Salt Spring and Mission Folk Festival

Well, home again! Confession time. I was not looking forward to the fiddle camp on Salt Spring Island. It turned out to be the most inspirational experience I've had in a long time. I don't even know where to start! The students!!! Motivated kids who wanted to play the fiddle, who continued to play through their breaks after class was over! So many of them touched my heart and I will mention a few here. Clara, Joseph and Una - from BC, Arizona and Ontario - they had never met yet formed an instant musical bond when they played together. I was so fortunate to have been a small part of that. Now the difficult part for them, going home and searching for that kind of connection with other musicians. Once you have experienced that you constantly search to make it all happen again.

The families; I met so many parents encouraging their children to play music, showing them that it is important to have passions like this in life. Whole families playing music together and parents doing everything they can to bolster their children's self confidence. It was so wonderful.

The best part of the trip for me was meeting these other fiddle teachers. Shamma, Trish and Zav(fiddle camp organizer). I was amazed at their abilities, not only are they all great players but they are great teachers. The rapport they had with the students was so special and the techniques they used, so simple yet effective. I made three new friends that I hope to keep in touch with regularly. Such interesting lives, different than my own but the paths do cross and I think we will meet again.

We ended the trip at the Mission Folk Festival, we played the mainstage as the second last act between Murray McLaughlan and Ian Tyson. Quite a spot to have. Shamma Sabir (fiddle camp teacher, great musician from Abbotsford next to Mission) also played in the show so we got to see her again! What a treat. She even came to see us off at the airport the next morning. When the trip started I couldn't wait to get home again but saying good bye to Shamma at the airport, I wished we could have stayed longer.

I guess this post is getting pretty long so, the pictures!

1. Shamma and Trish leading the fiddle orchestra (yes, that is Bill Henderson, lead singer of Chilliwack in the left hand corner).

2. Me and 2 of the camp students, little sweethearts Lauren and Nia.

3. Fiddle camp instructors, me, Shamma, Zav, Caroline, Trish, Grady, Helen and Louise.

The home stretch

We are now on Salt Spring Island, another beautiful part of British Columbia. I never thought I would see all these wonderful places. It is amazing! All the members of the band are teaching at fiddle camp and it is lots of fun. Very motivated students!! Caroline and I are being hosted by Ted, a local and we are staying in the most beautiful home I have ever seen!! We also had the chance to see some of my family here on Salt Spring. My Mom's cousins live here as do some of their children. Last night, they fed us a supper of Pacific salmon an the bar-b-que, salad from their garden, homemade bread and homemade ice cream from the neighbors, organic potatoes and asparagus. It was soooo yummy! Merci Louise, Doug et famille.

The pictures I am adding today go back to last weekend and the Vancouver part of the trip.

1. Jericho beach, the site of the Vancouver Folk Festival. The festival happens in the park that is part of this beach.

2. The broom making lady on Granville Island. We thought this was pretty cool and it made us think of our friend Diane who likes anything to do with witches and Halloween. (Diane we would have brought one home for you if we didn't have to fly!)

3. Just an evening picture in downtown Vancouver off Robson Street.

Kelowna, Golden and Kamloops!

Still having fun and having a hard time to believe the grandeur that is British Columbia! We have seen so much of the province in the last few days. In the Okanagan Valley we visited a winery called Mission Hill. There are many wineries in this area and we were told this was a must see. We weren't disappointed. In Kelowna, Véro and I treated ourselves to a treat! A night at the Delta Grand Okanagan! It was a rare night off for the band and we took advantage. Have a look at the last picture, this was the view from our deck!

Our travels are constantly taking us on new trails. We drove through Revelstoke and Glacier National Park. The snow peaked mountains amaze me every time we turn a corner. We played a show in Golden, BC. We were close to the Alberta border there and were even on Alberta time for a day. From the stage I asked the kids to pose for a picture with the dancing bear. They willingly obliged! (see photo) The Kicking Horse Resort is in Golden and the picture included is a view of the ski slopes in the summer weather.

We made it to Kamloops where we played outside in Riverside Park. We got to visit with my good friends Jeff and Carma! A highlight of the trip for sure. Tonight is our first of two nights in Vancouver, we opened the Vancouver Folk Festival tonight, we were the first act on the main stage. It was quite a rush! I'll post some Vancouver pictures next!

Snow in July?

Harrison Hot Springs is a beautiful place. I felt like I was there on vacation and not really working! The view is beautiful with the snowy mountains visible on two sides. There were all kinds of boaters on the water and the stage was right on the beach! We got to spend some time with our friends from PEI who were honeymooning in Harrison. They had rented a Mustang for the week so we travelled in style for a couple of days! This came in handy because our rental car (Kia) had the check engine light on by the second day! We had to return to Chilliwack before heading Kelowna so we could swap cars. They gave us an upgrade for our troubles and we now have a red Dodge Avenger. Much nicer ride I must say!!

The first two photos were taken while in the Harrison area, first on the beach and second at Bridal Veil Falls. We went for a little hike in the woods at the provincial park to find these falls. Quite impressive, 6th highest falls in Canada.

Then it was time to head for Kelowna. Just past Merritt on the Coquihalla highway we ran into some ... weather. It snowed! In July!! It was quite stormy for a little spell. The outdoor temperature gage in the car said zero degrees! There were warning signs for trucks to use chains and that winter road conditions were possible but we did not think it was for this time of year! After we got rid of the snow we started to see smoke that we thought might be from a forest fire and sure enough as we got close to West Kelowna there was a serious fire burning in a semi-urban area. There were helicopters, emergency vehicles and road closures. We got through just before they closed the road we had been on. Thankfully we don't have to go back that way and I think they are now in better control of the fire.

Kelowna is a beautiful place and I will upload some pictures of our time here soon!

Mountains!

Made it to BC. This is one of the longest days of my life. I am trying to stay awake until at least 9pm local time so I can get used to the time zone. We left home at 4:30 this morning and on PEI it would now be 10pm. 5 airports, 5 provinces, 4 flight changes. On the upside, Harrison Hot Springs is a beautiful place! I won't talk too much about Harrison yet because we spend the next 2 days here and I will tell you more about it once I've had the chance to explore!

We are looking forward to seeing lots of friends and relatives on this trip!

The Regina photo is here because Saskatchewan is the one province I have never been to... until today. I guess it doesn't count, we never even got out of the plane!! The other two photos were taken as we flew over the Rockies and got closer to our destination airport: Abbotsford.

The big wedding and the next trip.

Last weekend, my closest friends Mylène and Brent got married. I always thought they made a great couple and they are perfect for each other. They are also the two who most often accompany me when I play apart from the Gadelle band stuff. The wedding was beautiful from start to finish! We had a beautiful day and no mishaps!! The reception was at the Centre Belle-Alliance where you can count on outstanding food from the caterer Patsy Richard and stunning decor from the centre's director Béatrice Caillé.

Check out the red car! That was my ride from the church! Thanks to Brent's brother Mitchell who was the perfect gentleman and chauffeur.

The boys in the wedding party all wore the black high tops. A fun twist on the formal side of things.

Ahhh the happy couple on the waterfront in Summerside. I stole the last two pics from Mylène's Mom Diane on Facebook. Hope she doesn't mind!

Now off to pack, tomorrow morning the band leaves on the 7am flight to British Columbia for a long tour. I'll update as often as possible to let you know all about it!

Canada Day eh?

Exciting Canada Day for me! We (Gadelle) played in Moncton for a big outdoor show on Main Street. It threatened rain but held off while we played. There was a great crowd and we had fun playing. The best part was that we played right before Natalie MacMaster who I adore!! We got to chat with she and her husband Donnell. It was fun to see Mac Morin again (we ran into him at Small Halls on PEI) who is a fantastic Cape breton style piano player. He plays with everyone from Beolach to Troy MacGillivray and of course Natalie. We left before the show was over to avoid the traffic and not get home too late but Natalie was putting on a great show! She played lots of tunes from older albums, the opening set was almost straight off the “Four on the Floor“ cassette recording!

Now for the pictures of our adventure. I love this picture of Natalie and the other Gadelle girls. She poked her head inside our trailer to say hello and with our bunch there are always a few laughs!

We had our own trailer!!! It was pretty exciting. There was all kinds of food and drinks and it was directly behind the stage. Natalie and her crew had the one next to ours.

We had the 15 passenger van that we used on the US tour and my friend Pete Later came along for the ride. In order to access the backstage area you needed to have a wristband and we weren't sure if we could get him one. Thankfully it worked out and he was able to hang out with us backstage. Here is a picture of him inside our trailer.

Home sweet home!

Ahhhh, home. The US tour was a bit long but it was fun to see new places. The wrap up destination was Albany, New York or more specifically, Altamont. We were participating in the Old Songs Festival. It was hot and humid but when the sun was shinning it was nice to feel the summer weather. The drive home was long so we decided to stop in Waterville, Maine for a night on the way back. The border crossing returning to Canada is a lot less complicated than entering the US! No fingerprints or photos this time.

We played home on the Island last night in Tignish and in a few hours we head to Moncton to play tonight. Then time off from the band, my good friend's Mylène and Brent are getting married this weekend!! I am so happy for them! I am in the wedding party so a few busy days coming up.

I still haven't figured out how to upload pictures in the order I want them to appear so if they seem out of sync with my timeline, that is why!

First, my home sweet home. View from my front deck. Why would I ever want to leave?

Then, the day after I arrived home my Mom, my nieces and I went to the park and also had some Cows Ice cream, yummmm, my favorite. (Even better than the Ben and Jerry's I had in New York!)

The last picture is just a silly note from the wall of the “mess hall“ type place where we ate at the festival in New York.