Part 2 – Campfires, Bikerides and Lake Superior
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Over Land and Sea, Snapshots, Tour Stories Tags: bikerides, campfires, canada, Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk, LMATFOF, over land and sea, summer, tour, travel
I love touring in the spring and summer because for some reason the sun seems to make everything better. Driving is easier, no snowstorms to battle. Loading in and setting up is easier because you don’t have to run as fast as you can from the trailer to the venue to try and stay warm, and the hanging out options are many. Campfires, bikerides, playing catch…these are all things that we have done this past week.
It was a blur of a week, going from Peace River in northern Alberta all the way to Thunder Bay, ON. Lots of late nights, early mornings and long drives, but that’s what makes tour an adventure! This tour in particular has been really fun. The shows have been great, we’ve been playing with some really great bands, and we’ve had lots of good times with friends and with the band.
Here are some memorable moments from the past week:
In Lloydminster, we played at a new place called The Root. It’s a restaurant/venue/community space and the owners are SO supportive of the local arts. They display different created things through the place and I was particularly drawn to some leather purses, wallets and bracelets all made from reclaimed leather. Pretty much everything about the Root was great. The food was AMAZING (check out the orange ginger gelato I had and Zoltan’s pear walnut danish) and we had a super fun night of music. It was also good to see some good friends and get to hang out. I think that’s been one of my favourite stops so far!
Homemade orange ginger sorbet and pear pecan strudel!
A yarn-bombed bench just outside The Root in Lloydminster, SK. I would LOVE to know how to do this!
In Regina we got to play with a band called Royal Canoe who are from Winnipeg. It was a really sweet opportunity to share the stage with them and also hear their music. They have the craziest stage set up I’ve ever seen: FIVE keyboards, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, additional drums with a drum pad, and three vocals. They play a really cool blend of electro-pop-rock, really groovy music, and it was sweet to see how they pulled it off live.
We played at our second jazz club of tour in Winnipeg (we played at a place called the Bassment in Saskatoon a few days prior) at Juss Jazz. It’s a really cool place, and I would have to say the highlight of the night was their roti. If you’ve never had roti, I would highly recommend scoping out a Carribean restaurant and giving it a try. It consists of a pita-type flatbread with curried potatoes, chick peas and chicken. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it!
Juss Jazz back door.
We spent a few days Steinbach, one day off and then one show there before heading to Ontario and I know I’ve said that other places feel like a second home, but Steinbach has got to be at the top of the list. We had a great day off Sunday with our friends in Steinbach…went to church, relaxed, went for a bike ride, had a bonfire. Nothing better. Oh, and Zoltan cut all his hair off! That was an exciting moment.
Zoltan (pre-haircut) on a bike!
While we stopped to look at a motorhome that was for sale, our bikes cuddled up to each other…
Smores! My secret method: Roast the marshmellow so it’s nice and golden brown. Place on graham cracker. Put chocolate on the second graham cracker and hold it over the fire so the chocolate melts. Make a sandwich and attempt to eat without marshmellow and chocolate going everywhere!
The next few days were spent driving through the wilderness in northern Ontario which can be pretty dicey in the winter, but come spring it’s absolutely beautiful. My favourite part is driving along Lake Superior on the way to Sault Ste Marie. We drove past so many bays and the water looked SO inviting!
You can check out more pictures from tour on our FLICKR. And of course, follow on twitter (@laurenmann) and instagram (@fairlyoddlauren).
Here are some shows coming up this week:
Thursday – Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse
Friday – Barrie, ON @ Vern’s (house show)
Sunday – Peterborough, ON @ The Parish
Monday – Ottawa, ON @ Mercury Lounge
See you on the road!
Lauren
The Jewish Mother – Norfolk, VA
23 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in From Here To There, Tour Stories Tags: from here to there, jewish mother, Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk, LMATFOF, music, norfolk, tour
The drive to Norfolk, VA, was an acceleration through winter into spring. What a great feeling to be in warm weather again! We had been looking forward to the show, mostly because it was at a place called the Jewish Mother. Turns out it’s a legendary bar/venue in Norfolk! We played with a local band called PHSO (try and figure out the pronunciation, I dare you. We couldn’t.) who were super friendly and cool people. All in all it was a good night. We had a great soundman and a big sound system so that was pretty cool as well.
Two girls came to the show specifically to see us, which was quite surprising! They heard about the show on the radio and decided to check it out, and they really enjoyed it. I love it when things like that happen because it means we must be doing SOMETHING right. 
We had quite a few interesting (cool kind of interesting) people encounters that night, or at least I did. So I thought I’d tell you the tales.
As soon as the show was done, a guy came up to the stage and handed me a twenty dollar bill with a note wrapped around it. The note just said, “Please say Happy Birthday to Karen.” So I wished Karen a happy birthday and made twenty dollars! Then that same guy came to the merch table and forked out $25 for charity: water and told me he wanted us to play at a private party of his sometime. Totally.
Then another guy came up to the merch table and started talking to me, and I found out that he’s going to be deployed in a few days to somewhere in the middle east! It kind of caught me off guard because I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone in the Navy. Norfolk has a big Naval Military base, so it makes sense, I was just really surprised. I wanted to know where in the middle east, but I don’t think I’m privy to that info.
And then there were these three or four girls, all friends, who looked like they had stepped straight off of Salt Spring Island. (An island near Vancouver Island, BC where there are lots of “hippies.”) They were super nice, and in talking to them I found out that one of them had hiked the Appalachian Trail and slept in a hammock for four months straight! She and her friend are moving to California in the summer and then she’s going to do the Pacific Rim Trail. What a trooper.
All that said, it was a great night. Next…Hickory, NC!
Lauren.
World Water Day
22 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: charity water, world water day
Today is WORLD WATER DAY…it’s all about conserving water and helping people who don’t have clean water get access to it. So, I wanted to bring attention to our charity: water campaign! Charity: water raises money and sends it out to the field to build wells for communities that don’t have access to clean water. Often, women and children have to walk many kilometers to get to a source of water, only to find it dirty and riddled with diseases. The worst part is that in so many places there is perfectly clean water right below them, but it takes people and resources to access that water.
So, in light of World Water Day, please make a donation to our charity: water campaign to help us reach $1500, 100% of which will go towards building a well for a community that needs it.
You can check out our campaign at www.mycharitywater.org/laurenmannmusic
And you can find more about charity: water at www.charitywater.org.
Let’s be thankful for the abundant resources we have in North America, and maybe go beyond ourselves a bit to provide others with those resources.
-Lauren.
