A dark start out of Jasper, AB. Clocks change tomorrow, but this morning it's still quite dark at 8:00 AM in the mountains. I'm in a National Park, and I'm watching the roadside carefully for walking wildlife. I sure don't want to hit a big horn, an elk, or a moose! Plenty of big horns down in the valley now that there has been a little snow in the high ground. I had a nice little show last night, with a fairly early finish. That was good because I needed to be up and rolling by 7:00 to make things work today. I'm rolling east, back to Edmonton, AB for a few days. I'll have a couple of shows, some media spots, and a little down time. But here I am driving on snow and ice again. I'm taking it slow and safe, and I've still got enough hours to get to Edmonton.
Outside of Edson, AB, I encountered two armed men by the roadside. You can read the post below to catch up on that chapter of the Tour! Highway 16, the Yellowhead, a dangerous road to ride.
My first stop in Edmonton is radio CKUA, where I chat with Holger Petersen and play a couple of tunes on the radio. It's a broadly listened to show, and it is always fun to hang out with Holger.
The Commercial Hotel. Home of Blues on Whyte. This will be my home for the next few days while I do things in the Edmonton area. It's a classic old, western hotel- and it has a classic, size large blues bar. Six nights a week. Travelling shows. One of the last gigs of this kind. Strange- this is living proof that a big room can exist in a big town and do six night engagements with great success. Maybe we'll see a return to this kind of set-up elsewhere. The one nighters are surely almost as tiring for the bookers as for the musicians. This afternoon the bar is crowded, and beer is flying off the bar at $6 a bottle.
Keith Hallett started out his tour by doing a double bill with me in Moncton, NB, about a month ago. Here, I've caught up to the band- and the month of steady road has given these guys a lot of confidence! There are perhaps 200 people here for the Saturday afternoon performance and jam- and Keith tears it up. This is a young player to watch. Quite original, yet well rooted, full of energy, smart, and fills the dance floor. A really interesting guitar player- I think one of Canada's best, up and coming players. He's got my nomination for Guitar Player of the Year. This year he wins the DOC. Next year he may need a milk crate to haul the little blue trophies home.
I'm joined on the side by Ross Neilsen, slipping in the back door. Hey, what a surprise! We've got a bunch of overlapping days at this point in our tours, and we'll be splitting a bill on Tuesday night at an Edmonton venue. Ross and his band do a short set following Keith, and his popularity here is evident! These guys are road kings, too- and they rawk it up big time. Next week we both play Coleman, AB on Wednesday night. He's playing a coffeehouse with his electric band, while I play a loud bar- solo acoustic, next door. I gather we'll split the available audience in Coleman, at least I hope so! Eastern Canada is well represented in Alberta this week with Ross and Keith touring many of the same venues.
I check into my room, and get ready for Edmonton Saturday night. It's already humming, and it's not dark yet.
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