I woke to the train in the early dark. Years ago we almost didn't buy this house perched thirty feet above the railway grade and bordering an old tool-and-die factory, but now the sound of a train whistle dopplering at 4 a.m. is a sweet reminder that I'm in my own bed, which if not a rarity in this life is not the rule either. When the factory went defunct I admit I missed the ringing note of the drop forge.

I met the boys at the airport last night, in one more white van in a line of white vans stretching back years. We rolled north under low cinematic cloud and the first reds and yellows, laughing and talking the way we do when we’re all back together again, wagging like dogs at the dog park. The house smelled like cooking and the boys stowed their things - Feral Bill on the three season porch with a bed made up, Heywood, who does not enjoy either going to bed or getting up, in the guest room with a door that closes - and then we met downstairs for a glass of wine with Kris. I set the table and lit candles, and we sat down.

When Billy used to give the Working Musician lecture at the Berklee College in Boston, he would tell them that whatever else might happen in their lives - fame and fortune, or their obverse - the best and most lasting thing would be old friends. The road has a crucible effect on experience, concentrating and rarifying, and someone you met Sunday may be an old friend by Tuesday night. Companions of a decade or more are family, and the deep easy laughter is the best thing I know. This afternoon we’ll put the family in the van and start driving again.

EAST - The Northeast Blood Brothers Release Tour begins in Exeter, NH at the Word Barn (10/4), and continues through City Winery Boston (10/5), the Shea Theater in Turners Falls, MA. (10/6), and the Showcase Lounge at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT. (10/7). Then next week it's the Locks at Sona in Philadelphia, PA. (10/9), The Hamilton in Washington DC (10/10), and The Soundry in Columbia, MD. (10/11), the Towne Crier in Beacon NY. 10/12), and the Cock 'n' Bull restaurant in Galway, NY. (10/13). We finish up at The Loft at City Winery New York (10/14). Laurie Sargent opens the tour.

WEST - The Blood Brothers Release Tour continues out west in November with a full band tour from Southern California all the way to White Sulphur Springs, Montana. We start at McCabe's Guitar shop in Santa Monica (11/2), and play Soho in Santa Barbara (11/3), Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley CA. (11/4), and the Triple Door in Seattle, WA. (11/6). From there we'll wander the wilds of Washington and Oregon for a while, with shows at some places we've never been, inlcuding the Artisans at the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown, WA. (11/7), and the Studio at Building 270 in Walla Walla (11/8), then a return to the lovely Alberta Rose Theater in Portland, OR. (11/9) - a favorite stop - and over to another first time play at Perham Hall in Zillah, WA (11/10), and back to The Bartlett in Spokane, WA (11/11). Heywood is pursuing an advanced degree in dry land wheat farming, which is why we're dedicating such a larger portion of the tour to Washington state.

MONTANA - The western tour ends with a great string of shows in Montana, at The Myrna Loy Theater in Helena (11/14), The Rialto Theater in Bozeman (11/15) and the Top Hat in Missoula (11/16), and then the Strand Theater in White Sulphur Springs (11/17), put on by our friends at the Red Ants Pants Co(call them for ticket information, this is a speakeasy type thing and there won't be a hyperlink for this one:1-406-547-3781). Our good friends in the Minneapolis duo Dusty Heart, who opened our Midwest and some of our overseas release tours, return to open the west coast tour supporting their eponymous debut album.

That's all I've got. If you can send this email to your folks in the places where we're playing, it would help us out. We'll show up anyway but as a rule the shows go better when people come out to hear them.

October 2018