GAINFULLY DEPLOYED
I am probably too tired to be writing...yes...this will be short. I spent the first half of the week in the small town of Epinal, in Lorraine, eastern France, working with the excellent band Jul' in their studio. I played guitar, keyboards and sang on three songs. They were excellent hosts--making dinner each night, and letting me drink their best and oldest wine; and they were great hosts to my son as well.
The second half of the week we spent in Alsace. I am here performing with the band SuperDog, playing a variety of keyboards in a pair of small concerts that are being recorded for a release later (see below). They have also been excellent hosts--and as we have spent 2 days rehearsing at the venue, a castle in the village of Lichtenberg, where the singer of SupeDog (Yves) comes from, we have had the pleasure of taking our meals at Yves' parents' place--they were happy to make a variety of Alsatian specialties for us--choucroute, pork ribs, backehof--OK, I have no idea how to spell it, but you don't have to spell it correctly to enjoy it--plus we have of course been sipping wonderful vins d'Alsace.
LICHTENBERG 12/9
The Chateau Lichtenberg was thrown up on top of a little mountain in the 13th century. Made out of red sandstone, it has largely fallen into ruin, but what remains is quite pictureseque--a rambling assortment of buildings of various funtions, overseen by the obligatory tower. A modern structure juts out of one side--s small theatre for about 100 persons. And this is where we played tonight. SuperDog, local boys made good, have just released an album, but decided to do an adaptation of their songs in an unplugged-style format, and add me to the mix as well. So, the guitarists play acoustic guitars, the bass player plays electric bass, the drummer plays a little quieter, and I play organ, piano, electric piano, and pump organ. We spent two days rehearsing and then played, already feeling as comfortable as old shoes, to an assembly of SD's friends, fans and family. Your correspondent did really well, and indeed I found that I was comfortable enough after our rehearsals that during the show I could take some chances and let my fingers fly with pretty good result.
Many thanks to SuperDog's crew, and to Yves' very kind family. There are still tickets available for the show Sunday (10th), tonight. call Yves at +33 (0)9696808 if you are near enough and you want to go. The show tonight is at 1800h.
Love
KS
Strasbourg FRANCE
