21/05/14

Ride share is not  a uniquely  Canadian thing, nope, they have it here too… I know I shouldn’t be surprised, just like I shouldn’t be surprised to see McDonalds and Burger King all over the place, So while I may have known in the back of my mind that people would carpool with strangers in other countries the possibility of actually using it while in Germany never crossed my mind.  I got to experience rideshare in Germany yesterday (I’ll have to ask Toni again what the word for it here is). Lots of people choose to carpool this way since it is so expensive to own a car, riding the train is expensive and the bus (greyhound style) takes nine hours to travel from Berlin to Frankfurt. So a ride was found, with a lovely man named Harry… who spoke exactly five words of English: Yes, No, Frankfurt one hour. I was not the only passenger, but as the trip went on it became apparent that passenger number two (who never introduced himself or even really made eye contact with either me or the driver) wasn’t the conversational type. Harry turned on the radio (top 40 American pop hits) and we proceeded down the autobahn at a conservative 120km/h with people passing us as if we were moving backwards. About half way through the trip I got my translation app working, and since the countryside was so beautiful I thought I’d look up how to say something nice about it all. It took me another hour to get the courage up to point out the window and stammer “die Hoffe ist schon” which according to my phone meant: the farm is beautiful. Either I slaughtered the pronunciation or Harry thought I was asking when the stupid farms would be gone and when will we be in town? the response he gave was “one hour! Frankfurt, one hour” and went back to driving. I went back to sleeping and staring out the window. I was a bit crushed.

Brendan and Adrian picked me up at the Frankfurt Houptbanhof train station and we drove to the couch surf accommodations Adrian had arranged for us. After landing we went looking for phone cards, beer and food with Victoria,  all of which we found but even that was enough of an adventure to justify a mid afternoon nap. Woken with the promise of beer and biking through Frankfurt we spent the evening riding through city squares, past cathedrals and opera houses and finished it all off with a beer by the river, (outside and in public and legal)

Our First show of the tour was in Flennsburg, we reached record breaking speeds (for Canadians) on the autobahn getting here today, though after polling our audience they said it was a pretty standard… touring the prairies would be so much better if we got rid of the speed limits. The show went well, sound was awesome, food was awesome, beer fridge was awesome. The venue is called das Volksbad which was a public bathhouse built in the 20s and repurposed to be a multi genre pub/restaurant/venue. Its 2am here so I’m going to go to sleep. The boys are downstairs drinking with the locals, jet lag messes with any sleep cycle. Tomorrow we get to be tourists and check out the area since our next gig is only an hour away. Its rather civilized and all.

Speaking of civilized the opening band taught me how to say hello like the locals as well as a few other important words to know.

Ich haben alergia gegen tomaten (I have an allergy to tomatoes)

Die hoffe ist schon (the farm is beautiful)- I have not confirmed that this is actually correct.

These are phonetic, from the band "Nora and the Ponies of Wrath" 

Moin Moin (hello, also can be used to express sarcasm)

Arschloch  (a**hole)

Shclampe  (b*tch)

And that is my knowledge of the German. Thank goodness most people speak at least a little if not fluent English.

16/05/14

Well, I’m here, landed in Berlin and staying with some totally awesome people.  Today's  travel went well, other than one little mix up at the end of the day. Everything got sorted out though so here I am. Ready to rock.

Travel Lufthansa. Do it. With all of the horror stories I’ve heard of our Canadian air lines I was prepared to spend the 10 hour flight cramped, hungry and constantly worried about the drum and fiddle I had carried on. The German airline Lufthansa on the other hand, was amazing. Yes we could have used a bit more leg room, but my Violin traveled in the first class coatroom, the drum fit perfectly in the overhead bins, and the FOOOD…. They fed us, snacks, dinner, breakfast and drinks throughout the flight. After the flight we picked up our bags (yay! They arrived!) and headed to the long distance train station, here Chris Suen and I parted ways… that man has a lot of patience to put up with my excitement, worrying and what ifs for 12 plus hours. I ended up making friends with a young man from LA who spoke only a little more German than me (My knowledge of the language is limited to Bitte and Danke) we (my new friend and I) managed to get on the right train, but were not sure of the fact until half way through the trip when we managed to sit next to 2 German guys that spoke fluent English. I ended up in Berlin safe and sound, and after some running around at the train station trying to co-ordinate with my hosts Toni and Kaja I managed to make my way to their house by showing the cab driver their address on a letter our friend Alex was sending them.  After leaving Vancouver at 4:00pm on Thursday, I was very glad to put my suitcase down at 8:30pm Friday.

18/05/14

Tonight I went to a show at acoustic club in Berlin… cool right? Guess who was playing? THE FOGHORN STRINGBAND from Portland, weird right? Guess who I got to sit with? Miriam Sonstenes and Jeff Dill. SOOOOO COOOOOOOL!!!!!

I’ve spent the last two days being shown around the city by Toni and Kaya, without them I would have been too scared to leave sight of the apartment. Yesterday we visited my first castle (there were rugs and chairs and dressers older than Canada by 200 years.) The city is full of trees and parks and covered in graffiti. Open alcohol is allowed on the streets and while this is pretty cool there is also a ton of broken glass everywhere… there are ups and downs to everything I guess. We tried to order Curry wurst without Ketchup… but things got a little confused and I just ended up with Wurst and fries and mayo, super yummy. Today we visited a giant Russian monument and the remaining part of the Berlin Wall. Toni says that developers want to tear down what is left to build expensive high-rise apartment buildings. I hope that they do not succeed, I think it is important to have a visible reminder of what has happened. It is also covered in beautiful artwork. Some of the pieces have been “bombed” by taggers (large unartistic vandalism, usually a name or symbol), but the murals are incredible. After visiting the wall we went to a magical park in the middle of the city that is on a hill so you can look over the city 360 degrees.  By then it was time to head to the Show and after escorting me to the venue and giving me directions and a bus pass to get home Toni and Kaya left me with Miriam and Jeff. I made it home without a hitch, and probably would have done just fine with out it but I was sure glad to have data on my phone to look up maps and transit directions. Well worth the money for the SIM card.

Hugs

Al

Ps. Also today we went inside this giant church/cathedral and there was a choir singing and it was incredibly beautiful. No amplification necessary and the reverb was so sweet. There is not enough time in the day.

There are these beautiful and hilarious moments that happen when you are a traveling musician, experiences of openhearted strangers, of miracles and tragedies. As a Vancouver Island based musician these moments most often arrive on the ferry.

When I travel to the mainland I try to travel light. Light still means I have my fiddle, a banjo and/or guitar, my sound equipment, personal gear and what ever else I might need for a week(s) on the road. I’ve commandeered a Costco folding cart from my mom and bungee cords from my dad (love you guys),  and with my life stacked on this trolley I make my way through ticket wickets, up escalators, elevators, between seats, apologizing, smiling and joking with every bumped ankle, or blocking of the awkwardly small hall ways.

The last tour I headed off on started with a conversation as I waited to disembark. An elderly couple were standing beside me, grand parents off to see their family for the weekend, when asked where I was going I started to explain.

-I’m a musician, I’m meeting up with a band and we are heading up to mid/north BC to play some shows .

-oh that’s just lovely dear… how long have you been playing together?

-well, I’m a sub on this tour, they contacted me via email about a month ago and sent me recordings and lyrics. This is my first tour with them.  I’m super excited, awesome music and…. (concern starts to show on their faces)

- but you’ve met them right?

- Nope, I’ve talked to one of them on the phone about 3 weeks ago, but the rest has been facebook and email, I’ll meet them today at rehearsal then its off to Williams Lake, Smithers, Prince George…

(at this point the ramp was down and people were starting to move forward)

The couple left me with a worried “be safe dear” and I walked off the ferry, grinning as the reality of it all set in.  

I was about to get into a car with someone I had met over Facebook three weeks ago. Someone who had “got my name” from a friend and fellow musician, I didn’t bother checking in with her before I agreed to this tour. Scenarios raced through my head, then the gnome of reason popped up. I had done a pretty extensive web reconnaissance, talked to one of the band members on the phone. The music that I had been sent to learn spoke volumes to the genuine artistry and character of these people. I’d never been more excited to meet the people who had created this music.

I got in the dark four door sedan with a bearded man and set off with the Fugitives on the adventure of a lifetime. 

As someone who “subs” a fair bit (steps into a tour when a regular band member cant make it) it’s always a gamble, will I like learning and performing the music? am I going to enjoy the 8 hour drives between gigs that make up the lions share of touring in BC? Or am I going to retreat into my headphones, and just get the job done.  Will the shows be stressful? Or will I be able to relax and enjoy the freshness of the repertoire, with support and encouragement from friends on stage. The same issue applies to the band I’m subbing for, did she actually learn the tunes? Is she a prick? What if she can’t even play? Both teams do the research, but the trust is what makes it so special.

If you haven’t heard of the Fugitives (www.fugitives.ca), you should check them out, like, right now. Do it. They have not only created my new favourite music, they are some of my favorite people. Professional and talented, these guys have kept their sense of humor, love, and joy in music making alive.

Thanks for having me along on that ride. Thanks for trusting me. And thanks for the inspiration.

Love

a

ps. Thank you to Shanti Bremer (www.thesweetlowdown.ca) for giving these guys my name.