendary Longevity John and he's set us up withe verything we need. Two nights at the Brigintine pub overlooking Maple Bay and across from Salt Spring Island.
july 9-Mayne island. arrived early after catching a 9 am ferry
from Victoria and it hurt as we were in rough shape from given'r
'till 4:30 amplayin' bluegrass and hangin' wit da hippies on a street that
remided me of MExicO cO co
nOW WE ARE IN PARADISE ON OUR Way TO THE aGRICULTURAL HALL to set up.
We play two nights here and it looks like the weather is going to hold
for us. 9 gloroiuos days on the island!!!!! The tetres game thing
is getting ou of han d. The lads have started taking it out of the
van and having tetres tournaments. Conversation's drying up, hmy
parinoia level is inching up as I feel more and more isolated due to my
chronic schizophrenia. Although in the sch' department I am not alone.
We all feel the need to bend what we have, no?
july 12-Calgary.
arrived only 3 1/2 hours late at the Village Hearth & Terrace to
play our gig as the van stalled out a mere mile from the top of the last
hill in the rockies after I gave 'er for 7 hrs. Jeeeee-sus Kee-riste
we made up for it by going to the pub and minglin' with the locals not
to mention the glory achieved on Mayne Island, my boy. Two glorious
nights at the 99 year old town hall playing our hearts out. Had some
fun staying at the 3D version of the Flintstone's house. No kidding!
It was some wacko's project for years and we were the first people to stay
in it and actually pay! Apparently Cam said to the landlord guy upon
seeing the place for the first time, "when do Fred and Wilma get home?"
and the guy didn't laugh!
WHAT A GREAT TRIP THROUGH THE ROCKIES EH? Met an excelent
girl named Paula at the Ship & Anchor that reminded me of Kim Derko.
Tomorrow we go to the fricken' Stampede and for god's sake, Buddy Von Right
is comin' to town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111.x@$#^howdy!!
july 15-outside of Winnipeg. much to catch up on as the events
of the recent days are likely to swoon the reader with the romance and
intrigue.
So we awoke in Calgary with an entire day at our disposal before
our gig at the Republik! First thing to take care of was getting
the oil changed in the van and finding some cheap, yet effective cowboy
hats for Dan and Brian. This task was completed with ninja-like efficiency
and we were off to the Stampede. Cam stayed home 'cause he felt pooey
and Brian put on his rollerblades and opted out of the Stampede in order
to cruise the streets of this city where he claims to have once lived (note:
he is oddly completely flawless as a human so I'm watching his every move
to discover what he's doing in aband with a bunch of disfunctional schizo-goomba's
like us). So that left Sean Kelly, Olesh Maximew, Dan Curtis and
LW parading around the Stampede grounds and gleefully visiting all the
beef displays we could find. As the lone vegetarian in the band I
find the inner workings of the whole beef industry particularly fascinating.
The nice man at the Cargill foods display had much to say about his company's
virtual stranglehold on the food growers and farmers of the world.
70 countries and 70,000 employees world wide- and no industrial accidents
in fifteen minutes! (decapitation of limbs being the most common
especially in the "developing" world where according to a recent New Internationalist
magazine expose on Cargill the sweatshop conditions and patheically low
wages would have great-grand pappi Rockefeller green with envy).
The whole operation is owned by two families based out of Minneapolis.
Their stock is not traded publicaly so they answer to no one and remain
virtually unknown to the public even though their marketing practices affect
us all (remember the stories of the "green revolution" in "developing coutries",
ie. genetic seeds that need a certain pesticide and chemical fertilizer
and the grinding down of many countries farm systems until farmers are
so in debt that they abandoned their farms altogether?)
Well enough of the radical rhetoric and back to the Calgary experiences
of Luther Wright & the Wrongs.
We left the Stampede after going to the beer tent and covering ourselves
with Sol temporary tatoos that these two women were pushing on everyone.
Dan got a Sol frisbee to go with the gigantic cow sticker this cow salesman
gave him whilst trying to convince him that buying some Black Angus cows
was a good investment for a skinny, white musician dude (with the appetite
of a flea). As we cruised along 17th ave., back to our friends place
to pick up the lads and go soundcheck we were spotted and accosted by one
Leslie Feist of the pop-rock sensation "By Divine Right". She, being
a former Calgarian, was walking the streets re-living her past and waving
down old friends. Her suggestion was that we proceed immediately
to the nearby Ship & Anchor pup and drink beer. What a novel
idea! So there we sat exchanging stories, drinking cheap beer and
giggling while all the time Feist tried on all of our hats and sunglasses
and rubbernecked in hope of spotting some interesting characters from her
past. We stayed too long at the pub thereby sacrificing the soundcheck
that the generous sound man at the Republik was willing to give us (the
other bands were all Rockabilly so he thought our 6 piece ensemble might
be more fun to check, or something like that). We had scewed up so
the only thing to do was the flee the club while the gangster-like greaser
opening band (of 4 bands on the bill) set up their stuff and scowled at
any of us who attempted conversation. The rest of By Divine Right
were at a barbecue that we were sort of invited to. We arrived with
only 30 minutes to spare before showtime but in that short period of time
the host of the party, a nice fellow named Lori served me a veggie burger,
lent me book by the dark god of rock Nick Cave and then presented me with
his CD! Let me say right here and now, the people of Calgary
are a friendly, generous bunch who deserve to be riding high on their biggest
economic boom since the heady, glory days of the 70's oil-o-rama.
Our show proved interesting. We actually were the soundman's
dream as our stage sound is reasonable and we set up and tear down our
shit quickly. The crowd was split between the hard rockabilly types
and the friends and friends of friends that we had. I think we won
over a few of the former and the bar staff and the band that followed us
were quite complementary. That band was called the 'Bughouse 5' from
Vangroovey and they played the rock real good. The rest of the evening
was spent back at the pub where everyone carried on in fine form.
I met three excellent women who had known each other since they were
15 (today they are 29). Two of them actually worked at the pub, one
having an art studio on he 4th floor of the same building where we went
for a smoke.
Our next stop was Regina and due to some bad luck: a) the
van stalled out and we had to wait for it to cool down thereby arriving
an hour late to set up and, b) the date of the show was changed with us
but unfortunately the listings in all the media said that the show was
tonight! Well, the upshot is that we played a smoking show to the
keen 12 people who were there and three of them bought CD's (sale's have
been slow the last few days, I'm down to 128 lbs). To tell the truth,
which I've avoided doing for most of this journalistic accounting, attendance
at our shows has been modest for the most part. The best crowds were
probably Banff, the Slocan Valley, Malones in Vancover and the Stardust
Picnic (we had thousands watch our show and then stick around for the other
acts, bless their hearts).
We are fast approaching Winnipeg where we play tomorrow at the
West End Cultural Centre. Tonight we do a radio performance thing
and find some fascinating Winnipegians to socialize with.
july 17-Winnipeg. So we're on the way home, these maniacs
want do the drive without stopping. I hate that. Last time
we did something like that (at the end of a Weeping Tile tour) I arrived
home sick as hell and overflowing with spite, anger and vile self-loathing.
Gee, do I make touring seem unresistable to you, dear reader?
Well, we did have a pretty excellent time in the 'peg.
Upon arriving we found that the venue had an incredible deal at the stylie
Downtown hotel that all the swells stay at. So with two rooms centrally
located we were free to wander the streets in the atonomous manner that
I was craving like a fly craves meat. As it turns out we went
to the West End to see A is A and See Sopt Run play there unique brands
of popular music. The singer from the 2nd band reminds of our buddy
Justin and their guitar player was a ham with all the right moves and tasteful
licks. We met the singer from the other band, her name is Karen and
she is nice. Apparently she started her singing career when she got
up on stage at the bar where she worked in Sudbury and belted out some
hits. The rest is history now that she is hooked up with her musical
partner doing 80's stylie pop as a two peice with a computerized band (bass,
drums, etc.). Both bands are on a new label "loggerhead"??
that is owned by the fry-guys, that is to say, 'McCains' the super-rich,
east coast family that feeds us our delicious frozen potato product.
Well as the night rolled on we found ourselves at the fabulous
Albert Hotel bar drinking cheap, and highly poisonous, draft and making
friends. At 3am when they closed the bar we went back to our suite
and pulled out the mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo for a bluegrass jam
that ended at about 7 in the morning. We were really on a roll lemme
tell ya. The conversation was excited and stimulating, all synapses
were firing. Major intellectual ground was tilled, I felt renewed
and inspired. Until...
Awaking the next morning with interviews to organize, shows to
confirm for September, and more duties than I care to recall, reality hit
home. I was crippled by the previous nights revellry. Water sand
rest was all there was in my immediate future. By soundcheck we were
all feeling better and thanks to some righteously strong marahoochie we
ended up having our mojo's working for the big shoe.
Let's see, how best to describe the final show of Luther Wright
& the Wrongs first western tour at the nicest hall in the west?
Everything was coming together smashingly: good soundcheck, our buddy Marty
was doing our sound, we'd been filled up with delicious burritos and corn,
our set list looked like the greatest set list since the Beatles played
on atop Apple records, my hair was all scruffy and I felt like I could
sing like Alfalfa from the little rascals. We start the first song,
"Orlando Bound", (never played a weak version of this hit boy) something
is terribly wrong. It turns out that the plug has been kicked out
on Cam's monitor and he can only hear the reflection of the band bouncing
off of the back wall! We started the song slow as it was but him
playing so behind the beat made it sound retardedly wierd.
Tremaine, the promoter put it this way after the show, "When I heard
you guys start the first song I thought to myself, 'oh no! these guys suck!,
I told all of my friends that they were good'.
Wow.
We buckled down and pulled it together for the next song, Cammy
by this time realizing what was going on and compensating as best he could.
The terror receeded to the back of our minds like a cowering dog and slowly
but surely the groove was their. Sean Kelly was a rock, his eros
after all being made of desire. Met many wonderful people after the
show. The tour ending event of the evening took place in the dressing
room at 1:30 am. Jilly the cool and colurful hair specialist gave
Sean and Dan haircuts. Their new coiff's are cute and sassy.
They are assured of much love and affection upon re-assimilation into the
Kingston social fabric.
We now roll on towards Kenora and beyond, back to our homes
and loved ones.
