tour blog...

hello lovelies!

new tour bits up on the tour blog...

(click the suitcase to yo right!)

muah :)

big fat hugs from the south island...
f:)

palmerston north...

palmerston north had a great feel as we drove in. it was extremely quiet….but expected for a tuesday, I suppose. the energy turned rather quickly, though, as we swung by the bar to discover it had been shut-down with all gigs cancelled. quite the unfortunate bit of news to hear following the incredible vibes we’d been graced with in napier….

but such luck led us to a delicious (but freezing!) picnic dinner in the park followed by tea and a jam at monica and sam’s place in wanganui (apparently there are tour-angels there, too!). they were incredible hosts and allowed for a cozy space and many laughs, after such a weird night.

…change is good.

f:)

napier - brazen head ale house

we rolled into napier via roteroua (a town littered with hot springs boiling over into the landscape…very cool…but very stinky!), with an extra night to check out the scene. such a cute little coastal town with great architecture and loads of local wine!

less than an hour into being there, todd ran into an old friend from uni, who he hadn’t seen in years. yet another crazy coincidence. he took us out to a funky little bar and hooked us up with yummy coffee and his restaurant the next day…and a wine tour at church winery…delicious.

the brazen head ale house was a cute little irish pub, who drew a sweet crowd for a Sunday courtyard gig. quite a few local musos and music-lovers strolled in and stuck around for some lovely chats after the show. as it turned out, Steve, a guy we had met the night before, came along with some company and offered to show us his favorite surf spot…which was incredible. we followed him along, us in henry (the tourvan), he and scott in the relaxi taxi (a hippy bus that is literally any traveler’s dreamwheels -- well mine anyway). the bus was decked out with a great sound system, a lazyboy passenger’s seat, a master bedroom and two other bunks, a bathroom/shower and a full kitchen….just off of the lounge room! haha…ah, a home on wheels. We had a mega feast followed by a jam as it rained in this gorgeous little cove surrounded by cliffs and a splendid beach…which we so happily woke up to the next morning….

steve and scott kitted us out with an incredible night of memories and laughs, and insistently sent us off with a tour sponsorship. we could not have been more grateful for the heartwarming hospitality and unbelievably genuine characters of these two fine men.

we all look forward to crossing paths with these phenomenal tour-angels again soon…

f:)

auckland - part deux

kia ora!

picking up the crew from the airport made it all feel real….the start of a new zealand tour. we were all buzzing like mad on our way through the city to feel out auckland, the first stop.

as it turned out an old friend of todd’s works on a fancy jeweler’s yacht and had us climb aboard for a night in luxury. ben and liv…the first of our tour-angels. we laughed and carried on like pirates until the wee hours, when we finally decided to crash in such unstable conditions. waking up to the rolling waves isn’t so delightful the morning after a big one. but we loved it anyway, in absolute disbelief of how amazing this yacht and the night before were….convinced that this start had to mean good things for what was to come in the weeks ahead!

an unforeseen sound issue led us to our second tour-angel: neil. an absolute legend, as far as p.a. sourcing goes -- and just a sheer pleasure to be around. oozing positive energy and lovely things to say, neil hooked us up with a p.a. from music works in auckland and came along to the show. we miss him already!

The café had a warm and cozy, artzy vibe….absolutely my kind of space! the walls were covered in massive photography pieces and other painted canvases. they had an incredible menu and a yummy home-roasted brand of coffee….mmm.

the café was packed by the time we hit the stage…it seemed everyone we had come across over the past few days in auckland had made it down -- the lovely rich, who couched and tour-guided me for my first night in auckland, stanislava from spaceship rentals, who tour-vehicle-sponsored us for our tour, family friends and fellow couch-surfers and other kingsland passerby-ers. great crowd! so receptive and appreciative….and such a pleasure to play to.

we all left the venue super-excited to be here, in nz, doing what we love for people who love it.

ahhhh…this truly is the life.

f:)

south island tour dates!!

hi friends!!!

heading on down to the south island....


WED 29 APRIL Inter Island Ferry, Wellington to Picton
WED 29 APRIL Lochmara Lodge, Queen Charlotte Sound
THURS 30 APRIL Le Café Picton, Picton
SAT 2 MAY Moutere Inn, Nelson
SUN 3 MAY The Mussel Inn, Tasman
THURS 7 MAY Wunderbar, Lyttelton


...more chch shows to come soon...

will keep you posted!

two pieces…of one fabulous country!

kia ora!

just landed here in lovely mountain country…and although I haven’t seen any mountains yet (it’s nighttime), a good feeling filled me all up inside as soon as my foot hit the soil.

The air is fresh and the people are delightful (well, airport staff are, anyway – but again, I’m optomistic). This country is sure to bring good things, music related and otherwise. Another land filled with wide-open spaces to discover, bit by bit, between songs. Who could ask for anything more….

will bring tales and tid-bits from nz very soon….

f☺

new zealand tour!!!

et voila the poster with april maze

sweet low...

heading on down to the where the city meets the sky,
rearview mirrors holding dear where fields of lavender lie.
sounds and smirks and all things done,
wrapped up tight into another day gone.


...it's "back to melbourne", friends. see you all very soon for shows and fun :)

(more to read on the tourblog, as always - see link on right)

f:)

fit for queensland...

the final stretch....tear.

we're up in brisbane now, enjoying a little re-grouping session before the two final shows of the tour.

only two pieces left. how ironic.

the past week - post organic farm - has been a whirlwind of music, sunshine and large laughs. the lovely lady foursome, Jungal (www.myspace.com/jungal3) rolled into byron bay a little early, with plenty of time for us all to catch up since we've hit the road. our shared gig at the rails on thursday was one stop on their mini-east-coast tour, as well. it's always such a pleasure to play with friends. especially these girls. the gig was heaps of fun, as the rails always is. being the transient, exciting little town byron bay is, we made loads of very fresh friends, who made the trek down a few short streets to check us out, which was so sweet. even sweeter though, was seeing the whole crew from jasper hall (the organic farm), all suited up for the event -- and a big night out before the big drive in (to the mountains) for the next day's early start. ah, can't wait to get back there! needless to say, we made the best of our thursday in byron and jammed with some locals outside of the station until the wee hours!

friday saw us all getting our tans on at the beach, before a short trip to byron for Jungal's show with Aurora Jane (who is also very much worth checking out: www.aurorajane.com) in nimbin. oh, nimbin. this little one-street town is one of those places you really only need to stop into once...for the early afternoon. the lush greenery surrounding the place is absolutely stunning, and the storefront artwork is most definitely worth checking out....but the place itself had an incredibly sketchy tone to it. could've just been the massive drug bust that had apparently shaken it up earlier that day.....who knows!?! (either way, we'll be back...sunday, for our last gig. hahaha. well, the gig will be just oustide of nimbin in a super-cute cafe surrounded by the pretty trees, so i think we're safe).

saturday started off with a very early drive down to coffs harbor (approx. 4hrs) for the Open Arms festival, which Jungal invited us along to for their show. great festival! we had an amazing time dancing along in the mud...especially to Blue King Brown - an insanely talented bunch from melbourne, whose lyrics just spill political and social goooooooodness. check them out, tooooo! www.bluekingbrown.com

our sunday show in brisbane was great. we played at a funky little cafe/bistro called "the joynt", here in the west end...which is a super cultured little 'burb (love it. we've been hanging around these bits for the past few days and just can't get enough!). the set was long and relaxed, which just happens to be my favorite. an excellent opportunity to break out some brand new tunes (there are a few!), as well as the old dusty ones. the sound was spectacular, as well, which made it all even sweeter.

so here we are now, just about ready for the two pieces tour debrief...

i want to do it all over again!!!

...more in store...

f:)

Reeling-in the Sun....

As we continued the long drive from rutherglen to belgrave then back again, we found ourselves as exhausted as Ruby’s rubber tires, but giddy with excitement at the anticipation of seeing (and playing alongside!) our good friends, April Maze and Quinn Band, who had invited us to slip in for a quick set at the Marlin Hotel, since, as luck would have it, our touring paths crossed again. This Ulladulla gig was only one hour south of our Nowra show the next day. Ah, fate.

We pulled into Ulladulla with plenty of time to catch a big family dinner with the crew and setup for what was a fantastic(ally eventful) show in this huge, small-town pub on a Friday night. The interesting unexpectancies were all just a lead up to our bar-closing exit towards the beach, for what turned into a three-band-and-friends jam until a disappointing sunrise-shower would have us all in a panic to coil leads and get the full setup of instruments and amplifiers back into our vans. The ‘Maze carried on with us though, despite the wet stuff, for a little circled chant of appreciation of the amazing music that had come before our breakfast-bedtime. We certainly all felt lucky to be alive, living in our respective vans, touring the country in different directions, knowing that our songs would bring us together soon again.

…as it will.

f☺

movin' on...

the "two pieces tour" is now in full force. with 6 shows under their belt, and numerous busking and jam sessions taboot, ruby the van has taken us around rural victoria, up to numurkah, yarrawanga, rutherglen, beechworth, wahgunyah, belgrave, emerald, wodonga, and all the little places in between.

faye and brad have been gigging, busking, driving, sampling some fine australian wine, talking, sleeping, and gigging some more.

we're now at the border of victoria and new south wales. once we cross that line, there's no looking back. no, that's not true. but it's exciting to think about what's ahead. three (or more) states left to conquer. plenty more shows, new people to meet, and i'm sure a few more bumps on the road.


for now, i'll just give you a little list of things that we're learned on tour so far:

- never underestimate the friendliness of the small town country folk

- a three hour drive can often mean 4 or 5 or 7 hours in "ruby time"

- rest stops are our little haven. so are country towns, creeks, waterfalls, and forests

- even if the next gig is that night in a town that's 7 hours away, it still makes sense to stop for a little all-you-can-drink wine tasting

- it's really hard to sing a song while a hundred million flies are landing on your lip. might as well just eat them!

- three people sleeping in ruby ain't all that bad

- four people sleeping in ruby means leg cramps for weeks


long live the road!
x lisa

(and faye, brad, and ruby, too!)

Beechworth-it.

Oh, Beechworth! Your bakery and bottomless coffee: a sin,
Your streets with their “old western movie” grin,
A sepia tone over all who walk about,
Smiles on our faces, worries – without.

Oh, Beechworth! You heard us, as we busked near the Post,
The sun set, wiped your boutiques, as you stood, the finest host.
In water holes, we filled our bellies, water rushing through,
By your lakeside we stayed inside, for sleep we wanted too.

Oh, Rutherglen! You listened closely and some further away,
Through the vines, our voices carried, tired lips, so much to say.
But your happy clappers pushed us through the old familiar sounds,
Such spirit, we could feel it, this Sunday, all around.

Oh, Rutherglen! You lent us your locals, and their brick haven tucked away,
A treat for tired fingers to find such a place and space to lay.
You dipped us in your sweetest fruit fermented juice,
And waved us on our merry way, all well-read and loose.

Thank you!

f☺

from st. leonards to belgrave

after faye and brad's sunday stint at st. leonards vineyard, we retreated back to our good friend kat's parent's humble abode to enjoy a few days of quality r n' r. the winery gig wasn't what we expected, but was still an enjoyable day of live music, good food, and yummilicious local wines.

isn't there some sort of statistic about how many flies the average person swallows in a lifetime? i'd say that we each capped our max at this point! welcome to rural victoria, australia, aka fly country.

next stop -- ruby's in belgrave. it was a bit of a back-track, as we had to drive about 5 hours back towards melbourne. poor planning on the manager's behalf (woops!?). but it was all worth it. our fabulous-o friend kat joined us on the journey to belgrave as we passed beautiful green rolling hillsides, wild animals, and small country towns. the set at ruby's was short and sweet...and we ventured back to the oh-so-familiar emerald backpackers, where faye and i temporarily lived while doing some farm work last month. for some reason, the little town of emerald keeps pulling us back in for more. our sleep that night was slightly more squished than usual, as kat, brad, faye, and i all attempted to find an inch of space to sleep on in the back of ruby. i feel so much closer to these kids than ever before, and there are still many more cosy nights up ahead.

:) lisa

The Street(s) of Yarrawonga

Brad and I rolled in to the cutest town we’d seen since the start, Yarrawonga, a one-strip-wonder just on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. Things just seemed to be happening for us there, where the locals were all smiles and happy chats.

I actually had a pleasant banking experience, which says so much, considering international banking has been an absolute nightmare since leaving Canada……two and a half years ago! The ladies behind the counter were all ears for tour and travel info, genuinely excited about all of our moves and shakes. Needless to say, my quick banking transaction was a little drawn out…so much so, that Brad turned around at the sight of our big convo to grab me a hot bevey from the café he had just raved about, happy to return again. He came back, mocha in hand, with news of a landed gig at the café, if we were into a sunny afternoon session, which the two of us most definitely were.

Nosh Deli is the sweetest little country café you’ve ever seen, with a staff to match. As I walked in to catch up on the details, the five young, smiling faces greeted me, as they’d been waiting for the musos to arrive…so sweet. Excited for the twist to the day, the young ladies caught up on our recent activities and set us up with plenty of hydration for the sidewalk set.

We sat for roughly three hours, the sun scorching our happy faces as we played along for the locals, generous and sweet. The set saw backup singers and dancers, a short support slot by one of the owners’ sons (who is on his way to mega-guitardom), and a heap of cd sales. We left unwillingly, at closing time (which they so sweetly delayed), gourmet food and vegan soap in hand, wishing we could just settle for life and a residency here at the Nosh Deli, in Yarrawonga. …but alas, the tour must go on!

To the street(s) of Yarrawonga: We’ll be back!

heart,
f☺

life on the road is the life for sure

Week one on tour has been incredible, as expected. The lovely Ruby (our supervan) has not let us down, as she’s taken us through country Victoria and all of it’s beauty over this past pile of days and shows.

We left Melbourne in a huff, apartment and unnecessary things behind, towards Geelong, for the first show with the incredible April Maze and Quinn band, who kept us dancing until the wee hours, despite our midday slot for the Foodbowl festival in Numurkah (over 300km away) the next day. We’ve been lucky enough to have played shows with April Maze in Melbourne, and have since been busting into versions of their “Wisdom Teeth”, between spins on Ruby’s player. Ahhhh-Maze-ing (check them out: www.myspace.com/theaprilmaze ). The Quinn band lads are such a treat, as well (http://www.myspace.com/quinnacousticrootsreggae).

We left for Numurkah post-show and wedged a tiny nap in, making it to the festival just in time to set up and play. The town is absolutely adorable. The map wasn’t very hard for us to decipher, seeing as it consisted of a few blocks on the main road dotted with the pubs/venues, which faced each other. Cute. Apparently over 200 musicians made the trek to the first annual, just to be a part of it all, as small-scale as it was. Australians love their festivals, and support them all, big and small, which makes each one (that I’ve been to, anyway) an amazing experience. Our show went really well, despite exhaustion and on-stage delerium. The crowd was the perfect mix of music-loving country folk and fellow Melbournian muso friends of ours. Ahh, festivals.

The rest of the day, we gig hopped the blocks, and caught friends of ours Katt Beams, The Hazelman Brothers and Sal Kilmer & The Good Ole Boys, who, of course, blew us away. The music in this part of the world just makes you wonder what life without constant mega-music-talent around would be like. On-stage and off. As usual, we ended the musical day with a musical evening: a balcony jam on the top of the Numurhak Hotel with Katt Beams and Skiddle, Jessie Mitchell and his crew, and other lovely festival friends. Great times.

We wrapped up our playing on Sunday to friends and locals, all enjoying listening to music outside in the sun as much as we were enjoying playing it. Our early show gave us plenty of time to catch April Maze and Quinn band’s’ sets before saying our “see you soon”s as we all continued-on on our relative tours…

Brad and I stuck around Numurkah for the night to hang with the festival organizers and a few volunteers, with time to kill before our next date. We spent a large part of the next day playing piano and drinking coffee at the ultra-relaxing, mud-hutted, eco-friendly, Nine-Mile Café. Highly recommended. It’s not surprising that Chris, one of the Foodbowl Organizers, started it from the ground up. Such an inspiring bunch, those Foodbowlers are.

Post music-long-weekend, we headed for the hills….for more!



numurkah hotel

' nine-mile cafe

On the road again...

hello friends!

welcome to the tour blog, where we'll be keeping you post-ed on all of the whacky bidness we'll be up to over the next months as we make our way up the east coast!

life on tour is the life for sure!

keep checking in.....juicy tourtails coming soon,
f:)