And So It Begins! Victoria- Port Alberni- Sproat Lake, BC

McKinley Wolf has been good to us! Big Dave stayed with Ed and Mildred, while I stayed with Ian and Dianne. This morning we are rolling out of Ed's place after having breakfast at Kitty's. This show is packed, billed, and switched on!

It's a smooth run up to Port Alberni today. I've even got phone service, and the GPS seems to be working. Well, no, actually it is NOT so good up around Sproat Lake! This is twenty minutes beyond Port Alberni. The maps are good, but the locator is quite spotty. We make a couple of wrong turns, but find our way in plenty of time.

It's a house concert to kick off the Tour this evening, and we roll in blasting because we can. The help is not impressed. Rather, she is somewhat panic stricken! After peace is restored to Sproat Lake we introduce ourselves, and make ourselves comfortable. Our hosts have not yet arrived home today, so we unpack, sit back, and enjoy the view.

We'll turn this on later tonight as the guests are coming and going.

Big Dave makes a couple of calls, while I check out the Lake.

It's a real pretty spot, isn't it? Our hosts, Cynthia and Bernd, arrive, and we are quickly set up, shown to our quarters, and fed. I elect to go for a little pre-show swim- because I can! The water is pretty nice for a snow-fed lake. I'm in, out, and dry again pretty quickly.

Dave and I make some last minute changes to our set list, and then it is showtime on Sproat Lake! We've got the Lincoln turned on to greet the guests! Now we're swinging into Show Number One of the National Steel Bad Boy Blues Tour. We've got an audience of about 35 people, and they are with us! Yes! We're back! How do you like us so far?!! It is very nice to be playing this show at last, and we pull it off without any serious glitches. Dave's new CD is selling well. The post show snacks are good.

We sit and munch for a time, and then we are off to bed- another big day waiting for us in the morning. Dave says "hi."

All Points West

CBC. Downtown Victoria. Today Dave and I are guesting on All Points West, one of British Columbia's most listened to radio shows. As it happens, we get a parking spot right outside the studio!!! I bet they can hear us in Prince George! It is pretty loud. We've got Albert King on the jukebox this morning. "Hey, you! Honk if you love the blues!"

As usual, we dial in our own sound effects! The crew quickly gets over this, and we have a great time on air.

Before you know it our 15 minutes of fame are over, and here we are back on the street. Just two more bums with a fat, smokin' Lincoln.

Loud It Up, Day 2

Back at the shop for Day 2 of the Install. Tim is working on the wiring harness and controls.

There are four speakers altogether: big horn, small horn, and two side-wash speakers. Then there are the lights: a white, strobe inside the big horn- it looks like a giant electrical spark when it goes off- Smokestack Lightnin', baby; pencil spots to illuminate the sides; and long, track lights inside the chicken coop. It all glows kinda blue. Then there's a green upright stick that pulses with the sound! All this stuff is individually switched from the cab.

Dave and Ed drop by Island Audio to take me away for a while. We're just going to cruise around town for a bit and take in some of the sights while the work continues.

One of my running heros, Terry Fox. He reminds me that we can often do more than we might imagine. I've had a couple of short runs in Victoria, but I've been slow and easy.

Mile Zero of the TransCanada Highway. Great place to start a Canadian tour!

It's a pretty town, filled with flowers and gardens. Ed and Dave drop me back at the shop, where I will check on progress and hopefully see the project completed as planned!

It is all looking good! Ian and Tim are running final checks, powering up this and that...

The mighty rig is done!! Stay tuned as we test it out in the morning!!!

Victoria- Island Audio: Loud Me Up

Off the Lower Mainland! The ferry is ready for me this morning. There is no wait, and the coffee is flowing on board. I settle in to enjoy the view.

It's a big system, linking all these Islands to each other, to the rest of British Columbia, and the world. Lots of ferries coming and going, different shapes and sizes.

It takes about an hour and a half to get from the mainland terminal to Swartz Bay, near Victoria. Traffic is pretty civil here, and it's a stress free trip in from the ferry to downtown Victoria. Here's today's destination- Island Audio!!

Ian is expecting me, he's a blues guy, bassist about town, a member of the McKinley Wolf Blues Band, and he's been brainstorming the project.

Something like this, Doc?

OK, let's strip it down and build it up as we go! We'll need a powerful amp/mixer to run the mic and the music through...
Tim, the installer genius, has the basic chicken coop construction laid out. It is not long until the speaker horns are mounted up. We elect to begin with a fairly simple look, focusing on the horns.

Do you think it will be loud enough??? We'll come back in the morning to continue the install.

Meanwhile I'm off to Ian's place for a great dinner, a jam with Ed and Dallas- other members of McKinley Wolf- and finally a trip out to play the last set at a local club. Drummer Andy Grafitti runs the jam, and it's a lot of fun with some really good local players. Ian, Ed and Dallas know some of my tunes, and it's a real treat for me to get to play with McKinley Wolf backing me up. We stay up too late, but so what? Big fun is good.

Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC

Ready for action! Today I'm going to run one of the classic Canadian trails- the seawall in Vancouver's Stanley Park. I'm pretty excited about this one, as I've wanted to run it for several years now and have never had the time. I'm not in good form, but I'm gonna enjoy every bit of it!

It's an amazing, near 10km run. I'm beat at the end. But it's great! If you like to run, walk, bike, blade... try to come here sometime. Breathtaking, beautiful. Part of the Musicians Pension Program- keep healthy!

Exit to the Coast

The Canadian government wants to build more prisons, privatize them, and keep more people in them for longer than ever before. I'm sorry, that's just not smart. It's quite a contradiction that the "free world" countries keep more people locked up than most dictatorships. The "war on drugs" is strictly business... They want to build a prison in Summerland, BC.

Down in Kelowna, BC

Down in Kelowna, BC. I go for a run on the Beltline- or is it the Greenbelt?- Trail. It's my first run in a while, but I survive perhaps 8 or 10 km. It's a nice run, but kind of brutal. I'll be hurting in a few hours time. It's a pretty town, with gardens like this one everywhere. While we elected not to do shows in the Valley this year, I am already entertaining offers for next year's National Steel "Blues Emergency" Tour with Morgan Davis.