Thursday, November 3rd, 9:00 am, Kamloops

I wake up beside Dan Ball, a spectacle only a few people will witness in a lifetime. I take a cold shower against my will and head out into the morning to get a coffee and a paper. I return to find the boys heading to the Howard Johnson “Breakfast Room” where it seems all of the guests in the hotel have migrated to for free cereal and home-made waffles, a true gift. The room is more like a dimly-lit underground, poker-room than a breakfast nook, but the people are much friendlier. I eat bran flakes and Lewis questions the integrity of the waffle batter, convinced it was originally for pancakes. We cram ourselves into the van with our new honorary member, Kelly “Big Papa” Black, who will be joining us for a short while on our trip, selling merch, driving, loading gear, adding muscle, brains and looks to our group of wildcards. I ask Kelly how he’s feeling this morning, “I’ll feel good man, as long as Tyson doesn’t drive like a fu**ing old lady.” I like this guy. He says all the things I want to say to Tyson, but can’t. I tell Kelly that he is an amalgamation of Dan, Lewis, Tyson and I. Separate, we are all messes, but combine us into one person and we are the four aspects needed to be the perfect tour companion that is Kelly Black; Able to grow hobo-like facial hair, check. Fancy business tactics, check. Handsome devil, check. Able to quote obscure, random and seemingly useless information, check.

5:00 pm

On the long drive between Kamloops and Edmonton, we run into a light snowfall, nothing us timid, small-town boys can’t handle. Kelly is amused by this, as we talk about the weather carefully, like we believe we may offend mother nature, coaxing her into ending us. We stop outside of Jasper, at the entrance of Mt. Robson Provincial Park to film a song in front of the beautiful massive wood and stone sign and a statue of a majestic big-horned sheep. I break my guitar pick and my fingers freeze, and then it starts to snow hard while we finish up. We continue on through significantly worse weather, singing a rugged a-cappella version of our pal Aidan Knight’s “Jasper” for entertainment and to drown out the endless play-list of classic rock tunes, although great, it is the only station our radio gets. We stop briefly in Hinton for provisions, and we talk at great lengths about the restaurant industry and how, to be a cook or a server, a chef, you probably have to be slightly unhinged and have a darker sense of humour than most, and most importantly, a high tolerance for taking shit and working the strangest hours. We discuss the process of “Cold-Smoking” and “Broasting,” and Gordon Ramsey’s career in full, and discover that there is a lot more to him than just Cursing and “dog’s dinner” and all that silly stuff he says on television. Kelly is part-owner and GM of two restaurants in Calgary, “UNA” a fantastic pizza and wine bar, and “Ox and Angela,” which is half and half bar and restaurant serving incredible mexican cuisine, like home-made taquitos and oxtail tacos. Kelly is my new best friend, and I just can’t wait until he realizes he has to accept this.

9:00 pm, Edmonton

We arrive in Edmonton and head straight to the West-Ed Mall, to the Edmonton Events Centre to see Wide Mouth Mason and Big Sugar. The show they put on is excellent, and we feel as if we are watching a live performance clinic on how to be an excellent rock band, it’s that good. Shaun Verreault kills it, and with Gordie Johnson from Big Sugar playing bass, it is safe to say, they are legendary. They even play my favourite hit, “Midnight Rain”, and I freak out like a 16 year old for a minute or so when I finally got my hands on a copy of Big Shiny Tunes 2. We head to Whyte Ave shortly after, to Wunderbar, where our old pal Matt Goud is playing a show with his band “Northcote.” He is on the last leg of his tour across the the great canadian tundra at this point and is absolutely wonderful, with his new band, featuring Victoria native Blake Enemark on electric guitar and pretty sounds, and an old pal of ours, John Gerard on bass. Matt’s set gets cut short so he plays his last song “Worry” outside behind the club, in -10 weather, to the crowd inside that has followed and surrounded him for warmth. It is truly an inspiring moment, one of those times that I won’t forget even if I try, where I feel so lost in every aspect, but comforted by a guitar, a harmonica, a beautiful voice, happy to be where I am, with these silly boys and girls I share my life with. You can’t ask for more than that, the simple pleasure that is a group of people chanting the words to a tour song behind a club in the cold, and meaning it. And if you do, make sure it’s as wonderful as Matt Goud on tour.