April Tour: Day 9

Wednesday April 18, 2012

After a bit of a slow start to the morning and a nice run in Champaign, IL, we got ready and Fiona, Norah and I went to pick up Cillian and Ailie at the other hosts house they were staying at. All the neighbourhoods around the area were so quaint and beautiful with all the trees and flowers blossoming and the streets made of bricks, we felt like we were in a movie! It was also quite warm, so it was the perfect start to the day.

A while later we arrived in Chicago and had to find the radio station for our interview on Live Ireland with the lovely Maryann Kiefer and Bill Margeson. They are such great people and supporters of celtic music and new bands, it was great to see them again. We got a bit lost in the maze of the buildings, as the station was in one of the school buildings in a massive college. After a quick stop in the student center for a snack and coffee--of which Cillian was so excited about, but proceeded to accidentally drop his entire coffee on the way out the door before his first sip! Poor guy!

We drove around and eventually found the right building. This is how awesome Maryann is: she was waiting outside the doors for us with instructions that we could just park right there as the police have been notified that it's ok AND a huge tupperware container of homemade cookies!!! Amazing! We also think she just wanted to see us unfold ourselves out of our packed van! hahaha. We had a lovely interview and visit with Bill, Maryann and Imelda. Always good laughs and a fun time.

We stopped for a bit of a late lunch at Panera Bread and had some amazing salad, sandwiches & soup that they are known for. We also got to do some business thanks to the free wifi. It's the little things I tell ya! :-) We made an important pit stop at Walgreens Pharmacy on the way. Somehow I only brought 1 pair of black tights (my favourite pair that I got in England) and they ended up getting lost in the wash, so I had to buy a new pair...not as good, but it'll do until I get to the UK again in 2 weeks! Also, Norah left her entire makeup bag at the gig in Lansing, MI, so she needed to buy all new stuff. And the lovely Fiona helped us both, as she is the master at Pharmacy stops! Oh the glamour of being on the road! HA!

We then headed to the infamous and lovely Kathy and Cary Brown's house. Since I had just been there with The Fretless on Feb 29th, it was great to be back again so soon! The most epic hosts and nicest people and supporters of celtic & live music, we were all looking forward to being back. We had a nice visit and I had a few hours of practice time before our homecooked dinner. We got ready, had a brief band meeting/rehearsal and then did the show. It's always so much fun doing house concerts, as the setting is so intimate and relaxing. Everyone was so nice and we all had a really great time. We hung out with Maryann, Kathy and Cary afterwards for a bit and then we were all so tired we all headed to bed.