Intense times again my friends! A few months ago we busted our poor van's water pump, ended up stuck in Sault Ste Marie for 3 days, missed our show in Regina, drove for about a million hours, popped a flat at 4 in the morning, and somehow made it to our Saskatoon show minutes before sound check. We lucked out incredibly because the van decided to die in the town where our very vehicle-savvy friends live, who were able to provide us with invaluable help in getting ourselves rolling again.
Well, we've done it again! A few days ago the trusty ol' Delica started making horrible noises minutes outside of Dauphin, Manitoba and died. We couldn't figure out what the blazes was going on, and we got a tow back to Dauphin, where we figured nobody would know what to do with our weird Japanese import van. As it happened, we found the one guy for probably 1000 km who knows what the inside of a Mitsubishi Delica looks like. His name is Jason, and he is amazing. He was driving around town, saw our van up on the hitch, and flagged the tow truck down to find out if we were in trouble. He told the tow guy to bring our van to his mother in law's house, where he started looking at the engine.
We had already realized that there was no chance of making it to our Saskatoon gig that night so Ben and I went on a mission in downtown Dauphin to see if any of the bars wanted to hire a band for the night. No luck.
In the meantime, Jason mostly figured out what was going on with our van, and offered to not only fix it - which will take a few days - but also sell us a replacement vehicle to finish our tour with, so that we could make the remainder of our gigs.
SO! here's the crazy part! Until further notice, your favourite right hand drive veggie oil fueled band are now rolling in a burgundy 1990 Plymouth Voyager, fueled by everyone's favourite fossil fuel, gasoline. Yesterday early in the morning we made the insurance all official and handed over the very reasonable sum of money, and burned rubber out of Dauphin in order to make it to our Edmonton show that night.
Turns out we burned rubber a little too hard. Maybe 20 minutes farther down the road than where our Delica had died less than a day previous, we blew a flat in our new old van. As you may remember if any of us have told you the awful saga of our last flat tire, the Delica came with a jack that does not work with the van. Not so in the case of the Voyager! We jacked that puppy up and put the spare on, using the very appropriately sized jack that we found under the hood. After forgetting to not use the parking brake and then having to dismantle it, we went to Grand View, MB, got two brand new back tires. By this point, we were many hours behind schedule to make it to our Edmonton gig but decided to try. We figured if we went and didn't stop we would make it at least in time to play, if not for doors or soundcheck.
So, we drove for about ten hours through worsening forest fire smoke (all the way from BC - sheesh), and all feeling a bit delirious, managed to set up and play a show at the Artery, here in Edmonton. Pretty good one too, I thought. We made it to Robson Valley Music Festival the next day in Dunster, BC. Many many dollars poorer, in a different van, spending a lot more money on fuel, but still ready to rock. The last couple days did cost us a bit financially but all things considered we are very, very lucky with the way it worked out. The chances of breaking down near probably the only mechanic for hundreds of kilometres who was able to work on our van is boggling my mind.
So yeah! Life goes on. We just had a great weekend at Robson Valley. We're lounging around on the monday while the festival is being torn down. Next weekend is Music on the Mountain in Fort St James, then the Cultch in Vancouver on Sept 1st, Sunshine Music Fest. We've had a great time at the Vancouver Folk Fest, Artswells, Mountain View Music Festival in Carstairs AB, and Trout Forest Music Fest in Ear Falls, ON, and It's gonna continue to be a great summer.
Love y'all
Taylor
8/20/10
5/7/10
Perhaps a legitimate use for the word 'epic'.
Well,
the water pump came in from BC, and since the mechanic in town couldn't work on it that day we had our friend Devin Alexander from the Wild Turkeys help us install it. We picked it up at about 10:30 AM, and at about 5 PM we finally left the Soo with a working vehicle. Along the drive we found out that one of our headlights was out, and in Thunder Bay, many hours later, a fuse in the van shorted out and a bunch of our internal electronic stuff lost power. Ryan changed the fuse at a gas stop and we kept driving. Again, many hours and many miles of trees and rocks and road later, we found that our other headlight was fading. In pulling over to check on it, We blew our front right tire, about 70 km east of Dryden, ON, in the snow in nautical dawn. Ryan and I got out to change the tire and found that the jack that came with the van actually didn't work. We had no cell service so we had to flag down about 5 vehicles before we found somebody on a network with service, and called CAA. After waiting an hour or two on the side of the road feeling depressed that we would almost certainly have to cancel our Saskatoon show, we got a tow into Dryden. We decided instead of having the one tire patched, we would replace all the tires because the van was overdue for it. The tire place opened at 8 and at 8:25 we were driving away on four new tires. By that time it was fully light out, Adam got his second (or maybe fourth?) wind and decided we would drive to Winnipeg after all and make a go of making it to Saskatoon. In Winnipeg - after spending about 45 minutes getting a load of veggie oil - we hooked up with our friend Marika (somebody correct my spelling!) who happened to need to get to Regina that night, so she took a shift of driving, and poor Adam, the only licensed driver in the band finally got to have a little bit of half-sleep in the back of the van for a while. He took the last shift of driving from Regina to Saskatoon, and at 10 PM we got to Lydia's.
Somehow after basically no sleep for anybody in the entire band for about 35 hours, we were able to load in to the venue, sound check, and then play an actually pretty solid set to a bunch of awesome saskatonians. We love Saskatoon! Ian, the sound tech at Lydia's, made everything sound so great, and Rich at Vive got a bunch of folks out and made our epic journey totally worthwhile.
Anyways, now we've all had some sleep, we're eating french toast at our friend Hilary's house, and best of all, the remainder of the tour need not be canceled. Wow! By the grace of Zeus.
We have survived a lot y'all!
Cheers! Taylor
the water pump came in from BC, and since the mechanic in town couldn't work on it that day we had our friend Devin Alexander from the Wild Turkeys help us install it. We picked it up at about 10:30 AM, and at about 5 PM we finally left the Soo with a working vehicle. Along the drive we found out that one of our headlights was out, and in Thunder Bay, many hours later, a fuse in the van shorted out and a bunch of our internal electronic stuff lost power. Ryan changed the fuse at a gas stop and we kept driving. Again, many hours and many miles of trees and rocks and road later, we found that our other headlight was fading. In pulling over to check on it, We blew our front right tire, about 70 km east of Dryden, ON, in the snow in nautical dawn. Ryan and I got out to change the tire and found that the jack that came with the van actually didn't work. We had no cell service so we had to flag down about 5 vehicles before we found somebody on a network with service, and called CAA. After waiting an hour or two on the side of the road feeling depressed that we would almost certainly have to cancel our Saskatoon show, we got a tow into Dryden. We decided instead of having the one tire patched, we would replace all the tires because the van was overdue for it. The tire place opened at 8 and at 8:25 we were driving away on four new tires. By that time it was fully light out, Adam got his second (or maybe fourth?) wind and decided we would drive to Winnipeg after all and make a go of making it to Saskatoon. In Winnipeg - after spending about 45 minutes getting a load of veggie oil - we hooked up with our friend Marika (somebody correct my spelling!) who happened to need to get to Regina that night, so she took a shift of driving, and poor Adam, the only licensed driver in the band finally got to have a little bit of half-sleep in the back of the van for a while. He took the last shift of driving from Regina to Saskatoon, and at 10 PM we got to Lydia's.
Somehow after basically no sleep for anybody in the entire band for about 35 hours, we were able to load in to the venue, sound check, and then play an actually pretty solid set to a bunch of awesome saskatonians. We love Saskatoon! Ian, the sound tech at Lydia's, made everything sound so great, and Rich at Vive got a bunch of folks out and made our epic journey totally worthwhile.
Anyways, now we've all had some sleep, we're eating french toast at our friend Hilary's house, and best of all, the remainder of the tour need not be canceled. Wow! By the grace of Zeus.
We have survived a lot y'all!
Cheers! Taylor
5/5/10
Stuck in the Soo
Well folks,
we've been stuck in Sault Ste Marie for the past couple of days. We pulled over here with our van making a funny sound and were lucky enough that it started happening near the home town of our pals the Wild Turkeys. We determined that we have a worn out water pump and have been waiting on a new one for a couple days, while Devin and Vaughn have been graciously putting us up. Today we are eagerly watching its progress on Purolator's neat package tracking system. It is somewhere between the local purolator depot and us, and as soon as we get it in our clutches we're gonna try to stick it in the van and hit the road post haste! Luckily Devin's got some idea about what is going on in the engine and he's going to help us reassemble everything.
Unfortunately the hold up has meant we've had to cancel our Regina appearance at Bushwakkers tonight, but if all goes well today we are still planning to be in Saskatoon tomorrow night, and hope to be on schedule from there on out. Sorry Reginians...! But hey, it's only 3 hours drive to Saskatoon. Do it!
Until then, we've got a van to fix and about a billion hours to spend in the van. Oh the glory!
we've been stuck in Sault Ste Marie for the past couple of days. We pulled over here with our van making a funny sound and were lucky enough that it started happening near the home town of our pals the Wild Turkeys. We determined that we have a worn out water pump and have been waiting on a new one for a couple days, while Devin and Vaughn have been graciously putting us up. Today we are eagerly watching its progress on Purolator's neat package tracking system. It is somewhere between the local purolator depot and us, and as soon as we get it in our clutches we're gonna try to stick it in the van and hit the road post haste! Luckily Devin's got some idea about what is going on in the engine and he's going to help us reassemble everything.
Unfortunately the hold up has meant we've had to cancel our Regina appearance at Bushwakkers tonight, but if all goes well today we are still planning to be in Saskatoon tomorrow night, and hope to be on schedule from there on out. Sorry Reginians...! But hey, it's only 3 hours drive to Saskatoon. Do it!
Until then, we've got a van to fix and about a billion hours to spend in the van. Oh the glory!
5/1/10
Well, Ontario...
...ya sure are big! I celebrated my birthday here tonight with a show at Little Montreal in Sudbury, our last Ontario show on this tour. Coming up we have a stacked load of enormous drives. Tonight we hope to be in Thunder Bay, the next night Winnipeg, next night Regina.
Maybe in the van I will try to index all the photos I have taken thus far so I can upload 'em somewhere next time we get internet.
We are about to have a beautiful breakfast and cup o' coffee with our glorious host Cris. She put on the show last night and is so awesome.
I love you all!
Maybe in the van I will try to index all the photos I have taken thus far so I can upload 'em somewhere next time we get internet.
We are about to have a beautiful breakfast and cup o' coffee with our glorious host Cris. She put on the show last night and is so awesome.
I love you all!
4/23/10
Tour is goin' great.
Hi Folks, I'm in a Starbucks in Ottawa. Don't worry, I didn't buy anything!!
Fish & Bird are having the time of our lives! Last night we had a beautiful time at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield QC opening for Hannah Georgas. She is wonderful and so is the venue. Right on the river and what an amazing crowd.
Shows all across the country have been the best yet! We have canoed on Falcon Lake, eaten at the hoito, listened to Keith Jarrett in the dark, eaten lots of great food, and been honoured to play our music for some of the most wonderful audiences we've ever seen.
Movies in the van: Alone in the Wilderness, Stop Making Sense
Music in the van: Fred Cockerham, Bruce Springsteen, Spirit of the West, the Talking Heads.
Also, in other exciting news we have added a new festival to our summer schedule: The Vancouver Folk Fest! Very honoured to be included in their lineup. Look out for us there and at other great fests across Canada!
Love you all!
Taylor
Fish & Bird are having the time of our lives! Last night we had a beautiful time at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield QC opening for Hannah Georgas. She is wonderful and so is the venue. Right on the river and what an amazing crowd.
Shows all across the country have been the best yet! We have canoed on Falcon Lake, eaten at the hoito, listened to Keith Jarrett in the dark, eaten lots of great food, and been honoured to play our music for some of the most wonderful audiences we've ever seen.
Movies in the van: Alone in the Wilderness, Stop Making Sense
Music in the van: Fred Cockerham, Bruce Springsteen, Spirit of the West, the Talking Heads.
Also, in other exciting news we have added a new festival to our summer schedule: The Vancouver Folk Fest! Very honoured to be included in their lineup. Look out for us there and at other great fests across Canada!
Love you all!
Taylor
4/12/10
Got Dem Lethbridge Blues
Hi Folks!!!!
We are in Lethbridge. Tour thus far has been a great time, although we seem to be having a hard time saying goodbye to winter weather. For some reason I associated the start of this tour with the start of summer. Who can say why. Anyway, there has been snow coming out of the sky far too often for my liking. It is half way through april for goodness sakes! Ridiculous.
We had a great couple days in Nanton. Huge thrift store there. Once I got into the basement I started getting a little creeped out. I envisioned owning the store, going there every day, and having weird dreams about being caught in a concrete box with a million leather coats and no exits. By the way, are you a woman with small feet? There are a thousand pairs of beautiful leather boots for you in Nanton. Go check it out.
Zoe and Ryan and Adam are off sourcing Veggie Oil here in lethbridge. We have been leaving a trail of small loseable items along our tour route. Mp3 players, cell phone chargers, hip flasks, broken hearts (just kidding). Are you trying to call me? Too bad. My phone is dead.
This week we will cross the prairies, and Sunday is a show at the Times Change(d) in winnipeg with the Crooked Brothers.
Damn the weather!
Okay, see you soon the rest of Canada!
Taylor
P.S.
Pawn shops don't seem to carry cell phone accessories as a rule. Weird.
We are in Lethbridge. Tour thus far has been a great time, although we seem to be having a hard time saying goodbye to winter weather. For some reason I associated the start of this tour with the start of summer. Who can say why. Anyway, there has been snow coming out of the sky far too often for my liking. It is half way through april for goodness sakes! Ridiculous.
We had a great couple days in Nanton. Huge thrift store there. Once I got into the basement I started getting a little creeped out. I envisioned owning the store, going there every day, and having weird dreams about being caught in a concrete box with a million leather coats and no exits. By the way, are you a woman with small feet? There are a thousand pairs of beautiful leather boots for you in Nanton. Go check it out.
Zoe and Ryan and Adam are off sourcing Veggie Oil here in lethbridge. We have been leaving a trail of small loseable items along our tour route. Mp3 players, cell phone chargers, hip flasks, broken hearts (just kidding). Are you trying to call me? Too bad. My phone is dead.
This week we will cross the prairies, and Sunday is a show at the Times Change(d) in winnipeg with the Crooked Brothers.
Damn the weather!
Okay, see you soon the rest of Canada!
Taylor
P.S.
Pawn shops don't seem to carry cell phone accessories as a rule. Weird.
10/10/09
Oops...
Well folks, I swear it was up there for a couple days, but our nomination for a CFMA turned out to be a mix-up, as we didn't quite meet the requirements for the category. Consider this as foreshadowing for next year...
Congrats to everybody anyway!
Taylor Ashton,
of the formerly CFMA nominated band "Fish & Bird"
Congrats to everybody anyway!
Taylor Ashton,
of the formerly CFMA nominated band "Fish & Bird"
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