Western Tour Revisited #3

When you’re out touring from one end of this country to the other, you can’t help but be stunned by the range and diversity of experiences. For a born and bred urbanite, I was struck by this sign on the front lobby door of a hotel in downtown Castlegar, BC.

Western Tour Revisited #2

One of the most delightful surprises of the western tour this fall was our first gig. It was at an out of the way spot, south of Calgary and just 12 miles north of the U.S. border at a place called The General Store near Twin Butte. Dubbed “one of the windiest spots in Canada” the surrounding foothills are dotted with wind turbines, while the majestic Rockies loom in the background. It’s a surreal and compelling sight to behold.

The venue was small but it was packed with warm hearted, generous folks who like to have fun, live large and take their western hospitality seriously. Thanks for making us feel so welcome. We’ll be back any time you’ll have us!

The view from our accommodation. What a way to wake up!

Western Tour Revisited #1

Just before Christmas of /08  PBF returned from a 3 week tour of our western provinces. It took us from our home here in Hogtown all the way out to Nanaimo B.C. and back with many stops along the way. Some of them scheduled and some of them not. Stuart and myself were charged with the responsibility of getting all our gear out to our first gig in Twin Butte, Alberta. (more on Twin Butte later) We hopped into our van (The Pig Rig) and headed west on Nov.9 It is interesting to note that many parts of Canada are, in fact two different places. One in summer/spring/fall and a completly different one in winter. This was never more evident than when we discovered just how few gas stations there are, that are open, between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa in wintertime. You guessed it, we ran out of gas 15 miles south of Wawa. We needed to flag down some help but traffic was scarce so Stuart decided to serenade the pines with his cornet while we waited. Eventually someone came by. It’s probably not everyday that drivers see someone practicing the cornet in the middle of Canada’a frozen north, so the curious driver slowed down, came along side and rolled down his window. Stuart leaned in and uttered what has to be one of the best quips of our tour……”Any requests?

We Made the Mariposa Festival’s 2008 CD

Incidentally, the Mariposa Festival’s 2008 commemorative CD is a beautifully packaged set, and features tracks from 19 of this year’s featured performers. We were surprised and pleased to see our own Gotta Love A Train first on the track listing!

Porkbelly made its debut at Orillia’s legendary MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL over the weekend, playing to overflow crowds in the “Mariposa Pub”, really a spacious awning on an huge expanse of lush grass. Saturday was very special, a gorgeous summer evening with pleasure boats rocking on their moorings just offshore.

We had mischievously decided to tamper with the mellow, mellow mood of the festival, and luckily, the crowd was ready. Not to put too fine a point on it, we rocked the place out. The next afternoon saw us paired with A & R for a “Blues and Reggae” workshop, and if anything, the crowd was even bigger. A & R’s trio instrumentation includes box drum and steel pan, so we had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Amazingly, it worked a charm, with Chas and Marty spontaneously laying down a solid foundation to the reggae tunes, and our own stuff receiving a fresh new sound from A & R. Everything just felt so comfortable, and some of the grooves (helped by Rebecca’s cowbell) simply wouldn’t quit. Stuart got a roar from the crowd for attempting, in a single song, to solo on four different instruments. (He only dropped one, but he almost dropped them all.)

Fronting Porkbelly, of course, was P.Q., in great voice and with his guitar amp set to maximum raunch. Wouldn’t it be great if life were like this all the time? Now we look forward to our Ottawa Blues Festival show Saturday afternoon.

Thank you, Mariposa!!