i made it back safely on Friday and spent the weekend in Atlanta with family. haven't had internet access since last wednesday. i'll have a few new Flickr slideshows shortly. lots of pictures to share. all in all, it was a fantastic trip. i made many new friends. thanks for your prayers and support.
more to follow...
We played a major concert in the downtown area of Volgograd. This is a bustling section of the city frequented by youth and young married people. no pictures this time. we turned our flash cards in where we'll get a full CD back with everyone's pictures on it. more to follow tomorrow with pics.
we had about 500 people stop and listen to our concert. they all clapped and were very appreciative. afterwards kids and adults stopped by to ask us questions. we have several great interpreters who help us with translations. much excitement.
all for now. tomorrow (Tuesday) is a free day and we will do some sightseeing and shopping. Wednesday we leave for moscow where we rehearse and then do the big concert on Thursday night.
peace...
This is the first place we visited just outside of Volgograd. We played at this tent and taught some of the neighborhood kids. They were running and playing out in the area. This was the last day of school so it was a fun day.
We had a fantastic dinner at a church pastored by Nikolai. My other friend Vitaly was helping us with English translation. This all happened Friday. See some more of the pictures HERE.
We landed safely in Moscow today at 9:30 Moscow time. it was a 10 hour flight which took us up the east coast, through nova scotia, across iceland, through finland, and then into Moscow. Since we were so far north, the sun never really set.
sunset over goose bay, canada
me and camp at the moscow airport
a little slice of americana
church just outside moscow ariport
the team after gathering luggage at Volgograd airport
Tomorrow we are off to do a a visit to a school where we'll teach lessons. Then we'll perform at a concert later in the day. The 9 hour time change is tough to get used to, but one good night sleep will be good.
We depart Atlanta Wednesday afternoon. Thursday AM we land at Moscow and switch planes for the next stop in Volgograd. It's about 500 miles from Moscow. We'll spend the next 7 days in Volgograd. Volgograd was a key city in the defense of Russia against Hitler and the Nazi invasion.
Here is a map of Russia showing Volgograd.
And a map of the city itself.
This is The Motherland Calls statue
This is my first big overseas trip. Packing lightly for musicians, especially those with amps and other gear, is challenging when you have to bring it yourself. My friend Adam Nitti is letting me borrow his ATA flight case custom made for basses. The following series of pictures shows how my bass is packed for the long journey.
First you start with the bass which is packed in a soft case gig bag...
Then you get the one half of the flight case on one end...
And the other half at the other end...
Then you insert the gig bag into the long end...
Put the cover on and fasten the latches...
It has roller blade wheels which makes me very happy.
Tomorrow is the big day. Leaving Franklin, TN at 7am and driving to Atlanta. Direct 10 hr Delta flight in the afternoon. Land in Moscow then head to Volgograd later in the day Thursday.
There has been a flurry of activity over the weekend as I've been preparing for my trip to Moscow and then Volgograd. I'll be traveling with a musical entourage of approximately 300 orchestra and choir members from across the US. The weather is supposed to be nice, but just in case we run into a Russian winter, I spent some time in Colorado recently and caught this picture in the mountains. I thought it would be good to get around some snow before heading over. This was at nearly 12,500 feet.