We played there last month with the dancers from Taipei Swing, and we had such a great time, we can’t stay away. If you missed the last show, here’s a video that our friend Chenbl shot and put up on TC’s YouTube channel.
Things will be a little different this time around. We asked one of Taipei’s hottest duos, The Red Cliff, to share the bill with us. They’ve been on our radar this year, and we’re looking forward to enjoying their show. From Indievox
The Red Cliff are a 2-piece acoustic band born from the loins of the Darvill and Cole dynasties. Although individually uncouth and erratic, their music comes together to form a refined and consistent sound. Influenced by American and English rock and folk artists, The Red Cliff seek to find the very opposite sound to that of being awoken by a Taoist parade at 6am.
You can sample some of The Red Cliff's tunes on YouTube.
We’re expecting The Red Cliff to kick off their show at about 9 PM. The Ramblers will finish out the evening with our own brand of foot-stomping, finger-snapping, toe-tapping jazzy jug band blues. The door charge is NT$300, and that includes one drink.
We look forward to seeing you there. Bring a friend; they’re great for dancing with!
Village Cafe is at No. 7 Beiping E. Road, Taipei, Taiwan
The whisper about town is that there will be a soft, soft opening for the new, bigger Bobwundaye, aka Bob’s, this Friday, August 19. If you know Kat on Facebook, you may have seen the notice, but if not, the address is No. 77 Heping E. Road, Sec. 3. That’s on the north side of the street, between Tunhwa S. Road and Anhe Road.
Peter Dearman over at The Green Hornet Cafe is reporting a rumor on Facebook that the Muddy Basin Ramblers will be tuning our instruments at his place from 730 PM onwards on Sunday, August 7, 2011.
I've never heard a rehearsal referred to that way, but there will probably be some peg turning at some point; string instruments get out of tune pretty quickly in the Muddy Basin.
Bitan is our unofficial HQ, so it's not too surprising we'll be working out at the Green Hornet. The food is tasty; the beer cold; the people are friendly.
Don't expect a polished show; this is a rehearsal. But you're more than welcome to come and share the evening with the Ramblers.
If you've ever seen us and wondered "what's up with all the crazy instruments?" here's part of the answer.
Will Shade and Charlie Burse were members of the Memphis Jug Band, which were at the center of the jug band/string band craze of the 1920s and 30s.
These guys were the pioneers of jug band music, combining their virtuosity on guitar, ukuleles, and harmonicas with homemade instruments that had down-home charm: washtub bass, empty whiskey jugs and washboards.
Here's Shade playing his "gut bucket" bass, with Burse playing tenor guitar on the blues standard "Going to Kansas City."
"Jug band" music is really just a combination of the popular songs in rural America in the 20s and 30s, and it covered many styles, including blues, tin pan alley/jazz, hillbilly.
At a music festival in Hengchun, Pingtung Countyin August 2010
So there has been a three-year gap in blogging for the Muddy Basin Ramblers. Apologies to our fans who have been patiently waiting for the next installment. A lot has taken place over the interval, and rather than recap it all for you, I'll just cover our most recent endeavors.
The MBR were at Taipei Artist Village last weekend, on July 22, 2011. We were there accompanying our friends at Taipei Swing, the liveliest swing dancers in Taipei. We played two sets, and there were dancers on the floor in front of us for every song. It was great to have their energy to feed us as the night wore on.
Here is a 9-minute video clip of a portion of the show, featuring three songs.
We'll be back at TAV on August 27. We invited Red Cliff, an exciting young guitar duo, to share the bill with us. They'll take to the stage first, starting at 930 or so, play one set, and then the Ramblers will finish out the evening. Here's an FB link to summertime events at TAV.
One reason for the lack of updates to this blog has been the rise of Facebook. The band's page there has been the focus of most of our promotional efforts over the last couple of years. If you don't follow us on FB yet, please do so.
Beyond the show at the end of August, we don't have any firm plans for more shows. Several members will be off the island in September, but we expect to be back on the scene in October. Stay tuned for further updates on upcoming gigs.
Some of the Ramblers got together last night to bid farewell to the old Bobwundaye, one of the Ramblers' favorite bistros. The owners of Bob's are moving the old magic to a new, nearby location. The nearest MRT station will still be Liuzhangli, but the new joint will be on Heping E. Road, between Tunhua S. Road and Anhe Road. Look for Big Bob's to open in mid-August.
The Ramblers wish Bob the best, and look forward to performing there.
Thanks for stopping in, and make plans to catch us at TAV on August 27. We'd love to ramble with you.
The Ramblers are an old-time band, so you shouldn’t be surprised when we do things the old-fashioned way.
Our first CD is coming out, and we’re holding a party for our friends and fans. It’s not going to be at some slick disco. It’s not being simultaneously released on the Net and around the world.
We’ve rented a space at Huashan, the artist’s district located at the corner of Ba-de and Chung-hsiao E. Road, and everyone is invited to celebrate with us.
There will be food and drink, included in the price of admission, special gifts, a cash bar all evening long, and a live performance of the songs from the CD, all of them, in the order in which they occur on the CD itself.
If you like the show, the CD will be on sale. We recorded it with Max, our engineer extrordinaire, and it was produced by Dave Chen, our fearless leader. The original artwork on the CD jacket is a Dave original, and the photographs were created by TC.
The Muddy Basin Ramblers are a Taipei-based old-time blues band, and we play for our friends because we enjoy the music. Come out and party with us.
Mine used to be playing music from the back of a truck on the streets of Taipei. Now that the MBR’s have participated in the Dream Community’s annual parade, I need to get a new dream for myself.
We met up at HsinganElementary School on Renai Road at 1 P.M. on the day of the parade. The outer lane of the road was closed to traffic so the floats could be lined up to await the 3 P.M. starting time. Registration took place at a table in the sports field, and walking out of the corridor into the field was a shocking experience. The field was swarming with people costumed in an amazing variety of headdresses, masks, belly dancing outfits, aboriginal costumes, and pretty much anything you could imagine. Clearly, my dreams are on the vanilla side of the spectrum.
Since we had a float to ride on, we didn’t stay in the sports field with the other marchers. We were directed to float 69, which turned out to be a truck masquerading as a giant pig. It also turned out not to be our float. The pig would carry our friends the members of Bo Po Mo Fo. Our float, number 38, was just up the line, and it was a sight. I doubt that the designer of the float had a grand vision. Float 38 sported colorful swathes of cloth on the side, fishing net floats painted in bright colors, irregularly shaped chunks of painted Styrofoam stuck on the stakes that surrounded the bed, and banners on both sides that said something about aliens from outer space. A gasoline powered electricity generator sat in the rear of the truck bed, and it chugged along throughout the day’s long, strange trip.
Standing above the cab on a platform was a painted dancing man wearing a blue loin cloth tied at his waist. We could see that he seemed to be wearing some type of prosthetic penis, which would have been odd normally, but at the Dream Parade, it didn’t really seem that unusual. We would later understand that everyone is welcome to make their dream come true in the parade, but that Taiwanese social norms involving nudity trump individual expression. More on that.
Before the parade began, we warmed up by playing a few numbers. Since our float was right in front of the entrance to the school, we had a lot of people taking photos and digging the music. We also wandered around at took photos of the other floats and parade participants. The atmosphere was very warm and friendly, and people were happy to gawk and be gawked at. More than one Rambler mentioned how we don’t stand out so much as foreigners in Formosa when everyone was getting their freak on. Later, as our float made its way to the plaza in front of the Presidential Building, it became obvious that foreigners get only a cursory glance when there is a naked man dancing on top of a truck.
Right on time, our float joined its place in the procession. We were right behind the Cosplay group dressed as Jedi Knights and Imperial Stormtroopers. In front of them was the giant brain and eyeballs. Following us was a crew pushing a giant fish with a bubble machine mounted on it. As we walked, several juvenile stilt walkers accompanied us down the palm lined boulevard. It took several hours to travel the 3 kilometers to the Plaza. The crowd along the way wasn’t overly large, but the lines of cars at the major intersections were. The police would open the intersections to the parade for several minutes, and then stop it for a time to let the cars cross our path before the march resumed.
It didn’t take long for us to realize the dancer on the roof of the cab had removed his loin cloth. As we passed people standing on the side of street, we saw that they were not looking at us; they were staring at the naked dancing man. They stared, they laughed, the covered their mouths, they took photos, but they didn’t cover their eyes. No, especially not the youngish women. They got an eyeful. In contrast to how I would expect the American public to react to such a sight, I didn’t see any parents covering the eyes of their children. The police were also very interested. Each officer we passed looked at the dancer. And then we began to notice plainclothes officers conferring with their uniformed colleagues. Soon, a messenger instructed the dancer to replace his loin cloth, which he did. In honor of the naked guy, we changed the words of Reefer Man to NakedMan. That would be a cool bootleg recording to have.
Before long, we were passing the gate at the intersection of Renai and Chunghsiao South road and entering the plaza between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese era Taipei Guest House, and the Presidential Building. Our float pulled to one side of the road across near the stage that had been erected for the festival. Groups of dancers were performing on stage, and others were congregated on its sides while waiting for their turn in the spotlight. The Ramblers took this opportunity to join those marchers who had already finished in welcoming those groups that were just arriving. I never realized how many drumming groups there were in Taipei. As the drumming groups approached the plaza, they played their instruments in a frenzy. There were adults and kids in mock African dress, aboriginal costumes, and everything in between, all playing djembes, bass drums, Brzilian drums, snare drums, hundreds of them. How do they practice? And where? From personal experience, the Ramblers know how difficult it can be to practice in public without getting complaints from neighbors and instructions from the police to move on.
Was the day over? No way. We had a gig at Bliss later that evening. As we left the Plaza lugging our instruments, we made plans to grab dinner and meet up again in a few hours. Some of us went to the Italian Job, and others to the California Grill, both in the Yongkang area. TC, Will, and I met in the middle of Daan Park, near the windmill (a great place to chill in the early evening) to lie in the grass and let our energy levels build up again before heading to the gig. The Rajasthan Gypsies were performing at the amphitheater stage, but since TC and I had seen them on Friday evening, we didn’t go and catch the show again. I enjoyed the music a lot but found the circus-like performance a bit tiresome.
The gig at Bliss was a party held by our friend Chris. She is leaving Taiwan next week, so the party was basically a going-away party. The crowd was smaller than we have played to for some time; there were maybe only twenty or thirty people there. Most people were friends or acquaintances, so the vibe was good. We played two sets and finished at about 1:30. I think we were all a bit tired after the long day (more than twelve hours together as a band), but it was definitely a good ending to a surreal day.
The Dragon Boat Festival is fast approaching. Bitan, the sunny Hsintian resort that is the Ramblers' spiritual home, is moving into high gear in preparation for the races coming up. This year the street vendors are throwing a night market party to celebrate all the customers they hope to serve.
Being Bitan locals, the Ramblers were called up for the cause by the unofficial Borough Chief, Athula. We'll be making sweet street music near Athula's roti stand in the early evening on Saturday, June 16.
If you'd like to show up, take the MRT to the last station on the green line, Hsintian. Walk along the street behind to the station until you come to the night market. Athula's stand is just past the steps at the foot of the suspension bridge, across from the 7-11 (what a surprise). If you're there while we're playing, you'll have no trouble spotting us--look for the jug band. If you arrive late, order a roti or two from Athula and ask him where the Ramblers have gone. If the weather is good, we'll probably be down along the river. Don't cross the bridge. Come down to the riverside and walk upstream a few minutes. We may be on the steps near the playground.
Update: We'll be playing at 7 PM. We should play for at least an hour at Athula's before we find somewhere along the river to carry on the music-ing.
Updated Update: Check out this news from the Onion. That's what I'm talking about.
The Ramblers have had a busy month. The show at Sappho was great. It was our first time to perform at A-liang’s new place. We got started about 10 by playing our first song in amongst the crowd at the tables and bar. We like to bring the music to the people, and being all acoustic, we can cozy right up with the punters and warm them up to the evening’s entertainment. Then we moved to the stage and played a regulation set, and then took a break. We switched out our condenser mics for dynamic mics, and when we came back on at about midnight, the sound quality was just what we’d been hoping for.
By that time, the staff had pulled one of the modular sofas and a table off the lighted disco floor, and the dancing began. It had been a while since our last full show, and we had some energy to burn, so we kept the dancers hopping till nearly 2:30. It was probably our longest uninterrupted performance to date. The partying didn’t stop when we finished, and I think it must have been getting light already when the hardiest of the Ramblers finally called it a night.
The next Saturday evening found us on a rooftop in Shilin at the Animals Taiwan charity party. The original date had been rained out, so the Animals crew had taken every precaution against the weather. There was a good size crowd, some familiar faces and lots of new friends sharing a balmy evening for a good cause. Noise was a concern of the organizers, and before the evening got too late, the neighbors had called in the Mounties to bust up the affair. Some dance acts, a troupe of four girls doing belly/jazz dance and a couple showing off their ballroom moves, performed to recorded music under the tent before we got our thing going.
We got a couple of songs out and then Brent, formerly of the Saltwater Crocs, and a powerful singer/songwriter in his own right, performed one of his classics, Dawg Song, replete with dog howls, in honor of the event’s theme. We played one more number, I forget which, and Sean, of Animals Taiwan, handled some of the singing. By that time, the Kevlar ones had arrived to hasten the conclusion of the evening, so the Mudders packed up their gear and slipped away into the night.
We had the following weekend off, and recuperation (and laundry) was called for. Plus, we had to get our energy up for the Peacefest / Hoping for Hoping, our summer kick-off out in the mountains of Lungtan.
Unlike previous years, we had a Saturday performance slot just as the sun was going down. The crowd was bigger and livelier than we’d seen up there before. We had a quick set, by our standards, but we started off on the right note and were in lock-step for the rest of the performance. The sound crew did a great job getting our mix right in our monitors and the PA, and the whole Peacefest crew did a fantastic job putting together a great event. Big thanks to Dave, Scott, Lynn, Lisa, and Monica and everyone else for their effort. One weekend a year, they create a circle of peace that continues to widen, drawing ever more musicians and music lovers to Kun-lunHerbGardens in TaoyuanCounty. They had a little more commercial support this year, but the laidback vibe continues to be strong.
We gave the audience a little bit of everything, including Walk Right In, Jug Band Quartet, Dancehall Shuffle, Nagasaki (Dave mentioned that that city’s mayor had been gunned down recently), and others, before finishing withRiverside. It’s our anti-war number, and we felt it was the most fitting song to voice our support for peace, and reach out to the audience. Once we got going, the audience was kicking up its feet in the grass in front of the stage, and there was a great sense of camaraderie among everyone present. We were enthused to have lots of help singing the chorus, “Ain’t gonna study the war no more.”
Sandy also got some help in the horn section and was joined by several other musicians who wanted to join the glad sound. I saw Kevin from Milk and maybe others punching the air with their brass as the song reached its crescendo before the eventual a capella wind-down.
We grabbed our instruments and exited the stage while the organizers got the audience to join hands for the peace circle, a fixture at Peacefest. A band of merry pranksters on hand drums, kit drum, electronic drum, didjeridoos, guitar, horns, and others provided the musical lubricant the circle needed to get twirling. The groove on the stage was infectious, and while the audience wheeled around the grass under the full (blue!) moon, more and more musicians got on stage to join in. I wasn’t timing the jam, having my hands full with a set of LP bongos, but it must have gone on for three quarters of an hour. I knew the drummers could last that long, but I had some worries about the didj players. Happy to say, no one expired in the name of peace.
There was, however, one ping-pong-related injury to a black-chap-wearing cowboy. He shared the story with us while we were warming up behind the temple during Mr. Green/Highway 9’s set (which was great). It seems the cowboy had been asleep under the ping-pong table when Peace Dave somehow upset it, causing its edge to strike cowboy’s eyebrow. It was a nasty cut, and though it wasn’t leaking blood down his face while he was telling the story, I saw him later getting more first-aid, and there was a crimson tide.
No definite words on the next MBR gig, but we’ll keep you informed. If you’ve got any pics of us playing at Peacefest, we’d love to see them. Shoot us a link if you can.
NOTICE: The Muddy Basin Ramblers will be playing at Sappho late in the evening on Saturday, May 19th. The joint is located in the basement at No. 1, Lane 102, An-ho Road section 1, just north of Hsinyi. Show starts at 10:30pm, and the door charge is NT$200. There might be dancing. Check your hats and revolvers at the coat room.
