Amsterdam, Netherlands – Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light… But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

Amsterdam for the first time, an amazing experience. Right off the bus, I dropped my bags and went straight to the days adventure. Behind me is the Van Gogh museum, which was amazing. There were tons of exhibits on naval ship design and warfare, tons of awesome paintings, sculptures, and so much more. Of course, that was after having some “coffee” at the café. Surprisingly, it tasted nothing like American coffee.

After the museum I wondered around the area a little more, and found this chessboard. It seemed a little small to me, but they carried on anyway. These guys took too long to play though and it got boring fast. You can see the snow in the background, yet everyone’s still riding around on bicycles. It was great to be in the land of healthy, environmentally friendly people, but you gotta watch out, cause they will run you over in the blink of an eye with those basketed death cruisers. The trains are even more surprising, so you gotta move swiftly.

Here’s a view of the famous canals in Holland, right outside the gig in Amsterdam, which was actually a church. Even though it was freezing, it was such a beautiful day. The trees looked so naked, but that kinda comes with the territory. The canals of Amsterdam have been part of the city’s landscape since the early 14th century, but most of the canals were built during the 17th century, Amsterdam’s golden age. 90 islands and 1,280 bridges, all within the city limits. During winters when it’s cold enough, Amsterdam’s canals become all-natural ice-skating venues. That would be awesome to ice skate all over town.

I remember growing up, I would visit friends in Michigan where we would skate on the lakes during winter. You could go for miles, with epic scenery on every side. I also found myself playing hockey regularly right behind the house. It was great training for the college experience I expected to receive. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I ended up not taking my college scholarship to play hockey. Instead, I put all my efforts into my music career, and left the life of an athlete to the side. I often wonder what it would’ve been like if I had pursued my talents in hockey. They said I could have been the next Gretzky, but I didn’t want to get hurt and risk my dreams in music. So, I opted for some genuine schoolen and got really intelligenter at music stuff, to prepare for the reel world.

Here I am, about 15 feet in the air, looking down from the preachers post. The red eyes in the photo make me look a little demonic. How ironic to be at church with such evil eyes, I blame the coffee.

Here’s what happens when rock concerts take place in a church. The red lights and the white beams just looked so awesome and evil, I couldn’t resist the picture from the guitar tech land on stage right. This was a great show and a very unique venue, one I will never forget. The partying after was amazing too. We couldn’t help but hit the red light district after seeing so many other red lights in the church, it just seemed so enticing and appropriate.

As we wondered through the shopping district of women, I truly realized the difference in culture between America and Europe. That night, the women, and even some men, were just completely on display like a piece of fish, waiting to become sashimi. After seeing the transvestites and other scarier things that were barely human, we scuttled off to a few more bars to laugh about the beautiful and horrific sights in the infamous Red Light District. According to Sting, Roxanne didn’t have to turn on the red light. That seems like a great marketing strategy to me too, since all the other girls had red lights. Maybe blue or purple would look good, plus how creative and expressive.

I found this awesome painting in a sex museum, isn’t it bitchin! In 2001 prostitution became legal in Netherlands, the country widely known for its laid back attitude towards recreational drugs and sex for sale. State officials thought it was better to legalize marijuana & prostitution, and allow it to legally contribute taxes. Still waiting for that in the U.S., my guess is that would totally fix the deficit in no time.

I love Netherlands.  There is such a great vibe there.  They are amazingly nice people, and very intelligent. Another famous area in Netherlands I love visiting is The Hague, or Den Haag. When you pronounce the name of this city, you hold the last G for about 3 seconds.  Try it, Den Haahhgggggggg. This is the city of the annual North Sea Jazz Festival.

I really like the ship logo next to North Sea Jazz. It’s a trumpet with Viking sails. I remember asking one of the stagehands back stage, “why are all the women so beautiful here”. He replied, “You think the Vikings brought back any ugly women?!” Plus, I imagine riding bicycles everywhere doesn’t hurt their figures either.

Here you can see the busy streets of Den-haug with its many shops and lively culture. Notice the orange flags everywhere. It was summertime during the world cup held in South Africa in 2010, so the whole town was showing their spirit for their football team. Don’t dare call it soccer over there though. You’re bound to get either an earful of words, or an eyeful of fist.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ME PERUSING THE STREETS OF DENHAUG

You can see a bit more festivities at the end of the shopping strip by the church where music lovers were packing the streets to catch the ska band on stage. As this video reaches the end you can see the beach in the distance. When I reached the sand I saw the familiar sight, as I realized, I’ve totally been there before.

Here’s a view of the beach, this time it wasn’t as windy, it was a much nicer day. Last time however, it was crazy windy, people were crashing kites left and right. At one point I saw somebody’s hat blowing down the beach. Check out the building at the end of the pier, it looks so futuristic and it was awesome to inspect all the architecture when we walked to the end of the pier.

As we headed back to the hotel for the next day’s journey, I realized if I was gonna ever move to Europe, this was one of my top choices. I’ve had some wild nights in Amsterdam and Den Haag! And I’ve had some scary experiences worth only doing once.  I must say, If you ever find time, you should visit. Just stay away from the donkey, dart, or banana shows.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!

 St. Thomas, Virgin Islands – Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

People are always asking me what is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to, and I always have such a hard time deciding. I often end up saying home, San Diego. Which of course translated means a whale’s vagina, not to be confused with a dork, which is a whale’s penis. That’s what I thought until I came here, St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Check out this astonishing view of the beach, from my hotel room balcony.

We arrived at night and couldn’t see the surroundings until sunrise. I knew it would be amazing from the leaflets at the airport, but I had no idea it would be so breathtaking. I could barely sleep and eventually woke up even though the sun wasn’t out, just to get ready for a swim at the beach as soon as the sun rose. The warm water was great, but it was a bit rocky. Here’s the beach just after my swim, and another awesome view from my hotel room.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ME AFTER A SWIM IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA

After heading back to my room for a shower, I found these kitty cats. For some reason this resort had dozens of mildly domesticated felines living there on the grounds. The hotel was feeding them and there were cat toys all around. Stray dogs are totally common around the world, but it was nice to see such an abundance of pussies, cats gutter-brain!

Just before leaving for work, I ran over to the restaurant to capture a photo of the sunrise on the other side of the cove, where you could actually see the sun. Another breathtaking site. It looks like the best spot on the island to catch some surf too, never ending lefts and rights.

Even though there were major power problems on stage before the band arrived, we managed to fix all the electrical issues, set up the backline, and still had time to run down to the beach nearby to take more pictures. I ended up collecting handfuls of seashells, and sat here for about a half-hour enjoying the amazing colors in the water and the white sandy beaches, while watching the pelicans dive into the bay after fish.

(Ryan Huddleston Guitar Solo Live! Francisco Tarrega – Lagrima)

Here’s two of my favorite shots of the numerous critters I captured with my camera during sound check. It was a rare day that I wasn’t glued to the gear and computers. As the band rehearsed, I just wondered all over the venue, constantly chasing chasms of creepy crawly creatures.

After sound check, I hurried down to the same nearby beach to capture the sunset at the very last moment, with its amazing colors in the sky. Words cannot express the beauty, but these pictures come pretty close.

The humidity didn’t really hit me until around show time. As it got darker on that side of the island, the wetness became unbearable. Then when all the lights went to full capacity for the show, the bugs decided to join us.

This totally reminded me of when I was doing tech rehearsals and preproduction with Kelly Clarkson in Florida, which is not too far from St. Thomas. One night there were so many bugs onstage, and she caught the biggest one in the sky, right in her mouth. She totally flipped out and after spitting it out, she ended the rehearsal on the spot. Which was great, cause it was a long tech day and we all wanted to be at the hotel anyway. That was so comedic to see her dancing around with a giant bug in her mouth. We pretty much all experienced the same thing, but she definitely got it the worst. Here’s a picture of me back in those days on the breakout tour in 2006. This was me next to Cory Churko’s rig. He is one of the most amazingly talented musicians I’ve ever met or worked with, and possibly the nicest human on earth. I really miss working with him because he was so cool and inspiring. Just maybe I’ll see and work with him again next time Shania Twain goes back on the road. My fingers are crossed. Cory also had one of the coolest rigs I’ve ever had my hands on. You can see the violin and numerous guitars, that all fed through wirelessly into the Line-6 preamp, that had MIDI control coming from Pro Tools. The audio ran through Pro Tools, as well as his live, real time effects. His keyboard, percussion, and vocal mics all ran through the mic preamp, and then into Pro Tools, to be treated before summing and splitting to monitors and front of house. The Orange amplifier sounded awesome with the Gibson crushing through it. This was possibly the most integrated MIDI and audio setup I’ve ever seen. It was a great experience to help design, build, program, and operate.

Lucky for us the bugs in St. Thomas preferred lights over mouths, and I made it through the show with no dessert. It was a mad dash to get out of the venue and catch the wild safari jeep ride back to the hotel. I felt like Indiana Jones as we raced up the mountain in the open roofed ride, along the Cliffside, and wrong side of the road. All because the goats were too scared to walk the outside lane.

Ending a very long day in St. Thomas wrecked from the excursion, I went straight to sleep in my shoes. Some of the others however, decided to have a few drinks, even though we were only given about three hours to rest before we had to leave for the airport. Upon departing, some of the people in the entourage were literally falling asleep on the ground, on their suitcases, in the vehicles, in the lobby of the resort, at the airport terminal, and even at the restaurant where we had breakfast sandwiches. The good news is they told me no one even noticed the egg and cheese stuck to my face after my nap.

As we were leaving a huge hype went down because a playboy playmate was on the same flight as us. So we all had to go get a good look at that of course. She was stunning, even with those pesky clothes on. The flight out would have been amazing, if I wasn’t so tired. Almost everybody lost something or forgot something on that trip; cell phones, iPods, chargers, water treatment kits, bathing suits, and more.

Sometimes I forget how amazing my job is and the fact that I get paid to travel to places like this, all in the name of great music. There was so much natural beauty all around. I took like 800 pictures that day, of everything I could find, even the birds and bees. I had lots of extra time, cause I think I worked faster than ever before in my life. It was an amazing day, and I look forward to going back to the Virgin Islands someday soon.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!

Athens, Greece – The foundation for Western Culture. “When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

We left mid day on foot and headed up the hill towards the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. This was the first good view we had of the historic site, on the treacherous cliffs in the distance. You can see here where many of the homes and shops might have been hundreds of years ago. This was the Roman Capital, and an important cultural stewing pot. As usual you can see all of the construction work around the distant buildings. It’s my understanding that this saves them on taxes, I assume this is why it seems like every historic site around the world is always undergoing some sort of renovation.

This is one of the first structures we saw as we approached the path up the hill, this building was definitely in the best shape, compared to the surrounding areas. Even the green grass was different than the other areas. At closer inspection you could see bullet holes, spear holes, and other signs of warfare all around the buildings and surrounding gardens. It reminded me of  the structure in Nashville, which was built in 1897.

As we moved towards the museum I found a few pieces that were particularly intriguing. Especially this headless woman with her clothes falling off her missing hands, posed as she fetches water. I Imagine this statue was damaged during a time of war, yet her large bosom remains. As do many Greek statues of naked bodies, encapsulating a timeless pastime of nude human adoration.

This museums coin collection is what sparked my extensive coin collection. I’ve always collected currencies throughout the world on my travels across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North & South America. But on that day for some reason, I decided to buy handfuls of ancient Greek coins, and other countries too unknowingly. To this day I have an entire book of coins and paper currency. It’s not much, but it’s cool to look at. I eventually started collecting real gold coins, it’s my version of diversification. However, I think  stockpiles of food, bullets and alcohol will hold real value much longer than a few coins. Shoot, with all those gold coins I could go get at least two or three six-packs…

Here is the outdoor shed where concerts take place, on the backside of the hill. You can still see the orchestra pit, with its fresh scattering of chairs and speakers on display. If you look closely, you can even see all the hidden lighting fixtures in the crevices of the ancient remains. How cool would it be to have a performance on that stage? About as cool as Yanni!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ME AT THE ACROPOLIS VISTAS

Here I am at the Acropolis Vistas, the view from here was incredible. The Parthenon is the remains of a temple to the Greek goddess Athena, The Goddess of Wisdom. The Parthenon is the temple located on the Acropolis, a hill overlooking the city of Athens, Greece. Built in 438 BC, the Acropolis translated means “high city”. Here’s a view of what the city used to look like before years of ruin.

Before the sunset we found ourselves perusing through the shopping district at the bottom of the hill. We went to the legendary shop of Stavros Melissinos. People have been seeking this place out since the Beatles made his high quality ancient leather sandals famous. After an interesting leather experience, I met a guy on the street and bought handfuls of expired currency. Then we found some amazing food at a small restaurant. Of course I had the Gyro, but it didn’t taste at all like a referential stabilizing navigation device, it was more like lamb.

We eventually headed back to the hotel when it got dark, and pushed our way through the drug dealers, clowns and prostitutes again, just to get back into the hotel. It was much easier this time, when we didn’t have to carry twenty road cases from the airport van.

This was a classic European hotel, with tiny elevators that could barely hold two people, or even one person with two bags. Maybe one of the smallest and slowest elevators I’ve ever seen. Nothing like you’d see in America, with a twenty-person capacity. It felt so rickety and dangerous, but it was much better than carrying my bags up the long, spiral staircase.

Like many other cities in Europe, Athens had an unusual amount of stray dogs. These two dogs were just roaming around the parks, wondering aimlessly. At first you really want to pet these dogs when you see ‘em, but when you examine how filthy they are it’s a quick reminder to keep a safe distance. It’s kind of amazing, they have no one to care for them, and they just find food as they go. What a life!!

This arena took a while to walk to, but we could see it from the Parthenon earlier in the day. When we eventually got over here I captured this picture of the Olympian, about to throw a disc. The arena in the distance was used for the Olympics in the summer of 2004. 10,625 athletes from 201 countries competed in 28 different sports. It was always a dream of mine to compete in the Olympics. What an honor. I wanted to try out, but the coach at the YMCA said “I wasn’t special”, can you believe it? He really crushed that dream for me.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ME OVERLOOKING THE CITY OF ATHENS

Check out this video overlooking the city of Athens with the gig in the side of a mountain. It was really windy, but what a beautiful view, except for the clouds of smog that is. You can hear on my radio the hilarious conversation between the stage manager and the promoter about whether or not the gaff tape would damage their staging equipment. Of course it definitely would damage the old sailboat of a stage, but we couldn’t tell them that.

The gig turned out great too, there was a hilarious moment when the support act used part of the staging that she was specifically told not to, so she got to finish her set with all the lights turned off. A great way to finish a day in the 110 degree sun. At one point, all the roadies, a bunch of old men mostly, were lubing each other up with sun tan lotion, but I think it’s better that you don’t see that picture…

All in all, Athens was an incredible experience but I don’t know if I need to go back. I pretty much did everything that I ever wanted to do there, and it only took 1 day. This was an amazing day off, about as good as it gets. I must have walked at least 10 miles and seen some of the most beautifully historic sites on the globe.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!

Stonehenge, England – “I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.” I guess it’s good Nigel wasn’t there to confuse the Ancient Druids.

Even though we were out late last night having birthday drinks with some friends in London, and were exhausted beyond belief, we got up early in the morning to catch the train to Stonehenge.  Even I had to find coffee to start that day.  Luckily there was an amazing French café across the street from our hotel near Hyde park.

As I stood there in front of the French café with my blazing hot cappuccino, I recalled the last time I stayed at this same hotel. It was for the Live8 concert in July 2005, when I was working with Joss Stone. An estimated 3 billion people came together in the fight against extreme poverty. I recalled returning to this hotel on one of the best days in my life, after seeing Madonna, Paul McCartney, The Who, The Killers, Pink Floyd (my favorite of the day), Coldplay, Elton John, Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Sting, U2, Velvet Revolver (my second favorite of the day)  and so many more.  Aside from the most amazing music event I have ever witnessed, the energy of the whole day was unforgettably special.  With the likes of movie stars, kings & queens, and the 250,000 music lovers, there was such an aroma of peace, love, and happiness.

We eventually walked to the tube station as the rest of the group arrived. It was about a two-hour train ride, with 3 trains, each way. But we slept through most of it anyway.  Upon arriving to the train stop in Salisbury, we found a cab, cut a deal, and went straight to Stonehenge.  The area really reminded me of Oregon, very green and wet.  The whole drive there was like a rollercoaster, up & down the winding hills, as the cabby raced us down the two-lane road through the trees.

We arrived just as the sun was beginning to peer through the clouds. It was an amazing site to watch. We walked a large circle path around the site, as we listened to the fascinatingly irrelevant info on the headsets.  After about five minutes I ditched the audio and just made up my own story.  I got some great pics and memories, as we circled the stones, watching the sun hit it at different angles, capturing the true essence of its beauty. It was definitely cool to watch but not exactly what I was expecting. I almost expected it to be more of a supernatural, out of this world experience. Unfortunately, I just didn’t feel anything extraordinary, no phenomenal energies or anything. We stayed about an hour, before the cold finally had my fingers, toes, and face frozen numb.  We actually hung in the gift shop for a while, trying to warm up and eventually headed back towards the train station.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ME AT STONEHENGE

Apparently, Stonehenge was built between 3100 – 1100 BCE. The circle was aligned with the midsummer sunrise, the midwinter sunset, and the most southerly rising and northerly setting of the moon. The stones used in its construction were brought from 240 miles away, averaging eighteen feet in height and twenty-five tons in weight. More than nine hundred stone rings exist in the British Isles. Of these, Stonehenge is the most well known. The druids are known to conduct their ritual activities mostly in sacred forest groves. Stonehenge was simultaneously used for both astronomical observation and ritual function. By gathering data regarding the movement of celestial bodies, the Stonehenge observations were used to indicate appropriate periods in the annual ritual cycle. During those periods, among them being the solstices, equinoxes and different lunar days, festivals and ceremonies were held. Wow… that’s a pretty awesome calendar, but not as cool as mine.

(Ryan Huddleston Guitar Solo Live! Dionisio Aguado – Study in Amin)

As we headed back to the train station, we saw this Cathedral not too far off in the distance. We had the cab driver take us straight there. We were sort of in a hurry to get back to London, because the Thanksgiving dinner with the whole band and crew was in only a few hours.  From afar the Cathedral looked really cool and not too crowded, so we figured we could get in and look around with enough time to still catch our train.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF ME AT THIS CATHEDRAL

This cathedral is recognized for having the oldest copy of the Magna Carta. As I scantly searched my brain, I asked the lady to remind me why the Magna Carta was significant.  She said, “You should know why it’s important, it’s a huge factor in American history still to this day.” I defensively told her, “uh, I’m Canadian. So can you just tell me?”  She skeptically reminded me that “it was the first document forced onto an English King, whereby proclaiming American liberties, eventually leading to the Constitution.”

One thing I really love about Europe is the rich culture and its elaborate, detailed history, far different from the young United States. The Huddleston family has been traced back over 1,000 years to many parts of England. English people often ask me where I’m from, confused by my American accent. Huddleston broken apart is “huddle” and “stone”. To huddle is to gather something into a circular form, such as stones. Which was commonly done by Druids, and similar historic English tribes. I found it ironic that I realized all this while at Stonehenge.

It was a cool little detour, and totally worth it. Thankfully we got in and out in enough time, and made it back for the delicious Thanksgiving dinner, which seemed ironic because they don’t really celebrate it in England.  It would have been nice to stay in Salisbury longer though, I was in such a hurry, just running through the whole day taking pictures. I never even turned my camera off or put it away all day.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!