Rattlebrained

Swamp Train’s first stop of the year !!!

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Just getting over the last 10 days. As posted Swamp train played at the BAG in Geneva on Nov. 3rd, (see video below) a great place to play but a long trip home. Fortunately I was able to sleep over at my folks place which cuts an hour off the drive; bed time: 2:45 am. Fortunately the Vully Blues Festival where we played on the 5th was closer since with its 4×45 min. sets I for one end up with lead legs and sore all over…

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Spent the last week working on a website for Swamp Train which is one reason this blog has slowed down – it’s not finished but is presentable (I hope), please leave a message if things look weird in your browser – so it was a nice break to join friend Blaise for a gig at the 2nd Festival Blues de Giez. Giez is a small village at the foot of the Swiss Jura mountains not far from Grandson and the festival take place in the village’s ridding school. An old wood building with straw bales, sawdust and a huge “is my back straight” mirror along one of the sides the ring was filled with tables for the pizza and other more local style foods that us blues fan could indulge with while listening to the various bands that played. Blaze and I opened the festivities followed by our friends from Geneva: Floyd Beaumont and the Arkadelphians and then our own (Swamp Train’s) guitarist Mr. CutFinger ; so as you can see we were among family.

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We, Swamp Train, had a fantastic time last night at the _Festival Outdoorelch near Balmberg BE, and want to thank the everyone there! A small festival on a hilltop among the many that cover the landscape south of Bern, an area where enough artists have lost their way in the 11 years it has taken place that the organizer just shrugged and laughed when our guitarist, Cutfinger, showed up at pretty much the time we were programed to play. Fortunately _Dalia, the band that played before us, had started later than indicated on the program which was, we were told, just an suggestion and not to be worried about the half hour during which they were to clear the stage and we were to set up, line check and begin our set.

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Yesterday afternoon I warmed up my washboard a bit before heading to Lausanne with Dave to meet Bill at the swiss public radio building. Dave who was carrying two guitars almost got stuck in the rotating doors so it was with high spirits that we entered the place, received our passes and were invited to proceed.

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Saturday afternoon, Dave and I once again headed south west towards France and the Devil’s Bridge Inn. It seemed that it would be just him and me since the other “official” members of the band couldn’t make it, so I had been psyching myself up for a guitar-washboard duo. However a phone call on the way there informed us that Denis would be playing after all and that possibly an old saxophone playing friend of his and Dave’s would be coming too.

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Last night we went to play at the delightful little Devil’s bridge inn again. Depending on the crowd, each time is a very different experience. Yesterday’s was a group of friends who had reserved the placed, and hired us, for their yearly get together. A noisy assembly that had hired a bus to be driving to and from, enabling all to get merry, wild and plastered; a smart move. The French authorities have been very severe with drunken driving since the new law was passed about a year or two ago. This has made things a bit tougher for restaurants, the drink markup being the usual way to cover the meals expense and at first folks were thinking twice at going out for a meal. On the bright side there have been a lot less accidents due to drunken driving and it is also the reason that more and more establishment now have small bands for the evenings entertainment. They up the price and offer a concert. The only problem now is getting properly paid for playing, a free meal is nice but….

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