schorndorf, germany at manufaktur

hotelbaur room 12

todays travel was insane. the promoters have us on 2 trains to get to schondorf...the problem is we are always squeezed for time...and we have 13 peices of gear and luggage for 3 people to move...not a good scenario...let me tell you...we are seriously working...crazy...and we missed our stop because we couldnt get the train doors open fast enough, so the train departed to next location...silly silly...finally picked up by werner from manufaktur...the show made up for the insanity again...superb sound in an intimate warm venue and wonderful audience...so appreciative...we had a great show again....werner informed us later that it was the best show manufaktur has had in 3 years!! signed some posters and had late italian dinner and back to the warm cozy hotelbaur...good nite.

enjoy jazz festival at mannheim germanz

holiday inn room 435

a pleasant ride to graz airport, but the day took an abupt change when lufthanza informed us that we were 90 kilos overweight and it would cost 400 euros..or we could would not fly...ursula, was of course, furious...and after heated discussion i finally negotiated 165 euros and paid for it on my amex card so we could get out of there...the airlines have been shaking us down for a while...its crazy to be touring this way...not good.
meanwhile when we finally arrived our driver discovered that we had 13 pieces of luggage to transport and had to hire a van...then on to the autobahn at 100mph...to our hotel, then sound check. this festival is amazing with many great artists - meredith monk, john scofield, living colour, charles mingus big band, jack dejohnette,......tonite we conclude the festival sharing the bill with 4 Hero....showtime: our show is fantastic tonite...sound is superb...and wonderful audience...who call us back for 2 encores...we are buzzing tonite...after a crazy day it was good to have this performance...afterwards we stayed to listen to marc mac of 4 Hero spin it was a pleasure...and so, a very late night for us...time to sleep...

graz, austria at ppc

grand hotel rm 205

flights here were good...lufthanza lost my flight case though for a few hours...but it all finally worked out...show is presented by vipers where we played w 2 years agó...our first show of this tour adding Gintis Janusonus on drum kit and percussion...this new trio has immediate chemistry and we are already making wonderful music...tonites show was plagued with monitoring problems for us...but the audience loved the show and danced all night...a good first show for us...afterwards nightcap at volker sernitz new restaurant where we viewed the ursula rucker supa sister world tour 2001 dvd that he produced. it is a beautiful document of that tour and hopefully will be released at some time in 2004.
tomorrow a flight to mannheim for a show for the enjoy jazz festival...more to come....

photo of gintus janusonis, ursula rucker, tim motzer
courtesy of katja ruge @ www.plasticodia.com

los angeles @ the temple bar

carmel hotel room 322
this is more like it. we're in santa monica tonite at one of the most beautiful clubs i've ever been in.
and it's a harmonic convergence...everything is aligning...we're sharing the stage with now prophet Saul Williams...a truly high spirited moment tonite...and we follow that with our brew...it's sold out and successful evening and perfomance from us, but usula and myself feel somewhat hollow...not sure what it was...the lighting...really felt on display...like in a zoo...or something...but audience loved it...and after show, we were rushed for cd.s and autographs...etc...kinda of bewildering...also, tsa (the government security in u.s. airports made up of 'city' workers)...destroyed one of my road cases. couldn't figure out how to open the latches, so they broke them completely off...such a drag...cost me another $250...like i have it...so there you go...life on the road...sound was wonderful in this venue...had lettuce wraps for dinner!!! hotel rooms were scary...glad to go home...such a terrible experience with United Airlines(?) and TSA at LAX...it's just not that much fun traveling under these conditions...kinda resembles hell and belzebub.....ahhhhhhh....its' only a dream...
or is it? hellzabub...readying for europe now...

studio z, san francisco

best western room 311
a wild ride this time in san francisco. we were never really sure who was running this show...as far as sound it was kinda sub par..but we made the show happen...and people that were tuned in loved what we did...but it really wasn't the venue for us...lifts from airport and to show were fine and pretentious, but after show no one to take us back...so we rode with sound man in his 'vintage'
convertible...top down...all three road cases in back seat with guitars on top and ursula smashed in the bucketseat...if only i had a camera...no such luck. hopefully tomorrow LA will be on the vibe...

studio z, san francisco

best western room 311
a wild ride this time in san francisco. we were never really sure who was running this show...as far as sound it was kinda sub par..but we made the show happen...and people that were tuned in loved what we did...but it really wasn't the venue for us...lifts from airport and to show were fine and pretentious, but after show no one to take us back...so we rode with sound man in his 'vintage'
convertible...top down...all three road cases in back seat with guitars on top and ursula smashed in the bucketseat...if only i had a camera...no such luck. hopefully tomorrow LA will be on the vibe...

gear report

i've been getting questions about my setup from quite a few people through email and at concerts around the world...although my setup is always in a state of flux due to endless experimentation my current guitar setup on Ursula Rucker tours and Global illage, Base3, and Jazzheads are relativelyr similar.

with UR: Godin Nylon digital electric to a Roland GR33 guitar synth and
Takamine acoustic-electric thru Morley A-B switcher to EB volume pedal to Boss tuner to Digitech Whammy pedal to EBS Octave to Boss Phaser to Line 6 Delay Modeler to dbx mini preamp (di) to house.
with other bands: i add distortion with Danelectro Overdrive, Vox wah, Alesis air efx, and Korg kaos pad. i also use my 1966 Epiphone Granada still as well. i'm hoping as computer technology moves to smaller boxes that some day i can shrink my rig to a smaller more manageable size...but so far to get the sounds i'm hearing i'm relying on the standard tuna boxes out there...i'm still finding new stuff all the time experimenting and trying to use my imagination...hope some of this info helps you out...any questions email me.....ok..... see you on the next tours....