I'm back home in Vancouver and thinking back to a European tour best summed up by one word: uplifting. The tour started and ended with festivals: La Notte Rossa in Italy and Derby Folk Festival in the UK. The former takes place one night in the ancient hilltop town of Volterra with people milling about enjoying various performing arts from all over the world. The latter is a weekend-long celebration of folk music and dance happening at various venues around Derby, the city where I grew up. Performing in Derby Museum, where I occasionally browsed as a kid, was a fantastic ending to a wonderful month-long tour. At all the venues in between, from Germany to Belgium to Netherlands, I was met with kindness, generous hospitality, and audiences that were keen to sing along and connect after the show. Every gig holds a special memory and, although I already have, I'd once more like to thank everyone for sending me back to Canada so buoyed. Thanks especially to all the wonderful venue hosts who responded to my initial email and provided stages, meals, drinks, and beds. Touring has always been economically risky, but these days every bit of help is greatly appreciated. And to the audience members who cleared me out of CDs, right down to the ratty display copies: thank you! You purchased an album or shirt because you enjoyed the music and want to support what I've created in the past and what I'll create in the future. Many of you don't even have CD players, but you appreciate the physical disc is just one small component among many: the production, the musicianship, the artwork, the packaging, the lyric book and, most importantly, the song. Speaking of albums, I was glad to perform songs from the new one due for release early 2027. If audience feedback is anything to go by, it's going to be a smasher!
Wim - owner of the lovely waterfront venue Het Karpermeer in Aalten NL - made an audio recording of the concert and broadcast it on his radio show Vissers Verse Vangst (Fisherman's Fresh Catch). Listen here, but you'll have to scroll down a bit.
And big thanks to Pim Bouwens (pictured here) for joining me for the first few shows. This shot was taken by vintner extraordinaire Thomas Nollenberger as we played the Weinkultur Kirchheim outdoor stage set among the vineyards of the beautiful Neckar valley. Thanks for the jacket loan Thomas!