Keith and I drove home tonight from a four day trip to Minneapolis playing college shows all week.  We haven’t done the college circuit forever.  It felt like five years ago for us.  We had fans come out requesting songs like Simple Stuff and Boys Don’t Cry which really made our night.  I never thought we had peeps out there.  That made the trip hands down.  And the fact we got to see our dear dear friends Brian, Marjorie and Madeleine.  We love them so much!  Marjorie, thank you for your delicious apple crisp and Brian for the amazing curry dinner.  We will be thinking and praying for you during the holidays.  The drive home felt like forever probably cause we’ve been feeling the need to be home for a while now.  Good to be back for the next month.  Best part about the drive is you can listen to Charles Adler on CJOB from Minneapolis to Winnipeg!  (yeah, I like that show-  age thing is creeping up on me- all of a sudden I love talk radio).  Kept me awake-

Hey, the border guy knew who we were!  He’s like; you guys are from that band- Keith and Renee.  I saw you open for JP Hoe…..  JP, you rock star- the border guy loves you.   (JP’s music is awesome btw- check him out)

I got to go to Anthropologie while in Minneapolis.  Ever been there?  The ultimate best store ever.  It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven in there.  I always dream in there, wishing I could buy every item in that place- stores are SO dangerous for me, especially that one cause I can’t afford any of it.  But I did end buying a gorgeous denim shirt that feels like butter on my skin. So very Jennifer Anniston.   Then I went to Aveda and bought products I don’t need but really wanted.  Witch Hazel spray, Confixor gel- I love, I love, I love.  I’m supposed to be buying xmas gifts and already I’m blowing money on me. Somebody stop me.

The word is out that our Good Year tune has been playing non stop on TV in Winnipeg for the big 2010 Manitoba Homecoming event.  I’m really flattered that our song was chosen for this- how lucky are we…..and both of us so proud to be from this amazing city.  ( We heard the song twice on CJOB radio too when coming back from the states- very cool!)

Keith and I recorded Winter Wonderland for Hot 103 who’s putting out a xmas cd tomorrow- all funds going to charities.  We’ll be featuring our new tune live at the JP Hoe Xmas show at the Park Theatre in a couple weeks.  Hope you can make it out to the show- gonna be awesome.

We’ve had a great week in Atlantic Canada on tour. The week started off in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I remember being in Nova Scotia when I was in my late teens to take fiddle lessons with Buddy McMaster at The Gaelic College. It was kind of surreal to walk down Barrington Street again and see all the old sites. We spent a lot of time with our friends, The Keats. They are a really great band based in Nova Scotia, who have been working on their new album in Winnipeg. They took us to Moksha Yoga everyday in Halifax and we ate religiously across the street at Pete’s Frootique. I also got to catch up with an old friend, Angela Matheson, who I met years ago in Ottawa at Forum For Young Canadians. She now lives out by Peggy’s Cove and has a beautiful place on a lake. Today Renee and I are in Deer Lake, Newfoundland. It is really rainy here but I can tell that behind these low-lying clouds are some amazing sites. Renee is in bed sick today, so our show unfortunately has been postponed until February. I am so tempted to go for a hike in the rain, but then again, I may just crank the heat in my hotel room and do some yoga postures. We are flying home tomorrow at 6 am and then head to Minneapolis on Monday. I am looking forward to our high school shows coming up in Winnipeg. It is hard to imagine a few weeks at home in Winnipeg. It feels like forever since I had that opportunity! Maybe I will even get a chance to clean my house!

We had an incredible weekend in Seattle. The event for The Moyer Foundation was an extreme success, raising over one million dollars in one night for Camp Erin. Jamie and Karen were so kind to us and really inspired Renee and I.

Just got to Seattle. It is raining pretty hard outside. It took us a bit to find the hotel entrance. We are staying at this beautiful hotel downtown, but I always find fancy hotels take longer to check into because of the hidden self-park garages, dodging the luggage guys and finding the elevator in the massive expanse of space in the hotel lobby. We are really excited to be in Seattle this weekend because we are performing for an event with the Moyer Foundation. For those of you that are not familiar with this amazing foundation, The Moyer Foundation was established by Major League, 2008 World Series-winning All-Star Pitcher, Jamie Moyer and his wife Karen in 2000. Since its inception, The Moyer Foundation has raised over $16 million to support over 170 non-profit organizations that help children in severe distress.  We are honored to be performing at one of their major fundraising events tomorrow night here.
Earlier today, Renee and I got to perform a show and workshop at White Rock Elementary in White Rock, BC. It was a really inspiring day for us because the students we met were so passionate about world issues and finding solutions to make our planet a more peaceful place. I felt like I was in an intense United Nations meeting, listening to the ideas of this incredible generation of youth.
I am now debating if I should turn the heat up and do some Moksha yoga in my hotel room or edit sound wave files for our new album and Christmas single. I also could just people watch in this massive hotel lobby or fall asleep in this amazing hotel overlooking all of downtown Seattle. The choices, the choices. I guess this is my second last sleep before I turn a year older. It has been an amazing year this year. This really was a good year.

Hey hey!

Well hello hello from White Rock, BC.  Yup, we’re here for the next couple days in this small town on the border.  We’re staying at a resort called The Pacific Inn and I must say something about this place feels haunted.  From the second we got out of the car last night to check in, a man came up to us out of nowhere and said to be careful not to leave anything valuable out here, you could get your whole vehicle stolen (plus there was a police car in the parking lot).  I’m afraid to walk down the hallways here in this place.  They’re super fleshy pink (even the carpet) and it freaks me out like I’m gonna see a ghost or alien or something will creep out from the corner.  Gives me chills- like the little boy who rides his bike in the Shinning and you see the twin sisters- ahhh!  I’m so freaked out.  Plus, another mistake of mine, I was watching TV last night before bed and the stars of Paranormal Activity were on Leno- super cool story about how this movie exploded but then they showed a clip and I could not fall asleep cause of that 30 sec clip.  Yuk, too scary for me.   I hate movies like that. Of course, after I told Keith about it, he suggested we go see it tonight in the theater but I know I’ll be up all night (even though a part of me is curious, I know I’ll pay for it after).  Oh yeah, then the hot tub- kay, this isn’t scary but strange; it looks exactly like the hot tub from the Playboy Mansion (I know this cause there was an episode of it on Sex and the City- season 5 I believe) where the walls are stone like you’re in a cave.  All around, this place is weird.  I had to get that out of my system.  Otherwise the tour is going awesome! We love all the shows with FTC. Everyday, I get inspired to see so many young people who are eagerly enthused about wanting to change the world. We’ve got a lot of great people in this world. This weekend, Keith and I are driving to Seattle. Haven’t been there in at least 5 yrs. Looking forward to it. We’re playing a charity event put on by a dear friend of ours whom we hung out with in Kenya this past summer. Karen and her husband Jamie Moyer (you might of heard of Jamie since he pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies) have a charity called the Moyer Foundation and Keith and I are thrilled to be performing at this event. Plus, it’s Keith bday on Sunday so we’ve got lots of celebrating to do this weekend. Omg, I just remembered I have to buy him a gift- ahhhh, what to get??
Looks like it’s dinner soon- maybe some sushi tonight, talk to you later- cross your fingers that I sleep good tonight.
xo

Sometimes on tour there are moments that seem like they were pre-planned before they happen. Today was one of those days for me. After our show in Cranbrook at The Key City Theatre, Renee and I started driving to Golden, BC. On our way we turned off the road and drove up a mountain about fifteen minutes and found ourselves at the most amazing natural hot springs beside a rushing river. We changed into our bathing suits and made our way down the snowy hill to the springs. It was amazing to sit in these naturally formed hot pools, looking up at the snow covered tree’s and mountain rocks all around us. It is amazing that water can get so hot naturally- without a hot water heating tank. From the minute we entered the hot pool, we were greeted by a very kind lady who started speaking with us and sharing some stories. As we listened to her speak, it became clear that we were suppose to meet her there. She had a very strong message for Renee and I. Without telling her anything more than the fact that we were musicians on tour, she opened up and told us that she intuitively wanted to tell us that we were on the right path. She said she could sense that we were very loving, warm hearted people. She urged us to keep performing together and said that although we may not be playing to audiences a “normal” band might play to- she said the work we were doing through our music was very important and would affect and inspire the next generation. It was incredible that she intuitively gave us this advice without even knowing that we have been performing across Canada to high school audiences on the We Tour. I felt that todays encounter at the sacred hot pools was reassurance that we are doing the right things musically. I have no doubt in my mind that synchronicity was at work today and blessed us with an incredible message through this wonderful lady.
After this experience, we continued on to Invermere, where we had dinner and then carried on to Golden, where I am now blogging. It was a really beautiful day in the mountains. Canada is such an incredible country to travel across…I have to admit that besides the hot pools, my new favorite Canadian town is Nelson, BC. It was an extremely enjoyable few days there. The people combined with the lifestyle and scenery can’t be beat. I am applying to be the Nelson mascot first chance I get.

This week I have been extremely swamped with loads of work to do. It seems that when I have a week off from touring on the road- everything piles up at home including paperwork, business, songwriting and recording sessions etc. I tend to get really stressed out and work extremely long hours with very few breaks. This week in particular I have been getting up at 7 am and working straight until 1 am. My body and mind are so tired from this and I have realized that I am caught in a very intense place. It seems like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished and the hours I do get to sleep have been very restless and unpeaceful. When I step back for a minute and compare this experience to the recent one I had in Kenya, I can immediately see that North American culture has once again marinated me and I am back in the full swing of trying to accomplish more, get ahead, be successful, make money and get to the top. So many of us struggle with the conditioning that we have been raised to believe is true; “If I can accomplish more- I will be successful. If I write a hit song, I will earn the respect of the music industry. If I work harder, I will earn more money and be secure…and on and on”.  In Kenya, I found myself more connected with the people I met everyday. The time I spend here in North America on a computer (doing business deals and keeping up my friendships through Facebook) was spent in Kenya on REAL, HUMAN interactions. I found myself in a more peaceful place there. I recognized that the general attitude of the people around me was joyful and happy. There wasn’t an urgency to get to the top or accomplish more. In fact, I felt that people were more open to embracing the moment of what came their way. I would like to focus this week on moving back towards this place of peacefulness in my North American life. Perhaps if we collectively all started focussing more on the moment and developing opportunities for real-life human interactions with each other (instead of finding virtual fulfillment via Facebook and Second Life), we would begin to return back to where we all originated from: pure peace. With pure peace in our world, we ironically can accomplish so much more and be truly happy inside instead of always striving and never arriving. A very good friend of mine once gave me a piece of artwork, that I still have up in my house today that reminds me in times like this to “don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life”. My intention for the rest of this week is to give of my time to those who show up around me and to practice being in the present moment more, as it presents itself, with all those unexpected, abundant surprises.

We played today in Winnipeg at the Forks for their 20th anniversary party.  First show in the Peg since I can’t remember when.  Brought back so many ‘Winnipeg’ memories for me.  Freezing our butts off playing outside in 8c weather- in the rain, fingers numb making sure I strum all the strings on my guitar.  Luckily for us, they brought in heaters so while we were playing I had hot heat blowing in my face and my hair, giving me that sexy wind blowing hair look as I sang (I hope- or maybe it was the hair in the mouth look- not so sexy).  The crowd was small seeing it was raining hard and nobody thought to move the show indoors (you’d think?)….. I believe I knew every single person’s name in the audience.  At one point when we were singing ‘Feel The Stars’ I looked over and saw my mom and Keith’s mom standing beside each other singing every single word looking oh so very proud of their kids.  I don’t know why but I have a hard time looking at my family when I sing.  I always get chocked up and I want to cry and then I hit a bad note.  It’s very strange- I guess I’ve always been emotional.  Like when I was young and every Sunday I’d watch Littleless Hobo and bawl my eyes out every time.  My parents never understood why the second that theme song would start, I ‘d be crying my eyes out and I was like 7yrs old.  I still wish somebody would of adopted him, you know? This weekend, I got to hear the mix for our song ‘The Mind’.  I think it’s my favorite song right now.  Probably cause it’s so fresh on my ipod but I really love that one. We’re looking at February for a release time.  I’m really proud of Detours.  Can’t believe we’ve finished our 4th and already talking about the 5th one.  So cool.  Kay, I have to tell you something amazing.  So I’ve been eyeing ‘expensive’ jeans lately.  I’ve been going into stores and trying on jeans for $260.  Crazy right?  How can anyone spend that on a pair of jeans?  Anyway, last week in TO I went to Anthropologie (love that store) and found these ridiculous Joe’s jeans that I fell in love with.  But I just couldn’t get myself to pay that kind of money.  I’ve also been eyeing Hudson and Seven jeans all for around the same price.  But right now that just seems like too much.  So I let them go for now.  Anyway, yesterday I was walking by a small thrift store on Osborne and saw the sign ‘fill a bag for $5′ so of course I went in.  You would not believe what I found: a pair of Seven jeans for $1!!!!!!  I feel like I won the jackpot.  And they fit me too; plus they’re worn out exactly how I like them…omg.  On top of that, I found this fabulous black Adidas bag (that I could fill all my treasures in), a new MEC jacket, awesome tshirts etc- all for $5!!  Kay, you might know now that I’m a bit of a shopper and I’m supposed to stop but you can’t beat these prices.  I’m sorry, I had to tell you cause I was so excited.  Maybe I should put this much energy into a man instead and actually have a relationship.  Enough said- good night xx

I got up at 5:30 am this morning to take a hot yoga class at Moksha with one of my favorite teachers and friends, Nena. The class was completely silent, so I had to rely on intuition instead of the sound cues that I am used to. It is so hard to be completely silent for an hour, in a room heated at 40 degrees, first thing in the morning. I was constantly catching my mind drifting off into the past and future and losing the immediate present moment on the yoga matt. It was so frustrating because I so desperately wanted to let go of all the racing thoughts that were distracting me from being in the moment. It reminds me of being on stage. When I play shows, my mind is constantly racing with ideas and thoughts that take me out of the present moment. The dialogue in my head usually goes something like this; “Are they liking me right now? I wonder how the sound is in the front of house? What am I going to say at the end of this song? I need to be funny or say something profound to keep the audience’s attention. I wonder if there are people in the audience that have seen us before? I wonder if there is a chance that this show will get on You Tube? and on and on”. I am reading a book right now called, The Untethered Soul written by Michael A. Singer. One of my favorite moments in the book so far is when Singer points out, “your thoughts have less impact on the world then you would like to think. If you’re willing to be objective and watch all your thoughts, you will see that most of them have no relevance at all. They have no effect on anything or anybody, except you. Eventually you will see that the real cause of problems is not life itself. It’s the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes problems”. Lately, with our new CD release, Detours around the corner, I have been noticing my mind’s constant chatter about how the album will be perceived by our fans and the music industry and where it all will lead us to. I also have been very anxious this week about all the ideas and exciting possibilities to market and promote the album. I am looking forward to touring the songs live and meeting new faces, making new fans and catching up with our existing fanbase. With all this being said, I am really hoping to practice being more present and enjoying the journey of it all this time around. So many times, I catch myself thinking into the future or attaching to how things “should be” instead of becoming open and aware of the present journey. Even in the writing of this blog, I am catching myself chattering in my head about if I am saying the right thing and examining how this will be perceived by anyone who is reading it. The mind is a powerful force in my daily life. It can convince me to believe things that are not necessarily true and other times can distract me from tapping into the creative pool that exists when I become completely open to the present moment. It is my hope that as we get ready to launch, Detours (the album), I will continually bring myself into the present experience and let the journey unfold as it is meant to be.

Our New Album!

Renee and I are back on tour across Canada, performing for thousands of students everyday on The We Generation Tour. We just finished our first week in Ontario and have been really inspired by the youth we have been meeting. Already we have had emails and Facebook messages from fans across the country who have been taking small steps towards positive change in their communities, as well as globally. Some of the highlights that have come in so far include a group of students organizing a car wash in their town (last weekend, after seeing our show) and fundraising over fifty dollars to buy a goat for a family in Kenya. Renee and I were also excited to hear that a group of students from one of the schools we played at last week in Ontario have organized the opportunity to write a monthly column in their local newspaper about the actions they are taking to making their city and world a better place. The column will be written by various students from the school each month and will continue throughout the school year. Finally, we were very delighted to hear that several fans that we performed for last week have considered volunteering on a trip over-seas with Me to We (a socially responsible line that is affiliated with our charity partner, Free The Children). They will ultimately be working towards building schools and wells in various countries around the world including Kenya, China, Ecuador, India and the Arizona/Mexico border. As an artist, musician and humanitarian, I personally have been very excited to hear about these amazing results from the tour so far (especially considering it has only been one week of dates to date). I am truly convinced that as more of us (especially the upcoming generation of youth) start taking these small steps towards positive change in our communities and abroad, we will soon begin to see a world that unites us all together as one. A world where wars, poverty, racism and hunger begin to fade away and become replaced with acts of kindness, understanding and peace for all of us. This week has brought me great optimism and hope that we are collectively moving towards a better place as a world.