Who needs books on tape?

Amanda (the birthday girl) brings our latest Harlequin to life en route to Nashville. We play Music City Roots at the  Loveless Cafe for the first time on Feb 15!

Happy New Year!

Banff, AB

Thanks to all the fans in Banff and Calgary who came out to see us on our first tour of 2012! We always look forward to our time in Alberta, and playing three sold-out shows at the Banff Centre, Fish Creek Concerts and The Nickelodeon was a fantastic way to start the year. After a full month of vacation (Amanda went to Thailand…I went to Fairview Mall), it was a great feeling to step on stage together again.

Every baby needs a Dala bib!

While out West, we made sure to drop in on our favourite Canadian cafe, the Communitea Cafe in Canmore. The Communitea recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary, and on top of that Marnie the owner just became a new mom! The occasion definitely called for a special Dala gift.

On this tour we also debuted the Dala Loyalty Club cards. Amanda can’t wait to stamp your card. Seriously, I think she’s more excited about using that stamp than she is about our new album.

Loyalty Club Cards will be available at all upcoming Dala shows. Fans will get a stamp from us for every show they attend, with special gifts and membership upgrades as they progress from Bronze (6 shows) to Silver (12 shows) to Gold (18 shows). After that, we find you a new hobby.

To all our friends in Alberta: Stay warm!
*Sheila

p.s. The new album “Best Day” will be released on June 8, 2012. We can’t wait!

Amanda's Homemade Recipe For The Best West Coast Tour Ever!

Ingredients:

1 cotton dress from Seattle
1/2 a bag of cotton candy in San Francisco
2 sunny days at Strawberry Folk Fest
8 postcards from Weed, CA
1 hour standing awe-struck at Crater Lake
1 full day driving through Oregon
4 days at Americana Song Camp in Sisters, Oregon
2 jaw dropping performances by Willy Porter
1 new song with Matt the Electrician
5 handfulls of jelly beans
2 shows in beautiful British Columbia

Directions:

Slowly mix all ingredients together. Allow to bake in the hot sun for almost 3 weeks.

Enjoy with friends and family!

Summer Bliss

As another amazing summer comes to a close, Sheila and I have put together a quick list of our most memorable moments:

Red's Eats, Wiscasset ME

Amanda’s Top Memorable Moments

1. Red’s Eats Lobster Roll: On our beautiful drive through Maine we stopped at Red’s Eats to try their world famous lobster roll. It was totally worth the wait!

2. Breakfast of champions: Our buffet breakfast in Bellevue Washington was out of this world. Smoked salmon, blackberries, cheese, capers and bacon: I’m convinced that they read my mind before preparing it.

3. Camping in Ontario: I spent three nights in a wilderness oasis north of Toronto. With no one around I could truly hear my own thoughts…. it was pretty quiet.

Sheila’s Top Memorable Moments

1. Buying a harness and leash for my cat: Note to self: cats are not dogs; they do not like harnesses or leashes.

2. Seeing Jesus Christ Superstar at Ontario’s Stratford Festival. It did justice to my all-time favourite musical. I even sang along with the guitar solos.

3. Camping in Ontario: I spent three nights in a wilderness oasis north of Toronto. With no one around I could truly hear my own thoughts….”BEARS.” Note to self: when trying to fall asleep in the darkness of Algonquin, don’t start wondering whether you have been tracked all day by a bear and/or escaped convict.

Let there be LIGHT!

We finished our US Spring tour with an amazing show at Concerts at the Crossing in Titusville, NJ.  Special thanks to Treasa Levasseur for her wonderful opening set. The weather on the night of the show was dark and stormy, and the whole building actually lost power RIGHT before Amanda and I had to go onstage. That sound in the background of the video is heavy rainfall on the roof. We were ready to go ahead with an unplugged set, when Joni Mitchell’s secret chords magically saved the day!

Watch the video : Let there be LIGHT!

We'll miss you, "One Night Stand"!

Well it’s a sad day for Dala. On our wintery drive from Lloydminster to Westlock Alberta we finally finished our cheesy romance novel “One Night Stand”. Now we are left with not only an empty space in our hearts…. but in our brains as well. For I am convinced that I’m just a little bit stupid-er for having read this book.

TOP QUOTES from “One Night Stand”:

1. ” But I’m a fighter–not a dancer.” -Reed Corrigan

2. “When he brought her home, he kissed her in the car, suggested they see Dances with Wolves the following night, and drove away.”

3. “Never would not be too soon”

4.  ”…allowing her passion, rage, and frustration to emerge through her body, she began to dance Vegas-style jazz”

5. “Reed was wearing beige suede trousers with a full-sleeved silk shirt in which he looked wholly and disturbingly masculine”

6. “[Jodie] painted her fingernails bright orange, and made up her face with green and gold eyeshadow and tangerine lipstick…then she put on orange and green figured harem trousers and an orange silk shirt, leaving as many of the shirt buttons undone as she dared.”

*Dala note: These are the worst dressed people on earth.

7. “He said huskily, ‘I’m early and you’re perfect’.”

8. “One night wasn’t enough for Jodie. Loving her was a package deal- she came with tomorrows.”

Well I think that says it all.

Amanda

Winter’s Wonderland

Dala in Beardmore, Ontario

I’m cold. But completely content! It is day 5 of our Northwestern Ontario tour and my heart is bursting from the beauty of this fine land. I am so happy that we are finishing off 2010 (an amazing year) in our home province of Ontario. There must be something that comes with the long winters, long drives and thick forest that makes people in the North the warmest of all. Our first show was in Geraldton, a beautiful town north east of Thunder bay. The drive was familiar at first, as we passed by Red Rock where we played at the “Live from the Rock” Festival in 2008.

The community in Geraldton welcomed us with open arms and even invited us out for a lovely reception after the show, where we witnessed the ongoing debate about our possible routes to the next show in Manitouwadge:

1. The Long Way: (6 hours) Follow hwy 11 down and to hwy 17, through Marathon and up.
2. The Short Way: (2 hours) Take the unpaved, single lane, bush road through the wilderness, avoiding the many giant potholes, logging trucks, and moose…. all of which ultimately have the right of way.

Dala and their tour manager Paul in Manitouwadge, Ontario

Our drive to Manitouwadge (the long way) was long, but beautiful, and we made sure to grab a picture with the town’s over-sized welcome sign (our goal is to take a picture whenever we see something over-sized). The next day was spent cooped up in our van, listening to T. Bay radio, and reading quality literature as we made the 8 hour trek to Dryden.

I am currently sitting in my room looking out over the Wabigoon River. Including tonight, Sheila and I have three more shows until we return home to Toronto. With our boot-tucks in full swing, we are fully enjoying this peaceful time up North.

Thank you Ontario, for helping us end our whirlwind year with a reminder that the most beautiful places in the world are in our own backyard!

Amanda

10 Things I Learned On Our U.S. Tour

1. Regardless of how early it is, never leave the car in ‘drive’ when parking on a slope.
2. Tea cures everything!
3. When staying in Memphis make sure you bring a big appetite!
4. Beautiful stationary is hard to find
5. Cheese strings would probably survive a nuclear bomb
6. Toronto tap water is my favourite
7. 2 jackets are better than one
8. Best friends know how you are feeling even if you don’t know yourself
9. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is really great!
10. It takes three days to crochet a blanket

Note to self: The Chocolate Church is not made of chocolate

So we just played the Chocolate Church in Bath, Maine, our last show of this two week tour in (primarily) the North East U.S. It has been a memorable trip for so many reasons; we played to a sold-out room in Natick, debuted in Memphis for 300 people, signed a U.S. record deal and even won a Canadian Folk Music Award for “Vocal Group Of The Year”. All we need to do now is land on the moon!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us on this amazing tour. We are so grateful to have you all in our corner.

xxx Amanda

p.s. I’ll be finishing up the comic book this week at home as I re-pack my bags for the next tour. It should be ready for our upcoming dates in Ontario! See you all soon!

California Dreaming

We arrived back home on Sunday, only to be greeted by cold rainy weather. It was a shock to our systems after 3 weeks in paradise. California was AMAZING!

Strawberry Blonde

Venice Beach

From fresh strawberries from a local farm, to sightseeing in L.A., to sitting by the ocean enjoying the heatwave, Sheila and I made sure to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of our trip. I was introduced to Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt which may be my new favourite dessert (or even breakfast).

Dala and the Giant Peach

Every show was unique and different on this whirlwind tour. We were treated like gold at Pepperdine University in Maibu, and were completely distracted by the stunning view of the ocean. In Whittier the audience got the chance to step into our shoes as they looked out on to the theatre from the unique stage seating set-up. And the last show of the tour was in a brand new theatre in Pleasanton, where we got to share the stage with the set of ‘James and the Giant Peach’. Needless to say it was a delicious show.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us. Sheila and I both fell in love with California and we can’t wait to return!

Signing off for now, with visions of the Golden Coast still dancing in my mind,

Adios,
Amanda

Ventura Beach at Sunset

Check out all our California pictures here

California Girls

From England to Sweet Santa Barbara

Candy Shop in Cambridge

From the moment we landed in London, I knew that our first tour in England was going to be amazing. We started in Bedford at the Rhythm Festival. On Friday night we played to a crowd of people who had never heard of us, and by the time we took the main stage on Sunday we had a mob of brand new Dala fans shouting out requests. I was in my bliss when I found out that there was a sausage and mash stand! I must have gained 5 pounds in 5 days.

We made our way down to Camden Town on Tuesday to open for folk legend Arlo Guthrie at Dingwalls’s. Before our sound check we made sure to wander through the many shops in the area.  Arlo told us some great stories backstage, and his set was truly inspiring. Our trip to England was definitely too short! We can’t wait to go back.

Hearing Arlo sing “Coming Into Los Angeles” definitely got us excited about our California tour this month. Our rental car has satellite radio and we have been listening to “50’s on 5” non-stop. Our favourite song so far is one my mom used to sing when I was little : “A white sport coat, and a pink carnation, I’m all dressed up for the dance….” . Classic.

Sheila outside the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara

We played the Lobero Theatre’s “Sings Like Hell” concert series in Santa Barbara just last night and it was amazing. Being on the same bill with Eliza Gilkyson was only topped by the chance to sing with her for the final songs of the night. We were overwhelmed by the receptive audience and by the amazing vibe out here. There’s definitely something inspiring in the air! It’s only just begun….

So long for now!

Amanda