Piece of Cake Tour

The Dates:

June-July 2010

The Boys:

Charlie

Speedy

Dave

Markus

The Gigs:

Victoria Institute
Arundel UK

The Gribble
Oving UK

The Black Horse
Amberley UK

Angelsey Arms
Halnaker UK

The Beresford
Middleton on Sea UK

Inglenook Hotel
Pagham UK

Private Party
St Gingolph F

Restaurant du Lac
Vallamand CH

Hotel Kreuz
Unteraegeri CH

Classic Quote:

Markus: "The first time I've come home from a tour feeling more relaxed than when I left!"

Best Meals of the Tour:

The Inglenook gave us a proper English roast, with Yorkshires, roasties, swede...the full monty. On the Swiss leg, the filet de perche at the Restaurant du Lac takes the prize.

Most Colorful Landlord:

Paul at the Beresford, who regaled us with stories of his flight from Bognor Pier with a fireplace strapped to his back.

The Ladies:

Denise and Sarah

Nelly

Playin on the Beach, the new CD from the Charlie Morris Band

Click to order Live in Fribourg, DVD/CD set from the Charlie Morris Band. Recorded live in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Click to listen to Ten Tall Tales from the Charlie Morris Band.

Click to order Still got 'em, from Charlie Morris.

Click to learn more about Bluer Than Thou, Charlie Morris's first CD on BluesPages

the Charlie Morris Band enjoying a day out at the English seaside

A Piece of Cake

Well, we finally learned our lesson. After years of racing from one end of Britain to the other, squandering thousands of quid on hotels and gas, this time we decided to make our base in the lovely seaside town of Chichester, and do shows around the South Coast from there. The result was the Piece of Cake Tour.

CMB having a bit of a grill-up at the seaside

CMB having a ramble through the countryside

We had a splendid time riding around in Dave's VW camper van, and dining on Sarah's excellent cooking. We enjoyed a brilliant day at the seaside, a smashing ramble through the verdant English countryside...oh, and we did do some gigs as well.

Charlie Morris Band on stage in Arundel UK

At the Victoria Institute in Arundel, we had a packed house, and a lively one at that. Dancing and shouting and making witty comments they were (and it's a good thing someone was).

Charlie Morris Band on stage in Oving UK

At the Gribble Inn in Oving, we played on a lovely stage in the garden. This is a beautiful old pub, with Olde English real ales and all that is proper.

Charlie Morris Band on stage at the Angelsey Arms

At the Angelsey Arms we also played in the garden, and enjoyed gourmet fare. Warm days and deliciously cool nights, quite a contrast from hot and muggy Florida.

CMB at the Amberley Folk Club with Jonny Wigg

Amberley is a quaint village of thatched cottages and lovingly-tended rose gardens, with BMWs and Bentleys parked out front. Host Jonny Wigg played a bit of fiddle with us on a couple of Cajun tunes.

Charlie Morris with Bill Footman, aka English Willie

We had a great crowd at the Beresford Arms, another classic English pub. We also caught up with some old friends, including Bill Footman (who played drums with us on part of the Gator n Chips tour and the resulting CD).

The last show of the UK leg was at the Inglenook Hotel in Pagham, near Bognor Regis. It's a lovely hotel, and they treated us great, with a full-on English roast that everyone voted the Best Meal of the Tour.

After the gigs, Chuck and the Tigress took a trip to the coast of Devon, from which I simply must show you this one panorama.

Charlie Morris with Christian Schenker in the studio

Next was a nice easy hop across the Channel to Switzerland. Charlie met up with Christian Schenker at a studio in Bern, and recorded a track for his new CD. The Tennessee Gator added some Can't Stop Cleanin-style country chicken pickin to Christian's song about a hyperactive kid (I had a bouncing ball for lunch and a sack full of fleas for dessert).

We returned to the petit village of St Gingolph, over on the French side of Lake Geneva, to play a private party. Did a little swimming (that's Markus out there), a lot of eating and drinking, and played until le flics shut us down.

At the Restaurant du Lac in Vallamand, we had an excellent stage outside by the lake, a full patio of diners and merrymakers, and yet another evening of beautiful weather. These long cool summer evenings are a pleasure finer than any wine, cheese or even coffee. Of course, we had plenty of that stuff too, including an excellent filet de perche, certainly the best dish on the Swiss leg of the tour. Ivan Rougny filled in on bass for the Swiss leg of the tour, and did a great job.

Charlie Morris Band on stage with Jan Hartmann

The tour wound up on a fantastic note, at a concert for Music Friends in a lovely little village near Zug. Lovely stage, great people, splendid hotel. Jan Hartmann, a very fine harp player from Zurich, got up for a tune and ended up playing with us most of the night.

Another wonderful tour - lots of great music, lots of fun times with friends old and new. How lucky can one man be? The next Swiss tour will take place in February and March 2011.