If not keeping up this blog were a sport, I'd win. I'd be like Tiger Woods. Clearly.
In my defense I will say that we've been busy. Well, not exactly at the moment but very recently. In the last 2 months we've been to Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and currently France. To be more exact we're holed up in a rented apartment in Hagunau which is a small-ish town just north of Strasbourg. It's the most settled down we've been in a long time. It's nice. We can plan multiple meals and go to the market with that in mind. We can not watch a movie because we know we can watch in tomorrow if we like. If one chose to, one could walk around the place in ones boxers....if that happened to be ones thing.
Good lord, there is so much to talk about but the post can only be so long. Let's talk about the recording in Brno. After some difficulty with a sound check one night a random stranger came up to help with the mix. In broken English he said he was a professional. His name was George, and he for sure knew what he was talking about. He said he could only stay a short bit but ended up staying for the whole show. Oh, did I mention the gig was at a place called 7 Cockroaches? Or, that's what it translated to. George stayed all night and asked me to come by his place in the morning to record some songs. I agreed even though I had no idea what I was getting into. What I was getting into was an amazing studio and a session with who I can only assume is one of the best sound engineers in Europe. Even though I had a terrible cold at the time the session turned out beautifully and I'll direct you towards that soon. Hell, maybe now.
(For a few days only there are 3 songs on Reverb Nation from the Brno Session)
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| Brno, CZ |
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recording at George's studio
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Oh, the shows in Austria with
Chuck Lemonds were brilliant. Chuck also has a new record out called "The Rivers Call" and it would behoove you to check it out. With any luck I'll be able to report back before to long to talk about more shows with Chuck and a couple mystery guests. Stay tuned.
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| performing with Chuck Lemonds |
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| the view from Am Berner (a fantastic venue surrounded by vineyards) |
England once again was amazing. The Square & Compass, Maverick Festival and
Israel Nash Gripka, Colin and the crew at Grateful Fred's, and of course Scotland!...just too many tales to tell. We'll cover them in the coming posts but for now I hope these photos will do.
There was an all too short trip to Ireland for a return to Ballymore Acoutic at Mick Murphy's. Damn I love that place. A humongous thanks to Roy Thompson!
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| another great night at the Square & Compass, Dorset |
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| ahh Scotland. . . so much spectacular scenery! |
Let's skip ahead to Chagny, France. I will try to thank Fabrice enough but it just won't be possible. A million thanks to him. He took a huge risk, having really no idea who I was and having virtually no history in France, to promote the show at the Theatre de Copiaus and well, I think it turned out fabulously. He convinced me to not use the PA that night. He said "people have been singing in this theatre for 150 years without a microphone. Why start now?" He was totally right. An amazing night. A sold out show, 4 encores! Pretty much a huge success. He also had another traveler staying with him at the time. Janosh....great fellow. He's in Italy now working on a farm. Hope to see him soon. Thanks again Fabrice!
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| during the last encore in Chagny |
I'm going to cap it at that for now. I promise, I'll cover the bases and give you a total recall of all pertinent events. Likely more than you're really interested in but I'm going to do it.
Oh good God, did I mention how much cheese, procuitto, butter, salami, bacon, and more cheese I've had in the last week. Oh France, how I love thee....but I can only take so much.
Alright, be good and God speed.
Over and out.
Joshua J. Harty
BTW- Check out ALL the photos from the past couple months on
Flickr!
