In August

In August it was fun to be a ‘bird. We played at Fred Eaglesmith’s Northern Festival in Cobalt and that meant that we got to spend the weekend at the Smith cottage in New Liskeard. A great weekend - filled with sun showers, jamming by the fire, charades, giant bugs stuck in Neener’s hair, squeemy deeping and dill pickle chips - was had by all.

Final C’est What Show

On a sad note, the Ladybirds played their final show ever at their favourite Toronto venue – C’est What. The place was forced to close down after the new owners of the building tripled the rent and C’est What just could not afford the increase. It will now be replaced with a Sport’s Bar. Sad but true. It was a bit of a heavy night for the ‘birds, but the performance was a giant whack of fun. On top of it all we got to share the stage with some of our favourite people – Ember Swift and her band. They put on an amazing show to a capacity crowd. Thanks to Crispin and to Nia (C’est What) for all of the great years and memories. We’ll miss you.

Skeet Turns 4587 Years Old

Erin’s birthday was on August 27th where she turned a young and vivacious 28 years old. To celebrate, a bunch of cute people convoyed east to her parents digs in Port Ryerse (near Port Dover) to partake in beach camping, skinny dipping, saunas and hot tubs. What a feckin’ great time! Erin got a bunch of great stuff including a beach bag and a ukulele (Aloha Maui!). We drank far too much for our own good. Rumour (and it’s really only rumour) has it that Neener mounted and groped Lisa in the hot tub, beat the shit out of Melissa and then tried to make out with her, helped yank Skeeter into the hot tub fully clothed, was scandalously and practically in the buff for a long time and to this day has only slight recollection of any of these things. It has certainly become a thing of legend. The rest of the weekend was spent getting hung-over pedicures, recording in the shop, and spending time with good friends and family. Happy birthday to Skeet!

Lost in Boston

For September 3rd and 4th the ‘birds traveled southeast to play the Campfire Festival at Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For the first night we made a stop in at the Buffomante’s in East Amhearst to hot tub and get a good night's sleep. Melissa gave Neener an awesome hair cut. She’s very talented, but you pay a painful price to save the $50. Oh ‘birds. Too cute for words. Early the following morning we headed out to MA. Bless the IPod. We also wrote a barber shop quartet tune on the way which we performed on the second night. Went over pretty well, but didn’t have quite the resounding affect on CD sales as we had anticipated. We stayed with Luke Doucet’s Aunt Geraldine who – despite telling us she wouldn’t wait on us – was an outstanding hostess. Erin and I wanted to steel the bed we slept in because it was so comfy and the flannel sheets were worth dying for. But we couldn’t find a way to fit the bed into the car or into the act, so we sadly left it behind. Breakfast options of all shapes and colours were left splayed out for us every morning and we spent Saturday rehearsing in bikinis pool side. I have to say that we have to be the most spoiled musicians because our rehearsals are always so chichi. This year alone we’ve rehearsed lying down on a beach in Cuba, on the dock in Northern Ontario, in front of a crackling fire, and various church steps. It’s nice. The only thing not swanked out about the weekend was that we had to change in the parking lot. Hopefully someone out there got a good boob-flashing show. Cambridge itself has ridiculous roads and very few street signs, but the good looking Harvard fellas and plethora of crazy people make it well worth the exploration. One thing I saw while there was a busking band playing fully amplified late at night in the square and everyone, crazies and not, dancing their butts off in the streets. The best part was this random crazy guy who was playing a recorder and attempting to bust out a solo to Voodoo Chile while putting his whole body into the gesture and running around like he was right fecked up. Awesome! The shows were pretty decent. But the festival itself was a great idea. They pack so many great acoustic performers into one long weekend. Lots of exposure to new music and new fans, so it was worth it, in the end. My personal favourite was The Everybodyfields (www.theeverybodyfields.com). They were so good. Another highlight was Ana Egge (www.anaegge.net) who we’re convinced is Lindy’s long lost fraternal twin.

On a side note, I want to commend my ladies for sticking to their various diets while on the road this weekend. It’s tough to do it when your options consist of Roy Rogers and vending machines. Also, Lisa replaced boozing it up with the other ‘birds to jogging. It’s really tough to stay healthy on the road, but I think the ‘birds are getting there….

Our Record

This month we’re recording our record. It will be released pretty soon, so keep your knickers on. We’ll keep you well informed.

With much lube,
Janine Stoll

Your LBSS Correspondent