A Brulee update after a surprisingly musical summer…

New gigs have been announced!  Click on the shows page for details, and please come out to see us.  Now, a quick review of recent months: 

You may remember that, back in June, we predicted a 5-month musical hiatus for Brulee while we all took turns leaving the country for a while, particularly Lex who (FINALLY!) returns from Austria in mid-November.  We were wrong.  It’s actually been quite busy!  Here’s a review of a few recent events in Bruland: 

A REALLY big gig: You’ve probably heard us talking about our beloved new-ish keyboard/trumpet/harmonica player Johannes Langkilde.  Johannes tells us that he’s sort of a big deal in Denmark, and occasionally, we have to believe him.  For example, the Danish Ambassador (a great guy named Lars who can really rock a Strat through a pair of Marshall Amps) asked if Johannes could put together an R&B band for a gala at the Smithsonian Castle to celebrate a visit from the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark.  Johannes started with the core of Brulée (Aura, Lou, Andrew, and Johannes himself) and then added a second singer, a drummer to replace Lex, and a three piece horn section.  The drummer and horn section were borrowed from the president’s own Marine band.  Seriously, Barack himself gave us his horn section for the evening.  It was a super-fancy black-tie occasion as we busted out horn-laden R&B covers for a dancing prince and princess. I got to live my dream of playing Earth, Wind, and Fire's "September" with a full horn section.

Adding to the surreal evening, the Danish Embassy flew in the princess’ favorite singer-songwriter from Denmark, a young and wildly talented guy named Mads Langer.  We got to back him up on a two songs, and it was quite a thrill, especially when he busted out an unexpected impromptu Prince cover in the middle of one of his songs.  

Recording: We finally returned to Bias Studios early in the summer start recording for our next CD (or digital download if you’re more modern than we are).  Like last time, we are working with the great Mike Monseur, an extraordinary studio engineer who is uniquely well-suited for our quirky musical style and strong personalities.  Three moments from the recording sessions stand out to me as particularly memorable: (1) When all five of us (including our new-ish keyboard player Johannes) sang back up vocals simultaneously on Week 52, (2) Mike coaching me through the rather precise ukulele work on Part-Time Island Girl, and (3) Mike telling me that my guitar solo on Irresistible was totally inappropriate and sending home to come up with a new idea. 
  
Some small gigs:  With Lex out of the country, we’ve focused on some smaller gigs, and it’s actually been a great experience to focus on a pared down version of our music for a while.  We played a couple of trio gigs, and Aura and I played a duo show with Andrew joining us purely on vocals (like, singing his basslines!).   And last weekend, Andrew and I played an evening of guitar-bass jazz duets at a fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Virginia.  The evening included a truly inspiring speech from Hillary Clinton’s national political director. 

Now we’re more than ready for our beloved drummer Lex to return.  So come join us for some shows this fall and winter to help welcome him back.

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