2008 Newsletter

…..in our last episode, you may recall a ‘southern England’ tour section was looming for Totally Gourdgeous, and I were enroute to Sicily (amidst Palermo above pic) with Mal Webb (flying on the day my passport – sooo luckily – arrived back in the mail from the USA Embassy in Berlin for a Dya Singh Work Visa – talk about stressful timing!)…..
Below is just that, plus USA & India visa & visit mayhem – and bliss; an Oz hospital tour and a ‘lucky’ 6 hrs at home between west world & east world tours!
Click here for the ‘International’ Supper Club plans for TamFest January 2009 & http://www.myspace.com/andrewclermontssupperclub , Adelaide now – Littlehampton Hall and Montz Matsumoto’s CD Launch; Woodford (QLD) last week of year, The Lawnmowers – & Gourds @ Fairbridge (WA), April, plus Totally Gourdgeous in Singapore (March 2) & Canada Tour for TG next July! We were also voted Best Live Folk Act in Australia as we finished our Euro Tour this year! Many thanks for the votes!

TG postered at the Botanical Gardens, SINGAPORE 2008

So, SOooo much thanks to those we caught up with this year. The indispensable ‘old’ friends & the ‘amazing’ new friends without whom these tours are not possible. The ‘incredible’ Beez of Berlin (see them at The Supper Club ’09), and their close realm of heaven sent folk; the lilting John & Ash Robeson of south England, the gracious people of Ficarra, Sicily; Murrhardt & Tübingen (and many more), Germany and Brian of Tamworth for his pickup from Sydney, 5 hour drive and delivery at the ‘last’ hour to grant me the only way home for a tragically short 6 hours before flying back to Sydney, Auckland (to unite with Dya Singh group after a 6 month gap) make San Francisco, drive to Chico (out from Sacramento) and play our first Concert. Yes and you can call this the ‘adjectival’ and ‘drive,fly,drive’ Newsletter – is it ever not?

Oz
For those in Adelaide – LiveTown RELAUNCH happening is on Friday 5th December from 7:30 – 11pm at our wonderful new venue,
the Littlehampton Peace Memorial Hall 93 Main Road Littlehampton
(coming from Adelaide take the Mt Barker Freeway exit, turn left and the Hall is 1.8km on the left, it’s the lovely sandstone on just past the Great Eastern Hotel)
Bookings: 0427 336 131 Looking forward to seeing you there for yet another great night of music with yours truly with Montz Matsumoto; belly dance with Saffron supported by Gurdy Girl and Morgan, and a chance to jam with the best.
Then 2 CD launches for Montz Matsumoto at The Folk Centre, 8pm South Rd cnr George St, Thebarton. Ph 8354 4606 info@folk-sa.asn.au
and The ClubHouse Sun 7th 2pm 45 MacDonald St, Tanunda, Barossa Valley ph 8563 2058
Between the 2 extreme tours I did manage to drop in to Perth Hospital and see Simon Nield with his unfailing humour & cheer. We all cried a long time when he passed away just weeks later, finally succumbing to cancer. A beautiful family & friends remain and we offer our deepest condolences. Simon’s music legacy will also soar evermore, please look him up on google. http://blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2008/09/vale-simon-niel.html http://www.simonnield.com/
Across then to Sydney to hospital with finger picking freak Ross Waldron (of the last years of the Supper Club and Fiddle Champ Jess Randall). A new pacemaker type thang into his heart but was soon stuck down by a stroke taking out most of his right side! Starting with no hand movement 4 weeks ago, he has set his quest to performing at the Supper Club this January! This year you may recall we had young Jess Stoker (Turkish Delight group) come back from near dead from a horrific accident with a Semitrailer this time last year and perform with full drum kit at last January’s Supper Club! Guaranteed therapy via the Supper Club! This January will feature Tamarisque from Adelaide (from my earlier Brigalow days), Andrew Winton & Marcus Sturrock – wild WA guitarists, The Beez (Berlin), Whitetop Mountaineers (West Virginia, USA), Josh Bennett via India, Songwriters in the Round-Nashville Style
I managed to get my USA work visa from very expensive and enforced methods in the only possible gap while in Berlin with the luck of a thousand angels. In Sydney the tourist visa to India took letters, emails, phone calls from England/Melbourne/Sydney/ Arizona to finally get my passport completed in an incredible 2 days and actually getting the dispensary to open after closing and hand me the finished paperwork before racing to the train to meet the car to change clothes, instruments, mentality, and hug the homefront before the first morning flight out again. And I wonder why I finally got caught by a Staffacoccal infection right where you sit – probably from way too much sitting for travel/gig/relax/writing. Or just used up the luck on getting the visas! Ha! At least I’ve been able to deal with it back in Australian medical conditions before it got too too bad. Thought it was a ‘boil’ but no, quite worse, but well into healing. No more details I promise!