Greetings from Berlin, where winter is melting into spring. Last week I wrapped up a fantastic three-week tour of Czech Republic touring alongside Jan from the awesome folk outfit, Zambosi. We played a lot of concerts and drank a lot of Slivovice.

We were even featured on a local TV station.

Speaking of TV. Here’s a recent feature from Poland from my tour in February with Myrra Ros. They caught me without my hat!

Tonight I head off to Iceland for four weeks where I’ll begin recording my next album. I have ten new songs and the working title is ‘Shelter’. I’m very very excited with the new material and can’t wait to start tracking, and involving some local friends along the way. For those of you curious in what the new songs are sounding like, here’s a video demo of a brand new song called ‘Happiness is a Sad Song’ which I wrote and recorded in Ostrava, Czech Republic, a week or two ago.

How will this album be different from ‘Go with River? Well, I can tell already that the next album has a lot more ‘fire’, elementally speaking.

Folk on!

Pete

Thought I’d share recent live video recorded at a concert in a Synagogue in Breclav… Enjoy!

You can also find further links to photos and updates (I’m keeping a daily coffee diary) on my Facebook page which you can find at www.facebook.com/owlsoftheswamp

More updates coming soon,

Folk on!

Pete

Greetings from Reykjavik, where I’m having a short time-off after last month’s epic tour of Poland. Really can’t wait to head to Czech Republic in March for the next one where I’ll be supporting the super talented Jan Žamboch from the band Žamboši.

6.3.     19:00    Brno, Café Práh
7.3.      19:00    Praha, Potrvá
8.3.     19:30    Ceské Budejovice, Horká vana
9.3.     19:00    Slavonice, Sál muzea
10.3.   19:30    Breclav, Synagoga
11.3.    20:00    Veselí nad Moravou, Foyer kina Morava
12.3.    20:00    Olomouc, Puda
13.3.    19:00    Zlín, Zelenácova šopa
14.3.     19:00    Vsetín, KIC
16.3.    20:00    Bystrice nad Olší, WINDHOLZ Cafe Gallery
17.3.    20:00    Jeseník, Plíživá kontra
18.3.    19:00    Orlová, Futra
19.3.    20:00    Ostrava, Parník
20.3.    20:00    Opava, Jazz café club Evžen
21.3.    20:00    Hradec Králové, Klub c.p.4
22.3.    20:00    Praha, Café V lese

Hope to see you there!

Folk on, Pete.

I’m happy to announce that beginning from the end of January I’ll be touring for two weeks throughout Poland supporting the amazing Myrra Ros. We’ll also be joined along the way by my good friend Phia.

Dates below! Or check this Website.

31.01 Gdynia – Klub Muzyczny UCHO (goscinnie Owls of the Swamp)
01.02 Torun – FRANTIC (goscinnie Owls of the Swamp)
03.02 Bydgoszcz – MÓZG (goscinnie Owls of the Swamp)
04.02 Wroclaw – FALANSTER (goscinnie Owls of the Swamp)
07.02 Lublin – Przestrzen Inicjatyw Twórczych TEKTURA (go?cinnie PHIA & Owls of the Swamp)
08.02 Lódz – Owoce i Warzywa (goscinnie Phia & Owls of the Swamp)
09.02 Warszawa – Sen Pszczoly (goscinnie Phia & Owls of the Swamp)
10.02 Kraków – Kolanko No 6 (goscinnie Phia & Owls of the Swamp)
12.02 Oswiecim – Klub Uklad (goscinnie Phia & Owls of the Swamp)
14.02 Chorzów – Lesniczówka (goscinnie Phia & Owls of the Swamp)
16.02 Szczecin – Klub Studencki Szafa (goscinnie Phia & Owls of the Swamp)

I’d also like to share with you some videos from late last year. One from the last Melodica Festival in Hamburg and one from Balcony TV (Hamburg). Enjoy…

folk on!

Melodica is a beautiful folk festival I helped establish a few years ago in Australia, which has grown worldwide and now covers 9 cities in 6 countries. The focus is on building community between songwriters on a local and international scale, by showcasing a variety of artists over a weekend in an intimate setting.

There will be many amazing artists performing at this next edition from many different countries. It really is something special to be experienced!

Check out the details at www.melodicafestival.org

I have a brand new recording I’d like to share. It’s called ‘Water Song’ and was written for the Viva con Aqua Wassertage 2011 campaign. Viva con Agua are a Hamburg based water charity, and do wonderful work campaigning for clean drinking water worldwide. It was a challenge and a pleasure to write a song specifically about water in support of this initiative. I’m happy with the result and to share it with the wider world.

Water Song by Owls of the Swamp

Here’s a little more about the story of the song:

‘Water Song’ was written by Australian troubadour Pete Uhlenbruch (aka Owls of the Swamp), and founder of the international Melodica Festival, specifically for the 2011 Viva con Agua Wassertage Campaign. The song was written and recorded ‘on the road’ in living rooms and kitchens during a three-week tour of Germany in September 2011 and features guest performances from fellow ‘International Troubadour Conspiracy’ troubdaours Torben Stock (GER), Kid Decker (UK) and Maik W. Garthe (GER). ‘Water Song’ is a gentle folk song reflecting on the many different qualities and personalities of the water element.

there are a few minor changes to the album release tour in denmark and germany with torben stock… the changed details are highlighted below

also check out new tour videos from the fine people at no rational product!

Melodica Photobooth Session // Owls of the Swamp from No Rational Product on Vimeo.

Tour Diary // Part 1: BalconyTV from No Rational Product on Vimeo.

Tour dates: Updated

03.09. Hamburg // Balcony TV // www.balconytv.de
04.09. Boltenhagen // Villa Seebach // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
05.09. Tarnewitz // Radlerhotel Hotel Tarnewitzer Hof // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
06.09. Stellshagen // Gutshaus Stellshagen // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
07.09. Wismar // Galerie auf Zeit // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
08.09. Bremen // Couch Club Urlaub // www.kunstdiewelt.de // + lùisa
10.09. Århus, DK // Fair Bar // “Melodica Night” // + Maria Manuela (DK)
11.09. Kopenhagen, DK // tba
12.09. Hamburg // Pony Bar // + friends
13.09. Berlin // Intersoup // + Phia (AUS)
14.09. Berlin // Hubertuslounge // + Mari Mana
15.09. Frankenberg // Klimperkiste // + Maik W. Garthe
16.09. Rehbach, Edersee // Fischerhütte // + Maik W. Garthe
17.09. Magdeburg // tba
18.09. Halle // tba
19.09. Düsseldorf // Brause // + Honig
20.09. Köln // Rubin Rot // + Hello Piedpiper
21.09. Leipzig // Wärmehalle Süd
24.09. Hamburg // Kulturhaus 73 // Salonkonzert: “Baby, I grew you a beard”
25.09. Hamburg // Stage Club // “Hamburg Projekt” // 11 Uhr (!)
26.09. Hamburg // Astra Stube // Someday Jacob Support

folk on, pete

I’ll be touring this September with fellow label-mate Torben Stock. It’s going to be a lot of fun! Dates below… Will update the final details as they come to hand

03.09. Hamburg // Balcony TV // www.balconytv.de
04.09. Boltenhagen // Villa Seebach // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
05.09. Tarnewitz // Radlerhotel Hotel Tarnewitzer Hof // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
06.09. Stellshagen // Gutshaus Stellshagen // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
07.09. Wismar // Galerie auf Zeit // + Thomas Kunz & Neil Huggett
08.09. Bremen // Couch Club Urlaub // www.kunstdiewelt.de // + lùisa
10.09. Århus, DK // Fair Bar // “Melodica Night” // + Maria Manuela (DK)
11.09. Kopenhagen, DK // Huset I Magstræde // + Halla Nör?fjö? (IS)
12.09. Hamburg // Pony Bar
13.09. Berlin // Intersoup // + Phia (AUS)
14.09. Berlin // Le Johann Rose (tbc) // + Mari Mana
15.09. Frankenberg // Klimperkiste // + Maik W. Garthe
16.09. Edersee // tba // + Maik W. Garthe
17.09. Magdeburg // tba
18.09. Halle // tba
19.09. Düsseldorf // Brause // + Honig
20.09. Köln // Rubin Rot
21.09. Leipzig // Wärmehalle Süd
24.09. Hamburg // Kulturhaus 73 // Salonkonzert: “Baby, I grew you a beard”
25.09. Hamburg // Stage Club // “Hamburg Projekt” // 11 Uhr (!)
26.09. Hamburg // Astra Stube // Someday Jacob Support

folk on, pete

Reporting now from Berlin, where I have a few quiet days between tours. This Tuesday evening I’ll be headed back to the land of fire and ice for a series of shows around the country culminating in another edition of Melodica in Reykjavik.

Looking forward to seeing old friends, making new ones and having a few geothermal hot tubs along the way…

For dates see below and the tour poster…

August 17th. Reykjavik – Café Rosenberg – Melodica warm up concert!
August 26th. Reykjavik – 12 Tonar Record Store
August 26th.-28th. Reykjavk – Melodica Festival

folk on, pete

And a warm greeting from a mild and rainy Berlin. I’m happy to announce some tour dates in the UK for next week. I’ll be touring with fellow friends from Labelship Records, Astrid’s Farm (UK) and Kid Decker (Germany), both fantastic artists.

Friday August 05: London “The White Lion” (Streatham)
Saturday August 06: Swindon “The Castle”
Monday August 08: Bristol “Mr Wolfs”
Tuesday August 09: Sheffield “The Red House”

It’s been a great time overseas so far. Had a nice show at TAB in Singapore a week ago.

Will be updating more adventures soon,

Folk on, Pete