Raleigh Bruce

Hellhammer Klub is a new venue for hard rock in Belgrade. We had a blues and country set with our friends from the hard blues group, The Empty Bottles.

Here's a rendition of Neil Diamond's 'Solitary Man,' perhaps more known from its cover by Johnny Cash. .promotion.page

Empty Room - Raleigh Bruce

Petrovac Na Mlavi is a small town in Eastern Serbia. We played a show to a crowd smaller than our band. I returned to my empty rented apartment wondering what people do in this town. Probably the same things they do in my small town in the USA.

See you at Hellhammer Klub tomorrow.

Empty Room, Empty City
It's time I'll be moving along
Nothing left here, ain't it a pity
I'll be on the road by dawn

Fall out Hemingways Cafe
And it's near half past three
Stare 'cross vacant parking lots
'Cause I can't get no sleep
Look through vacant windows
And these boarded up old stores
When I finally get to my room
No need to lock that door

https://youtu.be/BeMiuEbGCFE?feature=shared

Kvartirnik has been a Russian tradition of playing small concerts in apartments. But here in Serbia, it is more public, in the bars and clubs of Belgrade.

Generally, my Kiwi buddy and I are the only foreigners - not Russians - there. The country and blues numbers we play always go over well.

Here's a recent Kvartirnik night at Evo Karaoke Bar

I was excited to play a gig outside of Belgrade. It was a small town in Eastern Serbia called Petrovac Na Mlavi. Our sound check went well, the managers were nice and the advertising looked good.

But our show... there were more people in the band than in the crowd. Something which all bands experience. And when we left the club, the city was empty.

I thought about this small town in Serbia, which was a lot like my small town in the USA. I spent the night in the hotel writing over a bottle of rakija provided by the manager.

'Empty City' verse 2 and chorus. Hvala for the inspiration

That man told me that he's not on drugs. He just likes the 'hard dance music.' Which in this case is Folsom Prison Blues? Johnny Cash does go hard.

We had another hard night of country, blues, beer, and a special bottle of bourbon at Mehanika Taphouse & Brewery. Thanks to the new and folks who came.

Fresh off a trip from the USA by way of Turkey and Bulgaria, I hit the road again with the band to Petrovac, Serbia. Petrovac Na Mlavi is a small town in the east of Serbia, with its name referring to the Mlava River that runs through it.

There is a rock scene in this town, and even a rock festival in the summer. We were invited to play at Hemingway Caffee, a cafe bar right on the river. Over two hours, we went through classic country, blues and rock tunes, with a friend, Boki Dusty Hat, joining us as a guest on harmonica.

Here, we kicked off a rendition of one of Lynard Skynard's classic's, 'Gimme Three Steps.' It was quite a sight in Petrovac. Hvala svima!

It's raining on a Monday night in Krakow, but the Rynek Głowny (Main Square) is on fire. This music must be what the Polish call Disco Polo. Every country has to have this kind of ridiculous national dance music. It's known Serbian as Turbofolk,in Russian as Hard Bass, in Romania as Manele, and etc...