"in the summer of 2001 i found myself in switzerland at the montreux jazz festival. i had just finished the first year of my mechanical engineering degree and had decided to get away on my own to see some music. i got a little bored of montreux quickly and decided to take a train. arriving in interlaken one night at the train station i found that all the hostels there were full. i eventually found a hostel on the list that had space and thought it rather peculiar that they made me promise i would come before they told me where they were located. it soon became clear why.
i took a train, another train, a funicular railway (one of those really steep ones), then a narrow gauge railway along a mountain ridge and then a cable car before I arrived in the tiny hamlet of gimmelwald. it was late and I went to sleep pretty much straight away.
i woke the next day to find the most beautiful view out the window of the dormitory. three enourmous swiss mountains; the eiger, the jungfrau and the monch. but almost as surprising was the fact that they had a piano in this remote mountain hostel. that night i met some other musicians staying there and we played songs 'til the wee small hours. it was great.
the next day i hiked to the nearest village to withdraw some money and found that i had none. i had no money to pay board, food... nothing. i went and explained my situation to petra the landlady at the hostel. she explained that the bar had never done such good business as the night before and that icould stay at the hostel if i played the piano at night. sounded like a good deal to me.
i stayed there for a while. in the days i went hiking and at night we made music. a lot of it not very pretty, not very good, but a lot of fun. i made friends who looked after me, fed me, bought me beer. and then one night sitting at the piano something inside me clicked. a strange serendipitous sense of belonging halfway up a swiss mountain many miles from home. i was going to be a musician."
i took a train, another train, a funicular railway (one of those really steep ones), then a narrow gauge railway along a mountain ridge and then a cable car before I arrived in the tiny hamlet of gimmelwald. it was late and I went to sleep pretty much straight away.
i woke the next day to find the most beautiful view out the window of the dormitory. three enourmous swiss mountains; the eiger, the jungfrau and the monch. but almost as surprising was the fact that they had a piano in this remote mountain hostel. that night i met some other musicians staying there and we played songs 'til the wee small hours. it was great.
the next day i hiked to the nearest village to withdraw some money and found that i had none. i had no money to pay board, food... nothing. i went and explained my situation to petra the landlady at the hostel. she explained that the bar had never done such good business as the night before and that icould stay at the hostel if i played the piano at night. sounded like a good deal to me.
i stayed there for a while. in the days i went hiking and at night we made music. a lot of it not very pretty, not very good, but a lot of fun. i made friends who looked after me, fed me, bought me beer. and then one night sitting at the piano something inside me clicked. a strange serendipitous sense of belonging halfway up a swiss mountain many miles from home. i was going to be a musician."
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you may be familiar with pete roe because of his touring with laura marling & co - i was lucky enough to see him open for her barfly gig last week and what a highlight it was. along with andrew davie, the 2 of them being ridiculously charming and talented. it was a rare treat and a perfect start to a memorable evening. what an amazing guitar player and storyteller indeed! check out his myspace for details about his 'propeller' album and 'animals' ep. there should be another ep out some time this summer too!
in any case, watch that devil's dancefloor video, you'll be singing it the whole day. oh pickle me in every kind of sin..
in any case, watch that devil's dancefloor video, you'll be singing it the whole day. oh pickle me in every kind of sin..
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