The group Mason’s Tender, a maritime group from New Brunswick, Were at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel to perform each evening. The band members are, Bryon Chase on lead guitar, Gabriel Caissie on bass and Chris Daigle on Drums. All of the band members are of mixed French and English background. They
performs a mix of East Coast traditional, roots, folk and country based
songs forged from a shared passion of place. This sketch was done in the main bar area on the ground floor near the back of the hotel. I decided to sketch from a second floor balcony looking down. It turned out that I was right next to the main spot light that ended up illuminating the band. Terry ordered a drink and sat at the base of the stairway.
For the second set, we sat together in the cushy leather seats sipping custom mixed drinks. I had a drink similar to a Mojito but with a fresh twist. The traditional Irish tunes had me wanting to dance a jig but no one was on the dance floor in this ritzy upper crust hotel. After a few drinks, Terry and I wandered the halls. We wandered across a party where Queen Elizabeth was residing and greeting guests. Terry didn’t notice the queen but when I pointed her out, Terry wanted to walk up and shake the queen’s hand. We walked down a line of mounties in red coats and one finally stopped us a few yards short of the queen and asked if he could help us. That is never a good sign. Ive always found that people who offer help actually are offering the opposite. He told us that this was a private party and that we would have to leave. I’m sure the queen was actually an actress as were the mounties.