The Journey Begins

Sept. 10th, 2007

I wake up to the sound of K-Os' 'Electric Heat - the Seek Will' as my alarm. The time flashes 5am, time to rise. My next fifteen minutes are filled, packing my clean clothes from the dryer, taking a quick shower, and waking my folks to say goodbye. Rushing out the door, I wonder exactly when I will see the land and water surrounding my country home again.



Reality sets in. We have 75 hours to make the 60 hour drive to Edmonton, AB. A mere twenty minutes into the journey, I make my first stop at 'Busters' Ultramar in Cherry Valley, PEI. I abandon the car for future pick-up, and our guitar player Colin waits in the driver seat of the van. We depart in a matter of moments.


As we begin our move, Colin stomps on the headlight pedal to turn on the high beams, quoting our bass player Rob, "In the 80's, they must have thought that eventually we wouldn't need our hands to drive at all." Laughing, I realize that Colin was not yet born when this van was built. Our freshly renovated 1986 Dodge Ram Get-Away Van has more than just a headlight pedal. This baby is loaded with a double bed, four pilot seats, buckles for eight, a propane fridge, stove, furnace, and the option of burning unleaded fuel or propane. We opt for regular unleaded. Two days prior to the trip, Rob and our lead singer John, Jerry-rigged a little closet in the back and tore out the second double bed, the sink, and the portable toilet, welcome space for the many journeys ahead.


The next three stops run smooth, removing the remaining three travelers from the loved ones they leave behind. First Rob and our sound guy/philosopher Al say their goodbyes. Then, as we pick up John, I notice a cow in her field spying on us, as if she knows something we don't. The van is fully loaded and we are off, only thirty minutes behind schedule.


Towns and cities pass our windows without a wave. Moncton, Gagetown, Fredericton, St-Leonard, Edmundston, Riviere-du-loup, Quebec City, time only allows for stops for fuel and snacks, we'll have to save the sight-seeing for the next pass.


The cell phone rings and as I was the only one who stayed up late last night to download the latest edit of the new music video, John hands me the phone. "Hey Dave! What did you think!" said Warren, with a rush of positive energy. The song, titled 'Traveling' couldn't be more pertinent than today. In my eyes, the song is inspired by the fun of the road, our sometimes failed attempts at not leaving our past behind, and our hopes of making it right by sharing what we have. Although John, who was the real brains behind the song, insists that my interpretation is rubbish. "It's great Warren!"


"I'm glad you like it, everyone around the office is really excited about it. Would you like any more changes?" We get into a discussion about the minor details of the video, which I ghoulishly trudge through. I'm not a very quick thinker when I'm tired, and even though we have only been on the road for fifteen hours, I'm already feeling the effects. We bring the conversation to a close with another expression of excitement for the video. This is the last conversation we will have before the final version of the video is complete. This video will soon be uploaded onto Much Music's (Canada's biggest music video network) server. I hope I didn't screw anything up.

Onward past Trois-Rivieres, Montreal, On highway 417 we realize we are ahead of schedule, only 17 hours to Thunder-Bay! Immediately after this occurrence, we run through a flock of birds and immediately I think of my brother Adam and his wife Alison. They are the proud foster parents of many birds.

Then things got emotional for me. Perhaps it was the long restless drive, or maybe it was the realization of the oncoming loneliness, but something inside me became weak. It was a moment of truce for me. I called this 'the Monkey and the Baffoons'. Perhaps I will publish it at some point.

Onward.
Click HERE to see how the video for Travelling turned out.

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