Old Town School – On The Road

Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.

“The Finnish” or (”The Finnale”)

Monday morning we left for Helsinki. Workshops were set up for fiddle, mandolin banjo and guitar at a Finnish folk music school. The turnout was great we all taught the respective groups the same songs and got together for “2nd half” with everyone knowing the same as everyone else. A beautiful culmination to a week like no other. Tuesday morning Colby, Mark and I packed our bags to head home.
I was honored to be part of this group. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with and knowing Paul, Mark and Colby in some capacity in my 7 years in Chicago. Perhaps I’m stating the obvious but I feel I know and understand and respect each of them much more deeply now.
All of us who work at The Old Town School do so because of a passion for music, a passion to teach, to pass along our experiences that make us each unique but when the daily routines our lives impart upon us it is easy to overlook just how good and passionate and committed our fellow teachers and friends really are. The cultural exchange in and of itself is educational and rewarding butI learned more from listening to and watching my three comrades this past week than I ever thought possible….for that I am grateful.
Thank You

Filed under: DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from John by John | June 10, 2009 | Comments (0)

Gigs and saloons and daylight.

Yesterday was the festival….Finnish bluegrass bands and us. These guys all play great and have been as hospitable as can be.
We did a set at 5pm and then another at midnight. The “Roots in Pyhtaa” Festival is in it’s 22nd year…the same weekend every year and they attract about 300 or so people…including cowboys and indians and bikers (no not the Village People).
The evening sets move from the open field to the back porch of the Ravintola Ruukinmylly..the only bar/restaurant in town.
Music on and on till all hours…beer that never stops flowing…some good Finnish brandy…(no vodka..?) open face sandwiches of salmon and cheese.
We walk everywhere, everything is 2 minutes from where we’re staying..
Along with the music festival there’s an “old west” reenactment campsite (we played the church today and we do the saloon tonight)…a Finnish version of cowboys and indians.
The almost never ending daylight is a bit surreal…at 11pm it’s looking like 8:30pm(CDT), by midnight it’s getting dark and by 2am dawn is tapping you on the shoulder….it beckons you to stay up for just one more.

Filed under: DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from John by John | June 7, 2009 | Comments (1)

A Finnish Update

Thursday June 4th 2009

Flew through the non existent night and after transferring in Stockholm finally arrived in Helsinki around 11 am local time.
Hano met us at the airport and we cabbed it to the gallery where we have tonights gig. Our host Juha is tremendous..plying us with coffee and Finnish brandy.
We finally got about 2 hrs of sleep in the venue this afternoon, woke up rehearsed a bit had some more coffee and brandy and in about 30min the show will begin.
A summation of the day to come later:
A beautiful gig…2 sets, about 40 people attending…the transformation from photography studio to concert hall was amazing.
After the gig we packed our bags and took a long taxi ride to Ruotsinpyhtaa and some sleep.
We were met at our hotel ( a 2 unit bed and breakfast) by Wasel Arar. He seems almost singlehandedly responsible for the Bluegrass scene in Finland…a fine banjo player, guitarist and singer.

Friday June 5
We all finally got a good nights sleep. The town we’re in is tiny (even by Finnish standards) and gorgeous and right on a lake.
After a casual day Wasel took us to have a Fin style sauna….sweating in 90 degree C then jumping into the ice cold lake…back to the heat…back to the lake…and repeat….aahhh.
Immediately after we were at the only bar/restaurant in town for an all night jam session.
So many great players here, totally entrenched in the Old Time and Bluegrass syles.
We all had a blast playing song after song with about 10 other musicians…Colby and Paul were especially on fire.
More to follow soon.
JA

Filed under: DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from John by John | June 6, 2009 | Comments (0)