Ontariariario

And so begins our slow descent towards our home turf. Excuse the lack
of updates over the last handful of days but we've been busy living
(driving mostly, actually).

On Monday we linked up with our friend Jon-Rae Fletcher and his
wonderful band in Vancouver. It was sad to say goodbye to our new
friends in Rock Plaza Central but they were statebound. JR and company
welcomed us with open arms and BC showed up in droves to see us.
Biltmore Cabaret was a blast, the ferry to Victoria and subsequent
party at Logan's were pretty special and Kelowna ran a tight ship and
offered up lots of eye candy.

The drive from Kelowna to Lethbridge, hugging but never crossing the
US border, is one of the most beautiful treks you'll ever see in this
country. Any country, for that matter. If you ever have the chance, we
strongly encourage you to see it with your own eyes. The show in
Lethbridge was tough to get through after 12 hours of driving but the
crowd were glad to see us and that's gotta count for something.

Then last night came the thrilling surprise of the tour - Regina. Who
would have thought that this unassuming town would come out with such
force? We've been playing in Ontario for three years and still, we
likely haven't faced a crowd that went so bonkers in all that time. We
are all getting a little tired from all the driving and floor sleeping
but Regina was a paddle to the chest that has us grinning ear to ear
today. Thank you to everyone that made us feel so good on the last day
of the Western leg of this tour.

Now we are on our way through monstrous Ontario again. On Tuesday we
land in Montreal, then QC, then Ottawa and Hillside. Daniela will be
rejoining us after a short detour, and Thom, Leon and Tamara are
coming to join in on the fun.

It'll be nice to be back on familiar ground but we can't help but feel
that it all went by a little too fast. Oh well. There's always next
time.

Old Albertan Crawl

So, it seems that Albertans are some of the kindest and most
hospitable people in Canada. Obviously a thankful nod should be given
to Rob and Fran and Rich and the beautiful people of Saskatoon before
we get to the Albertans but it's hard to think when there's a stack of
Danishes in front of you.

On Thursday, Andrea's family were nice enough to let us loiter on the
hardwood floors and couches of their beautiful suburban Edmonton home.
And last night we were treated like kings in Calgary, with beer and
pizza to greet us at Jules and Eric's cozy cottage house. It really
rejuvinates your van-overloaded mind when people go out of their way
to make you feel comfortable at their home. Thank you. A million times
thank you.

The shows have been great too. Been able to try out each of the new
songs once so far and will keep doing so as the tour progresses. Oh,
and we had a good time performing at the Calgary radio station
yesterday too.

Onto Canmore later today, but not before some much needed R&R. Taking
it easy with coffee and Danishes, showers and laundry. What a life.

Zoski's

In the van and headed for Saskatoon after playing Winnipeg last night.

Yesterday we splurged and got a couple nice rooms with a kitchen and
made a big pasta dinner before we went to play the show. We can't be
doing that every night or we'll come back broke but it was nice to
have a solid shower and sleep before this gargantuan drive today.

Thanks to the nice folks in Winnipeg for coming out on a Tuesday night
to listen intently.

We just stopped for gas and the kind old men hanging around the garage
bullied us into singing for them. Hopefully we can post a video in the
coming days. That's just one of a few strange things to happen to us
so far. More to come, to be sure.

Day One

Sitting in the back row of our big ass desiel van and thought now was
as good a time as any to start our tour blog.

We've already listened to two records all the way through; an old one
from Tony Sherr and a new one from Wilco. That doesn't bode well for
our relatively small CD wallet. A couple of audio books should take a
fair chunk of time to get through, but I have a feeling well be coming
back around to Sherr before the trip is through.

We've got about 9 hours until we hit the Beaver Inn in Wawa, where
we'll be recieved by the conveniently named Bruce family.

More to come. This is just day one.
xo BP

(oh, so you know, these posts are gonna be written on an iPod so the
messages won't go up until the next time we hit a wi-fi signal. If the
date above doesn't correspond with what we're talking about, that's
why!)

Boot Camp

Well, here we go. The all-consuming month of July.

It's Canada Day today so we're taking it (relatively) easy today. Just
doing some laundry and trying to learn a couple covers. Tomorrow and
Friday though, we mean business. We are hellbent on bringing our two
newest songs on the road with us and we seem to be getting close. By
the time the weekend is over, they should be ready to join the pack.

Saturday night, Matt's Goin' Steady dance party celebrates it's fourth
year anniversary at the boat but we're still gonna get him up bright
and early on Sunday morning so we can get to Wawa by dark.

We are still looking for some kind folks that could offer us floors or
couches to sleep on, or at least to suggest a cheap motel, hostel or
dorm room we can inhabit for the night. We have some places already
but we are still scratching our heads about Winnipeg, Saskatoon,
Edmonton, Lethbridge, Regina, Quebec City and maybe Ottawa. Leave a
comment or email us at brucepeninsula@gmail.com

Ok, wish us luck! Check back here for occasional musings from our trip.

xo BP

Lethbridge!

We weren't content with our measly tour dates, so we had to add one more. We'll be in Lethbridge on July 16th at Henotic. If you know anybody who lives there, please tell them to come out and meet us!

So, here's our July officially...

6/20 - Kingston, ON - Skeleton Park Festival
7/7 - Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret *
7/8 - Saskatoon, SK - Walker's Nightclub *
7/9 - Edmonton, AB - Brixx Bar *
7/10 - Calgary, AB - Dicken's *
7/11 - Canmore, AB - Canmore Hotel *
7/13 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret **
7/14 - Victoria, BC - Logan's **
7/15 - Kelowna, BC - Habitat **
7/16 - Lethbridge, AB - Henotic
7/17 - Regina, SK - O'Hanlan's
7/21 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore ***
7/22 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle
7/23 - Ottawa, ON - Cafe Deckuf
7/24 or 25 or 26 - Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival

Box Social

To the city of Kingston;

Our utmost thanks for the fun day outside yesterday. Rainy as hell but you stuck it out and we'll remember your smiling faces huddled under that tarp.

Also, Neil is totally red-faced this afternoon and wants to say sorry and "oh my god, duh" to the always lovely Annie CLIFFORD. For those who didn't already have a laugh about it, it should be noted that Annie SHAW was nowhere near Kingston yesterday. Brain farts are much louder through a microphone.

Some of us are going to catch the Gertrudes at the Rivoli tonight for the last throes of NXNE. We think you should probably go too because these guys are kings and queens. See you at 9pm.

Otherwise notable.... we're probably going to mainly update this space throughout our tour. Tweets are sort of unfulfilling, so if you want the straightest goods, check on this page throughout July.

We fixed the comments so a new window pops up and we hope you feel free to post back. Some other improvements will hopefully be made to the site in between bag packing and other vacation planning duties.

Ok? Ok.

Healthy Competition

Today we were Long Listed for Polaris. It makes us feel proud and it also makes us feel kind of funny. In the last hour we got one Google Alert that said we were the deserving underdog and another that said we were the most over-rated of the bunch.

Either way, thanks to everyone for their congrats. And big high fives to the other bands on the list, and high tens to our close buddies Timber Timbre and Snailhouse.

As for our vote, if we were allowed to make it, I think most of us feel like Chad VanGaalen's record was the best of the year.

What we're really looking forward to is our tour. Please come out to one of the shows! We're gonna be chiseled old people by the time all that driving is over with. The dates, in case you haven't seen 'em, are here...

6/20 - Kingston, ON - Skeleton Park Festival
7/7 - Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret *
7/8 - Saskatoon, SK - Walker's Nightclub *
7/9 - Edmonton, AB - Brixx Bar *
7/10 - Calgary, AB - Dicken's *
7/11 - Canmore, AB - Canmore Hotel *
7/13 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret **
7/14 - Victoria, BC - Logan's **
7/15 - Kelowna, BC - Habitat **
7/17 - Regina, SK - O'Hanlan's
7/21 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore ***
7/22 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle
7/23 - Ottawa, ON - Cafe Deckuf
7/24 - Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival

* with Rock Plaza Central
** with Jon-Rae Fletcher
*** with My People Sleeping & Snowblink

Beacons, Self-Help,

Hey friends. Some new BP family-related projects to tell you about.

Casey's band ohbijou are releasing album number two tomorrow and we think some serious shit is about to go down for them. We can't think of a more deserving bunch of people. What we've heard of Beacons is absolutely beautiful and everyone involved should be proud of the top-notch fidelity and spot-on playing. It's really lovely music and that's something we all need more of. Visit their myspace for all the pertinent details.

Secondly, we have Self-Help, which was recently released by our bro Thom Gill. It's ultra-smooth and sexy and features some serious guitar work and that trademark slithering coo from the man in the blue pants. We can't find a picture of it. You should just message Thom at myspace and get yourself a copy.

oh, and...

Katie Stelmanis has a new 7" out on Vice / Loog and also Isla Craig is holding her CD release this Saturday at St. Andrew-By-The-Lake on the island. Both of those recordings are off-the-chain too.

Got all that?

Devour the Mountains

Not every day of July is officially stitched up just yet but you can't say we aren't trying. An official announcement for the Western Canada dates below will likely go out tomorrow or the next day, but we figure this is as good a place as any for a scoop.

6/20 - Kingston, ON - Skeleton Park Festival
7/7 - Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret *
7/8 - Saskatoon, SK - Walker's Nightclub *
7/9 - Edmonton, AB - Brixx Bar *
7/10 - Calgary, AB - Dicken's *
7/11 - Canmore, AB - Canmore Hotel *
7/13 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret **
7/14 - Victoria, BC - Logan's **
7/15 - Kelowna, BC - Habitat **
7/21 - Montreal, PQ - Il Motore
7/23 - Ottawa, ON - Cafe Deckuf
7/24 - Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival

* with Rock Plaza Central
* with Jon-Rae Fletcher

We couldn't be more excited. We're caught up with a delightfully nervous and mysterious energy. Can't wait to see the towns and cities that litter our country and to meet some of our national brethren.

If you are a friendly type and we've had some kind of effect on you in the last year or two, maybe you should get in touch. At least, we'd love to hear about your favourite place to eat in town or your favourite record store. At most, we'd be ever-grateful to crash on your floor. Please don't hesitate to send us an email if you have some insight on your city that we might not have. brucepeninsula@gmail.com

More dates are coming together and there will surely be more news to come on this in the coming month. Please stay tuned.

xo BP