We just got back from our debut European tour - 18 shows, 6 rental cars, 9 flights, and 6 countries in 4 weeks! Does it sound like we're counting?! Yes, it was a whirlwind, but we had a great time minus a few misadventures. We'll detail some highlights a little later on.
First though, we're looking ahead to concerts and tours coming up soon, including a fabulous house concert in Carmel Valley, CA TOMORROW afternoon, one in Berkeley, CA later in the month, and dates on the Central East Coast and in Manitoba in November and December respectively. View our tour schedule through the end of 2017 below, and please share our dates with your friends. The more the merrier!! We still have a date or two we could fill in for this year, as well as a little window of time over the next few weeks to devote to applying to festivals for next year and booking house concerts and venues for 2018 and beyond. Please send an email to info@danandlaurel.ca to let us know if you'd like to host us for a house concert in your living room or know a venue or festival near you which we should approach! It can be as easy as gathering your chairs and music loving friends, we'll show up, and everyone will enjoy a memorable time. THANK YOU for keeping us in mind!
Ok, now back to Europe! We started in Iceland, which really stole our hearts and imaginations. We could easily devote an entire newsletter to telling you all about the fun we had. Here are some highlights in picture form, including meeting some Icelandic horses, tasting traditional rye bread baked for 24 hours under molten mud, hiking through "Game of Thrones" style landscapes (that was a bit of a cold, epic adventure...!), and just the peaceful, yet wild countryside. We soaked up some hot springs and can't wait to return!
Then the tour dates started kicking in as we traveled through Ireland, France, and Germany, performing almost every night along the way at many house concerts and a handful of venues. Hospitality was top notch and we appreciated the tradition of looooong applauses and encores (interestingly, the French now call it "bis"!). We especially enjoying busking in Galway, seeing the Cliff's of "more hair" and jamming with a young group of musicians on the Dingle peninsula on Ireland's west coast, for better or worse the crazy, romantic Paris, and the countryside of France, including the Château de Chambord (we might as well have been in a Masterpiece Theater movie). Also, we were amazed to see the tidy organization of speeds on the Autobahn in Germany (Darwin's theory at work perhaps!?). No one camping out in the fast lane there! Laurel got up to 160kph, but we easily saw people going by at 220!
Next, we visited Denmark, which we easily could have stayed in for another few days...or weeks...or years. Laurel enjoyed getting to see where her father's side of the family had originated from, and everyone we met was so kind and generous. Our shows were well attended and we left a lot of CDs behind for the Danes to enjoy. Our sightseeing highlights were the Frederiksborg Castle and Dryehaven park, where we came across a Red Deer with gigantic antlers! We didn't want to risk getting close enough to him to get a good photo.
Finally, we flew over to the UK for a string a dates, and particularly enjoyed seeing Yorkshire, Wales, and spending some time in Liverpool. Between the gorgeous countryside, friendly hosts, visiting the childhood homes of all the Beatles, being asked to perform live on the BBC in Liverpool, and getting to meet and play a show with Elfin Bow, one of our new favorite UK artists, our road weary spirits found renewal each day.
We're back in our little cabin in California now and are thankful that ourselves and our instruments came back intact, but look forward to returning to Europe in the future. On a final note, Laurel really deserves some kind of expert driving status stamp on her drivers license for tackling the roads in all these countries! Other than the Autobahn, between the ubiquitous roundabouts, sometimes driving on the right, and sometimes the left..., driving (and trying to find parking) in Paris and London (not recommended!), and some incredibly narrow roads in Ireland where a head on collision seemed imminent, she was a real trooper and came through with flying colors. Dan also gets high marks for deciphering the GPS navigation suggestions and rerouting us many times on the fly.
We hope you enjoyed our Europe tour wrap up as much as we did going back through the photos. As always, you can track our progress around the globe and join in the fun by liking us on Facebook, and right now you can scroll back through a bit and watch some footage from shows we performed throughout the trip.
Finally, we're still test driving new material for a fourth album at our shows and would like to gather 20 or so fans to take part in our online listening team. You'll get the chance to hear the songs we're considering, give feedback, and vote on your favorites. We have about 25 new songs currently on our list, but only the top 12 or so will make it onto the next album. We want only the very best! No "filler" tunes! Please send us an email at info@danandlaurel.ca if you'd like to take part and we'll add you to the group. Thanks for the help!
