Merry Christmas folks! We made it! Through rain, sleet and snow and then picking up our children we continued on to Glace Bay, Cape Breton. Our reunion with family, relatives and close friends has only just begun.
Traveling from the east to the west and back again; The Barra MacNeils brought a little bit of Christmas to everyone, one day at a time. We hope we made a few people happy. That’s all we can really ask for. At a time when people are busier than ever, it’s nice to give everyone a chance to reflect on their family, friends, and loved ones. It is truly a magical time of year.
We would like to thank all of our families for sharing us with our fans. We love you all. We would also like to thank our adopted brother Jamie Gatti, our solid playing man and for good times as well. Thanks to Donnie MacNeil for keeping the show sounding great and making sure we made it to the gig on time… And let’s not forget Vinnie MacNeil (the other Kyle MacNeil on the tour) for your selling skills (and let’s not forget the dance moves).
Now we will put our feet up for a while and enjoy the holiday. Maybe someone will make Cabbage Rolls or even RUMCake !! God Bless and Best Wishes in 2011.
Halifax was a two show day. This has been a tradition for many years now. Our show times were 4:00pm and 8:00pm. An extra early morning in Antigonish was necessary to make sound check on time. Paul Kennedy at Seaside FM introduced the band at our evening show. It has become part of our Halifax show ever year. Thanks for the support Paul! The past few years we had a pile of snow at these shows. We couldn't have picked a better day this year. No matter what the weather, the people are always amazing. Thanks to Diaga Dance and the Beth Greene Irish dancers! Nice job!!
A great deal of our closest friends and relatives live in the area and came to both concerts. One more sleep…zzz
We made it to Antigonish in Jig time. John almost got a speeding ticket today. The RCMP flashed their lights as a warning. Today we are performing on campus at St.FrancisXavierUniversity. It was the last day of exams and you could see some students fitting in some last minute studying.
Today Boyd and Stewart’s wives met up with us on the tour. They were excited to see their husbands home.
The concert was great tonight. The MacKay Room was turned into a festive concert venue. We had Makala MacNeil as a special guest on our last group of tunes. Thanks Makala!
The audience was dressed in Christmas colours with flashy scarves and broaches. Halifax tomorrow…bring on the Christmas sweaters
We traveled safely overnight to Fredericton and woke up in time to check-in to the hotel. Today was a fairly relaxing day for us. Nothing to crazy happened really, which was a good thing after the past few days. We had a surprise performance for a private function which was a nice change.Some familiar faces attended the event. Off to Saint John tomorrow.
Hello everyone! Today is the last day for our Ontario portion of the tour. Things are starting to come to an end. The Brockville Arts Center has had a major facelift since we last played here. They did an amazing job with lobby and theatre. They even spruced up the dressing and green room area. We took advantage of the new flat screen to watch some of the Montreal vs. Philly game. Brockville was a rescheduled show because of weather. There were many lovely people in the lobby. Tales of trips to Cape Breton and attending our Celtic Colours Festival were nice to here. Some people also told stories of missing home which is very natural this time of year. We would like to thank Terry and Robin McCrae from Shantero Productions for bringing entertainment to the Ontario region. You always do great work and help with our show immensely. Robin has become one of our brothers after the many years of touring with us. Now we will be driving overnight on the bus to make it in time for our private show in Fredericton. Off to the Maritimes we go.
My goodness what an exciting day!! We were still in Sarnia…breakfast at 5:30am and bus rolling at 6:00am.Highways still closed except an alternate route. We back tracked a little to the 40 South and managed to make our way to the open section of the 401. The military were rescuing over 300 stranded vehicles off the highways, 200 of those vehicles where transfer trucks…pretty crazy.
To say the least it was a slow slippery drive. We had a couple of dead stops on the 401 which lasted over an hour. We only traveled 50km/hour for most of the trip…and that was the faster speed.
We finally made it to the airport and switched drivers. Our farewells to our wonderful driver was very quick. During all the hubbub Rob forgot his winter jacket (we’ll send it to Calgary for Christmas with your relatives…you might need it there.) We welcomed John, freshly squeezed from Florida. And we were off!
We occupied our time practicing carols…just kidding, we watched some movies, The Grinch with Jim Carey, Groundhog Day, and the White Stripes new documentary UnderGreat White Northern Lights. The documentary ends with Buddy MacMaster and Ashley MacIsaac playing fiddles at the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay. Jack White sang an alternate line in one of his songs about our home town, Sydney Mines.
Our show was postponed to 9 pm from 8 pm.We arrived at the front of Centerpointe Theatre at 9:15pm. Donnie really worked his magic with the set up and a record load-in by the crew had the show starting earlier then expected. We also would like to thank the staff for making this show happen. They called and e-mailed all the ticket holders for the show. An amazing effort by everyone involved. Terry at Shantero Productions had a nail biting day for sure. His positive outlook kept the machine running.
We couldn’t finish our day without thanking the audience for making today’s trip worth while. The warmth and excitement during the after show meet and greet was overwhelming.A very patient audience -like waiting for Christmas to come. Thanks so much Ottawa!!
Here we go to Brockville…maybe not. Well, here’s what happened. Our day started early, breakfast at 6:00 am, bus rolling at 7:00am. The weather was blustery and cold and it was still dark outside. Some of us decided to have a nap on the bus because it was going to be a bit of a journey. As a side note, today we were meant to change drivers in Toronto. Rob was heading back to Southern Texas to visit his family in the warm sun for Christmas and another driver named John was flying up from Florida to continue the tour. After two hours of driving, the bus was parked at a mall parking lot. Rob informed us that the highways were closed until further notice. So we wandered through the mall for a while. Stewart, Jamie and Vinnie went to a restaurant which had some interesting conversations going on. Someone called Jamie Santa Claus. If they only knew! We then went to another mall with a few more options for hanging out. We were greeted by a cart man in the parking lot. He told us “You picked the worse day EVER to come here” Our bus, along with many, many transfer trucks awaited some good news in the very windy parking lot. We ended up postponing our Brockville show until Dec. 15. Back to the same hotel. Did we mention that it was the 13th?...Jamie’s lucky number. One thing positive that did happen today is that we got to have supper with Donnie’s brother in-law Jimmy and his wife, Florence. We have to look at the bright side of things. Let's see what tomorrow brings . . . .
A great deal of snow today. We made it in one piece. This was our first time playing in Sarnia after all these years and it was worth it. Even with a great deal of snow and cold weather the audience still made it and they were great. Really lively!! We are worried about tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.
Stewart took a walk through Lindsay today before sound check. He really loved Victoria Park. All kinds of vendors were selling their wares in gingerbread style house Kiosks. Burl Ives voice filled the park with Christmas songs… very lovely.
After the show we learned that the Academy Theatre has a friendly ghost. Funny enough her name is Mary. There are several songs in the show about Mary… I hope she liked it.
It was the strangest weather today in Kingston. It started out very cold and windy and then snowed for hours. By the time we finished sound check it was above the freezing mark. Very warm and very mild! One of the highlights of Kingston in the wintertime is the outdoor skating rink. They even have a Zamboni. People of all ages come to skate and on Saturdays they set up a farmers market beside the ice. Brave people! It has come to our attention that the Simpsons had a 39 days of Christmas episode last week. It would be kind of cool if they picked the number from our video blog. You never know. Speaking of video blog, just wanted to let you know that there is a new clip at the end of each blog. Also, the outside of our bus is getting extremely dirty so we apologize for the poor window shots. We haven’t found a car wash big enough and most hoses are turned off this time of the year.
The last time we came through Cornwall was when we performed here in 2003. Tonight there was a large contingent of people from both Washabuck and musicians from Glengarry at the show. There is a strong tradition of Scottish fiddling in the Glengarry area. Over the years, there have been many exchanges between Cape Breton and Glengarry fiddlers and the tradition is still happening today.
Lucy noticed that a lady had a stuffed toy poodle attached to her purse at the signing. The lady gave her the poodle after she complimented it. We now have a band pet on the road named "Molly".
Port Hope wins the most decorated theatre award again this year with over 40 Christmas trees and tons of lights and garland. They have a very active community and theatre with plays everyday during the Christmas season. The backstage was filled with costumes for the children’s Christmas plays.
We ordered the Festive Special at Swiss Chalet. Sheumas ordered the Festivus special (Seinfeld-festivus for the rest of us) by mistake. The waitress seemed to know what he wanted.
Today we had a morning sound check at the Scotia Plaza for our noontime show. It was great to see people take a break from their hectic office work to enjoy some of The Barra MacNeils’ Christmas tunes. They smiled and sang along as if they were in a theatre. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Scotiabank for sponsoring our national tour. We had the opportunity to meet some of Scotiabank’s finest at their national office building. Very nice people indeed. After the show, we met up with our good Washabuck friends Buddy and Margaret MacDonald. We all had a little drive on the bus and went for some lunch. Just enough time to catch up and tell a few stories about the characters of home. Good to see you guys! Then we had the mad dash to The Eaton Center to find some stocking stuffers. The mall was crazy busy! One thing that was really amazing at the mall was their giant tree filled with crystal decorations. They had a music demonstration with a real snow machine right in the mall! All the hustle and bustle came to a halt when it started snowing. It was actually relaxing for a few moments. After many hours of walking, our feet were starting to get tired. We decided it was time to go home.
Huntsville has a really great downtown. With the sparkly fine snow falling, it was a real Christmas Scene.
Most of the band had the opportunity to do some laundry. I think this is the 3rd time we toured in Ontario and cleaned our clothes in this town. It’s funny how things work that way.
We got on the bus after the show and traveled to Toronto to be on time for our morning sound check at ScotiaPlaza. Time for a rest.zzzz
Orillia is our next stop on the Barra MacNeils’ Christmas tour. On the drive today we weaved in and out of a snow storm. Luckily Orillia had great weather when we arrived.
We enjoyed the streaming entertainment of Christmas Daddies in CapeBreton on our bus today. It was good to see our friends making music for the cause.
We had a lovely visit after the show with some friends and relatives. We hope that Santa is very good to Reagan, Schyler, and Dallas this year! HOHOHO
Today Lucy mailed her first batch of Christmas cards… one more thing off her Christmas list.
Today we played the Riverrun Theatre in Guelph. People traveled from great distances to the show. One couple came all the way from Paris! There were also quite a few people representing Sydney Mines. Vinnie met a second cousin from Butts street. Angus from Clyde Ave. also made it to the show. We had the pleasure of meeting 83 year old Doris McCormack from Atlantic Street. Her father and husband were hard working minors and after many years away from home she mentioned that she still has her Sydney Mines accent. It was a pleasure to meet someone with such energy and hometown pride. Merry Christmas Doris!
This weekend is the annual Christmas Daddies Telethon in CapeBreton. Please help less fortunate children have a Merry Christmas this year. Make a pledge for the worthy cause. http://www.christmasdaddies.org/telethon/capebreton.html
Today was our second day in Belleville. The mall was very busy today. Shoppers were out in full force. Up to an hour wait for a cab. Lucy overheard a little boy asking his mother “Is Santa coming tonight”, “No we have a bunch of sleeps yet”, “I think he’s on the roof” the boy said with cute wonderment. Christmas has definitely started here in Belleville. What a great theatre…super seating, wonderful sound, and great audiences. They put on many shows over a year. Last night 's show was a famous 90’s balladeer, Richard Marks. Quite a number of Cape Bretoners were at the show. A lovely lady from Glace Bay gave the band homemade fudge. Thanks so much!
Heading to Belleville today. The last major drive for a while. We are starting our Ontario portion of the tour and are now past the half way point. We might get to do some Christmas shopping tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we can’t do all our shopping in the lobby like Kyle suggests at our show. The Quinte mall has the last Sam the Record Man in Canada. It used to be so exciting to search through the thousands of recordings in any Sam the Record Man. It was always a favorite gift stop at Christmas. We’ll have to check it out tomorrow for the nostalgia.
Another travel day and the weather was quite nice. We had a scenic drive with lakes and a wonderful sunset. We watched some more Christmas movies including Elf. Not a very exciting day really. Oh, we bought a new coffee pot. It will make our mornings all the more lively. Another day and we make it to Belleville. Hooray!!
Today we traveled from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay. We started off with a little bad luck. Our bus had the GPS stolen. We’re not sure when but we think between load in and the show. Sometimes people are really desperate this time of year. Rob mentioned that it was only a month old. After we started driving down the road our coffee pot full of hot coffee flew out of the maker and onto the floor. Glass and hot coffee went everywhere. Nobody was hurt. That's the main thing. We’ve been watching a few Christmas movies and everyone is generally enjoying the travel days. All is good!
Winnipeg…or some call it Winterpeg. It was cold today, but I would think that locals get tired of hearing it. I wonder how it affects tourism? We did an overnight drive last night and had breakfast before checking in. Rob said visibility was bad due to fog. Before the show, we watched some of the Grey Cup. Winnipeg’s Bachman Turner played the half time show. Lots of excitement! Scotiabank was there in full force tonight. Nice meeting people from the local branch. Some familiar faces in the audience tonight. Thanks for your continuous support. We’ll have to play here again soon!
Breakfast at 6:00am.Bus moving at 7:00am. Our next few days are going to be a little crazy. Canada is a big country to travel across which means there’s bound to be a few long travel days. We arrived in Saskatoon around 2:00pm. After sound check this left 2 hours to be in the hotel to shower and pack for the show and our overnight drive. The shortest stay at a hotel on record for the Barra MacNeils. Saskatoon was filled with people wearing green to support the Roughriders. Lots of spirit here! After the show we talked to fans that traveled two hours to attend the concert. Thanks so much for making the long trip! We also met another Lucy who has a boyfriend from Sydney Mines named Greg MacNeil.
Today we played a second show in Spruce Grove. This gave us a day to stay in one place and not move too much. Some of us did laundry, some went to the mall, some got haircuts and some bought socks. The city is extremely busy and is only going to get busier because of the Grey Cup. Hotels are sold out all weekend. People are booking their rooms as far away as Red Deer! The weather is warmer now so it should be a great game for all involved. The concert was really fun. This show was actually the first of two sold out concerts on sale. There were many die hard fans. One lady had three of our cassettes that she brought to get signed. Very exciting! Hope to do it again!
Today we played our first of two sold out shows in Spruce Groove. It’s just outside of Edmonton. The temperature has finally gone back to around 0 degrees Celsius. Surprisingly, it feels much warmer. Sheumas had an interesting conversation in a Taxi Cab in the afternoon. The driver was from Newfoundland and loves Celtic music. He said that the music is in his blood because his great grandfather Arthur Scammell wrote the famous folk song, "Squid Jigging Ground". Below I posted a version played by one of our favorite groups “Ryan’s Fancy”. It’s amazing the people you meet while on the road! After being away 13 days and talking only on the phone, Lucy finally got to see her girls on Skype. The girls were excited to see Mommy and their dolls on tour. They gave great encouragement for us all!!!
Calgary was a concert filled with people from the East Coast. Cousins, friends and fans were enthusiastic through the entire show. Hector MacKenzie’s “On the Very First Christmas” got a huge applause before we even started. Keep cranking out the hits Hector! As a side note, Hector’s birthday is on Jan. 6th (Old Christmas). It’s fitting that he wrote such a heart felt Christmas Carol. Special thanks to the Riep family. Dustin, Lora, Eric and Ian made a wonderful bag of baked goods and treats for the Barras. Eric and Ian gave us some snowflakes that will help decorate the bus and keep us in the Christmas spirit. Thanks guys!
We’re bringing Christmas to Brooks today! Today was the first day we watched any T.V. on the bus. It’s almost been two weeks and everyone has been so busy that it was the first opportunity to do so. We watched some Big Bang Theory Season 2 and a movie Jamie bought at the gas station, “Doctor Detroit”. It’s an old Dan Aykroyd movie. We had a visit from our cousin John MacNeil and his wife and sister-in-law. Thanks for driving the hour from Medicine Hat. Brooks certainly is a friendly place. We broke a record in shaking hands with the audience after the show. The Christmas spirit was in full swing! We added an extra video today. This was an amazing food court event worth checking out!
Today was a travel day. We are using Calgary as our home base for the next couple of days. We all had some time to catch up on a few things. We had a stop at the Tim Hortons along the way. We love the new addition of hot oatmeal. On another note, our bus is getting pretty dirty after the salty drives. We haven’t found a car wash big enough yet. Stewart has been very busy with phone interviews and Gaelic studies. Boyd is still plugging away at the videos for your viewing pleasure. Everyone is keeping busy. Lucy finished reading her book today. She brought several for the road trip. This one was "Kiss The Joy As It Flies" by Sheree Fitch. She enjoyed this book tremendously as it was quite humorous and serious at the same time. Lucy met Sheree Fitch and sat in on one of her workshops at the Cabot Trail Writers Festival in North River, N.S. This is an annual festival that takes place in early October. Lucy highly recommends the festival for the authors, the people of North River, and of course the breathtaking beauty of our island.
Another snowy trip through the mountains. Today we got to see some big horned sheep and lots of amazing scenery on the drive through our "winter wonderland".
We were well taken care of at the gig today. Between loads of laundry at the venue, we had many Christmas goodies. Thanks Marilyn for the lovely food! It was really nice to meet some young up and coming musicians at the signing. Keep playing music!! The Barra MacNeils would like to wish a speedy recovery to our fiddling, piano playing friend back in Cape Breton, Mike Bates. See you at the Ceilidh!!
Did you ever have one of those days?It was minus 20 degrees Celsius over night. This caused the airbrake lines on the bus to freeze. With frozen lines, air doesn’t get through. The air releases the brakes so the bus can move. So what did we do? We waited….and waited….and waited for a heater to thaw the line freeze and then put anti-freeze in the lines. The mechanic who came to our aide from quite a distance, landed with his tool box locked with no key in sight. Luckily, it all worked out. It put us back about four hours but we managed to pull everything together before the show.
Kelowna was a sold out and very excited audience. They really turned this day around. We even sang an alternate version of “Christmas In Killarny”. We felt “Christmas In Kelowna” was appropriate.
There was a family of musicians playing in the lobby before the show. Thanks Chloe & Kyle, Ken & Celest for the music!
We took our suitcases through the powdery snow and checked in to the hotel after a long day. An early day tomorrow…time for some rest…zzzzzz
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! The first snow of the tour and it was cold. Minus 17 degrees Celsius. The roads were very slippery. An RCMP car was rear ended, a tractor trailer jack knifed, and 4x4 trucks were in the ditch. Needless to say we had a careful drive to the gig.We were a little late for load-in, but Donnie got things up and running in Jig time. We managed to squeeze in a buffet at the hotel.
We were all noticing the dryness of Kamloops. It is considered a desert area here.Lip balm and extra water were going fast!
We would also like to introduce Lucy’s foster children for the tour. Flirty Francie, Luvie, Ginger, and Angel are from Sydney Mines and seem delighted about the trip. They are very low maintenance and are good little travelers. (Lucy’s daughters put the travelers in her suitcase for the trip.)
Over the past few days many concert goers have been asking the question “Where else are you going in B.C?” Time and time again, the answer “Pender Island” really surprised them. Most people mentioned that they’ve never been there. One lady said it was the only island in B.C. that she didn’t visit. This made it all the more adventurous. Pender Island is a little off the beaten path. Population 2000. We took the milk run that had two stops on route before landing on the little island.
After breakfast on the boat, we saw killer whales (check video below). The Captain made an announcement that the whales were on the port side of the ferry. Everyone on the boat was looking the wrong way except for Kyle. His Bras d’Or Lakes sailing experience came in handy.
Our bus driver Rob had to really show his skills today. From backing onto the ferry to maneuvering the small roads (smaller than St. Columba Road in Grasscove, Cape Breton), he showed his years of professional experience. The parking attendants on the ferry said that they never had a bus that big before. There were lots of heads turning on Pender Island as we made our way to the accommodations. Our bus was unable to make it up the steep hill. The tires were spinning a little bit. Sound and lights were driven in from Victoria. It was a very fun show. The chairs were jammed in. Audience members thanked us for bringing the show to them instead of having to travel a great distance to see it.
A bit of an early bus time today. 8:00 am seems like it’s not too bad, but when you factor in finding a place to eat and packing that doesn’t leave much time for site seeing. We spent a little time on the water today on two ferries. First, Saltery Bay to Earl’s Cove and then Langdale to Horseshoe Bay. On the first ferry, the weather was very rainy and the winds were high. The second ferry was totally opposite…beautiful West Coast sunshine. We were excited and very pleased to hear that both of Lucy’s girls had straight “A’s “on their school report cards! Good job!! Ryan received his contact lenses in the mail so he had his first non glasses show of the tour. The concert tonight was sold out! It always makes it that much better. We’d like to thank the Kawolchuk family for there continuous support (yummy chocolatesJ). Look out Pendor Island here we come!
The MaxCameronTheatre is a wonderful venue.Positioned on the top of a hill overlooking the water, it was built as part of a school expansion. It would be great if every school could have this positive enhancement. Thanks to all the staff for your help.
We saw Gibby and Nova Gordon (hooray Gillis Point) after the show. It’s always nice to see some familiar faces from back home.
On a side note, we would like to congratulate Lisa MacArthur for winning a smile!! Merry Christmas!!
Another travel day and another ferry ride. We traveled by ferry from Comox to Powell River where our show will be tomorrow. Travel days are a great time to get caught up on emails and such. Boyd is working hard on videos for your entertainment.
The hotel was set up with good food and dart boards. A little tournament broke out and even our bus driver Rob got involved. Good times!
Only a short drive to Victoria today. Ryan has realized that he doesn’t have spare contact after loosing one. I guess he will have to wear glasses or be one eye blind.
The Alix Goolden Performance Hall is always a great place to perform. Between the wonderful decorations in the hall and the high energy audience, it makes for a really great show.It also helps that everyone is starting to adjust to the four hour time change. Maybe some day we could come back to Victoria with our new show “Cathedral”.
We’d like to make a very special thank you to Rene and Carolyn for organizing the two shows. Thanks for piping Rene. The Glengarry and O’Brian Dancers added so much youthful energy to the show. They were absolute pros tonight! The Oswego Hotel was a show sponsor tonight and treated us to a wonderful meal. Great place to stay! Check it out sometime.
Our first show of the tour started in Naniamo which has a great deal in common with our home town of Sydney Mines. They are both coal towns, they are also on the water, and they invented Naniamo Bars and we continue the tradition of making and eating them. As a side note, it’s also the home town of famous Jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall.
The first show required lots of rehearsing. We have some special guest in the next two shows, Rene Cusson on Highland pipes and The Glengarry and O'Brian Dancers.
The audience was great! There were quite a few people from our show in March.We also met some of the local staff from the three Scotiabank branches in Naniamo. We are happy to have Scotiabank on board as a sponsor again this year.
Hello everyone! Here we are again on the first day of spreading Christmas cheer on our national tour that will take us from west to east for 39 days. Today we had to make our way west from our homes in CapeBreton.
We just finished our newest musical adventure “Cathedral” which left very little time for preparing for our trip. The scramble to put away the yard furniture and lawn mowers, getting winter tires on the vehicles, and finding all the boxes of Christmas decorations made for a crazy few days.
Some of the band got together with our nieces and watched the original cartoon of ”How The Grinch Stole Christmas”while eating candy canes and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows to get into the Christmas spirit.
After we gave our loved ones a kiss and a squeeze, we flew out of Sydney, CapeBreton on the 6:00am flight to Halifax, then onto Toronto and a short jump to Vancouver to meet the Tour bus.A ferry to Nanaimo and a rickshaw to our hotel (just kidding) and our travel day ended.
