Photo credit: Lauren Lotz
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
Midnight blue sparkle 1999 Chevy Astro Van – purchased in British Columbia with only 93,000 miles on it! Got us from BC in Canada to Amarillo Texas where we had a new fuel pump put in and the mechanic fixed one problem but causes another – which was to present itself two days later pulling into Bellville IL in the form of a failing differential! We played our show and the Don Bailey, our venue manager saved us by hooking us up with his trusted mechanic who found a new (old) diff and got us back on the road! ‘Vany’ has not skipped a beat since – making a total of three trips across the U.S and dipping into Canada. We sleep in the van, we live in the van, and it has got us safely to over 100 shows across North America…it will be sad day when we finally have to sell her to one lucky new owner.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
This is a hard one but we do our best to do the grocery thing. We live off greens and protein, buying just what we want to eat each meal so we don’t pay for ice to store food – this has been a game changer this past tour. We have a one burner stove and make our coffee and oats in the front seat in the morning. For lunch, we grab cooked chicken breast and fresh greens for a salad and for dinner we find a park and cook up some greens, potato and fish or chicken…if we’ve had a good show…then steak. Our biggest saving grace is the gym – we have memberships at Anytime Fitness and we work out, shower and sometimes sleep in the parking lot when a hotel isn’t an option financially. With long drives and sometimes many days off, this helps to keep our mental health in check.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
We don’t break strings…we are a folk duo! But we go through about a pack every 6 shows?
Where do you rehearse?
We are perpetually on the road so public spaces that are quiet work best – a picnic table in a nice city park with a couple beers or at a campsite if we are doing the camping thing can work too.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
We began collaborating as a duo back in 2022 and one of our first co-writes was a song called “Mona Lisa” about a failing friendship.
Looking at the stars I saw a face and thought it was the Mona Lisa
Everywhere I turn I feel your eyes on me, but I could never reach you
Describe your first gig.
Our first gig in public was at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City. We were showcasing in a hotel room at about 2am, with 5 people in the audience – yet as with most showcase performances, you never know who is in the room. We have since played numerous shows as a result of that one performance, even making life-long friends – it was the little gig that could.
Our first gig in Australia two months later, was at the iconic Port Fairy Folk Festival in a massive tent with over 2000 people in the audience – it was our Debut as Minor Gold in our home country. We tried our Ear Trumpet condenser microphone for the first time and although the gig went well, we have since come to regret using it in that huge space. Our sound was quiet, intimate and we felt detached, like we couldn’t reach the audience. Three years later, we are masters of using that microphone and know where and when it works best – if we could go back in time and use two 58’s we would.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Tracy was a teacher and Dan was driving a truck for a landscaping company.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
Music-related income?? Hmmm this is an interesting one. As a new act and having recorded two albums in the past three years, and exported to three different continents, we are in a continual state of investment. So much money has been invested in our art making and art exporting that although on paper more money is coming in, it costs equal if not more to facilitate that income – travel costs and production costs are huge…we couldn’t do it with a full band that is for sure. We are getting to see the world which is super cool but yeah…we maybe need to go back to teaching and driving a truck to get back to black.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Wouldn’t change a thing! Life is to be lived and we learn best while doing. We could never have imagined this life until we actually did it. We’ve jumped in feet first, going non-stop since 2023. We live on the road, no home base of our own, just us and the van. We’ve written, recorded and now released two albums, made numerous videos, toured internationally, showcased at multiple international conferences and have grown our global musical community to include incredible fellow artists who have now become great friends. We feel so lucky. Although, I guess we wish we knew not to bother buying ice for the cooler sooner….think of the money we would have saved!