Toka Toka Toka and Other Summer Sounds

We had a typical Summer Switchback road trip a couple weekends back. First, we headed up to Washington Island, which is at the very tip of the Door Penninsula in Wisconsin.  Our destination was the Granary, which is an old barn that was built in the 1860's on the mainland and then taken down, moved to the island and rebuilt in 2000 on the spot it stands today.  Ken Koyen is the owner of the place, which boasts about 25 different hardwoods in its floors, tables and chairs.  We just had our brakes replaced after running in from Iowa and so it seemed all was well until we got around Oshkosh. When I stepped on the brakes it would make a nice "toka-toka-toka" sound.  So we called the service center we had it done at and the guy assured us that we could bring it in on Monday to get it fixed.  No problem, except for the aggravation of braking with a "toka-toka-toka" sound.  That and the pedal vibrating when you brake as well.  But for us, who have experienced in the past a complete transmission failure, a burning rear axle, being stuck in second gear from Indiana to Colorado, various blow-outs and having the van stolen, it was really nothing.


    
Over to the island
We made it onto the ferry that crosses over to Washington Island.  It is one of the nicest rides as you can just sit in your car with the windows down and watch the deep blue water of Lake Michigan go by.  I got out for a bit and walked over to the side of the boat.  There were some little league kids heading over for a game that were having a great time of riding the ferry.  The locals you can tell are pretty non-chalant about it, they hunker down on a bumper of part of the ship and just chat with each other.  The ferry pulled in to the island and everyone hopped into their cars, the engines revving like the start of the Indy 500.  We rolled off the boat and on our way over to Jacksonport, which is where Kenny was having a fish fry for the Maritime museum.  We got out at the museum, which consists of some buildings and boats from when fishing was a major industry on the lake.  Kenny is the last of the fishermen now, his boat, the Seediver docked alongside some salmon fishing boats.  The Seediver is rusting and pretty tough looking next to the sleek fiberglass cousins.  She looks almost like a floating shoe, a boot for that matter. Once you get aboard, the captains chair is at the high end of the shoe, overlooking the toe, which is the bow of the boat.  Inside are boxes of gill nets and a metal table for cleaning whitefish and lawyer fish.  Lawyer fish are a type of burbot, that were locally named lawyers for having the heart next to their rectum.  Someone doesn't like lawyers too much in Door County.  Behind the captains chair at the heel of the boot is a good sized opening that allows Ken to set out the nets and haul in the fish.  To get a good view of Ken and the Seediver visit here.



Some small fry at the fish fry
We played for a while for the fish fry. There were a lot of people who came for the dinner and they sold out completely of the whitefish, with salad and boiled red potatoes.  We had a fun time playing some old jazz  standards, a  little Hoagy Carmichael, some Irish jigs.  The bartender came over with two cans of Island Wheat Beer, which is grown there on the island by Ken and his brother Tom (yes, he does that too) and then shipped to the Capitol Brewing company in Madison.  It's a great beer, with a sweet flavor.  So it all went down well with the music.  Two little boys about six and ten years old named Nick and Austin were watching us play and theywere captivated  by the scene.  They later came to the concert with their grandfather to the Granary. 

A rare ride on the Seediver
Brian and I had a chance to ride on the Seediver,  the crusty, old fishing boat that is the last of its kind in Wisconsin. We were packing up at the Museum and getting our gear loaded for the Granary. "Come on out on the boat" Kenny said.  "I want to set some nets tonight". So Brian and I hurried over to the Granary, loaded off the equipment, wolfed a quick dinner and drove back to the dock.  Kenny got us on board along with some kids from Louisville, Kentucky.  With this unlikely crew, he set off about a mile or so into the lake.  The water was over 90 feet deep when he idled the engine and pulled one of the boxes to the back of the boat.  He took a buoy, made from what looked like electrical pipe, a fencepost and some orange tape and tossed it into the water.  "That's the last buoy my dad and I made," he said.  Next he tied on some rope that had several heavy links of iron chain.  That played out into the water as well. The opening at the back has an inverted U shape of pipe, much like the St. Louis Arch, that arches at about a 45 degree angle from the stern.  I found out that this was how he sets the nets.  He tied the netting onto the rope and slowly throttled the boat forward. The ship played out the netting, while Kenny untwisted it and set it over the arch, pulling it so it opened all along its length.  It went hissing into the water, with little cork floats keeping the upper half afloat.  Every so many feet, an orange marking on the netting would indicate that it was time for another buoy. These were not as creative as the first big float, but were actually plastic cooking oil containers that were tied to a rope.  He would have to race to tie these on while holding back the net with one hand, an amazing feat that displayed a true artistry.  Out they would go with a mighty heave and would plop into the lake, keeping the netting about 16 feet deep in the water. On and on it went for what seemed about a mile.  Finally he reversed the process he began, adding a rope to the net, some iron chain and then another crude buoy.  And we witnessed the last fisherman setting his nets.  The Kentucky kids were fascinated and one wide-eyed boy was even allowed to steer the boat a bit.  The evening was glorious, a nice sun set with cool winds blowing in.  Kenny finally turned the boat toward the port and we chugged back in that shoe of a boat.  Gulls would fly overhead and land on her deck.  They would walk right up to the captains chair and eye us through the grimy window, festooned with cobwebs.  "I never kill a spider" says Ken, as he watched me peering past the arachnid curtain.  "And last week we had a bunch of barn swallows that were living on the boat, too."   The boat pulled into the dock and Kenny moored her.  The kids jumped out and to their happy parents, who were thrilled that Ken would take them on board.  


The small fry get the girls
We took off to the Granary and had a great night playing.  One of the people there, Charity, came up to me on break with a picture of a young man who was her cousin.  Turned out he was heading home on life support from Iraq.  She wondered if we could play a song in honor of him.  So we played Falling Water River and gave her an album as well.   Nick and Austin, the young lads from the fish fry were there with their grandfather. They two boys were perched on chairs right in front of us, watching every move Brian and I made.  Later, they relaxed a bit more and stayed up pretty late with the locals.  Right before closing time, some beautiful young women coaxed the lads our their chairs and got them to dance to the Connemara Man.  My eyes were drooping and they were still hopping! They would stare right up at the ladies like they couldn't believe their luck.  It was a night they would never forget I am betting. 



It's only 416 miles away
We behaved ourselves that night, loaded up the van, had a couple of farewell drinks with Ken and headed to the Jacksonport Inn.  The inn is run by a lovely woman named Pam, who made sure we got some nice comfortable beds.  The toughest thing about working as a musician is that sometimes you don't get the time to really enjoy a location.  So it was with our run to Washington Island.  We hit the hay about 2 a.m. and were up by 5 a.m. By 6:30 a.m. I was taking a quick walk around the docks and getting my last look at Washington Island.  Brian and I got in the van by 6:45 and by 7a.m. we were back on the ferry heading to Elk Rapids, Michigan and our concert that evening.  Our GPS gave us about 11 hours to make it over the Upper Peninsula and once we were off the ferry, we started heading down the road, with the occasional "toka-toka-toka".  The drive to and through the U.P. takes you through some of the prettiest country in the United States. We were jealous of the bathers who were enjoying the warm summer weather along Michigan's northern shoreline.  We made it down to the Mackinac bridge and headed further south until we reached Elk Rapids. It took us from 6:45 to about 5 p.m. central time to make the run...so a little over 10 hours of driving. 



Switchback with Syzygy.  Photo by Jim Sundberg

Watching the next generation
We set up our equipment at the Elk Rapids Theater and watched the band Syzygy perform.  These are some young men from the Elk Rapids area who have been working as a band for the last several years.  They opened for us that night and I stood in the concert hall and watched their show.  It was great to see the next generation in love with music.  I started feeling a bit old, watching these young guys totally absorbed and savoring their chance to play for the audience.  At the end of their set, one of the lads, Sam,  mentioned from the stage that "Switchback was as a big influence on their music".  Then he made me chuckle when he innocently added, "I hope you stick around for their show".  I hoped so, too.  We had a lot of new people that night and a good house.  The evening went well and by morning, we were off on the road south to Chicago. Six hours later we completed our circumnavigation of Lake Michigan, our van going "toka-toka-toka" all the way home. 
 

The new website is up and running
The new website is now ready for you to visit.  You will see a completely different look with some exceptional photography and video.  People wishing to book the band now have access to a full presskit or can visit our electronic presskit site.  A new store will be in place to help those who wish to pick up a Switchback cap or jacket.  Live concerts along with a chatroom will give fans a chance to attend a far away show and interact with other Switchheads! Thanks to jsinteractive.com for setting up the place.  We hope you like it.


It's Italy!

We are looking at our first tour of Italy from February 5-12, 2010.  The tour will take in the villages of the warm and wonderful Amalfi coast.  Our headquarters will be the beautiful town of Sorrento, which overlooks the bay of Naples.  We will also visit Pompeii, tour of a lemon farm, offer optional tours to the isle of Capri and Caserta and much more.  This trip is only $1992 and includes air, breakfast, dinners (including a welcome dinner and an arreverderci dinner with wine, a four star hotel that you can unpack your suitcase and relax at and other lovely additions.  Plus our music of course! 


Tickets for Rondy and Gloamin available
Thinking of joining us for the Rondy or Gloamin' Festivals?  Well, now is the time to start picking up tickets for the events.  Go to our site and click on the event logo.  Don't be left out of the fun!