North Ontario to Eastern Canada!

Greetings Clamfolk! I can now say that I have made it to Eastern Canada. I'm writing this post from a quaint cafe in Montreal, where I am staying for a couple weeks, playing at least four shows. My show in Duluth was definitely the least attended of the whole tour thus far - at one point I was just performing for the staff and the other musician (Andy Austin, a classical guitar player from Milwaukee). But the venue (Beaner's Central Coffeehouse) was very hip and I had fun exploring Duluth nonetheless. I found the architecture to be especially interesting - seemed very colonial to me. Fun fact - Duluth is also the largest inland port in the world. After the harrowing night spent in my car on the dirt road in Bemidji, I luckily found a campground on the outskirts of Duluth, where I felt much safer sleeping near a smattering of other RVs and campers. The drive up the coast of Lake Superior back to Canada was beautiful - passing through neat towns and the historic Split Rock Lighthouse.

Historic Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior

When I got back to Canada (and found myself in Ontario), I made my way to Nolalu, a small town near Thunder Bay and found the house of Larry Watson and his partner Liz. Beautiful property - everything built by Larry over the last 30 years. I played a show in his woodworking shop, to a very small but very appreciative audience. I have learned by doing these solo shows that I actually prefer quality of audience over quantity - ie, I'd rather perform for a small and attentive audience as opposed to a large rowdy group not even paying attention. Large rowdy audiences certainly have their place, but it's not an ideal audience for a solo storytelling accordion player. Anyway, after a lovely breakfast and tour of Larry's property, I headed off on the long trek across North Ontario. That was the first day I felt rather tired and unmotivated to keep going, especially after seeing that Sault Ste Marie was still nearly 700km from Thunder Bay and that the weather was rather overcast. I stopped at the Terry Fox Monument though, and just standing there, I felt hope and motivation to keep going. If Terry could run halfway across the country with cancer and one leg, I could certainly keep my foot on the gas pedal.

The always inspiring Terry Fox

Around 5pm I started looking for a park to stay the night (I was keen to avoid any more dirt roads) and two of the parks I had seen on the map were gated shut, which was rather discouraging. Eventually I found a campsite at Neys Provincial Park, which I had to pay $28 for - it felt a bit silly to pay that much to just pitch my tent, but it was preferable to the side of the highway. I pitched my tent, started making my macaroni and cheese on my BioLite stove, and lo and behold, some moose hunters saw me and asked what I was up to, camping by myself in such a barren place. They invited me back to their fancy RV and fed me steak, pie, wine and Labatt's Blue. A truly North Ontario experience - to be hanging out with ten moose hunters in an RV!! I learned all about moose hunting as they discussed their plan of attack for the next day. They were a very friendly bunch and insisted I take food for my drive the next day as well. As I was rather tired and it was cold to trek back to my car and back to the RV, I did not retrieve my accordion to play a few songs for them, but I regret that decision now. In the morning, I woke up around 6am to make breakfast so that I would be on the road at a decent time. It was pitch black and everything was covered in frost. I got all my kitchen utensils out while wearing a toque, gloves and my headlamp and got a good fire going in my little stove. The sun was up by the time I had my tent packed and my oatmeal made.


The drive that day was far more pleasant than the one before - especially as it was sunny most of the way. I stopped at two famous monuments - the statue of Winnie-the-Pooh in White River (where the original Winnie-the-Pooh was first adopted) and of course the giant geese in Wawa. The poor original goose had to be moved and replaced by a steel goose, as it was unable to withstand the intense winds of Lake Superior.

Monty and Winnie-the-Pooh, in White River, ON.

Dennis in front of the original world's largest goose in Wawa, ON.

Monty in front of the replacement steel goose in Wawa, ON.

When I stopped in Old Woman Bay, I saw a VW Van with BC license plates. So of course I went up to the lady and started a conversation. Turns out she was driving back from St. John's (where I'm eventually headed to) and lives in Prince George. She asked me if I'd ever been to ArtsWells and when I responded that I play there every summer, she realized she had heard of (and seen) Shelder the Electric Clamfish! So that was my first "celebrity" moment. The second was actually this morning, when I was in a kitchen at a friend's house and another guy stopped by to pick something up and when I mentioned my stage name, he said "oh, YOU'RE the Electric Clamfish! I've heard of you!" Not much longer before I become a household name! Hah!

I continued to drive for quite a while that day, searching again for a park to spend the night. When I kept passing expensive RV parks and closed provincial parks, I started to get discouraged. I tried one more park in Massey, only to end up in a creepy abandoned summer camp. That was the turning point for me - the moment when I decided I would actually pay for a motel. That was certainly the right decision, as it was below freezing that night, and I woke up to a car covered in frost. I also took a bath AND a shower, and watched crappy shows on the TV. The next day I made sure to stop at the Sudbury for the Big Nickel, Parry Sound for lunch, and then I was in Toronto by dinnertime.

Monty in front of the world's largest nickel, in Sudbury, ON. 

Lunch break in Parry Sound

Monty in front of Canada's tallest tower

To both my family's and my surprise, I made it through rush hour traffic and found my sister's condo in The Junction with no problems. As I've spent a fair bit of time visiting Toronto, it was the first place that felt like home and very familiar since I had left the coast. I spent two days doing some computer/internet work and also playing with my now 4 year old nephew James, with the honour of taking him to Kindergarten in the mornings. I also recorded some accordion and recorder for my brother in law's (Phono d'Enfant) new album that he is working on. I played a show at my friend Ildi's house near Etobicoke, with my friends Lea and Reenie (The Good Fight). I saw some familiar west coast faces in the crowd, as well as lots of lively babies and toddlers running around. The next day, after a breakfast with my whole family (my parents had come out to visit Toronto for a week and a half or so) I said goodbye to Toronto and headed to Ottawa. I took highway 7 instead of opting for the busiest highway in Canada (the 401) and also because I was told it was more scenic. Of course, it got dark halfway to Ottawa, as I had left around 2pm, but I still preferred being on the smaller, slower highway. Made it to my friend Bob's house (he is a euphonium player in the army band) and he took me out for the best pho in the city, as well as a tour of the parliament buildings and the National War Monument, where there were many flowers and tributes laid for Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.

The National War Memorial, where recent attack happened. RIP, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.

Monty in front of the nation's parliament buildings

Lots of extra police presence in the area, as it was only just a few days after the attack. I played another house concert at my friend Megan's place, again for a fairly small but very attentive (and interactive!) audience. Megan opened up with some fiddle tunes and then I played for over an hour.

The next morning, I headed across the river and found myself in Quebec! It only took a few hours to get to Montreal, which wins the prize for being the craziest place I've driven on this entire trip! Lots of taxis and other crazy vehicles darting in and out of lanes, without warning. It took me over an hour to actually get into the city and find the cafe my friend Dalhi had recommended I stop at. Eventually I found Cafe Lezard and spent a few hours just recovering from the drive. Now that I've been here for a week, I've gotten used to the driving and also the crazy parking. Everyone is impressed I've been here for a week and haven't yet received a parking ticket (knock on wood)! Since I've been here, I've been drinking lots of coffee, waking up much later than I normally have been, eating poutine and maple syrup flavoured things, and playing lots of accordion. As I am here for a couple weeks, I will write a blog post entirely dedicated to Montreal/Quebec, and also because I feel this current post is now long enough.

I plan to spend the rest of the afternoon today walking up Mont Royal, before heading to a rehearsal with my friend's band, Brassmob, who I will be sitting in with tomorrow at Quai de Brumes!

Au revoir!
Shelder the Electric Clamfish