Recording with Prairie Dogs and Mother Nature (Day 19)

Prairie dogs are bold creatures

               This was the rest day the Argyles had been lacking since Toronto. Everyday had involved some of these activities: driving, performing, loading up the van, partying, staying up really late, and waking up too early because of a hot tent. But that morning we started the day right. The tent was pitched beneath a tree, giving us relief from the prairie sun. It was also leisurely as we munched on eggs, beans, and instant coffee followed by jamming, reading, and more napping. The batteries were slowly recharging. 

He is getting to Matt

                GD continued his hobby of antagonizing Matt. In a childish fashion, GD would read out paragraphs  of a history book Matt was enjoying and make fun of the content. He got under Matt’s skin soon enough. But then Matt had an epiphany: he used to do the same thing to his little sister Elizabeth. The snark came from the other mouth; this time, it didn’t sound as sweet. Guilt washed over his face. Elizabeth, he lamented, if only I had known; I would never have got my kicks at the expense of another; never have treated you like a source of amusement rather than as a good brother should. My God, what have I done?

                We were driving the van into town to go to a coffee shop. After backing onto the road, I  honked at Martin as a joke.  I glanced in my mirror to look at Martin’s still startled face. But instead, he was chasing after us. Was he planning on giving me a good shouting after my reckless honking? I accelerated. He started waving his hands in a fury. Go ahead and wave your hands, I thought, you will never catch up with the van. Then I heard a large crash in the back. Did he just throw a rock at us? I stepped out of the van and walked to the van. One back door was open. 5 meters behind, Greg’s PA. which had bought the extra big van just to drive home, lay on the road in pieces. 

Recording under a tree

                Later in the afternoon, Greg began to set up his recording equipment to lay down a new track at the campsite. Thinking I had an hour before we would start, I went for a walk on the bikepath to find the swimming hole. After taking a dip and returning to the path, I stumbled upon what I believed to be a shortcut. But shortly after, I realized I was on a different bikepath and going the opposite way from our campsite. 30 minutes later I arrived at the beach, which I knew to be far from the site. I took to the road and hoped it would get me back. Fortunately, I was able to confirm I was on the right path by a car full of bros who I directed to the beach. Upon arriving at the campsite, the pulses of the base drums directed me home. I was gone for two hours. I missed my chance to be on the new track. 

                They were recording under a tree next to the tent. The new song, written and sung by Matt Dowling, sounded good. He spent a year working it out. GD and Greg also sounded solid, given that they had never played the song before. Indeed, each rendition got tighter and tighter. Greg, always the perfectionist, demanded that they do more. 

Prairie lightning is cool

                There was some hope of us playing a show in a small town outside of Winnipeg, but it didn’t work out; so, we prepared to spend the evening in. We cooked a dinner of porkchop sandwiches, drank whisky, and played Civilization 5 under the stars. Flashes of light illuminated the sky; these Prairie thunder storms didn’t fail to impress. After polishing off the rest of the bottle, the Argyles and Martin Bradstreet retired to the tent with spirits high. The shows would come soon enough.