Check out this video explanation and demonstration of CelloJoe’s Magical Bicycle!

Some of Kelly’s best moments from the tour.

We’ll miss you Kelly!

The Pleasant Revolution said goodbye to some more folks in Marseilles, France. Buck Meek, Joachim Brunson, and Kern Houghton all left from Marseilles. Justin Renfro left us right around Budapest. Kelly Patton is returning home in a week from Barcelona.

Buck held it down on the six string bass from Southampton, England all the way to Marseilles, France. He has a heart of gold and a funny haircut. Justin and Buck performed as “Shine” with CelloJoe joining in a few times. There was that time we busked in Linz, Austria in the square and Shine’s live on bike performance at the Vienna Bicycle Music Festival will go down in history. Justin was playing trumpet perched on the back of a double Yuba Mundo cargo tall bike! We’re going to miss you guys, Buck and Justin.

Joachim joined right after Fusion Festival in Larz, Germany. Finally, we had found a drummer! We’d been hauling around a drum kit (the bait) for a month with no proper drummer. We finally found him. He was living in Berlin looking for a band. At first he had a cool home-made hammock, then he took Bobba’s tent when Bobba gave it to him. He is the only drummer in the history of the Ginger Ninjas who actually left the custom Whitney russian doll nesting drum kit in better shape than he found it. He made a folding drum throne, and an ultralight weight cymbal carrying contraption so all the cymbals actually fit in with the drums instead of a separate bag. Sort of a loner, but eventually he came around and was an integral part of the group and always ready to throw down for a show. Safe travels and good luck Joachim!

Kern. Where to start with Kern? Such a pure heart and such a nice guy. He was the kitchen man and never grumbled about having to keep the kitchen box clean and tidy. He was always flying us acroyoga style and giving massages to everyone. Always ready to help out carrying anything, he also was responsible for the all important mixing board for the sound system. Such a pleasure to have Kern on tour! We miss you buddy.

Kelly is leaving us, but we’ll still be traveling with her art. An amazing laugh and an easy to get along with demeanor make Kelly a really fun person to have on tour. Her art appears on our website, stickers, shirts, patches, our JBL speakers, our dry bags, our food containers, and many other places.  Kelly’s knees have been bothering her and recently she has had a relapse of a four year old back injury. Rest and get back to 100% health.

We’re going to miss you Kelly!

This is a video made by our friends in Barcelona. It’s about the critical mass in Barcelona, but it also shows how bad ass the Bicycle Music Festival is going to be in Barcelona. They’ve got something akin to an army or cyclists there i think. The force is strong in Barcelona.

Massa Critica from Hans Hansen on Vimeo.

One intention I constantly remind myself to complete while posting these blogs is to express my appreciation for our hosts that have guided us through the cities we have traveled to. They are the reason we feel welcomed, and introduce us to the community and establish life long friendships. There have been many individuals along the way who have helped the Pleasant Revolution in Europe. My hopes are for this post to grow and have more pictures added to this publication. This is only one attempt at exhibiting our thank you’s to our hosts and organizers, we are so grateful!

-Kelly

Frederick in Toulouse:

Wow. Frederick went above and beyond his hosting generosity. This guy booked us gigs, wined and dined us almost every night, threw several parties, gave us rooms, and helped us with a plethora of errands and needs. I said thank you so many times he told me if I thanked him once more he would retaliate with an abundance of sarcasm. (Ok so I sort of made that up). But really Frederick, THANK YOU!!!

-Kelly

Oscar in Vienna:

Oscar greeted us at the train station on his tall bike. It was such a hilarious predecessor to our stay in Vienna, what with all of the bike jousting, kitchen rocking and singing, and silent nighttime dance parties. Oscar offered his flat to the five ladies who all traveled apart from the group leaving Germany. He welcomed more people as they arrived and always included us in schedule just as a good friend would. He organized, filmed, made coffee, gave us all beds and the keys to his flat. He was so generous from beginning to end and will always have a comfortable place to stay with any of us in the U.S..

Norman in Berlin:

Norman at the train station with Kern and Heather

Kelly and Norman say Tschüß!

In my mind, Norman was the perfect host who represented the people who thrive in Berlin. He was so enthusiastic and supportive while hosting four revolutionaries at his home. Norman contributed to our success in this wonderful city by guiding us many places, making needed appointments and staying accessible to help at any time. He also became a close friend, and invited us to events and introduced us to awesome people, while giving us so much space at his apartment. He was involved in creating amazing community gatherings, such as the rooftop cinema which turned over hilarious results. Thanks for your vibrancy and unconditional assistance Norman!

-Kelly

Noel in London

We had a serendipitous meeting with Noel when he spotted six of us on the London Bridge the first hour spent in the city. He recognized our bikes and asked if we were part of the American musicians expected to tour London this weekend. He guided us through the city and gave four people a place to stay with him at his apartment in Hackney. Noel became a very good friend and supporter of the bicycle community, we miss him and consider him a fellow revolutionary!

-Kelly

It seems this bicycle music tour thing is catching on.

I thought I was the only cellist crazy enough to tour by bicycle. Now I’m hearing about cellists all over the world riding bikes with their cellists. Read about cellist Ben Sollee’s travels through America at his Ditch the Van tour blog.

http://ditchthevan.tumblr.com/

Also, I know of a cellist named Kristin Rule who is doing bicycle music tours in Australia.