Flaming Pie

A note to the Switchback Team

Back in February, we wrote about Kevin Kelly’s article on 1000 True Fans.  To recap, Kelly’s theory states that a band needs 1000 True Fans to sustain their career.  As STeamers, you are those True Fans.  We defined a member of the Switchback Team as “a person who has decided to make Switchback a personal part of their lives.”  In other words, you are working with us to help further our musical mission of touching as many souls in a positive way through our concerts, outreach programs to schools and nursing homes, and through our CDs and DVDs.

In the February article, we also stated that we have a problem in the WayGood World.  We’ve identified only 50 STeamers who are active, you being one of them hopefully.  That means to fulfill Kelly’s theory, we need to recruit 950 more STeamers.

To help us grow and sustain the WayGood World, we need to identify and find more STeamers.  It’s just that simple.  And this newsletter is our lifeline to you, our faithful Steamers, as it and the Facebook site are the only active means of communication with all 50 of you.   If we had each of you in one state, that might be a start, but our STeamers are far flung.  For fun, we created a map of the world and here’s where our STeamers reside currently:

As you can see, it’s fairly lopsided.   What to do when considering we need to add 19 people for each one you?  Let’s start with four.  Like the Beatles....if you can help us find a “Fab Four” in each of your neighborhoods, that would be a great start for this year.  You do that by identifying friends who support a cause.  The WayGood World is certainly a cause, as our mission is “to touch as many souls as possible in a positive way through our music.”   Playing our music is a start.  Giving our music as a gift, inviting them to a show, getting them a Switchback t-shirt, inviting them to comment on Facebook online, and meeting with them to strategize a house concert for Switchback are all means of helping us build the support network needed for STeam.  

As always, we welcome your thoughts on the STeam page of Facebook.

A very big thank you to Tom and Maureen Hutchcroft.
They stepped up and filled in at the last minute at the Keokuk Depot show.
They are new STeamers and never worked a show before!

  

You May Say I'm a Dreamer

The first thing I noticed was four air-freshener pine trees hanging from the rearview mirror.  Each seemed to have its own scent which gave the van an overpowering smell of a detergent factory.  We were at LaGuardia Airport and had waited for a van transport to the Sheraton Hotel.  This fragrant Ford was it.  

New York City

Brian and I handed the driver (an ill-shaved guy our age, wearing a military jacket, dark knit hat, and a bored expression) our guitars and suitcases and the Switchback banner.  He slowly stacked them haphazardly in the back of the van.  A lady and her daughter from North Carolina came up with two huge suitcases for the driver to load.  They were cheerfully gesturing at pamphlets for Broadway shows.  The driver mumbled something, checked their names on his list, pulled a quick drag on his cigarette, and prepared to heft their bags on top of all our equipment.  Brian quickly took his guitar out of back of the van and sat with it in his lap.  Moments later we, the mom and daughter, a Chinese student, a lady from Brazil, and two women in the front seat (who never talked but looked straight ahead the whole time) all watched the air-fresheners sway to and fro as we sputtered along the expressway to our various hotels in the magical land they call New York City.

Brian and I were in town for a convention called APAP, which is short for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.  They describe themselves as a “national service and advocacy organization with more than 1,500 members worldwide, dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it.”   In other words, we were in town to see if we could get some work along with the other 1,498 members.

Those fans who have been with us from the early days of Switchback can recall seeing us play at a pub on a Sunday night for a price of a beer or even free at a suburban block party on a sweltering summer day.  Twenty years later, we now are playing venues that are called Performing Arts Centers or PAC’s for short.   PAC’s are mainly theaters and range in size from small-town historic vaudeville stops to gleaming steel and glass works of art that present artists like us within their walls.  They charge a ticket price and we present our music, unmolested by flying beer cans and car alarms.   The common denominator is that they are manned (and wo-manned) by people who have dedicated themselves as much as we have to a dream that the good of the world can be fueled by the arts.  And so we all were in New York, some dreaming of “the act” that will bring people to their venue and the rest of us dreaming we are that act.  

The epicenter of APAP was the Hilton Hotel.  The theme of the event was “Imagine,” a nod to John Lennon’s vision of a utopian world and that (to APAP’s amazement) was incidentally written in the very hotel the convention was taking place.  All in all this great synchronicity did give Brian and me a glimpse of what Mr. Lennon may just have been thinking when he penned his masterpiece.  

If the convention’s three floors of football field-sized exhibit halls were magically turned into an ocean reef, Switchback would have been the little minnow that was swimming amongst some pretty amazing fish.  Big fish like Judy Collins, Cirque du Soleil, and the venerated Willie Nelson.  Or fish that were tributes to other fish, like a tribute to Chicago that sounded just like Chicago but wasn’t.  Then there were schools of elegant, beautiful fish, dance companies from the world over, graceful, imaginative, and colorful in dress.   Finally there were the angelfish and clownfish that one couldn’t help but enjoy seeing:  Annie, a beautiful woman who created a golden praying mantis costume and would strike poses in her exhibit booth, not far from Joshua, who did one man acts of Victor Hugo.  There was Kathleen, a friendly red-headed French-Canadian who fell in love with a group of Serbian singers who were on tour from the UK and was now producing them.  Three guys huddled at their booth presenting a drama all about Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance, and there was Mister Mojo and his Zydeco.  Every conceivable type of entertainment from around the world, darting and displaying on this great reef called APAP.  

And the agents who represented them were like fishing guides.  There would be powerful big agencies like Columbia Artists, who could give you any contemporary musical act provided your budget is right, and smaller agents who carry smaller acts like Suzanne Vega or the Thai Dancers.  And smaller agents with lesser known acts (but perhaps acts with a bit more intrigue to them), and then the folks like us, who represent, well, us.     

Switchback with fellow musicians

Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience

Finally there are the presenters, those venues I described, small venues to large, big city complexes, each having a unique need.  These people were the fishermen who would stroll up and down the aisles of booths, looking for an act to land.   If they did their homework and were interested in you, they would stop by to introduce themselves.  Or if the presenters knew exactly what or who they were looking for, they would cover their identification badge with a notebook and stare straight ahead like the two ladies in the fragrant Ford as they glided by, not giving you a second look.   

Some agents and presenters have been friends for years, and so a little minnow like us didn’t have a chance this time to catch their attention.  But if you walked over to the deli for lunch, you might just happen to strike up a conversation with someone who was a big agent.  At the end of the conversation you found out that they are people like you.  Business is business, and you have to be confident in what you do and who you are. But by and large, in spite of the seeming roadblocks, I noticed that the majority of people there were people who respected each other for keeping the dream alive.  The dream that the world can become a better place because of art.  Sure, we all have different ideas of how to achieve that dream, but that didn’t mean that Switchback had any less significance than Death Cab for Cutie.  We were all at our levels on the big reef.  And Brian and I relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

Marty and Brian with Karen Knotts, daughter of Don Knotts

We didn’t know who we would see there either.  One of the best moments was meeting the daughter of Don Knotts (the patron saint of Switchback humor) at the Sheraton Starbucks.  Brian gave Karen Knotts a kiss on the cheek and told her, “Your dad has given so much joy to the world, and I can’t tell you how much he has made our road trips bearable.”  Brian is always quoting Don Knotts’ movie quips or doing a Barney Fife move when faced with a blown-out tire or odd interview.  Here she was, Don Knott’s daughter, pitching a one-woman show of growing up with the King of Cornball.   We walked away feeling like we met the daughter of the Dali Lama.

We did three showcases in a hotel room at the Hilton.  Doing a showcase is like trying to dress from a suitcase that you just jumped out of a plane with.  You have 15 minutes or less to convey to those in attendance that you have talent, personality, and the ability to be an act they can use at their venue.  Our showcase was in the JP Morgan Room, which I found kind of funny because he was somewhat thought of as a rich but stingy curmudgeon with little personality.  In the JP Morgan Room all the showcases were rich, but the room was fairly spartan, with just incandescent lighting, stage, and chairs.  “If you like us in this hotel room,” I told the audience, “You’ll love us on your stage.”

Down the hall, the showcases took a different tack.  There was a complete ballroom with theater lighting, a full sound system, hors d’oeuvres and wine, and the Turtle Island Quartet with Nellie McKay playing to a full house.   It didn’t take much imagination to see these guys playing at a venue.  But one didn’t know if the people in the chairs were there for the act, the wine, the food, or even if they had just wandered in off the street.  At least at our showcase we knew we had people there who were interested in what we had to offer.  

Not all people were there to book or sell acts.  One gentleman represented a record label in Montreal.  Another was reinvigorating a New Jersey town by turning it into a real artist community, complete with living spaces for artists and theaters for them to perform in!  Some were lawyers, looking for international acts that need visa applications for the United States, and some were looking to create crisis plans for venues in the event of any kind of emergency.

Tom Purcell and Dave Heuvelman with Marty

When it all got too much, Brian and I would walk down to Times Square and stare at the LED-lit altars of advertising.  The brilliance and sheer commercialism of this Manhattan Midway selling gleaming bottles of Corona beer, mascara, and Volvos were enough to make one long for the safety of the reef back in the exhibit hall.  We hung out with our buddies Tom Purcell and Dave Heuvelman, both entertainers who live in New York. They skillfully guided us through Hell’s Kitchen and past homeless guys asking for change, sidewalk preachers asking for your soul, and really dressed up ladies asking for something completely different.

Finally, the swirl and buzz of the convention came to an end.   About an hour before the exhibit hall closed, people started getting a bit giddy.  One booth would pack up and head off, then another.  The fishing guides were long gone, off to lounges to talk to presenters about pricing for this act or that.  We said goodbye to the long-legged dancer in the sea-foam pants and Annie the praying mantis lady and her husband Allyn the balloon god.   We bid our neighbors goodbye and headed off for LaGuardia.  

The doorman at the Sheraton whistled down a cab.  Out jumped this smartly dressed guy wearing a suit, tie, and slacks.  “You’re not a regular cabby,” I said to this guy.  “Yes, I am,” he said in a Brooklyn accent and proceeded to tell us that he dressed for his job because he has pride in everything he does.  That caught our attention and for $40 and change, Harry talked to us about his life as a cab driver in New York.   He worked for the Astoria cab company and if you get to the Big Apple, request him as your driver as he was worth every penny of the drive.  It occurred to me that Harry was exactly like us, taking pride in what he was doing and making a dream come true.  His very act of driving the cab with kindness was exactly the same as performing with the goal of touching souls.  And making the world a better place.  He was an entertainer behind the wheel and we his grateful audience.

We shook Harry’s hand and headed to our gate to wait for the flight back to Chicago.  I sat there at the airport lounge, vigilant to keep the cockroaches away from our carry-ons, and thought about the week.  Brian took an opportunity for a quick nap and leaned back with his fedora shading his eyes.  The lounge was fairly empty at that late hour, with a young family keeping their child entertained and a college student who had lost his wallet over a lost weekend and was now calling the credit card company to cancel everything.   I thought of John Lennon’s song and the past few days.  How appropriate “Imagine” was for New York City, for APAP, and for the arts.  “You may I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”  How right he was.

Writing thank you notes after APAP

SHARE THE SOUNDS OF SWITCHBACK

Fan Club President, Lynn Wise

I think that when you discover something great, you should share it with as many people as possible. As Switchback's new Fan Club President, I have been pondering how I can spread the sounds of Switchback, which leads me to my request.

During the month of February, we need to Share the Sounds of Switchback on Facebook. Don't miss your chance to participate in this great event by Sharing the Sounds of Switchback with all of your family and friends on Facebook. Just think of all the people that we can introduce to Switchback and instantly transform into Switchback fans!  If you are the fan that receives the most likes and shares you will become the proud owner of Switchback's newest CD available May, 2013.

Look for the February Facebook event "SHARE THE SOUNDS OF SWITCHBACK" and share your way to Switchback's newest CD available in May. 

STEAM NEWS - Are you a good witch?

A note from STeam president, Michele Shubitowski

This is a topic that I am going to be coming back to time and again, as it will take more than just one article to fully explain it.  It has everything to do with the music, the role you play in being part of the Switchback Team, and finally the people out there who have heard of Switchback and consider themselves fans.    

There is a theory that was put forth by Wired Magazine writer Kevin Kelly that an independent artist such as Switchback can make a living by acquiring a following of what he calls 1000 true fans.  On his blog post  Kelly describes a true fan as this:

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

So at some point, you became as a STeamer what I would consider a true fan.  In the WayGood World, we may take that a step further and define our true fans (STeamers) as those who:

• actively promote Switchback in their neighborhoods
• creates opportunities in their neighborhoods for Switchback to perform
• allow Switchback to stay at their homes, providing a comfortable atmosphere that hotels can never duplicate
• actively pursue radio stations in their neighborhoods to play Switchback
• actively recruit others to become casual fans of Switchback

There are of course many more items that can be added to that list, but the concept can be summed up in a phrase: “A STeamer is a person who has decided to make Switchback a personal part of their lives.”  You have a relationship with the band, on a level that goes beyond that of a person who may have heard Switchback at a festival and occasionally follows the posts on Facebook.  That is a casual fan.  And that is where we in the WayGood World have a problem.  

According to our mailing list, we have fewer than 50 active STeamers.  You are receiving this newsletter because at some point you identified yourself as a STeamer, had been asked to join the team, or were deemed someone of STeam timber.  Just like Glinda in the Wizard of Oz, we agreed that you are good witch and worthy of the ruby slippers.

So, if we take Kevin Kelly’s theory to heart and say Switchback needs 1000 true fans to be successful, then we need 950 more STeamers to make Switchback a true success.  My friends, we have work to do.  Do you have the commitment to help us find and recruit people to become fans of the band?  Do you have what it takes to be a true fan of Switchback, a STeamer?  That’s a question we can’t answer.  But we need your help, your time, and your involvement.  Because getting 1000 true fans is only half the story...more on that later.

We encourage you to read the blog by Kevin Kelly and welcome feedback on this issue.  If 2013 is to be the year Switchback breaks it big, we have to have more STeamers on board. Will you help to make that happen?  Are you a good witch?

Travelin' Down an Irish Road

Although I love to travel I have always avoided going on a group tour.  What if I didn't get the chance to do what I wanted to do?  What if the others on the tour were boring or whiney or obnoxious?  However, I love Ireland and I love Switchback!  And really, could other Switchback fans actually turn out to be boring, whiney, or obnoxious?  So this year for the first time I decided to travel down an Irish road with Switchback.

Clearly my fears were groundless.  Right from the beginning when meeting my fellow travelers at O'Hare Airport, I knew that this was going to be a fun group of folks to spend a week with.

Our tour guide Mick met us at Dublin Airport.  This was Mick's fourth tour with Switchback.  As we traveled down those Irish roads, Mick was a fountain of information.  He told us not just
about the countryside we were seeing but also about Irish history, Irish sports, tinkers and fairies, complete with pictures and written information.  No guide book is needed when you have Mick telling you about Ireland.  To quote him, "Gee, Mick, fascinatin' stuff!"  And really it was.  Would I have known about fairy circles and fairy trees if I had been driving myself around Ireland?  I think not.

Our tour base this trip was Kinsale, a lovely town in southwest Ireland.  Our hotel was right on the harbor with all our rooms overlooking the water.  From there we made excursions including a drive to Waterford on a beautiful sunny day (yes, the sun shines in Ireland!), a full day excursion driving through the lovely lonely countryside of the Beara peninsula, and a trip to Blarney to kiss the stone.  Because nothing is required on a Switchback tour we were free to be as busy or lazy as we wished.  Want to do absolutely everything offered and pack it all in?  Go for it!  This was my style.  Want to stay in town and stroll the streets and shop or relax in the pub with a pint of Guinness and a good whiskey instead?  Feel totally free to do so.

Of course no Switchback tour could possibly be complete without some Switchback concerts.  We enjoyed three wonderful concerts.  The first was in Cobh, a historic coastal town which was the center of emigration for thousands of Irish.  The entire tour group was joined by some local Cobh residents for an evening of music.  Our second concert was at De Barra's Folk Music Club in Clonakilty, a fascinating pub and performance venue, and a great time was had by all.

We finished the trip with two nights at Cabra Castle, about an hour north of Dublin, with the chance to spend a day and a half exploring the fair city of Dublin.

Cabra Castle was a lovely place full of atmosphere including Oscar, the resident Irish wolfhound.  Our last evening concluded with a group dinner which included the prize winners of the yearly limerick contest (I am proud to claim 2^nd place!) and a final concert by Switchback.

All too soon we were back at Dublin Airport boarding a plane for Chicago.  It truly was a week of good times with excellent food, excellent beer, great whiskey, fabulous music and the camaraderie of new-found friends.  I can't wait until next year when our base of operations will be Donegal.  Come enjoy the north of Ireland with Switchback and friends.

Michele Shubutowski

Switchback Team (STeam) President

Caving In to Fame

Recently Brian and I attended the Midwestern Arts Conference out in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was an opportunity for performing arts center directors from around the country to meet artists hoping to play those centers. Luckily, we have had the chance to perform at a lot of them and have made some outstanding friends of those who direct these bastions of live music.

One such friend, David Fink, director of the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan, delivered a remark that really got me thinking. Saying that people are not really truthful when it comes to what would get them to a live music show, he remarked, “You either have to offer someone famous or have a burlesque show to get people to come out." I looked at him to see if he was joking. He was not.   

If one looks at burlesque as the need to arouse the forbidden curiosity in people, I would say David is right.  The runaway popularity of reality television shows certainly provides proof that most people lean toward titillation.  And he’s right about fame.  Merriam Webster dictionary defines fame as a) widely known and b) honored for achievement.  Facebook and YouTube are certainly rife with examples of people searching to be widely known or honored for achieving something, even if it is posting a video of their cat flushing the toilet.  A person who is acknowledged to be famous and has a following of the masses, even an association with something famous, such as being in a movie or play, gets a following.  

So what is a band like ours to do? I pondered this as we started setting up for the cave concert at the Natural Gait. We had no idea how many people would show. Certainly they would not be coming out to see any burlesque. Thank God! As Herb started the tractor to pull a basket holding Nick’s drums on a rope and pulley system up the hill, I thought about fame.

Being famous was never part of the agenda for Brian and me. But why do people come out to see us play? How can we assure festivals and performing arts centers, who are literally looking for “the bottom line,” that we have the draw to bring people in?  It is a dilemma.

Walking up the steep hillside to the cave, I thought back to one evening in the early days when Brian and I played a very empty coffee house in Oak Park. The owner looked at us with something just short of contempt as we started to play to no one.  Finally, three people came in the door after I fervently prayed to God to please get some people to come to the show. The three came in, sat down and started doing sign-language to each other. God does have a sense of humor.

However, being a musician is always about playing for people, touching their souls. That is what matters most no matter what size the crowd. I never really thought about fame, but I did hope that people would come out to hear our music and be moved enough to come out again and bring “twenty of their closest friends.” So the WayGood World came into existence, based on the truth that anyone who believes in our music can certainly help us get it out to others and share in the adventure of music and community. You can play music in an empty room, but you are really making music when you share it with others who complete the necessary circle.

Natural Gait owner Howard Bright had started a fire earlier that day up at the cave and now it was down to red coals with a thin wisp of smoke trailing up and out of the cave and through the woods. The trees were starting to change color and the air was cool.  I thought about the Native Americans who once lived in this cave. Was their best hunter or best moccasin maker “famous”? What was being "widely known" like back then? Did it matter?  

People started coming up the hill. Some had seen us play at other venues and others were there to see us for the first time.  Pretty soon, about 80 people were in the audience waiting for us to start playing. The ages ranged from youngsters to several older folks who made the amazing climb to the cave. Howard got up and addressed the people about the history of the land and the cave.  We began to play and as the evening got cooler, we worked into one set after another, feeling warmer with each note produced. People got up and danced as a whole musical community was created for that night.  There, Iowa stars danced above magic made not just by us, but by our audience joining us at the concert.  

I realize that “fame” is a word with many meanings. With today’s media, being famous can be wholly manufactured by a good PR firm and enough money. For myself, I feel that having fans who believe in our music and share the journey with Switchback is reward enough. I understand though, that one can’t just have talent and succeed. That there is the business side of music and that side demands that you have a big following.  

At the end of the concert, when talking to people who come from miles away to share an evening of their time on earth with us, I can’t help but express the gratitude for friends who believe in our music. I am totally blessed by those who help spread the word about Switchback. If we are to be “well-known” and “honored for achievement,” if we all have to cave in to the business demand of fame, it will only be through the magic that is forged between us all at a concert.   

Change in the Air

“Look at that,” said Keith Riker, who is part of our Rocky Mountain Combo, as we drove along Upper Bear Creek, just north of the town of Evergreen, Colorado. “The cottonwoods are already starting to yellow at the tops.”  Sure enough, alongside the rushing waters of the Bear, we looked up and saw the trees in passing, yellow tipped against the pure blue sky.  Fall had announced its return and even though Labor Day hadn’t occurred yet, a slight feeling of cold and the inevitable snowfall on the Rockies betrayed the warm day.  

Change. There was a time when I did not like the word, mainly because I would confuse it with growing older.  Change always signified something unsettling to me and yet, over time, I realized that there is the gift of growth in there, too.

We’ve certainly been going through a great deal of change in Switchback.  Our songwriting is becoming more solid and the number of shows continues to grow.  By the time you read this newsletter, we will have performed Falling Water River with the Grand Pops Orchestra in Dubuque.  It certainly marks a historical milestone for Switchback and one that hopefully will see us taking the stage with more symphonies around North America. (Click here to listen to a sample of music from the orchestral debut).  Those fans of ours who saw us playing at the Irish Times of Brookfield, Illinois on a late Sunday evening back in the 1990’s certainly will appreciate that change.  

Another change has been the growth of participation in our tours to Ireland.  We have over 40 people joining us for the tour to Kinsale this year and already are starting to take names for next year’s visit to Donegal.  Since 2004 we have conducted a yearly tour and sometimes even two tours in a year.  All in all several hundred fans have now walked the fields and forests of Ireland and shared a pint in a pub with Switchback.  

Another change has been the growth in collaborations with renowned artists.  On October 16th, Chicagoans will have the chance to celebrate the return of WayGood Presents, the series that brings unique artists and Switchback to perform an intimate concert.  The first concert will feature Alyth McCormack and Triona Marshall, who currently tour with our friends the Chieftains.  There are plans to introduce a similar concert series around Memphis.  Stay tuned.

The change of the seasons used to be something that meant a slowing down for Switchback, but Brian and I are starting to play through the winter months, too. January and February will see Switchback roam from Canada to a few miles north of Mexico. We’ve also taken to the air quite a bit as Labor Day weekend saw us move from Chicago to Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, and back to Minnesota and Iowa all in five days!

This February will bring us the arrival of the album Kanoka, which will once again feature the producing and stringmaster talents of Lloyd Maines as well as the heavenly harmonica of Howard Levy.  These are stellar musicians to be able to play with and we feel truly blessed.

Through it all, we attempt to keep focus on our mission with Switchback:  to touch as many souls through music and to reach out to those who need a little music in their lives. Yes, the leaves are starting to change, but it doesn’t signify anything sad for me anymore. I now look at it as a reminder of the blessings of music and our gratitude to have traveled this trail with our fans.

See you at a show!

Marty (and Brian)

What I have learned about Dubuque, Iowa and its great history

A note from the Fan Club President

 

Dear Switchback Fans,

 

I was honored to attend Switchback's orchestral debut of Falling Water River in Dubuque, Iowa on September 8. For this month's newsletter, I thought I would share with you my thoughts about the debut as well as what I have learned about Dubuque  and it's great history.

Day 1

As it was only our second time going to Dubuque, I wanted to make it special so my husband David took an extra day off so we could make a mini-vacation out of it for my birthday, which is September 11.  The first day we were there we asked Marie FitzGerald, the innkeeper of Four Mounds, about places to go. She always has great recommendations.  Of course we went to Potosi, Wisconsin to see the brewery and winery which are right across the way.  And of course I did recommend Switchback to both places and even got some good contacts for the guys that evening. Let me tell you, if you have never stayed at Four Mounds you really should. It is breathtaking, and it is a great place just to take in the nature and relax.

Day 2

We woke up to the sounds of the birds chirping and the wind off the Mississippi River.  It was so melancholy that I wished I could wake up to those sounds every day. So we went off to the gray house at Four Mounds for one of Marie’s fabulous breakfasts, and then we went to this place called Eagle Point Park.  It is one of the most outstanding parks in the Midwest with 164 acres overlooking the Mississippi River and Lock and Dam #11, providing a spectacular tri-state view of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.  It reminded me a lot of Starved Rock in Utica, Illinois.  You could stay there and enjoy the many nature trails.  You could see two states from the River, Wisconsin and Illinois.  After that, we just took advantage of the beauty of Four Mounds where I took pictures of the property that day. That has rather become a hobby of mine.  When we are on trip I like to take different shots of whatever may catch my eye. My husband David is getting pretty good at it himself if I may so!  He took many great shots at The Grand Opera House that evening.  Before we went to see Switchback premier their new symphony Falling Water River, we went to dinner at the L. May in downtown Dubuque.  I do have to say it was excellent.

The main reason for going on this trip was Switchback’s debut of Falling Water River with the Grand Pops Orchestra and Chorus directed by Paul Hemmer. We went on Saturday, September 8^th.   My review of this show is it was a wonderful blend of the orchestral sound and woodwinds.  I think that really made the difference overall. The special effects were just right too so way to go, Switchback!  I cannot wait to see the next performance!

Since my husband and I have only been in Dubuque twice, we wanted to do things and learn things about the town. One thing I have noticed is the pride Dubuque takes in its history.  Just look at Main Street in downtown Dubuque and how they have restored most of the buildings. The other is the architectural significance of a lot of the buildings.  You can tell the builders in the early 1800’s took pride in what they were doing and how they did it. There are a couple buildings I have noticed in Dubuque that have clock towers.  I would love to read up on the history of clock towers because I am sure there is some meaning for having so many in Dubuque.  The next thing we do will be an architectural tour when we come back to Dubuque. We always learn something when we come here.

Day 3 

We still wanted to see a little more so at breakfast we were talking to The Duves, very nice people and great Switchback fans, and they were telling us about the Spanish Mines where we learned about Julien Dubuque, who was the first permanent settler in Iowa.  We also learned Dubuque was a town of many firsts. Then on the way home we made two stops.  We first needed to eat so we went to the Galena Brewery, and while there we got directions for the Galena Cellars, which would take us back toward home. It was worth it just to see the scenery.  If we could live out this way we would.  On one side of the River you have Galena and the other Dubuque. For a person who loves nature, there is so much to do.   We look forward to our next trip to Dubuque and staying at the Four Mounds Inn.  It is the most serene place you can stay.

Melissa A. Kotrba

Fan Club President

 

Review of the Falling Water River Orchestral Debut

By Kay Shelton

On an early September evening, an audience in Dubuque had the opportunity to experience a masterpiece in progress.  Before artists began shifting away from producing complete albums and instead creating one song at a time for MP3 downloads, the duo Switchback produced “Falling Water River” as a tribute to fallen soldiers in 2005.  Since then, conductor of the Grand Pops Orchestra, Paul Hemmer, orchestrated the complete album, performed last weekend with Switchback and the orchestra.  This orchestration involved transforming music for two lead singers and two guitars (or a mandolin) and a couple of background instruments into music for a small orchestra and chorus, totaling over two dozen performers. (Click here to listen to a sample of music from the orchestral debut).

I hope the audience had a sense of how brilliant the orchestration was for this work. Orchestration is an art, a craft, and a science all rolled into one. Not even Beethoven got orchestration right, according to Richard Wagner who re-orchestrated significant sections of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. (In Beethoven’s defense, the technology of brass instruments changed by Wagner’s lifetime.)

Orchestration takes knowledge of all the capabilities of the instruments and what happens with the sound when they are blended together.  It takes knowledge of how to write the notes for the various instruments because they are not all the same. None of that is as easy as it may seem. What bowing should the violins use? Should there be solos for the melody and which instruments should play them? There are dozens of different percussion instruments, which ones to choose? Those seemingly simple questions are not so simple.  Then, add in a chorus; a celeste; and the lead voices, guitars, and mandolin of Brian and Marty. When should the chorus sing, and when should they not sing? Everything becomes a choice, but based upon extensive knowledge.  There are literally thousands of different choices to make in orchestration.

The Grand Pops Orchestra is smaller compared to a full-sized symphony orchestra and that is more of a challenge, too. There is only one flute, one oboe, one trumpet, one trombone, etc., etc., etc. One wrong choice could result in a very exposed sound with the size of the pops orchestra. There were no wrong choices in the orchestration. The celeste, known mostly for the iconic “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by Tchaikovsky can easily become abused and turned into a gimmick—not so in this work.  Instead, the celeste added beauty and dignity to an otherwise tragic event, the death of a soldier.

Probably the best section of the work is “Requiem” The sound of the violins was ethereal, like it came down from Heaven itself.

Overall, however, despite the theme of the music, “Falling Water River” is not overly dramatic.  There are some bright spots in the music.  Usually performers remain motionless, stoic, and seemingly uncaring when they are sitting on stage, waiting for their turns.  The performance in Dubuque shattered that mold, too.  A couple of the women in the chorus tapped their feet and nodded their heads in time with the music in between their singing parts.  It was refreshing to see the performers not hide their enjoyment of the music.

It was difficult to absorb the sheer genius of this work in just one performance. There was a second performance of “Falling Water River” the next day but my work schedule was a major barrier.  Otherwise, I would have grabbed a hotel room in Dubuque on the spur of the moment and heard the work again the next day. 

A few years ago, one of my co-workers got sent to Iraq in the National Guard.  He returned two years later.  The first time I saw him again, I gave him a hug but he held me more closely and tightly than I ever expected, and he rested his warm cheek against mine.  It was a sense of touch that I cannot forget.  Now I understand.  It was as though that former soldier understood how lucky he was to return, unharmed, and he conveyed his luckiness in one short embrace.  When I hear the brighter places in “Falling Water River,” I can almost feel him holding me tightly.  I cannot, however, imagine what it must be like for those whose loved ones never returned, and they will never feel that kind of a touch from their soldiers again.

Falling Water River -- The Orchestral Debut

In a few days we will be performing what is probably going to be one of the most important concerts of our careers.   We will be debuting Falling Water River with the Grand Pops Orchestra and Chorus of Dubuque.  The dates are Saturday, September 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 9 at 2 p.m.

This concert is important because it marks a dramatic shift in our playing.  We have come a long way from bars and are about to present an interpretation of our original music that we want to be repeated by symphonies throughout the United States and Canada. This music is touching something that continues to be very real, and that is the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the sacrifices it takes.  That the date of the debut falls close to the anniversary of 9/11 is no coincidence.

We have received some wonderful endorsements for the project.  Rick Kogan of WGN Radio, whose program reaches some 8 million listeners, interviewed us and has told his listening audience as well as his readers that this will be "a stunning and remarkable achievement. Not only does Falling Water River tell a sweeping and moving musical tale, it touches the heart and mind and soul in ways that are real and unforgettable."

This album more than any of our others was influenced by friends and especially by those in our WayGood family who had members serving in the armed forces.  Brian's nephew was in the Special Forces early on in Iraq and was involved in the Jessica Lynch rescue. Jayn Lando's son-in-law Rodney was also in Iraq with Special Forces.  Diane Vance's son Will wrote us a beautiful letter from Iraq, telling us how much of an impact Falling Water River had on him and wondering if we were veterans.   Col. Cameron Ross of the Canadian Armed Forces had two sons deployed in Afghanistan and served there himself as well.  And there are many others, such as the elderly man who came up to us in Fort Madison after hearing Falling Water River and said that his grandson was in Iraq and thanking us for the song, tears in his eyes.  It has been a powerful album that endures beyond any release date.  We are realizing that it is a timeless album, something many artists only dream of making.