Matching Ties-Duo Irish Folk Night, Senden, Germany

Here we are playing in Senden near Muenster, Nordrhein-Westfalen at the Irish Folk Night in the Steverhalle in front of about 500 listeners as the first group in a 3 group evening shared with "Connemara Stone Company" and the Dutch band "Rapaltje". With a fog machine going off behind us we played our acoustic folk, which seemed to be enjoyed by all. Thanks to Herr Melchers and Keith Bailey for the booking and organization, and to our friends Mathias and Sebastian and families for the lovely hospitality, and to Norbert Veith for the pic.

Matching Ties U.S. Northwest Tour Oct.-Nov. 2008

Lapwai Lane Shredders Club, Darby, Montana

Yellowstone Brewery, Billings, Montana

Di Luna's Cafe, Sandpoint, Idaho

On the road, Montana Rockies

Jam with Paul's 1st music partner Gary Sloane, Salt Lake City

It's hard to put in just a few words the enjoyment we had and experiences we gathered on our latest Matching Ties-Duo tour in the U.S. Our music was very well received everywhere we went. Audiences were surprised and delighted to hear a Germany based duo play folk music at our level. Old friendships were revived and new friendships were made. The tour took us to Enterprise and the culturally vibrant town of Portland in Oregon, Sandpoint in Northern Idaho (see photo), Moscow, a university town in Idaho (not Russia, see photo), house concert at the home of my ex-partner and friend Jay Toups (http://concerts.jaytoups.com/) in Darby Montana, Billings Montana (see photo, yes there is lots of good beer in America), Logan and Salt Lake City in Utah (Paul's home town).

The scenery in the American West was breathtaking, taking us through the Rocky Mountains, down the Columbia River Gorge through wide open spaces, beautiful river valleys, forest and desert lands; an odyssey that covered over 7000 km with some 9 concerts in 2 1/2 weeks. Special thanks to all who helped and supported us, too numerous to name, but most importantly: Dave Lindsey, Gwen Alley, Janet Julian, Ed Byrnes, Jay Toups, Guy Benson, Trent Indreland, Beth Pederson, Janis Carper, Stevie G, Gary Sloane, Tad Anderson, Robyn Hoffman, my mother Dorothy Stowe and sister Martine Geddes. Though Paul and Trevor know the Western States, it was great to get back there again to present our music. It won't be the last time. We'll be back asap. Our love to all.

Yours truly,
Paul

Matching Ties on a cruise ship to Scotland, Ireland and England

From July 22nd to August 3rd 2008 we played as a duo on a cruise ship, the MS Columbus from Hapag-Lloyd cruises with 5 shows on board. It was luxury and beautiful scenery with great service and friendly people both guests and crew. We helped translate Scottish, Irish and Cornwallian dialects on some of the tour buses, ate, drank (great Scottish ales) and were merry...and uh ...also played music, which was enjoyed by all . The weather was fantastic, most of the time as we rounded Scotland from Edinburgh, Lochness, the Orkney Islands, The Hebrides (of which Skye was absolutely breathtaking), to Dublin, Cornwall and London. Lot's of inspiratuion for the music we play too. We will probably do the same tour 8.8.-19.8.09 with Delphin Kreuzfahrten: http://www.delphin-kreuzfahrten.de/ so start making reservations.

Matching Ties-Trio 12.06.08, Folk im Schlosshof, Bonfeld, Germany

Here we are at one of Germany's best Celtic folk festivals, Folk im Schlosshof (in a castle courtyard) in Bonfeld, near Heilbronn, Germany (website: http://www.folk-im-schlosshof.de/). Despite a heavy rain before we started, we had a great time playing here at this very well organized festival. Thanks to Franz and his team for the kind hospitality, and thank you Tobias Bumm for the photo and for being a great fan.

MT Duo cool pics, Zwiefalten, Germany Feb. 07

A little out of chronological order, but I just got these photos in from Bodo Ruedenburg from the Muensterklinik in Zwiefalten, Germany, where we played for the second time in Feb. 6th, 2007. This is how we live, breath, eat and sleep our music. We will play again for the good people in Zwiefalten on Wed. 18. March, 2009. Info. at this link: http://www.zfp-web.de/K3/index.php3

Matching Ties Quartet 5/24/08 Spalt, Germany

As those pics come in from fans and promoters here's another highlight concert with our quartet in my wife Maria's home town of Spalt, south of Nuremburg, Germany. Though you can only see Guinness in the mugs on the tables, they also serve Spalter Beer, one of the best darn beers in the world. Spalter "aroma" hops, grown in the fields all around the town, are world famous. It's a beautiful, historic medieval town where I have spent many Christmases and family gatherings. This is our 5th concert for the Sommernachspiele theater group in the former train station of Spalt which has been converted to a stage. It was a wonderful warm evening, sold out show and great atmosphere. Thanks to Berhard Müller, and the people in the "verein" as well as all the good people of Spalt. Yours, Paul Stowe

Matching Ties-Duo 1.5.08 Vetternwirtschaft Rosenheim

It's been a while since our last blog entry, but we have been staying very busy with lots of great gigs. Here's a picture of our gig on May Day 1.5.08 taken by our young friend Ruben Lenz in Rosenheim, Germany. We played in the Vetternwirtschaft, one of the oldest live music clubs in the area, and had a great day with lots of familiar faces. A special thanks to Manfred Lenz for recommending us, and to the organization at the "Vettern". Keep checking our tour schedule page for concerts near you: http://www.matchingties.com/schedule.html. ALSO, for U.S. fans: our tour in Oct.-Nov. 08 is shaping up. Hope to see you in Utah or elsewhere in the Northwestern States.

Gold Rush

Here's a video that didn't quite make the cut, but I've posted it here. You can always delete the post. And you can also embed the vids you create here. Might be more apropos, newsy, etc.

Matching Ties-Duo, 2/15/08 Kulturscheune Schwanstetten, Germany

Here we are playing for the 4th time for our friends Harry Behr and family and all the folks at the KIS eV. in Schwanstetten, south of Nuremberg, Germany. This time we played in Leerstetten at their beutifully renovated barn/concert hall. The audience and the hospitality were great. Thanks a lot.