Switchback - American Roots & Celtic Soul Live One

SWITCHBACK LIVE American Roots and Celtic Soul (Volume 1) OK...so my name is Jim Sundberg and my wife Karen and I have toured the world with these guys since 2005. Karen is the marketing coordinator for the band and I book most of the shows for them in Michigan and Ontario, and sometimes over in Ireland and Italy. Several years ago when we first met the band, I was absolutely overwhelmed with the variety of songs they had written and played while out on the road. And after we got to know them, I felt compelled to document their travels. The crazy thing is that they let me tag along! I have recorded hundreds of hours of audio and video, and have shot thousands of photos of Switchback in some pretty amazing locations. One thing I should mention is that photography and videography is my real job, but doing it for Switchback is a whole lot more fun. I mean who wouldn't have a great time traveling all over Ireland, Canada and the U.S. with these guys and getting served free Guinness at the shows (hey I was with the band, I had to take the free beer). Switchback doesn't just play music; these guys are great comedians, storytellers and historians. And after you see them play a few shows (and you should) you start to appreciate the little things, like how they can tune their instruments in-between songs while giving you a fascinatingly obscure history lesson about the city in which they are currently playing (yeah, they do their homework). Oh, and did you know that an Englishman wrote the Irish classic Danny Boy? You would if you'd ever been to a Switchback show. With so much material gathered over the years, it was inevitable that we would release a series of live albums. This very first live album contains 12 incredible performances, recorded over an 8 year period in the USA and Canada. We selected these tunes to give you a true flavor of a Switchback concert, with all the energy, enthusiasm and eclecticism (one of Marty's favorite words) that comes from these two guys every time they perform. Switchback LIVE, American Roots and Celtic Soul (Volume 1) is your own personal, hand-crafted Switchback show. Sit back and enjoy (free Guinness not included...sorry)! Bass and vocals: Martin McCormack Guitar and vocals: Brian FitzGerald Percussion: Jim Marshall 1) Wrong You Can Write (written by FitzGerald & McCormack) 2010 - Royal Canadian Legion Branch 054, Haileybury, Ontario, Canada How far away is Haileybury, Ontario, exactly? Let me give you an idea: St Joseph Island is about eight or nine hours from Chicago and the band has played there about a dozen times over the last seven years. Haileybury is another six hours north and east of St Joseph Island. The trip we made for this recording was a treacherous one, with pounding rain and wind for most of the drive. When we got to the Legion we met up with Lee Marshall, a mountain of a man with a voice to match (the voice of Canadian television). He was our host for the show and we also stayed with Lee and his wife Lucy at their beautiful home in Haileybury. I was still setting up the recording equipment when Lee introduced the band and I really wish I had that today, because with Lee's rich, deep voice it turned out to be one of the most impressive Switchback introductions I have ever heard. 2) Banshee Gumbo (written by FitzGerald & McCormack) 2006 - Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey, Michigan, USA Legend has it, this was the first song Marty and Brian ever wrote together. The night this was recorded was the night they dubbed me "The Colonel" (after Colonel Tom Parker of Elvis fame). The guys were getting kicked out of their dressing room so it could be used for a weekly meeting (even though the kitchen was wide open!). I just couldn't believe how the band was being treated and I took the situation in hand to re-secure their dressing room. There were some other issues that had to be dealt with that night and I forever became known as 'The Colonel' (please don't tell anyone). Petoskey percussionist Jim Marshall showed up late to meet the band for the first time with the flu and a raging 100+ degree fever. The sound guy refused to let us mic him. (Jim later passed out from delirium and exhaustion in the front row and was non-responsive when Marty invited him from the stage to return for a few numbers.) To add insult to multiple injuries, at show time we discovered one of the speakers had gone out. On the plus side, the house was packed. On the minus side, only half of them could hear the band! But the crowd loved them after all, and we did raise a lot of money for a church in Petoskey and their needy family fund. 3) Stellar Jay's Wing (written by FitzGerald & McCormack) 2006 - Crooked Tree Arts Center - Petoskey, Michigan, USA This is a great example of Switchback performing a song in progress. Written just a few days before on the back of a McDonald's bag en route from Colorado to Illinois, this love song written by Marty for his girlfriend (now wife) Annie may sound complete in this recording, but it was really just being taken for a spin in it's earliest stages before the audience. 4) Swingin', Rockin', Rollin' (written by FitzGerald & McCormack) 2008 - Black Cat Concerts, Charlevoix, Michigan, USA Just before this song was recorded, Marty and Brian were both giving each other a hard time about what the next song was going to be. I thought it would get a little tense, but it became clear that their sniping was all in good fun. Finally, they decided on "Swingin', Rockin', Rollin'." You can hear the smiles and laughter from their banter spill over into the song. They gave a very tight performance even though Marty and Brian both seemed like they were still sticking it to each other during the entire song. Maybe that added to the energy, and the crowd certainly joined in on the fun. After finishing this song, Marty went off mic to sing "Ave Maria" because an older woman in the front row heard from someone else at the show that he could perform that song, and so she requested it. Right after "Ave Maria," the band launched into another request - the Rolling Stones' 'Paint it Black.' After the second song the woman in the front row looked at her friend and said, 'It's not every day that you hear those two songs in the same show!' It's true, these guys can switch gears and genres faster than most people can change their socks. 5) Connemara Man (written by FitzGerald & McCormack) 2008 - Royal Canadian Legion Branch 374, St Joseph Island, Ontario, Canada This was recorded at the benefit concert for the 49th Regiment troops from the Algoma region that were serving over in Afghanistan. We were running a little late getting up to the border because we had a late night at the last show. All the way through the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan Marty and Brian were practicing the words and music for the Canadian National Anthem. They had prepared a very special version to play along with the slideshow of pictures from the base in Afghanistan. We rolled into the border crossing with the van full of gear and Marty was still singing the anthem. We had a letter with us from the Legion stating that we were coming up to St Joseph Island to perform at a benefit concert for the troops. Border services took one look at the letter and asked us what we were doing. Not trying to be cute, I said, 'The letter says what we are doing.' Well, that was the wrong answer and he asked us to pull over and go into the customs building. We pulled over next to the building and Brian was the first one to get out. An officer shouted, 'Sir, get back in the van!' Brian slinked back into the van and the customs guy asked us what we had in our vehicle. We explained that we were going to St Joe Island to play at a benefit for the troops. He leaned into the van, gave us all a stern look and said, "I didn't ask you what you were doing. I asked you what you had in the van." I tried to show him the letter, but he took one look and said, 'Go inside and take the