foto nouveau- 8.23.2008

[c]2008 doug duffey

life is a cabaret

The response to my last 'one man show' -of ONLY all original material- was such that I will be doing it again at Enoch's, august 29th. I’ll be doing songs from my 2 solo cds [released this year]: cabaret vieux carre and louisiana [click to hear clips- or to download or buy the songs or cds]

I’ve always had a great love of the lyrics and music of Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill and old German cabaret/theatre music -songs with biting social comment and political satire- and... of course, the torchy ballads. I’ve certainly been inspired and influenced by those styles, and often write a lot of theatrical/dramatic material that doesn't really translate to band - but generally only works solo. i dont get the chance to do these too often.

I’ll be doing my original songs- in all their various genres-which tend to make the show come off like New Orleans meets Berlin [where i worked quite a while]- but that's not a bad thing!

a friend once sent me a card which read, "Life is NOT a cabaret... it's a f---ing circus!"

[c]2008 doug duffey

enoch's- july 12, 2008

i'll be doing my SOLO thang at enoch's tonight- July 12, 2008... the last time i played there was WILD [the fotos are from that night] ... hopefully this time will be, too. last time people danced the whole last set- which became one very long medley of soul stuff... and craziness! i'll be doing my mix of originals, louisiana/new orleans music, memphis soul, delta blues... and whatever comes into my head! come on down! it usually gets kinda rowdy when i play!

fotos courtesy of molly pealer
[c]2008 doug duffey

post gig fotos- switzerland

above:blurry dd onstage 5.2008


left to right; kelvin bullen [guitar]; hani ali [drums]; doug duffey [vocal/piano]; sebi niessner [bass]

[c]2008 doug duffey

shots from switzerland- may 2008

michael rasbury and DD at the zurich airport- may 15th, 2008. the sessions were over and michael was headed back to the states.

hani and sebi - shot at the MIA- switzerland- may 2008

kelvin at the MIA - switzerland- may 2008

[c]2008 doug duffey

shots from MIA 2 [may 22, 2008]

below: kelvin and hanisebi, lotti and mirjam shots of the set up yesterday... of and from the stage

below: stage crew: andre' and adrian

[c]2008 doug duffey

shots from the mia

some shots from the mia where we have been performing this week. below:

1. entrance
2. inside where we're performing
   
3. boris and friends
4. dd with friends from Biel
   

[c] 2008 doug duffey[c]2008 doug duffey

from solothurner zeitung

an announcemnt in the solothurner zeitung- from friend silvia rietz- that i am appearing at the MIA

[c]2008 doug duffey

switzerland -may 20-2008

[c]2008 doug duffey

shots from the MIA

(Foto:Paul-Georg Meister)

a shot of me and Sebi - live at the MIA Expo in Grenchen, Switzerland- May 17th, 2008.

and a shot of Hani, which i shot during sound check.
this is from the trio gig

to read the press about the show [in German] click here

[c]2008 doug duffey

the tracks are done!

the tracks are done! we recorded 14 songs in about 3+ days... we did everything LIVE including the vocals and solos, etc. we did NO instrument overdubs at all except for adding some tambourine, here and there.
now, we are cleaning up and editing some things... but all in all "what you see/hear is what you get" ... the band playing as the band!



[c]2008 doug duffey

more session fotos

the BLUES sessions are on! we've been knocking the stuff out and have gotten some great stuff. we've gotten maybe 9 cuts in 4 days time- and are hoping to get about 4 or five more in the next 3 days, then quit - choose maybe 12 tunes-and then begin getting some rough mixes. Michael flies back to Virginia, and will do the mixing and mastering there. i'll be posting some snippets of raw video- on youtube and myspace- from the sessions.

sebi and kelvin

michael and jacqueline

hani

michael

sebi

doug

sebi and kelvin

[c]2008 doug duffey

shots from the sessions

we arrived in zurich may 6 and decided [rather than waste a day on jet lag] to begin the set up and the recordings. we've recorded every day this week, except today; but Michael has done some rough mixes and fixes. we begin again tomorrow, and go until may 14th.
these are some shots from set up May 6, 2008 before we began recording...
from top to bottom:
kelvin bullen:guitar
hani ali: drums
sebi niessner: bass
michael rasbury: engineer extraordinaire and mix master supreme
[c]2008 doug duffey

new blues you can use

I’ve been working every chance I could get on new blues songs for the upcoming cd. I’ve written 13 new songs in the past 2 weeks… and think I am done! I think I wrote some good stuff. When writing, I went way back in the day; way old school; way back to the roots… and my musical roots. I’m going for a Howlin” Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed feel and sound. Believe it or not, those were the artists my parents partied to when I was little; when they had “house parties” [literally] back in the 1950s.

I wrote a few boogie type songs just because I like them, but don’t normally do them… boogie [not boogie-woogie] is more of a guitar thing; not a piano thing.

I’ve written and recorded everything- made rough demos- and uploaded the material to the band. As soon as I get to Switzerland we will start rehearsing this new material, jamming it out, and begin recording it. We’ll be done with the recordings by May 15^th, but Michael will be mixing and mastering everything in Virginia.

I’m hoping the final product will be ready this summer. Stay tuned!

[c]2008 doug duffey

new blues cd in the works

Voila! a "doug duffey international soul band" BLUES cd is in the works. we've been performing together for several years and it is time to do a cd! time to "kick it up a notch!"
i'm currently going through my archives of original blues music and writing some new songs for the cd. i might even throw in one or two public domain/traditional songs.
we'll begin recording in Switzerland in May with Michael Rasbury at the helm. Michael recorded, mixed and mastered "Changin Times"*. I'm going to use the same M.O. as I did for CT*- setting up in a big room, recording LIVE [as opposed to going into a studio] which will give us more freedom; we can come and go as we like, record when we like, etc.
i just saw a great VH1 'classic album' show on "The Band", who recorded the same way in the 60s/70s... which [along with past experience] only reinforced my vision that this is the way to go. we also plan to video/document a lot of the sessions.
i've also been watching some incredible videos of Howlin Wolf on youtube, recorded live in what looks like a bar- which has the feel i want: relaxed, laid back...REAL.
as of yet there is no working title... but... i will add more info as i know it.
[c]2008 doug duffey

death and taxes

they say there are only 2 sure things in life: death and taxes. i am dealing with the latter and not liking it, as usual.


[c]2008 doug duffey

nouveau fotos

writing in my journal- new orleans - march 9, 2008

lunch at middendorf's- manchac, louisiana- march 9, 2008
[with venetian blind stripes across my face]

self portrait- polaroid-w/new summer hair crop- louisiana march 2008

[c]2008 doug duffey

2 NEW SONGS ADDED ON MYSPACE

i added 2 new "live" unedited [but shortened] song clips on myspace today. they were recorded during my recent december 2007- february 2008- swiss tour... check 'em out!

[c]2008 doug duffey

old dates deleted

today i deleted all older gigs from the venues page- so 2008 dates will be added to the website as they come in. i changed out most photos on the website, replacing them with ones i made w/my keychain digital camera, here in switzerland; but plan to renovate the site when i get home.

we've [the band] recorded several gigs this tour, and have a few more gigs to do/record- then everything will be checked, edited, and possibly a new LIVE "international soul band" cd or ep will be forthcoming from the tour.

[c]2008 doug duffey

back in black

after a few weeks with "la grippe suisse" [the swiss flu] i am finally beginning to feel like i'm getting back to normal. we have 2 one-nighters this week-end
[c]2008 doug duffey

DD- switzerland 1.24.08

experiments with my zippo sized visionquest key chain digital camera.

[c]2008 doug duffey

blue note- biel- 01.18.2008

some shots from the blue note- sound check-

DD- backstage- fingers taped before the show

kelvin during soundcheck

sebi backstage

hani arriving for sound check

kiki [sound/lights] and kelvin during sound check

[c]2008 doug duffey

blau/bleu

self portrait shot by the tv light 1.22.2008
[c]2008 doug duffey

new cds ready!

the new solo cds are ready and available from cdbaby- and already selling! click here to see my cdbaby page.

i'm happy these cds are finally released. i should have released them years ago. i've been inspired by all the positive response i've been getting from my solo videos on youtube- which get the most hits of all my videos. it's been an eye opening experience! i am preparing to make more solo cds and videos in the near future- possibly even a solo dvd.

thanks to everyone who encouraged me to release the solo sessions!
[c]2008 doug duffey

greetings from zermatt

we're back at "the pink" for 7 nights- zermatt, switzerland- as we usually are in january. this trip is different because the hotel [which had an old european feel to it] has been totally renovated and modernized [i preferred the several hundred year old funky version] ... but, life is change, n'est pas? we rock on, anyway...

portrait- switzerland january 2, 2008

[c]2007 doug duffey