THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH-19TH, 2020 – NASHVILLE TO GSTAAD, SWTIZERLAND:
Left Nashville at around 10:30 am this morning on a Delta flight to JFK. Going back to Switzerland again for the Country Night Gstaad festival with Rosanne Cash. Joe Nichols, Asleep at the Wheel and Ashley McBryde will also be performing.
We landed on time at JFK and I realized I had brought my heavier jacket but not my lightweight one. I walked the entire terminal but only found “souvenir” type fleece jackets that said “I Love NY” on them. Decided to wait until I got to Gstaad to try and find one.
I went to the Delta Lounge and it was packed. In fact, the Nashville airport was packed this morning, too. I couldn’t find any information about where my gate was located for my flight to Geneva so I asked the lady at the counter in the Delta Lounge. She informed me that I was on a Swiss Air flight and they only knew Delta flight info. I kept checking the website while I worked for 4 hours on my layover.
I told Rosanne’s manager (Danny) that I would meet him and Dan (one of the musicians) at the gate for the flight over. Danny got stuck in traffic and long lines at Security in the airport and walked up only a few minutes before we boarded. Haven’t seen him in years. I’ve worked with them on events in Japan, Sweden and Switzerland and they are all so great to work with!
We boarded on time and it’s a funky “little” plane compared to other airlines flying overseas. At least I found a GREAT movie to watch. The food was good, too. I paid the top price for WiFi so I could work en route but only received two or three emails the entire flight which was very unusual. We had several periods of severe turbulence but landed on time. Once we landed, emails started flooding my phone. Means that high price I paid for internet did not work. All the bags and equipment arrived except for one piece. The Swiss Agent said that it was already on another flight to Geneva and it would be delivered today. I seriously doubt that is true! David (Rosanne’s tour manager) also had a guitar lost en route yesterday and it still had not been delivered.
We had to wait for a couple of other guys to arrive from the USA. We landed at around 9 am and the other guys would not be there until around 11:00 am. Toni – the bus company owner and our driver – found us and we located the Asleep at the Wheel guys/girl who had also landed early. We all had coffee and tea while we waited. Thankfully everyone was on time. The festival provided a separate pick up for Rosanne and John since they spent the night at a Geneva hotel last night.
It was a 2 hour drive to Gstaad and I think most of us slept most of the way! Kelly was waiting for us at the hotel and our room keys were ready. Rosanne and Joe Nichols groups are staying at the fabulous Alpina Grand hotel – a 5 star hotel that the promoter owns. I’ve toured it a couple of times but never stayed here. I have a HUGE suite overlooking the Alps. So beautiful. I haven’t been to this festival for several years but I love working with Marcel and all his staff. Such nice people and they take great care of the entertainers.
Rosanne and John arrived about an hour after we did and we had their room key ready for them as well. I was able to shower and work for about one hour before meeting every one in the lobby to go to the Alp for the sponsor party. We didn’t have enough cars for everyone going but Martin was there to handle everything and work his miracles. A large passenger van and driver magically appeared. I had walked to the sports shop next door and they had the light jacket I needed. I took it and my heavier coat with me because even with a bon fire and heaters inside the building.
It was a small, winding road up the Alp and we had to pull over several times to allow oncoming traffic to pass or let cows and goats get out of the road. We were dropped off a long way from the party and had to walk the rest of the way. The climb wasn’t so bad but the altitude was brutal. We finally made it to the top and there was an amazing “spread” of food and drinks for everyone as well as a “local band” performing. The food was exceptional and I got to see a lot of my Swiss friends… Maya and Peter, Albi, all the Gstaad staff, Toni’s wife and lots more people including one of my favorites from America – Ray Benson with Asleep at the Wheel.
Everyone was really tired after the long flight so I asked Heidi if we could get transportation back to the Alpina and we had to walk back down to the location where we were dropped off. Walking down was easier than going up but when we got to the pick up point, no one was there. We waited and waited and no one had any cell service so we could call anyone. Two of Rosanne’s guys volunteered to talk back up the Alp. A few minutes after they left, four cars passed by and Joe Nichols and Asleep at the Wheel were in them! They had been picked up at the party and did not have to walk back down. A large van finally showed up and we got on with some local entertainers who were already on it. The fan took us back to the party and the driver thought we were going to stay there! It took quite a while to sort everything out but eventually we headed in the right direction back down the alp. Two people flagged us down at the drop off point and asked for a ride back down the mountain too. Turned out one of the people was a friend of mine who is a journalist.
We made it back to the Alpina and I’ve been working for several hours now.
Posting some amazing photos of the view tonight on Facebook.
Bet this bed is going to be AWESOME tonight.
Jude
FIRST PERFORMANCE AT COUNTRY NIGHTS GSTAAD:
Got 6 hours of really great sleep. Learned something very interesting. The second my feet touch the floor, a little night light turns on. Then when I walk into the bathroom, very dim lights turn on automatically. Also, when I got back to the room last night, I saw a door in the very large foyer that I had not noticed before. There’s a “half bath” in the suite!
Had a very quick breakfast and showered before heading over to sound check at noon. Everything was set up and the group finished a few minutes early. I walked around while they were doing the sound check and looked at the booths that were being set up. Saw one of my friends who always has a booth at all the festivals in Switzerland. Another person that I met while I was in Liechtenstein is also going to have a booth here.
The festival staff has arranged for an “excursion” up the glacier tomorrow for everyone who missed it on Thursday. They will have a chance to ride the Alpine Slide (roller coaster in my opinion), walk over the suspended swinging bridge, and visit a beautiful little church as well as cheese and coffee shops. It will be a great way to spend their day off.
We were back at the hotel at around 2:30 pm and I got a little work done before having to dress for the show and be ready to eat an early dinner at 5:00 pm.
Dinner was at the hotel restaurant and they have a special menu prepared for our group. We have one Vegan and one Vegan who also can’t have fructose or lactose. The chef went out of his way to prepare them meals that they would like. The food was great. I had a salad and salmon that was perfect.
I rode over to the show with the musicians at 6:00 pm and Joe Nichols was still performing. He’s such a great entertainer and the audience loved him. Looks like about the same number of people in attendance tonight as on the Friday night last time I was here. Rosanne took the stage at 7:30 pm and she killed it. The audience loved her and Marcel and all the staff were very pleased. She is such a killer singer and her husband John is just a monster player! The band rocks and everyone is so nice to work with. She stood on the front of the stage and signed autographs for about 100 people after her set.
Ray and Asleep at the Wheel came in before her set was over and I talked to them for a while. I wanted to stay and see Ray’s show but I’ll get to see them tomorrow night because he goes on right before Rosanne. Ashley McBryde came in while we were still there but she goes on last both nights. I won’t get to see her sets because I have work to do late at night!
Saw some more of my Swiss friends tonight that I haven’t seen in a while. Elsi was able to arrange it so that a couple of the guys can go hang gliding tomorrow. The weather will be beautiful for it. Better them than me. I’ve been dropped out of the sky more times than I want to remember in helicopters over war zones. I’m fine standing on the ground and watching!
After midnight now and I’m hoping to get in bed by 1 am. Busy day again tomorrow and have clients coming from Liechtenstein and Germany to see the show.
Jude
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST – LAST CONCERT AT GSTAAD COUNTRY NIGHT:
Got in bed a little before 3 am after talking to Zoe and showing her my “suite” at the hotel. She’s very into interior design and architecture so she had lots of questions.
I decided to check out the gym before having breakfast. It was awesome, so I worked out and then had breakfast. I was then going to do a little work and jog downtown and back before starting the “official activities” of the day. Unfortunately, I knocked over a glass of water and it spilled on my computer keyboard. I immediately dried it off and used the hair dryer on it. Was hoping it was okay but when I typed, the letters on the right-hand side of my keyboard typed numbers instead of letters! The keys on the left-hand side were fine. The right-hand side is where the water spilled.
I used the dryer and again and it didn’t help. I went online and “googled” but nothing useful popped up. After spending most of the morning unsuccessfully being able to “self-repair” it, I went to the Panasonic site and clicked on “Live Chat”. Someone came on immediately and told me to push the “numbers lock” button. I didn’t expect it to work because not all the keys were typing numbers. But it did! Problem solved by Panasonic in a matter of minutes. Sure wish I had reached out to them first instead of wasting all that time. I was so far behind by then that I didn’t have time to jog or do anything else other than work, shower, and meet everyone for dinner at 5 pm.
The food was excellent once again and very “artfully” presented. The band and I left for the venue at 6:10 pm and I got to see the last part of Asleep at the Wheel’s show. It was awesome, as usual. Rosanne arrived at around 7:10 and performed from 7:30 until 8:40 pm. She had another great show. The venue was almost full tonight.
I had friends there from Interlaken, Germany and Liechtenstein but just no time to spend with them unfortunately. But I am sure they enjoyed the shows!
Got back to the hotel at around 9:30 pm and hope to get in bed by midnight with a 5 am wakeup call and 7:30 am departure to the airport. Ouch…but not as bad as it has been in years past.
Special thank you to Rosanne and all her guys for being so sweet and easy to work with. And, to the Gstaad Country Night Festival for being so wonderful and accommodating. Marcel, Heidi, Kelly, Elsi, Christa, Martin, all the drivers and all the staff in the Green Room and the Production staff were so sweet and hospitable. Truly one of the best festivals I have the opportunity of working with occasionally!
Jude
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND – FLYING HOME FROM SWITZERLAND:
Early call – up at 5 am and in the lobby by 6:30 am to sort out some charges to the rooms that needed correcting. The restaurant was supposed to open at 7 am for breakfast and lots of people were waiting. I walked up to see if they were opening on time and was told there were “breakfast bags” waiting for us to take with us in the lobby. Everyone grabbed one before getting on the bus.
The bus couldn’t pull all the way up so I left my suitcase against a large planter and walked down the circular drive to the bus. Just as I reached the bus, I heard a noise behind me and was almost run over by my own suitcase. It continued on out into the driveway before turning over when it hit a bump in the pavement. Now, being chased by my suitcase is a first! I bought the Travelpro luggage because it has the “dual” wheels and is so easy to roll. I had the smaller carry on bag cross 4 lanes of traffic at the Nashville Airport the first time I used it. Guess it should come with a warning sign that says “Do no leave unattended”!
We stopped by the hotel where Asleep At The Wheel was staying and picked up Ray and 3 others. It took us exactly 2 hours to arrive at the Geneva Airport. The first part of the trip was on really curvy, narrow roads and made me slightly nauseous.
Check in was really easy at the Geneva Airport and we had a little time to kill before boarding the flight to JFK. Several members of the group are on different flights so we said our good-byes at the check-in counter. We had to go through Immigration, Security and then another passport check before arriving at the gate area.
Our flight departed on time and I watched a really bad movie, ate lunch and then slept for about 2 hours – until the severe turbulence woke me up. Pilots from the USA always come on the intercom and say we are going to be in turbulence for “x” amount of time. Not so with pilots on foreign airlines. It is total radio silence from the time you board through the time you disembark!
We landed on time and everyone picked up their luggage. I said “goodbye” again and went through to re-check my bag since I was the only one with a connecting flight. I had to re-check my bag right outside of customs because I flew in on Swiss Air and was departing on a Delta flight. I knew from my experience a couple of weeks ago with The Bellamy Brothers that I had to have my boarding pass re-printed. Made it through passport control (again) and went through security. Because I am TSA Pre-check, we are told not to remove ANYTHING from our bags. I didn’t and my bag got pulled aside along with several other people’s bags. The guy checking them was a jerk. One lady told him that her flight had already been boarding for 15 minutes and she was about to miss her connection. He said, “Your bag has been selected for extra security check so you have to wait”! What a jerk. When mine arrived for him to check, he looked inside, zipped it back up and handed it to me. Didn’t question anything or remove anything. Strange.
I had time to go to the lounge for a few minutes and get some work done. Flight to Nashville boarded on time but it was showing a 6:20 pm departure with arrival at 8:10 pm. That would have been almost a 3 hour flight. Not sure who screwed that up but it was on the Delta website that way as well.
Landed Nashville at 7:15 pm and they announced that we landed 45 minutes early! Go figure.
Everyone is still in shock about the bus wreck involving the Josh Turner crew. Since most musicians spend half their life touring on a tour bus, this really hits home. Our prayers and thoughts remain with the family of Dave Turner and his friends as well as the others who are still hospitalized from the accident. Makes me very “wary” of the fact that I will be touring with the Bellamy Brothers October 1-12 in a sleeper bus throughout Norway and Sweden.
Home for a week then I’ll be back with the reports!
Jude