We had a great first half of the year touring across France, Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic. For the new single Mockingbird we put together this video of tour footage. Hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did making it! The single is available to buy through our website or through Beast Records in Rennes. We’re getting ready to hit the road again in October, starting with 10 dates across Germany and then back to France in November, so we’ll be seeing all your smiling faces again very soon.
live music
two days down
We’ve now laid down bass, drums and guitars for our two new songs in the SAE studio with Ivan, and with the help of special guest Manuele from the Three Blind Mice. The songs are sounding great so far, and we can’t wait to get them finished, mixed and pressed to vinyl. Boy, we sure earnt that beer this afternoon.
Tomorrow morning we’re going in to record the vocals and extras like tambourine, then we have to pack our bags for France. First show is Thursday at Bada Bing in Nimes. Whoever said there’s no rest for the wicked really wasn’t kidding.
Tour Dates France
Wow June has come round super quick. Tomorrow we’re heading in to the School of Audio Engineering (S.A.E) to record another two tracks with Mr Ivan Antonio Rossi as “house band” for his students. We’re doing a song that is currently in our live set, and another completely new song that we’ve more or less written in the last week. We’re really excited about it, and have Manuele from The Three Blind Mice coming in to put down some guitars. Straight after our three studio days we’re heading to France, for 10 dates with Alessio, some studio time with Head On, and a few duo shows to get us home. It’s going to be a busy and very fun month. I’m looking forward to catching up with friends old and new on this round. A big highlight will be playing at Ubu for the 10 year anniversary of Beast Records. Come down and say hello!
06/06 : Nimes @ Bada bing
07/06 : Montpellier @ Mojomatic
08/06 : Miramont de Guyenne @ Lac du saut du loup
09/06 : La Sauvetat-de-Savères @ Cafe Des Voyaguers
10/06 : Toulouse @ The Dispensary
11/06 : Perpignan @ Ubu
12/06 : Angoulème @ le Karma
13/06 : Tulle @ Opus café
14/06 : Albi @ jour de fête
15/06 : Rennes @ Ubu (10ans de Beast Records)
19/06 : Fougere @ Le Saloon (duo show)
20/06 : Dinan @ Cafe Du Theatre (duo show)
21/06 : Saint-Hilaire Du Harcouet @ La Guimbarde (duo show)
25/06 : Caen @ tba (duo show)
26/06 : Paris @ La Feline (duo show)
28/06 : Bourges @ Caf & Rouge (duo show with Silver Moon)
Tour Postcards May 2013
It rained A LOT on this tour of the Basque, and I was totally overestimating the weather when I packed my bikini. Not only did I not get it out of my bag once, but I think I spent the entire tour wearing nearly every single item of clothing that I brought with me, all at the same time. I was like a little eskimo. We had some great shows, and some time to see the sights as it wasn’t far to drive between them. We are kind of planning to go back later in the year, but with Alessio next time. I loved Bilbao and the coast around there, and the drive from Urretxu to Lleida was absolutely incredible. I would like to do that again with more time to stop and take photos.
the beach at Sopelana
the coast between Sopelana and Bermeo
ALT Sessions Festival, Bermeo
Bermeo beers
The singer and the guitarist GOT MARRIED the same morning, and played a gig that night, how sweet.
Umore Ona, Bilba
Bilbao
The Guggenheim, Bilbao
Urretxu
San Sebastian
cool guys 🙂
Lunch with Castro
On the road to Basque
This week we are heading towards Spain, but as my lovely Spanish friends corrected me, we can’t call it a “Spain Tour” but a Basque and Catalonia tour. Very well! We did a couple of shows in the Basque region way back in November 2011 where we played and slept in a 200 year old prison. That was really quite an incredible experience, and I am very much looking forward to getting back there. I am also rather pleased that we have managed to accommodate a day off in San Sebastián, where we quickly stopped last time.
Here are our dates:
09 may. SOPELANA (Bizkaia) @ La Triangu
10 may. BERMEO (Bizkaia) @ Alt Sessions Festival
11 may. BILBAO @ UMORE ONA
12 may. OÑATI (Gipuzkoa) @ Pako Taberna
15 may. SAN SEBASTIÁN/DONOSTIA @ Ondarra Club 16 bis
16 may. VITORIA/GASTEIZ @ Gora Taberna Gasteiz
17 may. URRETXU (Gipuzkoa) @ Hankie Hankie
18 may. LLEIDA @ Oh Yeah! (Swampy Weekend)
Look forward to meeting you on the road. SS
Record Store Day!
Howdy folks! Today is Record Store Day, so make sure you get out there and support your local store by buying some new music.
We are super happy to be doing our part by playing a set at 3pm in the afternoon at Mr Dead and Mrs Free in Berlin. Probably we’ll be there early to buy a few records before we play.
Here’s the link to the store, and if you are in town, come on down.
A couple of videos from our tour (France, March 2013)
Postcards from France, March 2013
Wow, I’ve been back in Milan for two days and I’m still on a high from our tour in France. Both completely buzzing, and also about ready to collapse from exhaustion after the long days at work since I got back, so I think I’m going to spend Easter on the sofa eating cake and trying to do as little as possible. Well maybe I will work on a new song that I wrote in my head during the drive back from Chambery on Monday morning.
I think all three of us left a little part of our hearts in France this March. We were received with such enthusiasm and hospitality everywhere we went, the shows were brilliant, and after 3,700 kilometers of driving we left already excited to come back in June for another round. Special thanks to Beast Records, Seb & Alex, Slim Mitch, Franck, Headsucker & Emma, Dimi & Sof, Gui and all the venues and the bands we played with, Head On, Bed Bunker, Tulla Larsen, The Strong Come-ons, The Mythomans, Aurelien Blues Band & the Denyals. Merci à vous !!
Snow?!
Purple Bar
the guys with Michel
Le Baraka, Clermont-Ferrand
Headsucker & Emma, Le Magellan
Headsucker & Emma, Le Magellan with the Queen of self portraits.
in Headsucker’s fabulous bunker
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro. BEAST RECORDS!
Mondo Bizarro. Day 2
Mondo Bizarro. Day 2.
Mondo Bizarro. Slim Mitch
Mondo Bizarro. with HEAD ON
The most famous window mirror in Paris.
Dimi
TULLA LARSEN @ Le Mechanique Ondulatoire
Le Mechanique Ondulatoire.
L’Imposture, Lille
L’Imposture, Lille
THE STRONG COME-ONS @ Infrared, Orleans
Awesome people!
Awesome people!
My new friend, keeping an eye on the car.
With super Gui
Mistral Palace, Valence
Mistral Palace, Valence
Mistral Palace, Valence
552 km of our 3,700 km journey.
Valence
We are beyond tired at this point. Fast food in dire need.
Sound check at Le Brin de Zinc, Chambery.
Welcome to Italy.
a tour update quickie
We’re almost halfway done with our tour. So far we’ve been battling against snow, rain, sore throats and illness, but the show must go on, as they say. It has been amazing catching up with so many wonderful people along the way. We had a fantastic night at Mondo Bizarro on Saturday with Bed Bunker and Head On. Here are a couple of pics of us with the boss:
And not forgetting the awesome show at Ernee on Friday night, put together by the one and only Headsucker, and his beautiful wife Emma, who made sure that we left their town at least 3 kilos heavier than we arrived. Here’s a video of a song we just recorded at SAE with Ivan Rossi, a cover of the JC classic, Give my love to Rose. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for a new Beast Records release coming out soon in tribute to the man in black. This video is courtesy of Phil LaCleck, (merci Phil).
Pete had an unintentional night off last night to rest his voice, sorry Caen, but we’ll be back next time I promise. He has slept and dosed up on everything under the sun to try and recover for the rest of the tour. Thanks so much to Alex for all the help and honey. Tonight we head to Le Mans, tomorrow Paris. Hope to see you on the road.
Santé!
These Boots …
.. are made for walking! Great work Lee Hazlewood on writing this brilliant song. Pete did a cover version what seems like a million years ago, way back in January 2010 in the kitchen studio of Mr Orville Brody in Rennes. At the same time, over a 2 day recording session he put down acoustic guitar and vocal to 10 songs in fact, and it was planned to become the album Midnight Show. When we got back to Milan for various reasons we decided to re-write the album and re-record the whole session with some the new and reworked songs. So this recording got put on the shelf, and Midnight Show as you know it was recorded in an ugly ground-floor apartment in Milan, with me looking out the window to warn Pete when the gate was about to get slammed and ruin the track.
The good news is that we have decided to release this song, along with two others as part of the Devil Inside single, available at present in digital download only. I added some vocals to the track as well, and joined Nancy Sinatra in spirit to Pete’s Lee. The single is online and listenable here:
Now I’m a bit concerned about the weather in France this week as I’m seeing a lot of talk about snow flurries floating around the interweb. I was hoping not to have to pack all my heavy duty winter clothing, but looks like I’ll be taking it, just to be sure. We’ve got just one and a half days left here, and last minute preparations are underway. I think this may be the most well prepared tour we’ve ever undertaken, and I hope it’s going to be the best yet. 12 concerts in 12 days, here we come.
PS My Ampeg Mini (code-named Ms Amy) has grown since the last time you saw her. She’s nearly as tall as me now!
Pete Ross & The Sapphire 