Sam here. When covid first hit, things got hairy. We had just recently gotten home from a tour in Germany and released our second record. We had our hometown release show with a full string and horn section about a month before all the bars shut down for the first time. Because of all of that hullabaloo, I never got around to posting some of our final tour blogs! In the spirit of sharing stories and reminiscing, I’m going to share some more stories here in this space. Wild to imagine what all has changed since January 2020.
When we first got our tour dates, we had two days off and 15 shows. Then, we got a message from a public radio station called Bremen Zwei - they wanted to have us do a video, interview, and spend an hour with them on the radio.
So, of course, that's a big hell yes.
We rolled in and met Arne Schumacher - decked out in a cheerfully loud button-up shirt that screams, “I’ve worked in public radio since the 90s.” He then told us that he has worked in public radio since the 90s and that he considers his job as just having fun for a living. I like Arne.
Things were a flurry of activity when we rolled in. We had forms to sign, instruments to set up, a small live promo to pop into another studio for, then back to soundchecking in the original studio. We paused to shoot a video and more in-depth interview about the Midwest song, then Arne treated us to some local Italian food.
Arne knows what he’s doing. He took our orders when we arrived, so we had an hour to walk around the corner, sit down at a little table for the four of us, and dig into the food that the staff brought out right away.
We talked about the tour - how much we do it every year and what else we do for a living. He said that most of the people that play at his station have a bit of a patchwork quilt lifestyle - not many folks who make their living exclusively on their music play on the station. That made me feel a bit less alone, a bit more comfortable with the balance that we’re striking.
I asked him how he found out about our record. He said that he had gotten the first record at the station blind; he didn’t ask for it, didn’t see any names that he recognized, but still gave it a listen. He said that the first two songs had a real voice, an interesting voice. It was different. So, he played our first CD on the station a bit.
K&F partnered with a promoter named Carmen for the second record. She reached out to Arne about this sophomore release, and he recognized our band. He requested the record, listened, and reached out to feature us.
After the show, he put us up in a super nice hotel down town. We all had king sized beds and individual rooms - a first for tour. With a big breakfast spread in the morning, he made us feel like rock stars.
Arne is so straightforward and earnest in an uncool way, so much that it flips around and he’s cool again. He likes songs, he likes supporting artists, and he likes sharing songs with the world. As we were leaving, he kept insisting the point that songs can change people’s minds, worldviews, outlooks, personal lives, etc. He sees that as his role in radio - to give songs the opportunity to affect one person who never would have heard it otherwise.
Arne (and everyone at the station buzzing around making this happen on a Monday night) makes a big difference. He was another reminder to me that songs are important, songs are worth writing, songs are worth arranging, songs are worth recording, songs are worth standing behind, and songs are worth sharing with strangers.
Thanks, Arne.