Kiwifolk.com
Folk and Acoustic Music in New Zealand
Folk and Acoustic Music in New Zealand
Back to the familiar flat rolling countryside of Denmark to the little town of Tønder (pronounced 'turner', near enough) to place we've played once before. Hagge's Musik Pub is the organisational epi-centre of a huge folk music festival every August. The sleepy little town swells by many thousands but for tonight it's just us and the locals. A quiet night, but not without 2 encores and a few CD sales.
CD sales are an important measure of a gig for us. We're nowhere near to breaking even on this tour so every CD sold is helping to cover those days when have to find our own accommodation and food. Fuel is expensive here too, and when you're travelling at 150Km plus on the autobahn you tend to go through it a bit.
Getting around is easy enough though. John and Hyram have shared all the driving so far and Marcus and I have our back seat stations. We are pretty familiar with the vagueries of the highway systems and we are awash with maps and printouts from internet trip planners. John drives with incredible precision, every function is a study in caution, consideration and operation, from the way he activates the indicators like a jeweller with a precision tool, to the visible, post-maneuver relaxation and satisfaction of a job well done - and that's just changing lanes! Hyram drives like a cowboy in the saddle of a much loved steed. In typical Hyram fashion, he knows every inch and feature of this machine and has read manual and spec.
All the Chaps oire interesting to travel with; we are all good story tellers and knowledgeable across a wide range of topics. We are good at collectively interpreting what we are looking at or experiencing. We recognise each others' needs and moods (those that know us more intimately will get the picture) and we look after each other well. The hardest thing for us to endure is a bad gig. And there's one coming up.
The Chaps are Hyram Ballard, John Dodd, Marcus Turner and Mike Moroney (the author of these pages), an acoustic string band featuring original songs and odd material from last century. Find out more about The Chaps here and listen to some of their music on their MySpace site here
