1 Liz's new Ireland sticker
Liz Tormes’ Tour Diary, Part 4
The singer-songwriter ends her Ireland tour with friendly encounters and a new-found fondness for life’s essentials
By Liz Tormes
Published: May 6th, 2008 | 3:05pm
Singer-songwriter musician Liz Tormes has been compared to Neko Case, Sam Phillips, and Nina Nastasia for her melodic song arrangements and haunting vocals. The Nashville native and New York transplant has just released her critically acclaimed album Limelight and will be touring sporadically in support of it in the upcoming year.
Throughout April 2008, Tormes agreed to take us on her first tour of Ireland. In this final and fourth installment, Tormes sums up what she’s learned on the trip and what advice she’ll take with her on future tours.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 — Back to Northern Ireland
I’m up at 7:30 a.m. for the bus to Donegal. I had one piece of toast for breakfast and took a taxi to the bus stop. It’s amazing how these giant buses are able to navigate the tiny roads in Ireland. There were many twists and turns and soon I started to feel a little green. It’s not unusual, as I often feel car-sick when I travel. The good thing, I reminded myself, is that no matter how badly I start to feel, I actually never got sick enough — until today.
I got back to the Musician's house to meet up with him, as he was going to accompany me on a radio show. Too hung over from the previous night to drive, the Musician called a friend to drive us to the station. We were running late and in the middle of the drive to the station, the Musician realized he forgot his guitar. It was too late to turn around. He thought for a moment and then said he’d ask to borrow a guitar from a shop in town. We stopped at the shop and they agreed, so we rushed off to the station with the borrowed Fender where I did a quick interview and played a couple songs.
Then we went back to the house so that I could practice for the night’s gig. With Teddy Thompson, I played only 30-minute sets. The Musician was meant to accompany me on the gig and play some of his own songs but he managed to get barred from the venue at the last minute. That meant that tonight, it was a one-and-a-half hour solo set for Liz. I played lots of my older songs and threw in a few murder ballads for good measure.
The set was great, although it began at midnight — ugh. One thing I love about playing in Europe is that there are folks in their 60s, 70s, even 80s out listening to live music. One such old man, Tommy, would periodically clap along, smile from the back of the room, and occasionally shout out unintelligible words during my set. I thought he was speaking in Gaelic, as everyone would laugh and I had no idea what he had said. Towards the end of the set, he came up and passed me a note on stage and I finally got the joke.
It was the most fun gig of the tour. The place was not jam-packed, but there was a good-sized crowd, and it was really nice to know that everyone who was there had come to see me. One fellow drove three hours to come to the gig.
After the late gig I was wrecked and ready for bed, but the party came to the Musician's house at 3 a.m. There were drinks, smokes, and an impromptu jam session. I finally made it to bed around 5 a.m., waking up at 9 a.m. to catch the four hour bus back Dublin. I was ready to leave.
It was great to have a native show me around. I saw parts of Ireland I never would have seen on my own. But it can be difficult to be dependant on someone you don't know very well. I was looking forward to going back to a hotel with instant and reliable hot water, fresh bed sheets, and mainly, calm.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 — Last night in Ireland
Touring alone was quite an experience. It gave me a lot of exposure, which is important at this stage when my CD, Limelight, is not available in Europe.
I had toured England a few years ago as the opener for New York City band Alice Texas. It was a totally different situation. We had a van and it was much easier getting around, not having to drag everything around with me and keep on eye on my belongings 24/7.
It was also a lot more fun experiencing all the highs and lows of touring with other people. Getting lost and having weird, horrible, or ridiculous things happen is much more bearable when you’ve got friends to laugh about it with you. There was a sense of camaraderie that you don’t get when you tour on your own.
But it was also satisfying to make it through all the crazy and hectic days of travel on my own in Ireland. And the Alice Texas folks offered a great piece of advice before I left. "If you’re not staying in hotels the whole time, you might wanna think about getting one of those travel towels.” Indeed.
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