Bringing Kentucky music abroad ... Louisville's Switzerland connection!

a cemetery Einsiedeln where i will go ancestor-chasing!

SWITZERLAND! Who has been there? I'm playing the Einsiedeln Musik Festival on August 3rd, which is crazy-cool and crazy-exciting for various historical and nerdy and travelicious reasons. 

Louisville, in particular, you should care about this because I have, for the past 10 years, been following my heart and mind and doing my very best to bring Kentucky music to other countries ... and Switzerland has a direct connection to Kentucky (and not just that we both tend to be neutral during wars).

My biggest passions in my career are: Kentucky music (OBVIOUSLY) and Cultural Exchange. If I had a zillion dollars, I would pay for Kentucky artists to travel and bring their music to every country on the planet (and I would go with them and be their backup band because TRAVEL is the other passion!). As it is, I just work my butt off to pay for my own travel and occasionally pay for other artists to accompany me as I bring my own brand of Kentucky music to the rest of the world.

Einsiedeln, Switzerland, is filled with people with last names such as Bisig, Zehnder, Ehrler, Fuchs, Guetig, Oeschli ..... and Kaelin. Starting in the 1800s, thousands of people from this small town emigrated to Louisville, Kentucky, and so many of them (as you may infer from the names) started companies, farms, and more, particularly in Louisville's Germantown neighborhood. Most of us -- the descendants of these immigrants -- have lost touch with that history. An author from Einsiedeln (and me!!) wants to change that.

Bringing part of my band to this music festival is an absolute dream! I wish I could afford to fly Steve Cooley over as well (anyone out there have any extra points or $2000?), but hey ... maybe next year? My wheels are spinning with ideas, projects, and more ways to bridge this temporal and cultural gap and forge real connections to our past and our culture.

Ooooooooh I get chills when I think about it! The writer of the book knows a lot of about my ancestors and distant cousins ... and I get to go grave-chasing and cousin-meeting and already have plans to get together with venue-owners about working on more Kentucky music projects.

In the mean time, who has Switzerland or Austria tips?!?! 

In honor of my anniversary and my 40th birthday, we are also making this trip a vacation ... and leaving the babies behind with au pairs and grandparents galore. We are definitely hitting Zurich, Einsiedeln, Salzburg, and Vienna. If you have tips (aside from telling me that it's expensive), please share! Or if you have amazing photos, please share those too. I'm one of those weirdos who loves food photos and travel photos more than cat videos. Except the cats and cucumbers one -- that one is hilarious. 

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