Departure Is Imminent.

When you go on tour, you don't just magically wake up one morning and go to the airport. There's alot you have to think about before you go, and the last few days have definitely started getting busier for me as I get ready to leave for the next 5 weeks.

It's not just packing a suitcase either. You need to stock up on hygiene supplies, figure out when you can do laundry, and how much to pack as a result. Do you bring time-killers (books, dvd's, etc...) and if so, how many? You do have to cart this stuff around after all. No such thing as leaving it in a hotel room; you see a different one every single day. Will all your electronics (laptop, ipod, etc...) work? Can you plug them in? Will your phone work wherever you're going? Can you even get into all the countries you're going to? You can't just drive across the border in some of these places. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into Russia? More importantly, do you know how to get out?

And what about home? Just cause you leave doesn't mean your bills stop coming; life still happens. Your mail doesn't collect itself. Is everything up to date? All your payments made? How is that bill going to take care of itself when you're in week 3 in Croatia? Where's your car going to sit? How do people contact you in an emergency when you're in a foreign country? How do you order a coffee? The first time I went to the UK, I had to learn how to cross a street again. If you've been, I'm sure you understand.

I'm just scratching the surface here. I haven't even gotten into the technical part - the actual work... And we haven't talked about airplanes. Believe me, that changes your packing strategy in a big way... And do you know when or where to pick up your bags in the middle of a 20 hour, 4 flight day because some country has a stupid customs regulation of some sort?

I've put in three unpaid 15 hour days in a row, and I haven't left yet, but it's worth every minute.

Help Me Get A Platinum Record.

Ok, this is a little self-serving, but whatever. It's my site, please indulge me for a moment...

So here's the situation... I have a mention in the liner notes of the Sam Roberts Band's latest record, Chemical City. If it goes platinum in Canada, I can get a platinum plaque to put on my wall. It's sitting around 80,000 copies right now, we need 100,000.

There's 2 things I've wanted to accomplish in the music biz. The first is travel the world, which I'm actually getting the chance to do, and that in itself is unbelievable. The second is to have a platinum record and it's really close. So, if you don't have the CD yet, or even if you do, please head on out to the store and buy a copy. Or two. It's a worthy cause.

Now, I know you're sitting there thinking "Sounds good for you, but what's in it for me?". Well, in a nutshell, the music industry is in turmoil right now, largely because of drastically declining sales numbers. I won't get into the causes right now, but suffice to say that if you go out and support great music like Sam's, it will help create a situation in which artists will be able to write and record music that you'll love for years to come. Everybody wins in the long run.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your help and dedication to my cause :) Now let's get out there and buy some CD's!