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Tour Diary: Magical Amherst
We had two stops is Amherst Nova Scotia on the New Shoes tour in August 2019. One planned, one unexpected. We’d planned to stay there with friends the night of our Sackville gig on our way back, but upon realizing how close to Moncton Amherst is, we ended up staying with our friends that night on the way down. We arrived to be greeted by fudgesicles and the words ‘I booked you guys a gig in the morning!’ Both of which were very welcomed.
The gig was at Dayle’s Market which is a big open indoor market place with a café and a handful of really cool little shops in what turned out to be hopping downtown Amherst. The market has a regular Friday afternoon performer who was away that week, leaving it open for the three of us to hop in. I had to be on stage at the Pennybrook Festival in West Dublin Nova Scotia that evening at 6pm, so we set up at eleven am and each did about a 15 minute set. Elma Niacci sat on the steps and blew everyone away. Be sure to stop into Dayle’s Market, should you find yourself in Amherst NS.
We each enjoyed a nice stroll around the market as the others did their sets. I bought this neat journal made from thrift shop finds. We had a quick little jam on this piano.
There was a clothing store there (who were the people through which we got the gig) and I saw they had an amazing pair of 6” leopard print heels on display so I promptly went over to ask for them in my size and the lady laughed, because she didn’t carry those shoes, she found them at a thrift store and bought them to display. All the shoes she sells are somewhat sensible black and brown comfortable shoes. She directed me to Electric Kitty, a shop in the mezzanine of the market to look at her shoes, which were all for sale. And there my friends, I bought these awesome bunny shoes. It’s run by a musician and along with shoes, she sells funky clothes and a selection of music gear. If you go through Amherst, go to Electric Kitty. (You don’t even have to go to Amherst: https://www.electrickittyclothing.com/)
We had a second delay in getting away as my friend insisted that we leave Amherst bearing scones. Specifically, scones from the Starlite Café. https://www.facebook.com/yummyscones/ She went through a heroic effort to bike for scones and meet us back at the car, and let me tell you, if you go through Amherst NS, you must have these scones.
When we got to the folk festival I pretty much had to go straight to the green room where the act before me was doing some last minute tuning. When she saw my shoes she whipped out a tote bag with the brand logo on it and informed me that she works for that company in London England. The world is strange and tiny.
On the return leg of the tour we stopped in Amherst again for the Sackville NB gig. The next day we had a short drive to Fredericton, so we hung around town for a bit. I hit a Pilates class at the YMCA, Hubert Sohner and Elma Niacci spent the morning at Dayle’s Market, where they met a local musician and painter who’s work had caught Hubert’s eye and I understand they had a great time hanging out with him. Before hitting the road we had a magnificent lunch at the Savoie Kitchen. Seriously, one of the nicest meals I’d had in a long time, and I live in Montreal. So if you go through Amherst, go to the Savoie. http://www.thesavoiekitchen.ca/