Geez, I dunno...it seems possible...



Or, maybe they are secret lovers. Can you imagine the hit-making, soul-sucking monster such an unholy union could produce?: "Glen-Anne, time to go on the television and sing some soul-sucking hits again. Daddy needs a new Nudie suit. And to get the BMW fixed."

We've been meaning to tell people that Balances+Sums is available from coast to...well, Ottawa at some fine independent music retailers. Look for it at:
Red Cat Records in Vancouver
Hot Wax in Calgary
Blackbyrd Myoosik in Edmonton
Vinyl Diner in Saskatoon
Music Trader in Winnipeg
...and of course Birdman Sound and the 2 Compact Music locations in Ottawa

Oh my goodness.

If ever there was an excuse for using exclamation marks, this is it. Ladies and Gentlemen: The newest member of the Fiftymen family has arrived!!!!!!!! Hazel Straznicky-Hanlan entered the world at about 4 o'clock this afternoon. Everybody is healthy and happy (probably happiest of all would be Karen), with little Hazel tipping the scales at an impressive 8lbs, 4ozs.

Congratulations, Karen and Michael(!)

Photographs and more news will be added soon.

...these great photographs from the album release show, taken by Shane Ward.

And, check out Mostly Metal main-man Shawn Jam Hill reaching out across genres to offer his take on Balances+Sums.

More reminiscences from the tour soon.

...to everyone who came to the Black Sheep Inn on Friday night and helped make our homecoming show so much fun. It was great to have Michael and Keith back on stage. And we would like to thank the Dirtminers, too, for playing with us.



Now, picking up where we left off with the Eerie Tales of the West: We made it back to the relative safety of Edmonton, and reconvened at Mark Davis' place. Lucy the dog was overjoyed, as you can see, by our return. Mark took some of the fellows guitar shopping. Jake played Beatles songs in the living room. Some on guitar, some on organ. Then Mark made us a delicious, and, get this - nutritious - dinner of roasted vegetables and polenta. It gave us the strength of oh, I don't know, let's say fifty men, give or take. Then we played a couple of sets at the Black Dog, to a small but enthusiastic bunch.

(A TOUR FIRST: Being heckled (ever so gently) by the sound guy.)

Swifty of the Swiftys came swirling in like a drink-buying hurricane and we had a great time catching up with him. Up early the next morning, (well, noon) and off toward Saskatoon. Thanks again to Mark and Agnes and Swifty for taking care of us so well.
Stay Tuned.

We really had intended to update this thing on a regular basis from the road. It turns out to be harder to access computers and wireless connections than we imagined. In any event, I'll report some of the highlights now:

So, after leaving Edmonton, and this Jack O'Lantern that Jake carved with Mark Davis' gal Agnes...


...we went to Calgary, and spent an evening in the company of Owen from the Saved By Radio label, and Lorrie Matheson , one of the cornerstone SBR artists. Lorrie is a great singer/songwriter type, and a lovely character. He's a competition smoker, also. Here's Jarret, Todd, and Mark in Lorrie's van. Note Owen (aka Slayer) on the bunk behind them. Jake was riding on the roof.

Here's Lorrie giving us directions to Long & McQuade. He was all like "So you just take SW 4th Ave. NE to the south, and then just follow the DeerMonkey Highway south to 234th Street East-West. Then look for the giant..." He quickly discarded this map and just took us there, rightly figuring that we were incapable of making more than two turns without getting hopelessly lost.

The following night-(Hallowe'en), we played to a bunch of well-primed, costumed Calgary partiers. It was a ton of fun...here's Blood Dungeon, a band we shared the bill with. They were a great sort of old

All boys arrived home safely sometime over the course of Monday evening. As they all settle back into their previous grooves, this non-official blog-enterer gets to tell you all the adventures and wild tales will be posted here over the next couple of days. There's nothing quite like hearing them first hand, though, so hope to see many of you out Friday night at The Black Sheep. Tickets are going fast - see show details.

This couldn't be more last minute, but tonight is the night the Fiftymen interview with the beautiful Ms. Amanda Putz is on CBC Radio 1 (91.5FM in Ottawa). Stay tuned here for an online link if you missed it...