I am now in the low countries, it took longer than I thought to get here though. Terrible traffic in the Rhur valley and the autobahn to Cologne was closed. The hours ticked by and it looked like I was going to be very late for my show in Meise. I was listening to Willie Nelson’s greatest hits, he has a song called ‘Aint Nothing I Can Do About It Now’, that just about summed it up. The traffic gradually cleared and the CD moved on to ‘On The Road Again’. I made it just in time and had a good show in a very nice theatre just north of Brussels.

Last night I arrived for my first solo show in Holland. I first came here when I was 17, I hitch hiked from Brussels to Amsterdam and slept in Vondel park, went to the Rijks museum, admired the Dutch painters, hung out with some people that lived on a boat. I was in heaven. I have always felt something familiar about this country.

Last night in the small theatre Wegwijzer in Vlissingen we had a great stage set up. In addition to my normal instruments, cello, guitar, harmonica, there was a nice old harmonium and a brand new Yamaha grand piano. Good, the more toys the better. The harmonium was hard work, leaking air in every direction, and it felt like it hadn’t been played since about 1942. I managed two songs on it, which was probably one too many. The piano however was another story and I was sorry I had only one song ready that had a piano arrangement.

The whole show was recorded by the excellent concertzender.com for a one hour program. This will not come out until the spring of next year. I will post the details when I know.

The picture shows the view from the dressing room window. Nearby was a 10 acre field of gladiolli, so no mistaking which country you are in. Today I am driving back to Flanders to play in Dranouter, then on to Belsele near Antwerp before heading back into Germany.