It’s the morning of our last full day in Switzerland. We are staying at Gasthaus Macartney in Stäfa.
We have our own rooms!
Last night we played for our largest audience on the nicest stage of the tour. We had professional sound and lights. It makes a huge difference in our ability to relax into playing. We split the bill with a local group called Singer’s Tale. They were quite good and I spent some time backstage playing tunes with the guitarist and the singer.
We left Austria yesterday morning and made the three hour drive to Paul’s house without incident. We dropped off the PA speakers that we have been lugging around for two weeks. This caused some consternation for Keith because now he needs a new plan for what Rob calls the vanpack. From there it was just forty minutes to Stäfa and the Rossli club. Hotel, showers, soundcheck, dinner.
Tabea Anderfuhren showed up to our show. We first met her in 2005 when she saved us from getting shafted by a club owner using mostly her native ability to speak Swiss German. She sings with Kevin on every tour. Usually she sits in on a few tunes, which is what happened last night. She is definitely more established in the Swiss music scene than she was ten years ago. A Swiss tour without Tabea would be woefully incomplete. After the show we went for a drink with her and her husband Tom.
One more show and then home. I’ve never been out quite this long before. We’re all exhausted but trying to enjoy the moments. We don’t know when or if we will do this again. It’s always amazing to me that I get to play music in this beautiful place.
I’ve never regretted the choice to make music my career. I always tell people that it is a great way to almost pay the bills. It’s meant to be funny but it’s true. Music is not going to make me rich but music connects me with people. People like Rob, Keith, and Kevin who I have the pleasure of playing with nightly. People like Levin and Katharina, the musicians I jammed with last night. People like Veronica and Sven, who just love the music and can be caught singing along to our songs. I’m quite lucky.
That first show in Laupen seems like a decade past. Traveling with Emma in the van is a distant memory. Even the show two nights ago in Innsbruck feels far away. Time is strange on tour.
There will be at least one more blog post but when it shows up depends on too many factors to list here. I do want to report on our last show and maybe sum the whole trip up. In less than 24 hours I’ll be flying home.
Alex Anest 