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MJEB's All Colours Blues Blog Part 1 - always bring the stormcellar weather with you

Welcome to the first of what might be a lot of blogs about our US Tour.

Regular readers will know that our blogs are about what we see and experience. if you want to see us playing live, come to a show :-) Hey, this is my blog. I can assert artistic weirdness should I choose.

I do.

(besides which, Rosie, Bill and Jo and a lot of folks we played for on the tour took pics and vids too so who knows what's gonna get posted in their blogs/youtubes etc etc)

Some regular readers know that we started all this blogging back in the day so that our friends and family who were overseas and sometimes, in harms way, could take a breather and synch with the mundane(ish) world of playing music around the traps.

Some of the people we love dearly are back out on their missions, doing what they do to look after the likes of us and giving aid to others.

We dedicate these moments from our adventures to those doing the work of actual heroes.

Sniff.

I hate when I get emotional. Must be the damn jetlag. Enough.

Pics vids and adventures abound, for you have joined the Stormcellar All Colours Blues Tour.

Pics and comments first, awesomely edited video at the end with a great performance from our mates in the Rhythm Roosters.

Ahem

Day 0

Bye Sydney...Sniff (dammnit)

I am still not a fan of flying. unsolicited plug for QANTAS, nice A380, good media system, well done.

DAY 1

Sleep on the plane, wake up in LA LA land :-) Transfer to next plane. ARGH.

DAY 1 CONTINUED FOREVER AND EVER AMEN

OMG time change this day never ends.

Hmmm. Now we missed booking the cheap flights and the budget is tight. I guess we'll be catching the bus to the accommodation.

Yeah these Stretch Buses are well appointed.

We're like ah, on da bus, ah, to ah, like, ah, Joliet. See?

Our initial accom/Roman temple. Ave!

DAY 2 There's No Place Like Homemade

We love the heck out of the Route 66 Diner in Joliet and they love us right back. We must have gone there 5 times during the trip.

Jo was collecting menus for Chrissy. Here ya go.

Always Take The Stormcellar weather With You

We arrived in a muggy, hot end of summer warm patch in Illinois, leaving the end of the Sydney winter behind. But something came with us.

Yep, you guessed it.

Stormcellar weather.

We braved the ominous skies and headed for Chicago for gear and transport.

Did I say Transport?

Ze Van. She went Kerfplooie.

ARGH!!!

A hose came loose from the cooling system, Bill had to swap CD's for water, we drove in fits and starts to a garage and then had to swap vans to go collect gear.

We lost the guys in traffic, Rosie and Jo got soaked finding a cafe but we rendezvoused at SIR where Cesar is still THE MAN!!

SIR Cesar

Lookit! They put leetle teeny name tags on our gear for us. Studio Instrument Rental. The rock stars of gear.

And so it came to pass that the gear was in a van (not the right one, but, a van in any case) and the Heavens Did See Our Good Works and Did Say 'Good onya'

We headed for Joliet once more

Not a flying pig in sight :-)

Mo's Home For Itinerant Muso's

Big thanks to Mo and Katie for looking after us and the occasional car.

Day 3 Replace Van, find out Chicago Traffic Sucks

Makes me miss peak hour in Sydney. Seriously.

I may have said some rude words. A lot.

Go back to Chicago, swap van, reload, head for clear skies.

Oh.

Ah, the freedom of 1 kilometer WIDE highways. 5 lanes each side, train tracks in the middle. Long, straight, wide highways rolling on forever.

Welcome to the mid west.

Gig 1 - Old Town

The riders choice pub. Cheers to Tina

Plenty of vid in the vid section (see below)

Our mates in the Rhythm Roosters. Here's Paul T-Recht and Dan.

A big night, followed by an early rise to go open the Crossroads Festival, 2 hours upstate in Rockford Il.

Ok, that's pics and comments. Check the vid. Nice work Paul and the boys!

STILL TO COME IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT:

GPS disaster!

Cranky Dutchmen!

Yet More Torrential Stormcellar Weather!

The magical Rock River

Stay tuned.

The MJEB Abides

See what happens when I answer interview questions in the wee small hours in Kansas City...I just got compared to The Dude. That's completely awesome. Besides which, that rug really tied the room together.

Here's the interview, and a link FYI: http://www.crueltyfreefestival.org.au/stormcellar-the-funniest-interview-of-the-festival-and-we-had-to-censor-it

Michael ‘MJEB’ Barry is the vocalist and harpist with Sydney band Stormcellar. He also just happens to be hilarious, and by giving us insight into Stormcellar’s formidable live act and melting-pot of sonic influences, has provided us with the funniest interview of the festival.

Built upon a solid foundation of bass, guitar, drums, harp and slide, Stormcellar also throw in a casual mandolin, the occasional fiddle, folk influences, potent lyrics, and a melodic but incredibly versatile singer. The result is a unique and compelling act described by roots magazine No Depression as “The Rolling Stones fronted by James Taylor”.

In speech and personality, MJEB reflects the impromptu and animated musical vibes of Stormcellar. Charming and quick-witted, he speaks of curious deviations from the norm, and is delightfully reminiscent of Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski’s comedy and linguistic style.

CFF: Stormcellar seem like an incredible mix of influences, genres and instruments. How did all these elements come together, and how you make it all work?

MJEB: We’re just one of the hardworking bands out there playing gigs in Sydney. There is a great depth of talent everywhere you look and Sydney-ites are starting to come back out to participate, which is great. Stormcellar came out of the music jam scene in the Inner West in the late ‘oughties’, mutating from a straight harp/slide blues outfit into something most curious. We make it all work in the same way as a family makes it work. Fractiously, kindly, surprisingly and with as much affection as we can muster. Being conscious of the fragile nature of these things is a plus.

CFF: The Cruelty Free Festival crowd is always very diverse too – do you think you gel well with the festival?

MJEB: LOL. We’re already a pretty diverse lot, musically and otherwise. We’ve played to bikies in Beechworth, backpackers in Bondi, gurus at the icebergs, organic-niks on the Central Coast, rockers in Randwick, toothless dudes in Terre Haute, bluescats in Kansas, hipsters in Darlinghurst, we’ve been carjacked, electrocuted, heckled, pilloried, plied, feted and flown. However we’ve never been festival gelled but we’re plucky and will try anything once.

CFF: You seem like a fun act – is that something you strive for? How do you think you’ll be received on the day?

MJEB: Part A – yes we’re fun. You have no idea. We are more funner than a bag full of puppies. In fact we have been hanging out with puppies on tour. I’m not kidding. That’s just how we roll. Puppies.

Part B – We do not strive for fun. Fun simply is. We merely abide where it is.

Part The C – We, plus any who are near where we are, will be drawn into an almost infinite vortex of complete awesomeness. This will be indicated by the tapping of feet, ‘smiling’ and physical movements in a choreographed, or even spontaneous, manner. All of this will be presented in full sensory 4D. Wow.

CFF: What are your plans for the day, apart from playing?

MJEB: The best part of a festival is getting to watch the other acts. Other than that we make no predictions. Other than that whole vortex thing. That will probably happen.

Thanks MJEB for your time, and we look forward to seeing what Stormcellar has in store for the festival!

Cheers Elena.

BTW I'm pretty sure what I said was G rated but I cant quite recall :-)

We're BAAAACK!

Flights and I don't get on so well. Thankfully Jo had some Valium. Still, the A380 is awesome and QANTAS was great to travel with (well done).

We're back.

What a trip.

Wow.

Details, pics and vids to follow.

Outstanding work on behalf of the members of Stormcellar. Outstanding.

WOOT.

Our gratitude extends from IN to KS, from MO to IL and CA and back again.

More to follow, but first, a nap.

Postcards from Joliet - Tour headlines

Howdy Folks.

A couple of driving days and early starts as we made our way from KC to Iowa and then back to Chicago.

Swapping vans in the rain was a blast. Thanks to Fab for his help.

It's morning, the guys (and gal) have just had their first good nights sleep since we left KC and are rousing. Rosie's playing some flamenco thing in the background whilst they figure out what they're doing for the last few days of our tour.

But I know enquiring minds need to know so heres the tour headlines

The Muddy Waters Goes Off

You never know what to expect when you play a new town, but people who have gone to the website, researched your song,s know your names and call for particular tracks, thn text all their mates to come down and see you whilst the gig is on...Hmm. Cheers to Steve B and the Mississippi Valley Blues Society for hostng us. A heck of a night.

We Miss You Too

Guests and fish should be thrown out after three days, but we already miss Lesley and Luis.

Let The Girl Sing

It's been wonderful to see Jo come to the fore. She performed 'push me away from you' live for the first time in Iowa and it was incredibly well received. Mo has already suggested I rest my pipes.Cheers Mo. Well done Jo.

What's wrong with the art look?

I used some iphone filter (accidentally at first but then I liked it) on my photos and Lou and Val complained.FIne. I switched it off.

I still like it. Oh well.

Route 66 DIner, Joliet

Still the best.

We wont fit in that

6 people, guitars and gear, we wont fit in that...oh...we did. Ever driven a suburban? Its a large SUV that seems to scream PLANETARY DESTRUCTION as you drive it. Some come with Miniguns in the rear ( I checked, not this one sadly). On the other hand, feel the power, muahaahahaha...cough...splutter. Guilty but enjoying it.

I cant do it by myself

And we didn't. I might have to issue a credits roll for all of the folks who have helped to make this tour possible. It's been said that anyone can do it, and that maybe true, but we couldn't do it without the selflessness of so many people. I'll not name you now. You know who you are. However I will do it to your great embarrassment in huge letters later on. You were warned.

Not even a flesh wound

Dannys ok. Providence indeed.

Right that's it, they're showered and heading for Chi town. I have to sort out housekeeping stuff so I best attend to that.

We hope, dear reader, that where ever you may be, you're in good spirits. We'll be back in Sydney next week and back on deck by the 27th in Newtwn. Over the next few weeks vids, pics and blogs from the various band members will recount in greater detail the escapades and moments from the All Colours Blues Tour.

Meanwhile, I'm off to go experience it.

MJEB.

Last show of the 2014 All Colours Blues Tour - The Muddy Waters, Bettendorf Iowa, Thursday 11th September

Farewell to thee KC MO, KC KS, to KCK, DC, DCB, MG, DG, RT, oh my stars...

We head for Iowa and our last show for the tour. (sniff). Tomorrow.

Bugger.

I mean, 'YAY! Iowa' but still...

Thank ya'll, and all ya'll, ya'll know who all y'all are and iffen you don't, well just holler.

Show runs 7-10 or so. I got the art wrong.

Partying is such sweet sorrow.

Come to Iowa. We'll do the last show proud.

As serious as a heart attack - Providence in Kansas City

Holy Crap.

Danny had a heart attack during the show show in Sunday. Mona got him to hopsital. He's been treated, He's fine. As fine as you get after that.

DC Bellamy stepped in for the recording sessions yesterday.

Dawayne says that Providence was in Kansas City this weekend.

Sundays show was amazing.

The duet between Jo and DC Bellamy is amazing.

Looking forward to sharing it.

Our thoughts are with Danny. Get well soon.

We're off to Iowa on Thursday.

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