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SWITCHBACK NEWS                                                JULY 2018
THE BEGUM OF BENGAL
by Martin McCormack
sailing ship
Dear Switchback Friends,

July 16 is my birthday. I happen to turn 55. For my birthday, my mother-in-law gave me an Ancestry.com DNA kit and the results came in. I am 53% Irish, Scottish, Welsh, 31% from Great Britain (meaning there may be some English, but again Irish, Scottish, Welsh) and 13% Iberian Peninsula, which takes in France, Spain and Portugal. This is not too surprising as most Irish descend from the Milesians (or the son of Mil) from the Iberian Peninsula. However in there is my French. French-Canadian to be exact. So, it is doubly accurate.

The biggest kick is the "low confidence regions" which are 1% each of Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Southern Europe. My Austrian forebears must be rolling in their collective graves as they have been bred out by the Irish. But that 1% Viking! Low confidence, indeed.

For the most part, I am a Celt. Which is fine by me. My daughter Áine will have so much more fun with her DNA than myself due to her Asian lineage. And according to Ancestry, I am related to my brother Peter, which completely kills the hope that he was an aberration in our family.

So, here I am, 55. And I struggle as I reflect on the successes and the failures that so far have been part of this life...

Please read the rest of the story on the  Switchback Blog .
costa rica
$300 off Costa Rica Tour until July 30!
February 9-15, 2019

We are now offering  $300 off to the next 13 people who sign up for Costa Rica 2019, and the rate now includes airfare! This offer will be  available until July 30 . G rab your spot on your next dream vacation while you still can! 

"A big thank you to Marty and Brian for a great trip to Costa Rica. From the walks across the suspended bridges in the Cloud Forest at Monte Verde, the beautiful drive through the Costa Rican countryside, the stop at the incredible crocodile bridge, the all-inclusive resort, the sunset cruise and swimming...I could keep going!" ~  Linda Witcombe

Please contact Jeanne Orenstein  
FitzGeralds
SWITCHBACK'S ONLY 
CHICAGO AREA APPEARANCE!
August 24 - 8pm at FitzGerald's

Switchback returns to FitzGerald's in Berwyn, Illinois! 8pm on Friday, August 24. Duo in the first set, quartet in the second set. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. 6615 Roosevelt Rd, Berwyn, IL. (708) 788-2118. GET TICKETS HERE.
Switchback in Ireland
STILL TWO SEATS LEFT!
KINSALE, IRELAND
November 4-11

We need just two more people to sign up for our next Ireland trip. Come on, you know you've been on the fence, now it's time to take the next step and contact Jeanne Orenstein at Celtic Tours! 
Kanoka
DOUG NEEDLES SWITCHBACK
By Doug Kamholz

[Our friends Martin and Brian have asked me drop the old phonograph needle on some of their tunes, perhaps some lesser known, and report back to everyone.]

When an album opens with a full 90 seconds of freight train clack-clacking down the tracks, you know it wants to take you somewhere far away.

And then, when that train picks up Lloyd Maines' pedal steel and Howard Levy's mouthharp, you sense it's someplace deep and a little complex.

That is how Switchback kicks off their 2013 Kanoka. Then they go winding west across northern plains to eastern Wyoming. Out there, off a highway, Van Tassel is an almost-gone town that lends its name minus one "l" to a song. I'm quick to confess my youthful stompin' grounds in northern Illinois were mighty close to that same highway. Its infinite lane-lines framed black-tarred concrete and beckoned me to the road. Now here's the first line of "Van Tassel:" "Highway 20 stretches out like a beggar's hand."

Back before that lyric, Levy's harmonica blows up a rich cloud of dust. When Maines and Brian FitzGerald pick the first guitar notes, they sound like welcome raindrops plunking down in dry July. On "Van Tassel" and other Kanoka cuts, Martin McCormack mixes his singing with something closer to a cowboy poet recounting loose herds and lost loves. Also on this song Martin harmonizes with himself for verses that ride under thunderheads and over sagebrush.

Van Tassel is down to near-ghost-town. But at its peak a hundred years ago it had a hotel with 16 rooms, enough for every current village citizen to have his or her own. Around 1910 it had a two hardware stores, two drug stores, a doctor and a dentist. The times they were always a-changin'.

"Van Tassel" and all of Kanoka trace contours of our land rising and falling, keenly aware those same contours map our hearts. Ron Pen, director of the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music at the University of Kentucky closed his liner notes for this Switchback album by saying, "Kanoka is more than Americana . . it is the sound of America itself."

Let 'em take you there.

(Doug Kamholz is an itinerant washboard player who has freelanced for the New York Times, Washington Post and many lesser media. His most honest work was as a pig farmer in Central Illinois, where he now lives and occasionally makes dinner for Switchback.)
logos
REVERBNATION CHOOSES SWITCHBACK FOR TWO GREAT OPPORTUNITIES

We received great back-to-back news!  Switchback has been chosen for two excellent opportunities by ReverbNation. The first one will be a featured artist spot on Chicago Music Guide.  The second will be a month-long radio promotion on Skope Radio.  It is always a rewarding feeling when our music is recognized within the industry!
switchback cattle logo
A NEW LOGO FOR AN OLD PHRASE

Wondering what is up with the buffalo skull with the thing on its forehead? Well, it is the symbolic representation of "American Roots, Celtic Soul." 

"When I was in Wyoming, I met an artist who was carving buffalo skulls with beautiful, intricate details of flowers," says Marty. "The artist had dental drills of various sizes and transformed something that was already beautiful in my opinion into another level of art. I thought that a Celtic knot on the most symbolic of American creatures, the bison, would easily represent what Switchback is all about. And like the artists work, the symbol would together represent something more complex and more beautiful. I prefer it to the phrase in many ways because all sorts of people can relate with the symbol regardless of where they are from. And I hope over time, it can be something that will not even need the word 'Switchback' with it, but just be something people will recognize as the band."
Tour reunion
SWITCHBACK TOUR REUNION PARTIES!

Glennis Nunn and Alsie Fitzgerald pose with the boys during the tour reunion party that took place last month. Reunion parties were held in Columbus, OH and Des Moines, IA. The next reunion is taking place at FitzGerald's in Berwyn, IL on August 24 and at the Michigan Irish Music Festival on September 14-15 in Muskegon, MI. 
Switchback shows
UPCOMING SHOWS & EVENTS

July 16
Illinois State University Concert on the Quad
Bloomington, IL

July 25
Guitar and Ensemble Institute
Milford, OH

August 24
FitzGerald's Nightclub
The only Chicago appearance in 2018!
Berwyn, IL

August 25-26
Peoria Irish Fest - Erin Feis
Peoria, IL

September 1
Rand Park Pavilion
Keokuk, IA

September 5
Arts Midwest Conference
Indianapolis, IN

September 8
Trueblood Performing Arts Center
Washington Island, WI

September 14-15
Michigan Irish Music Festival
Muskegon, MI

September 16
Art Blitz Festival of the Arts
Valparaiso, IN
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