Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Dire Straits & the Texas two step

I've been waiting at the crossroads making catcalls to the devil. I'm holding a perfectly untuned guitar, extra thick calluses on my fingertips. So, I'm not Robert Johnson yet, but I've spent the winter with my hand gripped around the neck of my guitar. Luke & I have had an unusual amount of time off & we decided to skip off on the Canadian winter & head to music city USA. Just to reassure you, our time has not been spent wandering up & down music row pleading with the powers that be, or writing catchy pop country tunes with Christian overtones in hopes that Faith Hill will one day cover it. Instead, we've been digging through the crap & finding what's truly special here. All those people & places that have made us feel at home when it is otherwise so clear that we are not. We've struggled through the awkwardness of trying to be creative in a tiny one-bedroom apartment & managed to collectively write 34 songs. Ok, Luke wrote 31 & I wrote 3, BUT I did learn the lead guitar part for Sultans of Swing from top to bottom. My dad will be so proud! I've jammed along with JJ Cale records & geeked out over guitar magazines. So, basically I've spent the winter as a teenage boy. I just want to come back to y'all a little more accomplished then when I left. This morning at 5am, we stumbled into bed from a 15 hour drive & four days of constant music & tequila. South by southwest takes over the city of Austin & it seems this year that the nocturnal birds partied even harder then the skinny jeaned indie rockers. Highlights would have to be new Lost Highway act Hays Carl whose first song inspired a bar brawl, sixshooter/mint hootenanny (always a good time), Iron Cactus Guacamole, learning the Texas two step & my big showcase performance when halfway through my set the vents under my feet suddenly shot on, sending my dress all the way up to my ears. Oh my! The spring will find me back on familiar ground again with the wonderful Jesse Cook. My knees are already shaking with panic & delight at the thought of playing Massey Hall! I'll also be releasing the video for Skyway Bridge. I once again enlisted Luke Hutton (route 66) to direct this outdoor shoot. I flew home for what turned out to be the coldest weekend of the year & braved the lakefront Hamilton shoot. The crew scurried around in parkas all day too cold to even complain & the dear, saintly Greg Keelor spent the entire day working with us on this extremely difficult shoot. I'm sure the finished product will be worth all our efforts. Huge thank you to the crew & Greg Keelor. I know these blogs are few & far between & I have to ask you to please not be angry with my procrastinating ways. From now on I will try & be more frequent with my updates & I always appreciate the kind comments to reassure me that you are out there. Happy spring my friends. It's right wing American talk radio for the drive home (sick fascination). I'll be a happy girl when the CBC makes it onto our radar.

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