FFWD Weekly
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Music by Aubrey McInnis B’ehl with Novillero and Porter Hall Night Gallery July 29 About to embark on a new tour in support of their exquisite sophomore album, Bright Eyes, Winnipeg’s B’ehl are finishing up one of their last practices before hitting the road. It’s been a busy year since the release of the album last January – they’ve received glorious reviews in Billboard magazine, attained distribution in Japan and the U.K. (and are near to closing another deal in Indonesia), and have maintained darling status with campus radio stations and ’zines. Fast Forward spoke to Allison Somers – the gal responsible for guitar, piano, flute and part of the earnest harmonic vocals in B’ehl – to find out how she, Melanie Barnes (acoustic guitar, piano, organ, moog, vocals), Chris Hiebert (drums), and Allison’s husband Bob Somers (bass guitar, electric guitar) stay in such amazing spirits while on the road (i.e. treat your tour like a vacation). Here’s their advice: (1) "Join a musicians’ union so that you can actually get paid at shows and get cheap instrument insurance. Our drummer (Chris Hiebert from The Bonaduces), on his last tour, got his drums ripped off – you never know when that’s gonna happen. There’s (a union) in every city." (2) "Rent a van – we’re finally wising up and we’re gonna splurge for a nice minivan with air-conditioning. But you know if it breaks down, you just get another one. On our first tour, our van broke down two hours away from home. It was in a small town and the RCMP escorted us to the bus station with all of our amps and stuff and we took a bus home." (3) "Have beer and food lined up at every show." (4) "If you’re looking for places to stay – if you’re asking people at the show if they can set you up at their place – always shoot for the suburbs. We have a friend in Calgary, her name is Nicole, and we stay at her parents’ place and get strawberry waffles in the morning, tofu sausages, peach hand lotion – it’s perfect." (5) "Never pass up a shower, it may be your last. You could go five days without finding someone to lend you their shower. What we did once in Calgary or Vancouver, we were at the university and the gym was open, so we got into their locker room and were able to have a shower with towels and everything. Another trick is baby powder – it takes the grease out of your hair." (6) "Barry Manilow calms you down. You should always have a Barry Manilow CD in the van for those all-night drives. ‘Mandy’ is always good, ‘Daybreak’ and ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ – y’know sing-a-longs so that everyone stays awake." (7) "Bring plenty of your own band’s T-shirts so that you’ll have something to change into after shows. It’s the only time that you’ll wear your own T-shirts and not be ashamed of it." (8) "It’s good to have a motto, like an emotion booster. Our last tour motto was: ‘This is gonna be our best show ever,’ no matter where you are. You know how Madonna always prayed with her gang before her show? You need something like that." (9) "Overzealous male fans? We like the ones who are smitten because we get presents. There’s no need to ward those people off." (10) "Government grants – get one. If your CD is funded by a grant, then you shouldn’t have a problem getting one for tour support... because it helps us sell CDs and then in turn, we pay them back a portion of whatever they loaned us. It’s kind of underground, you have to hunt for it, but once you’re in, it’s pretty nice."

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