Good afternoon beautiful readers!
I'm currently sitting in The Streaming Cafe which is a local coffee shop and live music venue - home to Kelowna. Round two of the Couch Concert Series has been different thus far than the one I journeyed on last April. But what can I expect when I'm contacting strangers and asking them to turn their home into a venue? Every household is so unique that making predictions on the outcome of a self-put-together house concert trip is useless haha.
I'm going to keep this brief because I have a sunny afternoon of driving to Vancouver ahead of me.
Banff: I kicked off my series with my brand new album (HOT OFF THE PRESS! :D) on Saturday and held down The Elk and Oarsmen Bar in Banff. What a great venue! If there are any musicians reading this right now - I recommend the place if you're into nice hospitality, friendly people, and good beer...... Because I stayed in a hotel on the first night of tour, I was able to begin my trek over the great big rocks with solitude from a peaceful sleep. Driving through the mountains is consistenly a humbling experience. Shock-white snow patches, multi-coloured rock surfaces, blazing blue skies, winding roads..... how blessed I am to be able to tour through Canada's incredible landscape as part of my job! Opportunites like that demolish the doubts and fears and insecurities that sometimes build up inside of me.
Peachland: After a full day of driving and stopping at familiar gas stations I arrived at a mansion. Absolutely huge room to play a concert with more natural reverb than a cathedral. Great big windows that overlooked a giant lake. Pool table. Queen size bed. Personal bathroom (with a button powered/water from all angles shower). Shane and Kaitlynn were my hosts - and were incrediby generous with their space! One of their friends brought over wine made right from his vineyard that has apparently won awards for the best wine in all of British Columbia! I loved it but I don't really have the palette to make fair judgements. Somehow throughout the night I was able to engage in deep and interesting one on one conversations with the majority of the guests; I heard some incredible stories. It was one of my favourite homes, acoustically, that I've ever sung. Shane - you must have more musicians play in your home - it's meant to have concerts!
Kelowna: I showed up last night at this condo right beside this awesome looking running trail. Haha part of me wished that I brought practical shoes on the trip so I could go for a little jaunt down the path. Anyways, I was greeted incredibly warmly by Graham and his roommate Eric. The two of them threw together a wicked potluck (burritos, quinoa salad, bacon-wrapped asaparagus... more!) and invited a ton of their university friends over. I think it was the fullest couch concert I have done to date! Chat in the air revolved around classes, res, university parties etc. which was fun to listen in on because it had me reminiscing the overload of memories from my school days! I was shocked by the generous support that the students offered financially - it meant soo much to be supported by other young broke folk. First air mattress of the trip was set up haha. Loved it. Thank you Graham and Eric for your hospitality and support during the busy end of your semester! I appreciate it so much!
So far, the trip has been really laid back. I have not rocked a hangover yet this tour. Feels good. The interesting thing to me is that I experienced two completely different nights with two incredibly different groups of people who are practically neighbours! Has me wondering how many wildly different stories and events occur in the households every day on my own block back in Edmonton.
Dad - if you're reading this - thank you so much for the vehicle. Been way more reliable and spacious than my little cavalier. Hope you've been rockin' the roads in my low-to-the-ground-tinted-window car hahahaha.
Gonna top off the tank, get some snacks for the road, and head over to a household in Vancouver! Really excited to be in the big city. The only time I've ever been to Vancouver was five years ago with my Mum..... I'm going to feel nostalgic in a city I don't even know because of the amazing memories I had on that trip with her :) Looking forward to re-visiting the dream-like memories.
Whoops so much for brief...
Much love,
Thanks for reading,
Jenie
I'm currently sitting in The Streaming Cafe which is a local coffee shop and live music venue - home to Kelowna. Round two of the Couch Concert Series has been different thus far than the one I journeyed on last April. But what can I expect when I'm contacting strangers and asking them to turn their home into a venue? Every household is so unique that making predictions on the outcome of a self-put-together house concert trip is useless haha.
I'm going to keep this brief because I have a sunny afternoon of driving to Vancouver ahead of me.
Banff: I kicked off my series with my brand new album (HOT OFF THE PRESS! :D) on Saturday and held down The Elk and Oarsmen Bar in Banff. What a great venue! If there are any musicians reading this right now - I recommend the place if you're into nice hospitality, friendly people, and good beer...... Because I stayed in a hotel on the first night of tour, I was able to begin my trek over the great big rocks with solitude from a peaceful sleep. Driving through the mountains is consistenly a humbling experience. Shock-white snow patches, multi-coloured rock surfaces, blazing blue skies, winding roads..... how blessed I am to be able to tour through Canada's incredible landscape as part of my job! Opportunites like that demolish the doubts and fears and insecurities that sometimes build up inside of me.
Peachland: After a full day of driving and stopping at familiar gas stations I arrived at a mansion. Absolutely huge room to play a concert with more natural reverb than a cathedral. Great big windows that overlooked a giant lake. Pool table. Queen size bed. Personal bathroom (with a button powered/water from all angles shower). Shane and Kaitlynn were my hosts - and were incrediby generous with their space! One of their friends brought over wine made right from his vineyard that has apparently won awards for the best wine in all of British Columbia! I loved it but I don't really have the palette to make fair judgements. Somehow throughout the night I was able to engage in deep and interesting one on one conversations with the majority of the guests; I heard some incredible stories. It was one of my favourite homes, acoustically, that I've ever sung. Shane - you must have more musicians play in your home - it's meant to have concerts!
Kelowna: I showed up last night at this condo right beside this awesome looking running trail. Haha part of me wished that I brought practical shoes on the trip so I could go for a little jaunt down the path. Anyways, I was greeted incredibly warmly by Graham and his roommate Eric. The two of them threw together a wicked potluck (burritos, quinoa salad, bacon-wrapped asaparagus... more!) and invited a ton of their university friends over. I think it was the fullest couch concert I have done to date! Chat in the air revolved around classes, res, university parties etc. which was fun to listen in on because it had me reminiscing the overload of memories from my school days! I was shocked by the generous support that the students offered financially - it meant soo much to be supported by other young broke folk. First air mattress of the trip was set up haha. Loved it. Thank you Graham and Eric for your hospitality and support during the busy end of your semester! I appreciate it so much!
So far, the trip has been really laid back. I have not rocked a hangover yet this tour. Feels good. The interesting thing to me is that I experienced two completely different nights with two incredibly different groups of people who are practically neighbours! Has me wondering how many wildly different stories and events occur in the households every day on my own block back in Edmonton.
Dad - if you're reading this - thank you so much for the vehicle. Been way more reliable and spacious than my little cavalier. Hope you've been rockin' the roads in my low-to-the-ground-tinted-window car hahahaha.
Gonna top off the tank, get some snacks for the road, and head over to a household in Vancouver! Really excited to be in the big city. The only time I've ever been to Vancouver was five years ago with my Mum..... I'm going to feel nostalgic in a city I don't even know because of the amazing memories I had on that trip with her :) Looking forward to re-visiting the dream-like memories.
Whoops so much for brief...
Much love,
Thanks for reading,
Jenie