Hi Friends~ I know I've been saying this for a while now, but we *finally* have new Sarah Swanson Band videos ready to upload to our YouTube channel (SarahSwansonMusic)! We hope to get these live by next week at the latest. They are mostly live footage of the band from this summer's shows so if you missed us then you will have the chance to see us soon. Some of the videos are kind of funny stuff! You never really know what you're going to get when you have a video camera rollin' along while you're doing a show! Can't wait to share these with you though, and I hope you'll click our HOMEPAGE YouTube widget which will take you directly to our newly updated video site!
In other news, Patrick and I just returned from a fantastic music journey which led us down to Macon, GA where for the first time we visited The Big House, the gigantic Southern home that The Allman Brothers and their families lived in together in the early 1970s. I shook from the moment we walked in until the moment we drove out of Macon nearly eight hours later. The treasures in that house are irreplacable, the vibe incredible.
We were fortunate enough to come upon two fantastic guides at The Big House~ Rex and Richard, who showed us some special footage of the band and took us on a personalized tour of iconic places in Macon. Visiting Duane Allman and Berry Oakley's final resting place was haunting and emotional. Both left us so young, both just 24 years old, and yet accomplished so much in their short lives.
We ended the day at the famous Grant's Lounge where so many musicians, known and unknown, have done their thing. Hanging out there with the exceptionally bartender NoMad was the perfect ending to a perfect day. From there we traveled around more with a short stop in Nashville's newly updated Musicians Hall of Fame. There is some cool stuff there to see if you are music nerds like we are!
Finally we ended our trip with an as always mindblowing Blackberry Smoke concert at Joe's on Weed St (perfect name!) in Chicago where they played an exceptional version of the song Whippoorwill during their encore. All of these exhilerating experiences renewed our faith in the gift and journey of making music. We returned home invigorated, excited, and motivated to move our own dreams forward. We don't do many covers, but we happen to do one Allman Bros song (Midnight Rider) and one Blackberry Smoke song (Ain't Much Left To Me). I wonder if those bands understand how much what they do, even during their own days of struggle, has forever changed our world of rock & roll music.
Please keep checking in with us from time to time. We appreciate every drop of support, and we love you much~ sarah