Our First Days in Argentina April 2, 2010

Our first days on tour have been jam-packed with some amazing opportunities. We’ve been in Argentina for only 4 days, and we’ve already seen 4 different towns!

We arrived in Buenos Aires on Tuesday morning, after a 10 hour overnight flight from Houston. That night, our first show at the San Martin Theater was a big success – there were lots of people hootin’ and hollerin’ and having a great time. Mine and Mark’s hope to meet a gaucho (an Argentine cowboy) was realized within the first few hours of our tour…and we quickly discovered that gaucho culture is a very present aspect in Argentine society.

The Argentine countryside on our drive through Las Pampas.

We drove due West to Las Pampas the next day, where ranches and farmland blanket the extremely flat landscape. I was reminded of my home in Northwest Ohio! The only thing that seems out of place here is the season. When we boarded our plane, crops were just being planted. Now that we’re here, the soy is already yellow, the corn is already tall and brown, and farmers are in full force harvesting everything. Did we hibernate through the summer? No, we’re just very, very south.

The Teatro Español in Santa Rosa

Our first stop was an overnight in Santa Rosa, where we played at the beautiful Teatro Español. Dried and canned food was donated at the door of our show, to help benefit those in need from the recent floods they’ve experienced here.

Santa Rosa at sunrise

JFK Monument outside of Quemu Quemu

The next day (yesterday) we got an early start and proceeded to the 4,000 person town of Quemu Quemu.

The U.S. Embassy's Cultural Affairs Officer, John Finn, with Quemu Quemu's mayor at the JFK Monument

The mayor invited us to visit their JFK monument, which was incredibly impressive and beautiful – more a piece of modern artwork than a simple statue. We were there to accompany the U.S. Embassy on official business, complete with a press conference,

plenty of photo ops, and a visit to city hall and the local cement factory. Everyone was wonderful – the mayor was happy to have us, and everyone in town seemed very proud of their small but independent community.

Getting an explanation of the cement mixing process

We were shown how Argentines value many of the same things Americans do – democracy, civil rights, history, culture and community.

After our stop in Quemu Quemu, our busy day continued when we arrived in Lincoln (yes, Lincoln…as in Abraham Lincoln). We had a really fun workshop in the afternoon with local music teachers, musicians and children from the newly founded youth orchestra. And that night we played a concert for an incredible audience who can “yeehaw” like no other!

Tomorrow, we’re in the famous gaucho city of San Antonio de Areca, then back to Buenos Aires. Only a few more days here in Argentina before moving on to Paraguay! Tune in again soon for another update.

Oh and by the way. The steak and wine here…aaaaamazing.

Liz

Wonderful Sicily….a Thanksgiving Feast December 7, 2009

We missed all our families back home in the US, but enjoyed some of the most incredible food in the world on a daily basis in three Sicilian towns: Catania, Palermo and Mazara del Vallo.  True to my Thanksgiving-dinner habits I overate regularly.  Especially in the third town, a costal fishing port where we were cooked a fusion Tunisian-Sicilian style lunch by the Foundation San Vito, headed by Father Don Francesco.

But enough about the food, our hosts from the American embassy, Amy Bliss, Giampaolo Arghittu and Italo Malfitano made perfect additions to this traveling Bluegrass-bunch with terrific programming and even a personal tour of Polermo on our day off.

The concert we gave for the students in the High-School in Palermo was particularly exciting since we finally inspired some solo-square dancing in the audience!

We also enjoyed playing in a beautiful night-club on a Friday night in Palermo with a pro-DJ stand behind us and very smartly dressed crowd in front.  Hard Travelin’s the name of the tune….some days were hard, some weren’t so much!

Inside one of the ages-old Catholic cathedrals in Palermo, I discovered this marble wall-sculpture of the story of Abraham from the old testament.  This struck me since we had just left Yemen before the Muslim festival of Eid where we were told for the first time about that story’s significance with the sacred sacrifice of a lamb by Abraham, in place of his son.  We saw countless livestock on the streets of Sana’a being selected for slaughter, much like the turkeys at home!  At the bottom left-hand of the marble cutting, you can see the lamb.
-Taylor

Marble wall-sculpture: Palermo, Sicily. ME and Liz.



Ma’Salama wa Shukran Yemen! November 24, 2009

Well, our time in Yemen was simply fantastic! We all feel that we’re leaving way too soon. We can only hope we can return someday…sooner rather than later!

(Left to right) Ahmed Al-Khalidi, Qanoon; Bandar Sa'sah, Mizmar; Emad Sa'sah, percussion.

Some of us feel that the past couple of days have proven to be a highlight of our careers as musicians. We spent part of our day on Sunday at Bait al-Musiqa (House of Music), meeting and collaborating with some extremely respected local musicians. Extremely respected, and rightfully so. These guys knew what they were doing. I felt enlightened after I left Bait al-Musiqa, thanks to them!

(Left to right) Liz; Kunal Olleri, guitar; Sharooq Mohammed, vocals; Bandar Sa'sah, mizmar. Not pictured: Hussein Rami, oud.

We worked up three numbers for the concert that night, and as we did, it truly felt like we all understood each other on a level that goes way deeper than speaking the same language. As soon as we started playing and planning our tunes, a sense of familiarity set in. Discussions over form, chord progressions, solo order, etc…how musicians figure all of that out is a universal process. I couldn’t understand a word anyone was saying – but there was pointing, passionate discussion, and finally, consensus. Just like a Student Loan rehearsal!

The concert we put on that night was absolutely wonderful, and so much fun! The next day we played an outdoor show at a school, with students, family and friends in attendance. The show had almost a county fair feel, with food stands, balloons, hanging out, and the like. Afterwards, we met with some really wonderful students who are interested in music.

I must say that I really wish we had a longer time in Yemen, and that we could have an opportunity to see more than just Sana’a. I highly suggest that more Americans come see what the country has to offer. In these times, it’s so important to understand that the hype we hear on our *sorry excuses for news stations* is extremely over simplified, stereotypical, and not at all the reality of the situation. And this is why I love these cultural exchange programs so much. It’s an opportunity to bring people together that normally would not be able to interact, to play music together, to perform for one another, to meet each other, to air our grievances, to hear each other out, to discuss, to listen, to understand better, and ultimately, to live in peace. That’s what this is all about.

Thank you, Yemen!

Liz

First Day in Yemen… November 21, 2009

Soundcheck at the Yemen Cultural Center

At Lunch….

After the show…

Hello all! We departed Washington, D.C. on Thursday evening, and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday morning with a couple hours to kill before our flight to Yemen. While our tickets merely read Frankfurt to Sana’a, our plane also stopped in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to drop a few people off and pick up one or two more…..we weren’t allowed off the plane, we just stopped in Ethiopia, were there about an hour and then flew on to Sana’a, Yemen where we arrived last night around 10:30 local time and not quite 24 hours after leaving D.C.

We checked into the hotel here and everyone went immediately to bed. This morning we had a brief meeting with the U.S. Ambassador here (everyone behave in front of the head honcho!) at the embassy and then traveled to the Yemen Cultural Center to meet with some local musicians and do an equipment/sound check for our show there tomorrow. Following the sound and venue check we had lunch at a local restaurant: lamb, long-grained rice, shrimp, hummus, fish, giant flatbread/tortilla things, and a whole bunch of other local fare that I didn’t really know what it was. We all agreed that it was good though!

This afternoon brought us to the Yemen American Language Institute for our first actual show of the tour. The audience (mostly teens and early twenties) was full of energy and cheered, danced, laughed and just generally seemed to have a great time. This was our first full show with Taylor on bass and it went fantastic! Everyone enjoyed it (including us!) and following the show we had to do the obligatory photos with all of the students there that wanted to meet us. It was great fun! Young people here are starved for Western Culture and it’s hard to get over how happy they were to see and meet us.

I think after the show today we are happier then ever to be here. It was a great first day on tour as well as first day in Yemen, and we are looking forward to the rest of our time here. That’s it for now, thanks for reading and thinking  of us!

-Mark

Welcome back! November 18, 2009

Hello friends!

The band is back on tour for the U.S. State Department. This time we’re going to Yemen, Sicily, Cyprus and Algeria. Needless to say we’re very excited, and can’t wait to get on the plane tomorrow!

Right now we’re  in Washington D.C., and we just spent a full day getting briefed on each country, interviewing, and eating bad State Department cafeteria food! I tell ya…they should NOT make you go through 15 minutes of security before eating at that place. I’m sure some of our friends at the State Department (like David the Grape Fairy!) would agree with me.

The Student Loan on the Musical Overtures tour, 2009

Some of you may have heard that Julio is unable to join us on this tour. So we have former Rhythm Road musician from the Hoppin’ John String Band, Taylor Bergren-Chrisman: Bass Extravaganzist, with us this time. I’m sure you’ll all have a chance to read his thoughts on the tour and on the band as he gets to know us better and realizes he made a huge mistake!

We’re so glad to start up the blog again! We can’t wait to tell you all about all our adventures.

Tomorrow we leave for Yemen. Another 20 hours later, we’ll get to Yemen! See you there…

Liz

So long Samoa. Fun times in Fiji. March 18, 2009

Where have you guys been?

In short, we’ve finished up our in Samoa with a second primary school concert. The kids were equally enthusiastic and just about as loud as the first group! We also got a chance to perform with our new friends from the Samoan National Orchestra, and it was enthusiastically received. Our final day in Samoa was spent enjoying the island beaches. Chad enjoyed another round of Golf and Mark even went snorkeling!

We’ve got plenty to say about Fiji, but our intenert access time is limited, so we’ll be posting our final two updates in the next couple days. After we return stateside we’ll be compiling pictures and adding general enhancements (and proofreading!) to our past posts. There will be plenty to share and plenty to see, so please keep visiting. While we won’t be overseas anymore, there are still plenty of adventures to be had in the Northwest. I’d like to think that “blog-grass” will catch on.

-Julio

Talofa! (Samoa, March 9-11.) March 14, 2009

After two days of travel which included an nine-hour flight over Australia, an overnight in Aukland, New Zealand, and a touch-down in Tonga, we arrived in Samoa around 10:30 PM, greeted by a quartet of Samoan musicians who made baggage claim a bit more…well…musical. It was a great touch, though I initially wondered if it must be tiring playing for every flight that rolled in. Our embassy escort let me know, however, that only two or three flights come into Samoa daily, so on second thought, it’s a pretty sweet gig!

We woke up on Tuesday, March 10th for the second day in a row (thank you, international dateline) for a day off which included a bit of venue scouting, sight-seeing, a few naps, and walks along the waterfront. Our hotel, Aggie Grey’s, provides a spectacular view of the ocean, mountains, and horizon. While I may be a bit iffy around spiders, I didn’t mind a few small lizards hanging out in the corners of my room, as long as they didn’t mind me sleeping there as well (In the bed, of course. Not the corner). Chad and Mark squeezed in a round of golf, and both agreed that it was the most beautiful course they had ever played on. Now this is what we call a rest day!

On Wednesday, our first show in Samoa ended up being our biggest show thus far! As we completed our setup, the students entertained themselves (and us) with some fantastic group singing. Recalling the musicians singing in baggage claim, we quickly realized that we’d have to be on top of our game vocally with this crowd. The show was mainly a performance, but included some presentation and Q&A time. We kept the emphasis on performance though, since not only was the crowd huge, they were LOUD! The combination of the staggering numbers (1000+ students) and the sheer enthusiasm of the students made for a “Yee Haw” from the crowd that was borderline deafening for us onstage.

In short: Great crowd. Great gig. Great time.

A government-funded organization to promote music education and lessons, the Samoan National orchestra consisted of some formidable violinists (with one doubling as a bassist!), a guitarist, a choir, and a musical director with big plans for the future. We conducted a short workshop with the musicians, read through some small ensemble arrangements, and stuck around to chat with the musicians and parents afterwards. As an added bonus, the show made the cover of the national newspaper, with a color photo of Liz jammin’ “La Cucaracha” with the local aspiring fiddlers.

We ended the day with a dinner at the Ambassador’s residence, where we had a chance to chat with some American military and Peace Corps who were also making Samoa their temporary home. We earned our dinner by playing a few tunes, and returned to the hotel to prepare for our upcoming TV interview and public concert the following day!