Europe: Week 1

It’s 10:30pm here in Switzerland. Or Austria. I’m not sure if we’ve crossed the border yet. .  . I believe this is the first time I’ve taken an overnight train ride since I was a student in Italy 10 years ago. Some friends and I went to Vienna and while I was sleeping someone came into our cabin and stole my roommate’s camera. This time we’re not lucky enough to have a cabin-  just regular seats. So I’ll probably be awake for a while.  But I just purchased the new Neko Case album on itunes and Josh stole a couple mini bottles of wine from (an empty) first class, so things are looking up.

The first of 15 weeks in Europe went by smoothly.  Despite nearly constant rain, Switzerland was wonderful. We were totally taken care of by our booking agent, Kristina, who let us stay in her gorgeous apartment in Basel all week, and escorted us to each of the 8 shows to act as manager/ interpreter. At every venue, the owners fed us a delicious home-cooked meal, and the audiences were so warm and appreciative. There’s a sense of genuine support for good music here.  

Basel

Balgach

 Josh had 8 shows in the last 7 days, so it was a bit of a whirlwind, driving back and forth across the entire northern part of Switzerland a couple of times (it's only about 120 miles across). With shows in big citites like Basel, Bern, Zurich, and smaller towns like St. Gallen, Balgach and Altnau, we got to see a lot of diversity. . . well, as much diversity as there is in Switzerland, which is generally a pretty idilic place. Just like in the Netherlands, you never really see homeless people or panhandlers. . . and it feels very safe. In fact, I noticed that people don't even lock up their bicycles! Not that being American is so bad, but I feel like to be born Swiss is like winning the lottery of life. They don't really have any enemies, their government and economy is very stable, and everyone is guaranteed good health care and a good retirement pension, no matter what. However, in Zurich we did see the "red light" district. . .which is like Sesame Street compared to the RL district in Amsterdam. But it did feel slightly less sound-of-music safe than the rest of the country. 

on Langstrasse in Zurich

One of my favorite days was on Saturday when we went to St. Gallen for the second time. The sun was out for the first time all week, and an enormous market was going on downtown. There were dozens of food vendors, mainly Swiss specialties like cheese, sausage and chocolates, as well as farmers selling vegetables and home made pasta, sandwiches, etc. Also many regional wine makers were there- handing out samples of wine next to samples of local cheeses. We had a wonderful lunch for free! At 3:00, with the market going on outside, Josh played a set at the Musik Hug record store. And that night, he played again at S-ka in the nearby small town of Altnau. 

at the Market in St. Gallen

as always, more photos on Flickr!

Well, there are more stories to tell, but for now I need to sleep. Tomorrow, Austria!

XO

Jess

On the Eve of our Departure...

Sitting at the bar in Smiley's Acoustic Cafe in Greenville, SC.  Josh is wrapping up a 3 hour show played to a crowd dominated by an 18-top table of 20-somethings who quite possibly have no idea that there's live music going on 4 feet from them. I'm being a super dork and pulling out my laptop at the bar. I have a million things running through my head right now, because we're leaving for Europe tomorrow. For 3 1/2 months. This makes me nervous, anxious and excited. Nervous and anxious because I feel like we could use a couple more weeks of planning and rest/ relaxation, but excited too of course. This will be our third trip over "the pond" together, but by far the longest. And being a generally worried person, I can't help but think of all the things that could go wrong. . .but it will be fine, right? It will be fantastic!

When we tell people about the month we just wrapped up, they think we're crazy to head to Europe right away. I think in August we added about 6,000 miles to the van and passed through 15+ states. In total this year we've put about 26,000 miles on the car and been to 38 states. Folks keep asking about our favorite places. . . there are too many to name. Yellowstone was incredible (of course). New York and Boston are always great. Arkansas was surprisingly awesome (especially the Fayetteville Roots Festival!). But when I think of places that we could actually see ourselves living. . . Well, it's no surprise that we're drawn to Madison- esque small/ medium sized college towns. Northampton (Mass), Portland (ME), Bellingham (WA), Missoula (MT), Ft. Collins (CO) and Asheville (NC) are at the top of my list. 

swimming in the river in Arkansas with Jennie & Chris

We realized recently that when we were planning this whole live-on-the-road vagabond lifestyle (which was supposed to last a year. . . it's been 13 months) we didn't plan an exit strategy. The question of where and when to "settle down" is always looming over us, and we might just put it off a bit longer. When you have nothing tying you down, the endless possibilities can be a bit overwhelming. And for now, there's only the next 15 weeks in my headlights. . . after Europe, who knows?

sitting amongst the pronghorns in Yellowstone

Denver

To see all the photos from the past year, take a look at our Flickr page!
XO,
Jess

So currently I am sitting in the "computer lab" of the St. John's Lutheran Ministries Retirement Community in Billings, Montana. Josh is playing here tonight, on their huge lawn out front- part of a weekly music series they host in the Summer. We've spent two days as guests here, eating in the dining hall with the residents (dinner starts at 4:30) and enjoying the luxury of having our own room (the "guest suite") for a bit. We've really come to cherish these rare opportunities for privacy. . . but not really for the reasons you'd think. When we have time off, a quiet space and wi-fi you'll find us doing exactly what we're doing now- working. Josh is upstairs playing guitar, and I'm here on my computer emailing (literally) hundreds of venues in Europe, trying to finish booking our last month there.
A couple hours ago Josh got an email from the venue he was supposed to play at on Saturday- that's 2 days away. They said they had to cancel the gig. Did I mention that they gave us TWO days notice?! And there was a relatively large sum of money guaranteed. So this has a pretty big impact on us. . . Not having a show on any Saturday sucks, but especially when it comes at the last minute. And you know what, this kind of thing happens all the time. I know we lead a charmed life and I don't want to complain, but I just think musicians get a short stick sometimes. People seem to think that they all party hard, show up late to gigs, tour because they think it's fun. . . and it is most of the time, but it's not a vacation- it's a job. And it's 24/7, especially when you do all the booking, promotion, social networking, travel planning, etc. yourself. . . and, of course, then you have to find the time to practice your craft and write new songs. It just drives me crazy when a venue cancels, or they don't do anything to promote a show (how hard is it to post on FB once or twice?!), or Josh plays to a full house and gets paid $12 because the sound guy, door guy and venue owners have to get paid (that actually happened recently. . .).  And then there's the shocking lack of general support for live music in this country. It's sad, but sometimes I think that most Americans would rather stay home and watch "American Idol" than go see a live show. We all need to stop and think what this world would be like without real musicians, writing songs and playing instruments.
Again, I don't want to sound ungrateful for the amazing freedom we have, but sometimes you just need to vent. Geez, and I meant for this post to be about the last month in Washington. . . which was amazing, by the way. But I didn't find time to write because we were so busy catching up with friends & family, "networking", and booking for this Fall. . . but here are some lovely pictures of mountains and beaches.

Mount Rainier

Vashon Island


take care and SUPPORT LOCAL & LIVE MUSIC!
XO,

Jess

Westward!

Since we last left off. . .

Josh and I have driven well over 2,000 miles the last 3 weeks in our little Previa- which is now equipped with a loft-style bed! Pretty fancy, I know. . . almost like having an RV.  So now we're in beautiful Washington state, staying just far enough north of Seattle to be surrounded by huge national and state parks, small farms and lots of lush greenery! It's so nice here this time of year, probably my favorite part of the country.
The journey out here from Wisconsin was long but exciting. Driving across Minnesota, South and North Dakota, Montana and Idaho the landscape changes drastically every couple hours. From dense green forests to wide open rolling hills to dry flatlands and then huge mountains show up in the distance. Since I've never really lived around mountains (unless you count Stone Mountain, GA. . . ) they still fascinate me. If you take a look at my flickr account you'll see there is a disproportionate number of mountain photos.

Livingston, MT

north of Missoula, MT

Every time I go to Montana I love it more and more. This time we got to spend nearly a week there (and we'll be back in August!). We went to Livingston (near Bozeman) for the first time and I just fell in love with this small Western town which has a thriving downtown thanks to the natural landscape that brings in a fair number of tourists this time of year. And then we had 3 days in Missoula which is fantastic! I had only been there once before, briefly, but now we had adequate time to explore. One afternoon I drove up to St. Ignatious about an hour north of Missoula and the landscape there just blew me away. My friend Piper grew up there, on a huge ranch surrounded by snow-capped mountains and vast green fields.
Here in Washington there are still snow-capped mountains surrounding us (in the distance), but it was about 90 degrees today. strange. When we first got in a few days ago, though, it was lovely and cool. We took our time driving through the Cascades which were spectacular!

not a fake backdrop....

Now it's time to get back to work- Josh has 6 shows in the Seattle area, one in Bellingham and one in Eugene, OR, and we'll also be going out in the city as much as possible, meeting musicians and playing open mics. Should be a busy month!

XO,
Jess

Ahh, Wisconsin!

Well, somehow the last 6 weeks have flown by without my writing on the blog. . . oops. I will say it's been a very busy Spring and will continue to be a crazy hectic Summer for Josh and I. When we left Boston at the end of April, we headed straight west for Madison, making only brief stops in New Jersey and Ohio. This past month has been spent entirely in our adopted "home state" of Wisconsin, playing shows, catching up with friends, eating at our favorite restaurants, seeing some of our favorite bands and so much more. This morning we woke up at a campsite in Perrot State Park, hiked to the top of a large bluff (not quite a mountain, but it felt like it), looked down at the Mississippi River dividing Wisconsin from Minnesota and I realized "this is the last time we'll be in Wisconsin for almost a year!" Strange.

Perrot State Park

Besides spending time in Madison, we took a few trips around the state- to some old favorite spots as well as a few new places. I had only been to Door County once before, in January, for a friend's 30th birthday party.  Since then I've been dying to go back during "the Season" when businesses are actually open. Well, the weekend before Memorial Day is still not technically tourist season, but that has its perks. We got to Sturgeon Bay on a beautiful 75 degree Tuesday and spent 2 days exploring the peninsula known as Wisconsin's "vacationland" (though it would be more fitting to call it Chicago's vacationland). Josh played a show at the very cool Holiday Music Motel- a classic 1950's roadside motel that was recently bought by two musicians who fixed it up in a retro Rock-N-Roll style. Upstairs they have a recording studio/ listening room that was packed on Wednesday night with local musicians and music appreciators from 5 years old to 75.

Last week we got up to Wausau for a couple of shows with "the band". . . The Josh Harty Band, that is. It's always fun to hang out with the guys and hear Josh's songs re-interpreted as upbeat dance music with a great drum beat. After the Wausau gig, we drove a bit further north and stayed at a friend's farm. It was a fantastic day filled with horseback riding, atv-ing, cooking, playing music and of course, a campfire after dark.

On Wednesday we gathered most of our belongings from various friends' houses, packed up the van once again, and headed north. We headed to Hayward for a house concert at our friend Rick's amazing house on the lake, then down to Black River Falls for another house show. Yesterday we started meandering up the Mississippi with no real plan. We stopped in Trempealeau, WI to check out the famous Trempealeau Hotel. Well, we kind of fell in love with this beautiful town and decided to stay a night. Sitting outside on the river, sipping brunch cocktails in the afternoon, we met the unofficial town "mayor", Don. He told us all about the town and its history, how the land was formed after the last ice age and where we could get a good meal. Though we were tempted to stay at the hotel, we decided to be more budget-conscious and camped, finally having a night without rain!

Now we're in Minnesota for the week before heading West! Check out the tour page to see where we'll be next. . . and for more Wisconsin photos go to our flickr page.
XO,
Jess