After six weeks in the United States, it was very nice to be back in the land of coloured money, Swiss Chalet, and cell phone reception for a moment. Last week’s Canadian vacation included playing five very memorable shows in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Muchos gracias to everyone who came and spent the night with us, we had a blast singing and dancing with you. Now, we have been lucky enough to see a lot of beautiful and scenic regions of North America in the past seven weeks – the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the grasslands in Texas, the bayous of Louisiana and the Holland Tunnel in New York City. But driving through Western Canada last week reminded us all that there really is no drive more beautiful than the mountainous 12 hour trek along the Trans Canada highway between Calgary and Vancouver. This isn’t a biased Canadian talking either, the Americans and Aussies that comprise Lydia and the Maine, agreed whole heartedly with our assessment.
Since crossing back into the US, we spent our weekend in the very rainy Pacific Northwest. We killed our Saturday on First Avenue in Seattle, where we tried the famous Beecher’s Macaroni and Cheese in Pike Place Market and had dinner in Pioneer Square. On Sunday, we decided to do a little first person research to determine if Portland, Oregon really is the hippest city in the world. During his field work, Max actually came across the mother of an eight and ten year old child reading her kids a Vice Magazine; he insists this story is completely true. Despite the weather, we had a great time playing and hanging out in both Portland and Seattle.
As busy as we’ve been playing shows, we’ve also had a chance to record a couple of covers and reworked versions of songs throughout the tour. In early April, Max, Mike, and Tone, recorded a cover of “Life is a Carnival” in honor of Levon Helm. A couple weeks ago, they recorded a version of “That Thing You Do” with Jared and Kennedy from the Maine, and last week, we released a Daytrotter session recorded at the Daytrotter studio in Rock Island, Illinois.
If you are a fan of the Band, or fake bands (like the Oneders), check them out!
Nick
http://soundcloud.com/arkells/life-is-a-carnival-the-band
http://www.daytrotter.com/#!/concert/arkells/20055813-37383041
