The days are flying by....

Ok.. so i'm sitting here thinking about the past few days and it's really been a whirlwind. I'll attempt to spill the beans in the next few minutes.
I guess where we left off i was headed to Groningen (North Holland) to play in a pub. Took the train and had a crazy trip. I was supposed to get off to switch trains in Utrecht, but for some reason i didn't think i was there yet and stayed on the train. When i finally realized it.. i was like an hour further south! It sucked.. i mean... not the end of the world by any means, but i got to see more of the landscape than i had hoped for on this particular day. When i finally arrived, the city revitalized me with it's zeal. Nice place. Really a nice town. Got to the gig.. The people were excited and i felt like it was going to be a good evening. The night started out as usual... me warming up the crowd with some tried and true tunes.. then the mood started to flow. I made my way to the middle of the room to play a guitar solo and the crowd started going nuts.. i just remember that being the point of no return. It all went so fast.. before i knew it the gig was over and i was rushed with Merchandise sales.. it was really a killer time! I made my way back to my bed but first had to stop and and get what turned out to be an amazing pizza from one of the many all night snack shops in this crazy college town.
Next morning i woke up with the distinct taste of garlic and onions on my breathe.. yes people... i forgot to brush my teeth... i know i know.. gross. After a brisk cup of instant coffee i made my way down to the town square to check out the Saturday market. It was packed with every sort of person you could imagine. I was so lucky and stumbled upon some really good wurst and and then a great dutch cheese witch is really comparable to my favorite Swiss cheese, Guryere. Got some great deals and then made my way by train back to Amsterdam. It was really a shame to be such a short time in that town. Had lots of fun.
Spent most of Saturday night cleaning my flat and working on some tunes. Sunday rolled around and i got to spend part of the day with Edwin, the guy who designed all the T-shirts, Posters and Cd's for the tour. Really nice guy.. had a great time hanging out and he showed me a kick ass little bagel shop that has the best bagels and coffee that i've had so far in my Amsterdam experience. Really really good.. and reasonably priced as well. Sunday night i hopped on the train again and treked a few towns over to Hilversum where i was due to undergo an interesting challenge on Holland national radio. The station is called 3FM. I was the guest of the evening show and it was my Job to pick a song title from about 7 titles that people had sent, either by text from a cell phone or email, to the radio station. Then, once i picked the title that attracted me, i had one hour to then write the song. Honestly, i had no idea what to expect... but i went into it thinking " hey.. what can go wrong.. my song could suck!!" hahah.. talk about some pressure. I will be posting the link to show in the next few days. Keep a look out for it. It turned out amazing! I was done with the song in 35 minutes and the title was " Don't wear a mask ". A record, i was told. Great people.. great show. It was really fun.
After the show.. Sasko drove us back to Utrecht where we crashed and slept in a bit (as it was a late show) woke up and had a few hours of discussion over the business of music and where we are headed next. I'm really stoked about what's in store for the rest of this tour.. everyday is a crazy new experience. Much to love every one reading and thank you again for your support.

- Savage

One drunk Dutch lady and a few Germans later....

Here is what's been going on the past few days...
So i walk into this this little "basement" club in The Hauge.. ready for an interesting evening. Much to my surprise it's all to well and normal for what it appeared to be. That was until the even got started with something i have never seen before... a girl, a really big harp, and a drunk lady heckling her in every quite moment. Much to her credit, Habiba (the girl with the harp) was being a good sport and playing through the nonesnse. The crowd loved her. The whole time in the back of my mind i'm thinking "ok.. i'm next... and i have to deal with the heckler." So i reluctantly took the stage with that feeling that this could go all to bad if i wasn't careful. Sure enough, from the first strum of the first chord i had somehow amplified this womans desire to make a damn fool of herself. She burst out of her chair and into something that resembled a latin tango. Don't ask me, i was trying to keep a straight face. Anyways.. the night went on and again another good time with some singalongs and what not. Much much fun this evening.. i got numerous complements on how i handled this drunken distraction. One man was yelling at me after the show.. "your such a brave man.. A BRAVE MAN!!!" But yet i was scared to death of him actually. I hitched a ride back to Amsterdam where luckily the harp girl lived also. She was even so nice as to drop me off right near my flat. The weather was horrid. Rain.. Rain.. more Rain.
The next morning i saw daylight way to early as i was scheduled to be in Hamburg that evening for a show. It's about a 6 hour train ride from Amsterdam. -I've just notice that i'm writing this blog with a very proper tone. Hmm... anyways... The whole way to Hamburg I'm thinking.. why am i doing this? Then i arrived. I instantly felt a great vibe from place. It's a club called the Pony Bar in Hamburg right in the college district. It was a cozy Monday night.. again full of rain and the need for hot chocolate snuggling next to your friends for the heat. The room was set off to the side of the bar. A great room. Full of couches and chairs and a very comfortable feeling. Before the show i was warming up the crowd and perusing around and making small talk with people and stumbled upon a unique conversation concerning serial killers and mangos... again, don't ask. The show started with an intent Savage staring at the crowd and giving them explicit instructions that if they were to leave me, i would only ask that it be on a Sunday. Then soon after came stories of being the Last Car on a lonely road... and expressing how So Beautiful this crowd was. Later in the evening, I had come to middle of the room singing about your heart's condition as you journey Down the Road of life, when i was met by another... and might i say... fabulous singer. I had never met this good looking German man, but we started to sing together as if we had known what we were doing all along. It was, and i don't use this word often, truly brilliant. Aha.. witch word? Anyways.. all the people at this time were singing and making beautiful melodies on their own. It was really something special to be a part of. At one point i just stopped and listened to the people. Almost brought a tear this old man's glass eye.
The next morning i awoke in a nice and again... cozy little apartment in Hamburg. Shorty after i made why to the Hauptbahnhof, ate some noodles for 2 euros 50 cent.. very cheap by the way... and then slept most of the way back to Amsterdam. I did get home just in time to see my buddy Lukas play a great show at this club called Twstd. Then caught the tram to the Dam.. got me some wok to go.. 5 euros... very cheap also and caught the last tram back to my flat.
Today.. all i did was relax, eat and talk summer tour with Ravinia our Europian booking agencey. I feel this blog has been all to detailed, so with that.. i bow out and say goodnight. Tomorrow my first Amsterdam gig. Laters..

- Savage

Down the road you go...

I'm wide eyed from Jet Lag.. i won't sleep tonight seeing as though i'm due to leave hear in about 2 hours to make my way to Amsterdam. It was one of those surreal evenings where you stop and take a deep breathe and thank God one more time for allowing you to live and experience such things. A packed house full of Germans.. one American on a very very small stage made for a night to remember.
It was the first time i used one of those wireless headset microphone things. Worked out nice. There the people stood, ready to hear what was going to come out of this one man band with his taped up fingers and battle scared guitar. Song after song... after song... this crazy dude with an all to noticeable Austrian accent when he speaks German, was on it. The people hurt my ears they were cheering so loud. The complete opposite from the night before when you could have heard a pin drop. Yeah, that was a tough crowd that night. They just stared at me like i was an alien.. no, actually, and alien would have gotten more of a reaction. i was a wall. Though i did persevere and put on a good show with a 10 minute long story about this Mexican girl (who turned out not to be a girl after all) and her boyfriend drug dealer who wanted to kick my ass. Don't ask. But it made the sour Germans laugh and that's more than i could have asked for. I also sold some merch and that surprised the hell out of me. Anyways.. back to tonight..
There was a support beam in the middle of the room with a high table built around it and some stools. I had been eying it all night.. and on my last song i made my move. By this time i had the Germans trust so i didn't have to keep playing fast, up-tempo, 8th, 16th and 32nd noted tunes. That when i hit them with "Down the road you go". I started on the stage with my guitar played it through a few times.. noticed people catching on.. then jumped of the stage handed my guitar to some guy, who very nicely returned it to me later, and made my way the climb the beam. It was truly something to see.. this whole crowd of Germans singing and waving their hands " don't you let your heart grow black... down the road you go..". this must have gone on for almost 10 minutes. Unreal. It got louder and louder.. and ultimately the true message i set out to send across Europe, and the world for that matter, is being received. In a few hours i go down the road to Amsterdam.. und jetzt gehts weiter!

- Savage

The eagle has landed

I'm awake but groggy with the unmistakable feeling that I've been wrestling for the past 7 hours with finding the one position that you can at least attempt to make yourself believe that you are half-way somehow sleeping on a plane with crying babies that at any moment now will vomit on your only pair of shoes. But what else are you supposed to feel like? In between the know-it-alls and even-minded people, there are a few intent faces that are probably thinking the same thing i am... what the hell is about to happen?! Justin Currie is the soundtrack to last 45 minutes of my flight telling me about his misfortunes with himself and love while i feel the inevitable gurgle of plane food sitting heavier than a brick in my stomach. I think what i just understood through the crackle of the speakers is that it's time for us to put our toys away and thus my laptop counts as one of those. I'm a ball of emotions this morning... Wonder where i'm rolling. Thanks for reading and please remember: Don't take anything i say the right way.

- steven isaac