This year marks the 200th anniversary of the United States’ failed invasion of Canada. Our schoolbooks don’t describe the War of 1812 that way, but the Canadians, though quite friendly, have a different angle on it. They also know that, as in almost every other civilized country, their Coca-Cola and catsup, made with real sugar, taste better than ours made with corn syrup. Okay, no argument. When and how did that happen anyway? Were we sleeping? Still, I think the US has Canada beat in areas which out of politeness I won’t mention, but one of them rhymes with smarbecue.

Delta Moon’s 2012 invasion of Canada has been a big success. We’ve had some memorable shows, hung out with some good friends and made a lot of new ones I hope we’ll see again. At the Kitchener Blues Festival we saw many inspiring acts, including Los Lobos (still one of my favorite bands, even without Cesar Rosas on this show), Taj Mahal, Bobby Blue Bland, Harry Manx andMarcia Ball, among others. I had the pleasure of meeting and playing a duo show with Ray Bonneville (Ray: “Do we need to rehearse this?” Tom: “I don’t think so.”). Then I played as a sideman for Ray when he opened for us at a club Sunday night. It was a lot of fun, and we have promised to stay in touch.

Invading Canada is hard work. We’ve been covering a lot of highway and playing constantly, sometimes two shows a day, then the next day getting up and doing it again. We might feel a little ragged sometimes — I’ve consumed plenty of throat lozenges and hot tea — but we’ve had a blast. Then in Toronto I saw this message posted in the hotel lobby:

Here are a few photos from the never-ending struggle which we embrace: