Rattlebrained

4 or so years ago I stumbled on a video of someone blowing into a Aztec or Maya “Death” Whistle and thought: “Wow, that’s pretty cool, would be fun to have one”… So I searched the web, found a few websites on Aztec whistles and archeology, but didn’t see any you could buy. I remember telling a friend who goes occasionally to Mexico about them and to pick one up if ever… Time went by, as it has a way of doing, and slowly they moved from drawer to drawer towards the back of my mind.

Then a couple of months ago I saw a group of clay whistles and flutes at my local music store,

Keep Reading...

A few pictures from last week’s La Roche Bluegrass Festival.

Although I’m not that big a consumer of recorded bluegrass music I truly do enjoy a warm summer evening, or two or three of it. This festival is really nice, as I wrote three years ago when I last went “…it is free, it lasts four days and if the groups on stage aren’t enough for you, many of the bands can be found playing in the streets or while sitting around a table at a local café…” There are masterclasses, square dance lessons, stands selling Americana tourist trap memorability and genepe green beer.

Keep Reading...

Although around here November is often wet & cold, not really the kind of weather one usually associates with the Blues, there were enough scorching hot guitar solos at the 5th Vully Blues Festival to make a steam bath of the local swimming pool! And I believe it can be said that the festival has found its public since when I was there Friday night all the wine cellars of Praz were well packed and grooving.

Wine cellars? The Vully is a small wine making area in Switzerland along the northwest side of the Lake of Murten/Morat and its local Blues Club had the good idea of taking advantage of the areas topography in organizing its Blues Festival. 2 days, 8 wine cellars & 13 blues bands is how it was presented this year! The wine cellars are situated throughout the village

Keep Reading...

One of the songs Blaise wrote for Swamp Train starts with an imaginary train leaving the station and every so often the thought of having a train whistle to start the song comes around. As often is the case however, ideas like that mostly seem come at a “bad” moment, are not caught then & there, and go on to other horizons. Fortunately this one was came along often enough that we finally met with time, and a computer, on hand so I was able to search how to make one.

I found a good tutorial at The Woodcrafter Page and went to check if I had all the necessary tools, which I didn’t. Without a drill press and the proper bit it wasn’t clear it was worth finding a good sized piece of wood since the deep holes would probably be difficult to make. Plus, that kind of equipment tends to be expensive around here…

Keep Reading...

A big thank you to everyone who helped us, came to, and enjoyed Swamp Train’s CD Launching Party last Friday! We really had a fantastic time!

Amazing really when you consider the discussions we (the band) had pretty much a year ago: should we make one? Too soon? To expensive? All the doubts you can harbor… and then the decision, choosing songs, looking at different studios, prices on the web…

And then the actual recording sessions last summer that fell right in heat wave weather – 36°c/ 96.8°F – in the studio… Dealing with often divergent opinions, discussions, time going by, where to mix it? All hopes of getting it ready by last October brushed away…

Keep Reading...

Did you know? The Alan Lomax Archives over at YouTube regularly posts videos from their archives.

Keep Reading...

Found on Mother Earth News; a quick overview of rhythm bones playing that also explains how to “recycle” your evening’s beef ribs…

Keep Reading...