Highway 40 Blues

Danny; Labuan Malaysia, Day 3.

We woke up very early to go to the Miri airport and checked in to take the short 30 min flight to Labuan.

We were met by Roger Wang the current Vice President and incoming President of SPArKS; Society of Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah. This is our third time working with Roger and SPArKS. He is a great guitarist/ composer and we have been lucky to perform with Roger on a number of occasions.
After we got checked in to our beautiful hotel on the waterfront, we had a quick lunch before going to the workshop we were giving at the International school.

Roger had set us up with some nice car rentals for the day;)

Just kidding;)

On the way to the school, Peter who is Rogers drummer, took me to his home to show me his mini drum kit inventions. He is a great musician and mad scientist inventor;)

The students at the workshop were very shy during the class, but as soon as we invited them up to talk with us on stage, they opened up and played song after song for us.

We love doing workshops and master classes for the students and we're so happy that we were able to work with the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and SPArKS to make this happen for the third time in Borneo.

We went straight from the workshop back to the main venue to do a sound check for the evening concert.

The concert was so much fun and by the end of the night, Johnny and the band really had the place shakin.
Next stop, Kota Kinabalu;)

Whole lot of Shakin

Danny; Miri, Malaysia, Day 2
Last night after we got settled in the hotel in Miri, we began our first day of the festival activities. The organizers had set up a meet and greet cocktail hour for all the bands and staff. There was also a preview in the lounge of two of the bands that would be be performing on the main stage tonight.

The bands sounded great and it was so nice to meet everyone from the festival. After the meet and greet we went to the main stage to do our sound check. We are one of 8 bands from all around South East Asia, Britain and the USA. The longest day finally came to an end and we had to sleep fast because we had to wake up for a 9:00 am press conference, 10:00 rehearsal and then a workshop.

Well we woke up on time and we're at the press conference, hearing from the Cultural minister of Miri.

This is the first country festival in Malaysia and he believes that Miri is the perfect city to promote music, dance and the arts. This festival is interested in becoming an international festival like the KK or the Penang Jazz festival. Miri will be full of events and become a big tourist destination, but this is just the beginning. There is such a rich culture here that spans thousands of years. Miri has a rich biodiversity and it actually has has the worlds largest cave which is a world heritage site. This cave called Mulu has wall paintings dating back to the Stone Age. Miri is working on developing an urban nature park, because of the many protected species that are all around the area.

Michelle presented the cultural minister with his own official cowboy hat.

We ended the press inference with an unplugged version of Tex William's Smoke, Smoke, Smoke.

Before our workshop this afternoon we met up with our US Embassy liaison Shannon Phang who will be traveling with us to tomorrow Labuan and KK.

After our workshop we were able to spend some time with the participants who had some great questions about how to get a more authentic country sound.

There was a line dancing workshop after us this afternoon and I was impressed how fast everyone picked up the steps!
The big concert is going on right now and there are 8 bands. We are on in a couple of hours, so it's time to start getting ready;)

A shot of the stage from the wings before we took the stage.

Well our set was quite a success and considering it was the first time we played this music with Michelle, it seemed even more impressive to me;) She really got the audience going and it is so much fun to have some three part harmonies in the band! My favorite is the two accapella verses at the end of Wagon Wheel!
There was a big encore Jam session with many of the bands coming together on stage at the end of the night, there was a Whole lot of Shakin Goin on, and if you ignored the palm trees and moon lit ocean, you could swear you were in Nashville;)

By the Time I Get to Phoenix

Danny; NY, Tokyo, Singapore, Miri Malaysia. Day one.
It's hard to believe that we are on our fifth trip as musical ambassadors bringing American music abroad and that this is our third trip to Malaysia.
Our last trip this summer was for the US Embassy in Russia which brought us to Moscow, Tomsk Siberia, Tula, Kaluga and Sochi, the home of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
This time we are working with the US Embassy in KL Malaysia and also in partnership with our good friends at SPaRKS, a wonderful arts organization in KK. We will be traveling to Miri for their first ever Country music festival and then on to Labuan and finally KK. We will be playing concerts and giving workshops for students and local musicians.
Although we have some country music influences and have recorded some songs that live within it's borders, this is our first real country set. We're playing selections by George Jones, Ricky Scags, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Hank Garland and more. The JRB has invited special guest, Nashville native Michelle Lambert who is a great fiddler and vocalist. Johnny who also lives in Nashville now, chose tunes that weave a path through the heart of the country music tradition, they really fit the band and highlight everyone's talent.
We're on the first leg of our journey that takes us from NY to Tokyo which is a 14 hr flight and after a layover there, we fly 7 hrs. to Singapore and have 12 hrs to rest before flying to Miri Malaysia for the Country Festival.

After a few hrs. in the hotel in Singapore, we are back on the plane heading to Miri for the Country Festival. Our total flying time will be about 23 hrs, 15,000 miles and 38hrs of travel just to get to our first concert.

Morning in Singapore.

Well we made it to Miri and it feels great to be back in Malaysia. Miri is right on the coast and the lush green land, blue sea and the beautiful golden sun made for a wonderful arrival. Today is the last day of the new year and it's Valentines day, so there is a lot of good vibes all around.
We were met at the airport by the festivals liaisons and they brought is and another band from Singapore called the Super Band back to the hotel. On the way there were stories about great food, music and travels.
When we got to the hotel, I was able to go out to the beach and relax. After 38 hrs of travel, it was good to put my feet up;)

Magical Mystery Tour

Danny; Moscow, 6/9/13
This afternoon we played our final concert at the Preodoleniye rehabilitation center for spinal cord injury, the name means overcoming.
This is the first and only spinal cord injury recovery center in Russia of this type. The patients spend anywhere from 1-2 months here after an accident, recovering from a range if spinal injuries. Most of the patients that are here will never walk again and the center specializes in overcoming a range of debilitating injuries. They have acupuncture, massage, magnetics therapy and a solarium that is a green space for healing.

The patients gathered in the main hallway where we set up to play an intimate concert.

Off all the concerts we played in Russia, this was one if the most rewarding and emotional. These patients experience a range of emotion and often experience deep
depression after their injuries. Art and music provide positive energy
and healing vibes to all
including ourselves. It's such a joy to see the smiles on the patients faces an get them involved in the music.

After the concert the director presented us with a few gifts and a certificate of appreciation for playing at the center.

We were able to spend some of the with the patients signing autographs and posters.

It's hard to believe we are done with this tour, we have so many people to thank. I hope to do a wrap up of the tour on the way home and thank everyone for their support. Here is a pic of us with our fearless leader Masha after today's final concert. She is the Cultural Affairs Coordinator with US Embassy in Moscow and acts as road manager, tour organizer, booker, translator and keeps us safe. We could have not survived with out her cool head, calm reason and sarcastic sense of humor.