February 2018
February 2018
GALWAY // BACK PORCH // CAFE CARPE // MILWAUKEE // SOUTHEAST // ALASKA // TEXAS // BLOOD BROTHERS
We stayed at the Hotel Boulderado, because the club had a rate, and because of the John Prine song that mentions it. Sure enough our room was at the dark end of the hall, no particular distinction in an old hotel trimmed in wood paneling. In the morning I sat at the bar that shares a point of egress with the dining room full of natural light and chiaroscuro tile, watching the uniformed wait-staff skirmish over a disagreement in the table assignments. Hushed parleys, tenor of exasperation. One waiter made the mistake of posting a photo of the unbussed table to Snapchat, and sent it around to the others. The condemnation was general, and nothing to do with the table but reserved for this novel form of passive-aggression, and a grown man having a Snapchat account at all. Young lady servers bent their heads together and clucked tongues. The dark-eyed barista hustled through her drink orders, lobby guests on the one side and restaurant tickets on the other, pausing occasionally to small talk a man at the bar whom she appeared to know about his cat, which from what I could tell formed the best part of his conversation. Finally she turned to me and, cocking her head to one side, narrowed her eyes and said, “Are you writing a diary?” I laughed and allowed that I was, or that I was at least writing things down, whatever that meant. She said, “You know, you can sell a diary on e-Bay for like, $750,” a declaration more than a question. I asked how she knew this. She said a friend had bought one and was reading it serially as a podcast, sharing the formerly private reflections of a stranger with as many people as cared to hear them. I said something along the lines of, “Huh.”
GALWAY - On March 2nd I'll head over the Berkshires to Galway, New York, and a solo show at the Cock'n'Bull restaurant. I'm going to go ahead and advise you to follow the ticket link provided, which will save you the delicate task of an internet search using those terms. It looks like a real nice joint. Don't be put off by the high gate, it includes your supper in the cost. I guess call them if you don't want supper?
BACK PORCH - Saturday March 3rd I'll be performing at Signature Sounds Back Porch Festival at the Academy of Music in Northampton, MA., on a triple bill with my friends Birds of Chicago, and Anais Mitchell. All these folks are friends of mine, it's a lovely old theater, and we're going to have fun. You should also be there. Tickets available.
CARPE - I have a rare solo two-night stand booked at the Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson, WI, March (3/15-16), my old home bar and the town where I lived for a number of years, down the road from the town where I grew up. Last I heard the Friday was nearly sold out, but there were still tickets for the Thursday show, and between just us and the internet, there's an element of chaos resident at the Carpe, frequently expressed in a few open seats in play at a 'sold-out' show, so don't be afraid to try to the walk-up: the worst that will happen is you'll have to drink beer and talk to Kitty, which is as good as my show on any given night.
MILWAUKEE - March 17 I'll be a musical guest and panelist on an improv/quiz show entitled I Should Know This, at the Urban Harvest Brewing Company in Milwaukee, WI. The show features comedians and audience members interacting in what I've been told is a quiz format. As the Dylan song goes, I've never engaged in this sort of thing before. There are still a very few tickets left, but sales are brisk, and seating limited.
SOUTHEAST - We’ll play a few nights full band in the Southeast before Merlefest (4/29), with shows at City Winery Nashville (4/26), and Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA (4/27) booked thus far. If you want to see four pale, decidedly northern men sweating obscenely in the southern heat, this is your chance.
ALASKA - Billy and I will tour AK for a few days in May, as the light gets longer and the season gently turns from suicide to homicide. I love it up there, and it's been years. Seward, Eagle River, Palmer, and Anchorage, the usual suspects. Details to follow, eventually.
TEXAS - From AK it looks likely that we'll fly straight down to TX and see if it's hotter than Georgia. I don't know where all we're playing yet but it's solid bet that Austin, Dallas, and Houston are in the running. Harass my agents, as I'm only a glittering cog in the greater engine. Would we drive to Lubbock, or Marfa? We would consider it.
BLOOD BROTHERS - My sixth solo record is slated for a June 15th release on my own Blueblade imprint, with a tour of the Midwest that month, and tours around the country and overseas (Europe and UK) to follow through 2018 and into 2019. Featuring both iterations of my touring band - Billy and Moses on rhythm, with Bo Ramsey on electric guitar and Eric Heywood on pedal steel - BLOOD BROTHERS was recorded live to tape in three days last spring at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN. 10 songs about the connections of love between human beings across time and distance.
That about covers it. In the name of housekeeping I will mention that certain things have been explained to me about Facebook algorithms, boiling down to how you're going to see less of what we put up there because they tweaked something in your intravenous cocktail of mind-numbing horseshit. If our brand of horseshit is your favorite (Hey, Thanks!), you will now need to both 'like' and 'follow' my page in order to increase the likelihood of seeing it. Remember to wash your hands after.
But you know what's better than Facebook, besides almost anything? Bandsintown. Sign up and they will tell you when we're coming to your town or region. Cool, right? The internet divides neatly between things that destroy our humanity and things that make life super convenient while destroying our humanity.
Or, you could sign up to receive this once-monthly newsletter, jewel of its kind, which according the statistics I've looked at, 1/3 of subscribers ever actually see, because it comes from a corporation and so goes into a 'Promotions' folder unless otherwise directed. Or, you could type my name into the internet once a month and see where we're headed. It's an open question at this point which of these makes the most sense. Thanks for following our deal, however, and I'll see you out there.
Thanks,
- JF