I'm writing right now from Norilsk.

About four months ago, my Russian promoter wrote to me and said: "There is possibility to play festival in Norilsk. It will be great. A true journey to end of world!"

Norilsk is in Northern Siberia. It is the only city in the world of over 100,000 people North of the Arctic Circle. In fact, there are about 250,000 people here and at it's height it housed half a million... which is a lot of people for a place that is only accessible by an airplane, or a long journey by boat in the Summer.

A lot of those people had not come willingly.

Began as a Soviet Gulag, Norilsk is one of the world's largest providers of nickel, copper and other metals. Tens of thousands of prisoners were worked to death in the mines here. Prisoners were taken from all over the former Soviet Union. This mostly ended in the sixties, but If I understand correctly, this process wasn't fully eradicated until 1979. There are families still alive who at one time were split down the middle between prisoner slave laborers and guards. I am told these things are almost never spoken of.

Norilsk is also one of the biggest environmental disasters in the world. A slight chemical odor is immediately noticeable whe you first get off the airplane (and the airport is two hours from the city.) As you drive into town, everywhere you look, massive smokestacks are filling the sky with slow moving smoke. Apparently, for 100 kilometers in every direction around the main nickel smelter, not a single living tree can be found. And the average life span here is still ten years less than the average in the rest of Russia.

The city is officially closed to tourism. No foreigners are allowed, and even Russians are supposed to have special permission on their passports to come here. When I arrived and the police saw my US passport, they looked sternly amazed. I gave them a pile of official invitation papers, and they took me directly off of the flight and into a police car. I was driven to a special section of the airport and taken to a holding cell.

I was a bit nervous at this point, and thought I might either be spending much more time or much less time that I had expected in Norilsk. But after one of the longest fifteen minutes of my life, they asked me a couple questions and released me.

The venue for the concert was the "Museum of History and Industry of Norilsk Industrial Region." I was part of the culminating night of a week-long festival at the museum. Most of the other participants were well known Russian authors, composers, artists and personalities. I was invited because one of the organizers used to produce events in a club I have played in Moscow a number of times.

I wasn't really sure it was a good idea. My shows in Russia usually are pretty successful, but they are always in towns with established countercultures - Moscow and Saint Petersburg. This was a really different event. I was tired, jet-lagged, and overwhelmed, having just flown from Seattle via London and Moscow. And I was honestly pretty nervous about how I would be perceived in such a place. In a big gaping wound of a city with such a painful history.

I felt a certain poverty in what I had to offer these people.

For the past few years, I've had this mounting feeling that there must be tens of thousands of other guys with guitars or accordions going about trying to let the world know how awesome they are. It is not necessarily the most noble of professions.

I give about 200 concerts a year. And every once in a while I need one of those concerts to produce a miracle. Not all of the time. Maybe once a year... maybe once every two years. But I couldn't keep doing what I do without them. I need them like you might need a meal, a drink of water, or a hug.

A miracle, for me can a very simple thing. Often it is just a moment when I forget that I've played these songs a thousand times and I forget all of my own tricks and games and become truly surprised again during my own concert.

Last night was a miracle.
Last night was one of the best concerts of my life.

I won't really try to describe it. But it was like my songs were written to be sung to these people. The room exploded as soon as I began. It was one of the most enthusiastic crowds I have ever played for. The organizers of the festival said they have never seen an audience in Norilsk behave like they did last night. The city is known for being reserved and suspicious. I feel very honored that something in my music makes them relax this...

Here is a short video of me singing a Russian folks song with members of the local Russian choir:


I've already been invited back for the city's big anniversary celebration in July. I'm not sure if I can make it yet... but I hope to make Norislk a regular stop on my touring.

A concert like this makes it much easier to keep playing every night.

I am flying back to Moscow and about to begin the weirdest European tour I've ever had. I am happy to be going a bunch of new places. I am playing a few other new Russian towns, Bratislava, Budapest and then flying to the capital of Moldova... all new territory for me. I'm really excited! I'll also playing in more conventional places like Germany, France, Holland and England.

Here is the whole tour. If you know anyone in any of these place, please let them know I am coming:

May 17 -Norilsk, RUSSIA - Museum of History and Development of Norilsk Industrial Region
May 22 - Moscow, RUSSIA - Club Gogol
May 23 - Kostroma, RUSSIA - Dudki Bar
May 24 - Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA - Madison Theater
May 25 - Rostov-on-Don, Russia - Cork
May 28 - Berlin, GERMANY - Echcloraque
May 29 - Leipzig, GERMANY - Galeria KUB
May 30 - Volyne, CZECH - Volyne Fortress
May 31 - Prague, CZECH - Kastan
June 1 - Brno, CZECH - Mandragora (my birthday!)
June 2 - Ceske Budejovice, CZECH - Club Solnice
June 4 - Bratislava, SLOVAKIA - Sub Club
June 5 - Vienna, Austria - Vorstadt
June 6 - Budapest, HUNGARY - Siraly
June 8 - Chisinau, MOLDOVA - Mihai National Theater
June 10 - Paris, FRANCE - Studo de L'ermitage
June 13 - Utrecht, NETHERLANDS - dB Studio
June 14 -Netherlands - Beekestijn Pop Festival
June 15 - Hoorn, NETHERLANDS - SWAF
June 17 - London, UK - The Green Note
June 19 - Exeter, UK - Northbridge Inn
June 20 - Brighton, UK - The Cowley Club
June 21 - Southampton, UK - The Homestead

The full details about all of these shows are always up at:
http://www.jasonwebley.com/events.html

-Jason