Saturday, June 9, 2012

Kissing Ten Women


Takeshi Horiuchi has toured over the years with Brian and Marty.  Originally working in the US, he has since returned to Fujinomiya, Japan.  That hasn’t stopped his love of music and frequent trips back to join Switchback on stage.  Brian and Marty respect Takeshi-san’s’ mastery of the Irish drum called the bodhran and announce him to audiences as “the greatest bodhran player in all of Asia,”  to which Takeshi replies..."As far as we know.”  Below are his thoughts on the Prairie Tour last month that covered travel over five states with 17 shows, in just a day shy of two weeks.

This was the first tour I was to do with Switchback.  Brian and Marty are good friends of mine that I have known for eight years since we first met in Rochester, Minnesota, at the pub Whistle Binkies.  In the past when I came to visit and play with the band, usually for Th’ Gatherin’ in WaKeeney, Kansas, I would fly into the country, rent a car, and drive to meet them.   This was the first time that I would travel in the van and play 17 shows with the band in two weeks.  So I was a bit worried about our relationships at first. How would we be able to get along without a collision of personalities?   We survived and I found that we only had minor collisions of personalities.  We could handle those and we did have a great time.   I am happy to say that we ended the tour still friends and that my traveling with Marty–san and Brian-san did not result in the end of Switchback either!

The biggest surprise on this tour was Th’ Gatherin’.  This year, unfortunately, Th’ Gatherin’ was cancelled.  In its place we had a private “Baby Gatherin’.”  We had a house concert at the home of Seamus Cleland in WaKeeney.  I asked Marty and Brian what was happening with Th’ Gatherin’ as we headed out toward Kansas.  Both of them did not know what was to be expected and so I was feeling pretty sad as for six years I had made the trip from Japan to this place of wild weather and nice people.

I thought I wouldn’t see so many of the friends I had made over the years.  Happily for me, the Baby Gatherin’ was almost everything I expected.  My friends, like the Harveys, Dave from Hays, and George and Margaret from Scotland all came!  I realized that Th’ Gatherin’ was not about the Highland games or the bonfires.  It was like Thanksgiving or Christmas in that the people would come together once a year, enjoy music, and have a great time.  And we did.

We played what Switchback calls Community Outreach Programs.  Almost all of these gigs would have us traveling to a small town and playing at a local retirement community.  Our aim was to give such people some happy times and an enjoyable show.   Some of the places were extremely interesting to play as I discovered that some residents had very little reaction to the music.  Usually playing music is fun and enjoyable, but in this case, the music was more of a challenge.  I felt sorry that it seemed to me that these elderly people really need our music to remind them of the enjoyment of life.  We would play several Community Outreach Programs a day when traveling.  I had never felt that physically tired before.  Giving these people a good time was rewarding though, even if it meant looking for a tiny reaction.  It meant my music reached them and I was glad.

We played one place on my 50th birthday.  Marty mentioned that it was my birthday to the audience and all of the sudden the people started singing “Happy Birthday” to me all by themselves.  They even said my name right, which was a big surprise.  It was very much a gift from the people and I was very happy.

Because I played so many of these gigs with Switchback on this tour, I think I can tell what the energy will be, even before a show starts.  When I mentioned this to Marty he said, “Takeshi-san, now you are truly a musician.”  So it showed me that Switchback knew about energy and how to play these types of shows.

I also experienced how dangerous traveling on a tour can be.  I was driving the Switchback van about 80 miles north of Kansas City and with our speed at 75 miles an hour when I heard this strange noise.  At first I thought it was a motorcycle rider coming up on my side, the noise and vibration were that big.  Soon after I knew something was wrong with the van and I tried to stop on the side of the road.  Marty helped by reaching over and canceling the auto drive and told me to take the foot off the brake and let the van roll to a stop.  When I got out of the van, I found the right rear tire had blown out very badly.  

I didn’t know what to do, but Switchback was able to call for help and two hours later we were back on the road.  We had left at 5 a.m. and so our arrival in Chicago was going to be right in rush hour.  But I also thought perfect timing happened here, as we had the accident on the day when there were no shows.  We also didn’t leave after the show the night before and travel through the night.   If we had lost the tire on a curve in Kansas City that morning with all the traffic, it could have been worse.   So we were lucky.   I think it shows how important keeping the van in good condition is.  Perhaps many fans do not realize how hard traveling is on a vehicle as well as on Brian and Marty.   We laughed about it, but I also felt that we could have not been laughing, too.

On this tour, I had the chance to listen to the rough tracks of “Kanoka.”  I enjoyed these very much and I think people will love this new album.  I also found that playing JR’s Down Under in Buffalo, Minnesota, was extremely fun as the people were very nice, we made new fans, and I had to play on top of a table!  One man asked me when was the last time I had to play on a table, and I told him this was my first time! But I was surprised that the next week at a concert in Great Bend, I was back again on top of a table so people could see me play the bodhran.

I was also very surprised at Oak Center when Steve (who runs the Oak Center) didn’t make his usual political speech before the show.  I told our percussionist Nick, who had never been to Minnesota, to watch Steve as he was about to give a big political speech, and here he was, talking about planting vegetables.  I was actually disappointed that Nick didn’t have the chance to hear Steve go on and on about American politics!  That’s a tradition at the Oak Center.

Nick wasn’t able to go to Kansas with us because he said he had work to do.  But I was thinking he may another reason as he mentioned that he just started dating a girl.  Brian joked in front of Nick that I was the most reliable musician he has ever worked with because I show up on time all the way from Japan!  I think Nick is a great musician and we had a good time riding together through Minnesota during the tour and having some beers at the Buffalo Tap.  But I think when we were drinking together his mind was on a very special lady.  I saw her picture and she’s very pretty.  I told Nick she looks like a fairy from the woods.  Good for a city boy from Chicago!

One thing I can’t understand about Switchback is how they eat.  For example, we ended up eating twice on the same day at the same restaurant in Great Bend at a place called Treaders.  I also thought it funny that they didn’t drink alcohol, but instead drank coffee and were very picky about what coffee to drink.  They even brought their own coffee maker!

Not all the tour is working.  We managed to get to the Sternberg Museum in Hays for a very quick visit.  However, we only spent about 20 minutes there before we had to leave.  Later, I went back to the museum (Switchback was taking a nap in the van before a show) and talked to the cute woman who was charging admission.  She allowed me to tour the museum for free as it was near closing time.  Or maybe she liked me, I hope.   I was really happy when Brian and Marty gave me a shirt from the museum that had an image of a fossil fish that had eaten another fish on it.  That fossil was found near the museum from a time when Kansas was an ocean.   It was a great birthday present.


Finally the best part of the tour (and I mean this with sarcasm, a word Brian taught me) was the daily harassment from these two guys!  For example, they took funny pictures of me and put them on the Facebook site, especially the one with me holding two bags of cookies.  I didn’t get to eat any of them.  Also, they made me sing “Sukiyaki” at the retirement homes.  I am a very shy guy, I mean it!  A big harassment was at the Baby Gatherin’.  Marty and Brian had me take a solo and then left me on the stage alone.  I had to solo a very long time before I realized they were not coming back!

And the biggest harassment was when Marty announced to the audience, “Takeshi is turning 50 years old and has never been kissed yet.”  I was then met by ten women who came running up to kiss me.  I felt harassed, not by the women, but by Switchback.  All I can say is when the day comes that Switchback tours Japan, I will make all the women kiss them!



1 comment:

  1. Being on the road with Switchback is definitely an experience unlike any other!!

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