Laura’s Blog Update No. 9
Lille. Lots of fun in Paris! I am always so excited to play there and spend some time in that beautiful city. Thanks to all the enthusiastic people who came out to our show at Cafe de la Danse.
In Lille Alex and I decided it was time to do our laundry. We traipsed through a bizarre complex of shopping malls to search out laundry detergent, and after 45 minutes we returned to the venue to learn that we’d bought fabric softener instead. The washer and dryer were in the kitchen and the very sweet chef helped us find a tiny bit of proper detergent and we supplemented the load with shampoo and Dr. Bronner’s. The chef asked us how dirty our laundry was. We said “pretty dirty.” So we washed the load at 60 degrees Celcius without thinking about it. That’s 140 degrees Farenheit! So now all of my increasingly small maternity clothes are now EVEN TIGHTER because we washed and dried them on such high heat. I feel like a fish packed into a tin, but I’m hoping things will loosen up again soon.
The chef said he’d put the laundry in the dryer for us during our show. When we returned to get it after the show we discovered he’d carefully and lovingly folded ALL of it, including our shrunken underwear! By that time he’d gone home so there was no way to thank him. On top of that he cooked us the best meal yet on the tour, and served it with a kind smile.
In other news, a fan at the merch table after the Lille show insisted on telling me that “Carbon Glacier” is my best album and that I was lying (for “promotion”) when I said that “July Flame” is my favorite. What is it about the French and “Carbon Glacier”? I have yet to meet someone in this country who likes one of my other albums more than that one. I guess it struck a cultural vein of some kind…
Below are some pics of our amazingly energetic and upbeat Scottish tour manager/sound person Tim. He dresses in 50s fashion, never stops working on endless tour-related tasks, and always reminds us that we’re “Living the Dream”!
January 31st, 2010 at 8:44 am
Great concert in Paris! congrat for the baby! you looked absolutly strong and confident being pregnant (I bet it’s a girl…?! ..anyway, whatever it is it’s always great).
Take care , keep up the good music and please come back again in Paris asap. xx
January 31st, 2010 at 11:28 am
Laura! I admire you for being on the road and it must be beautiful to be in Paris! Lovely that you had a nice time there and compliments to the “chef” for helping you like he did! Aah those Frenchmen….
I wasn’t on the road when pregnant but did do studio work (guitar) up to almost labor pains – that kid was Gwyn, my 3rd, and came out almost singing, was very strong. Take care of yourself….besides being a great person, you’re one heckuva great talent!
Am looking forward to seeing you/meeting you…and my very best to you and baby, daddy and your group on the road. You have a lot of great fans, and please add me to your list too as fan, your humble friend, Carol Kaye
January 31st, 2010 at 11:38 am
PS. I LOVE your music and wanted to thank you for your wonderful song about me….it’s very well-done, sounds like a hit to me…you’re terrific Laura, and a fantastic talent! Your whole group sounds wonderful! xx Carol
January 31st, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Well I could expect that people would claim Carbon Glacier to be your best. I’m not into all of it, but there are a select few songs on there that just really get to me. Ether Sings, Icebound Stream, The Cloud Room, Riptide… Those are four of my favvs by you. But I LOVE July Flame!! I can’t wait until you tour America. Come to Michigan, come to the Detroit area, play an all ages show, PLAY LIFE IS GOOD BLUES! I challenge every single “ohhher” and “ahhhher” at all your European shows to show that Michiganians can beat them.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:05 am
Just wanted to say Hello Laura and thank you for your show in Paris. Long story short when I was in college, my friends used to laugh at me because every now and then I’d rent a movie just to have a good cry (if you want to know, it was “Shadowlands” based on the life of CS Lewis). All of this to say that listening to the lyrics of one of your musicians (“oh believers” he called himself?) had the same effect on me. I just sat in the audience, quietly weeping melancholy tears in the dark. I’m American and I’ve been in Paris for 5 years now and all of you brought me back “home.” Thanks and best wishes for the rest of your tour and your pregnancy!!! -Sarah
February 1st, 2010 at 7:41 am
Great show in Paris.I was really delighted to see you in Paris, and as Marie Said : Pregnancy suits you well
Tighter clothes must be fun now !
To answer the question of your albums, probably the French as I love Carbon Glacier (Rapture is my favorite song) but what a splendid album July Flame!
Kisses
Emmanuel
February 1st, 2010 at 7:41 am
Really enjoying your on-the-road blog, Laura! Thanks so much for doing it!
July Flame is now, firmly, my favourite. C x
February 1st, 2010 at 4:18 pm
I received your beautiful songs by pure chance to buy an mp3 player, exposure model that I found filled with 8 gb of music.
Listening to your songs first, I thought immediately that I’ll listen long, long time. Three years later, that sentiment is still very much alive in me.
Your first four albums were on this drive and I discovered at once. And I loved them all at once.
“Works of art are an infinite solitude, and nothing is less able to address them as critical. Only love can grasp and keep them justice. “Rainer Maria Rilke in his 3rd letter to a young poet.
The criticism in France had really discovered with Laura Veirs Carbon Glacier.
But the critics’ “comparison”, she” loves “more difficult.
And the critics began to praise this comparison.
Maybe the weight of this convenience, which remains prominent in the opinions of people you have crossed.
To me, your best album is … the future, the richest of all the steps which have preceded it.
Because this choice is guided by the trust.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Sorry, I forgot to mention that since I bought all the CDs available
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:40 pm
French girl, but another favourite one: Saltbreakers!… Might be because of all the good memories related to it… Anyway, I do love Carbon Glacier and July Flame (happy sunshine in a cold and rainy winter), and I hope you’ll be back in France ’cause I missed the show in Paris… Why not Besançon: another great great (but smaller) town…
Wish you all the best!
February 5th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Hi Laura and band,
It was great to see you guys in Paris. I first heard your music just a few weeks back on BBC’s ‘Late Junction’. It was the words ‘you do as you damn well please’ that first caught my ear; I liked the words even more when I later realised you’re singing about a firefly. I’ve since bought ‘July Flames’ and listen to it all the time. I like reading your blog entries too and am glad that I now know who Carol Kaye is.
All the best to you all,
P