TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA violinist Anna Phoebe, who recently joined ROXY MUSIC for live shows, has posted her latest weekly blog. An excerpt is available below:

"Montreux is one of those incredibly picturesque Swiss towns located between the Alps and Lake Geneva on the Swiss Riviera. It was already a settlement in Roman times, and then became an important wine region from the 12th Century onwards. In the 20th Century it has had several notable links with music and literature. When Ernest Hemingway’s central characters in the 1929 classic A Farewell To Arms flee to Switzerland by rowing boat, it is to Montreux. DEEP PURPLE's song Smoke On The Water is based on the 1971 events when a Frank Zappa fan set the Montreux Casino on fire and destroyed it by firing a flare gun. LED ZEPPELIN and QUEEN both recorded at the famous Montreux Mountain Studios, and Queen bought the studios in 1978.

Since 2003 the first weekend of September is Freddie Mercury Memorial Day – there’s a HUGE statue of him in the main square of the town. The extensive list of famous residents of Montreux (past and present) include Ian Anderson of JETHRO TULL, the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, the Swiss philosopher and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau – and Bill Gates!

The Montreux Jazz Festival started in 1967 and has had a whole host of amazing musicians – and certainly not all jazz. I was really looking forward to hearing Melissa Auf der Maur perform just before us – but apparently she missed the plane from Canada and couldn’t make it. Luckily, the INCREDIBLE John McLaughlin happened to be in town and performed an impromptu set with Billy Cobham on drums. I was so excited to get to hear McLaughlin play – the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA are one of my favourite bands of all time, and the album he did with Shakti, Natural Elements, is one of my top five favourite albums. It’s one I always have on tour with me to listen to in my bunk just before going to sleep. The live set was incredible just to watch and hear him play – and the synergy between him and Cobham was mindblowing. What a treat!

The Roxy set was great! It was my third show with them so it’s all starting to slot into place! I got compared to a Roxy Music album cover girl in a review by Reuters, which makes me smile. I have been working hard on those keyboard moves. We’re going to be performing on the last ever Jonathan Ross BBC TV show this Friday (July 16) and then playing London’s Lovebox Festival the next day. I always get extra excited about playing to a home crowd – my mum is flying in especially from Ireland to come see it! Hopefully I’ll be rocking the new catsuit legendary rock designer Ray Brown is making for me. It’s a gunmetal coloured, super-tight spandex affair: could get a little sweaty but it’s worth it!"

Go to this location for the complete blog.