Ah Otttawa: Three shows in two days, playing at the top of an escalator, opening for an 80's cover band in a russian bar, and a house concert... at my moms. Here we go!

Ottawa's one of the prettiest big cities - the kind of place where you go to high school and think it's boring, but then leave for university and eventually come back to play a show and realize, "hey, this is a beautiful place..." Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, it's nice. On the other hand, it's cold. This is the coldest it's been on the tour and it suddenly feels like Winter. Once I took my girlfriend to Ottawa for Winterlude - a celebration of all things Winter (Ice Sculptures, Skating, Beavertails (a tasty treat - not actually the tail of a beavertale - make sure to clarify to future girlfriends if you plan on bringing them...). Anyway, she thought I'd taken her to the North Pole.

Okay, I'm rambling. The point is - Ottawa gets cold.

I drive up Saturday morning, getting up too early and regretting planning these extra couple shows just after getting home and starting to feel a bit settled. I've done this drive a million times and unfortunately it's a bit boring... but it goes fast. 4 hours for what should be a 6 hour drive...

I get to town in time for lunch with my moms. To those not in the know, I've got two moms - my "bio-mom", Diana, and her partner Jean. I also have lots of other parents. There were seven of them at my wedding.... just imagine...

It's nice to see the moms - they just moved back to Ottawa and look really happy here. They're all excited about hosting a house party for me tomorrow night. But first is lunch and then rushing down to Chapters bookstore in the Rideau Centre - the big mall downtown.

Which turns out to be a GREAT place to play. Who knew?! After some chaplin-esque routines through a packed bookstore with a soundsystem, guitar and boxes, I get set up at the top of the escalator - a great location because EVERYONE who comes upstairs sees me... and is instantly confused about what the heck is going on... wasn't I just in a bookstore?... why is that guy singing at me?



Right before I play, an old friend from high school, Yumi, shows up - with her mom, who remembers me. It's great to see them both and it puts me in a great mood to play the show. My moms sit in the front row and mouth the words to every song, occasionally singing harmonies. Other moms come and sit in the audience with their kids. And they all love it. Apparently I've found my target demographic: mothers in bookstores. Very rock and roll.

Seriously, they're a great audience and I'm having a lot of fun playing at the top of the escalator and saying "welcome to the 2nd floor of Chapters!" as people arrive. Or saying "You know what makes excellent Christmas presents? CDs by unknown independent singer/songwriters who you run into in bookstores..."

Apparently they do make excellent Christmas presents, as I sell a bunch. A little girl in the front row tells me about her cat and we make up a song on the spot that the audience loves.

I take a quick break and come back to a new audience, who, although they seem to like me enough, aren't interested in buying CDs whatsoever. It's bizarre how the same show in the same place by the same guy is somehow completely different.

I wrap up and head out, with a nice recommendation to other Chapters from Tim, the manager there. We head back home for food and then run out to show #2, at the Avant Garde Bar.

The Avant Garde is a bizarre Russian place - filled with iconic cold war-esque imagery. The little stage at the end is chock filled with sound equipment when I get there... but the bartender tells me that I can't use any of it... because it belongs to the 80's cover band that I'm opening for (called appropriately "The A-Tease"). So, on the tiny stage, filled with... wow... a fog machine and party lights... I put my speakers in front of theirs, my monitor on theirs and my mixer in front of their keyboard. It's pretty squished up there - fortunately, there's only one of me.

Unfortunately, there's only two of the audience. Yumi comes back to hang out and my mom is there. I guess there are two bartenders as well...

So I start to play for them - every song is a request and I play some stuff I haven't played in years. And then slowly, people start to come in. The A-Tease come and hang out at the bar. I play them Walking on Sunshine and then we make up a song together about "aging wannabe rockstars whose careers are going nowhere" (their suggestion). The chorus goes something like, "I'm not talking about me... but if I was... this is what I'd sing."

Eventually the whole place is filled with people. Likely A-Tease fans, confused about what the folk is happening on stage. Finally I end things, and pack up, selling CDs to the bartender and some A-Tease fans. My mom heads off and Yumi and I hang out and sing along, enjoying the mesh shirts, the fog machine, and the party lights. Here's some pictures of them (the back of my head's in the first shot). And here's some shots from Yumi.

Next day I sleep in. A lot. I finally get up and help my folks set up the house for the concert.

Interesting note: the next day, I find out that my mom thinks the show was a disaster (not my performance - she's my mom and not allowed to), but the turnout and the talking during my set. I, on the other hand, had a LOT of fun, so think it was a complete success. Potatoe, Po-tah-to.

Anyway, back to the show. Their new house is perfect - lots of room and even stage lighting! Tickets have been sold through the local folk association and we should have a packed house. We go out for dinner with my family and then head back. At the end of the tour, I'm rarely nervous before a show, but my folks have put a lot of energy into this, so I want to make it worth it. Their neighbour, Dennis opens up with some great renditions of classic folk tunes, including some fantastic Dylan. His kids run all over the house and are totally cute, but get shushed a lot by the grown ups.

We take a quick break and then I start - and immediately like house concerts. It really hard to stay nervous in any way while playing in a living room... in your socks. I say, "Let me start by saying that I'm used to playing in noisy bars and bookstores, so please mill around and talk amongst yourselves. Get some drinks." No one does, but it seems to put everyone at ease.

What a great show! I like being in a band, 20 feet from the stage with lights and fog, as much as anyone, but I really love being three feet away from my audience and improvising songs off the cuff. I make up another cat song about a neighbourhood cat, who one of the audience members walks on a leash - and how it's completely humiliating to the cat. Note to self: cat songs = funny! I get a couple requests, but the one that I wish I could have done was "protest songs" - apologies especially to my mom, who has sang me MANY protests songs. I take a lame stab at Blackbird, but it's not quite the same.

Anyway, it's a sweet show. And afterwards I find out why house concerts are truly great; almost 40 audience members at $15 a pop, all invested in the music and interested in buying CDs = almost 5 times what I normally make at a show. Wahoo!

Thanks to Yumi, the A-Tease, and especially my Moms for making a trip back home an excellent way to wrap up a tour.