Breskens Street Festival
It was good to be back in Breskens again. It’s one of our favourite places that we visit in our travels. It’s not just playing to a packed house of enthusiastic music fans that makes this a special place though. Breskens is a small beach side community of about 5000 people and each time we’ve been here I’m pretty sure the same 100-150 people have been at our show.
When I look out into the crowd all I see is familiar faces and people singing along. After the show folks come up and reintroduce themselves making the scene a bit like a reunion. Everyone knows everyone. The bar stays open long after the band is finished and people spill out on to the street and socialize before teetering off to there homes.
The owner of The Bounty is a fellow name Martin who always treats us very well. Beer all night and amazing fresh shrimp sandwiches after the show. This year Martin decided to put on a street party with several bands, a greasy burger and chips wagon and a beer truck. It was pretty impressive that such an event could take place in a residential neighbourhood like this but Martin assured me that the mountain of paper work necessary to make it happen was as intimidating in Breskens as it might be anywhere at home (although I’m pretty sure it would be almost impossible to pull something like this off on say the corner of Lakewood and Grant in Vancouver!).
This photo was taken almost two hours after we finished. The beer was still flowing and the greasy burgers and chips were still sizzling away. The bar was jammed inside and many locals stayed to help take down the stage and lighting equipment.
Tonight we’re off to The Ace Cafe in Rumst Belgium. We’ve only been there once before but it’s another small neighbourhood hang that gets jammed full of people and is super rockin. I’m not so jet lagged today so I’m hoping to get out and about and take some more pictures too.
JC
Like this:
Cousin Harley @ Burgerweeshuis
Here we are in Deventor shakin’ off the jet lag cob webs and trying to deal with an lugubrious guitar amp. The thing was brand new but I think it died of fright halfway into the first number.
Deventer Photos
We had a great day today in Deventer. The club was a new venue for us and we very impressed with the space. We were served an outstanding meal, treated to some great beer and had the usual enthusiastically reserved Dutch audience. Rock and or Roll.
I have some video footage from the show but it needs reviewing as we had a serious amplifier malfunction. Until then here’s some photos from the days goings on.
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Now we’re off to Breskens for a big old street party. We have lots of great friends there from our previous shows at Cafe the Bounty so we’re happy to be returning for a third year in a row.
More soon,
JC
Here We Are
It’s been quite the day of travel but we’re finally settled in at our hotel. We arrived in Deventer around 6:00 PM local time and after a little walking around we decided that some greasy donair and a couple of beers were in order. Being a Tuesday evening things were a bit quite but we eventually found what was required. Our first show is tomorrow night and we can’t wait to hit the band stand. I mean, after all, we’re not on vacation!
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JC
The Eagle Has Landed
T’was an uneventful flight highlighted by a lovely pasta primavera served with a glass of Chateau Neuf de Plonk. Delicious.
Now we await the gear and then its time to get reacquainted with the worlds most uncomfortable van. Ah….living the dream.
JC
Cousin Harley Hits the Road Today!
It’s time for another Cousin Harley road trip! We leave tonight for two weeks of travels around Europe. We’ll be returning to a few of our favourite clubs and visiting some new places as well. Be sure to check in daily for photos, videos and road stories. If you’re out there come on down to one of our shows and say hello.
Drum Workshop
I’m packing up to head to Europe for a two week tour with Cousin Harley so I thought I’d leave all of you drummers a little something to keep you busy until I get back. The inspiration for this exercise came from listening to some early Jack Dejohnette and it goes like this:
1) Play 1/4 notes with your left foot
2) Play the first column of Stick Control with the R’s on the bass drum and the L’s on the snare drum.
3) On the cymbal instead of your standard beat, break it up by playing two groups of three and a group of two. For example: 1+2+3 1+2+3+ 1+2 or if you prefer “Spang-a-lang-a-lang-Spang-a-lang-a-lang-Spang-a-lang” .
Really the point is to play an ostinato between your left hand and bass drum while playing something other than the standard cymbal beat with your right hand. You can use rhythms from Ted Reed’s Syncopation or try improvising.
Here’s a quick video demo at three different tempos with a bit of improve at the end. I’m using a couple of variations on the double strokes and it’s still very much a work in progress but I think you’ll get the idea:
That’s it for now…back to packing for the road.
JC
Nightcrawlers Play Good News
Last week’s Nightcrawlers show at The Cellar was our first appearance at Cory’s fine establishment since February. We had a busy March playing around town but it was all tumble weeds and crickets for the month of April.
For this particular show I talked the guys into an early arrival so we could have a little rehearsal. Normally we like to play it pretty fast and loose for the Beat Down gigs but last week I had arranged for my friends at Twisted Lime Media to come down to the club and film the group in action for some promotional material to go with an upcoming project (stay tuned for that).
As it turned out the combination of a rehearsal and a packed and rather raucous house made for a very satisfying night of music. There was a conference at UBC that week and well…who new climate change scientists could be so much fun?
I filmed the show with my new little gadget but managed to once again not think to carefully about where I placed it on stage (on top of the Leslie Speaker=bad idea). Initially I wasn’t going to post any music from this night for that very reason but Gestrin’s organ solo on this tune was extra greasy and worthy of sharing. Just listen, ignore the bobble head on the left.
Isn’t that a great song? Just to show you what horrible thieves we are here’s the original:
“Disconnect my Telephone!”
JC
Today Is Monday
Once again it’s Monday…
I’m not really in the typing/writing mood these days, guess it’s a good thing I don’t do it for a living. I’m sure I’ll have a bit more to say once I hit the road for Europe with Cousin Harley on the 14th but until then you’ll all have to settle for the usual fair.
Speaking of hitting the road, I’m on a mission to set a new personal record for least amount of baggage. I shooting for one 18″ carry-on and a camera bag for two weeks of travel. Hope we have time to hit the laundromat!
Here’s a little motivational boogie for your Monday morning whatever. Extra greasy.
JC
Jon McCaslin Quintet @ The Cellar
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If you don’t have plans tonight I highly recommend heading down to the Cellar to check out Jon McCaslin’s Quintet. The group features Brad Turner on trumpet, Phil Dwyer on saxophone, Tilden Webb on piano, Jodi Proznick on bass and Jon at the drums. I caught the second set last night and really enjoyed the music. On top of being a tremendous drummer Jon is proving to be a formidable composer and arranger as well. Jon is very well studied and I appreciated that when performing in a straight ahead setting you could really hear his wide variety of musical influences. Proving once again that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to have your own sound.
Never mind what I think thought check the band out for yourself. You can get Jon’s latest CD HERE and you can check out his blog HERE.
JC
