Tom Fun Orchestra Want Caviar

Cape Breton's Tom Fun Orchestra plan to spend most of 2009 on the road, and they're doing everything they can to make it an enjoyable experience — starting with their rider.

"We order caviar to be delivered to the front door in an Austin Mini and brought to us by local poets from whatever town we're in," quips guitarist/vocalist Ian MacDougall. "We're pretty easy to please, I think."

MacDougall was joking about the caviar (we think), but it would be hard to blame The Tom Fun Orchestra for seeking out little extravagances where they're able, considering the scope of their current cross-Canada tour in support of last year's You Will Land With A Thud. The jaunt ostensibly got underway on Wednesday night in Montreal and continues over the next 27 days, with 20 shows in 19 cities.

The band's eight musicians (rounded out by guitarist/vocalist Carmen Townsend, violinist Morgan Currie, accordionist Dave Mahalik, banjo player Victor Tomiczek, drummer Tommy Stallion, trumpeter Bert Lionais and bassist Shane O'Handley) are making the lengthy trip in a van that also holds all of their equipment. It's not the most comfortable way to live, but it's the existence they've chosen. For every one of Tom Fun's members, the Orchestra is now their permanent gig.

"We've all pretty much committed ourselves to this," says MacDougall. "It's not very lucrative, financially, but this is pretty much what we do. It's our full-time schtick, and we find money in other ways."

The group's current excursion is just the beginning of what MacDougall expects will be a year that's mostly spent away from home.

"As soon as the tour's over, we're not even going to sleep in our beds. We're going to hop on the ferry and go to Newfoundland for the East Coast Music Awards, and then it's just going to be more of the same. We're hoping to make another trip overseas, but that's still in the works.

"I'm thinking by late summer or early autumn, we'll start working on album number two. I'd like to think that we'll have another one coming out at this time next year. It's a huge undertaking with this many people."

Here's where you can see The Tom Fun Orchestra:

Jan. 29 Ottawa, ON @ Heart & Crown
Jan. 30 London, ON @ Call The Office w/Bruce Peninsula
Jan. 31 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern w/Bruce Peninsula and The Darcys
Feb. 1 Guelph, ON @ Vinyl w/Bruce Peninsula
Feb. 3 Thunder Bay, ON @ Black Pirates Pub
Feb. 6 Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop
Feb. 7 Calgary, AB @ The Marquee Room
Feb. 8-9 Banff, AB @ Wild Bill's Legendary Saloon & Cookhouse
Feb. 11 Victoria, BC @ Upstairs Cabaret
Feb. 12 Nanaimo, BC @ The Queen's Hotel
Feb. 13 Cumberland, BC @ The Waverly Hotel
Feb. 14 Vancouver, BC @ Pub 340
Feb. 15 Kelowna, BC @ The Minstrel Cafe & Bar
Feb. 17 Nelson, BC @ The Spirit Bar
Feb. 18 Canmore, AB @ The Canmore Hotel
Feb. 19 Saskatoon, SK @ Lydia's
Feb. 20 Regina, SK @ Exchange
Feb. 21 Winnipeg, MB @ King's Head Pub
Feb. 24 Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle