To most, a van is, well, just a van. But to touring musicians like Jesse Roper and the Pretty Good Band, a van means so much more.
It's their mode of transportation. It's where their gear lives, it's where they live. It’s also where the good stuff happens.
“One time I got $350 worth of Greek food in Saskatoon from (The Guess Who frontman) Burton Cummings,” recalls Roper. “That was awesome. I was broke as hell and I ate that for days.”
The soul-blues singer-songwriter admits that travelling in a tour van has its strange moments, such as being arrested while sitting in the van outside a hotel in Red Deer, Alta.
“We got locked up and spent some time in the back of police cars wondering what the heck was going on. I guess they thought we were trying to help some fugitive escape. We were just having a beer before bed wondering why all the cop cars were around.”
And what of band groupies?
"That’s for campfire stories," he said.
Roper is ready to start a new chapter on the road with his upcoming 2025 tour in the U.S. starting March 1 in Green Lake, Wis. and ending in Miami, Fla. for a six-night engagement which wraps up on March 26.
The musician is aware his stateside concert tour is heading into a new Trump era.
"I don't pay attention to the politics too much because my mission is the same: to keep on pushing outwards and whoever comes to the show, try and get them all whooped up and awesome so that they go home and they take the good awesome feeling with them. They are all people down there, same as they are up here in Canada."
In late April, he will be performing across B.C. in Penticton, Rossland, Fernie, and Lake Country. In May he'll be back in the U.S. to play at CaveJam Festival in Tennessee.
Since his last show in Victoria’s Royal Theatre at the end of November, he’s spent a good amount of time hanging out with family, seeing old friends, writing new songs and getting a new van.
“Now the tour’s getting longer and much more frequent, it just seems like the right move to replace my old van."
He had clocked in almost 400,000 kilometres in his 1998 Chevy Express 3500 leaving a trail of dents, missing parts and a lingering stench of stale beer. In other words, the van has seen better days.
Not for the first time Roper has heard his bandmates say: “You gotta get a new van, man.”
That's exactly what he did. With a new Ford Transit van equipped with working stereo, bluetooth connectivity, coffee cup holders, spacious seating area and gear storage, Roper is ready for the road.
"Everything works. It's taken me a couple of days to get used to it but now I'm like, all right it feels a little more pro. Any kind of extra comfort you can have when you’re sitting there for eight hours or more, driving, getting out and performing. It's kind of tough on your head and your body just sitting there all day and doing it day after day for a month or two.”
Roper knows how important a van is for artists, especially young musicians who can’t afford to buy their own mode of transport. That’s why he’s giving his old van away.
"If you’ve got a band that needs a band van, I wanna give you the chance to get mine. Send me a creative email and a link to your tunes and if I like what I read and I like what I hear, I’ll give you my van.”
He considered selling the old van but says he didn't feel right about it for some reason.
“I wanna give it to some upcoming band that’s gonna kick some butt."
On Monday (Feb. 24), a band has been selected as the winner of the van giveaway, according to Roper. He'll be announcing the winner on his Instagram soon.
New songs
Roper admits he has been 'hasty' with songwriting in recent years.
"I'm trying to slow it down again, do it more like how I used to do it but with some of the knowledge I've gained throughout the years about songwriting."
Since his last concert in 2024, he has been composing new music. So far, he has written at least seven songs, including Danger, which will be released on March 5. "I was going through the end of a relationship throes and just dying in that headspace and I had this fantasy twirling about like seeing this girl on the beach but she's looking at me, like what?"
He also wrote the song Lady Luck and named the new band van after it.
"It's how I feel right now. I'm just gambling. I never considered myself as a gambler but I'm taking all my money and all my time on everything I do and just go, now or never. So this little girl is gonna take me to the top of where I'm getting."
