Strada

note: STRADA was formerly know as TOURIST, until a name conflict and confusion with the vancouver band, Tourist. It’s a nasty summer night in northern Alberta. The air outside is hot and wet. The air inside is even more disgusting. The place is packed, everybody’s wet, and the guy next to me smells like shit. It’s July in Edmonton, the place is called Red’s. Two years and a few months ago, Daniel Huscroft arrives at the Calgary airport. Leaving behind opportunity and comfort in Nashville, he’s waiting to be picked up by some guy he’s never really met, nor heard of. What the hell does Dan know that I don’t? Tonight in Edmonton, he’s the first to take to the stage. The eerie sound he squeezes out of his Fender Telecaster makes the sweaty hairs on my neck dry out, and stand up. Suddenly the smell of shit beside me could almost be pleasant as I listen to a stirring song I’ve never heard before played by a band I never knew existed. I didn’t come out tonight to hear Strada, but I’m stuck here in the centre of a sell out crowd, listening to the opening band, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s been just over two years since Dan came to Calgary and ho... more...