die Schlaublogger

WG Productions is proud to announce the release of dSb’s sixth full-length CD “LOOKING BACK” under the Wise Guys Record Label. As the title suggests, it is a retrospective of die Schlauberger and the music the band performed in its early days but with a modern twist. The traditional tone of “Looking Back” offers a departure from the modern festival pop and hard-edge alpine sound played by dSb today yet the album still manages to capture the essence of the band. While the integration of additional brass instrumentation has given the CD a more conventional sound, the band’s signature vocal harmonies and instrumentation ring out, leaving no doubt that “Looking Back” is dSb at its “traditional” best.

Among other classics, “Looking Back” includes a Trinklieder Medley, a Karnival Party Potpourri, and a stirring rendition of Edelweiss. Also included is a rare, recorded version of the crowd-pleasing Jaegermarsch Walzer.

Although “Looking Back” is not the usual dSb fare of today, it represents the band’s recognition of its roots and makes the statement that “it’s always nice to go back home”.

Just an update from the trenches.

Recording of the new dSb studio album is complete!

The idea of the new CD was prompted by the sheer number of people who have approached our sales table with the question, “Which of your CD’s is the most traditional?”

Well the new and definitive answer is this CD entitled “Looking Back.”

To be completely honest, the thought of releasing a traditional-only CD was not exactly exciting to me at first. The songs had been done many times over. What was our value-add supposed to be?

So the idea started out as, let’s just do it, get it out there quickly and start concentrating on our upcoming DVD.

However, anyone that knows me is aware that I simply can’t leave well enough alone. As we began to practice and record, we started seeing more opportunities to help make the arrangements a bit more like our style, as well as try some things we haven’t before.

So for the first time, we have given the brass instruments more of a role for more conventional sound. Trumpet, Trombone and sax together is something we’ve never really done and we wanted to add that capability to our repertoire.

While the songs themselves have some miles on them, one thing is certain…and that is they have never sounded punchier. I was surprised, myself, to hear how clear and professional sounding even the draft mixes were. This is due in no small part to the latest advances in recording technology as well as the expertise on how to use it possessed by the sound engineer on the project, Ray Balconis. Incidentally, his work can be heard on mainstream radio and has made billboard charts numerous times in the past few years. Lucky for us he’s also been a dSb fan for many years.

The CD will be released at the Biergarten summer opening at Plattduetche Park in Franklin Square on Friday June 5th. Hope to see you there.

Tom

Just a note about the dSb 2009 ski trip. Especially for someone who has been conspicuously absent from many past ski trips, it was great to see so many people join us (we were 50 strong), and ski or no ski, there was plenty to keep us occupied and happy. It was also nice to welcome some new faces this year, and many of those mentioned they’d love to come out to see the band for the first time this season.

Sorry I missed the bus trip up. The party had already started by the time I arrived Friday night. I had some catching up to do, so I kept the drinks coming.

So how was the skiing? We’ll you’ll have to ask the others because I spent the weekend partying relaxing, and enjoying the Jacuzzi and pool with fellow non skiers. From what I gathered there were some ice patches, you just can never count on weather, but everyone from the skiers to the snowboarders had a blast anyway.

Once again a big thank you goes out to the Nussbaumer family at Riedlbauer’s Resort, always making our stay there seem like a family reunion. dSb can’t wait to be back there in June for Sommerfest 09’.

The main event was of course Saturday night’s Toga party! Who knew there were so many styles of Toga? Even better, many who at first showed up without one, left and came back 15 minutes later donning a custom bed sheet. Peter kicked off the party with Karaoke, and as is tradition, I promptly chose a song I never tried before. Note to self, have a warm up song next time before “Take on me.” Oh well, that’s the fun of Karaoke. Rob kept the taps flowing as Peter later switched to DJ mode and had the party hopping well into the AM.

A very special thank you goes out to our sponsors, Hofbräu, Killepitsch and Karl Ehmer. Special thanks also go out to BW Gottschee Soccer Club and Yermans Pub who brought a large contingent, as well as members YGAC from NJ and New Generation from Franklin Square. For all who have expressed interest in next year’s trip, so far it is planned for the same weekend.

Once again thanks to all attendees and everyone who made dSb ski weekend ’09 a great success and so much fun!

It’s back to work now as we prepare for another action packed tour, a new all-traditional CD, and the taping of our first ever live DVD! Check the recently updated tour schedule of ’09 dates for a venue near you.

Hope to see you there.

Tom

On Saturday, April 26th we received the very sad news that the Mother of dSb band member, Kevin Barbitsch, had passed away after a 5 month illness. Along with being a devoted Wife and Mother, from a band perspective Herta Barbitsch was always a great supporter of die Schlauberger and was no doubt extremely proud of her son who helped to form the band 18 years ago and who, through much of his hard work, has led it to its current prominence. Mrs. Barbitsch’s earliest contribution to the band was encouraging “the boys” (then Kevin, Rob, Tom and former member Frank) to use her basement for many successive late night practices, in order to get ready for the band’s first performances back in 1991; but perhaps this wasn’t such a stretch, being that her own son was the drummer and what difference did it make if a few extra “less noisy” instruments joined in. Meanwhile, when the band looked to broaden its horizons on the road, her support also helped to make that a reality. Above all, Mrs. Barbitsch was a kind woman who always offered the band encouraging words and she will be deeply missed by all of us in the Schlauberger Family. Funeral services were held on Thursday, May 1st at St. Matthias Church in Ridgewood, NY and then among the many flowers sent in her memory, she was laid to rest at All Faith’s Cemetery, where family and many friends gathered to pay their last respects. We offer our deepest condolences to our good friends: Kevin and his wife Cindy, on the passing of his Mother and our sympathies to Mr. Barbitsch and all in the extended family. You are in our thoughts and prayers and remember always that, “Our Loved Ones and Gute Freunde kann niemand trennen………………..”

The Schlauberger Family

Well here we go peeps…I’m not much of a blogger, or writer for that matter, but I did want to say a few things about this years dSb ski trip. It started out a bit shaky because of, believe it or not, SNOW! My gosh…we wouldn’t want that on a ski trip now would we? All kidding aside it is not very easy to get around NYC in several inches of snow. It’s not that New Yorkers can’t drive in the snow it’s just that they forget they know how to drive at all! The snow seemed to lighten up a bit toward departure time and we ended up leaving on time to get to the New Jersey stop just about five minutes late which is not bad all things considered. The bus we were on did give us a bit of a problem but after touring on a bus that gives us problems most of the time, I was as calm as a cucumber (of course if you can believe I can be calm at all)!!

Anyway, the beautiful Catskill mountains covered in fresh snow was a breathtaking sight for anyone that likes the outdoors but for the skiers especially. There’s nothing that gets you in the mood for skiing than a fresh DUMP of that white stuff! Of course, Windham Mountain felt this was perfect opportunity to do absolutely nothing to the mountain. Ahhh…news flash…we realize this is the east coast so we really didn’t need for them to try and give us the “west coast” powder experience! Yes my fellow ski dudes…no grooming and after all that fresh wet powder was pushed away the underlying nasty iceman reared his ugly head. Sooooo…trying to avoid hundreds of skiers and ice patches ended up being a lot of work for this skier. Of course my day didn’t start out as expected because I found this mountain groups sales to be an administrative nightmare. They changed things around and it was nothing like years past. The one thing that Windham does have though is a great bar lounge and having the Killepitsch girls join us for Après Ski was fantastic!

Sunday’s experience at Hunter Mountain was great. We were in and out of the group sales office in minutes, those that rented equipment found that process to be much quicker, and conditions at Hunter were AMAZING! The mountain was well maintained and I really did feel I was skiing out west. Of course, we had only had half the amount of skiers than we had on Saturday. Mostly this is due to the extreme partying back at the resort. I’m not sure what’s a more dangerous sport…skiing or partying with Peter and the Riedlbauer’s staff. I’m still amazed I woke up the next morning and actually had 17 people, out of 54, that were ready to hit slopes! Man that was a looooong ride to the mountain but nothing a little fresh air and beer couldn’t fix! (I’m really not supposed to let this out yet but…shhhhhhhh….we will be back at the Hunter Mountain German Alps Fest this August and I believe there will be buses leaving from several states if you would like to join us)

Riedlbauer’s Resort…..what can I say but FAMILY all the way. The Nussbaumer family has treated dSb like family since the very start. And yes, dSb should be back at Sommerfest in 09’. Riedlbauer’s added this beautiful building onto the back of the bar and restaurant area. This building houses a pool, spa and sauna. This was a perfect addition to truly make this a skier’s paradise. The best part of skiing is taking your boots off and the second best is getting to soak in the hot tub to rest these old sore bones! WHAT A JOB

GUYS…REALLY AMAZING! The food, accommodations, service and atmosphere can’t be beat.

The Hawaiian Luau theme party worked out really well on Saturday evening and many people had something tropical on. Even some local dSb fans stopped by on Saturday evening ready to party which was really nice. Man I’m really so happy that so many people are enjoying Live N’ Kickin’ and party to it. I would have to say that it’s one of my favorite albums also and I think Tom did a wonderful job producing it.

A very special thank you goes out to our sponsors. Hofbräu surprised everyone on the trip with a half liter glass mug and Killepitsch threw a mini bottle in each mug to top it off. That was really great of them both and I think everyone appreciated that. Karl Ehmer of course gave us all the great eats on the bus for the ride up and down. My special thanks also goes out to BW Gottschee Soccer Club, Bavarian Cub Edelweiss of Westchester who had a large contingent on the trip (skiing with them was a lot of fun), YGAC from NJ and New Generation from Franklin Square. Many have expressed interest in next year’s trip, and I can say that it is slated for the same weekend.

Well, back into the dSb studios until May when the tour kicks off. I’m really excited about this year as Klaus has arranged some really interesting things and Tom is working us to the bone pushing all kinds of creative buttons as usual. We have a lot of new music coming out this year so we are working our little tails off to make sure we are ready for ya! Rob is even picking up the piano accordion and Tom the harmonica (he won’t be happy until he knows how to play every instrument in existence…you gotta love that about him…certainly keeps things fresh).

Bis Später my dSb peeps

Kevin