Jodie Ponto Photography

On the eve of departing for Euroland I’m curled up on the floor next to an industrial strength heater in my long janes and wool socks, cursing that fickle & frosty bitch Mother Nature who tempted us with the golden arc of prairie chinook winds only to slap us across the face with her cold claws of frostbitten death.  Needless to say, I’m making an executive decision to relegate all future winter touring to the Southern Hemisphere.

In any case, here’s a sneak peak of what went on behind the scenes during Miss Quincy’s Euro-Tour Kick-Off.

The Mama Dragon

The minivan – the staple touring wagon of independent musicians across the galaxy. This one is green, her name is The Mama Dragon.

The Mama Dragon suffering from the aforementioned frostbitten slap.

The Mama Dragon’s spacious interior (Note: there is another person in this photo, you just can’t see him because he’s trapped in the deep dark bowels of the isolation chamber).

On The Road

The majority of our touring time is glamorously spent in and around the above pictured minivan or in places like gas stations or Subway … which makes keeping active an interesting challenge.

The Music Store

A great deal of time is also spent in music stores. Here’s Miss Quincy lusting after a lipstick-matching Telecaster at Long & McQuade while one of her band-mates gets his ol’ broken banjo fixed.

Like A Good Cigar

A pre-show cigar.

The Transformation

I’ve already touched on the magical transformation from road nasty to stage hot in a previous post, but here are a few more photos showing Miss Quincy getting ready in her star-studded dressing room – the bar bathroom.

Internet Sleuth Extraordinaire

When on the road the office becomes wherever you can find a plug-in and wi-fi. Sometimes it’s friends’ houses, sometimes it’s cafes, sometimes it’s parked outside closed libraries, and sometimes it’s on stage in between sound-check & show-time.

Bartender Extraordinaire

There comes a point in every young musician’s life when he/she has to supplement their lack of income with a “real” job. Here’s Tyler Toews keeping his bartending skills in tip top shape by mixing up an Octopus – his infamous 8-layer shot.

Mom to The Rescue

Just like in high school, sometimes no one is fit to drive and a friend’s mom has to come to the rescue and pick you up in the back of her van.

The centerpiece of this epic Albertan weekend was without a doubt the funtastic show at Tracks Pub in Olds, AB. The night featured the kick-ass smoke-machine debut of Calgary’s Hot Sweet Noise, the left-handed Tyler Toews (of Miss Quincy) inconspicuously (and amazingly!) rocking an entire show with an upside down right-handed guitar (after his own lone guitar kicked the bucket between sound-check & showtime), and a post-show bar-wide fancy-free table-top dance party that went long past closing.

Hot Sweet Noise

Miss Quincy

Watch out for the left-handed Tyler Toews rockin’ an upside down right-handed guitar like there’s no tomorrow.

While testing the stage light at a show at Mikey’s Juke Joint last night I accidentally captured a particularly intense moment going on behind the microphone between Miss Quincy & her left-hand man Tyler Toews. I’ve spent the entire day trying to come up with an oh-so-clever caption to express just what the hell they’re thinking to each other, but I’ve since decided to leave it up to you folks … in contest form!

So, get creative and leave your caption as a comment at the bottom of this post. Whoever comes up with the best caption for the photo wins a wee prize. Seeing as I’m going to Euroland in a few days and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy receiving good ol’ fashioned mail, I’ve decided to reward the Master Captioner (determined by myself and the rest of the Quincy crew) by sending him/her a postcard from somewhere along our Euro adventure.

Without further ado, here is the photo to be captioned:

Mikey’s Juke Joint has joined the ranks of pub loves in my life. It’s the sort of small, friendly, and lived-in place I long to be a regular at, and if I lived in Calgary I would spend most winter evenings there getting my nightcap and blues on.

The photos below are from last night’s packed & rollicking show by Miss Quincy & co.

Why yes that is the legendary Tim Williams making an impromptu appearance on stage!

One of my favorite things about being on the road is the magical transformation that can take place in a matter of minutes from road nasty to stage hot.

Road Nasty

The 10 Minute Transformation

Minute 1: Mascara

Minute 2: Lipstick

Minute 3 & 4: Snap (a short nap, that is)

Minute 5: Readying the electronic apparatuses to capture stage hotness

Minute 6 & 7: Hippy Maintenance

Minute 8: Blow Dry

Minute 9: Communal Blow Dry

Minute 10: Communal blow dry freshly laundered armpit of show shirt

Stage Hot

Photos from Miss Quincy‘s show at The Slice in Lethbridge, AB.

We have a new member of the touring crew – Sassy the Snake.

Sassy Likes to Smoke Sheesha:

Sassy Likes to Read:

Sassy Likes to Facebook:

Sassy Likes to Scare Me:

A lovely intimate & acoustic start to Miss Quincy’s Euro Tour at possibly the best place for music in Kamloops – The Art We Are.

Last night was the kick-off show of Miss Quincy’s UK/Europe tour – yeehaw! Thanks to all to all you Nelson folks for coming down to The Royal and helping send us off in style.

Plaidinum

Featuring my greatest friend in the galaxy Lindsay Pratt and her pals Mitch Vinet, Jen Courchesne, and Varoujan Mardirossian, this opening band was better than many headlining bands I’ve seen (… and if I come back from Euroland and discover you haven’t continued to play music together you plaid devils are going to feel the earth-shaking force of my wrath!).

Miss Quincy’s Dirty Dance Band

Miss Quincy enlisted her left-hand man Tyler Toews, the ever-dapper upright bassist Brinjamin Porter, and drum-machine Cortney Osness to help her screech out with her peach out and perform a full-band dirty dance party like you’ve never seen her play before.

MQ and LP Make a Sweet, Sweet Harmony Love Child

Oh hello sweet lady harmonies making love in my ears!