Monday
Jul062009
Toni Childs in Sun Valley, Idaho
Monday, July 6, 2009 at 05:41AM
In late May I spent a week in Ketchum, Idaho - a swank little ski town in Sun Valley - for a gig with singer-songwriter Toni Childs (official website here).
It was a pretty short-notice gig because Toni's usual rhythm section couldn't make the trip from Australia, so my friend Chris Van Sickle who plays piano and B3 with Toni gave me a call, emailed me the charts and mp3s a couple days before we were set to leave. Also new to the gig was another friend of mine from when I lived in Victoria, a drummer named Tom Salter who was in pretty much the same boat. On electric guitar was Adam Dobres, also from Victoria and another guy I had played a bunch of gigs with before. On rhythm acoustic and electric guitar was a Nate, a surfer dude from Hawaii via New Jersey. A terrific sound tech named John Borys was doing sound. I worked with him when I was a teenager playing gigs in Victoria with different bands, and it was a totally rad to catch up with him after many years.
The band rehearsed in the old Opera House for 4 days leading up to the show. We were able to leave all the gear set-up all week which allowed Chris and I to rent some bicycles. The "commute" from the little condo where the band stayed to the Opera House was a nice bike path through the valley. A couple hours of tunes, a lunch break, some more tunes and then the bike ride home as the sun was getting low was just about one of the best work schedules I think I've ever had.
During rehearsals, Toni really knew what she wanted to hear and wasn't afraid to ask for it. This was actually nice for me because it took some of the decision-making out of my hands and I could just play my parts as best as I could. The music was primarily world-beat pop, I suppose from Toni's experiences writing and recording in Africa and working with musicians like Peter Gabriel, but there were also a couple numbers that were definitely more rock with a little R&B in there too.
The concert was at the Sun Valley Pavilion, a 1500-seat, $30-million venue just a couple hundred yards away from where we had been rehearsing. Toni had decided late in the week that she wanted to fly in one of her regular band members, a cellist from L.A. named Ana Lenchantin, so we brushed up on a few of the tunes at our (really long) soundcheck as the venue's crew was getting everything together. The show started just as the sun was going down, and with the exception of a few dodgy endings, everything went off without a hitch. Toni's fans were ecstatic and by the end of our set there was a happy group of people right in front of the stage singing along and getting into it.
The highlight for me, aside from traveling to a new place which I almost always enjoy, was getting a chance to hang out and play with some old buddies and bandmates in that new context. Sun Valley is a beautiful place, and if I ever won the lottery I might consider purchasing a small, modest chalet in Ketchum for a ridiculous sum of money in hopes of running into the likes of Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis at the local organic market.
Clockwise from left: Adam Dobres, Chris Van Sickle, Toni Childs, Tom Salter, Ana Lenchantin, Nate, me.
Go to my Flickr page to see more photos from this trip!
It was a pretty short-notice gig because Toni's usual rhythm section couldn't make the trip from Australia, so my friend Chris Van Sickle who plays piano and B3 with Toni gave me a call, emailed me the charts and mp3s a couple days before we were set to leave. Also new to the gig was another friend of mine from when I lived in Victoria, a drummer named Tom Salter who was in pretty much the same boat. On electric guitar was Adam Dobres, also from Victoria and another guy I had played a bunch of gigs with before. On rhythm acoustic and electric guitar was a Nate, a surfer dude from Hawaii via New Jersey. A terrific sound tech named John Borys was doing sound. I worked with him when I was a teenager playing gigs in Victoria with different bands, and it was a totally rad to catch up with him after many years.
The band rehearsed in the old Opera House for 4 days leading up to the show. We were able to leave all the gear set-up all week which allowed Chris and I to rent some bicycles. The "commute" from the little condo where the band stayed to the Opera House was a nice bike path through the valley. A couple hours of tunes, a lunch break, some more tunes and then the bike ride home as the sun was getting low was just about one of the best work schedules I think I've ever had.During rehearsals, Toni really knew what she wanted to hear and wasn't afraid to ask for it. This was actually nice for me because it took some of the decision-making out of my hands and I could just play my parts as best as I could. The music was primarily world-beat pop, I suppose from Toni's experiences writing and recording in Africa and working with musicians like Peter Gabriel, but there were also a couple numbers that were definitely more rock with a little R&B in there too.
The concert was at the Sun Valley Pavilion, a 1500-seat, $30-million venue just a couple hundred yards away from where we had been rehearsing. Toni had decided late in the week that she wanted to fly in one of her regular band members, a cellist from L.A. named Ana Lenchantin, so we brushed up on a few of the tunes at our (really long) soundcheck as the venue's crew was getting everything together. The show started just as the sun was going down, and with the exception of a few dodgy endings, everything went off without a hitch. Toni's fans were ecstatic and by the end of our set there was a happy group of people right in front of the stage singing along and getting into it.
The highlight for me, aside from traveling to a new place which I almost always enjoy, was getting a chance to hang out and play with some old buddies and bandmates in that new context. Sun Valley is a beautiful place, and if I ever won the lottery I might consider purchasing a small, modest chalet in Ketchum for a ridiculous sum of money in hopes of running into the likes of Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis at the local organic market.
Clockwise from left: Adam Dobres, Chris Van Sickle, Toni Childs, Tom Salter, Ana Lenchantin, Nate, me.Go to my Flickr page to see more photos from this trip!
in Gigs, Touring, bass, idaho, ketchum, sun valley, toni childs, tour
Gigs, Touring, bass, idaho, ketchum, sun valley, toni childs, tour
Reader Comments (2)
Looks like you had a lot of fun. Ketchum is amazing eh? I love it there.
Hey Ry! Sounds like a great trip, and I do agree. If I was ever to buy a vacation home, the only sensible reason to do so, in my personal opinion, would have to be in the hopes of a chance meeting with the likes of Clint Eastwood and or Bruce Willis!