Jeff Monday Sept.28/09

Hey Kids,

I hope you all had a great summer out there. I have been spending the last week finally unpacking and putting away my suitcases and my guitar's (that would be Frank) travel armor and have been trying to account for the last few months. Hmmm.... let me see officer, it"s all a little blurry to me at the moment...

(ok, cue the harp glissando's and with tongue firmly planted in cheek... action!)

I remember, Once I had a house in Africa.... no, no, CUT! CUT!!!!! sorry, that's a movie I saw a long time ago...

Right, I remember, some airports and a white van. People were tossing things in and out and yelling at each other. Not fighting so much. More like dinner at your Italian friend's house. It seems to me there was a moment when a GPS started speaking in tongues to Kenny and was telling us all where to get off. There was a long train thrown in there somewhere (yeah...) and a construction site and a splinter group of crazed, rogue cars driving the wrong way down roads that were not fit for travel. I remember flying to a huge grey city shrouded in smog. It had thousands of tall glass buildings and a sad hockey team that had been cursed by an evil wizard (imagine a grainy picture of Gary Bettman wearing a pointy hat that had been poorly Photoshopped onto his head) who said they'd never win the Stanley Cup ever again. I think there were a few bottles of Scotch thrown (literally) in there somewhere as I can still hear the lonely sound of those empty bottles rolling down a long, dark hallway... ok, so it was the hallway of a Super 8, just work with me on this. There were clusters of people surrounding us and we, bravely making our last stand, Sharpies in hand and the last few copies of the Hits/Anthology (see Moose Jaw) being held above the seething masses like some kind of rock and roll Excalibur sacrifice (Hold fast Boys, no Quarter, my Sharpie doesn't work!!!!!). There were beautiful prairie sirens, bearing themselves and chanting their magic incantations (sing another prairie tune)... "Would you sign these please?" There were flashes of light and a thousand cell phones, all rising in unison like dedicated digital disciples, hanging on our every note...

Only later to be resurrected as unauthorized clips on YouTube and Facebook... yeah. There was the crushing heartbreak of Altona and that phrase, "So, Jeff, any news on the Altona gig?" which will resonate as a harsh reminder for eons. Well, at least for me and Daryl... you had to be there I guess. Somehow, we wind up at the home of Tim Horton and the great Leaf of Coffee (and I don't mean Paul) says to us, "Yes boys, I will bestow upon you all a sweet future of extra large double/doubles and Chocolate Glazed over stares from now until the end of time (or the length of your Air Canada flight delay which is, as it turns out, just slightly longer). However, you still can't get the sausage breakfast sandwich after 10:30am"... There was Lord Stanley's glorious triumph in Thunder Bay and the roars of Kehh-nee!! in Dauphin as we proved that you don't need a Cowboy hat to kick ass... although, we did get some cool hats at the end of the night! I'm wearing mine right now, BTW. Uhhh, wasn't that George Belanger waving at us through someones legs in Kenora? Maybe he was signaling for help or looking for an opener. I don't know... got any grapes?

I remember the WWF moments (in this cornerrrr, wearing the Pearl Drums t-shirt and practicing halftime paradiddles on the back of Jeff's seat... the Irish Assassin!!!!!!! Aaaannnd in this corner, representing the hopes and dreams of Eastern Canada... The Incredible... Jake the Cake!!!... ) in the aforementioned white van and I believe somebody is going to be wearing... the onion sombrero... all... day... long... senor...

Hey, wasn't Daryl telling a joke about how someone had changed and put on some weight... How did the end of that joke go again? Pete, help me out here and use your outside voice please... Oh, I thought you said goat...

There were old friends once again seen and new ones met that we will see again down the road, We have travelled what seems like 100,00 kilometers in planes, trains and automobiles. Well, no trains, but it sounded good... You that shower curtain ring feller?

Somehow, in late September, I find myself hosting a garage sale at my house on a gorgeous Vancouver Saturday afternoon. I look around to see my beautiful girlfriend Lizzy, cocktail in hand, explaining to a potential customer how, in her opinion, the iron she was selling was actually very good, however, it just didn't quite have enough steam for her... ok, are you finished smirking? (Actually, we spent most the weekend in bed watching TV and eating Chinese take away. It was my first weekend home in a few months.) It is at this moment I realize how lucky I am...

So, many thanks to everyone this summer. To all the men and women who put on the shows this year, crews, promoters, drivers and all the great bands we gigged with this summer and most importantly to you, our great fans. Thanks for being an integral part of our summer of '09. We are blessed and again, I really feel like one of the luckiest guys on the planet. We have our Streetheart Hits /Anthology CD out, the Witness Inc. is now out as well and finally in the hands of so many patient and loyal fans and Kenny's solo stuff will be available soon so watch for that. You know we will be doing more shows before the year is done so perhaps we'll see you before Christmas. I am looking forward to those cold, windy runs from van to lobby somewhere down the road soon. Not to mention the NHL regular season is starting this week. Sure am glad to be a Canucks fan. I like our chances this year (7-0-2 in the preseason BTW). Hey, you gotta admit, Gary Bettman would look pretty much at home in that evil wizard's hat...

Rock on... J. Oh yeah... almost forgot, cool photos by Gord LaMonica and David Trace. Cheers dudes.