Letter From The Road is a CBC Radio3 post that is sent in by our favorite bands who are touring the world and tell us about their experiences. Front man Zachary Gray of The Zolas wrote to Radio3 to tell us about his very bands very sudden eastern Canadian tour dates:
September 7th, 2010
Dear Radio 3,
I said I’d write you from the road, and it's only a day in but I felt the spark to write you now. Hope you find that endearing and not creepy; it’s always a tough balance.
This tour really snuck up on us. A week ago we didn’t think we’d tour this fall and then the phone rang and now I’m in Quebec, driving past Riviere-du-Loup, rounding the corner into the Maritimes. Life’s exciting that way. Actually it was so short-notice our princely drummer Ajay couldn’t make it work, so Aaron of Will Currie and the Country French, is sitting in with us and driving beside me as I write this. Tom and Henry fly into Halifax tomorrow on the red eye, we rehearse in the afternoon, and then play a frosh event at Dalhousie. Then we revel like freshmen, am I right?
What else happened since we last spoke? That was just a few days ago at the Live at Squamish festival (best set: Hollerado, I say. You?). I didn’t stay for Day 2. I had to go home and pack so I walked to the highway, put Arcade Fire -The Suburbs on my ipod and tried to hitchhike back from Squamish to Vancouver. I’m someone who wants to think that we live in a place where people are adventurous enough to pick up clean-and-sane-looking strangers, but I have to admit I was pretty much failing. Maybe my hair was too greasy. I don’t know. I was all the way to Sprawl II with no luck whatsoever when a familiar van pulled over and through the windshield there was Ben from Said the Whale with his lovely girlfriend (and friend of mine) Ali, smiling out at me. And so, just like that, the hitchhiking ended in celebration, though I have to consider it a defeat, philosophically speaking. I could go into my thoughts on hitchhiking paranoia but maybe I’ll save that for a blog post.
We just drove past a place (a church and the surrounding town, maybe?) in eastern Quebec called St.-Louis-du-Ha!-Ha! It’s written like that on road signs, with full punctuation. I wonder what's the story is there.
I’ve always been a lousy pen pal and I’ve always disliked that about myself, so I’m glad we’re starting to write each other now.
I hope this letter finds you well,
Love,
Zach
Zach and his band The Zolas are set to play the following shows on Canada's east side; knock'em dead Zach! and do a Dalhousie keg stand for me while you're at it!
Sept 8th, 8pm, Dalhousie University, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
Sept 9th, 8pm, The Wave, CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI,
Sept 11th,8pm, University of NB, FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK
Sept 18th,8pm, CAW Hall, ST. CATHARINES, ONTATIO