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Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is something else. So strange how people live. To be honest the people there walking the street seem so peaceful and friendly.. As soon as we got of the train in Amsterdam I immediately caught a wiff of a strong aroma of natural herbs and spices. I am not sure what it was but it smelled amazing. Downtown there are coffee shops every five stores ( I guess people really like coffee here). Alec and I ended up stopping in a coffee shop right away to "Ask for Directions" to find the nearest hostel.

 We stopped in the first place we found called "Meeting Point Hostel" The place was nice! I liked it.  A nice small bar inside and it was locked to outsiders. As time went on we ended up finding it was the cheapest hostel in town. (well kinda). Alec ended up getting his locker literally kicked in, and got $200 Euros stolen from his wallet. Shitty Yes. But what can you do. At least they didn't take a computer, camera, or his passport right next to the money. There was video surveillance outside the room.  There was only two people who could have done it. The hostel said we could report it to the police.. but really whats the point? The people were gone. We would have spent the rest of the day.. to get no where. So we decided to count our blessings and not our losses and move on. "I have already forgiving the person who stole it", Alec said.  I know Amsterdam wasn't his favorite stop so far. For me it was like a dream. It was so surreal.

"Remember, just 'cuz yer in Amsterdam doesn't mean ya hafta do as the Amsterdamians do." - Alec's Mom. haha Funny thing is the people that live in Amsterdam dont really partake in all the the cities lifestyle. They have seen it all. Most of the people walking the streets are not from Holland. We ended up staying at the same hostel for a total of 4 nights sleeping in 14 person rooms. Instead of the lockers.. Alec upgraded to a barrel with a master-locked top on it. Over all I have nothing but good things to say about the Hostel. Great Staff. Great people.. Met a lot of great new friends from Barcelona, Paris, London, Switzerland, and South Africa! Hostels are great for meeting people all over the world.


 While in Amsterdam we did a bunch of Exploring as well. Checked out the many different tourist attractions like the Windmill Brewery, The Heineken Brewery, and the "I Amsterdam" Sign. We ended up getting a little fotage of me jamming out on top of the sign.. which will be release with the Amsterdam section of our "Video Tour Blog" coming out after we can get back an do some editing.  I can't wait to share it! :)) After Amsterdam we were on our way to Utrecht, Holland. Which is about a 6 minute train ride from Amsterdam for my show @ Cafe' Averecht's. It was great sound and a great bar. At First I thought they only had coffee shops in Amsterdam. Turns out it it all of Holland. Man.. I must say I never knew I liked Coffee so much!  However.. I know there is a new law in place that is going to band non citizens the right to come in the coffee shops and partake in the the fun. I am glad I could make it over here before the law took full effect. Thanks to Jasper.. Part Owner of Cafe Averecht's for allowing us to crash at his place. Next morning we were off to Wuppertal, Germany! :))

Shows in Ireland

"Wow! I love Ireland. I would LOVE to live here".  "We haven't even made it to any other countries yet" said my cousin Alec. :)) It has been 4 days since I have been on my "Sounds of Crow" Tour and it hasbeen so AMAZING hanging out, meeting people, making new friends, and playing shows. On Wed. Feb 1st we flew out of Minneapolis.. and landed in Dublin Thursday morning. From there.. we took a bus ride into the city in search of Rory's House.. (Our CouchSurfing Host). After getting off the bus we realized we got off the bus a little early and had to do some walking. At first we were quite lost and my bag was quite heavy walking around Dublin. After fining a Information Center got a Dublin map.. along with asking a few locals for some help with directions. We ended up finding Rory's house.

            That Evening I had a show @ the Brick Alley Cafe "Songs from a Cafe". Thanks to Rory's Great navigation skills we were able to find the place with no problem. Brick Alley is very quaint place and can fit about 30 people and was pretty much loaded with as many people that could fit in there. I was very excited to play my first show in such an intimate setting. The people were very attentive towards the other artist.. and as a songwriter I always like a crowd of good listeners. So as we were sitting there listening to the other artist.. Alec leaned over as said' "Is that the girl that sings with Damion Rice?" I wasn't really sure.. so I broke out my iPhone .. got the Cafe's Wifi password and Googled Imaged Damion Rice "Nine Crimes". Sure enough it was her.. so Alec went up right away introduced himself and chatted with her for a bit. She was there to support her friend Raevennan Husbandes. Rae is an artist from the UK and a phenomenal song writer with a beautiful voice!! (If you have a minute check her out! Its worth it.. She could very well be your new favorite artist.) http://www.reverbnation.com/raevennanhusbandes. After Rae, it was my turn to play.  I played. I conquered! It was a great set! I had a great reaction from the crowd and got a lot of positive feed back. After I was finished the host of the event invited up the girl that sang with Damion to sing a song. She introduced her as Lisa Hannigan. As soon as I heard the name.. I was in shock I couldn't believe it. Two years ago I went to a sold out David Grey concert at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. Lisa Hannigan was the opener and I instantly fell in love with her music. I shook her hand and bought her CD. Two years later her I am on my first day of my "Sounds of Crow" European Tour and I happen to be sitting across the table from her in this tiny cafe, and unofficially opening up for her! Check out her performance I took a video of her on my I phone. she is AMAZING! Click here! Afterwords we ended up hanging out for a bit with Rae and Lisa afterword and snapped some photos. 
I signed a CD of mine saying "Lisa, I <3 U". Did I mention I was a huge Fan! What are the chances? What a great way to start the tour. I could have gone home at this point and been happy with the way my tour went! :)) After the show Alec and I ended up going out and hanging out at some Irish bars and hung out with some new friends we met online through CouchSurfering.com.
         The following morning Alec and I woke up to packed up and made out way Cork, Ireland. A two hour bus ride later we were in the wonderful city of Cork. We had arranged before we left the states to stay at the Bru Bar Hostel, Friday, Feb. 3rd and Saturday, Feb.4th. Friday night I played at the Crane Lane Theater, which was only a five minute walk from out hostel, and according to another musician I met on the bus .. the prime place to play in Cork for Songwriters. It was a very cool setting, nice stage, a great sound system and a great engineer. We ended up recording the audio.. and I plan to release Joel Kachel "Live @ Crane Lane Theatre" once we get back. We also ended up meeting a large group of people from the US that also found out about our event through CouchSurfers.com. A few of these new friend were from MN and it was a girl from Minnesota's 21st birthday. I played and sand "Happy Birthday" and told everyone I wrote it... (they didn't believe me). One guy I ment was even from my home town back in the States. What a crazy small world!
           Saturday night we played at the Bru Bar. I must say this was quiet the party. On top of that there was another birthday that night. This time it was a party of Irish men dressed as Smurfs celebrating a 50th birthday party. It was hilarious. Tonight I had Alec come up and play a a few songs with me on the Ukulele. We mentioned to the bartender that he would be playing with me.. and she convinced Alec and I to dress up for out last set. She brought in a grass skirt along with a flower top for him to wear to add to the whole Ukulele beach theme. I ended up leaving my main clothes bag including my swim suit in Dublin at Rory's so I could lighten my load. Lucky Alec had his. Unfortunately.. Alec is a little smaller then me in the waste.. and the swim trunks didn't quite close all the way. It was quite a scene! We had a great time! I hope I can make it back to Cork sooner then later! What a great town! 




      Sunday morning Alec and I checked out of the Bru Bar Hostel at 11am.. hopped back on the bus andmade our trek back to Dublin for our last two shows/appearances in Ireland on Balcony TV and The Mercantile's "Sunday Roast". For Balcony TV we were filmed on a Building top in Dublin over looking the City. 

                                                                                                                                                                                       

     
     The video is of me performing "Burn" written my myself and my good friend Alaska, Chris Snyder. The video should be up on YouTube this Wednesday. (Feb. 8th, 2012) After Balcony.. we walked to The Mercantile which happened to be less then a block away. Couldn't have worked out any better. This performance for the "Sunday Roast" included me opening solo followed 4 other bands. Thanks to Alec making an Event page on CouchSurfering.com, we were able to get 15-20 people there that were there to see me perform from different countries including Romania, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Norway. Not including all the other people there to support the other bands. I would say there was a good 50-60 people there.  It was so great to have so many people there to support the love of music on a Sunday night!

            This was the end of our time in Ireland! What a great time! I can wait to come back! Next time I would like to stay longer and take a trip out the the west coast and see the country side. Thanks to All the venues, artist, and people who made this experience so amazing! That night we crashed one more time at Rory's and headed for Amsterdam in the Morning! 

BACK IN THE STUDIO!!

This past weekend I went back into Waterbury Studio to record vocals to a song that I co-wrote with Australian Songwriters; Zelda and Pal Sheldon. The song "Away Away" was started fall of 2010 while I was on my first trip Nashville to tour and play music. During this tour I met this Australian songwriting couple and for more then a year now the three of us have been Skyping back and forth working on this song! I am So Excited to be listening to this song and I can wait to release the single! It was a great experience to work with such talented people and I cant wait to start working on the next song! :)) Also a special Thanks to Thompson Management, Sonny Thompson, Derek DeMike, Mike Pugsley, and Amber Anne Love for their support, talent, and guidance in the studio!

Me in Studio A @ Waterbury Studio, Mpls, MN

Pal, Zelda , and Myself outside of NSAI Headquarters, Nashville, TN right after our first song writing session. October 2010. This song has been one in the making!

Music Video, Website, Euro Tour!

Official Music Video is Finally here!! Thanks to Joey Carlini and Carlini Entertainment for doing such and Amazing job! Make sure to Check out the NEW Official WEBSITE!! @ www.joelkachel.com .. And keep your Eye out For my blogon my "Sounds of Crow" Euro Tour .. Feb 1st- March 7th. I will be Traveling with my Cousin Alec to Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain! Alec will be bringing along his Ukelele and a Camera to jam a few shows and help document the entire trip! Its going to be a Crazy! Make sure not to miss this! 

Nashville Tour Fall 2011

The last Week I have been on the road. I spent my first three days in Chicago, IL. Played U.S. Beer Company Saturday night All day Sunday I hung out @ Millennium Park Jammed all day and met a bunch of cool people. Later that that day I spend sometime seeing Chicago by train. $2.25 and you can ride all day! I must say I am easily amused.. :) On Monday night i played @ Uncommon Ground very cool bar. Great talent. Then it was off to Indianapolis, IN for Tuesday night @ the Lizard Lounge. Rocked that place! Had an awesome time! Last night I played @ The Hideaway and the Highland Taproom in Louisville, KY. I plan to stay in Louisville for tonight and then hit the road for Halloween Weekend in Nashville! Cant wait! :))