Muddy Basin Ramblers

The summer music season is upon us, and the Ramblers will be appearing at one of our favorite events, Peace Festival aka Hoping for Hoping.

We'll be on stage at 4:10 P.M. on Saturday, June 14, 2008.

We look forward to seeing lots of friends.

The Ramblers are an old-time band, so you shouldn’t be surprised when we do things the old-fashioned way.

Our first CD is coming out, and we’re holding a party for our friends and fans. It’s not going to be at some slick disco. It’s not being simultaneously released on the Net and around the world.


We’ve rented a space at Huashan, the artist’s district located at the corner of Ba-de and Chung-hsiao E. Road, and everyone is invited to celebrate with us.


There will be food and drink, included in the price of admission, special gifts, a cash bar all evening long, and a live performance of the songs from the CD, all of them, in the order in which they occur on the CD itself.

If you like the show, the CD will be on sale. We recorded it with Max, our engineer extrordinaire, and it was produced by Dave Chen, our fearless leader. The original artwork on the CD jacket is a Dave original, and the photographs were created by TC.

The Muddy Basin Ramblers are a Taipei-based old-time blues band, and we play for our friends because we enjoy the music. Come out and party with us.

Mine used to be playing music from the back of a truck on the streets of Taipei. Now that the MBR’s have participated in the Dream Community’s annual parade, I need to get a new dream for myself.

We met up at Hsingan Elementary School on Renai Road at 1 P.M. on the day of the parade. The outer lane of the road was closed to traffic so the floats could be lined up to await the 3 P.M. starting time. Registration took place at a table in the sports field, and walking out of the corridor into the field was a shocking experience. The field was swarming with people costumed in an amazing variety of headdresses, masks, belly dancing outfits, aboriginal costumes, and pretty much anything you could imagine. Clearly, my dreams are on the vanilla side of the spectrum.

Since we had a float to ride on, we didn’t stay in the sports field with the other marchers. We were directed to float 69, which turned out to be a truck masquerading as a giant pig. It also turned out not to be our float. The pig would carry our friends the members of Bo Po Mo Fo. Our float, number 38, was just up the line, and it was a sight. I doubt that the designer of the float had a grand vision. Float 38 sported colorful swathes of cloth on the side, fishing net floats painted in bright colors, irregularly shaped chunks of painted Styrofoam stuck on the stakes that surrounded the bed, and banners on both sides that said something about aliens from outer space. A gasoline powered electricity generator sat in the rear of the truck bed, and it chugged along throughout the day’s long, strange trip.

Standing above the cab on a platform was a painted dancing man wearing a blue loin cloth tied at his waist. We could see that he seemed to be wearing some type of prosthetic penis, which would have been odd normally, but at the Dream Parade, it didn’t really seem that unusual. We would later understand that everyone is welcome to make their dream come true in the parade, but that Taiwanese social norms involving nudity trump individual expression. More on that.

Before the parade began, we warmed up by playing a few numbers. Since our float was right in front of the entrance to the school, we had a lot of people taking photos and digging the music. We also wandered around at took photos of the other floats and parade participants. The atmosphere was very warm and friendly, and people were happy to gawk and be gawked at. More than one Rambler mentioned how we don’t stand out so much as foreigners in Formosa when everyone was getting their freak on. Later, as our float made its way to the plaza in front of the Presidential Building, it became obvious that foreigners get only a cursory glance when there is a naked man dancing on top of a truck.

Right on time, our float joined its place in the procession. We were right behind the Cosplay group dressed as Jedi Knights and Imperial Stormtroopers. In front of them was the giant brain and eyeballs. Following us was a crew pushing a giant fish with a bubble machine mounted on it. As we walked, several juvenile stilt walkers accompanied us down the palm lined boulevard. It took several hours to travel the 3 kilometers to the Plaza. The crowd along the way wasn’t overly large, but the lines of cars at the major intersections were. The police would open the intersections to the parade for several minutes, and then stop it for a time to let the cars cross our path before the march resumed.

It didn’t take long for us to realize the dancer on the roof of the cab had removed his loin cloth. As we passed people standing on the side of street, we saw that they were not looking at us; they were staring at the naked dancing man. They stared, they laughed, the covered their mouths, they took photos, but they didn’t cover their eyes. No, especially not the youngish women. They got an eyeful. In contrast to how I would expect the American public to react to such a sight, I didn’t see any parents covering the eyes of their children. The police were also very interested. Each officer we passed looked at the dancer. And then we began to notice plainclothes officers conferring with their uniformed colleagues. Soon, a messenger instructed the dancer to replace his loin cloth, which he did. In honor of the naked guy, we changed the words of Reefer Man to Naked Man. That would be a cool bootleg recording to have.

Before long, we were passing the gate at the intersection of Renai and Chunghsiao South road and entering the plaza between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese era Taipei Guest House, and the Presidential Building. Our float pulled to one side of the road across near the stage that had been erected for the festival. Groups of dancers were performing on stage, and others were congregated on its sides while waiting for their turn in the spotlight. The Ramblers took this opportunity to join those marchers who had already finished in welcoming those groups that were just arriving. I never realized how many drumming groups there were in Taipei. As the drumming groups approached the plaza, they played their instruments in a frenzy. There were adults and kids in mock African dress, aboriginal costumes, and everything in between, all playing djembes, bass drums, Brzilian drums, snare drums, hundreds of them. How do they practice? And where? From personal experience, the Ramblers know how difficult it can be to practice in public without getting complaints from neighbors and instructions from the police to move on.

Was the day over? No way. We had a gig at Bliss later that evening. As we left the Plaza lugging our instruments, we made plans to grab dinner and meet up again in a few hours. Some of us went to the Italian Job, and others to the California Grill, both in the Yongkang area. TC, Will, and I met in the middle of Daan Park, near the windmill (a great place to chill in the early evening) to lie in the grass and let our energy levels build up again before heading to the gig. The Rajasthan Gypsies were performing at the amphitheater stage, but since TC and I had seen them on Friday evening, we didn’t go and catch the show again. I enjoyed the music a lot but found the circus-like performance a bit tiresome.

The gig at Bliss was a party held by our friend Chris. She is leaving Taiwan next week, so the party was basically a going-away party. The crowd was smaller than we have played to for some time; there were maybe only twenty or thirty people there. Most people were friends or acquaintances, so the vibe was good. We played two sets and finished at about 1:30. I think we were all a bit tired after the long day (more than twelve hours together as a band), but it was definitely a good ending to a surreal day.

The Dragon Boat Festival is fast approaching. Bitan, the sunny Hsintian resort that is the Ramblers' spiritual home, is moving into high gear in preparation for the races coming up. This year the street vendors are throwing a night market party to celebrate all the customers they hope to serve.

Being Bitan locals, the Ramblers were called up for the cause by the unofficial Borough Chief, Athula. We'll be making sweet street music near Athula's roti stand in the early evening on Saturday, June 16.

If you'd like to show up, take the MRT to the last station on the green line, Hsintian. Walk along the street behind to the station until you come to the night market. Athula's stand is just past the steps at the foot of the suspension bridge, across from the 7-11 (what a surprise). If you're there while we're playing, you'll have no trouble spotting us--look for the jug band. If you arrive late, order a roti or two from Athula and ask him where the Ramblers have gone. If the weather is good, we'll probably be down along the river. Don't cross the bridge. Come down to the riverside and walk upstream a few minutes. We may be on the steps near the playground.

Update: We'll be playing at 7 PM. We should play for at least an hour at Athula's before we find somewhere along the river to carry on the music-ing.

Updated Update: Check out this news from the Onion. That's what I'm talking about.

The Ramblers have had a busy month. The show at Sappho was great. It was our first time to perform at A-liang’s new place. We got started about 10 by playing our first song in amongst the crowd at the tables and bar. We like to bring the music to the people, and being all acoustic, we can cozy right up with the punters and warm them up to the evening’s entertainment. Then we moved to the stage and played a regulation set, and then took a break. We switched out our condenser mics for dynamic mics, and when we came back on at about midnight, the sound quality was just what we’d been hoping for.

By that time, the staff had pulled one of the modular sofas and a table off the lighted disco floor, and the dancing began. It had been a while since our last full show, and we had some energy to burn, so we kept the dancers hopping till nearly 2:30. It was probably our longest uninterrupted performance to date. The partying didn’t stop when we finished, and I think it must have been getting light already when the hardiest of the Ramblers finally called it a night.

The next Saturday evening found us on a rooftop in Shilin at the Animals Taiwan charity party. The original date had been rained out, so the Animals crew had taken every precaution against the weather. There was a good size crowd, some familiar faces and lots of new friends sharing a balmy evening for a good cause. Noise was a concern of the organizers, and before the evening got too late, the neighbors had called in the Mounties to bust up the affair. Some dance acts, a troupe of four girls doing belly/jazz dance and a couple showing off their ballroom moves, performed to recorded music under the tent before we got our thing going.

We got a couple of songs out and then Brent, formerly of the Saltwater Crocs, and a powerful singer/songwriter in his own right, performed one of his classics, Dawg Song, replete with dog howls, in honor of the event’s theme. We played one more number, I forget which, and Sean, of Animals Taiwan, handled some of the singing. By that time, the Kevlar ones had arrived to hasten the conclusion of the evening, so the Mudders packed up their gear and slipped away into the night.

We had the following weekend off, and recuperation (and laundry) was called for. Plus, we had to get our energy up for the Peacefest / Hoping for Hoping, our summer kick-off out in the mountains of Lungtan.

Unlike previous years, we had a Saturday performance slot just as the sun was going down. The crowd was bigger and livelier than we’d seen up there before. We had a quick set, by our standards, but we started off on the right note and were in lock-step for the rest of the performance. The sound crew did a great job getting our mix right in our monitors and the PA, and the whole Peacefest crew did a fantastic job putting together a great event. Big thanks to Dave, Scott, Lynn, Lisa, and Monica and everyone else for their effort. One weekend a year, they create a circle of peace that continues to widen, drawing ever more musicians and music lovers to Kun-lun Herb Gardens in Taoyuan County. They had a little more commercial support this year, but the laidback vibe continues to be strong.

We gave the audience a little bit of everything, including Walk Right In, Jug Band Quartet, Dancehall Shuffle, Nagasaki (Dave mentioned that that city’s mayor had been gunned down recently), and others, before finishing with Riverside. It’s our anti-war number, and we felt it was the most fitting song to voice our support for peace, and reach out to the audience. Once we got going, the audience was kicking up its feet in the grass in front of the stage, and there was a great sense of camaraderie among everyone present. We were enthused to have lots of help singing the chorus, “Ain’t gonna study the war no more.”

Sandy also got some help in the horn section and was joined by several other musicians who wanted to join the glad sound. I saw Kevin from Milk and maybe others punching the air with their brass as the song reached its crescendo before the eventual a capella wind-down.

We grabbed our instruments and exited the stage while the organizers got the audience to join hands for the peace circle, a fixture at Peacefest. A band of merry pranksters on hand drums, kit drum, electronic drum, didjeridoos, guitar, horns, and others provided the musical lubricant the circle needed to get twirling. The groove on the stage was infectious, and while the audience wheeled around the grass under the full (blue!) moon, more and more musicians got on stage to join in. I wasn’t timing the jam, having my hands full with a set of LP bongos, but it must have gone on for three quarters of an hour. I knew the drummers could last that long, but I had some worries about the didj players. Happy to say, no one expired in the name of peace.

There was, however, one ping-pong-related injury to a black-chap-wearing cowboy. He shared the story with us while we were warming up behind the temple during Mr. Green/Highway 9’s set (which was great). It seems the cowboy had been asleep under the ping-pong table when Peace Dave somehow upset it, causing its edge to strike cowboy’s eyebrow. It was a nasty cut, and though it wasn’t leaking blood down his face while he was telling the story, I saw him later getting more first-aid, and there was a crimson tide.

No definite words on the next MBR gig, but we’ll keep you informed. If you’ve got any pics of us playing at Peacefest, we’d love to see them. Shoot us a link if you can.

~Peace

And thanks to everyone whose images appear on this post.

NOTICE: The Muddy Basin Ramblers will be playing at Sappho late in the evening on Saturday, May 19th. The joint is located in the basement at No. 1, Lane 102, An-ho Road section 1, just north of Hsinyi. Show starts at 10:30pm, and the door charge is NT$200. There might be dancing. Check your hats and revolvers at the coat room.

The Ramblers are emerging from the studio for an evening of music tomorrow night, March 17, at Bliss. Not only are we celebrating the green, we're welcoming a friend into the third decade of her life.

The last time on stage for us as a band was at the Stevie benefit at the Living Room. It was a busy evening that saw many acts grace the stage in support of a friend in need.

Despite some confusion over the status of this gig (it is open to the public), we're expecting friends new and old to come out and celebrate the evening with us.

We're starting at 10 P.M., and the amps will be turned off at 12, but the music will probably last longer.

See you at Bliss.