Any frequent readers of this blog know I am not usually a fan of a day off in a lonely hotel room. Most often I find it kind of isolating and depressing. It is the very time when you count how many hours and days you spend away from your family. It is the time you are neither Home nor on the bus with your pals prepping for a concert. You are just, alone. And normally it is, by far, my least favorite of days.
But I am enjoying this day off in the hotel room more than usual. I have sang a concert 9 of the last 10 nights, so I really need to rest body, voice and mind. Also, I have a major book deadline looming and am grateful for these 24 hours or so with almost no distractions so I can catch up on it all.
Very briefly here, a note of thanks to everyone who’s joined us on this trip so far. Great shows all around with Sell Outs in Ann Arbor, Pawling, and Sellersville. A look ahead sees a few more Sold Out shows in Brownfield, Lindsay, and Parry Sound. I know that Belleville, Kitchener, Northampton, and Derry have very few tix left, so grab them quick if you want to join us. Love to see you.
Have to say, my day in NYC was one of the best of my adult life. Got to see Come From Away, the now Broadway smash about Newfoundland’s hospitality during the 9/11 crisis. It is as heartwarming as it gets and a reminder that even on the darkest of days, there is a light to show the way. So proud of GBS’s Bob Hallet for placing the traditional music of Newfoundland in the show and of our own Petrina and Romano and all the cast for telling such a true and much needed story. Made me proud to be a human being, a Canadian, and especially a Newfoundlander.
Thankfully, all of the above joined us at BB Kings for a great concert and jam. It’s tough to make a splash of any kind in the big city. There is so much happening and making big waves, it would be easy to go unnoticed in the wash of it all. But I really feel like Newfoundland had a big slice of the Big Apple on Thursday, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.
Go see Come From Away. And go see it in NYC. The lovely story of a small town and how it shone on such a dark day being told and staged in the very city that suffered it the worst is quite honestly the chance of a lifetime.
More touring news to come as the Summer shows roll out soon.
In album News, the mastering date is Thursday. The single has been picked and should be released soon as the days get longer.
I am working away on the last brush stroke of the new book. It should be out of my hands before the tour is over. Fun stuff.
The sun is shining on some very tall deciduous trees just outside this hotel room. Through the window I can see the light catch on brown branches pushing tiny green needles and cones through the fading husk used to ward off winter.
Though I dare to say it, I think Spring has Sprung.
Cheers,
Alan