Germany Tour Blog 15: Old Friends and New in Berlin

This is our fourth Germany tour, and it is a gift to see familiar faces from past shows smiling back at us, almost wherever we go. In Berlin, we brought together several little communities from our different worlds into one picturesque little show.

We played at a biergarten on a little island in the middle of a river running through the city. It was out of a movie, with people out on kayaks and boats going through the water as the day winded down into a sunset shining through the leafy trees. We couldn’t drive our car onto the island, so Robin at the venue helped us load our stuff onto a golf cart to set up and soundcheck.

We caught up with our Ohio friend Michelle(an artist friend who made some early album art for us and lives in Berlin now) and met her community of friends excited to see the set. We saw German friends who went to previous shows in Dresden and Berlin and elsewhere. And we played for new strangers and made a few friends both behind the bar and at the little tables.

The weather was perfect, and didn’t get too cold after sunset either. We got some Turkish food after the show — and I had kokoreç for the first time (described to me as “drunk comfort sandwich” consisting of chopped lamb intestines and organs, seasoned to perfection and cooked on a grill). I wasn’t drunk, but it was still perfect.

We spent our morning with our host and friend Flo having coffee and breakfast in his flat alongside the long ambling conversations that always seem to happen in the kitchen after a show. He played in a hardcore band for a while, and now does design consulting work — still finding time to host bands or go out to shows. He’s an absolute gem with a killer record collection — not to mention some of the best coffee we’ve had on tour. He’s a joy to see again.

Germany Tour Blog 13: One More Show with Husten in Kassel

photo by Thorsten Domeyer

I love iteration. First drafts, second chances, repeated attempts at making something special and ephemeral. I’ve gotten more comfortable with accepting our records the way they are, even the first recordings when we were just figuring out the basics. They represent earnest attempts at meeting the moment with the skills I had at the time and the friends who offered theirs as well.

Tour offers another chance at this; playing a different show every night, trying out new setlists, new transitions, and new approaches to songs. A bigger room may offer possibilities to bring an entirely different set than a small room — same with audiences.

This is a rambling way to say that each night, we get a new chance to find the intersection between where the audience is, what the venue can accommodate, and where our songs can take the night. It’s a delicate balance, but after eight years or so, we have enough songs that work live to give us plenty of options.

At Kassel, we played a lean support set that I was really proud of. I love a short, 25 minute opportunity to surprise people, demand attention, and dip. I love short sets like this just as much as the longer ones. All killer, no filler, etc etc.

photo by thorsten domeyer

We spent the night in a hotel room with bunk beds. Being in a band is also just being grown men having sleepovers, watching a German dub of Airplane 2 on the television. Not everything is so heady — and those jokes transfer even without subtitles.

Feeling like public radio rockstars in Bremen / "Am I the Midwest?" live performance and interview

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.

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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.

Nürnberg, Customs Police, and Folk's Worst Nightmare

We drove back to Germany to play in Nürnberg. On the way, we got searched by the Bavarian border.

We were scooting along on the highway a few kilometers past the German border when the car ahead of us flashed a message on an led screen through its back window. “Poleizi, follow me.” So, unsure whether or not this was legit, we followed it to the nearest exit. There waiting for us, was a full caravan of officers in a big, official-looking van. They asked us for our passports, driver’s license, and registration. Then, they took me out to the trunk while they inspected pieces of our luggage.

“Do you have any weed on you? Even a small amount? Like one gram? Two grams? Did you smoke weed last night in Vienna?”

They asked me to empty my pockets, gave my package a thorough pat-down, and then chatted about music for a bit. Unfortunately for them, we did not have weed in or on us. They pulled over the only folk band from the states on tour without any contraband. So, they dug through our luggage, and, finding nothing, let us go.

I asked why they had pulled us over - they said, “no reason - this is normal.”

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Apparently, in Bavaria, this is indeed normal. We learned this when we talked to folks at the show.

Maike did hospitality and made us feel like the biggest band in the world. Tobi ran sound and lights, hitting a disco ball at the exact right time at the end of our set at the crescendo of Seat 16b.

Jan Bratenstein (The Black Elephant Band) set up the show through the alt/freak/punk folk collective in town, “Folk’s Worst Nightmare.” It sort of feels like that scrappy DIY alt-folk scenes that pop up in towns and cities between Chicago and New York.

The whole show happened because he put our song on a radio show, and I reached out to say thank you. Then, he noticed that we had an off day, and organized a concert in Nürnberg for us. He even got a local TV station to come along to film the show and interview us.

The show at MUZClub itself was lovely - in large part due to the local opener, Julia. She was rehearsing in the backstage area - with the reverb from the long hallway, it sounded magical. Here's a recording.

We saw some familiar faces at the show too - including Andi. He is a former host from our tour in 2018 in Hamburg. He mentioned that Barbara said that I was allowed to eat sweet mustard now that they moved to Bavaria - it’s most definitely not popular in northern Germany

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Jan’s friend Jens set up a small pre-show at his guitar shop - BTM Guitars - just down the road. so, we played a tiny acoustic show there to six people, then came back in the morning time to drink coffee, get the guitar looked at, and daydream about a new guitar.

This morning, I went to see Jens again at BTM Guitars. The fellas made me a cup of coffee, fixed a small issue with a tuning peg that kept snapping my strings and let me try a few guitars. Unfortunately, I fell in love with one. It’s an Atkin. They only work with three distributors in the US; the closest is in Chicago.

The one I played is based on the Gibson J45, specifically a model from 1943. Therefore, it’s called “The Forty Three.” I haven't found a larger-bodied guitar that ever spoke to me, but this one did. Jens and they said we could work out a deal, and I wrote down some numbers. I don’t think I’ll follow through on it, but it’s fun to dream a little bit on tour.

Cookbook Giveaway in Vienna

We’ve been driving a lot, but these days were the most difficult. We had three days of 5+ hour drives back to back, going from Germany, through the Czech Republic to Austria, and back to Germany. 

During the drives, sometimes I felt like it wasn’t worth it. I felt foolish to be spending time away from work and away from home driving from city to city without much time to spend enjoying what makes they unique. We roll into a city as the sun is setting, and roll out just after it rises. But the show in Vienna got my head back on straight again.

In Vienna, we played at a cafe named Clash. They have about 8 shows a year, always someone traveling from out of town, and always someone special. We made the cut! Hooray!

Jo opened up the door for us a bit early, then explained that they had collected a big box of old cookbooks for giveaways at the show. They had advertised that everyone that donated money to the band could have their pick of a free cookbook. It was unbelievably cute. Also, my face was plastered all over the bathroom.

We set up. We told stories and played songs for almost two hours. We had an encore - twice - and played just late enough to make the people in the room and the people who live upstairs both happy. Our soundman, Tomas, was a joy. He writes songs as Think Small. He’s worth listening to.

We slept at our host Michael’s apartment that night - complete with an amazing view of the city.

Day Three and Four: Offenbach, Thomann, and Chemnitz

Day Three: Offenbach

Hafen 2 is in Offenbach, what looks like a suburb of Frankfurt on the other side of a canal. Right on the coastline is Hafen 2 (Harbor 2). Andrea is the general head honcho, along with her husband and daughter. Last tour, we played on the outside stage; this year, we played on the inside stage.

It was the biggest stage that we had played thus far, with Dan on a grand drum throne looking over Jack and I. We played loud songs loudly. We played soft songs softly. It was nice.

Mark Peters Band played after us with a bunch of grooves. We got to spend some time just watching the light show - with an additional little spotlight on the donations bucket. Over some lentil curry provided by the venue, Mark and the team recommended that we check out Thomann - a big music store in a little German town.

We all slept in a little room at a local hotel with miserable WiFi. I completely forgot how many shenanigans went into getting a decent internet connection.

Day Four: Thomann and Chemnitz

We woke up and drove our way to Thomann. Of course, we ran into the fellas in the band from the night before in our respective instrument sections, all wishing we had some more time to spend wandering from room to room.

It’s kind of like the Book Loft times 10 but for instruments. It’s a strange, sprawling store of converted houses going up four stories, signs pointing at each doorway to different sections with different instruments. They have orchestral percussion. They have a whole slew of guitars. They have brass, strings, and pro audio gear. They have so many synthesizers.

Dan found a small part for his borrowed hi-hat stand, Jack got a sandwich, and we all got on our way.

We rolled in to Inspire Chemnitz. We were in Chemnitz on a dangerous night last time, so it felt important to return under more normal circumstances. These were quite normal! We talked to Barry, the booker who kept the venue open during the violence outside last time. Things didn’t really change after the violence. Most of the people came in from out of town to demonstrate. Chemnitz is still Chemnitz, but university admissions and tourism are both down. He says that there is still an undercurrent of racism and anti-immigrant politics, as well as a few seats in local government taken by the AFD, but there hasn’t been anything as explosive as last time.

Felix ran sound, Liz looked after us, and Navya from Kansas volunteered with the cleanup afterward. It was a small show with fewer native English speakers than most of our shows - Barry impressed upon us that he very much loved the way we were able to see the world and pick out charming bits of life from it.

After the show, we went to Uli’s house; he’s Barry’s partner in the venue. He hosts the whisky tastings in the venue, and has a bit cellar at his home. Naturally, he broke out a few bottles of beer, scotch, and whisky to talk about the world, music, education, Chemnitz, life in general, and the Science/Christianity talks that he organized. We laughed, drank, and pet his dog. I slept well that night.

German Tour Update: arrival in Frankfurt, first show in Köln

Our newest record came out while we were above the Atlantic Ocean in a big ol airplane while wearing a sleeping mask in earnest for the first time in my life.

Thanks for listening to it if you have! If you haven’t, give it a stream or buy a CD/LP online through our new distributor.

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We took off in the US at about 5PM local time, and then arrived at about 9AM local time. We slept a little bit on the plane, but probably not enough (for me anyway). We got our VW Passat, found a way to fit everything in, and then got on our way.

But first, we had to drive to Düsseldorf to pick up some gear. Then, we had to fit that even more gear into the car while people wanted us to move from the loading area. Then, we high-tailed it to Köln to get to a hostel named Weltemfänger.

I played solo here two years ago on the first tour. Our main contact there is Fabio - sort of a McDreamy character who lives around the corner and does most of the managing and booking. He claims that he isn’t a sound man, but everything has sounded perfect when I’ve been there.

After a short, deep, luxurious nap, we checked our things and prepped for the show. We thought we might start at 8:45p depending on how many people showed up. By 8:00 PM, it was clear that we were going to start on time.

The place was jam-packed, partially due to a local events magazine/website picking us up as a featured event. But, partially, there were plenty of people who came to see us. We saw folks from the past two years, caught up a bit, and played our jet-lagged little hearts out.

We met someone who lives in Grandview - about three miles from my apartment - here on business. We met someone who grew up a few miles away from Dan who has lived in Germany for six years now. The little connections were plentiful and surprising and welcomed.

It was a free show, with donations for the band. We collected nearly 700 euros and sold nearly 300 euros of CDs and LPs. Fabio said we broke the record for a donation show there. Every show won’t be like this - but it helps that the first one is.

Then, we drank beer. Fabio and Jack and I talked about healthcare (strong in Germany) and the rise of the far-right (also growing stronger in Germany).

We slept (hard) and got up to drive to Karlsruhe.

Closing out tour with Lilly Among Clouds

After 16 shows with Dan, I spent the last five as the opening support for a German act, Lilly Among Clouds. Lilly is the songwriter and singer, and she’s got four fellas traveling as her band. Here’s a quick rundown of the cast of characters.

sam, onno, florian, jimi hendrix statue partially obscured

Florian plays percussion. He likes reading the newspaper set out with the hotel breakfasts. He found a story about a Missouri man who fell off of a treehouse after being attacked by wasps, then landed on a grilling skewer facefirst. It went through his head and face?But he’s ok? USA? Florian’s got two kids - 11 and 13. When he was 12 he got terrible grades in music class, so his parents got him lessons on the drums. After that, it was over. He’s a wine guy. I’m not a wine guy. But I did drink wine on the last day.

Onno plays keyboards and synthesizers. He’s the son of preachers and grew up in a little town bordering the Netherlands. They speak a unique language there, a mishmash of a variety of languages. Most of the younger folks aren’t learning it enough to pass on, so it’s slowing making its way out. The older folk in the town still speak it - and he ran into a hotel receptionist who grew up in his town on our last day together. He describes himself as not the best musician, but someone who kept making friends with gaps that he could fill on tour. Really, he’s just a great modest musician.

sam, lucio, tiny gunnar far away, prosecco

Lucio plays guitars on stage, but also manages the tour. And he’s my age? I feel like a slouch. He coordinates the day to day shenanigans, always making sure we’re in the right place at the right time. He’s gracious and gregarious, always toting around a camera to snap pics for the band in spare moments. He plays and manages tours in a few other bands. So, check out Giant Rooks if you’re interested. All of the music that he puts on during his morning routine has really crispy electric guitar tones.

Gunnar runs sound. They tote their own board to every show, and then he adds his own special little bits to it. He manually adds delay throughout the set at a few little moments. So, if you watch in the back, you can see him popping back and forth between the soundboard and the delay pedal, peppering in some goodness and making it all feel alright. He also plays guitar and keyboards in the band Staring Girl - they also played the Sound of Bronkow.

Lilly is the singer and songwriter. She’s got a heck of a voice, and a heck of an ear for melodies. At one show, I talked to a couple as I was selling them a CD - they said that this is their ninth time seeing Lilly. This is a common thing. She writes these really strong songs with soaring melodies that never quite get out of your head. I started more than one day with her songs bouncing around in my brain before I even realized I was humming them.

We played five shows - a few things stuck out.

I met the band at the venue in Potsdam. It felt odd to play a solo set after 16 with Dan, but I think I got all of my big mistakes out in this show. Afterward, I met Sofia, Klaus, and Ana. They all had kind things to say. I also met a stranger when they grabbed me and whispered into my ear, “You are Beautiful,” and then walked away? So, that also happened? I’m not sure what else to say about this show. I’m just gonna move on here real quick. I spent most of that day in Dresden anyway.

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In Halle, I went for a long walk in a nearby park. I found some buckeyes. It occurred to me how weird my alma mater’s mascot is. A hard, inedible nut. With arms and legs? Anyway, it felt important at the time.

We played at Objekt 5. It’s a really cosy underground club with a fancy ass restaurant in the top part. As always, that means we ate well. We all had this super rich noodle dish with spinach and goat cheese. I will choose to believe that this dinner reminded me how to play a show solo.

I remembered that I have to talk a little bit to set the stage. I remembered to have fun puttering around stage. I remembered to look at people in their eyes. I remembered to make some lame jokes. I remembered to beg people to buy CDs and LPs, and they happily obliged.

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Bang and Olufsen is a crazy hi-end stereo company based in Denmark. They billed themselves as the world’s oldest consumer electronics company in the hardbound history book of full color designs and stuff. They seem like they’re a designer and audio engineer’s wet dream. But I don’t think I’ll be a customer any time soon. I think I could live comfortably well into my thirties on what people spend on those speakers. But, like, more power to them.

So, we’re in Hanover, at the ultimate home audio store. And we’re playing this thing called the Salon Festival. It’s this concert series where people perform in unexpected places. We weren’t sure if I was going to be able to play. The booker was really intent on having only Lilly play, less intend on some random fella before her. It’s a special event; they feel fancy and important about themselves. And they’re billing it as a living room concert (but everyone was really fancy and dressed up?). That’s all well and good. But they did not want an opener.

So, after Lilly and them soundchecked, Lucio had me set up and check. Then, he made a beeline for the booker. They went outside and had what looked like serious words as I strummed and hummed. He popped back in, told me to continue playing, and went back outside to continue the discussion. He came back in. He said he had to fight, but he got me 25 minutes (she had initially said nothing, then no more than 12 minutes). We celebrated our victory after the show with Domino’s delivery.

So, thanks to Lucio’s insistence, I played a singer-songwriter set on two speakers that cost about $80,000 each (seriously) in a room where I could have played completely unplugged. So that’s like, over $150,000 of sound equipment. I also ate my weight in Lindt chocolates, and those aren’t cheap either.

The set went well. People laughed, I mumbled about Ohio a bit too much, and sold a bunch of CDs. People talked about how well the sets went together. The booker profusely thanked Lilly for playing. She gave the cold shoulder to Lucio. I avoided eye contact and later fell asleep to a German dub of a Superman movie intermittently interrupted by phone sex ads.

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We played our last show in Darmstadt. Full lights, huge rack of speakers, and a bigger stage than I’ve ever been on. That felt great. Afterwards, goofing off til nearly three in the morning felt even better.

Lilly and Florian and Onno and Lucio and Gunnar - Thanks so much for your help over the past week. Thanks for translating jokes and keeping everything light. Thanks for your feedback on my sets. Thanks for helping me order at the finest German Chinese restaurants close to the autobahn. Special thanks to Lucio and Gunnar for being stellar roommates as we moved from hotel to hotel.

On National Radio in Berlin

After about a four-hour morning drive to Berlin on Wednesday, we met up with a cheerful bearded fella on a bike. This is Flo. Flo is great - but we were in a rush. He gave us a quick rundown, then sent us on our way to the radio station. He left us the entire apartment to ourselves for two days in Berlin. We can sleep in the same bed, shower in the same shower, and actually buy some groceries for once! What a world!

From there, we ran to Deutschlandfunk Kultur for a fancy interview and live session. A tall man named Henri engineered the session. Dan asked him how long he had worked in the studio. He laughed, saying that everyone always asked him that question. And that’s how an older man avoids questions that he doesn’t want to answer. A super attentive Bettina conducted the whole shebang - leading us to and fro, and even wrangling this sick boy some tea.

Vivian Perkovic interviewed me for the segment. And dang. I thought I was prepared, but she came more prepared. She had some really thoughtful questions, looked up our blog and drew connections between Trump and the AFD through the lens of our experience in Chemnitz a few nights ago during the Neo-Nazi rally.

She asked if I invented to keep sharing detailed personal things about my life, and I didn’t see why I wouldn’t. But, when she asked that, it kinda lit a fire under my ass to make sure I sat down to walk through the past couple days.

We went home, heard the interview, and fell promptly asleep before this night’s show at Ä.

At the show, we met Clio and Maurice. They’re a Milan based duo. He plays the violin, she sings. It’s just dang beautiful and really fills up a room. Clio’s first year of sobriety was tonight, and her birthday was yesterday, so there’s a lot to celebrate, even though it was a pretty empty room.
Tanno engineered and was wonderful and helpful, gently pressing the importance of very soft drums so that they can continue to have music here. Akis was a kind host. After getting my third water, he said, “what the fuck with you guys?” (I’m getting over a cold, and my three free drinks probably wouldn’t help me recover any faster.)

I’m going to sleep hard tomorrow. We’ll get up in the morning. We’ll go see a few things, do another radio interview, and meet back up with the Wayne Graham guys.

And then the next day, we stopped by ALEX Berlin for another radio interview with Lele and Madlen, and filmed a live video for “Ohio.” ALEX is an amazing public service - anyone in Berlin can use their top-notch audio and video equipment to run their own podcasts, radio shows, and more. It’s really a gem - like a tool share for multimedia work.

We stopped by the Jewish Museum for a few hours, and then had so much fun with Wayne Graham at Art Stalker - it was great to reconvene at a show when we all had gotten over our jet lag. It feels great to fall into a rhythm with Dan and fill up a room with two boys from Ohio.

We played a Killers cover that I thought was on the first album. I announced it as such, and then a nice couple corrected me after the show - “Read My Mind” is on Sam’s Town, their second album. Then, we chuckled and smiled, and they signed up for the email list. Also, a nice man named Berndt asked us to sign our record - he bought it from a local shop in Berlin. He even gave us some guitar picks from a local shop in Berlin. He said our music touches him in the heart, and he'll be there next time we're in the city. We shared a big ol' hug. If we break the guitar before we leave, I’m sure we’ll take it to his friend’s place.

W e pack our lives back into our little Volvo and head out to Dresden today. Three cheers for kind people, hard questions, and good stories.