My Italian Family

After a long summer off, we're finally back on the road and getting into the swing of things. But before I get blogging about current happenings, there are some updates!

This summer marked the departures of both Jason Hurwitz (4 years) and Kiana Weber (1 year). They're both going back to school: Jason just started pursuing a dual MBA/MA in Arts Administration at the University of Cincinnati, and Kiana is back at the University of Michigan finishing up her degrees in Violin Performance and Music Education. It's weird no longer having Jason as it seemed I never really knew Barrage without him (we auditioned together in 2006 and he'd been in it since then), and I learned so much from Kiana in just one year (for anyone who came to my recital, she's the person who taught me how to chop!). They will both be missed--best of luck to each of you, Jason and Kiana!

In happier news, we're welcoming Daniel Pentecost (of Gallatin, TN) into the band! Today was our first real day of training with him (he did all of his initial training in Calgary while we were in China in May), even though he's already had his first full performance. Kiana's replacement has yet to be named, so Alicia is back filling in for this tour of Europe.

Our first show was two nights ago at the Magiaceltica festival in Pergine, Italy (about 12 km from Trento, the nearest big city). This was actually one of my first gigs in Barrage when I joined over 2 years ago, so it was great to be back again. I never posted photos of this location, though, so now I finally can!

It's so great being back in Italy, and being with the most wonderful people I've met in my travels. The "Clan," as I like to affectionately call them, are a specific group of Italians who strongly identify with their Celtic roots (and yes, there are actually Celtic roots in Northern Italy). We first met them playing at Celtica in 2008, and then we headlined the festival last summer. There are not ample words to describe how wonderful they are...they are just the quintessential example of what it means to be a good and kind human beings. I absolutely love being with them. They're like family, really.

While the Magiaceltica festival is not run by the Clan (who runs Celtica), many of the Clan showed up to support us.

This castle is on the hill directly behind the stage, and is lit at night, making it visible to the audience during the performance.

That's the castle from a different angle, where our hotel was located.

The area in front of the stage.

And in the tradition of last year's performance, our friend Iain painted our faces!

Iain painting Daniel's face.

Faces painted and ready to go! (Though not really visible in this picture, each girl had a blue dot on her temple.)

Daniel playing the bagpipes in his first show!

With Iain and Federico after the show.

After the show, Iain and Federico rode back to the hotel with us since the Clan was staying there as well. What happened during the van ride back may be one of the coolest (and most musical) things to ever happen in a van. Both Iain and Federico are ridiculously talented musicians; Iain plays traditional flutes and whistles, and Federico plays the drums and piano. Earlier in the day, I could have sworn I had heard Iain playing "Anach Cuan," an insanely awesome whistle tune that Ben Gunnery, a Barrage alum, used to play in the show. When we asked Iain about it, he didn't instantly recognize the name...so Tim whipped out his laptop to play the recording off of one of Barrage's earlier albums. At which point, Iain remembered it:

How awesome is that?! More than the fact that Iain can play Anach Cuan, I love the fact that he played it for us in a van. Iain, you are too cool for words.

As I wrap up this post in anticipation of tonight's dinner with the Clan, I must note that the only thing better than writing this post has been the setting in which I've been writing it. Here's what I see out my window in St. Pierre (which is open, allowing a gentle breeze to blow through):

It's so good to be back.