Saturday, May 1, 2010

Storyhill's Big Sky Tour, Day 3

Yesterday we loaded up the car with instruments, CDs and large coffees, leaving Bozeman around noon. Thankfully the snow eased up as we got out of town so that I could see more of the mountains. This was a new stretch of I-90 for me, and I enjoyed it immensely, going through Butte, through the Mission Mountains and by Flathead Lake.

We checked in at our hotel and then went to the KM Theatre in Kalispell for our soundcheck. We were greeted enthusiastically by the promoter Marshall, who had seen me a couple years ago at Storyhill's Bozeman festival. We had a quick and easy soundcheck and then grabbed some dinner downstairs at Red's Wine & Blues.

Local artist Sarston Noice opened up the sold-out show with a couple of her funky originals, accompanied by her electric guitar. Then Scott of Montana Radio Cafe introduced me as Marshall's favorite banjo player. I played a short opening set and had a great time. A small theater in the round, it has amazing sound and a cozy vibe. The crowd was a lot of fun and turned out to be full of great singers, when they joined me and Storyhill on my closer "Revival Train."

Highlights from Storyhill's set included "Full Circle," "Town Talks," "Caught in a Mess," "Well of Sorrow," "White Roses," and "Sacramento," the second of three songs they did during their encore.

I met lots of great folks after the show, including local musician Barbara Calm, a friend of Sound of Blackbirds contributor Jess Byers. Afterwards, we all had margaritas and fries at the North Bay Grill--a really fun time.

Got some decent sleep before heading out this morning to Whitefish to check out Amazing Crepes. Invited by owners Becky and Todd last night at the show, we were treated to some amazing savory and sweet crepes. (My favorites were the root vegetables/spinach/cheddar/locally raised ham and the apricot gruyere ones.) Definitely worth a trip if you find yourself in downtown Whitefish.

Now we're on the road to Missoula, where we will play tonight...8 pm at the Top Hat!

5 comments:

Matt Winters said...

In what town were you actually playing? Not clear to me from the post.

I'm enjoying the updates from the road!

Ellen Stanley said...

We played in Missoula--really fun show!

Jess said...

Yay!!!! But the Mission Mountains and Flathead Lake are on Highway 93, not I-90. :) That's my old hood... Wish I'd been there.

Barbara said...

Kalispell! they played Kalispell! which can be found on a map near Kila...

Ellen Stanley said...

Clearly I've been a bit sleep-deprived! I guess Matt was asking where the KM Theatre was...That Day 3 gig was in Kalispell, as Barbara said (and she would know!). Saturday we played in Missoula, Jess' old stomping grounds.

Jess was also correct that the Mission Mountains and Flathead are on 93...I just lost track what highway we were on when we passed those. You can tell I wasn't driving, just admiring the scenery. :)