Wowzers.  It has been a week since I returned from a short, hilarious, and incredibly fun journey through Helena, Missoula, Spokane, and Boise.  I must share some road details.

This Weekend's Shows!

I am playing two great shows this weekend - This Saturday @ The Farm in Arlington - and Sunday, Aug. 16th @ The Leavenworth Beer Garden.  This is an afternoon show that starts at 4pm.  Special Guest Christine Havrilla (Philadelphia) will open the show.

Fall Tour Dates Announced!!

I will be playing many shows this fall around the Northwest and Beyond.  Check out the dates below - and mark your calendars!

** NOTE ** For those in Spokane: tickets will go on sale on Thurs. Aug. 20th @ 8pm.  Visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/78493 to purchase tickets in advance!  This show will most likely sell out.

School / Youth Performances Available Fall / Winter!

Aside from slowing my tour schedule to write some new music, I have also decided to focus on performing in schools or Youth Centers - giving motivational concerts and workshops to Youth.  Please let me know if you are involved in a school or program that would like to bring me in for a performance.  These shows are always rewarding and inspiring to do - and I look forward to hearing from you!

Recent Tour Highlights!

I just returned from one of the best Festival experiences - playing Red Rocks Women's Music Festival.  This festival was incredibly well run - and I left inspired and exhausted.  I sold out of CD's after only one 50 minute performance and signed several new body parts. :)  I look forward to returning to such a great event!


Thanks again for all of your support. I look forward to seeing you again!


Camille

Highlights of the summer:

Red Rocks Women's Music Festival
Basin Summer Sounds Festival
Teaching Kids how to ROCK @ Seattle Rock Camp http://www.rock-school.org
Playing in Lake Chelan and Adopting Henry the Baby Duck
Living in Seattle's Lush Greenery
A weekend of Sisterhood w/ my dear friend Janette
Family picnics on the lawn
The first ever Parking Lot Concert @ The Tom Tom
Purchasing my I-phone
Using Marmie (the GPS I have been longing for for Years)
Watching Episodes of Battlestar Galactica on my occasional off night
Booking some Fantastic Fall Tour Dates.  Yee Haaaww!!
Spending quality time with friends.
Reading A LOT.


Lowlights of Summer:

Catching a stomach bacteria from said Baby Duck Henry - but it was worth all those kisses
Commuting to Seattle Center and then Redmond for two weeks each
Losing a House Deal two days before we were supposed to move
Seeing how sad my Cat is when I am gone long days
Poopy Summer Rain

Me Thinks the Ratio of Highlights to Low-lights is pretty good! 

CB

I am feeling a little bit torn in the writing category right now.  So many things are happening both personally and professionally, and I can't decide what to write about.  

Today, I actually stopped in the street and had to ask Carrie what city we were in.  For reals.  The answer?  Copenhagen.  I am sitting in the beautiful Marriot Hotel in Copenhagen - looking at the canal and cityscape through a gargantuan picture window.  Bliss for me, and a much needed cozy bed.

I can't believe we are on day 23 of this tour.  We have only 5 shows left - and this will make the longest tour (not to mention the most vigorous) I have ever embarked on. ( I shouldn't end my sentences with a preposition, but what else could I say, "I have upon embarked?" Strange).

I am feeling very random at the moment - so WARNING: Some of these thoughts are not appropriate for children - and all of them are disconnected and jumbled. Read on at your own risk.

I am really surprised that my fabulous tourmate, Carrie, and I are still having a great time with each other.  In fact, we have spent over 561 hours together ( I just counted) in the same car, on the same couch, and sometimes in the same bed - and still, we get along.  We have had every meal together, been lost together and I have heard her play nearly 23 nights in a row - and I STILL like her - and her music.  Amazing. 

I realize that when you travel in countries where you don't know the language - pretty soon, you don't hear people talking on the streets or in restaurants anymore.  It becomes this peaceful dull buzz of nothingness.  I realize that I like it very much - and when I hear someone speaking English, it is such a distraction from the moment.  I feel like saying, "Hey - can you keep it down?  I am in my own little world over here - and I can hear every word you're saying."

I found out that the word "Pick" (as in guitar pick) does not mean the same in Danish.  In fact, at my first show in Denmark, I was talking a lot about how my pick was sticky, when a nice Danish man in the audience informed me that what the people were hearing was that my "Insert word for Man Part" was sticky. Gross.

I also learned the the Danish translation of "Affordable Hotel" is "Red Light District"

Did you know that in Holland, they have such a thing as Carrot Balls??!! Not carrots.  Not Carrot Sticks - or even baby carrots (which I find strange anyway) But - Carrot Balls.  They look like a small version of say . . . Donut Holes - but they are bright orange and made of carrot. I can't freaking believe it!  I feel like balls are following me everywhere.  Also gross.

My hair is long and fluffy right now.  It has been far too long since I had it cut - as I am used to doing every 3 weeks - and we are going on 5 right now.  Anyone in Copenhagen free tomorrow for a trim?

The only thing cuter than naked American babies are Naked Dutch Babies.  I am not kidding.

We have played festivals and venues, and songwriter clubs, and soon, we will play a house concert as well.  All of the rooms have been welcoming and wonderful.  Many of them have been very full.  We have some great fans here who often follow us around to different venues - and we feel so grateful.  (I am sure I can speak for Carrie here).  Thanks to all of you who make this possible.  Thanks for your kind notes - and words of encouragement. 

I am happy.

I hope you are too. :)

CB

Wowzers.  It has been 11 days since I last blogged about the tour - and that should tell you a little about how it's going: so amazingly well! We have had many highlights, including playing Crossroads in Belgium (and my purchase of a sweet new orange belt), Breda's concert in the park, which led to a night of debauchery w/ two of our favorite women, Marcia and Marike.  Thanks to both of them for spoiling us and keeping us laughing until 4 a.m.  They are our new Dutch sisters!!

We enjoyed very much the radio show in Winschoten and the dinner on the garden patio beforehand with Peter and his lovely wife.  Also the outdoor Veranda show @ Cafe Open in Amsterdam.  We learned a lot about parking on that trip, and discovered that when one is desparate, one will park so closely to other cars that one must climb out the back feet first, through the trunk, to get out of the car.  I have video of Carrie doing just that. 

De Groot in Eindhoven was a total blast, and the venue was packed full of listeners.  We each sold a ton of cd's and had two photographers snapping photo's the whole time.  It definitely gave us a glimpse of what it would be like if we were REALLY famous. :)  The funny thing is, all of these things have been highlights and we have not had one show turn out to be a bust. 

Last night, we played a place called Gambrinus in Suhl Germany - and the room was sold out.  We played 3 sets - and were still encored 4 times.  I am pretty much living a fantasy it seems.  I am currently sitting outside in a small garden in Nurnberg, Germany - sunshine blazing through my black sweatshirt, and I plan to read for an hour or so before sound check. 

Of course, a tour wouldn't be a tour without a few funny things going wrong - ie. a couple random gluten poisenings, a few traffic jams and detours gone awry, a good size parking ticket in Belgium, a 4 mile accidental walk in Amsterdam, trying to find a venue, and last night, banging my head so hard when taking off my guitar, that I had to share it with the audience.  I also learned that all last year, I was ordering my coffee drink incorrectly and each time I was asking for "Coffee Traffic" instead of a latte. Ha!! 

And finally, the big surprise.  The other night, when arriving to SKEK in Amsterdam, I was checking out the room, and inquiring as to where to put my gear.  I suddenly hear a strong American accent say "Don't I know you from somewhere?!"  I immediately jumped back from the bar to see two shining faces, dear faces, of two close friends from Helena Montana - Sue and Adel.  Needless to say, I let a few swear words out and was completely speechless otherwise.  They were grinning ear to ear and told me they were here to surprise me.  Indeed, I was surprised. Very surprised.  It was Sue's birthday week and it made my entire tour.  We spent the next day together, shopping all around Haarlem on our day off - and I bought a beautiful new pair of grey boots with black polka-dots on them.  It was so incredible to be in Europe with my sweet friends who have known me since I was 19 and still wearing tapered pants with pointy shoes. Ugh.  I am lucky they still love me.

I have enjoyed so much, getting to know my new Dutch friends and family. I am already starting to plan next Spring's tour - and it seems like forever before I will see everyone again.  The good news is, we still have many highlights to come - as there are still 12 shows left to play, and a new country to conquer: Denmark!  With that, I shall let your eyes rest.  I will try to check in again soon.

CB

Things I have learned on this trip:

1. Don't attempt to blog before a week's time when traveling overseas. You are not funny - nor inspired - and your writing is boring.

2. Don't attempt to park in Belgium. 6 hours of parking was nearly 30 euro's for street parking - and then on top of it, we got a ticket. Shit.

3. Balls follow me everywhere. I was given a gift of a chocolate egg with a toy inside - and the toy read: WARNING: Read and Keep! Small parts and small balls that might be swallowed or inhaled causing choking. For real, friends. For real.

4. Dutch dogs speak Dutch, and only Dutch. Don't try to say, Come! Or Let's go for a walk! They don't understand it. Leave it to the dog owners to speak to them in their native language and only that gets results!

5. In Europe, they often don't ask "May I buy you a drink?" They say, "What are you drinking?" It sort of leaves you no choice but to choose one - or you feel silly. That makes 4 glasses of red wine on the tour so far. :)

6. Some men like to speak into your ear and casually touch your bottom as if it just brushed it - and then rested on it by accident. Not ok in the U.S. or in Europe.

7. Good friends feed me really, really, really well.

8. There IS such a thing as an indoor electric grill for bbq'ing. Who knew?

9. Every town in Holland makes streets in the states look moderately drab and immensely boring.

10. I have many wonderful new friends in Holland - and can't wait to return next spring to visit them again.

That's it for now. I love getting your e-mails and can't wait to fill you in on more news.

Bye for now!!

CB

Our first day off in Europe – and I am loving it.  I have to say that the last tour here was such a whirlwind, I feel like I hardly remember it.  I feel much more present now and able to write a little about our wild and crazy adventures thus far. 

 Carrie and I flew out of Seattle on Monday the 11^th and arrived at 7 a.m. on Tuesday  morning.  We have a much better routing this trip, which allowed us to catch up on our jetlag rather quickly.  We started out in a small town called Leeuwarden, where we played a venue called Paddy O’rien – a traditional irish pub with great food, an awesome outdoor patio and super sound.  We hung out with the staff until after close, while Paul (The English Bartender) followed me around with my glass of wine, apparently trying to get me loaded. J  We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast (two doors down from the venue) that was built in the 1600’s – and it was incredibly cool.  The room was in the basement, and the doors were tiny, floors were made of 400 year old tiles, and we slept in a converted closet.  Ok – clearly, I will have to post pictures, because I don’t feel like my words do it justice.  Just take my word for it that it was rad.

  The next day, we headed to Gemert to play De Bunker.  This was an amazing listening room vibe for a songwriter night put on by Ad – who is a well-known musician in The Netherlands.  Our booker Theo and his beautiful wife Diana drove us there and back, so Carrie and I got a much-needed break from driving.  We are staying with them several days on this tour, and they have been taking such good care of us. 

  Two days ago, we traveled to Rotterdam, where we played LONRadio once again.  We had a live studio audience for the taping and several people from our last tour showed up again.  It felt like a party – and we were spoiled with a great dinner and many laughs with the hosts, Henk and Marco.  I have already made plans to return to the show again next spring, because it is too cool.  We made the drive back to the home of our new Dutch Family – Paul and Yvonne – and their son Thomas.  It was so great to see them all again.  I really do feel close to so many people here  -and I feel so lucky.

  Last night, we joined Theo and Diana again for dinner before heading to a town called Herleen – to play a room called De Zotte, which was a very charming (albeit smokey) bar on the outskirts of town.  We met many characters there – and one great sound man named Henk.  I think that Henk is a name similar to John in America.  We have met at least 6 Henk’s in just under a week.  Also the owner Eugene, who made sure we were taken care of.

  I am so far, feeling very spoiled on this trip.  Everyone has been making sure that both of us are fed. Carrie is a vegetarian and of course, I can’t eat gluten, so we are a hard bunch to feed.  The little Vegetarian and Little Gluten Free Girl are happy.  

And so the story begins in Portland, Oregon - where I played The EastBurn on a Thursday night. To my surprise, I had people willing to come out and listen on a late 10pm Work-night show. This made me smile - and put me in the giggin mood. I love playing Portland for many reasons, and it was a great kick-off to the tour.

The next morning I headed to a new and fantastic little coffee place owned by my good friend Amanda Horne. Amanda is a fabulous artist in her own right (the art of painting) - but in addition, this girl knows her coffee. As it is an upstart business, if you want amazing coffee on the go or the stay, check out Grind House Coffee out at the intersection of Rosa Parks and Denver.

Here is where the adventure begins. Gaelen flew out to join me for the next 4 shows and we had a bit of a drive to Boise for a house concert. On the drive, we stopped many times to pee, pee, and . . . um. Pee. It was one of those trips. Anyway, flash forward several hours and several stops, and we arrived in Boise in time for a little shopping. Just as I was getting out of the car, it hit me. I had a flash of leaving my wallet on the toilet paper dispenser of some gas station in . . . where?! I don't know. So - the panic began. I spent the next 30 minutes, searching the car, the glove-box, under the seats in all of my bags. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Shaking and freaked out about three weeks on the road with no I.D., I immediately called all of my banks and cancelled accounts, closed cards, and ordered an express shipped Debit card for emergencies. I was devastated. I called my good friend Marty at The Mailbox in Seattle, knowing he would be near a computer, and asked him to look at a map and read all of the small towns between Portland and Boise. He did so, and the hunt began. I called nearly every Shell station (I remembered that much) in Oregon and Boise on I-84 - and to no avail. Nothing.

We pulled up to play the show, and as I was unloading the car, I pick up my guitar bag and what do I see? A small. green. wallet staring back at me. Are you kidding me?!! I don't know which was more devastating, losing it - or finding it again. At that point, I had another adrenaline surge, realizing that I had just spent the last hour freaking out and cancelling all of my accounts. I immediately hopped on the phone to try to remedy the situation - and announce the finding of my wallet.

Needless to say, I was a little exhausted by the time the show came around - but the audience was so amazing, the stage built was so fantastic, the energy so fun, that it picked me up again and we played a really fun show. I loved it. Thanks to Sharon for putting such love and attention into a house concert. I can't wait to return.

Next stop - Salt Lake City, where I played a great show with Mary Tebbs - and her devout following. Mary has put together two shows for us and never dissapoints. We also stayed with new friends Karen and Lerraine, where we were spoiled with curried black eyed peas, organic salad - and the most ridiculous Vegan Ice Cream known to man. I will add the link to her page below to check out. Yummmmm . . . . that's all I can say.

On to Fort Collins CO. for a Sunday night show on Easter. I am happy to say that a nice crowd came out to celebrate Jesus that evening - and we had a blast. Avo's is a great room - and Rob always treats us right. Speaking of the show, I should share with you all that on the road, Gaelen and I discovered a large vessel traveling with us through all three cities. It was a large Tube. We spent the next 5 minutes repeating that word. Tube. tube. TUBE. And, we decided that it might just be the cutest word in the English language. Try it for yourself right now. tube. :) Makes you smile doesn't it?

Next stop, Albuquerque NM - where I played a rather interesting cafe. It was almost reminiscent of a cafeteria - with bright lighting. I was reluctant to play on a monday night, but it turned out to be fabulous! I have some amazing fans that live there - including April, Ethan, and my friends Sarah and Jen. I feel like they are a part of my small traveling family and it is great to see them on the road. We celebrating in penny-slot style, which has become a hilarious tradition in New Mexico - and Jen and Sarah were incredible hosts as usual.

On an aside, I have been in the mood to listen to Jesus radio for some reason. When I am by myself, and feeling a bit lonely, I just turn it on and up - and begin to feel uplifted. Seriously. Try it. Also - it doesn't hurt if you replace every "You" with your name. That helps even more.

Last night, I played in a small town called Clarkdale AZ. It was a beautiful drive and the show was pretty great. Unfortunately, it is my 2nd time playing here and the turn-out was a bit low - but I had a great time. Those that were there, listened intently to both my babble and my songs. I sold merch and had long talks with several sweet locals.

I am now sitting in the town of Cottonwood, in a great new cafe: Crema, eating a salad and generally feeling like this journal entry is so long that you might be in your pajamas by the time you finish. I will continue eating my organic salad - and then take some gelato for the road to Prescott.

Shouts to all of you from the road. Thank you for your incredible support.

Ice Cream Link: http://www.sproutandrhythm.com/2008/08/menu-for-week-of-august-24-2008.html

Bye for now!
Camille