They’re a local favourite, and the show is about to be taken on the road across Canada, but not before one show-stopping performance in Jasper. 

The Grave Mistakes are preparing to hit the road on a cross-Canadian tour to bring their gory, action-packed performance to a number of cities. The band will pile into drummer Jamie “Bastard Skin Carver” Baldwin’s cube van on March 23, along with their equipment, on their first real tour. The band has gone on a few mini tours outside of Jasper to nearby cities, and they did a brief four-day jaunt across B.C., but their upcoming three-week adventure will mark the first time the band has really had a taste of life on the road together. 

The tour kicks off in Edmonton, but the Grave Mistakes will show their hometown fans what they’re made of on March 21 before taking off. The band will be joined onstage by the Hook’em Review Burlesque dancers.

After the tour leaves Edmonton, the Grave Mistakes will zig-zag across Canada before ending up in Montreal. There they’ll hit the studio with the Brains’ Rene D La Meurte for a recording session. 

Jamie says the band could easily knock out a whole record if they had the time, but will at least lay down a few tracks to be released on vinyl. 

“If we had a good couple weeks to do an album, we could probably pull it off,” Jamie says. “We’ve got enough songs.” 

After the stop in Montreal, the tour will head back to southern Ontario, before the band returns to Jasper in mid-April. 

“I’m a little nervous – apprehensive I guess. Not nervous,” says Billie Hell, who plays the stand-up bass. 

The tour was driven by requests from people in eastern Canada who have heard of the band through word of mouth, or by bands who have played with them. 

“We’ve got a lot of people from back east wanting us to play,” Billie says.

Jamie says the band has been doing networking and spreading the news of their tour dates through bands they’ve played with. Locally, posters will be up around Jasper soon with news on the location and time of the March 21 show. 

Building a full tour has been quite the task for the Jasper band. Billie and guitarist Brad Graves began emailing, calling and setting up dates way back in December, and a few details remain to be finalized as the tour creeps closer. 

“It’s been a lot of work,” Billie says. 

The band hopes the tour will help draw in more fans, so that they can do more dates in the future. The band has been generating buzz outside of Jasper – thanks in part to the Brains’ drummer wearing their t-shirt at performances. They have also, somehow, generated a fan base in Belarus and Russia through internet radio airplay, which Billie thinks is hilarious.

Right now, there are no plans to share the stage with the Brains once they hit Montreal – the band which snagged Jasper native Colin Irvine on bass in January of 2010 – although Jamie says they’d be more than happy to. 

“It would be good to meet up with them.”

So far, there are no concerns about on-the-road spats. The band is looking forward to their working vacation. 

“It’s going to be a good time,” says Brad. 

With only a few days off along the way, it’s hard to think of the tour as time off, but Jamie is happy to have a break from the daily grind. 

“I haven’t had a vacation for a long time,” he says.

Because the band has never toured so extensively before, the marathon tour could be a bit draining on the group. 

“It’s going to be a physical endeavour on myself,” Billie said. 

Jamie agrees; “It’ll be a learning experience.”

When the band did their four-date tour, they were all longing to keep going after it. They hope that momentum will follow them through the three weeks on the road. Billie says her biggest concern is missing her dogs that have to stay behind.

Jamie will be leaving behind a feline friend or two, but he’s looking forward to seeing the country. 

“I haven’t been on the ground past Saskatoon,” he admits. 

The three band members won’t be alone in the van – they’re bringing along the band’s makeshift mascot, a road troll, who they plan to photograph along the way. He’ll also be helping out at the Jasper show selling merch – to the best of his troll-abilities. However, the troll may not help haul gear in and out of the venues, so Jamie hopes they can trick some friends into helping out along the way. 

“If they come out to shows we can rope them into carrying a bass guitar or amplifier.”

The Grave Mistakes will be debuting a new t-shirt at their Jasper show on March 21. Keep an eye out for posters that will be sprouting up around town with more details as the date draws nearer. More on the band can be found online at www.thegravemistakes.com