On The Road With ELUVEITIE

Folk metal bands are known for staging some of the wildest and most energetic concerts on the planet. But what will really go on behind the scenes when a group of these European bands tour together for the first time in the U.S.?

PurpleCrayon Direct owner Bill Murphy intends to find out.

Murphy will join the Swiss folk-metal band ELUVEITIE for 48 hours on its upcoming Paganfest USA tour, filing an exclusive behind-the-scenes report of life on the road in America for the up-and-coming octet that just released its third album, "Slania", on Nuclear Blast.

"I recently launched a web site [MetalWyrd.com] that will feature interviews, news, and reviews about bands in the folk metal, pagan metal, viking metal, celtic metal, and melodic doom metal genre," said Murphy. "I had such a great time interviewing ELUVEITIE bassist Rafi Kirder, that I had an idea: Why not ask him if I can tag along with ELUVEITIE from Detroit to Chicago, essentially becoming a ninth member of the band for two days?"

At first, Murphy thought the idea was too outlandish to even mention to Kirder. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

"My wife and I had tickets to shows in both Detroit (April 30) and Chicago (May 1). We were going to be seeing the band twice, anyway. Why not take it one more step and actually spend time with them backstage, offstage, and on the road?"

He pitched the idea via e-mail to Kirder who immediately loved it.

"I dig this idea completely!" Kirder wrote in reply. Then, later, "We had rehearsal last Wednesday, and I asked the band about [your] idea. Everybody was excited about it."

From there, Kirder took the idea to his tour manager, his record label, even to a touring band member from TR, who will share the bus with ELUVEITIE and play guitar on stage with them. Everyone gave Kirder two enthusiastic thumbs up.

So, what started as a wild-and-crazy idea has become a reality. Murphy will spend two days with ELUVEITIE roughly from around noon on Wednesday, April 30, to around noon on Friday, May 2 and chronicle life on the road for a Swiss folk metal band far from home.

PurpleCrayon Direct owner Bill Murphy has worked with Lance King of Nightmare Records, the Hungarian progressive metal band EVERWOOD, is the webmaster for legendary UK prog stalwarts GALAHAD, and is (for three years running) the official band interviewer for America's premiere metal fest ProgPower USA. Over the past 15 years, he has interviewed nearly 70 of the world's most famous rock, prog, and metal musicians. PurpleCrayon Direct is an agency that works with artists.

Folk metal band ELUVEITIE was formed in Switzerland in 2002. They released two albums "Ven" (2003, re-mastered and re-issued 2004),and "Spirit" (2006) on the Fear Dark label before inking a deal with Nuclear Blast and releasing "Slania" (2008). The band will tour as part of the highly anticipated Paganfest USA 2008 bill along with ENSIFERUM, TURISAS and TR.