What's Up December?

The final days of the year with a hot cup of tea and a fireplace

Dec 02, 2024

Saturday, December 14th 2024 - Christmas Special at Schwyzerhof Bar in Küssnacht a. R. / Switzerland (duo with Urs Stucki - saxophone)
Thursday, December 19th 2024 - Hotel Schweizerhof Bar in Zürich / Switzerland (trio)
Wednesday, December 25th 2024 - Weihnachtsapéro at Hotel Schloss Ragaz in Bad Ragaz / Switzerland (solo)
Friday, December 27th 2024 - Hotel Schloss Ragaz in Bad Ragaz / Switzerland (trio)
Wednesday, January 1st 2025 - Neujahrsbrunch at Giessen Hotel & Coffeehouse in Vaduz / Liechtenstein (solo)
Wednesday, January 1st 2025 - Neujahrsapéro at Hotel Schloss Ragaz in Bad Ragaz / Switzerland (solo)
Wednesday, January 5th 2025 - Sonntagsbrunch at Giessen Hotel & Coffeehouse in Vaduz / Liechtenstein (solo)

There’s more #livemusic to come, so check frequently for further details on my website kurtackermann.com.

Outdoors gigs are officially a challenge

Playing outdoors during the summer season was literally a breeze. But in the last few weeks I performed at two post-harvest events where the farmer contacts an association - ackerschaft.li - that saves tons of vegetables from the field after the farmer is done with his machines. When you pick by hand you can fill your fridge with delicious produce for free. I played at the field here in Liechtenstein and about one hundred people showed up to dig up about 750kg of carrots. Enjoy your meal!

I was in charge of establishing the mood for all the people helping to save bags of carrots. There were families with little kids, senior citizens and other vegetable-loving friends singing and dancing.

It reminded me of the weekend back in 1990s when I played with my friend in London and we almost froze our asses off just to prove that we at least once in our live time performed on the streets of London - check.

My fingers could tell other stories from Christmas events like when I played with my trio at the skiing resort in Liechtenstein. Although we performed in a tent, which was half-open and heated by what looked like a gas turbine while the snow fell intensely 45º right up to our tiny stage, I could barely feel my fingers anymore. The problem was how to position yourself in front of that heater. Standing too close and you could lose more than just an eyebrow. Standing just a step left or right of it, you would doubt your senses because you could see the heat but wouldn’t feel a thing.

When it’s close or even below freezing temperatures your motor functions and coordination starts to lack precision. The most simple chords seem impossible to play properly and soloing is limited to the most rootsy stuff imaginable. Our frozen drummer hit a knuckle of his hand on his drum set and started to bleed without noticing it until I looked over to him and it was like a scene from the chainsaw massacre movie or a Sex Pistols concert. Good luck cleaning up that drum set.

I wonder how I’m going to tackle this Christmas season’s challenges.

Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you very much for supporting my music, photos and stories!