HELMUT LOTTI

Time to Swing

Time to Swing!

September 30th, 2008

Another 6 weeks and then it'll really be … Time to Swing for me. We're still in the middle of the CD promotion, but also the preparations for the upcoming tour need our full attention.

I have 17 new songs. And I'll have to make choices. Which song will I use, which song will be removed from the play list. Will I or won't I tap dance? I'd like to keep all this a secret for now.

But I am really looking forward to the tour. Believe it or not, singing is still what I like best and it's on those concert tours that I can feed my passion without great disturbances.

We'll be on the road with 40 people, and this always creates something beautiful. Of course we have to adjust for the first couple of days, but because we've been doing it for so many years now, the wheels are being oiled faster every time. Everyone is a part of it. It's a world on its own, I must admit, but this world is filled with kindred spirits. And yes, this sometimes turns into real love.

Like for example Rimpelrock 2002. Something beautiful was happening backstage between Bart, our production manager, and Pascale, on of the backing vocals. Last year, on the 6th of December, their first little boy, Lars, was born, on the exact same day as the try out of my tour. On a moment like that, it's like everyone on stage and behind the scenes is singing around the childbed.

Bart and Pascale will be able to celebrate Lars' first birthday at home. But one day later, on Sunday, the 7th of December, I'll be expecting everyone at their best in the Elisabethzaal in Antwerp for our first concert in our homeland.

Our show will be, without a doubt, a well oiled machine by then after South Africa and the first 6 of 42 concerts in Germany. But for our own audience, the fans of the first hour, the people who have been following me for almost twenty years now… it still has that tiny bit extra. On the road from Germany to the Netherlands, in between Austria and Switzerland, after a stop from Denmark to Finland or Sweden…, performing in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent or Oostend… it's always coming home a little.

And what's best of all, on tour, the day always ends with the most beautiful moment, the moment that the orchestra starts playing and that I can sing my songs for my audience.

I can't wait: it's almost there… Time to Swing !

Bye everybody,

See you at one of my concerts!

Lotti Love

Helmut