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July 7 - 9, 2005 - New England

JULY 7 - NORTHAMPTON

WRSI RADIO - live on the air with old friend JOHNNY MEMPHIS - SIMPLY LOVE DOING
STUFF WITH JOHNNY - ONE OF THE GREAT INTERVIEWERS - SEE YOU SOON JOHNNY - LOVE
TO THE FAMILY!!

VENUE - THE IRON HORSE

Carrie & I have been looking forward to this for some time - 2 nights in one
of our favorite towns - stations (WRSI) - & venues (THE IRON HORSE)

feelinig better with some positive plan to treat Joan’s illness - so I’m happy &
so appreciative when we hit stage.

SHOW #1

Jim did his usually great job on sound - so the rest was easy - great
interaction with the audience here - there always is - Loved so many
spontaneous moments here - it’s hard to pick out favorite songs - loved some
obvious fun ones like “...Tequila Blues” & Laredo” ... but maybe my favorites
were “Big Moon Shinin’”, “Red Dog Tracks” - an amazing “Oh Set A Light” - “Willd
Thing” and“We Come Up Shinin’”

John Platania & Andy Cotten were great - just great - Carrie’s solos were right
up there and as a band we were on all cylinders tonight. - Thanks to all those who
attened including:

Matt & Jamie - getting married soon - THANKS FOR THE “We Come Up Shinin’”
commernts - we’d be so proud to have it part of your ceremomy!! (kiss the little
one for us!) - Hi to Mike & Susan.. Hey Jordon - hope your dad (DUD) likes the
new oneHi Julia & Linda - (THANKS FOR THE SINGLE MALT!!!) - Hi Donna - & Hi to
N.C.’s Stevie??? (name??) - Hi Marsha & SANDY - Thanks for the “Me As I Am”
comments!!! - so nice to relive that!! -

HI JONAS (& mom NANCY) - so glad you stuck it out for “.... Tennessee” - WE ALL
LOVED THE PICTURES!!! - Hi Jim & Donna - hope Brant likes the CD - HI Betty &
DAVE - LOVED THE ARTICLE DAVE!!!! THANKS -

Hi Jason... all the best with your band - Hi To Carlos & Tim, Jennifer & Susan -
A big hi to Brian & Dave.

SPECIAL HI TO MY GREAT FRIEND STUART BEHIND THE BAR - always a highlight for me
my friend!!

& to Jody, Jessica, Leslie & allthe great staff & all the rest... THANKS FOR THE
GREAT NIGHT


JULY 8 - Northhampton

Woke at 6:00 AM - was going to relax in town - but decided to make the
3 hr trip to see Joan & the family - son, daughter, grandkids - & BRO JON - just
in town to visit Joan & family - it was worth the trip, but I had to fight a
big storm comming back andI arrived in Northampton exhausted -

A quick soundcheck, a shower anda great welcome when we hit the stage woke me up
quite quickly - LOVED THIS SHOW!!! - the band was great but more than that it
was like sharing things together with friends - things “came up” in
conversation/performance that had never happened before - & that’s what makes
magic - & that’s what this show was for me - Carrie thought the same!!

said hi to many including:

Big John... great to see you tonight!!

Hi to Rick and Tanya, Alison, Jessica and Jim - Hey Sally, Hope Mark enjoys the
CD . . . wish him a big happy birthday from us, Hi to Julie and Stevie, Linda
and Laurie, Hi Adele, good to see you again - love knowing that we’re both fans
of Frances’s short stories.

Hi Kate and Stacy. Hi Ed and hi to your fiddler Adam (9 years old) hope to get
to see Sue next time. Hi Jamie, remind me next time and we’ll do “Holy Shit”
for you. Love the comment that is has real meaning for you - wel’ll have to
discuss that further. Hi Bob and Laura, Bob - check with Class Act re: the
house party.

Hi Michelle, thanks for the kind words about the show. Alyssa, hope that Aunt
Pat and Uncle Richard enjoy the CD, very nice meeting you.

Hi Bob and Dave, special hi to Giselle (will be 11 soon - happy birthday when
that day arrives) and stepmom Stephanie - so nice talking to you, see you soon.

J and J - happy sixteenth aniversary, hope your friends Ainsley enjoyed. Hi
Joe, hope the three busy boys aren’t driving you nuts. If so, it’s all worth
it. Hi Tom, hope Lauren and Kayla enjoy the CD.

thanks to all for a very special night - we can’t wait to get back here.

P.S. Sigrid - hope you’re okay, love to you and Mom.


July 9 - TOWN CRIER, Pawling NY

Last show before our Euro Tour ( starting July 14)

BIG FAMILY REUNION HERE!!! IN TOWN ARE:

MOM OF MY KIDS, JOAN
DAUGHTER, KELLY/HUBAND FRANK
grandkids, RILEY, KATE & SAMANMTHA (being baby-sat by friend Mary Knoblock -
THANKS MARY)
SON, KRISTIAN

and surprise celeb guest - my brother JON (VOIGHT)

note: bro Barry caught a 24 hour bug and had to postpone his trip

THE SHOW -

what a great audience!!! - in the first have we filled several of Riley & Kate
requests - “Sweet Tequlla Blues, “...Jenny” and“My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” -
but the highlight of the first part weas bro Jon getting up & singing the first
song I ever wrote (12 at the time) - “FADED BLUE” - The Audience loved it - his
off-the-cuff comical intro led to a rather serious performance - NICELY DONE
JON!!!

Did lots of Red Dog Tracks songs tonight - The kids stayed for the second set
where we filled several requests - “Dirty Lil TX Story”, “HIM WHO SAVED ME” -
KATE & RILEY & ALL HELPED WITH A MOST THERAPUTIC VERSION OF WILD THING - ended
with a heartfelt, “We Come Up Shinin’”

One of my favorite nights - what great family memories - and most important, the
Dr’s have given us a hopeful plan re Joan so we were able to relax a bit and
really enjoy the moment!!

HI TO:

Great friend & old school mate,
Billy Kraft & familly - wioe Dawn, lovely daughters, KIM & JEN - SO GOOD to see
you Guys!!! - & hi to Gary & lovely Amie - (don’t wash those Jeans!!) - hope to
see you soon again... Hi to Elin & Scott & Don (from the Delaware Blue Grass
Fest) & the lovely Catlyn.. ‘till next time!

A Big hello to Carrie’s friend, brilliant fiddler Bruce Molsky & wife Audrey
... hope to see you both at Tonder - BRAD & HOWARD - thanks for always being
there - hey to Mindy & Jeff - Hi Lisa & Mary - so nice seeing you again Lisa -
thanks for the kind words - hope to see you both soon again - Hi Debrah!!! -
Hi Mike thanks for the B&B stuff - see you soon!

a special hello to the great staff - Jody, Allison, Catlyn, & Ian - so good to
see you all - BILL - WHAT A GREAT SCOTCH TASTING - THANKS MY FRIEND - What a
great spirit you have!!

GREAT TO SEE YOU GRAYSON!! - HOPE YOU & MOM (MARY) WILL STAY FOR OUR SHOW NEXT
TIME!! - MAKE SURE YOU MENTION IT TO MOM - (certainly LOVE HER CAKES etc.!!! -
but want to say hi next time - pass it on!)

THANKS PHIL - & All the others - it was a great beginning at this wonderful
place!

June 30 - July 1, 2005 - NY and Canada

June 30 - Brooklyn

Outdoor Concert at the Prospect Park Bandshell - (Opening for Del McCoury)

It was good be back doing a show with Del & the boys – so good to see them. Thanks to Andy Cotton for being so prepared on bass – Another great job Andy.

We dedicated this one to the spirit and memory of Carrie’s great friend Andy Morgan.

Quite a large audience here – since we were opening for Del and it is an outdoor event, we were pleasantly surprised that even our most intimate songs seemed to be heard by all – loved the reaction to “Red Dog Tracks” which is quickly becoming a highlight of every show.

Sorry to say I can’t find my notes – so many kind people said hello – from memory certainly great to see old friends Michael & Elaine – CONGRATULATIONS!!! (just got engaged) – so nice to meet their friends LINA & MICHAEL – so, so good to meet you – Hi to Richie – thanks for the picture!! – love it – Hey Gary – great to see you always – Hi Susan, my new friend Luys ?? sorry about the spelling – hi Joe… John, Karen, Angie, Malissa..

THANKS REBECHAH! - & all the great park volunteers! – we appreciated your efforts – what a great group

Elliot, Sarah, Keith & all the other Andy, Carrie/Javier connection friends… of course Brian & lovely Sarah


July 1 – heading to Nova Scotia

I’ll make this travel torture as brief as possible – Left New York at about 9:00 A.M – The flight is supposed to take 1 hr 45 minutes – Eight hours later, our feet finally touched the ground!! – AFTER 4 ATTEMPTS TO LAND IN HALIFAX!! – that’s right – 4 times we came out of the clouds & headed for the ground, only to speed up & head for the sky again – finally landed in Bangor Maine where we stayed overnight - we arrived at the airport at 5:00 A.M. the following day – at 10;00 A.M. they announced the Halifax airport would be closed all day due to fog – SO WE TOOK A BUS , THEN A VAN – 12 HOURS – ARRIVING AT THE FESTIVAL SITE AT 11:00 P.M.

July 3 –

to make up for all we missed Carrie & I gladly played all day long – 5 shows/workshops – ending up with a “Wild Thing” guest appearance with East Canada’s #1 group, The Trew’s

We were so glad we finally made it – the people and all the volunteers were so kind and appreciative – Thanks to all including host Troy & lovely wife Jennifer – Troy’s buddy/volunteers Herold & Norm and friends Gene & the rest – hey to cousin Cecil (say hi to Denise!) – thanks for the kind words – Hi to Rick, Karen, Jen & all – what a great bunch – Hi to Sandy – keeper of the gate! – see you next time -

A BIG HI & THANKS TO BASSIST SAM PETTITE WHO AFTER A BRIEF REHEARSAL JOINED US ON OUR MAIN STAGE SHOW – How the hell did you remember all those changes Sam – GREAT JOB!! – Hi to all our new friends from the rest of the band, THE BACKSTABBER’S STRING BAND – Tom, Christine & Tony - & hey Kelly… make sure Sam is ready for November!!

HI THELMA & DAVE – thanks for the Last Chance plus thoughts – see you soon – HI TARA – hope you enjoy Red Dog Tracks & the Angel EP – love to you & friend Jennifer - Hi to Malissa & Dave – Hey Allen – liked the hat!! - A BIG HI TO JOHN FROM THE TREW’S – NICE STUFF JOHN – so nice talking with you - & THANK’S FOR THE INVITE!! – Best to Collin & Sean .. you’ve really got something there – all the best!! – SAY HI T & BEST WISHES TO BROTHER PAT!! – Carrie & I almost stayed to the end to thank you again but we were just too exhausted – look forward to seeing you soon!

Great to see JP Cormier- our old buddy from The Tonder Festival -

Hi to Tom – our great friend from CKUA "THANKS FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT - A BIG HELLO TO THE REST OF THE GANG - Carrie & I are looking forward to seeing you in October!"– Hi Paul-Emile – thanks for the Just Us memories – hi to WILD THING Christine – Hey Archie (Fisher) – thanks for the kind words – see you soon - Hi to our lovely young friends Bridgette & Elli – Carrie & I loved watching you groove to the Trew’s songs at the end of the night – A BIG HI TO JUSTIN & LIAM – great sharing the stage with you both – keep in mind what I said - & HI TO LIAM’s MOM SHERYLL – great riding with you – glad you made it Justin .. see you all soon – "SPECIAL HELLO TO OUR NEW FRIEND JEANNE (in the wheelchair) - thanks for the kind words - LOVE YOUR SPIRIT!!! - look forward to seeing you next time through!!

VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR B&B HOSTS FRANK & KERSTIN – loved spending time with you!!! – many thanks and all best wishes with the move/job etc!

And all the others – thanks for making our 20 hour travel ordeal WELL WORTH IT!!! – hope to see you soon

Love to Joan!!

June 15 –18, 2005 – John Prine Tour

June 15 - THE TOWN HALL - New York

This is the first of three shows with my old friend, John Prine - In the last several years Carrie, John Platania & I have spent great nights - first listening to John’s show, then hanging out with our now old friends, Jason (Gtr) & Dave Jacques (Bass) - great to be with his terrific sound crew as well... a bunch of great guys! ... PAUL, DAN, ERIC & ALL ... so good to see you!!

We sound check at 7:10 - with John’s ace crew - thanks Paul & Dan - also thanks Eric for having my “safety” guitar set up


THE SHOW

As it’s been for the last several shows, thinking about Joan (terrific mom of my kids), who’s battling some stuff now - dedicating the show to her.

brilliant New York bassist, Jim Whitney joined us tonight... John, Carrie, Jim & I really enjoyed this one... we had lots of fans tonight... combined with John Prine’s fans, the audience seemed to be on our side from the outset...

HIGHLIGHTS: --- we really got lost in Red Dog Tracks tonight - it was so vibey ... and the therapeutic WILD THING certainly had it’s magic... I had constant chills on “Let’s Leave This Town”, & “Angel Of The Morning” - Carrie’s voice against mine just does that... most all the time... so special tonight!! And Carrie, J.P. & Jim’s ‘s solos were just awesome!! - More and more these days, I’m looking over at Carrie during her solos in wonder of some totally fresh inspired phrase she just played. Way to go CARRIE!

Again, just a GREAT AUDIENCE!! - WE APRRECIATED THE SUPPORT SO MUCH.

NOTE: AT THE END OF JOHN PRINE’S SHOW, AS USUAL, JOHN GENEROUSLY INVITED CARRIE, JOHN & ME BACK ON STAGE TO PERFORM HIS GREAT “PARADISE” WITH HIM - AND, AS USUAL, JOHN’S INTRO OF US IS SO WARM & PERSONAL --- THANKS MY FRIEND!! - GREAT TO BE WITH YOU!

We only had a few minutes to say hi in between sets as John Prine’s set started 20 minutes or so after ours ended.

So good to see those we did, including:

our friend Louise - this lovely young girl’s love of our first CD, was toatally responsible for our mention in VOGUE - a big hello and thanks to Louise & dad Michael. SO GOOD TO SEE YOU - HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON

Hi to Fred, Don, & Avi - Hi Ineika... glad you enjoyed “ Angel” ... Tom, Suzzane & Susan... & friend from Puck Fair.... Dan, Ian, Robin, Jack & Sean... Hi to Ineska & friend Gordon...Hey Steve...

Hi to Kevin & Pattie, Pat & Celine... nice talking with you ... Hey Alyson (ROB & ALI) - great to see you ... Hi Steve... thanks for the nice comment at athe end...


Good to see old friends Mike Pilot & Al Banetta... nice memories from the past are good therapy.... Seeing Al was brought memories of the days when I played a couple of places in N.Y. ( J.P.’s & O’Lunney’s) with my then new friends John Prine & Steve Goodman... Joan was there at those shows - so good to drift back to that magical time!

special hello to John’s wife Fiona and friend Mary Kate?? ... so good to see you both... thanks for the kind words.

Thanks to all - hope to see some of you in Brooklyn - (June 30 at the Prospect Park Bandshell)


June 17 - KESWICK THEATER - PHILADELPHIA ( actually Glenside PA)

Joanie... mom of my kids... is having surgery early next week, but that’s then - now’s now.. SO, JOANIE, DAUGHTER KELLY, OUR GREAT FRIENDS CHUCK & MARY and CARRIE KNOBLOCK all drove down for the show! What a great thing for me to have us together!! LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THAT!!

Had a rough time getting out of New York.. huge delays - arrived at the theater about 6:30 - a bit late for soundcheck, but the crew did a great job and we were fine with the sound in minutes.

We haven’t been getting much airplay in Philly these past few years... but we made lots of new friends this night... our friend Andy Cotten (bass) - helped out here - GREAT JOB ANDY!! ... Again, Carrie is starting to get so loose with her solos... heard such inspired things tonoight .. John is getting well-deserved “hero worship” everyplace we play... just amazing stuff night after night!! -

although the open bar area at the back of the theater allowed for some fairly loud noise, Carrie & I just got lost in the music and played liked there was total reverence... and so many went with us - THANKS FOR THAT!!

THANKS TO JOAN & KELLY FOR SELLING CDS - GREAT JOB!!!!!

Hi to:

BRAD - thanks again for the great single malt! - Carrie’s roses are so, so BEAUTIFUL!! - however, enough’s enough!!!!. we’ll escort you out next time you bring “gifts” - instead let me buy you a drink! THANKS MY FRIEND!!!

Hi John ... so nice talking with you.. see you next time... Steve... hope Cricket likes the listen... Hi Michael (Daugherty).. nice talking with you outside.. hope you were able to sneak in your cool one! HI DIRK & KIM... hope to see you next time. Thanks for the kind words.

HI DONNA (helping in the backstage area) - so nice talking with you.. thanks for the dinner & the words.. you’re a special lady.. Hi Kristen, Jay & Denise

hi to Jim & Kim... & hey Tony... so good talking to you guys.. Lindsay & Jessie ... hope you like the CD... Hey DON... see you next time... Hi to Tim, Dee & Janet.. Scott, Craig, Lisa & Andrea... Tony & Chip.. Hi Josephine hope Steve likes the CD..

BIG THANKS TO USHERS, Martha & Rebecca FOR HELPING JOAN & KELLY get to a place where they could listen to the show

Thankis for having us SID

GREAT TO SEE TRAIN WRECK REP & MY BUDDY DAVID (KNOBS) KNOBLOCK & HIS 4 plus month old MAIZY... WHAT A CUTEY! It was her first concert!!! ... she was so so so so good!! - interested, awake. till the end... no crying?! .. what a kid!!!

Thanks to all... Carrie & I will look forward to playing somewhere in this great town soon again!


LEAVING PHILLY - HEADING FOR WASHINGTON

We stayed in a Marriott, not far from the Keswick Theater - In the evening Joan, Kelly, Carrie Knoblock & I stayed up until 1:30 AM shooting the breeze and having a few laughs in one of the rooms - In the A.M. the same crew plus my partner Carrie , J.P., Mary & Chuck Knoblock headed south, stopping to have breakfast with Knobs, his terrific wife Marcella & Maizy.

Just past noon, Carrie, John & I said our goodbye’s and pushed on to Washington.

We arrived in time to check into our reserved on-line Hilton - a palace for $85 ... amazing!! Way to go Knobs!! (he made reservation)

We sound checked at about 6:30, had a quick bite to eat and hit the stage at 8:00 - WITH DAVID JACQUES ON BASS - ON LOAN FROM JOHN PRINE TONIGHT, WE LOVE PLAYING WITH DAVID ANY CHANCE WE GET!

note: so looking forward to seeing our (Joanie, me & our Kids) GREAT OLD FRIENDS NANCY & MICHAEL SULLIVAN HIS WIFE PEGGY (NANCY, NOW NANCY BALLARD) -


June 18 - WASHINGTON DC - WARNER THEATER

THE SHOW

WE LOVED THIS SHOW!!!! What a night!!! I guess we had a certain small percentage of fans here, but the camraderie we left the stage with was amazing!! - you could hear a pin drop when we performed “Let’s Leave This Town” & “Red Dog Tracks” ... and “Angel Of The Morning” was chill-time for me... and we (the audience & us!!) rocked the house with “WILD THING” - DAVE JACQUES WAS A BRILLIANT LAST MINUTE SUB, JOHN PLATANIA WAS JOHN PLATANIA - AWESOME!!!!! - CARRIE WAS SO SO SO INSPIRING! - just wish Joan was here for this one, but she sure was in spirit!!

note: In between shows, as Carrie & I sneaked along the outside rim of the theater toward the CD signing area, some fans who saw us started standing and applauding - this spread rapidly throughout the theater.. it really touched Carrie & me - actually brought tears to my eyes... thanks to all so much for that memory!

NOTE: AGAIN, THANKS TO MY OLD FRIEND JOHN (PRINE) FOR INVITING US _ AS I”VE SAID MANY TIMES - JOHN IS MY FAVORITE SINGER/SONGWRITER - IF YOU”RE LOOKING FOR SOME SPIRITUAL/HUMAN AWAKENING... FOR ME, GOING TO A PRINE SHOW IS BETTER THAN GOING TO CHURCH (CARRIE & JOHN PLATANIA LOVE JOHN’S BAND & CREW AS WELL)... So great to have 3 days of this good stuff!


HI TO;

NANCY, MICHAEL & PEGGY _ WHAT A GREAT, GREAT REUNION!!!... LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

HI TO DAMIEN, PAT & RICHARD... so good talking with you - Damion .. look forward to stopping by the station next time through.... Hi Stefanie - hope the I.D.’s worked OK... see you soon... nice to see our friends from Austin, S? (remind me) & Arley...

Hi Millie & Mardaret... so nice to see you both ...Millie, thank your friend .for turning you on to “Let’s Leave This Town”.... Hi Mary, Glenn... Bob, Jenny & James.... Hey John, Anders ... so good talking to you... Hey Jay... hope Marjorie & you enjoy the CD... Colleen, Hope Brian (& you) like the CD as well... HI STEVE & JUDY... KENDALL & GREG... HI Ken, Helen & PAUL .. hi to Fred & Mary... Patricia & Danny??... HI Walt... hope you & Anne enjoy the listen... JOHN, DANNY & MARY... see you soon...

HI CHRISTOPHER & EQUILLA!! - see you soon as well... Special hello to my new friends.. ushers Janet & Marty (married 35 yerars!! - so special talking with you!

Heading back to N.Y. with wonderful thoughts of the last few days...

Again, special thanks to John’s crew... PAUL & Dan - THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING IT SO EASY TO GET SUCH GREAT SOUND!!! - Eric... thanks for your help with the spare guitar!!

June 10-11, 2005 - New England

JUNE 10 - Heading fo Boston

live radio - WMBR

Carrie & I arrived in Boston at about 2:30, picked up our Nashville-based bass player (just ended a tour there) & headed for the station. Our new friend Joan did a very nice interview and we played a few songs, ending up with a requested “Angel Of The Morning” - Look forward to coming back to this terrific station.. THANKS JOAN & DOUG

HEADING FOR FALL RIVER

Left Boston during rush hour, Carrie at the helm... arrived in the Fall River area at 6:10, checked into our old but refurbished Quality Inn Hotel.. changed & headed for sound check. Met John Platania there - he had arrived early and had already sound checked.

THE VENUE - THE NARROWS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

One of the most artistic looking venues on the planet ... a big loft space in the old industrial area of Fall River ... low along the water - top floor of an old warehouse - as we face the audience, the 10 row deep old pew-like seeting stretches from 30 feet to the right of John Platania (on our far right) to 40 feet to the left of Carrie - oblong.. with the seats set in a half moon style, with the stage easily seen from any seat.

note. behind the 10 foot long - 3 foot wide stage - there’s a 50 foot long span of windows giving a beautiful view of the river, old steel bridge &.. just at showtime... the setting sun..

Old friend Patrick met us and helped us load in. - after a quick sound check and some food delivered on site, we were on stage at 8:10.

THE SHOW

dedicating all these shows to Joan, mother of my terrific children Kristian & Kelly... with positive thoughts for her upcoming operation.

I LOVED THIS SHOW- very spontaneous & loose .. I’ll never forget our version of “Son Of Man” where as we were performing it I told Carrie (& the audience) of the experience John & I had recording the song a few months ago with THE BELLS OF JOY - ending up singing it as they did

“The Lords ALWAYS LOOKIN’... So you CAN’T sneak in” !!!

Too many highlights to remember... Carrie was so damned good... John & Kyle were magic - toatally ONE with this audience tonight - THANKS TO ALL WHO STOPPED BY... including:

Carrie’s old school froend KARA & great new boyfriend, Theo - great to spend time with you both

Philip & Karen who were there with us in Newport - great to see you again... hopefully Carrie & I can be part of your Connecticut benefit... let us know! - HI to old friend Mike from the North Lake days... all the best, Mike - Hi to John’s friiends John & Debbie... ED - Thanks for taking the time - those were special words... look forward to seeing you again...

Hi to Tom, Lynne & Brad.. such nice thoughts! ... HI ASHLEY & Chris ... thanks for bringing “The Trouble With Humans” to work... special hi to you & other “Trouble.... “ fans Michel & Lindsay... Hi Joann & husband... sorry.. forgot your name - remember you liked the “Storybook Children” album - thanks for makling Joann aware...

HI Kevin (Crime reporter from Pawtaukett)... so nice taliking with you.. thanks for the kind words...Hi Peter, Mike .. Peter (Jamaica Plains?) ... & Nancy... hi Chuck... hope you enjoyed the show... HI TOM... (The commercial fisherman) ... your kind words were so appreciated!

HI TO DEB - GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN... Thanks for selling the CDs!! - you are so kind.. HI WENDY ... so nice to see you when we arrived.

THANKS FOR THE INTRO AND THE KIND WORDS STEVE

AGAIN PATRICK... GREAT TO SEE YOU .... BEJAMIN.. THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING THERE!!! Hi to bro Owen.. hope to see him next time

thanks to all the others who said such kind words to Carrie, John, Kyle & me - look forward to seeing you soon again


JUNE 11

HEADING FOR BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT

after the show last night Carrie, Kyle, John & I relaxed with Carrie’s friend Kara & boyfriend at the bar adjacent to our hotel - good conversation & good friends - thie whole night was good therapy for me.

ON THE ROAD AT 8:45 AM, - John & Kykle in John’s car & Carrie & I in our rented big thing (comfortable & large enough to carry Kyle’s big bass - route 195 for a half hour, then 91 to our destiny, some 3 more hours away.

The FRED EAGLESMITH - ROOTS ON THE RIVER FESTIVAL

We arrive jat about 12 noon - so happy to have been invited to play here - looking forward to seeing several artists/friends... Fred, Lynn Miles, The Mammals, Chris Whitley.

As we parked our car Bob, our friend from Manchester England, came by to say hi and bring me a welcome gift SINGLE MALT ... THANKS BOB!! - GREATLY APPRECIATED.. then saw another friend Andy from London... amazing... both over here for this VERMONT festival! - j

then a very nice young lady named Thomasina met us at the gate and escorted us back to the artists lounge area - andn the way, we met old friend John from Northhampton - at the lounge area Patrick, Dot & others were there to make us comfortable - one of the highlights was getting a chance to meet Fred Eaglesmith’s lovely daughter Jesse... whom I at first thought was part of his road crew... what a great daughter you have, Fred... so easy & nice to talk to - HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON JESSE _

Carrie & I enjoyed listening to Lynn Miles... she sounded so good & natural .. then Chris Whitley did his soulful thing... then it was our turn

We had no idea we had such support here - we got such a warm reception.. it was only supposed to be a 45 minute show but our friends here wouldn’t let us off stage - loved this set... the moody, “Red Dog Tracks”, the theraputic “Wild Thing”... “All The Rain”... and the rerst... just a GREAT AFTERNOON!!

Got a chance to say hi to many before getting back to N.Y.

HI TO LEE & DEE & MY #1 ROADIE ??? - so great to see you in the audience - THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING THE LONG TRIP!

Hi Eva.... Mike - from Seattle ... Kristen nice talking with you... love Debbie.. so glad you were there... Hi to another Debbie & Gwen... appreciate your kind words & your effort to see us! ... Hi VIRGINIA... from Edgemont.. so good to see you... Hi Carol (in the red shirt)... all the best.. . Hey POKEY... look forward to seeing the sketches sometime soon - Hi Arthur (FROM BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND!!)... Brian FROM MY HOMETOWN YONKERS, (N.Y.) - hi to Tom & K? from Canada... Hey Brian from from Yonkers (actually delivered papers to my mom & dad when he was a kid)... GREAT TO SEE YOU!... drink lots of coffee!

Hi Mole .. from Lake George... Hey Henry... sis Carol... Clark .. great to see you “guys”... Hey Scott... best to you & Court!! ... hope to see you soon!1 ... Hi Jamie.. nice to see you ... hi to Steph... DAVE & JANE ... so glad you let me sign Carrie’s album!!! - what a lucky guy... I know, I know... next time I’ll be on the other side of the river behind a bush (& happy to be there!!... )

Hi Nancy & Randy... from Northhampton.. see you soon... Hey Marc... Gibson J40... great road gtr & sounds silky withouit EQ ...

HI DAVE Matalone & Barbara... great to see you again... hope to see you soon... HEY Kevin & Ann... see you in Gruene Hall ... Bret... at Hamburger stand... we’re “nobody” or “somebody” at the same time... a nice Buddist thought... saw some of that kind of thing last night.. I liked it

GREAT TO SEE YOU ALL!!

heading back to New York

Carrie & I hit the road about 4:15 - got to hear a very good singer/songwriter Hayes Carll as we signed CDs & our great friends The Mammals were jinto their first song as we walked to the car ... wish we could have stayed but wanted and needed to get back to N.Y. to take care of personal concerns... see you all soon... look forward to that.

June 4-5, 2005 - Texas Tour

June 4 - Crocket TX

note: to be honest I’ve got my soul-mate Joan on my mind all the time ... going through some uncertain times (medical stuff) - so in my heart she’s with me with all the shows and travel... we’re talking several times a day

left Austin about 1:00 PM for the slightly less than 4 hour trip... north east to Crocket. Picked up highway 21 a short ways out of town and took this 4 lane straight through several little Texas towns ... through Bryant/College Station and on to our destination.

The Camp Street Cafe, Crocket TX

history

now owned by Guy & Pipp Gillette

NOTE: GUY & PIPP HAD A WELL RESPECTED BAND IN MY HOME TOWN OF YONKERS NEW YORK IN THE 1970’S - WE HAD MANY MUTUAL FRIENDS BUT NEVER MET UNTIL NOW - CURRENTLY THEY STILL PLAY MUSIC HERE AND OTHER VENUES ACROSS TEXAS WHILE OPERATING THE PLACE

Their grandadad owned this building in the 30’s in the then all-black section of town - he rented it to a barbershop and other operations - hearsay is that Camp Street was the street everyone feared walking down - white and black alike - unless you were known and accepted by the illegal gambling/driinkink and carousing bunch who were part of the street life there.

Lightning Hopkins used to play in the barbershop for tips. To commemorrate, Guy & Pipp erecterd a statue of Lightning (designed by Jim Jeffreys ) that sit’s in a field (park) directly accross from the club - THE ONLY STATUE TO A BLACK MUSICIAN IN THE STATE OF TEXAS!! - THERE WERE MANY SUCH HEROES... some major Texas newspaper should do an editorial to help correct this!

I meet Guy & Pipp at around 6:00 PM - great guys!! – sound checked and headed, at the brother’s suggestion, for Robert Thomson’s Bar B Que --- great, fun gentleman.. Hi to lovely waitress, Bertha and the rest of Robert’s crew.

Great to see old friends that came down from Dallas .. Ariel & mom Joyce & dad Bill - & Joe & kids Wade & Marrieta (pronounced MARITA) -- great to see you all

THE SHOW

had so much fun here - just a simple sound set-up but it didn’t matter - it somehow worked - we could here each other fine, which allowed for lots of loose interacting - just a great vibe from this audience that led us to many “extras”, ending with a requested “Must Be The Whiskey” and “We Come Up Shining” - loved playing the special one for Ariel “Do Your Part”... and “”Dirty Little Texas Story” for Wade & Marietta

Hi to:

Linda - thanks so much for helping us with the CDs - so nice to meet you - & hi to:Tobi & the gang from KEOS.. Tobi heard “...Whiskey” on World Cafe.. which led to her seeking out The Trouble With Humans and Red Dog Tracks... which led to this nice turn out of friends Rick (boyfriend) & Ryan, Patrick, Sue & Ian & ? & mom & dad Barbara & Jay
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS ... CARRIE & I HOPE TO SEE YOU IN COLLEGE STATION!!

PS - Hi to Brittany & Tom from Philly!!

Hi - to JIM.... THANKS FOR THE GREAT STATUE & THE MUCH NEEDED SCOTCH, my friend... see you soon! ... Hi to Cathy & Dorsie... & Robert from Nacogdoches... Hi Brian... A BIG HI TO JIM WALL - WHO APOLOGIZED FOR NEVER ANSWERING MY LETTER AFTER WE WERE RELEASED FROM BASIC TRAINING IN ‘62 ... said he wouldn’t have forgotten if he knew I was gonna turn out special or somethin’ ... Fine friend you were Jim!!! .. kidding aside, GREAT TO SEE YOU!!!!

hi to Veronica... hey Ros (Roscoe) ... nice meeting you

THANKS PIPP, GUY, Cathy & Dorsie (?spelling) ... hope to see you soon... GREAT TO FINALLY MEET YOU GUYS!!


JUNE 5 - GRUENE HALL


Always love playing this place!! - Our terrriific bass player Kevin Smith has a photo shoot with band Hay Bail, so he’ll play the first set and John Ludwick (Kelly Willis/Bruce Robison) has kindly offered to sub for the second half... he played the first half backing his lovely/talented wife Robyn

Another great Gruene night - we have so many kind faithful fans here - John Platania, Carrie, Kevin and then John Ludwick did some inspired solos ... just a great loose night... so many highlights... ending with an emotional “We Come Up Shinin’”

Said hi to many including:

lost some notes... but here goes

hi Mark... loved the paintings - especially the full band... would love a photo of it sometime... so good to see you... HI Sharon (on my right)... grerat to see you as well... Hey Kerry ... see you soon... hi Chris... Hey Mike nice to see you again... Hi Scott & Ann ... thanks for your support... so good to see you....

Special hello to Chad & Hillary... so good to talk to you ... thanks for including us in your wedding in such a special way... bless you guys & send our special love to Kim & John & the kids... hope to see you all again ... I’ll be thinking about you next time we sing “We Come Up Shinin’” -

Hi to:

Twister ... Claudette .. thanks for the "Laredo" request... thanks... hi to Garth & M??... Hi to Ariana, dad Morris & big sis Sarah ... Hi Derek... & Michelle (& Randy) ... Robert from Ft. Worth... Hi to Sean & Buddy... & Greg... thanks for the kind words... hey Jeff & Jerry... Tracy, Ginger & Chad.. always nice to meet "Real Thing" fans... thanks.... HI to Anne Marie & John from New York... Hi to John & Ben & Claudette & J?? & Jim? ... so good to talk to you all

and of course ...GREAT TO SEE CARRIE'S MOM KATY (THE ONE THAT DANCED ON THE TABLE) & BOYFRIEND JIM ... hope you're feeling better Jim ...and Aunt Leslie.. wish you were here Frances... love you

to Dan, April Jean.. who I talked to briefly in the parking lot... and all the others another special night... see you all soon!!

June 1 - 3, 2005 – Texas Tour

Heading for Texas

Got a 9:00 AM flight to Chicago… then a 12:25 from there to Austin – As we land I retrieve a cell phone message from video producer/editor of our video (“Keep Your Hat On Jenny”), Diane Weizenkopf, informing me that the first rough cut is finished and ready for our viewing.

Carrie meets me at the airport and we head for Diane’s office.

Note: We loved the process of filming the video – director Traci Goudie was amazing in her preparedness and all involved were so dedicated, talented and kind – just a great damned wonderful crew -- and all the extras (actors, dancers etc) were so into the project – no egos… not one!!

As much as the above was true and we certainly were prepared for a nice viewing, we were totally unprepared for what we saw. THE VIDEO IS AWESOME! – Carrie & I burst into applause when it was over. It should be finished by next week and promoted to all shows that play these things (CMT, GAC, etc). We can’t wait for all our friends/fans to see it!!

JUNE 2 - "LIVE” at KGSR _ Austin Tx - 3:30 PM – with our great friend, legendary DJ, Jody Denberg.

To be honest these days have been tough – a personal thing that I’m waiting on word about – I get a message just before I hit the stage… the news is pretty darned good. So I get to my mike just as Jody is introducing us… with the weight a bit off my shoulders.

Jody’s support of our previous 2 albums broke us in the Austin and helped spread the word across the U.S. He is immensely supportive of our new record, “Red Dog Tracks” – Jody picked our last 2 singles… he and his staff chose “Keep Your Hat On Jenny and the label will officially release that on June 27.

As usual, Jody asked great questions – he has a way of getting the best out of an artist. Loved this show… We played’, “Red Dog Tracks”, “Keep Your Hat On Jenny”, & “Private Thoughts”… what a great start to this day! THANKS JODY!!

“Live” - IN-STORE at WATERLOO RECORDS – Austin Tx – 5:00 PM

One of the great record stores IN THE WORLD!! – Our friend/owner of this great place, John, has helped make us house-hold names in this community. This one store has sold more Taylor/Rodriguez CDs than any other in the world – 3,000 plus -


THE SHOW

One of John’s new employees, James, has been assigned to do the sound – his first time dealing with this stuff – after a few minutes he’s ready – so are we. GREAT JOB JAMES!!

Played a fun 25 minute set – After a good chorus of Wild Thing that had the walls vibrating and got us all loosened up, we said hi to some folks… including:

Vincent, who brings his great posters for us to see and sign … good to see you, my friend…. Hi Beth.. hi to Steve, Sharon, Danielle & Aaron… so good to see you “guys” … Hi Cynthia & Suzanne.. Thanks for supporting all our CDs & thanks for the kind words… Hi Glen .. the ballerina, toward the middle, slightly off to the left.. so nice to catch your vibe & good to meet you – HI GRAHAM (& Emily) – thanks for taking the time to stop by – hope your show went well – Hi Mike.. I know you said you’d see us soon – thanks… look forward to that! – Hi Grace.. tell Graham we said hello – proud of the work he’s doing – glad he turned you on to us – see you both soon.. – Hey John.. hope dad Kent likes the new CD – tell him we’ll see him in Big D – Hi Russell – thanks for your welcome & kind words… see you here soon again! – Hi John & Leif, the wild thing fans – good to meet you … Hi Eric (& friend Doug) – look forward to hearing your CD..

Thanks John & all – love this place!!


JUNE 2 – VENUE – SHADY GROVE – AUSTIN TX – 8:00

Thanks JOHN T for your help in the logistics and your kindness re: personal matters. Nothing like this place!! – a one-of-a-kind outdoor concert sponsored by KGSR –

THE SHOW

So great to see so many friends in the audience – over the past few years we’ve bonded with hostess Sarah & husband Boone – This time Sarah took the night off so she could enjoy the show close up – Great to see you both… as well as Traci Goudie & Diane Weizenkopf and several of the crew and acting stars, Erin, Tracy & family, Fabi & friend Ariel (who are part of a local rock group The Flames) – from our “Jenny” video!! – and of course off the the left was a special table for Carrie’s family & friends

The place was absolutely packed, but somehow the outdoor vibe still allowed us to do our intimate songs… not just the rockers – it was a fun 2 sets – John Platania & Kevin Smith played amazing solos – as did Carrie – this was such a fun night for us on stage - ending up with a Sarah requested “All The Rain” – LOVED THAT!!

And it doesn’t get better than this Austin audience! – can’t wait to get back here. Maybe the highlights for me aside from the last many, were “Memphis, Texas” dedicated to Carrie’s brilliant and wonderful short story writer grandma, Frances Nail - and our first set closer” Angel Of The Morning” dedicated to our friends from Dallas, Tara & Chad. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

Thanks for the intros Brian – Hello to:

Carrie’s family & friends… hi to Sharon & Pete… hi to Lindsey (at the cash register) & Evan – our waiter friend from the past! – so good to see you both again… Hi Mike & Misty… hi to Jaymie nice folks… always good to see you… Hi Leary… nice talking with you… all the best with your own stuff.. … Hi Rob & Lynne .. Hi Kathy (saw Rosie & me years back) – nice to see you again – HI MONICA! - Hi Nick & Paula… thanks for the kind words… Hey Sonny tell your preacher friend the Church Of The Train Wreck will welcome him as a “challenger” – Hey Eric – GREAT WORK ON “Holes” – love that!!! - Hi Billy (Italian Restaurant) – nice to see you… so glad you said hi

Another great, memorable night! – SEE YOU ALL SOON!


JUNE 3 – Luckenbach TX – Show for THE BIKERS & FRIENDS – 1:45 PM

Bikers from all over Texas are here & in Austin for a major Texas rally – never was here before – don’t blink twice… you’ll miss it .. just a big field, with a few barns & pathways bunched in one section – a dancehall – a gift store, a berger place & a small outdoor stage with a picnic like seating arrangement - & that’s where we played –

THE SHOW

It was raining so it took a while ( till the second set) – to gather the crowd – but it was damned fun! Loved playing “Big River” for this nice group – we got second requests for “Angel Of The Morning” and “Sweet Tequila Blues” as several missed them first time around – Just a damned fun afternoon - and we’ll look forward to playing the dance Hall next time through!

THANKS NEIL FOR GUIDING US IN & TAKING CARE OF US – great to see you! – Danny, nice talking with you – Enjoyed your solo as we left – please send regards to Karen & Danica (from San Antonio – I think we saw you in Milwaukee?) – Hi to Daryll & Kathy & Daryll & Joanne .. we loved the Louisiana stories advice - Hi to Janie & Douglas (saw us at the Cactus) – glad to see you walk in the back when you did – nice talking with you – hi to Ralph & Peggy (from Plano) - Hi Roger & later Royce – best of luck with your own stuff! – HI CANDICE – so nice to meet you – hope you like the CD - & JOHN – great meeting you – I OWE YOU!! – thanks for calling attention to the $$$ that fell out of my pocket – next time, pick your poison!!

JUST A GREAT WAY TO SPEND AN AFTERNOON!! – Carrie & I thank you all - see you soon -

May 27-29, 2005 - New England Tour

MAY 27 -RADIO STATION WKZE - Sharon, CT

on the road from New York by 11:45 - New friend and bass player, Andy Cotten at the helm... Andy’s on the spot this trip having to learn all the songs in a few days notice -

We make a special stop in Sharon Conn, to see our old friends... and new owners of radio station WKZE, Barb & Will - Carrie, John & I met them a little over a year ago when they were associated with one of the premier U.S. stations WRSI .. MASS (“THE RIVER”)... just great people... we sang a few songs live and did a friendly interview with Dave Doud.

Barb... Will ... loved talking with you .... We wish you all the best with the station... see you in the parlor!

MAY 27 - Great Barrington, Mass - CLUB HELSINKI

been looking forward to this for a while - Carrie had done a little show here with some friends & loved the vibe ... she was right ... just a small place... maybe it can fit 75 or so... but it doesn’t get cooler than this... THANKS PETER FOR THE GREAT SOUND & QUICK CHECK!! - Nice seeing you Craig... thanks for the welcome!

after sound check we were invited to a lovely dinner at the club by our kind hosts Deborah & Mark ... headed back in the rain to our mountain-view hotel... after a quick change, hit the stage at 9:05 ... the sound doesn’t get better than this so the ensemble-loose thing was there from the start - ANDY WAS SHOCKINGLY GOOD... He has his own way... very cool Andy!!! ... THANKS FOR BEING SO READY!!...

Carrie’s starting to do more of the vocal intros... I love that... 2 sets as usual... JOHN PLATANIA IS SIMPLY AMAZING... every night it’s something different... always based or inspired by something he’s picking up from the here and now ... not just the song... THE CURRENT VIBE OF THE SONG... we’re all doing that for sure.. but JOHN IS THE MASTER!!

and Carrie was awesome... her fiddling is looser than ever & so inspired... and when her voice hit mine tonight it was constant chills for me.. simply loved this night!

HI TO:

Jeanne & Steve...so nice to meet you & thanks for being there so early!! .. Hi Cindy & Rich ( from Avon )... reminder to me... Rich... you look a bit like a phtog from N.Y., Gary... don’t worry, he’s handsome as well... Hi Marcia & Doug... great talking with you.... THANKS FOR THE DOUBLE SCOTCH....

HI JOAN (THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US JOAN... YOU”RE SO SPECIAL... HI & THANKS TO KIM AS WELL) ... & BRUCE & FRIENDS, KEN &*KAREN... so good to meet yuou...Hi To P.J. & Kimmy .. special hi to the kids, Jared & Ellanor????..

Hi Susan... glad you liked our “Angel...”... see you soon... Hi BOB... thanks for the kind words re: “Same Damn Car”... hi to friend Bill... hope the fish are biting...Hi Nancy & friend Sharon.. glad I got to say hi before you left....

HI DAVE (Mandoloni) & wife Barbara... so good to see you both.. .. THANKS FOR THE WORDS DAVE... looking forward to seeing the piece... HI TO NEPHEW HENRY (from Tuckahoe)

Rachel... good to see you at dinner... sorry you missed the show!! - MARY... GREAT TO SEE YOU AT SOUND CHECK & AT THE END... THANKS FOR THE SINGLE MALTS!!.. A big hello to Laura ... best of luck with your new CD. ..& Eileen & Josh .. it was so nice to meet you... so glad you came to the show... bless you “guys”

A BIG HELLO TO TO CARRIE’S FRIENDS KENT & NERVE... & the soon-to-be little one!! ... Hi Laki... hope your friends, Eva & Cass??? like the CD... and Gerry & Robin.. who saw us at Newport... great to see you again

and hello to PUL... all the best with the cow farm, my friend... and what the hell did happen in Pascagoula??!!

and to all the others... thanks for a special night


May 28 - NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE.. NORTHEAST HARBOR - MAINE

Heading to see our friends Lee & Dee and all in Acadia National Park for a concert at the Neighborhood House.

We guess it’s abot an 8 hr drive to Bar Harbor - Carrie, Andy & I are on the road by 8:45 - J.P. left 45 minutes earlier -

Across the Mass Pike - up route 91 - east on 202... then it happened - about 1/4 mile in front of us on the 495 cut-off to 95, a truck smashes into the divider and bursts into flames - we hear nobody was injured but we’re delayed an hour - we continue on 95 up to Bangor - then east on route 1, then 3 to our hotel

we arrive at a lovely hotel on the water at 6:10 – show time is 7:00 - TEN MILES! - John’s been waiting - shower/change - on stage for sound check at 6:45...

THE SHOW -

just love playing here for these terrific people the theater holding about 225 is packed - Again, it’s hard to pick highlights... the band was so loose & fresh sounding to me - damned inspiring ... again Andy amazed me on bass - 3 days notice and he played like he’d been with us for years... AND JOHN PLATANIA WAS AWESOME AS USUAL... AND CARRIE IS GETTING SO VIBEY WITH HER FIDDLING... i just great spontaneous ensemble stuff - especially loved the back & forth thing with the audience... the smiles and the passionate responses

and forgetting my harmonica in the second set was fun - got to tell my cell phone story! - THANKS FOR THE QUICK FIND NORMAN, YOU”RE HIRED!! ... this was one of my favorite all-time shows... made it just in time to plug in & play .. but it was sure worth the 8 hours.. Thanks to all for the great spirit...see you soon

I LOST MY NOTES!

Met so many nice people - I feel so bad losing the notes... from memory:

FIRST THANKS TO DEE & LEE FOR HWAVING US ... SO GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN - NORMAN.. YOU ARE OFFICIALLY MY MAINE ROADY!!! - CARRIE, JOHN & ANDY & ME ALL SAY A BIG HELLO!! thanks Carmen ... and Sherdy... loved your stories... especiially about the bass player & the Chec friend... nice to see you again Doris... wish you could have stayed

Special HI to our Quebec friends, Sebastien & Lucie ... SO GOOD TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU... love to Tom & ?? ... you’ll remind me next time... & a big hello to Ike & the family... Nancy??... Jacob??? .. so great to see you all ... so upset I lost the paper with your names ... just loved seeing all of you... what great kids! .... and there were so many other kind faces I remember... some who mentioned they were seeing us soon... please remind me of your names next time

SPECIAL HELLO TO PAT & JACKIE .. it was so great to see you both ... sorry I missed you at the end of the show... really looking forward to seeing you again.. talk to John... let’s make a plan

Hi to the 2 blond young ladies on the left... loved your reaction to Carrie’s verses on Laredo!! - sorry we missed you in town!! ... Hi Duke - thanks for the Chat & Chew memory... see you soon!!

and to all the others.. Carrie, John, Andy & I thank you for a warm, great night

May 25, 2005 – NEW YORK - JOE”S PUB

RECORD RELEASE PARTY

Carrie & I have wanted to play this famous venue for a while – It’s as comfortable a listening room as there is in the city

THE SHOW

Joining us on stage tonight was Jim Whitney on bass – Jim had played with us on all our CDs – it’s always great to see and hear this great musician - and our great friend, the brilliant John Platania on guitar – THERE WAS MAGIC IN THE ROOM TONIGHT! – Just one long set – that’s the way they do it at Joe’s – usually 3 separate shows – tonight only 2 – since we played the 9:30 show they let us extend our time a bit and party there with friends afterward.

Again, too many highlights to mention – but it was chill time for me – warm stuff on stage – with Jim, John were on fire and Carrie & I were in a zone – loved this show! – let’s single out a few – “Must Be The Whiskey” was so loose and cool – it had a direction of it’s own – we just hung on – “Big Moon Shinin’”, “Fall” and “Memphis” were all chill time – “Big River” just chugged along so JC/sweaty .. and Carrie gave me such chills on “Angel Of The Morning” – when she sang “then slowly turn away…. from me” – the audience erupted in applause and cheers and my eyes were misty. Just magic! – and our final song “Red Dog Tracks”, was so eerie and chilling.. WHAT A NIGHT

Said hi to so many including

FIRST, A BIG THANKS TO – Our Shore Fire friends

Alexis, Mark, Matt, Diane and all – what a great job you’ve done for us!!!! – Alexis, you’re amazing!

Hi to Jim Bessman… great seeing you …. thanks for always being there… BRAD – You’re amazing!! …. Carrie loved the roses… so beautiful… and the single malt is perfect and so road worthy!! - Hi to my dear friend Anne’s brother Gerry & friend Samantha, lovely nieces Erin, Jessica & Kelly (better call if you want the quarters back!!) - & nephew Brendan… thanks for helping save the planet!!… please send love & regards to all thre folks - GREAT TO SEE YOU ALL!!

Hi to Maria & Maria (??? Do I have the names right??) – and friends Andrew & Jennifer at the end of the night… Hi to diane & O.T. from the Big D – see you there soon – HI TO BILL FROM PHILADELPHIA… so good to see you!

GARY – THANKS FOR TAKING THE VIDEO!!! - always great to see you!! – Nice to meet you Susan…. HI TO our N.J. friends…. Dave Gross (from FDU) & band’’ Jay & Thomas… (best with “Blue Plate Special”!!) -- To the LA ladies & friend – sorry I lost the napkin – SEE YOU NEXT TIME!! (ON TIME!!)

HI TO SARAH (our great friend … shot the cover of “Humans”… and took the photo of Carrie & I that Rolling Stone ran a few weeks ago… THANKS SARAH!! – Hi Brian & Andy & lovely Lilly … so great to have such amazing supportive friends!… Tony, my friend… thanks for always being there!!! – AND HAULING THE GUITAR!

GREAT TO SEE MY PUCK FAIR FRIENDS!!!! – CARRIE & I APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT SO MUCH – See you at Town Hall or Ulysses

Hi Maurice – GREAT TO SEE YOU! …. Love to Orla & Reece … Hi Kevin… thanks so much for coming & for bringing Sheila – Hey Sammy – great to see you again

THANKS BILL FOR HAVING US – SARA, WHAT A GREAT HOST YOU ARE… THANKS!!!..- JEFF .. GREAT SOUND!!! – YOU”RE SO EASY TO WORK WITH

AND A BIG HELLO TO THE STAFF… JACKIE… SO NICE TO SEE YOU AT THE END.

Thanks to all for a special night!!

May 11 - 14, 2005 - Colorado

Carrie, John & I fly into Denver – arriving at around 2:00 PM - where we meet Kyle Kegerreis (our friend/bass player from Nashville). We rent a large vehicle to accommodate the luggage and instrument and off we go.

We do a live interview/performance with one of the terrific DJ’s, Benji, at the hippest AM station in the U.S. – we’re plugging our 3-days-from-now Denver show at Swallow Hill but we’d stop by this cool station anytime just to say hello. A BIG THANKS TO THIS GREAT STATION FOR ALL THE SUPPORT THEY’VE GIVEN US ON OUR PAST CDs & OUR SOON-TO-BE- RELEASED “RED DOG TRACKS”.

On to Paonia – a 4 1/2 hr. drive through the mountains – it doesn’t get more beautiful than this! – up and down the mountains – often over 10,000 feet above sea level – we arrive in the coal mining town of Paonia at about 11:30 PM – Our hosts Rob & Rebecca Miller have made arrangements for 2 hotel rooms and a small house to accommodate us – sweet notes plus lovely breads and cheeses and cold beer. What a nice welcome!

THE TOWN – just a small extremely well preserved old town nestled in the valley – surrounded by snow tipped mountains. We do a live interview/performance at the cool local public station, KVNF – with a very nice guy named Jeff – what a terrific little show…. We felt so comfortable with this!! – glad our new friend Sadie was in the audience! - THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT TO ALL THE NICE FOLKS HERE!!!! Also, met a friend, former DJ from Carbondale, Skip Naft – Now Here – - (I will meet his mom & dad shortly in Carbondale) – good to see you, Skip

After, we sound check at the old Paonia theater – what an amazing historic venue!! Thanks for the hard work getting the good sound, Morris.

THE SHOW

Rebecca gave us a warm introduction and as soon as we hit the stage, the audience was into the vibe – we loved playing this show – it was both fun and joyous – I remember feeling such a close bond with the audience on “Fall” and “Him Who Saved Me” – Ended with “We Come Up Shinin’”- what a nice bunch of people… hopefully we’ll be seeing them again.

Hello to Barb at the hotel … thanks and love to mom Betty

Thanks Rob & Rebecca – great to meet your lovely daughters, Sadie & Kayla – tell Sadie we sent our love – said hi to so many, including, Marley & Linda , Kathryn, Janny, Nancy.. Dave… thanks for asking for “Midnight On The Water” … It wasn’t in our set list for a while & Carrie played it so beautifully tonight! – Hi to Karla, Craig, Scott & Lisa - & Caroline & Eddie . Shelley, Tim, Rob & all – enjoyed listening to the CDs – especially liked the first few tracks on the new one – all the best with that! – Hi to Corey & Matt (at the door) and Kevin – sorry I lost track of others – just know that Carrie & I loved playing for you all.


May 13 - NEXT STOP – CARBONDALE

After a lazy morning, we drive the 1 and 1/2 hrs. to Carbondale – only a few clouds in the sky … again, what breathtaking scenery!! – I need a refill for my sleeping pills as I haven’t slept well for a few days without them … thanks Hans and Dr. Tom for coming through just in time!!

We’ve been looking forward to this famous little venue for some time! –

THE VENUE - STEVE’S GUITAR SHOP (Capacity 64) – what a cool little place!!!

We sound check in only a few minutes in this small room with 20 or so vintage guitars hanging from the ceiling – Steve hooks us up with a nice meal at a new Mexican place – THANKS NELSON & STAFF – LOVED THE FOOD!!!

THE SHOW – This was one for the books – we played two full sets and this great, warm bunch didn’t want us to leave … so we stayed and stayed… finally ending with a most inspired version of “I Wasn’t Born In Tennessee! – Carrie, John & Kyle were just brilliant!– we traded off each other all night… couldn’t pick a favorite or a highlight… it was all such an inspired interaction with the audience & the band!! – It doesn’t get better!

THANKS STEVE & MARY MARGARET for your hospitality – it was much appreciated!! – Hi Anne – (said hello to you briefly when we arrived)

Hi to Kyle’s dad, Sam’s friends, Tito & wife Sarah & fisherman, Mike – great to see you guys!! – hi to Linda (originally from New Jersey) & Brad (from Nebraska) – so good to see you up front – thanks for the kind words – hope to see you next time -- hi to Soozie & mom Elaine, Davie, & Mustang Molly!! – what a great group!! – Elaine, best of luck with Art Tatum Memorial (count me in – get in touch with Dave, I’ll follow up)

Hi to Monk (at the door) – glad you came back to say hello – see you next time. Hi Jackson… best of luck with your guitar playing – thanks for the nice words… Hi Lois – Skip’s mom??!! – I think so – he’s a great guy

… Hi Trisha & nick & Kelly & Josh (Mike’s neice).. thanks for all the kind words… hi to Megin & Aaron… same goes… and all the rest… thanks for making this such a great, great night!! – see you soon!!


May 14 - NEXT STOP – DENVER

Left Carbondale at about 11:00 AM and headed for the 1&1/2 hr. trip to Denver – Again, just gorgeous all the way to Denver – After several stops, we arrived at the Sheraton hotel at about 4:30 – after a brief check in, we headed for the venue.

SOUND CHECK AT SWALLOW HILL

This is another one of those venues that we’ve really been looking forward to – This is the most prestigious folk room in Denver – The sound man Brian was ready and waiting so the check took only ten minutes or so – THANKS BRIAN!! And a big thanks to Rhonda for being such a wonderful host – there for us at every turn – it doesn’t get better than this Rhonda… Carrie, John, Kyle & I really appreciated your kindness! – and a special hello to Reggie (so good to talk with you – thanks for the kind words) & Jim ( thanks so much for the easy directions!)

A special thanks to The Believers, our new friends (Craig & Cynthia) for doing such a terrific job opening for us!!! – stay warm & stay out of the snow!! – see you soon!

NOTE: - I hadn’t played this town since 1976 – when I co-headlined with Commander Cody at a place called Ebbit’s Field – So this was a chance to see if Carrie & I had any support here –

THE SHOW

The answer to the above question was a resounding YES!! – The place was packed – and from the first chord of “The Real Thing”, we knew we had real honest-to-goodness friends here. – We did an extra long show – many got the “Wild Thing” baptism and were instantly healed! – so many highlights … the audience (or new and old friends) – clapped for so long for so many) – I’ll pick “Let’s Leave This Town”… “Fall”… “I Wasn’t Born In Tennessee” and an ad lib version of a requested “Coalfield of Shickshinny” as highlights – but I’d be leaving out many others that gave me chills – JUST A GREAT DAMNED NIGHT

Hi to – Rhonda, Reggie, Jim… SONNY’S FRIEND BILL & LOVELY DAUGHTER KELLY – much love to you Kelly… Last Chance fan Ken!! – thanks my friend…. Hi John & ? … Chryl… Anne & Mark… Vinni & Tony – J.P.’s friends … John & family…. Charles… Ed & Judy...Larry…. Andy… thanks for getting so many of the duets plus CDs – see you soon…. Hi Ed, Doug & Judy (Rhonda’s sister)…. Hi John – memories of Last Chance… thanks for being patient when you ended up last after the first half and then again after the second…Hi to Ron - and Sande - look forward to seeing the next time ... Hi Doug … and Sweet Daddy for Carrie’s flowers… and all others who were there!! – SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!! – God Bless.

May 7, 2005 – heading for Dallas – First Stop – LIVE Performance at Bill’s Record Store

It’s up to Dallas for one day, then back to Austin, so we’re traveling light. We arrive at Bill’s (in Plano TX) at 2:30. Bill is a great friend and this place, and Waterloo Records in Austin, are awesome stores that have achieved cult-like status among true music lovers. They don’t get more dedicated than Bill. These “live” performances are sponsored by the great radio station KHYI – GM and radio personality stars and great friends, Bruce Kidder & Brett Dillon are there to meet us. KHYI and Bruce, Bret & all, are the foremost reason for our success in this market.

The Show –

We play on the back stage, facing the wharehouse-like interior, with people lining the several isles. There’s always a big crowd to see us here. As usual, there are several youngsters. We play several songs from our soon-to-be released album & end with a spirited “Wild Thing”. We love the vibe here – THANKS BILL, BECKY (thanks for putting this together) – BRUCE, BRETT … THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT – SEE YOU SOON!!

We couldn’t stay long after the show as I wanted to get back to the Hotel to watch the Kentucky Derby and get ready for sound check for our Sons Of Herman Hall performance later this evening.

Said hello to a few, including: Brit, Tina, Elaine & Travis (hope you can make our “Sons” show next time – we need you to be there) – Hi Jason… Bill (the painter – thanks for the kind words! – Hi Philip, Doug R.L. & Terry, David, John, Craig & all – hope to see you tonight.

SONS OF HERMAN – SOUNDCHECK & DINNER

Big thanks to Kevin for the terrific sound & the shortest sound checks in history! AS USUAL, GREAT JOB!! –

As we began to sound check, our friends/fans Carter & Regina surprised us with dinner for the band – TEXAS Fried Chicken & Steak – with unreal gravy and delicious creamed corn for world famous BABE’S – We quickly went to our friend Michael Sneider’s “All Good Café” (Mike’s our booker here), where we were generously allowed to feast on his competitors food and have some of his own delicious home- made salad. THANKS TO THE WAITRESSES MICHELLE & GINGER – great to see you both – thanks for coming to the show, Ginger.. wish we had more time to finish our conversation – EMAIL ME HERE & I’LL RESPOND..

WHAT A MEAL!!! – Thanks CARTER & REGINA… (& Mike) … IT DOESN”T GET BETTER THEN THAT!!


THE SHOW

This was a very special night. It was so good to see so many friends as well as first timers. LOVED SEEING ALL THE KIDS – SPECIAL HI TO OUR FRIEND ARIEL…. Carrie & I loved seeing you and talking with you darlin’ – hope to see you soon again… say hi to mom & Dad & your aunt… Big HELLO TO OLD FRIENDS WADE, MARRIETA (pronounced “MARITA”) and dad Joe… what a great spirit… look forward to the next time!

Our friend Kyle Kegerries (from Nashville) did a great job on bass and Johnny boy (John Platania) was his awesome self – I love listening to him as we perform – GREAT JOB JOHN!! – CARRIE WAS HER USUAL AMAZING SELF – for me, it was chill time… from start to finish!

The highlights were far too many to mention here – It’s like it was one big party from start to finish. But the special requests of “Say Little Darlin’” for Wade & Marietta really rocked tonight and “Fall” for Elaine, gave me chills from start to finish – THANKS FOR REQUESTING THAT!! – and ARIEL… Carrie & I sang so many songs especially for you – so glad you were there – hope to see you soon. KELLY… thanks so much for requesting our closing song, “We Come Up Shinin’” – what a way to end a great night.

After the show said hi to many including:

Frank & Kim tending the upstairs bar – great to see you – Frank, tell mom, Mary, I sent my love & best wishes… Carter & Regina … again thanks for the great grub… see you soon… Brit, Tina & Elaine… see you soon…personal note – Elaine, would love to see you stop smoking – you’re too young & pretty – go to the Church Of The Train Wreck (click on the “church” button on the home page) – download the stuff and let it help you (it helped me – haven’t smoked in 20 years – was smoking three packs a day!) – Hi to Jo Nikadimus??? – sorry for the misspelling Jo – GREAT TO SEE YOU – THANKS FOR COMING UPSTAIRS & GIVING US A LISTEN… hope we sound good on your Bose speakers – hi to your friend Joe…. See you soon!

Hi to Liz & Greg – loved seeing you there…. Hey to Gary & Sandy… Ryan & Shelby… HI JULIE … so nice to see you & hi Colleen… see you soon… Hi to Shane & Lauren… please say hi to Bentley… tell him we’ll look forward to seeing him next time…. Hi to Gina, Beth & Lisa (The Malvimas) for doing such a nice job opening for us! …. Hi to Mark & Anna (walking down the stairs at end) … good to see you…

CHAD & TARA… ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU… YOU KNOW THAT… SEE YOU IN NEW YORK!!! – BIG HELLO TO CARRIE’S BEAUTIFUL COUSINS. BROOKE & AMANDA –… YOU’RE THE BEST… SEE YOU IN EUROPE!!


And to all the others whose names I’ve forgotten… thanks for helping make this a most special night. GOD BLESS!

May 2 – 6, 2005 – First Leg of Red Dog Tracks Tour

May 2, 2005 – Mountain Stage

Carrie & I arrived in Parkersburg West Virginia, after renting a car and driving the 1 and 1/2 hours to Athens Ohio. We arrived at the our hotel at 8:30 PM – OK, the trip was supposed to take 45 minutes, but there’s one sign that tells you to go straight when it means “go right stupid” – Carrie & I looked that sign in the eye three separate times before we decoded it – tricky stuff - you live and learn.

After quickly freshening up we headed back to this pretty college town, looking forward to a relaxing dinner – it was 9:10 – the first recommended restaurant was just perfect – one problem – it just closed for dinner – and so was the next … & the next etc. IT WAS ONLY 9:15! – shut down except for drinking! – then we found it – CASA NUEVO – shut down for dinner BUT BAR FOOD AVAILABLE! – GREAT MEXICAN FOOD!!! – GREAT OLD TIME JAM ON STAGE – WE ATE, DRANK, MET A BUNCH OF NICE FOLKS…Mark on ukulele (had done a terrific interview with me 2 days previous), Kimbery playing great Richie Stearns-like banjo, Tim & Matt (banjo player turned old time fiddler – great getting to know you Matt – nice story about your grand folks and the fishery bus.- watch out for that hammer!) - CARRIE JOINED THE JAM – JUST A GREAT NIGHT!


May 3 - MOUNTAIN STAGE - The rehearsal & show

So great to see our Mt Stage friends, Andy Ridenauer, Larry Gross, Woogie & band members Ron, Michael, John Ahmad and Bob and vocalist Julie. Ron writes out the charts and they’re always perfect and the band is so soulful & ready – all an artist has to do is show up - THANKS BOYS – SO GREAT TO PLAY WITH YOU AGAIN!

HI TEGIN, LAUREL, JOANNE (cool hair!) & LINDA – great to see you all – LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT TIME!!

So good to share the stage with old friend Ray Wylie Hubbard – he played solo and was amazing as always – so good to see our new/ ol’ friends The Mammals… Ruth, Mike Tao, Chris & friend Nyla – such nice, talented folks –

After the show – hi to Doug, Kathy, Jeff & Mary K – so nice talking with you – thanks for the kind words

Special Hello to my new friend at Casa Nuevo .. Hey Kellie .. you’re special – it’ll get better.. I promise!! – SIP a “Jack” on me … see you and bartender friend Addison in Austin at Opal Divine’s --- don’t forget!! (hi to Jamie as well)



May 4 – Airplane Hell

Actually not so bad – leave the hotel at 3:30 AM – flight at 6:00 AM from Parkersburg to Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh to Atlanta – then Atlanta to Austin – arrive at 4:50 PM – just in time for me to get my guitar overhauled by my new friend Casey at Strait Music – THANKS CASEY

Carrie goes to moms and crashes – J.P. (John Platania) arrives at 7:00 – we head to Louis XII for martini’s and the best dinner in town – then to Opal Divines to see friends Erin, Liz & all and sip some great single malt and drink some great bear!! – MISSED YOU LAUREN! – see you on Friday!


MAY 5 - THE MUCKY DUCK – HOUSTON

( 1ST show on our RED DOG TRACKS TOUR)

Carrie, John, bassist Kyle Keggeries (from Nashville) arrive in time to do a sound check and an interview/performance on the Mucky Duck patio – with friend/host Rick – it was a nice/loose little show in front of a supportive small group – well done Rick – thanks to you, mgr Duane & your kind staff – see you soon!

THE MUCKY DUCK STAFF

great fan/friends here – great staff!!! – Rusty & Theresa own the place – old friend Shane tends the bar – what genuine terrific people - a big hello & thanks to you and the great new ladies… Sarah, Mandy, Jennifer Liz … CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN!

THE SHOW

This has rather quickly become one of our most favorite places to play – for some reason we just get real loose here – There were too many highlights to mention just a few songs – let’s just say we collectively had a great time – no boundaries between audience and performers tonight – Kyle was great on short notice – great period! - and John was amazing – he’s a show all by himself – and again I got constant chills singing and performing with my magical partner – We really went some places tonight – “Once Again One Day….”, “Angel…”, Red Dog Tracks”, “Don’t Speak In English”, “Must Be The Whiskey”, “Private Thoughts”, “Wild Thing”, “Oh Set A Light”, “All The Rain”, “We Come Up Shinin’ “… to mention only a few – WE LOVED THIS SHOW TONIGHT. THANKS TO ALL WHO WERE THERE!! – JUST A MAGIC NIGHT!!

Hi to JIM & HIS CREW (Steven, Kristina, Jeroslav & all – so nice talking to you – what a nice spirit!) – seriously Jim … aside from the $20 you probably owe me… Carrie & I really appreciate your amazing support!! – and again, thanks for selling the CDs … see you & the gang in Europe for you’re your month long Taylor/Rodriguez bus tour –

Hi to Crystal … Carrie & I were so glad to see you again tonight!! – A BIG HELLO TO OUR NASHVILLE FRIENDS, HEATH & JUAN (pronounced Jan) – THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING THE TRIP – LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT TIME – and Hi John… Tell son Michael & friend (Carrie?) we’re playing Joe’s Pub on May 25 and to tap me on the shoulder if they’re there… Hi Raul so good to see you & your friend there – thanks for the “Big Moon Shinin’ request. … Special hello to John Platania's friends, Betty & Matt - John tells me nephew Johnny is a great singer/songwriter - tell him hello & that we're looking forward to hearing his demos . . Hi Rebecca & friend Sandi (y)?) – see you in Denver in a few days!... Hi Tracy… & J.P. Strong … thanks for the kind words.. best wishes with your own stuff… Hi Dwight.. don’t loose that guitar!! – nice to see you! … Hey Rick – nice to see you by the door – thanks for being there for us in Austin and here! … FRED – WELL DONE! FROM CRUTCHES TO A CANE…. LOOKING GOOD!! Hi Elizabeth – so great to see you!!! SEND REGARDS TO MOM DOROTHY – I have fond memories of Roosevelt high –Dorothy - for a while I wanted to go school there (I ended up going to Stepinac High)… hope all is well – Hi Al, Bill & John… tell Brad & The Reverend (Fred) we said hello – another John (lots of “John’s” tonight) – hi to you as well … Hey R.Dog… GARY!! – thanks for amazing support (I still have writer’s cramp!) … HI JOE – at the bar when we arrived – nice talking with you, my friend…


What a great night!! – Can’t wait to come back -

March 19, 2005 - SXSW - Cactus Cafe - Austin TX

This was our main showcase at SXSW - we love paying this famous Austin venue on the UT campus - we kicked off the evening with our show at 8:00 - the place was packed and the audience was totally with us from the beginning - so good to have Narada (Back Porch) friends/reps Mike & Sue and publicity rep, Alexis in attendance - along with other Narada artist Shannon (who is amazing by the way) -

The show

The sound was great for us tonight - it made it so easy to perform - THANKS SPOT!! - lots of highlights - maybe "Big Moon Shinin" and a loose off-the-wall therapy version of "Wild Thing" were most memorable to me - but top to bottom this was an inpired show - Carrie was magic - John Vogelsang did a terrific job on bass & JP (John Platania) was awesome on guitar - just a great damn night!!

Since it was one artist after another for these sets, we got a chance to say hi to only a few... at the venue and later at Opal Divine's.... including:

Chris & David from Ontario... great talking to you... thanks for the kind words... Hi to Harry, Linda & Lauren ... likewise.... Jim & Patty ... so good to see you... hey to East Coasters... John & Britney, Chris, David & friend Pam... Hey Zack - hope your ankle is better... at Opal's ... Jerry... nice to see you again ... (met at Mother Egan's last year) - thanks for turning Patricia on to the stuff... nice meeting you PATRICIA -- graham (7 Days fan/friend FROM NOTTINGHAM) - GREAT TALKING WITH YOU... look forward to seeing you & Judy in July (send the email!) - & MEGAN & LAUREN... great meeting you... it would be so great if you could come to the show as well... hey Brian (from KGSR)... great to see you... THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT (and the good scotch!!)

Thanks for the intro Robert... thanks for the help Walter & Jack.. Chris (behind the bar)... great to see you, my friend!

This was a great SXSW - ending with a great showcase at the Continental Club with Charlie Sexton & Shannon doing a terrific vibey set ... congrats Shannon!!! ... you're special! - then Raul Malo - and Alejandro - doing their SXSW ending magic.

What a great week! - Carrie & I will see some of you (including friends Pat & Terri) in Austin on May 6 & June 2

March 17, 2005 - SXSW - Threadgills - 6:00 PM - (John Conquest's 3d Coast Party)

Carrie & I absolutely love doing this every year - THANKS FOR THE INVITE, JOHN - keep 'em coming... we'll always be there. No wrist bands needed!! - the place was packed.

The Show

It was St. Patty's day - the bar across the street had a loud rock band playing - so we just turned up the volume and had fun - played a lot of the new ones that our fans really seemed to like - The competition across the street seemed to bring out a special uplifting version of Wild Thing - which was a real highlight for me - you can't play for a greater bunch than our Austin friends and this SXSW bunch .... Carrie & I can't thank you enough for the great support!

Our good friend Johhny Voglesang (bass) was terrific helping out on short notice. THANKS JOHNNY - & John Platania brought down the house several times with his great solos... well done John..

Hi to all Carrie's family & friends... Frances, Leslie, Katy, Tom & all ... hi to great friend Sonny & his friend Allan... hi to Heiko from Berlin... always great to see you! Special hi to our special friend, the lovely Lillian, mom Maryanne - ALWAYS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU - also hi to Bro Alex & friend Matt - nice talking with you guys on Congress the next day .... hi to Mike & Dan... & lee (John Scholle's friend)... my great Ontario friends Zina & ... hi to Carrie's bro Wills & girlfriend Courtney & friend Andy. Finally... a big hello to Florence & her terrific friends, Lucy & Helen (great to meet you!) ... see you all at the Cactus ... and then in London.

Thanks to all for your great support! - See ya soon!

PS - also Hi to new friends, a young Tanya Tucker look-a-like, Ashley & save-the-world friends, geologist Erica & chemist Sarah... hope to see you all at the Cactus!

Mar 13, 2005- Gruene Hall - New Braunfels TX

John & I flew in last night - so good to leave a chilly N.Y. and hit the Austin air - about 65 degrees with a nice breeze. Thanks to Tracy for inviting us to play at this terrific event/Food Bank Benefit at THE OLDEST AND MOST FAMOUS DANCE HALL IN TEXAS - Love this place.

Great to see old friends Slaid Cleaves & Fred Eaglesmith - they always put on great shows - they're what the best of alt-country is all about! - good to see new friend Guy Forsyth do his off-the-charts thing, drawing from several different musical influences - great job Guy! - Carrie & I - along with John Platania/guitar & Kevin Smith/upright bass closed the show - As usual, had a hell of a good time! What a great audience - played several of the new ones - highlights for me - had a great sing-a-long choir going on "Oh Set A Light" - the band was awesome on "Big River" and I can't remember doing a more inspired version of "Angel Of The Morning" - Carrie was simply magic! -

BE READY!!!! - OUR NEW ALBUM, RED DOG TRACKS, HITS THE STATIONS & THE STORES ON MAY 24 ON OUR NEW LABEL, BACK PORCH RECORDS (a division of Narada Records (EMI)) - Carrie & I are so excited about it and our new home.

Hi to - Zita, Ruth & Phyllis from Ontario - GREAT TO TALK TO YOU GUYS later at The Continental! - Hi Cindy & son Zack - thanks for the story re Wild Thing - great stuff! HI LINDSEY!! - so glad you stole Ryan's copy of our CD - DON'T GIVE IT BACK!! - Ryan... thanks my friend - hope to see you both soon! - Hi to big (tall) Jim - always great to see you my friend - same to Paul from The Netherlands & Jan & wife Liz - Hi to Ryan who heard an advanced airing of our new song "Keep Your Hat On Jenny" on KGSR/Austin on the way down. HI MEAGHAN from Ontario - so good to meet you - hope you got up here to read your shout out - see you soon!

MATSON & CARRIE - LOVE YOU GUYS!!! - hope we hook up later in the week - good luck with the Athens station!!

and to all the rest.... Thanks for a great, memorable night!!

LATER AT THE CONTINENTAL CLUB

After our show at Gruene - where else would we be!! - wound down for a few hours here, listening to the great Earl Poole Ball, Red Volkaert – Heybale!, & Kevin Smith band - what a night!! - so good to see Robert who had seen us play at the amazing 5 star restaurant/music venue, CREDO, in Trondheim, Norway - and Per who saw us play at Club Momo in Oslo.

Hi Tracy - great to see you again - and hi Laurie - glad your friend from Wales turned you on to our stuff - hope to see you both at Threadgills (THURSDAY 6:00) - DANIELLE .... and for the rest of the story... so good to meet you ... I'll tell you the would all fit that category/meaning of CRFYU next time I see you!

THAT'S IT FOR NOW!! - ONE MORE THING.... BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR "THE CHURCH OF THE TRAINWRECK" (a Podcast .... you can download the broadcast to your IPOD) .. coming your way at this site in a few weeks - What is it?? - well, it's something I've been thinking about for a while - about a 1/2 hour broadcast based on some thoughts (and directed effort) that changed my life for the better many years ago - combined with music that shows the beauty of the human spirit (songs like "Fall", "The Trouble With Humans", "Him Who Saved Me" .... John Prine's "Hello In There" .... plus some brand new ones... would all fit that category). There's no place I know where you can get a steady diet of that stuff - YOU'LL BE ABLE TO "GET YOUR SOUL IN MOTION" ... SOON - AT THE CHURCH OF THE TRAINWRECK .... good human stuff ... not devoid of a sense of humor... STAY TUNED!!

NEXT STOP .... THREADGILLS - THURSDAY NIGHT @ 6:00 PM... see some of you there!

March 5, 2005 - Ulysses - New York City

Joining Carrie & me were our good friends & brilliant musicians:
John Platania / guitar and
Tony Mercadante / bass

This was the final show of our winter residency here at this great place. Many thanks to our friends/hosts – Danny, Mike & Jason – this place will always be our home/venue when we finish touring. Happy Birthday Danny!! (March 20) – wish we could be there to celebrate with you!

This was a big night for me – My brother Barry, a scientist from PA, came to see Carrie & me perform for the first time. Barry’s the volcanologist who developed the widely used formula that predicts when volcanoes will erupt – a real hero (many of his colleagues have been killed doing this work) – Barry keeps advising around the world – he’s a great guy with a terrific sense of humor. Tonight he was here with his best friend & son in law, Ian – also a great fun guy.

Another very special thing happened:

Liz & Ito got engaged tonight. They had their first date at one of our concerts at The Bottom Line. In their honor, to start the second set, Carrie & I sang one of my favorites, “The Ship” – a song from the Black & Blue America album. We hadn’t played it in some time so we were glad to reprise it for this special occasion.

Other highlights – In the first set we played the often requested “Coalfields Of Shickshinny” – which bro Barry & I wrote together – based on a poem Barry had written about our grandfather (recorded on my Last Chance album in ’73). It was the first time that Carrie & I performed it together and it was chill time for me.

Then came the big highlight in the second half of the show. I wrote a new song for Barry called The Trouble With Scientists. It was absolute crazy/fun playing it for Barry with the entire audience laugh/singing the chorus – loved this!!

And that’s the trouble with scientists – uh hu

They know stuff – about a lot of stuff
And that’s the trouble with scientists – mm mm
They make me feel stupid – when I’m with you

These were loose spirited sets – with magic instrumental stuff from John, Tony & Carrie – just a damned good night – what a great memory. We won’t forget this one.

So hi to Liz & Ito – so great to be part of your great night!! - Hi Maggie (from Austin) – so glad you came back!! – great to see you & Tommie (Maggie’s mom) – thanks for flyin’ in!! – Hi Joe & Rendi … so good to talk with you - Hi to Steve & Doris, Barry (hope that’s right - can’t read my writing) & Sigrid – Leslie, David (from Mozambique – wish we had more time – all the best), Albert & Caroline from Florida – nice talking with you – Hi Cory & Jesse – great talking with you – Send our regards to Calib in Mass – tell him thanks for the suggestion – we’ll see him soon - Jeanne & friend Peggy, so great to see you!!! - & Rhonda – Kelly, Joan & JOLI (opera singer) & boyfriend Michael – so good to SEE you off to my right…. And special hi to my Parnel friends, Michael & Elaine – thanks for bringing your friends….Always great to see Bobby & Joan, my Joanie & Mary – Al & Debbie, Jen & Jeff … you’re the best… & all the others… thanks for being there … Adam. thanks for stopping by… talk to you next week …. what a special night!!!

Thanks to our friends/waitresses Christine & Martha for your great service, spirit & kindness. See you soon.

Feb 5 - Ulysses - New York City

This was to be the last in our residency series at this great place before going on tour. BUT WE DECIDED WE COULD FIT ONE MORE IN. SO WE’LL BE BACK ON MARCH 5 - SEE YOU THEN.

A special thanks to a few fans who traveled a great distance to be here. Steve & Katherine became fans this past year and Steve’s Christmas present to his lovely wife Katherine was plane ticket from South Carolina and a front row ticket to our show - GREAT TO MEET YOU BOTH - Hope to see you soon again.

And then there was Lucy & Sebastien who drove 11 hours from Quebec to be here - God bless you “guys” - hope you had a safe drive home - see you soon as well.

The Show

Sometimes the human element brings out the best in a show - and it was that way tonight. Our terrific sound man was responsible for two venue set ups tonight so was a bit late in arriving. So we were about a half hour late to hit the stage. Then the strap on my guitar and my half-blind cohort - the amazing guitarist, John Plantania (Van Morrison etc. fame) - somehow threaded the strap back between the strings and we were off and running. WHAT A GREAT AUDIENCE - just a bunch of friends sharing a variety of emotions together.

This was as loose and spirited as it gets. Highlights were many … but one for sure was a requested “Dirty Little Texas Story” - where the requestor guided me through some forgotten lyrics. Thank God he remembered!! Well done!! - Was that you Dan?? Also what a great group sing on the new “Oh Set A Light” - I got chills listening to that.

Carrie was spectacular and inspiring as usual - And you can’t get more spontaneous and soulful than John & Tony Mercadante (The Merc man - on bass) - I just love the bunch of us trading off each other - never knowing where we’re going and listening and enjoying what each of us is doing on the ride - great joy!

Hi to:

Steve, Katherine - Lucy & Sebastian - hope to see you soon - Again - thanks for the big effort getting here! Thanks John & the gang for being there again & again & for being the early birds - Carrie and friends Karen & Andrew & all - Henry & Harry & Camilla - see you at Schillers. Hi Katka & Barb - so glad you made it! - Brad & Debbie - so good to see you - thanks for the drink - see you on the 5th!! - Curtis (the handsome actor) - great meeting you … lovely Meg (with the cool hat ) hope to see you soon - thanks to your friend for getting you here!! - tell London Steve Gilpin we appreciate his support & suggestion & that we’ll see him in July - Gary - thanks for always being there - Hi Eileen - glad you could make it - THANKS FOR THE GAG GIFT!!! - Hi Lilly - nice hanging out with you - best with your CD - Hi Maria & Malissa & banjo great Fletcher - HI Maggie & Jamie & Bruce & friends – and the other nice Carrie friend I spoke with whose name escapes me (sorry!) - see you all soon - Thanks to my Joanie, Chuck, Mary, & Joan & Bobby - LOVE YA!

THANKS DANNY - JAYSON - YOU’RE THE BEST!! - hi and thanks to the great staff: Tracie, Christine. Michael & the crew. And our protector in the back…. Hey Paul… always good to see you.

This was a special night - again… hope to see you on March 5th

Nov 27, 2004 – New York City

Venue – The Saturday Evening Music Series at ULYSSES

Please read the notes from our previous show at this terrific place to get an understanding as to why we’re doing this residency, what the place is like & a bit about the owner, my friend Danny MacDonald & his great staff. Hi Paul, thanks for coming early and the nice words. See you next time.

Chip & Carrie at Ulysses - photo by Gary Winter 

Given that it was Thanksgiving weekend we weren’t expecting much of a crowd but instead were pleasantly surprised to find a packed house. And this was a special one for several reasons – celebrities in the house included:

1) terrific music critic Michael Ross

2) the most successful horse race handicapper of all time & my former gambling cohort, Ernie Dahlman. Ernie stopped by with his lovely wife MELINDA & some close friends. The New York Times called Ernie “The wizard Of Odds” & they were correct… Nobody does this stuff better!

3) 2 star athletes, both excelling in soccer & swimming, Riley & Kate Ennis. These terrific young ladies were accompanied by their parents Frank & Kelly & grandma Joan & friends Chuck, Marcella & Dave. OK, so they happen to be my grandkids (Kell’s my terrific daughter… Joan’s is her wonderful mom!). Kate (4) & Riley (6) were certainly celebs tonight!! THANKS SO MUCH MARY FOR BABYSITTING SAM (other one-year-old grandkid) SO ALL THIS COULD BE POSSIBLE!!


The Show

Anybody who knows me knows how much I love being on stage with Carrie. Magic always happens. And tonight the magic was enhanced by the brilliant musicianship of friends John Platania on guitar & Tony Mercadante on bass. I can’t remember enjoying one more.

The first half of the show was based around Kate & Riley’s favorites which included “Let’s Leave This Town”, “Sweet Tequila Blues” and a couple from our CD scheduled for April release, “My Buckets Got A Hole In It” & “Keep Your Hat On Jenny” . We improvised a couple of choruses to fit Kate & Riley in the song… great fun!!

The second half featured songs from the previous two duet CDs plus lots from the upcoming one. Far too many highlights to mention. Just great loose spirited playing. John & Tony were awesome and Carrie was so inspiring!! It does not get better than this… just one hell of a night!!


So good to meet so many after the show including:

Our Delaware Bluegrass friends Tom & Jay & DJ Dave & Laura … so good to see you again… John & Pat from New Jersey… so glad you finally got a chance to see us…. Brad & Debbie … Carrie & I were glad you requested “Dirty Little Texas Story” … hadn’t done that one for a while… it was so much fun recalling it!…. those that follow our web site know that I am a guest vocalist on one of the best UK/Ireland bands THE BEATIFUL SOUTH’s new single “This Old Skin” … The band is comprised of several guys & one terrific girl singer, Allison Wheeler… Allyson’s father & mom in-law were here tonight Ginny & Henry & son… so great to see you!!! – Hi & love to Allison…. Hi to lovely Cecile & Steve … so nice talking with you… hey Brian… yeah… Merrilee Rush had the first hit on “Angel Of The Morning”… CLAUGIO & BROOKE … MY GREAT FRIENDS … thanks so much for coming…thanks so much for the flowers (me too . . wow!) Hi Sandy & Norman… thanks so much for making the trip!!! – Hi to my great friend Gauillaume & new friend Anne .. so good to see you out there. .. special hello to my old friend Suzanne… what a great surprise.. hope to see you soon! .. Barb from Shickshinny … THANKS FOR COMING BACK!! – let’s talk next time… special hi to Keefe & Kristen & Sarah & Keith.. so great to see you .. AND THANKS FOR THE RIDE IN THAT AWESOME VEHICLE!! .

A BIG THANKS & HELLO TO THE MELISSA CONTINGENT!! (Melissa saw Carrie & I at The Big Apple Bluegrass Fest and has since turned her friends on to us)
… here they are… hi to Maria… so nice talking with you & Sarah Verdisco… so nice seeing you … and Mary, Denise, Theresa, Ralphie, Chrissy, Steve, & Nichole – MALISSA … THANKS SO MUCH FOR BRINGING YOUR GREAT FRIENDS… CARRIE & I APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT …See you all on Jan 22… DON’T FORGET!

Jay – Carrie wants to thank you for the fancy magnets – she loves them!

What a great bunch of friends … to these and all the rest… Carrie & I really appreciate your warm, enthusiastic support. WHAT A NIGHT!!

And special thanks to terrific mgr, Jason, friendly waitresses, Christine & Martha, my new friends bartender John & doorman, Paul. Thanks to all!!… look forward to seeing you on Jan 22.

November 13, 2004 - New York City

venue - ULYSSES (SATURDAY EVENING MUSIC SERIES)
located in the Wall Street area @ 95 Pearl St.

Since Carrie & I are in New York these days working on the completion of our next CD, we decided to look for a local place to hang our hat and stay musically sharp – and test out songs from our upcoming album. The place we chose, Ulysses, is owned by our good friend Danny MacDonald. Danny also owns friendly uptown Irish bars, Puck Fair & Swifts.

During the week this new/trendy double Irish bar/restaurant is packed with young locals who party hard here after their Wall Street work hours. The music’s loud, the food is damned good and the place has a great selection of whiskeys & beers.

However on weekends the place is quieter. Danny had pre-decided to use the calmer atmosphere to his advantage by starting a candle light folk series in the larger of the two bar areas. So, as if by magic, the big tables disappear, replaced by smaller more intimate ones with enough chairs & stools to hold about 100 plus listeners. At the same time a stage rolls out in the front area that fits a small band comfortably and the big steel doors slide over to totally shut out sound from the next room. The pre-planned, already built, in state-of-the-art sound system is then activated by a terrific sound engineer Kahel.

What you’re left with is one of the coolest, most intimate – thankfully not totally reverent - music rooms in all of New York!


9:00 PM Show Time

Since we’re the first act to play Danny’s dream folk series, none of us knew what to expect. But by show time the place was comfortably full and there was a great vibe in the room. Old friends & brilliant musicians, Tony Mercadante (bass) & John Platania (gtr) joined us. And what a great night it was! I never felt a Taylor/Rodriguez vibe stronger. A lot of credit going to the stuff we were getting back from this great bunch in attendance. And Tony & John were amazing.

After a very upbeat first half, which ended with the most inspired version of “Angel Of The Morning” as we’ve ever done (Carrie & I went some place very special here - total chill time for me!) - we started the second half with more moody songs from our upcoming album (scheduled for a Spring release). For the first time ever, we stayed with the new stuff almost the entire second half. It was so rewarding to test the stuff out and get such wonderful feedback from this great audience. Toward the end, we paid tribute to Johnny Cash with a rousing version of “Big River”, did an extremely therapeutic version of “Wild Thing” (no psychiatrists needed for this bunch after that sing-a-long) and double encored with “All The Rain” and as precious a version of “We Come Up Shinin’” as I can remember. WHAT A GREAT NIGHT!!

WE ARE SO LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING HERE AGAIN ON NOV. 27.

Carrie & I said hi to so many nice people after the show, including:

Joe & Joanne .. fans from Toronto. So glad you were here & thanks for the kind words about “The Trouble With Humans” etc… hi to San Antonio friend Liz & friend Linda… so nice of you to come … send regards to Dee Dee & Marsha… Hi Toney … see you tomorrow.. great meet Daisy … Great to see Carrie’s great friends Roedean and Tom front & center … sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk afterwards… next time.. hey Phil.. nice to see you.. Hi to Marie .. so nice to meet you & Danny’s partner Mike… see you soon, my friend… the Shickshinny connection, Barbara & friend … so good to see you always… HI GAULLAUME … so nice to meet Anne & Moira & Andre… hope they come back.. HI RACHAEL & LISA … see you soon… HI Joe … great meeting you… you as well Ivan…oh yes… thanks for the kind words… … Hi to Vanessa (from Holland) & Rupert (from New Zeeland) …HI LISA & JULANNE … see you at Schillers!! … so good to talk with you… Hi Stacey & Kristin… THANKS TO MY GREAT FRIEND CARRIE SEIFER… LOVE YOU SO… LOVE TO ADAM .. THANKS FOR BRINGING YOUR TERRIFIC FRIENDS!! … Hi Nancy…. Hey Mark. & Matt.. nice talking with you… Thanks for the scotch!! -. Peter great to meet you … & dad Harry… what a nice guy… best with all your ventures with Danny … hi to my friends John & Christie & Henry & friend Harry… I really appreciate your coming & all the others… Hey Jackie.. so, so good to see you … Claudio… thanks so much for coming & bringing my lovely friend... see you in a day or two..

Carrie & I really appreciate the support…. SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!

October 21, 2004 - Piermont, NY

The Turning Point  - Benefit show for WFDU

Our old friend Jerry Treacy asked Carrie & I if we would be a part of this celebration - it was the official release date of their live from WFDU CD which contains our live version of ANGEL OF THE MORNING. This is a great station. The DJs work there as a labor of love (no compensation) and they do it with such a passion. THANKS FOR INVITING US JERRY - SO GLAD TO BE A PART OF THIS. And it was so good to share the stage with such talented people, Rebecca Martin and Terrence Martin.

We dedicated our set to John Platania's mom and an old friend of mine Art Malesardi, both of whom recently passed away. It was great to see Art's wife there.. Thanks so much Pat for coming.

The mother of my children & my soul-mate Joanie was there & we celebrated her birthday at the opening of our show with a heartfelt version of "Only One Joan" from my LIVING ROOM TAPES CD.. and a terrific Mary Knoblock-made birthday cake. THANKS MARY.

It was the night of the final Yankee/Red Sox series, but by the time we hit the stage at 9:30 the game was a runaway, so there was no nail biting and we stayed focused on what we were doing. And we had great fun --- in some ways playing at this place is like a class reunion. Thanks to all my old friends who are so supportive. Sorry John was unable to be there, but he was certainly there in spirit. A big thanks to Mike Daves who filled in. Thanks Dave for learning so many songs so quickly - Great Job! My great friend Tony Mercadante did his usual soulful bass thing - great Tony. THANKS!!. Carrie was her usual magical self. got lots of chills tonight from the blend of our voices tonight. loved doing this show.

Lost my notes as to all who were there . so I'll just say a general thanks to all my old friends and some new ones. so nice seeing you - thanks so much for your support - and thanks for supporting WFDU - this was a very special night. Hope to see you all soon. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOAN!

September 24-25 - Albino Skunk Festival, SC

Sept 24 - Heading for THE ALBINO SKUNK BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL - Blueridge, South Carolina

Last year as we were touring the S.C. area - specifically as we were leaving a Horizon CD store after playing an in-store in Greenville - we met a guy named Glynn Zeigler. He said he loved our music and told us about his Skunk Festival. He said it would be the smallest festival (about 1,000 plus people) we would ever play. However, he said he was sure it would be one of our favorites. He said he couldn't pay us a lot, but he'd do the best he could. There was something warm and honest about this guy and Carrie & I liked him right away. So wee told him to contact our agent and then we told our agent to go ahead and book the festival.

CARRIE TAKES A BAD SPILL

A few days before leaving, Carrie slipped & fell on her knee. Just a bad bruise at first, but shortly after it swelled up big time. Despite the injury, she said she wouldn't cancel . she'd be OK. She hobbled to the gate at the airport, holding my shoulder as a crutch, refusing a wheelchair.

So here we were almost one year later, me and a total invalid, boarding a plane to take us to Glynn's Skunk Festival.

At Greenville/Spartanburg airport we were picked up by a very nice lady named Janine -THANKS JANINE!! - who drove us to the festival and then gave us the keys to her car so we could get around on our own. We met our friend Glynn. crutches were waiting . we headed back to our hotel. I examined the wound. It looked pretty bad . still ugly & swollen. I decided it warranted a trip to the emergency room.

Three hours later, we left the hospital with the knowledge that there were no bone chips or breaks. GREAT NEWS!! - we headed for a celebratory dinner & drinks at a restaurant across the street from the hotel. Just after dinner we were joined by Kyle Kegeries (bass) & Joe MacMahan (guitar) from Nashville, who would join us on stage at the festival


Sept 25

It was a beautiful day so we rehearsed just outside our rooms at the hotel. I had forgotten my harmonicas . Glynn had taken care of that for me and a nice guy named Jeff delivered them. THANKS JEFF. Our new friend Joe had done his homework & sounded damned good, so it wasn't a pressured rehearsal.

Due to a mix up we arrived at the festival, several hours before our first show. so we got a chance to hear some great music, meet some nice people & get real comfortable with Glynn's "farm". As we walked in we heard the great sounds of Des Champs playing an Uncle Walt song. found out later Champ Hood's nephew was in the band. Got a chance to say hi to him (Marshal) & his dad Robin after their show. very nice people.

About our host, Glynn Ziegler

Our friend is married to a lovely lady named Susan - 2 terrific kids. Sam & Joey (23? & 20?) - he's in the construction business. If I understood correctly, at one time he was the hired quarterback for big construction jobs for big construction companies. He'd make sure everything got done and at a steady pace. More recently he has his own construction company and does the same job for it. He loves building stuff on his land . like an amazing tree hut that sits above a creak, which runs immediately into a pretty little pond. or like a gazebo made of mostly home grown bamboo, which sit in a bamboo patch off to the right side of the stage. He loves to construct with old odds and ends, so the roof of the gazebo is his old satellite dish!

Also - he and a bunch of his friends have an old 1952 bus. in great running order . which, about 4 times a year, takes between for or eight of the skunk boys to blue grass festivals all over the US & Canada. This is truly a crazy/nice bunch!

OUR FIRST SHOW - 7:10 PM

Carrie, who had been making good use of the crutches the entire day, hobbled on stage to sit in a high chair that Glynn provided. This was the first time that we did a show with one of us sitting. But the high chair put her almost at her normal height so we still were able to communicate well during the performances.

Since most of the other acts were blue grass based, we were concerned about whether the people would accept us. but Glynn had gotten the word out and the reception was quite warm . and, as we found out a few times recently, bluegrass fans love "Wild Thing"

Second Show 11:00 PM

We had so much fun with this one. taking chances with some new songs, mixed in with some of our favorites - highlights for us were "Hole In The Midnight", "Big River", "Fall", "Him Who Saved Me". and a new one "Keep Your Hat on Jenny" --- Great job Joe!!! - one down!! . you too Kyle . see you boys soon! - trooper CARRIE WAS AMAZING!!

Got a chance to meet so many nice people including:

Glynn's sisters, Pamela, Sharon & Robin ??? is that right Glynn? . son Sam (lawyer in Nashville) & his lovely Vanderbilt girlfriend April.. & friend ERIC (-in home care business) .. nice to meet you Eric . HI TO OUR GREAT FRIENDS, PAT & TERRY from Austin! . Hi to Scott & Ed & son Christopher. Hi Mary. saw you in the Gazebo. Hi to skunkees, Jeff, Special Ed. where was "Toothbrush"?? .. HI TO CARRIE'S FRIEND FROM FIDDLE CAMP, EMILY!!! . CARRIE LOVED SEEING YOU AGAIN!!! - HI CHIP II. great to meet you as well . hi Ron .. appreciate your coming to see us again!! . & Jim at the radio station. hope you get the CD. nice talking with you. thanks for the spins. THANKS SO MUCH FOR HELPING MAISSA . WHERE'S MY CUP CAKE!!! .

And to all the others who said hi .. Thanks for a great day!! . you were right Glynn . we loved doing this! THANKS FOR THE INVITE!!

September 5-6, 2004 - Virginia Beach

Sept 5

Virginia Beach Festival

This was the last show before heading home for the tracking of our new album. We were on stage at 7:30 - on the beach . just yards from the pounding waves - the outer reaches of hurricane Frances - It was blowing so hard that Carrie's bow kept bouncing off the fiddle - The surprisingly full house at this outdoor event weren't getting the full effects of the wind and the ocean wetness, but up on the high stage we were getting it full tilt. All that said, it was kind of fun to perform in face of the elements. Jon & Jim were great and the audience appreciated our battle. I really liked doing this show.

Special thanks to the terrific organizers. We were taken care of at every turn. Because of our need to get back to the hotel for some rest before our 4:30 AM wake up call, we were able to say hi to only a few. Sorry to say I lost my notes, but thanks to all who showed such great support. And thanks to our special friend who got us to the hotel so quickly.

Sept 6

Thank God we chose to take the early flight. The next one was cancelled. We arrived in New York in time to shower, change and head for the tracking sessions for our next album. What amazing sessions they were. STAY TUNED.

September 1 - 3, 2004 - Mid Atlantic Tour

One more run before recording new CD

Sept 1 - 10:00 AM - The Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival

I met Carrie in the city (N.Y.) and we headed for National car rental, which happened to be around the corner from where President Bush was staying - hence, a bit of a madhouse situation..... made worse when Carrie couldn't find her drivers license (at present, I don't have one). Carrie returned home (Brooklyn) to look for it... to no avail. Fiance Javier, (in possession of a license) offered to handle the driving chores. However, when they returned to the location, National refused to rent ... insisting on a credit card - not a debit card. However, a few blocks away, Hertz accepted such a card and we were finally on the road at 1:30PM.

Sept 1 - 4:15 PM

arrived at the Hampton Inn in Swedesboro New Jersey, just a few miles from the Delaware River. Our musician friends Hans Holzen (guitar) & Kyle Kegeries (upright bass) were there to meet us in time to rehearse for an hour or so before heading for dinner. Hans & Kyle were scheduled to play with our friend, April Verch, at the same festival on the Sept 3. They arrived a day earlier so as to join us.

WHY WE'RE HERE

This famous bluegrass festival is totally bluegrass... except for us. In recent years the decision makers ... I believe George Mercer & Carl Goldstein were in the drivers seat here ... choose one artist or group that's a bit off that mainstream. Our friend, Guy Clark, was chosen one year. We were this year's choice. And we were really glad they made that decision.

Sept 2 - 3:15

minutes before the first show - Delaware Bluegrass festival

Just before we performed, we met several people who said they had come just to see us. hi to Gary, a teacher from New Brunswick (I think) ... so nice talking to you before the show - hope to see you soon again. Hi to Dave Gross from FDU & friends, artists Jay & Tom .... so good to see all of you. It's so great to hear such kind words before you hit the stage.

THE FIRST SHOW (1000 plus in attendance)

We were the only performers using DI boxes to amplify the sound. There were only minutes between sets so the sound team had to be sharp for this turnover. AND THEY WERE GREAT!! In minutes we were up & running!! THANKS PHILIP - GREAT JOB - PLEASE THANK THE OTHER ENGINEER FOR US AS WELL.

Each artist had only 45 minutes to do there thing - this was a lot of fun and this true bluegrass crowd was quite excepting. We had a great group sing on the new "Oh Set A Light" ... and ended with a rousing "Wild Thing" which these bluegrass fans loved. What a nice reception ... we walked through the bluegrass fire... came out unscathed, and made a bunch of new friends.

8:45 PM - THE SECOND SHOW (1500 plus in attendance)

The place was packed. We got a terrific ovation to start as many were in attendance for the first show.

Carrie & Hans started with a great version of "Midnight On The Water" and we flew from there. Loved this show ... Instead of working off the set list, for the most part I called audibles. Highlights were many ..."Extra"... "Hole In The Midnight"... "Big River"... "Him Who Saved Me".. "Do Your Part"... "Wild Thing" again... huge audience thing with this one tonight.. and a great loose encore of "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" ended a perfect night. GREAT JOB HANS & KYLE ... SO GREAT TO PLAY WITH YOU BOYS AGAIN!! ... SEE YOU SOON.

Said hi to so many including:

Brenna (11) & dad Steve... so glad to see you... hope you enjoy the CD....Hi Rick (dad was an innovative jazz fiddler ... first recordings in 1919!- Amazing stuff) so nice meeting you ... Hi to Larry & Harold & Brad & Sherry & Sue & Dave ... thanks for the kind words... Hi to Lou & Carol ...so nice meeting you as well..

Hi Bill (owns a record store) ... thanks for your support, & for showing me an easy way to open a CD.. so glad you liked "Him Who Saved Me" it's a favorite of ours as well ... Hi Bob & Jean... so nice talking with you ... Hi to George, Paul & Bob (again) ... Hi to Charlie & Alice... James & Billy...

Hey Sam in the red shirt... thanks for the kind words... Brad ... nice to see you ... let us know more info re: the Friday night thing... HEY BRITANY... great to see you... DON'T LOOSE THAT HAT!!! ... Hi Lou & Carol ... so nice meeting you &thanks for asking when we're coming back... believe me, we'll look forward to it .... CAROL ... so nice of you to come over and say such nice things about our stage presence... that was so sweet ... hope to see you soon.

HI KAITLYN ... WISH YOU WERE THERE!!! . ASK MOM (BETH) IF YOU CAN ALL COMENEXT TIME - DON, THANKS FOR THE KIND WORDS - HOPE TO SEE THE WHOLE CREW SOON!! ... HI RITA & SEAN... I'll check out Dunn's Pub in White Plains ... so nice talking with you... ANNA ... THANKS FOR WAITING SO LONG IN LINE... we appreciated that ... Charlie ... thanks for the advice on the book... but I think there's enough hate stuff going on... we don't need to hear more... HI NANCY & HALLY... so nice to meet you at the end.... HI STEPHANIE... BEST OF LUCK WITH THE BOOK RELEASE ETC... SO NICE TO TALK TO YOU!! and HI CONNOR... don't loose that guitar strap ... Carrie & I will be proud to hang on your shoulder for a while!!

Hunter - from Rhonda's band - Carrie & I really appreciated the kind words so much! b - WHAT AN AMAZING PLAYER YOU ARE!! - & tell Rhonda & all how much WE LOVED YOU "GUYS" ---- A big thanks to Train Wreck's Knobs (David Knoblock) & Javier for doing such a great job selling our CDs.

Again hi to our schoolteacher friend Gary... & Dave, Tom & Jay... & Philip... again thanks for the great sound..... & GEORGE & CARL, JUDY & ALL WHO HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR BEING HERE... THANKS!!!!

Carrie & I hope to see you all soon!!

Sep 3

Got woken up last night at 4:30 for a "false alarm" fire alarm ... serious sleep interruption... left Jersey at about noon & arrived just past 2:00 in Baltimore - we'll be playing at a club called "The Royal" tonight at 11:00. I don't think we get any airplay here & we've not played this city before, so we're expecting a very small turnout.

Sep 3 - 7:30

Just got back from sound check - THIS CLUB (THE ROYAL) HAS A GREAT VIBE! - kind of like The Mercury Lounge in N.Y. - The owner/mgr Peter is just a damned good guy - as are Harry, the sweeper, & a terrific sound man, SAM ... and as is Amanda.. our bartender for tonight.

met the opening act... two nice guys named Eric & Brian - Eric told me they specifically went out of their way to get this spot as they and Eric's sister Tina - also there - were huge fans - ain't that nice - one problem... only 15 tickets sold in advance!! - Peter is so cool - loving the sound check ... clapping & stuff & not complaining a bit about what could be a bad financial night for him...

THE SHOW

We arrived at the venue at 9:45 - said hi to "bouncer" MANNY ... hey my friend ... great to see you!! ... heard a bit of Eric &b Brian - they sounded damned good - waited upstairs in the dressing room before show time

10:30 - on stage

we played for a select crowd - kind of like we did in Dallas for a couple of shows .... before we sold out the Sons Of Herman Hall ... but they were a great... most appreciative bunch of friends ... played a whole bunch of new ones for these enthusiastic friends ... we were loose ... John's p[laying was so inspired ... Jim's as well ... an amazing small event .... loved every minute!!

Hi to the great guys on our left... JOSH ... Also known as "Zapper"... Matt (sells cool digital cash register machines etc.)- now has WEEKENDS OFF!!! congrats Matt!!) & Drew (construction for the time being) ... GREAT GUYS ... NEW Friends ... see you soon boys.

Hi to John & loquacious friend ... thanks for the support John ... see you soon ... Hi to Liz & Ken ... Carrie & Javier's Berklee friends... A BIG HI TO CHRISTINE, HOLLY & STEPHANIE ... SO GREAT TO MEET YOU ... CHRISTINE. (do I have this right??) . HOPE YOUR BABY WAS SOUND ASLEEP WHEN YOU GOT HOME.... THANKS FORV THE KIND THOUGHTS ... really hope to see you all next time! ... hi to Sylvia & Christie ... Kalub, Ernie & Laurie?? ...

Thanks Jason for teaching Sam ... HE DOESN'T NEED YOU NOW!! ... WHAT GREAT SOUND!! ... very nice meeting you!!

THANKS AMANDA for the good service ... PETER ... THANKS FOR THE INVITE BACK.... WE'RE COMING!!!

August 3 through 9, 2004 - Canada (part 2) + Newport & Mass

Aug 3 - Day off in Calgary

Our friend Rick picked us up at the Ski Lodge at 12:00 - and we shared a ride down to Calgary with The Paperboys (which includes one "paper girl" guest, the lovely talented fiddle player/ singer, Kendel Carson). - the hour and one half ride went by rather quickly with some laughs about reality TV & some serious discussions between Rick and myself about Indian tribes, oil & politics.

Carrie did an amazing booking over the Internet which landed us rooms at the exclusive four star Weston for $88 ... far less than half the price of the normal rate. We arrived there in time for Carrie to take a walk on the lovely Island where the Calgary Fest was held a few weeks ago - I love that Island... hope we can play that festival next year (somebody seemed to be offering that at Canmore)

Dinner in honor of Neil

We were all looking forward to this - Neil is just one great guy... honorable & hard working... & a real music lover... IT'S THANKS TO HIM THAT I (AND NOW CARRIE & I) HAVE A FOLLOWING HERE... he & his terrific partner Beth, new singer/songwriter discovery Karla Anderson, John's wonderful niece Anna, John, Mike, Carrie & me feasted at a place called Canary Row... just a great night!! THANKS NEIL... GREAT TO BE SPENDING THIS WEEK WITH YOU!

Aug 4

We sleep late & then Carrie & I have some time to have a leisurely breakfast and rehearse some new songs & discuss recording plans. The plan is to begin recording in Sept... and with scattered shows through the fall, have enough time to finish the album by Dec... for release in April.


Aug 4 TURNER VALLEY - A LONG AWAITED RETURN

We couldn't wait to get back to this place!!! - The last time we were here I was so sick... fever ... terribly congested... the last time I was that ill, I was hospitalized... Yet, because of the volunteers who had special remedies awaiting our arrival, the great spirit of the Tuner Valley audience and the interaction we had that night... it was as memorable a show as we've ever done..

And just like last year, my "nurses" were here to great us again as we arrived. So great to see Suzanne & lovely daughter Rachael & my friend in the wheelchair, Gabriel & dad Edward.

We did a quick sound check with another friend from last year, Dave and then had a terrific dinner at a health food-like restaurant across the street where we were joined by Suzanne, Rachael... dad John & chair person of the committee, a very nice young woman named Carol.


note: we played last year as part of their Beneath The Arch fall series. This is a special show that the series is sponsoring because Neil let them know we would be playing Alberta - profits of which go to a fund to support a young athlete who forgot to wear his seat belt & has a tough recovery awaiting him. Because they do not put on summer shows, we were afraid the turnout might not be so strong. We were all pleasantly surprised that the place was full - more than 250 people in this open, Quonset hut - like theater.

The show

After a simple (just Karla .. gtr/voice & mike on bass), but most effective opening set from Neil's new discovery, Karla Anderson, we were on stage at 8:00. Actually, Carrie, John & Mike were on stage. I heard Carla's set end from the back room & guessed I had 5 minutes or so to get ready. WRONG... this was the quickest, most efficient turnover ever, and one was caught napping.... me! I sheepishly hit the stage at 8:03.

This was just a wonderful night from start to finish - communion with performers & audience does not get better than this. It was like a bunch of friends remembering a wonderful day from the past and commemorating it with a special get together.

Carrie & I decided a while ago that this would be the place where we would play all our new songs. And that was kind of the theme of the evening... not planning a tight show... just letting loose and seeing where we all ended up. John & Mike & Carrie were just great tonight.... and their amazing solos were cheered on each time ... and Carrie & I had a strong vibe tonight.... when that happens, the spirit of the minute leads us to uncharted waters, where the notes are held longer at times or phrased slightly different ... as I've mentioned before, when we connect like this, I get constant chills ... and that's the way it was tonight.

There were so many highlights... but doing all the new ones for a bunch of friends is what I'll remember most.... "Big Moon Shinin", "Son Of Man", "The Wonder Of You", "Once Again... One day... Will You Be Miner", "Oh Set A Light" & "Unglorious Hallelujah"... this was the first time we played them all ... they were all more special tonight because of who we played them for.

We said hi to many including:

Arlene & Vince, John & Linda, Cheryl, Jac, ... Hi to Stu from Cowtown... Josh, Mary... Hi Effie ... thanks for coming back.... Hi Jim & Christine... thanks for the kind words re: "Inglorious Hallelujah"... hi to Anne & Layla & friend Connie who sold our CDs... THANKS SO MUCH, CONNIE... HI TO MY OLD FRIEND MARINO!!... great to see you again... STU... THANKS FOR TURNING MARINO & YOUR OTHER FRIENDS ON TO LAST CHANCE... so great to meet you!! ... HI to Arlene & Vince... thanks for traveling so far... so nice talking with you ...

Hi to Matthew ... thanks for your support for the last while.. & Has ... good to see you... Jenny... hope Marcus likes the CD... Hi Carmen ... hope your 9 year old ( Kiana ) can come to the next one... Hi Adrian! ... see you next time... Hi (Mr.) Teri ... so good to meet you... Hi to our new friend Erim from the Yukon... see you soon... HI AMIE... hope your folks at Dry Fork Ranch & Rick enjoy the CDs ....

Special Hello to Dave Wilke & Denise .... so good to see you both... & so glad your feeling better Dave... God Bless... Hi & love to John's special niece, Anna & friends Jackie (thanks for always being there)... & ????

At half-time we did a little private performance of "Wild Thing" for some youngsters & parents... just in case they had to leave early and missed it .... so, a special hello to Neil & his sons, WIL & DEVON... & Charlotte & her daughter Cydney (Hi "Wild Thing"... glad you could stay to the end!!)
... special hi to GABRIEL... hope to see you soon!!

AGAIN, THANKS TO THE GREAT STAFF & FRIENDS... SUZANNE, RACHAEL, JOHN, ROB, JIM, Ed & CAROL & ALL THE REST... I will so look forward to coming back here!!


Aug 5

Neil picked Carrie & I up at 1:00 ... we stopped briefly for some good car food, then headed up Highway 2 to Edmonton. As I mentioned earlier, Neil discovered and managed one of Canada's top stars... for a while he kind of laid a bit low, but he's back now as enthusiastic as ever. We discussed future, more extensive touring in Canada... with the possibility of him getting more involved in our global situation.

4:00 PM

Arrived at the Ramada Inn in Edmonton... host hotel for the festival ... the welcoming folks here could not have been nicer. After dinner at the festival site, we hung out with other artists (so many from Canmore are here as well) and listened to some music from the main stage. THANK GOODNESS THERE'S HARDLY ANY BITING BUGS OUT TONIGHT!!! ... highly unusual & much appreciated...

10:00 MAIN STAGE - Rodney Crowell

Got a chance to say hi to Rodney & new friend Trey (Rodney's cool Louisiana drummer) before they hit the stage. Sorry to here that Trey, Will (gtr) & Denny (bass) have to leave in the AM - would have loved to spend some time with them.

Kendel hadn't seen Rodney before so we were enjoying the show from side stage.

THEN CAME THE STORM

Neil had said earlier, "we just might get some weather tonight°®... love that expression... not "bad weather ... or "rain ... just .....°ß.. weather°®.... and HE WAS RIGHT!

As Rodney Crowell was about a half hour into his set, Kendel & I noticed the lightning light show over the mountains miles beyond front stage ... then the big winds came. I quickly went back to the hospitality tent to find Carrie, and we managed to get to the shuttle bus seconds before the storm broke. Back in the comfort of the hotel lounge, we partied for a few hours with other musicians & friends including our new friends from the Paperboys and the Waybacks

Aug 6 - 6:00 PM - STAGE 3 - Workshop with Ferron, Michael Franti (lead singer/song writer from the highly respected band Spearhead) and old friend Rodney Crowell

This was great fun ... Just a wild loose jam... lots of political overtones. Although John & I do not indulge in Bush bashing, we all were comfortable in adding our share of political commentary with the environment friendly, "Him Who Saved Me" - the very large off-main-stage audience seemed to love this... so did we!!

After the show we hung around the hospitality tent ... indulged in a few beers & some good conversation with other artists, writers, promoters etc. Carrie spent much time talking with some of Jerry Douglas's band members and we looked forward to seeing their workshop tomorrow.

Aug 6 - after watching Michael Franti do a rousing final set, I partied pretty late & had a warm late evening get together with a new friend ... it was definitely a night to remember for me.


Aug 7 - 12:00 (NOON) - OUR SHOW - STAGE 2

After doing a great live/interview thing on CKUA with our friend Allyson, we headed for our big show. I could not believe the fan support we got for this performance - upwards of 1000 people filled the hillside. THIS WAS SO MUCH DAMNED FUN!! ... Thanks to all for the amazing support. Carrie & I were as loose as ever... and John & Mike were just great... WHAT SOLOS!!! ... and each was met with such overwhelming applause. And I got constant chills from the Taylor/Rodriguez harmony thing ... THANKS TO ALL WHO WERE THERE... WHAT A GREAT START TO THIS DAY!!

note: I did what I often do... I forgot to mention the Web Site (trainwreckrecords.com)... so if anybody that's reading this was there ... if you'd tell a few friends who were there... who will tell a few more friends etc... maybe you can help me get all 1000 plus to log on!!

On Site Record Store stop

After the show a golf cart was waiting to hustle Carrie & I to an autograph session at the record store. There was quite a long line of people waiting for us ... I always love this ... it's a chance to get close up with so many terrific people.

Hi to Joyce, Bree & Gordon... Hi to Lynn & Leslie... thanks Lazar for buying so many for friends... hope Amelia (the desert rat) enjoys the listen ... hope Shelby & Tom like the CDs as well .... Hey Dustin (4 year old).... great to see you .... maybe I'll bring my binoculars next time so I can see you!! .... HI SUSAN... what a great little guy .... Hi Carole, Darnell, & Bill ... never knew about those Warner Bros samplers! .... Hi Jim & Loretta .... Jim... thanks for the kind words .... You too, Judah... THANKS!! .... Hi Jeannette... hope Patti likes the CD .... Hi to Jim & Elaine .... Hi Kate... how do we look??!! ....Hi to Cindy & Ron .... Hi Mark .... Hey Peggy.... sorry they ran out of CDs.

Hi to Culley, Jeannette & K eith?? .... Hi Stewart, Donna & Joe .... MHI Amie .... thanks for asking us ark & Tom... yes, I agree... I'm a lucky guy .... Hello Gordon & Elaine .. how did the picture turn out .... Hi Franz... glad you heard US ON CKUA .... Hi Amie ... thanks for asking us to sign the book for mom .... & the cloth... you as well Kara... Hi to Miranda & Marshal .... thanks for the kind words ..... hey Peter... nice to see you .... Why Milwaukee Peter .... great to meet you ....

SPECIAL HELLO TO MY LOVELY YOUNG FRIEND ANGELA ... YOU PLAY THIS DIFFICULT HAND WITH SUCH GRACE.... YOU ARE A WONDERFUL INSPIRATION -- Love to you always .... God Bless Trish & Martin ... hope to see you next time

College Radio interview

another golf cart hustled us to the press tent where we did an ON-AIR interview .... on a hand held and passed around cell phone!!! ..... gotta love that!! - with a nice young guy named Kent from a local college station, whose call letters I've forgotton ... Thanks Kent... Carrie & I enjoyed
that.

after, we headed back to pack & check out of the hotel... and to say goodbye to Neil MacGonigill, who put this whole tour together for us from top to bottom .... as usual, it was like clockwork my friend... THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

photo of Carrie's violin & boots at Edmonton courtesy of Aileen Quinn

Aug 7 - 4:30 PM - STAGE 6 FINAL WORKSHOP - topic: Rituals of the road

with Garnet Rogers ---- Jim Cuddy (from Canada's most famous country group ... Blue Rodeo) ---- Chris Smither (acclaimed US Blues/songwriter)

Again this workshop was packed... another 1,000 or so on the hillside. Every performer on stage had their legions of followers.. ... and we were no exception. Again, his was so much fun... each performer tried to use the " road°® suggestion as a segue to a song... with lots of cross playing (helping each other)... we chose ""Do Your Part" featuring terrific "road inspired" solos by John, Mike & Carrie ... the new song, "Big Moon Shinin", which received an amazing reaction... & a monster sing-a-long of another new one , "Oh Set A Light"

We loved listening & joining in a bit with the other guys... & the fans were just amazing! ... we hated to say goodbye, but we had to leave a few minutes early to catch our plane in order to get to The Newport Festival on time tomorrow THANKS TO ALL .... WHAT A GREAT AFTERNOON AND WHAT A GREAT FESTIVAL

Thanks for the invite Terry... hope to see you soon again!!

AND SPECIAL THANKS to all the hospitality people for such amazing support over the last few days ... great to see you at the hotel... at the site and back & forth from each. ... YOU ARE THE BEST!!!! ... we can't wait to see you again!!!

note: also thanks to the kind hospitality crew who rescued us at the end & helped locate our airport TAXI ... and thanks Jim for hustling to get us there on time ... WE MADE IT!


Aug 7 - 10:10 - Canadian time

We're on a plane heading for Las Vegas... from there we'll take the red-eye to New York.... arriving at 6:00 AM.... from there we'll pick up a car at Hertz & head for The Newport Folk Festival ... with a brief stop in Westchester to pick up a stash of CDs.

Later

The red-eye was not easy ... I was able to doze off for a few minutes but Carrie & John said they did not sleep at all. We waited for about 45 minutes for our luggage and were on the road shortly after 8:00 AM

It was a beautiful day. Hardly a cloud, with temperatures seemingly in the low 70s. We stopped at Joanie's house (ex-wife & soulmate) in Hartsdale. Joanie was not there but Train Wreck VP, Chuck Knoblock had left CDs for us there as it was not much out of our way on our path to the Newport Folk Festival. We were not sure if we would have the time to check into the hotel before Carrie & my singer/songwriter workshop (1:50), so we showered at Joanie's and a bit freshened, were on our way. We headed east on 287, hooked up with 95 & headed north for Newport.

We phoned the festival at 9:45 , just as we merged onto 95 and were told by one of the coordinators that we would probably not make it in time due to the monster traffic jams on 95 & in Newport. But 95 was OK & despite heavy traffic in Newport, we arrived shortly after 1:00 PM & were quickly escorted to the Border's stage.

FIRST SHOW 1:50 - BORDER's STAGE

Songwriters In The Roud - with old friends Darden Smith, Jeff Plankenhorn, Laura Cantrell & Lori McKenna

Loved doing this! ... first, the setting was so beautiful. Off to the right of the stage was an inlet off the Nantucket Sound with pleasure boats in abundance ... lots of colors ... and lots of smiling faces ( 500 plus) awaiting us in the canvas covered open seating area in front of the stage.

We traded songs for an hour. Darden started it off & Carrie & I were last. After a thunderous applause for °ßLet's Leave This Town", Darden quipped, "Back in 91, when we did one of these singer/songwriter things, I swore I'd never again put myself in a spot to follow Chip Taylor... and now here I am... in that same spot... how stupid am I.°® But Darden and the rest were terrific ... it was so good to hear Lori for the first time. As Carrie said later, "she's got it all". This mom of 5 plays her ass off and her songs are unique & inspired ... down to earth subject matter from a mom-of-five's eye. LORI IS ONE OF THOSE ARTISTS THAT DOES NOT NEED A BAND TO SHOW OFF THE POWER OF HER SONGS. If someone had recorded this set and released it, you would get the essential Lori McKenna .... and would need no more. LOVED HER!!

We ended the set with everyone joining in on our new song, the gospel tinged "Oh Set A Light". The audience loved it ... what a nice bunch of people to share the stage with and what a terrific audience to play for.

4:50 - BORDER'S STAGE ---- OUR SHOW

Bassist Jim Whitney arrived in time to join us for this one. Jim is one of the best upright payers we know ... he played on both duet albums.

The "room" was only half full to start. But in short order the place was absolutely packed and they were overwhelmingly behind us from the beginning. We had no idea that we would have such support here.

This was a magic show. We were running on fumes... 2 shows in the span of 24 hours ... no sleep in between but we were loving every minute of this one. I had no set list... I drifted from the set list & just called the songs out as we went... highlights were too many... loved "Big Moon Shinin", "Extra", "Laredo", ... "Wild Thing" was off the charts... we ended with a raucous version of "All The Rain"... John & Jim were "on" and much appreciated by the fans... this show had it's own vibe .... loose & inspired ... and what a wonderful bunch of people to play for.

saw an old friend... the lovely Alex formerly top bar gal from the Merc Bar in New York... GREAT TO SEE YOU ALEX!!!

said hi to so many, including:

Hi to lovely Arielle, Al & Naomi.... Al, great to see brother Howard & Sheryll in Canada... thanks so much for the family support... see you soon... Hi Baccah... hope you & Kip (& Megan) like the CD... HEY MEGAN... GLAD YOU CAME BACK!! ... great to see you all!! ... Hi Gavin ... hope you (& Don) enjoy the listen.... HI JIM & JUDY!! .... & MARY... ALL THE BEST.... Hi Jimm - from WTIC in Hearford... get in touch, we'll hook something up.

Phil & Karen ... thanks for the kind words... & the ifo re: Gac (& Kylie Harris - Edge Of Country Show) HI ROLAND (first saw my name on the WILD THING label) ... Great to see you, my friend .... HI PETE & lovely daughter Elise... how did the picture come out??? .... Hi Ian... the Juice Newton fan... nice to see you .... HI TERI... thanks for the "Gotta Get Back To Cisco°® memories ... HI TOM & SUSAN... thanks for the kind thoughts... HI Angelica... great to see you at the end ... hope all is well.... Hello Tish... from Cooper TX ... so great to talk to you .... as well as Rich & Anne... & BILL ... so good to talk to such nice folks... and HI KAY (DJ FROM KILKENNEY) GREAT TO MEET YOU.... finally!! ... we both needed that!!!... hope Sheila & Chris enjoy the CDs

So good to see our friend (& agent) Bobby Cudd & his lovely wife Michelle. THANKS FOR THIS ONE BOBBY!! _ also good to see our friend & amazing vocalist, Aoiffe after the show... sorry we missed your band's performance... next time ... thanks for stopping by ours .... standing off to the side... and listening to °.WILD THING°® & all the rest ... SAY HI TO RASHAD ... SEE
YOU BOTH SOON ... heard a bit of friend, Joan Osborne's terrific show on main stage and a bit of Wilco ... but by the time we finished signing and checking the CDs out, the show was over

SPECIAL THENKS TO THE WONDERFUL COORDINATERRS OF THE FEATIVAL... HI NALINI. SO GREAT TO FINALLY MEET YOU !! ... HI &THANKS TO TRACY, KATHY & LAURA & ALL THE REST... what an amazing job you did!!! - we appreciate it so much ... God Bless

This was the first time playing this festival ... WE LOVED IT .. hope we come back next year

Aug 9, 2004 - Massachusetts

Carrie, John & I arrived in Northampton just in time for our taped interview/performance with our friend Johnny Memphis at radio station WRSI. This is a terrific fan-friendly station . And it was this station and their fans that broke Carrie & I in the western Mass area (The Trouble With Humans was voted CD of the year in the listener pole).

WRSI - 3:00 interview/performance

Johnny Memphis is a very good host. His questions always have an unplanned spontaneous flow - he's good natured & interested - so this was easy & fun. We played one of the new songs, "Oh Set A Light" & "Don't Speak In English". THANKS JOHNNY - always great to see you. hope Chris heals quickly

Note: poor little guy (4 years old) broke his arm and so has been unable to go swimming this summer.

Great to see you Barbara - hope you were able to stop by the show for a bit. Monte. so nice meeting you as well.

4:30 - getting ready for sound check

great to see my old friend Stu behind the bar .. who, among other things, will be making sure there's plenty of single malt on hand for this evening's show.

small world

As Carrie & I (me, with guitar in hand) were standing just outside the front door of the club - waiting for our sound friend, Jim, to set up the stage - a nice guy named Dave walked by with his daughter Rosey. Dave stopped in his tracks when he saw us and said."it's you. I can't believe it. I know you. you're Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez".

The strange thing here is that Dave is from the Canary Islands. He was living in Spain a few years ago when a friend sent him a copy of "Let's Leave This Town". He said it's one of his favorite albums, he's taken it with him wherever he goes, and that he and his daughter have just been enjoying together these last few days. Dave was visiting friends in town and had no idea we were here. he was just walking down the street and recognized us from the album cover.

GREAT TO SEE YOU AND ROSEY, DAVE. SORRY YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT TO THE SHOW!! By the way. just to make you feel guilty . when we found out the show was sold out, we put you both (plus grandma) on the guest list. Hope to see you next time!

Sound check

JIM. THANKS FOR THE GREAT, QUICK SOUND CHECK!!. which gave us time to rehearse a bit.. Much appreciated! GREAT JOB!!


AUG 9 - VENUE - THE IRON HORSE in Northampton

Sorry to say I only heard a bit of the opening act. But what I heard, I liked. Thanks boys . hope to get a chance to hear you again.

We were on stage by 7:50. THIS WAS AN AMAZING NIGHT!! WRSI, their listeners, and Carrie & I have quickly become great friends. So, from the minute we hit the stage, it was like a bunch of friends getting together & having a hell of a time. Carrie was on fire & John & Jim were simply brilliant.

At halftime we brought out two musician friends to join us for a couple of songs - Alicia Jo Rabin (fiddle) & Michael Daves (mandolin). Later they joined us again for Wild Thing and a bunch of encores. They were wonderful - and the audience loved their effort.

It would be too hard to pick highlights . the whole damned show was a highlight for me. We played lots of songs from each duet album, each to overwhelming response . we also did a passionate version of "Angel Of The Morning" and a rousing version of Johnny Cash's "Big River" that the fans seemed to love. but it was the new ones that seemed to take center stage. Maybe it's because these are the kind of fans you love to have that "private moment" with. We experimented a lot . with dynamics. and structure. You can only do that when you are one with your audience. That's when true magic happens. and magic was all over the place tonight!

After playing as wild a version of "Wild Thing" as we've done. we closed with the new "Oh Set A Light" (quickly becoming a fan favorite), a beautiful version of another new one, "The Wonder Of You" (that gave me chills from start to finish), a thunderous version of "All The Rain" & a wild version of "I Wasn't Born In Tennessee" featuring four brilliant solos!

THIS WAS AS GOOD AS IT GETS!! - THANKS TO ALL . CAN'T WAIT TO COME BACK!!

Said hi to so many. thanks to all who said hello including:

Big John. always great to see you, my friend .Leslie, so good to see you as well. thanks so much for being so helpful .. Hi to Lynn (all the best weith your studies in Grenada) & Rob (my school teacher friend) & Raff . sorry Frank couldn't make it. tell the movie star I said hi. GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!! Best wishes to the youngsters downstairs & up . thanks for coming to the show.

note to their parents: I'm not sure if the kids were able to stay for the entire show. If not, next time Carrie & I will give a private few minute mid-show concert downstairs so the kids can hear "Wild Thing" in the event they have to leave early.

Hi to Bill (staff photographer) .. congrats on the grandchild. Steve. thanks for making copies of the Green River Fest pictures for us. Carrie & I really appreciate that . Hi to Nancy & Ike. So good to see you both. hope Earl & Pete enjoy the CDs. .. Hi to Ron & Ilene. hey Claude . nice to meet you . glad Brian recommended this show . A big thanks Brian . & thanks for the kind words . hi to Andy & Ken & Callie. so nice meeting you as well . & hi John. if you find an extra "I Can't Grow Peaches On A Cherry Tree" album.save it for me.

Hi Donna .. so glad Richard bought the "birthday" tickets. It was so nice talking with you both. . Hi Ron & Eileen . thanks so much for the kind words . hope to see you next time . Ed & Sue (saw you in Connecticut a while back). Carrie & I really appreciate your waiting so long to say hello . see you next time .. Hi Adele & Steve .so nice to see you again. Francis, Adele is the lady who purchased your book, "I'm Not The Woman I Was" in Northampton. You are getting so famous!! Hope you're feeling better.

Note: For those who don't know, Francis Nail (Carrie's grandma) is a rather famous short story writer from Austin, Texas. Her charming, magical stories will just make you feel better!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED STUFF!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERRY!!! Great to see you . who made that great cake!? Hi Neil & Matt, Kelly & Tyler in the back. . Stu, I had no idea you could play harp like that! Main stage next time!!!

To all who attended, Carrie & I want to thank you for a wonderful night. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOON!!

July 31 - Aug 2 - Canada Tour (part 1)

July 31 - heading for Canada

4:00 AM - A local car service passengers Carrie & I to Newark Airport - we've each had less than 3 hours sleep - We arrive there at 5:00 - two hours before flight time - John is waiting - He's ALWAYS there before us!

We fly 6 hours to Phoenix, then - 1 hour later - we're off for our final destination .... Calgary, Canada.

My good friend, Neil MacGonigill (Jan Arden's former Mgr) has been a fan of my music since Last Chance days (73) - He worked for Warner Bros in the stock room back then - when WB closed that office, Neil absconded as many Last Chance albums he could get his hands on and passed them out to friends. Hence, my loyal Alberta following was born.

Neil was in the audience when Guy Clark was recording his live CD in Nashville back in '97 - the year I formally returned to music. When Guy called me up to sing a song, Neil almost passed out - he thought I had long since passed away.

Since we've become great friends and whenever I (now we) played in Alberta, Neil handles everything as a labor of love. And since my return Neil's great friends at Alberta - CKUA Radio - one of the coolest stations in all Canada - let's say ANYPLACE - has played all my CDs. And they've embraced Carrie and the duet CDs as well - we now see the results of that support - We sold out all the shows during last years tour & now we're headlining 2 great festivals in Alberta - The Canmore Festival in Canmore, resting in the beautiful Rocky Mt. area just short of Banff... the following weekend has us headlining one of the premier festivals in the world - The Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Edmonton... 3 plus hours north of Canmore. In between we will make a return visit to a venue we absolutely loved from last years tour - The Turner Valley Folk series held at a place called The Flare & Derek in this oil capital of Alberta.


2:45 (Alberta time) we arrive in Calgary

No waiting at customs - Neil has pull - the official custom people are waiting with smiles - Neil is there as well - and our bass player for the next few weeks, the most talented Mike Lent (Jann Arden's former bassist) is there too - within minutes we're heading about 2 hours north to Canmore - John riding shotgun with Mike in his old wagon - Carrie & I travel with Neil in his SUV.

We are all wiped out - we slept a bit on the plane - but just a bit - Carrie & I are nodding off every so often - We arrive in Canmore at about 5:00 - get checked in at the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge -rehearse with Mike for about 40 minutes -shower & change and make it just in time for our 7:00 show at the festival

The Canmore Festival - 7:00 PM - THE MAIN STAGE

Being on stage with this terrific, most welcoming audience, knocks the tiredness right out of us - it's shockingly cold, but we don't feel that either - we look out on the 2,000 plus audience with the Rockies in the background and we will all express later that we feel just so blessed to be here- what a beautiful beautiful feeling -

the audience is totally with us - "Let's Leave This town", "Extra"... "Big River" ... "Angel of The Morning", "Wild Thing".. & "All The Rain" are crowd favorites ... but ... again... "Fall" seems to be get overwhelming response - thanks Neil & CKUA for getting us to this level with these wonderful music fans - what a great night!!! - SO GOOD TO BE BACK IN ALBERTA!!!

photo of Chip at Canmore courtesy of Tom Coxworth

Two more Days at the Canmore Festival

After our main stage performance Carrie & I visited the sales tent & said hi to many of the fans & signed some autographs then we headed for a restaurant near the hotel for a long awaited dinner.

CARRIE'S BIRTHDAY

Today is that special day. However, we're in no mood for a real celebration - After dinner we share a little birthday desert. I've decided that tomorrow evening will be the official celebration - best restaurant in town etc.


Aug 1 - Day 2 of Festival

Yesterday we met one of the volunteers, Rick Fair... Rick is also on the board of directors of the festival... He & his terrific wife Bridgett are very informed music fans and kind of run the support for the artists ... making sure our every need is met... just great people... and the entire support staff is terrific. It's great to work with people like this.

Another one of the great things about festivals is that you get to meet other musicians & singer/ songwriters - & perform spontaneously with them - in scheduled workshops. Today there are three

Rick picks Carrie up at the hotel at 10:30, then doubles back to get me 15 minutes later --- it's damned cold in the mountains this morning.

11:00 Fiddlin Around

Carrie & several other fiddlers put on a great 45 minute set - each taking turns to do there thing - a shivering Carrie shines with a solo performance of "Midnight On The water" & "Say Little Darlin" - The surprisingly large stage 2 audience loves her and this entire workshop is extremely well received.

12:00 Two By Two

John & Mike join Carrie & I for this one - the other performer is a very talented west coast guy, Rick Shea - who is strongly influenced by artists like Buck Owens & Merle Haggard - so I like his style immediately - he was supposed to be joined on stage by fiddler Brantley Kearns (of Dwight Yoakam fame) - However a pinched nerve won't allow Brantley's hand to function properly - so we all kind of join in on his songs and he does the same with us
- Again, the Canmore fans are just great - this is a loose and fun 45 minute set - great to meet Rick.

3:00 - Songwriters... him

Carrie is an honorary "him°® for this one and the audience is certainly happy about that. We share the stage with extremely talented musician/songwriters, Martin Simpson & Garnet Rogers -- who have the story telling thing down... long stories over tuning r&b riffs which finally lead to a song... a very special performance thing - If that's what you like, these guys should be at the top of your list - We end up with a sing-a-long version of Angel Of The Morning - with a breakdown at the end that has the audience & all on stage singing the chorus accapella - it just happened - it sounded more like Shaggy than Taylor/Rodriguez, but it was great fun!

In between the shows we said hi to many of the fans... just a great bunch of great people.... & sign some CDs - the sales tent said they were out of CDs - we had no idea we'd sell so many at this small festival.

Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped by the CKUA tent to say hi & thanks - Our friend & host of the afternoon "live from Canmore" segment, Tom, did a terrific on-air interview with Carrie & I.

Carrie's Birthday Dinner

Earlier I had asked Rick Fair what was the premier restaurant in town. He recommended a place called Murietta's. Fortunately we were able to make reservations. This is a five star deal -- WE LOVED THIS PLACE!! - Carrie had a delicious meal featuring halibut from northern waters, John had an amazing pasta plate & I had pheasant from southern Alberta with mixed vegetables... the martinis were dry & cold, the wine light & cool... & the desert with the candles resting in the meringue topping at the end was absolutely sinful!

Just a great 26th birthday dinner for our now not-so-secret weapon.


August 2 - Final Day at Canmore

12:00 - Main Stage - Texas Jam - (3 bands - on stage together)

We were really looking forward to this day. We're back on the main stage with some new friends... an unbelievably original & over-the-top party band called BRAVE COMBO - Mexican/Cuban/ polka/punk/rap/plus... plus.... great guys & great players... Carl.. gtr/squeeze box & keyboards... Jeff... sax & clarinet... Dan... horns... Bubba on bass & Allen on drums

also our friend from Austin... the great blues/folk artist, Ruthie Foster with her talented friend on percussion, Cyd Cassone plus John on electric & Mike playing upright (so, with Bubba on electric, it's a two bass thing)

This 45 minute Jam was so much fun... We accompanied them on their choices and they joined in with us on "Laredo", "Do Your Part" and at Carrie's suggestion, a loose/fun version of one of the new ones... "Son Of Man"... with all the solos each song lasted 5 or 6 minutes... what a blast.

Let me mention here that John (Platania) was amazing during this set... accompanying Ruthie & the boys as well as us... It was great to see and here the crowd react to his subtle brilliance.

John's been fighting a tough battle with arthritis and cramps in his left hand. It's been going on for a few months now ... and the pain has been bad the last few days. Despite that, he's been simply terrific on this tour. He'll see a specialist when we get back to New York next week.


2:00 - stage 3 - This one was a gift (note: that's the working title of the workshop - you just let that mean whatever... & run with it)

We did this one with Martin Simpson as well. Also joined by a very original singer songwriter Laura Smith .- she's terrific - .. loved playing this one - Carrie & I decided to do all new ones - the audience response to °ßThe Wonder Of You°®, °ßOnce Again... One day... Will you Be Mine°® and °ßOh Set A Light°® was amazing.


After listening to some music and signing some autographs, we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit, then, after a shower and a change of clothes, we headed for a private hall in town where dinner was served for performers.

Private fiddle jam

At about 11:30 we arrived back at the hall. There was some rock jamming in the main room, but the small room had the best "action" - for or five fiddlers, including our terrifically talented new friends Cho Jo from Santa Cruz and Kendell (lovely 19 year old from Victoria)... a couple of guitars, a banjo & a few uprights... bluegrass at it's best... and Carrie shone again with not just her playing, but with her singing... one I can't recall the title and another... a blue grass or folk murder ballad from long ago called °ßDown In The willow Garden°® - Just great... she's magic!


THANKS TO ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING THIS FESTIVAL A GREAT MEMORY FOR US!!!

- thanks for having us Ken... hope we see you soon again... to Vic & Bob & all the great stage & sound crew ... what a job you did!! - special thanks to Rick & Bridgett - see you soon, my friends...

HI TO THE MANY PEOPLE WE GOT A CHANCE TO SAY HELLO TO, INCLUDING:

Mel & May ... thanks for your support over the years, Mel... hope to see you soon again... hi to Rachael... Dave & Stephie & Susan.. so nice talking with you ... Hi to Henry & Eva... Anne & Rick... hi to Craig & Natalie... thanks for the kind words ... hope to see you soon... hello to Sharon, Rob & Anne... Mary Jane (from New Brunswick) ... so nice to meet you .. hope you were able to get the CDs on the site... say hi to Sean... Hi RON ... from the folk club in Edmonton... so good to see you again... Hi Valarie... thanks for the kind words ... the laughing/crying thing touched me... Hi Jacquie & Evelyn... Hope we can figure out coming to the festival... if so, have some bug spray ready for me!!!.. Hi Terry & Maureen... let's try to figure it out... Hi Pat & Jennie.. Hi to Howard & Vienna... & GLEN & LINDA... & Lisa & Jorgen... HI TO SYLVIA & DOUG ... THANKS FOR BRINGING MY NEW FRIEND, RANDI (12) ... HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON... Hi Howard... Hi to Shelagh & Franz ... don't ask next time... loved talking with you both... Hi Cathy.. & Melanie... Hi Brian ... hope Jared likes the CD... tell him hello ... BRENDA... thanks for the kind words & the many listens in your home... loved talking with you...

Hi to John & Sandra... thanks for the kind words (thanks John for turning Sandra on to my stuff & now the duets) ... HI TO ELLEN & AMIE... Hi to Brian, Denny & Colleen.. Hi to Laurie, Don & Linda ... hope Walt is able to come next time... Hi Doris & Rick... thanks for the kind words... THANKS BETH!!! ... yeah... I love us together as well.

Special hello to the fellow with the crutches at the main stage.. can't remember your wife°¶s name ... hope she likes °ßHit Man°®.. (was it Flazzie or something like that) ... anyway ... you're amazing my friend!! GOD BLESS.

Hi To Patrick & Lynne ... met you at the Boston Pizza place... hope you make to Turner Valley

one of the great things about coming to Alberta is that we get to hook up with our special friends... JP's lovely niece, Anna & husband Gord and son, °ßaction°® - so great to see you always!!!

hi to Jocylyn & daughter Emily ... so nice talking with you - hope we see you at the Regina fest next year... by the way, to all those who talked to us about coming to "their" festivals, the person to talk to is our friend Neil MacGonigill 403-245-0425.

THANKS TO ALL FOR A GREAT FESTIVAL - CARRIE & I HOPE TO BE BACK SOON

Jul 7- 19, 2004 - UK Tour

This Summer:

It's been a while since we've toured. Here's what we've been up to in the meantime.

For the better part of the last month or so Carrie has been in Austin with boyfriend Javier helping take care of Carrie's grandma Frances who just had a knee replacement. After that, she spent a week in fiddle camp in Nashville, teaching beginners and practicing and playing with her peers. She absolutely loved the experience.

Back in New York, I decided to spend the time recording all songs written over the past few years that did not fit the duet concept. So, with Tony Mercadante on bass, Anton Fig on drums & John (Platania) on guitar we put to tape over 20 "new" songs I have no idea what I'll do with these recordings - maybe a box set with about 20 plus other unreleased recordings might be in the offing in the near future.

But more imminently, after the summers tour (in September), Carrie & I will be in the studio recording our third duet album, with a projected release date of April 2005.


Current

Let me set this up a bit. There's a group in England called The Beautiful South. Their last "best of" CD was the biggest seller of the decade. They are very well respected & liked - also successful throughout Europe. They just signed a new deal with Sony UK. Although they are known for writing their own songs (Paul Heaton & guitarist Dave Rotherray are the main writers), they decide to do an album of covers. I found out recently that one of the songs they almost recorded was "Fall" from the last duet album.

About a month ago I got a call from an A&R VP at Sony Records England. He said that Paul & the group were big fans and asked if I would sing a song with them on their new album. And so I did. It's called "This Old Skin" and will be out on their first Sony album set for release in October.

July 7 -

Flew over a day early to have dinner with Paul Heaton, producer & Jon Kelly. They picked up me & my friend Florence (Flo runs Train Wreck UK) and took us to Olympia Studios where we met the 'South's bassist Sean, engineer Jay and assistant Phil. Just a bunch of down to earth great guys! We listened to the mix of the song I sang on (This Old Skin) - It sounded great - heard some other great covers as well - this will be a big, big selling album!!

Paul then took us all out to a terrific dinner at the comfortable Italian restaurant nearby. Great food, great loose conversation - it was like I
was having dinner with family & best friends. Florence & I just had a great
night - capped off by listening to more cuts from the "Covers" CD. The
version they did of the BEE GEES Grease hit ??? - The OO, OO song was amazing - better than the original!! - what a great night.

July 8

Carrie flew over a day before our tour is to start - rehearsed a bit - had a great meal & good conversation - we're ready.


July 9

John Platania & Petter Ericsson (bassist from Sweden) met each other at the airport - picked up the rental van & then picked up Carrie & I at our hotel in Kensington. After a brief stop at National Rent-a-car to get Carrie & I signed on as drivers, we were off and heading north for a place called ??? just passed Nottingham for the Americana Festival.


The show

We arrived just in time to tune up & play. It was great to hit the stage after being away these past few months. The band was loose & so inspired - and Carrie & I were quickly back in the groove - and the audience was with us from the start. Just a damn good night.


Thanks Chris & Bev & Brian & all for the cordial welcome. Special hi to: old friends Terry & Linda, Al Moir.. sorry I missed you... Hi Column & Cherry.. Lil & Pete, Ken & Kim.. Hi Eamon & Don... nice talking with you... special hi to Richard & Beth - these names are probably wrong .. just know I appreciate your traveling so long to see us again.

Special hello to rockabilly star Narvel Felts who I've always wanted to meet (an original Sun artist!!) - & friends Dave & Rip -- thanks for sharing your touching "Angel Of The Morning" story with me, Narvel. See you soon.

Great to meet guitar hero Albert Lee & friends Gwen, Maureen & Sue - such nice people - Albert was in Emmylou's hot band - & a session star forever - Hi to Ian & Bernie - thanks for the "Real thing" thoughts Ian... see you soon

And Wendy - thanks for being so nice to us throughout our stay at your
terrific hotel (The Millgate House)

Just a great way to start our tour!!


July 10

Left the hotel at 11:30, headed south on A46. We joined the M1 about a half hour later & headed south toward the next venue in Bedford, England. Since the hotels in Bedford were all booked, the promoter, Mike Plummer (a great guy), booked us at an aviation college (Cranfield College - John reminds me it has other curriculum as well) 20 miles north. We arrived at about 2:00 in time to rest & rehearse a bit before sound check. By the way, the Hotel at the college was far better than we expected - actually quite nice - we feared a dormitory type set up - but it was truly a hotel in one of the school buildings - we'd rate it a solid *** - simple, but very clean and comfortable.

We had enormous difficulty in finding the venue in the maze of Bedford side streets. We finally arrived at about 6:00. As we walked in an attractive young girl named Lynne was singing into one of the mikes to help her dad, Mark, adjust the sound level. She shyly finished her song and retreated to the side. We all thought she was quite talented & sweet - & enjoyed the listen.

THE VENUE - THE SHED (a private room in a pub called Gordon Arms

This is a nonprofit event - Mike & helpers Mark (sound), Lorraine (tickets & CD sales), Mark (sound), Dave (over all assistant) & singer/songwriter Mickey (also assisting with sound) - could not be nicer people & all extraordinarily accommodating. By the way, Mickey opened up with a sort of Bruce Springsteen meets Kristofferson set. Nice job Mickey!

THE SHOW

Mike has built up a nice following for this warm, music friendly room. The ticket pre sale was not large as usual for this new venue so the turnout kind of surprised Mike & the crew. By show time, the place was packed!

We divided the show in two halves & gave everything we had. It was just one of those loose fun shows where the terrific audience response got the best from us - new songs - extended versions of the current & old ones. Just a bunch of fun. The audience seemed to be into the whole show so it 's hard to pick a highlight. ... maybe a new song "Big Moon Shining", "Big River", "Extra", "I Wasn't Born In Tennessee" & "Holy Shit" - which all brought enormous response.

note: A highlight (OR MEMORABLE MOMENT) for me was when I looked over to Carrie during Wild Thing as her verse was about to begin ... & saw this look of fear and a signal from her for me to take it. It seems SHE HAD
FORGOTTEN THE WORDS!!! - I loved that... my partner forgetting the words to Wild Thing!!

It was so nice meeting with the people after the show - Hi to all, including: Paul & friend Alwx, Clive & Ro, Yvonne, Melia & Tim, Yvonne (again!) & Joe, Roger (thanks for the support through the years, my friend... hi to Michael & Jean, Sean & Bernie... Hi Ken & Richard ... so great to see you all - this was a special night with special friends!


July 12

THIS IS WELCOME DAY OFF - NO SHOW TONIGHT!

Left the college at 11:30 and headed back north - destination Newcastle. I always love playing here as my fan base (now our fan base) grew quite large from very humble beginnings (i.e.: a free concert in a pub in Sunderland.. which began with constant chatter and ended with total reverence - great friends were made that night in '98 and that small army has grown throughout the years).

We pass the Angel Of The North after about 2 and one half hours on the road (LOVE SEEING THAT BRONZE ANDROGYNOUS... BUT WARM FEELING STRUCTURE every time wee head this way).

We check into the Surtees Hotel at around 3:00 PM.. we've always liked staying at this old but artistic place in the past. But as we each check into our rooms we find one thing absent -- SOAP - an oversight?? - must be! ... ah, but no - it seems they knew they were out of soap but the ownership was to change hands in a few days... so the assistant manager DECIDED NOT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!! - The desk clerk & other helpers did the best they could but only a couple of bars were located.

This is certainly not life & death stuff ... just annoying as hell... and otherwise we settled comfortably and prepared to enjoy our day off.

We each went our separate ways... walking... sightseeing. We met at 6:00 for a brief rehearsal then headed down the block to a terrific Italian restaurant named Primo's for a great meal. Later we all went to the Luxury hotel across the street (The Vermont), where Carrie had a couple of quality vodka tonics & the rest of us had a few delicious single malts - HI TO OUR NEW FRIEND JOE (the youngest bartender I've met - 18 years old... but this very nice guy knows his stuff).


July 12

A bit more shopping and walking (I need T-shirts because I left my supply under my pillow in London -- (I often use whatever to prop up my pillows for sleep comfort - and I often forget I did that and so I end up leaving without jackets, jeans or.... T-shirts.... oh well!)

The Venue - The Live Theatre, Quayside, Newcastle

WE LOVE THIS PLACE!

Just 5 minutes walk from the hotel - along the river - yards from the "flippable" Millennium bridge (this rather small, walking bridge can flip to allow enough room for boats to pass) - turn left about 50 yards up the block and there it is on the left - entering you find a mini-theater - modern & odd shaped with seating for about 100 0n the main floor & about another 100 scattered around in odd, interesting clumps throughout the balcony - 5 here... 12 there etc.

The young sound person Jill is right there to accommodate us & we are most happy with the sound in record time - THANKS JILL!! This leaves us enough time for a brief dinner & shower before show time

BEFORE THE SHOW

Just before we hit the stage we meet old friend & music critic Maurice Hope, who brings us the April addition of Northeast's biggest selling music magazine, GET RHYTHM, which has one of the terrific Todd Wolfson pictures of us on the cover and a wonderful interview/article by Maurice inside - He also brings another music magazine which has a small picture of us on the front and another excellent piece about us within - GREAT STUFF MAURICE... THANKS, MY FRIEND!!


THE SHOW

We knew this would be fun ! This area has been a special place for me... built on a special "free" show in a pub in Sunderland back 6 years ago,, the small army for me & now Carrie & me has grown over the last few years. The place seemed quite full. We are told later that this was the largest turnout for a Monday night that they have had. The vibe here is just great - we play our usual mixture of stuff with a few brand new songs mixed in... highlights are too many... let's say "Extra", "Sweet Tequila", a totally inspired "Fall" and a most spirited "Big River"... oh yes... and a totally loose version of a brand new one... a modern gospel song, "Son Of Man"

thanks to all who attended ...

first... great to see old friends Ernie & Pauline... by now part of this Train Wreck family... thanks so much for helping us (so professionally) with selling the CDs ... but more than that... simply great to see you both

hi to old friends, John, Alan ( tell Wyn we missed her) & the rest... thanks
my friends for always being there.. hi to Mike... thanks for the photos!!!
... David... thanks for the great photos as well... Ian... so good to see
you ... SEND LARA OUR LOVE - WE'RE SO PROUD OF HER RE THE VIOLIN STUFF - look forward to seeing her next time... Hi Gill & Christine... so glad you were there - it was great to see you from the stage... Dennis & Moira... THANKS FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE! .. glad to hear you were at the crazy Americana thing... we really did enjoy that .. so nice talking to you both.. hi to Graham's cohorts Joe & Dave?? - missed my friends Dave & Jackie - hope they can boats to pass) - turn left about 50 yards up the block & there it is on the left - entering you find a mini-thater - modern & odd shaped with seating for about 100 0n the main floor & about another 100 scattered around in odd, interesting clumps throughout the balcony - 5 here... 12 there etc.

The young sound person Jill is right there to accommodate us and we are most happy with the sound in record time - THANKS JILL!! This leaves us enough time for a brief dinner & shower before show time


July 13

Check out about 11:30... back down the MI toward Leeds ... then we'll take the M62 straight to Manchester, our next destination..... about a 2 1/2 hour trip.

On the way down we finish listening to a book on CD we had picked up a few days earlier... the charming and poignant "About A Boy" by Nick Hornby, read by Alan Cumming. What a difference than that "King Of Torts" piece of trash we listened to months ago during our England/Ireland Feb tour. This one lifts the spirit while speaking of the true value of homest communication and caring between seemingly unlikely friends. A very nice listen!

Arrived at our hotel (The Britannia) in early afternoon with some free time on our hand. Carrie & I had a nice little walk and heart to heart but sadly witnessed a crash between car & motorcycle. It was a bad one... but thank God the guy on the bike had all his gear on... we think he'll survive ... otherwise he would most likely not have.

By the way... this hotel was probably something in it's day.. but now it's run down & musty with little ventilation .. I get switched to a slightly larger room... not much better. We don't recommend this one... BUT AT LEAST
IT HAS SOAP!

THE VENUE - The Life Cafe, Manchester

Paul Heaton from The Beautiful South told us this room was quite nice & he's right... he thought he would join us here but he had to stay in London to finish mixing the new CD. He told me today that he'd try to meet us at the Larmer Tree Festival in a few days. We're all looking forward to that...

THE SHOW

This is one market where for some reason we have difficulty filling venues. The same is true tonight. But still there's a terrific group waiting for us. Tonight's a night for just having fun with friends and taking some chances... and that's what we do. One of our loose & fun shows. Lots of highlights. One of Carrie's favorites of the night was the new gospel-like song, "Son Of Man" which the audience loved as well.

Before the show got a chance to say hello to old friend Moira... great to see you Moira... THANKS FOR THE WILD THING CARTOON... LOVE IT!!

After the show we got a chance to say hello to many, including: Rosemarie & John... Geoff & lovely daughter Kathryn... thanks so much for coming.. hope to see you both again... hi to Russell from Australia... SO GLAD YOU WONDERED IN... hope to see you soon my friend... maybe down under... Hi Elaine & Joe... great to see you ... next time in Belfast.... Hi Fran & Vince & Dave... glad you saw us with John Prine... thanks for the support! ... hope Geoff & Sue like the CD... HI MARIEAD... WISH YOU COULD HAVE STAYED... THANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING!!! ... sorry I was so busy... would have liked to talk more!... contact me at the web sight... I'll say hi to Gerry ... IAN... THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT ... hope Eddie & Julie & Wendy & Michael become converts... but one way or another, look forward to seeing you again... Hi Anne... I'll remind Florence of you & Ian & Zombia '02...Bill ... thanks for the drinks... see you soon

Big thanks again to Ernie & Pauline.. thanks so much for being there for us... what an amazing job!!... see you soon, my friends..... and thanks to all here in Manchester for a great night...


July 13 -

We've been looking forward to this drive ... down from Manchester on route 57 to the coast of Northern Wales.... then along the local northern coast road 548 which meets with A55 after about 35 miles. Then it's a short straight shot to the Menai Bridge and the first town following which bears the same name. MB settles off the north east part of an island whose last village, Holyhead, looks straight across the Irish see to Dublin.

It took us a leisurely 2 plus hours to arrive at the loveliest Bed & Breakfast, The Auckland Arms ... lots of flowers in the courtyard .... large, interesting VERY CLEAN rooms ... looking forward to seeing our friends Owen, who is promoting this venue & his lovely wife Beryl.

The Venue - The Victoria Hotel - Menai Bridge, Wales

had another very good sound check - thanks Neil!! - which allowed us enough time to have a lovely dinner in the Victoria ... then shower and be back for 9:00 PM showtime.

THE SHOW

The vibe with the audience was great from the start... so we let loose... and had a great time ourselves... so good to see a few youngsters there ... I'll guess 8 year olds ... they came back to say hi at half time ... Kirill (Russian born) & best friend Misha from the U.S. ... great guys with parents &/or guardians with them... they were going to leave but stayed for the entire evening.... SO GLAD THEY DID ...HEY BOYS.... CARRIE & I HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON

SECOND HALF

If we were loose in the first half, we were totally loose now ... it ended up being just a bunch of good friends sharing a range of emotions with each
other... when Carrie & I ended the evening with "We Come Up Shining", I had chills from start to finish.... John was brilliant & Petter's a new Wales
star!!..... a very special night for all 0of us.

So great to talk to so many later, including:

Hi Sarah... hope to see Katie & Elana next time... much love to them... hi to Gwyn & Gasnant (great names!!) ... hi El ... thanks for the kind words about "The Living Room Tapes" ... HI LYNNE... sorry you had to leave so soon... HI Sian & mom Lisa... great to see you .... Hi Anne ... say hi to Sarah... don't forget what I told you.... substitute healthy stuff for depression etc... if you feel bad go to the gym or run for ten minutes & know you just did something positive for yourself.... those type decisions can change your life & never let you look back.... what's behind you often changes direction by itself... God Bless!!! ...

Hi John & another John & Viv... Viv, thanks for stopping by later to get the
CD for Jackie... hope she enjoys it .... Margaret... thanks for the kind
words ... Special hello to my friend Mark with thoughts of sis, Leanora,
whose giving spirit will stay with so many including me through your
words... so glad you were both here last year... HI Mary & Tony ... thanks
for the kind words on your way out.... .Hi Dewi... hope Janet likes the
CD... HI JOANNE.. so nice to see you at the end of the night... good luck
with the sports science stuff ...

A BIG THANK YOU & HI TO OWEN, BERYL (THANKS SO MUCH FOR SELLING THE CDS!!!)... cohorts.. Neil, Kevin (so great to see you again my friend!!)... Sam... likewise ... Simon... thanks for being so helpful & cordial.

We'll be sad to leave here ... love the place & the people.... SEE YOU SOON AGAIN!!


July 15

A WELSH/CAJUN RECORDING SESSION -

A COVER VERSION OF "ALL THE RAIN"

At about 10:45 AM, after a good night sleep, we met Owen (our friend & promoter of last night's show) )for breakfast & headed to a recording studio back over the Menai Bridge in the Bangor area. Owen is the drummer/triangle player for a Welsh/Cajun band called Cajuns Denbo. They are in the process of finishing an album & one of the songs they chose to record is our song, "All The Rain". They asked Carrie if she would play fiddle on it & asked if we would both sing a chorus in Welsh. We went to the studio to fulfill that request.

The studio is in an enclosed patio-like area of band member (accordion player) Neil's home - kind of a cool garage-band atmosphere .... In short order Carrie had her Fiddle track recorded & we were on to learning the Welsh chorus. We learned it phonetically ... here's what our "lyric sheet" looked like

D'wedice ee voad
pobl un kayshow torry un ghallon un dree
d'wedice ee road
dikaraie un d9isgin on clugaid eetea

which roughly translated means, "they have made my heart break in three pieces... and these tears I cry are for you"

A very nice cameraman, Geraint, from the Welsh TV station stopped by to film the recording & do a quick interview with Carrie & I. This will be part of a special on the band that will run in several months time to coincide with the album release.

We loved being part of this... Thanks to all band members for doing such a terrific job with our song... aside from Owen (drums - triangle), hi to Neil (accordion), Pete (fiddle), Sam (guitar) & Dennis (vocals) ... Dennis ... hope to spend some time with you and your son next time... all best wishes.


HEADING FOR BRISTOL ON OUR DAY OFF

We followed Owen to the entrance to A487 & said our goodbyes. We opted for this coastal route to get a bit more of a feel of the true heart of the Wales countryside. We are currently on that cost road. We'll cross mid-Wales heading east in a few more miles on route A44 to Worcester, where we'll take the M5 south to Bristol. We're all looking forward to a good, relaxing dinner on this night off. John's at the helm... it's pouring! .... talk to you later.

July 16 - Bristol - BBC RADIO - with friend Keith Warmington

Keith's a well-known, terrific presenter in these parts. We had some good conversation & played a few songs. Keith is a terrific harmonica player & joined in.we loved doing this. THANKS ALWAYS KEITH!!

The venue - The Prom - Bristol

This was one of the pleasant surprises of the tour. First, the promoter Alan Tonge & his lovely wife Sarah just couldn't be nicer. And the venue itself is small, but friendly. The place has a small outdoor café. Inside, where we play, there's a small room with a bar in the back & small upstairs rooms branching off. At show time those sitting there see the show by sitting on the steps.

After a good sound check with our friend Stewart (& wife Sherry), we had a lovely home cooked meal. THANKS SO MUCH SARAH. it was delicious!!

The show

By show time the place was full. We got several Last Chance requests tonight and we honored them all. including the title track - that was definitely a first & lots of fun. The audience was just great & we did several encores that extended past the curfew. I loved our one mike, chill factor version of "We Come Up Shining" toward the night's end, which allowed the people above the stairs on the left a good glimpse of Carrie.

Got a chance to say hello to several.. Hi to early birds, Angela & Christine & Les who had seen us at a place called Threadgills in Austin Texas. so good to see you again. Hi to Richard (thanks for the ". Shickshinny" request) & friends Noreena & Paul. Hi to George & first timer Joanna . thanks for the Last Chance request. George, hope your friend enjoyed the show. Hi to Jack & Colin.. old friends from the "Flyer" days . hi Mike . one of the few who saw the show at the Fleece 3 years ago. & early bird as well, Dave . so nice talking with you . Keith & Debbie, Mickey . & Graham & Marjorie. & Martin & (see you next time Chrissie) . Hi To James & Max & Rod & Paul, Jayne & Mark in the front table . great to see and talk with you. & EMILY.. so glad you were there for some of it .. hope you can catch the full show next time. Hi John & Debbie (patrons).. nice talking with you. & John & Debbie (owners) . thanks for having us

Special hello to the terrific staff. Karen & Anthony. thanks for the drinks and the kind words. Amber. sorry we were interrupted . I was really enjoying the talk . all the best . hope to see you next time

Thanks to all for a very special night

July 17 - Larmer Tree Festival

Just to give you an idea of how we're traveling:

We have a 7 passenger, diesel powered, automatic shift mini van, with seats removed. It gets low gas mileage, is easy to drive & JUST fit us our luggage & our instruments - the largest of which is Petter's up-right bass whose neck extends between the two back seats & whose rear end just escapes impact from the back door.

The journey

We leave our B&B in Bristol at 10:00 and head for our next venue, The Larmer Tree Festival, which is located in the south, just west of Salisbury. This is new territory for all of us so we call the festival & get some help with directions. With John at the helm & Carrie & Petter in the back seat, we take the M4 for about 20 minutes to exit 17. We then head south on A 350 for the better part of 2 hours. It's a lovely winding country road - with farmhouses, cows & rolling fields on either side & tiny villages from time to time. The sun has finally decided to stay with us. It's about 75 degrees - warm, but not too warm - a magnificent day. Just past Shaftesbury, at a place called Blandford, we head east route 354. Somewhere between here & Salisbury we're told to look for a small sign that will point our way to the smallest of towns, Chettel, which lies less than a mile to the north. In minutes we see the sign & in a few more we're parked alongside an old, fairly large farmhouse/ mansion, which sits alone with beautiful grounds surrounding & cows in the pasture across the road.

Castlemans Hotel

A terrific lady named Barbara greets us with a welcoming smile & shows us to our beautiful, large rooms. We are, to a man (& lady), delighted with these accommodations. Outside my bedroom window, is the constant flutter of small birds (I'm guessing wrens) & the beautiful open fields. We only have a few minutes to relax & get ready for our first show on the main stage. On the way out we say hello to a new "desk" person Ted. We'll be seeing lots of this great character over the next 2 days.

The Festival

This is a boutique festival. We were told that they only allow 4,000 people to attend. Many of who stay in small, colorful tents for the duration. We arrive at the entrance & get a personal escort (from a lovely lady named Wendy) along a winding back road with beautiful overhanging trees, past magnificent gardens to the back area of main stage.

The main stage show - 3:30 PM

The sound people are extremely helpful and after checking our CDs in at the on-site record store, we're on stage at 3:30. The thousand plus audience are very attentive & most enthusiastic.

One of the things I'll remember most about this festival are the amazingly joyful kids. As we looked down from the stage, all of a sudden there they were. Right in front of the stage. parents letting these little 4, 5 & 6 year olds run free & head in directions they chose. most times they went toward the music. all these great little characters looking up at you. smiling. just wonderful!!

John has some amp trouble & his guitar cuts in & out from time to time. But despite the problem he does his usual great job. Petter is a fan favorite as always - visually immersing himself in each song & playing his off-the-wall solos. And Carrie, looking lovely in a green-checkered dress (for the first time that I recall - a dress, that is) was amazing.

Because the audience was large & spread out I expected the up-tempo songs would draw the best reaction. They certainly did go over extremely well, but the best response by far was to "Fall". It was just overwhelming & took me by surprise. I mean, I thought we were inspired as we performed it. I actually got chills. I just didn't think it would project to the outfield. How wrong I was.

The acoustic stage - 6:00 PM

This was one I'll never forget. The acoustic stage tent holds several hundred. It was great to be able to make eye contact with this warm audience. From the minute we started we knew we were playing for friends. The reception was just wonderful. Then it happened! I am so embarrassed to discuss this but here goes. I have had a lot of dental work done recently and tonight my biggest fear in that regard happened. In mid-song, a dental attachment came undone. And there I was, handing my guitar to John & walking off the stage wondering how I could repair it & continue.

Carrie to the rescue

After a brief pause, as I was piecing things together back stage, I heard Carrie play her pretty fiddle tune, "Midnight On The Water" leading into an up tempo one that had the audience stomping their feet & clapping their hands. WHAT A GREAT JOB CARRIE!!!

Fans to the rescue

Somehow or other, this humbling experience brought a wonderful result. When I returned from my make shift "repair(s)", the people were just so warm & welcoming. I have never felt closer to an audience. And when Carrie & I encored with "We Come Up Shinning", I had chills throughout my body. I LOVED THIS SHOW - THANKS FOR THIS VERY SPECIAL SUPPORT TO ALL WHO WERE THERE!!

An amazing dinner -

We learned that the most amazing restaurant in southern England was the one at the hotel where we were staying. John called & someone told him they were all booked. But when we went back to the hotel, "desk clerk" Ted said not to worry & in short order, along with friends Florence & Tony, were about to partake in the most amazing meal in recent memory.

More about Ted

Ted works at times at the front desk. Ted served our cocktails in the bar area before dinner (smilingly giving me the utensils needed to make John & I our perfect Bombay martinis) Ted took our food order in that bar area. with knowledgeable suggestions regarding the food & wine. Ted looks alike like an even more disheveled John Hurt.

And.

TED'S FAMILY OWNS THE TOWN!! - His brother lived in THE CASTLE beyond the fields - but then relinquished it to his son when his son got married (now Ted's brother lives in the stables!)

And.

Ted is very, very intelligent. Ted is extraordinarily funny. Ted loves his red wine which he takes in rather large gulps between his "dear boy" this or "dear girl" that. And so, after the magnificent dinner (cooked by Barbara, by the way. the nice woman that checked us in. & partners in this hotel/restaurant thing with the subject at hand), we sat drinking and talking & laughing & learning from & with our new friend Ted.

John recalls some of the interesting stuff Ted (also called Teddy) imparted:

1) During the Roman occupation grain was exported throughout the empire, from what is now the Dorset area, because of the favorable climate conditions at that time (very warm & dry) conducive to growing wheat w/low water content which was necessary in order to ship it long distances. Not possible today, proving. as Ted enjoyed saying, that global warming is BULLSHIT.... because it was much warmer & dryer then than present times.

2) The Castleman's had a direct involvement in the Civil War in the US. But I don't remember which side. Probably the Confederates.

Another politically incorrect subject he talked about was hunting geese in the Dorset area. So much geese that the sky would go black.....thousands shot at a time. He spoke about his job as a "loader" for some "seriously rich" Texan who brought all his guns, each one to hunt a different animal. Teddy said he didn't know which gun to load for the guy, to kill geese with, until the Texan told him to load the one that had an engraving of a goose on it. Of course it all sounded funny in large part because of that Winston Churchill-like delivery of his.


JUST A GREAT DAMNED NIGHT - And we looked forward to more of the same the next day

July 18

Garden stage - 11:30 AM

We all loved this pretty half-moon stage with the hand painted design - It looked onto the same area as the main stage but from mid-field, so to speak. You felt very in touch with your audience on this stage. I decided not to go with a set list here & just wing it. We started with "Dance with Jesus", which we hadn't done in a while, & it stayed loose & fun from there. The audience was just great! One of the highlights for me was a brand new song, which we performed for the first time, "Oh Set A Light". By the end of the song I saw several singing the chorus with us - a good sign - We ended with a wild version of "The Real Thing" - just a great morning!

The afternoon

For the rest of the day we got a chance to wander around the festival grounds, enjoy the various booths that sold clothes, jewelry, food etc. There's kind of a hippy retro thing going on here & it's fun to see it happening a bit all over again. We enjoyed listening to a terrific group from African band on the main stage in the early afternoon, and then waited around until 3:30 to hear our friends, "Hot Club Of Cowtown". Elana, Whit & Jake were absolutely magic as usual. They were just finishing a three week tour & heading for Austin tomorrow.

Got a chance to hi to so many terrific people over the weekend. A special thanks to the organizers James & Julia & the terrific staff Becca, Kelly, Laura, Wendy & the rest - plus all the sound & stage crew crew. Pete, George, Tim (thanks for the "glue"!!, my friend!) Dave, Aidee (A.D.??), Andy & all the rest. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL SUPPORT. THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS --- AND WE WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATE IT - Thanks so much for the invitation to come back next year - we're making plans to do that!

A special hello to our fan/ friends

Hi Mary. great to see you . hope Peter is feeling better.. & hi to friend Rose. hi Sean . so glad to see your boy Oliver there.. hope my new friend comes next time as well . Hi John (Jono) . so good to see you & sis, Jess - sorry I missed the name of your other friend. Hi to Simon & son Archie . so nice talking to you both . Hi Kyleigh & Andy (my friends who first heard us in a record store. bought the CD & saw us last Feb at Bush Hall) - great to see you both again. Hi Robert, Chris, Jayne, Brian & Jill & Bob. so nice talking with all of you. HI SARAH, COLIN & THE GANG, JACK, JAKE & LITTLE ROBBIE - thanks for coming to all the shows. Sarah, you have your hands full, but you do it with such grace!! . and best wishes with the one on the way. was it December? . Hi Viv . thanks for the info re the Wales venues. Hi To Helen & Hannah & James & John. thanks for the kind words. Hi Larry. great to see you at Cambridge & here. you as well, Paul. hi to son, Charlie. & hi Jo . thanks for stopping to say hello . hello Alan . Hi Jill & Sophie. & Lucy & Sarah.. Hi to Carrie . tell daughter Liz we said hi & wish her all good things . Hi Wendy. you have a great smile!! ..Hi to Richard from Southhampton. nice talking with you . MAXI - HERE'S YOUR SHOUT - OUT . "THERE'S ONLY ONE MAXI!!" . Hi Jane. did Dave take a decent picture?? . all the best.. ------- & a special hello to Melanie (my French friend). it was so good to see you & talk with you. I feel like I've known you forever . I will so much look forward to hearing from you.

Regards & best wishes to all . this was one we will never forget!


The evening

We got back in time for John & me to watch the exciting conclusion of the British Open. Then we did our cocktail dinner routine . & was dinner amazing. This time we feasted on deserts as well. THANKS BARBARA!! - JUST WONDERFUL!! Then we all adjourned to the bar area for some drinks & more good conversation & some laughs with our friend Ted.

July 19

We meet in the morning about 9:30. after a great breakfast surrounded by sunlight, we're off for the airport . and home. This was a great tour.

May 14 - 17, 2004

May 14 - CLEVELAND - Venue - The Palace Theater (opening for John Prine)

It was great to be back on the road with old friends John Prine & his band & crew (bassist, David Jacques & guitarist Jason, tour mgr Mitch, sound & stage guys Eric & Paul) First, we absolutely love John's show - great heart songs from a one-of-a-kind performer & great playing. Secondly, we all love hanging together after the show. Kyle Kegeries, our bassist friend from Nashville was not too far away visiting his brother so he joined us on this recent run and fit right in with the rest of us.

THE SHOW

Although there was little advertising letting people know we were there, we still had our share of fans that welcomed us on stage. And many more that stood and cheered at shows end. John & Kyle were terrific and Carrie was absolute magic. Our interaction gave me chills the entire show.

After our show and before John took the stage (& later at the hotel bar), we got a chance to say hello and sign a few CDs. Hi to:

Herb & Cathy. Eric & Lisa.. Jeff & Betty & Terry.. & my old friend Steve Popovich's friend Mike . hopefully we can all get together next time. hi to Bronwen & Joe . & John . Hi to Scotty & Tim, Ralph & Danielle, Eric & Noreen, Beth & Henry. Hi to Hettie, Leslie & Mo!!. great to see you "guys".. hi to John.. Dana??? . say hi to Tim. John, Gail & Lucas.. hi Gerhard . hope you & Ingrid like the CD. hi to Kevin, Paula, Mary & Jeannine. Hi Ruth. Hi to Robin, Werner, Wayne - hope you & Katy enjoy the CD. Hi Toni & Dave, John & Robin & Donna.. Special hi again to the anniversary couple at the bar. CONGRATULATIONS!

Hope to see you all soon. thanks for the terrific support!


May 15 - Ashland, KY - The Paramount Theater (opening for John Prine)

The drive - Carrie & I lead. John & Kyle followed. I was co-pilot and responsible for guiding Carrie properly. which I did if "properly" means taking the scenic route from Cleveland down highway 71, past Cincinnati. all the way down to Lexington . then back north-east to Ashland. All that beautiful highway at the cost of only two extra hours on the road! ----- Oh well!! . my bad. anyway, we arrived in time for the quickest of sound checks and a shower and hit the stage at 8:00.

THE SHOW

This was a new one for us. First, this is a theater where you are allowed to bring whiskey & beer to your seat. And many in this audience were feeling no pain when we began our show. Secondly, when we began, it was obvious that hardly anyone knew who we were or expected an opening act. There was a lot of talking as we were performing and lots of "cat calls" thrown in Carrie's direction.

However, sometimes a show that begins like this can lead to a wonderful awakening of sorts. And that was certainly the case here. By the third song the audience was totally on our side. And by shows end they were standing & cheering. I love it when that happens.

We didn't get a chance to socialize too much as there was pretty much chaos in the bar area where the CDs were sold. But we did say hi to a few before John's show began

Hi Duane - great to see you again. thanks for bringing Bill - hope to see you soon. Hi John, Brew & Mike. Hi Susan . Stephen, Robin & Tammy. Hi to Sonja & Tim. & Ricky & Mike.. & a hi & thanks to Bob at the bar later. THANKS FOR THE PRIVATE PARTY.

We loved this little jaunt with J.P. & the boys. hope we do it again soon.

May 16 - New Braunfels TX

Venue - Gruene Hall - BENEFIT CONCERT - hosted by KNBT

Our good friend Mattson Rainer (MD for radio station KNBT) asked us if we would be a part of this. We'd do anything for this guy, His heart's always in the right place. Mattson put our show time at 7:00 PM so we'd have enough time to comfortably get there (Artists were performing from early afternoon on). By the way, each show was broadcast live on KNBT, so certain punctuality was required.

AIRPLANE PROBLEMS - we left Charleston West VA at 12:30 - stopped in Atlanta and boarded our Delta plane for Austin - but they couldn't get the air conditioning working in the cockpit so.. after trying to fix it for almost an hour, THE FLIGHT WAS CANCELLED. However, just when it looked like we'd never get to Austin in time for our show, another plane - exactly the same type as the one that had the problem - arrived from someplace.. with no place further to go. Because it was exactly the same type plane, the seat assignments could remain the same! What a break - We were off the ground fairly soon thereafter.

We arrived just before 6:00 in Austin where Carrie's mom Katey (and friend Terry) & sister Leslie were there to rush us to Gruene Hall. Mattson kept calling to check our exact whereabouts as the journey progressed - We arrived at 7:00, had a special loading spot ready. and just after the commercial break. with bassist Kevin Smith all ready & waiting on stage. we started our performance at 7:10.

The Show

This was so loose & fun. We sound checked as we played, signaling the engineer as to what we needed & responded quickly. It was such a great team effort! Mattson has built up a wonderful fan base for us here and it was great to see so many singing along with us!! Highlights were too many. but let's say "Laredo", "Extra", "Angel.", "Sweet Tequila", with a great sing-a-long of "Wild Thing" ending a great night at Gruene!!

Thanks to all for making this so special and helping Mattson raise $50,000 for a worthy cause. WELL DONE MY FRIEND!!

Hi to all the fans --- special hello to Tasha & Lauren (great to see you there) & all the staff at Gruene who always treat us so kindly.. See you soon

May 5 - 8, 2004 - Texas Tour

MAY 5 & 6 - Venue - Cactus Cafe - (recorded live)

Carrie & I decided that, before we started recording new songs that might change the nature of our show, we would "document" the current show. We thought of no better a way to do that than with this band (with Kevin Smith & John Platania)... at this great venue... with these great fans. BIG THANKS TO OUR FRIEND GRIFF AT THE CACTUS WHO ENCOURAGED US TO RECORD THE SHOWS AND HOOKED US UP WITH WALTER MORGAN TO RECORD THEM.

Thanks Walter for working so hard to record the shows properly... and big thanks to Jeff for the great sound.

These "live" shows were so much fun. We played our typical set... then added some surprises. Song highlights were hard to choose... A big highlight for us was the great fan response - just amazing!! ..... back to the songs... a loose version of a brand new gospel song, "Son Of Man" had us all in good spirits ... and another new one "Big Moon Shining'" seemed to "test" real well. However the fan favorites, "Sweet Tequila Blues", "Let's Leave This Town", "Big River" , "Extra", "Fall"... etc... as usual received overwhelming response... THANKS TO ALL FOR SUCH GREAT SUPPORT!!! - THESE WERE AMAZING "LIVE" AUDIENCES!!

Lost my notes from these shows... but hi to all ... some I remember;

First hi to my friends at the bar Chris & Susan.. Great to see you both & THANKS!!!

HI to Katy, Frances, Leslie, Tom.... my great friends in the first row...LOVE THE BOOK & MAGAZINE.... THANKS SO MUCH!!... Eddie & Bell's of Joy member/guitarist "JT", hi to Jay & Angela... see you soon... our great buddy Martin from Waterloo, Sally, Hilda, Nilda & Annabelle, Sonny Rhodes... missed you Betty Anne & Tinsley... next time... Hi Peggy... looking forward to Santa Barbara.... Special hi to LARA & dad... congratulations on your decision to play the violin... Carrie is so proud of you!!

Note: had a wonderful birthday dinner before the show on the 6th. Carrie's mom Katy & aunt Leslie celebrate birthdays within days of each other ... May 8 & May 10... we also celebrated mothers day & Carrie's grandma, author Frances Nail's honor for being chosen "senior of the year" at the same time!! ... what a nice way to begin the night.


May 7 - BILL'S RECORD STORE - PLANO TX

Great to see dear friend Bill & our friends from KHYI, Bruce, Brett & Becky & play a few songs!! THANKS BILL & KHYI FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!!!

Thanks Stoney for letting me borrow your guitar!! --- Hi to new friend Lance ... great meeting you... Carrie & I appreciate your response to our performance so much... see you soon!! Hi Geron, and Steve ... hope we get to the Strawberry fest... thanks for the info... Hi Clay... thanks for asking for "Don't Speak In English"... Hi Kim, Nicole, Fred... Hi to Phil, George, Matt & Ted... thanks guys for your support at the store!!


May 7 - KHYI

Thanks for the cool interview Greg... great to see you.... Hi Sarah...great seeing you & hi to mom (was it Jackie??) - she's so nice... see you soon!


May 8 - Sons of Herman Hall - Dallas Tx

WE LOVE PLAYING HERE - it was an amazing night!! - another terrific Dallas turnout and what great fans!! - Carrie & I can't tell you how much we appreciate the support you give us. Special thanks to Joyce for that amazing article in the Dallas Morning News!!! - after all this time I finally got a chance to see it .... words can't say... just THANKS SO MUCH!!!

And thanks Kevin for the great sound!!! - always look forward to seeing you! - John & Kevin were brilliant as usual & Carrie & I connected from the beginning.... We ended with a version of "We come Up Shinin" that had chills running through me from the second Carrie began to sing. I loved this show.


great to say hi to so many including; First... a big hi to new friends Wade, Marieta (pronounced "Marita") & dad Joe... they thought the show was actually last week and came here... glad you came back!!! THANKS!!! ... hope to see you next time!!! - HI LANCE!!! ... big thanks for bringing Mike & John... see you all soon!! - Hi to the couple I sang "Angel of The Morning" for... hi Shirley & Michael... Jeff & Katha... Linda... make Bill get up on the net by next show!!!... see you both. soon... Hi to Leland, Steve, Tony... Shannon & Patricia (loved watching you dance... hope to see you next time)... Hi Rhonda! ... Hey to Frank & Kim & David & Charlie... Robert, Janice, Daniel... Hi Abe & hi Holly & Jim.... regards to Brent & Andi.... . HI PHIL ... LOVE THE HAT!!!

And of course ... great to see our dear friends Chad & Tara - Chad... thanks for getting "us" the 16 year wonderful single malt - next time don't drink it with all that ice ... on second thought ... next time don't drink it!!!... love you Tara.

hope to see all our Dallas friends soon... WHAT A GREAT NIGHT!!


May 8 - Greenville Texas (The Kenneth Threadgill Concert Series) -

We co-headlined this with Rodney Crowell - Great to see Rodney & the boys ( Will, Tray & Denny)... just back from their successful European Tour. Sorry we didn't get a chance to say proper goodbyes after the show... safe travel.

This venue is 55 miles north east of Dallas. The local radio station KMKY has been blasting our new "TEXAS CHART" single, "Laredo".... and one of our favorite stations in the U.S., KHYI ( "The Range") out of Dallas gets here as well. KHYI is totally responsible for our Dallas fan base and their influence extends to here and beyond. Of course that great article in the Dallas Morning News was a big help as well.

What a night!! - Special thanks to all the volunteers especially Larry... for making this one night to remember.

A special highlight -

At dinner Carrie & I met the Greenville Elementary Suzuki Players & their director Rigo Morello. After watching & listening to the kids perform, we decided to invite them on stage during our show. WHAT FUN... AND WHAT A GREAT BUNCH OF KIDS!!!

Elvis played this place - The stage was originally over the county jail so when Elvis played, the prisoners could hear the bass rumble from their cells. I introduced the kids like they were the new "Elvis" passing through town. The audience just loved them.... so did we.

The Show

There were about 700 people in attendance tonight and they were with us from the start. Thanks to the radio play mentioned above, they seemed to know all the songs from the duet CDs. Highlights were again too many to mention. John & Kevin were just great. The sound system was terrific so Carrie & I could trade off each other easily.... and again, our vibe gave me chills... something very inspiring is going on here.

HI to:

RON & JULIA - GREAT MEETING YOU BOTH .... THANKS FOR SELLING OUR CDs... hope to see you both soon ... And "hi" JASON... great work... you were there when I needed you ..THANKS FOR THE "DRY COUNTY" SCOTCH!!!! ... I NEEDED THAT!!! ... tell the in-laws I owe them!!

Matt... nice talking with you .... hope you got what you needed... Hi Steve... nice meeting you and Matt at dinner ... hope to see both you soon ... hi to Deirdre & Kyle... HEY FRIENDLEE ... love that name.... Hi Mary & friend Janie... hi Bob & Jeff... Kelly & Clement... Regina & Carter... THANKS FOR THE GREAT PICTURES... Bill & Linda... great seeing you again... thanks for the support... Bill... no excuse next time... GET HOOKED UP!!.... Hi to Mike & Dinah... Jack & Janice.... Tom & Sharon.... Greg.... & son Caled.... Cathy, ROY & JUDY & KELLY.... Buddy & Janey.... HI MODGIE!!! & BRENDON.... Hi to Guy & Sheryl... David & Carolyn... hi to Shauna.... & Charlie...

Again Larry ... thanks so much.... hope to see you soon

April 29 -30, 2004 - Southeast

April 29 - Nashville, Tenn.

Venue - The Bluebird

It was good to play again after almost a month "vacation" - Our cohort John Platania and great friend & brilliant bassist, David Jacques, joined us for this show.

The show

We love playing here. this place has such a warm vibe.. we broke the show up in two halves as usual . it was loose & fun. the layoff seemed to do us good as this was a very inspired show for a terrific audience. with lots of laughs thrown in. Highlights were many. let's mention "Extra", "Fall", "Big River" & "We Come Up Shinin" Thanks to soundman Mark for an excellent job.

Got a chance to say hello to many.. Lost most of my notes. forgive me for not mentioning all

Special hello to our new good friends. Heath & the crew. Chad, Jan & Brian.. GREAT TO SEE YOU ALL!!! Thanks for all the support. Carrie & I we'll look forward to seeing you soon!! Hi to Janice & Jesse (so glad you saw the video!). hi to Laura & Shane .Hey Duane. great to see you . see you in a few days!... hi to the Toronto gang. Steph & the rest . Michael (from France). Larry (in the back). Bill from Anchorage. Leah, Cynthia & Dan. & great to see you Marilyn. thanks for bringing your special friend.

Great to see you Dede. many thanks.and WE LOVE YOU SYLVIA. SEE YOU SOON!!

One of the highlights for me tonight was meeiting the late Mickey Newbury's lovely daughter, Laura, and her friend Judy.  As some of you may know, Mickey was a revered songwriter who had a tremendous influence on Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt and many others including myself.  LAURA, HOPE TO SEE YOU AND JUDY SOON.

April 30 - Moorehead, Kentucky

Been looking forward to doing this syndicated radio show (performed before an audience) Americana Crossroads for some time - Our great friend at radio station WMSU, Paul Hitchcock produces this event

Special thanks to soundman Steve (and Brenda) for the extra effort. and host Sandy . nice talking with you my friend. all the best

The show

One of the highlights was local hero bassist J.T. Cure who had to learn a bunch of songs in a short period of time. GREAT JOB J.T. . see you soon.

There was about a 45 minute parameter . so this was a shorter than usual show . but very inspired as well. highlights for us were too many to mention.. But let's go with "Him Who Saved Me", "Extra" , "Big River" & "We Come Up Shinin'"... WHAT A GREAT AUDIENCE!!

Hi to STEVE, MIKE (& GWEN), CLARK (son IAN) & J.T. . all the best to DB3 . great seeing you guys!!! . Hi Tim . glad Dad got you into music. thanks for being there. Sue Anne - (hi to your daughter & the French friends). hi to my "Bootleg" friend. was it Alan?? . Hi Kay & Robin. & Jeff from Ashland. hi to "Wild Thing" at 10, Georgia. Hi to Laura, Jim & Fannie??... & Gwen. Hi to SARAH & CASEY & dad RICK. great to see you. hope you come to see us again. Hi Leah & Laura & friends Hanna & Anna . great to see you girls stage left. what a great vibe. you better come to the next one as well. Leah. thanks for getting us that fan in the South Pacific. we loved that story. & hi to DR. Hot. I'm sure we'll see YOU next time!!

J.T. turned us on to a great restaurant before the show - YOU MUST EAT HERE IF YOU ARE ANYWHERE CLOSE!!!

It's called "DD.s RESTAURANT" . on the main street in town --- HI DENISE. THANKS FOR HUSTLING OVER TO COME TO THE SHOW. WHAT A MEAL. LOVED IT!!!! ... thanks for bringing the "Dr."

THANKS PAUL. LOVED DOING THIS SHOW!!! . HI JONESE . CONGRATULATIONS to mom!! . what a great thing!!!... see you next time!!!

March 25 - 29, 2004 - New England Mini-Tour

MAR 25 - Northhampton Mass

The story of our success in this area can be told with just four letters - WRSI ("The River") - one of the great triple A stations in the United States - The people at this station & the fans in this area have a true passion fo their music. And their love & support of that music transfers into packed houses for their favorites at music venues in the area.

Two years ago, I heard that WRSI was enthusiastically playing our duet CD. Shortly after, I did an interview a few years with one of their top radio personalities, Johnny Memphis.... it was a terrific interview and right away I felt total support & appreciation for our CD.

When we played the Green river Festival last year we realized the extent of that support. The tent was packed for our show... the fans were singing along with almost every song.... and we found out the fans had voted "Let's Leave This Town" as their #2 favorite CD of the year. That was some day!

We recently found out that "The Trouble With Humans" was voted the #1 album of this year by those same fans. So, to say that we looked forward to this show would be a total understatement... WE SIMPLY COULDN'T WAIT FOR THIS ONE!!!... if just for the opportunity to say THANKS TO ALL THE STAFF AT WRSI & THE FANS.

VENUE - The Iron Horse

This is a terrific room... THE LARGE STAGE FACES DOWN TO A DINNER-LIKE SEATING AREA OF ABOUT 100 - WITH A BALCONY OFF TO THE LEFT & IN THE REAR HOLDING ANOTHER 75. There's a bar in back of the main floor area... with friend Stu handling the drink menu. (GREAT TO SEE YOU STU!)

We were informed 3 weeks ago that the show was sold out and were asked if we would do another show that evening. We agreed...

THE SHOW

WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS!! We played for well over 300 friends/fans. Carrie, John I were joined on stage by brilliant bassist Jim Whitney. I don't know who had more fun... the fans or us... but I do know this... it doesn't get better for us... human & inspired. That's what fans/friends do for you. I can't pick highlights... there was such a great aura throughout. THANKS TO ALL WHO SHARED THIS WONDERFUL NIGHT WITH US.... including:

First Show

Hi Becky ... thanks so much for the warm, kind words... Give Max a hug for us... so glad he likes "Him Who Saved Me", Steve & Albina, Bette, Michael... Steve ... loved the pictures... send us a few if you can.. Hi Marjorie... hope Tom likes the CD... Hi Cyndee (loved your "name" story)... HI ADELE & STEVE... FRANCES (CARRIE'S GRANDMOTHER) ... IF YOU'RE READING THIS, ADELE BOUGHT YOUR BOOK ... IN NORTHHAMPTON!!!!! .... Hi Noreen... we love "Memphis TX" as well (we dedicate it to Frances)... HI BOB, WILL , BARBARA... (glad your girlfriend told you about us... tell her thanks... Hi Marjorie.. hope Tom likes his Christmas present... hope to see him next time... Hi Beth... thank Michael... hope he enjoys the CD... HI DEBBIE... Hi Helen ... thanks for bringing daughter Hannah.. Hannah, hope to see you again!... HI RHONDA... so glad you were here... do you get back to Holland?? ... HI KATE, NANCY, ROSEMARY,... TIM & DEBBY.. from Dallas... great to see you... & all the rest... THANKS SO MUCH!!!

second show

HI to Lynn & Rob... (the English teacher ... shame on you both for that public WILD THING display)... the movie star, Frank & lovely Raff... great to see you all!!!... thanks for the drinks... & the nice words... see you soon... HI Jesse ... hi to Ron... Hi Janet & Sue.. (banjo friend) ... Hi Bob
& Kara... who met here 5 years ago... congratulations!! ... Hi Peter & Faith... & HI SALLY... THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT... HOPE WHOEVER GETS THEM LIKES YOUR 'GIFTS" ... HI ANSEL... Let's get Chloe here next time... HI CHLOE... Carrie & I send our love... HI GENELLE & MICHAEL... '[till next time... HI ROCKY... thanks for the OLLIE story... Last Chance FOREVER!!! ... Hi Jenny & Bart & daughter Emilia & son John... GREAT TO SEE UOU.... Hi Nicole & John...... & Sigrid... so great to see you there... you know that... hope the play went well ... I'll contact you as soon as I get home.

THANKS TO ERIC & THE STAFF... The great girl that recommended us.... &
Karla, Kelly, Carrie, Krystie?? & Debbie... thanks for selling our CDs


MAR 26 -- WRSI

Stopped by the station to say thanks..... so great to see Sean, Barbara & Will & Rick & Judith?... please send our love & appreciation to all!

U of Hartford Radio

Stopped by my old school haunt... to see my friend of the last few years ...
radio host, Ed McKeon.

THANKS ED & DWIGHT... loved doing this & spending time with you both

VENUE - THE PINE LOFT

The venue is on a strip of road called The Berlin Turnpike. I used to drive this road to and from U of Hartford to New York... trying to pitch my songs in off school hours. So I have fond memories of this route. THIS IS A COOL ROOM!! Built by the owner Rick & his son... all beautiful wood that they gathered themselves. The very well-made & spacious front stage looks out to a room that comfortably seats about 90 people.. with a back-of-the-room balcony that can handle about 30 more. Also... there's a spacious back room lounge for the artists to do their pre show thing.... something you don't always find.

BY THE WAY... THIS PLACE HAS GREAT FOOD ( GOURMET SANDWHICHES ETC.)... more
about that later.

Since the Hartford school radio has a limited signal and not a lot of hours to play roots music, Carrie & I are not expecting a big turnout. WRONG! - the place is packed. GREAT JOB JULIE!!! - THANKS SO MUCH FOR BOOKING US HERE! .... & THANKS FOR THE GOOD SOUND KEVIN - GREAT WORK... and RICK (THE OWNER)... WE'LL TALK MORE ABOUT YOU LATER!

THE SHOW

The big story tonight is Mike Mikses .. an upright bass player from the Boston area... who is joining us for the first time... we had only a brief rehearsal a few hours prior to the show... He's really on the spot here ... and we have fun sharing that with the audience... HE COMES THROUGH WITH FLYING COLORS... GREAT JOB MIKE!!

Tonight we divided the show into two halves... Opened the show by playing the first song I had published (for an advance of $30)... on one of my excursions to N.Y. from Hartford, "Just A Little Bit Later On Down The Line" (this song became a hit for Bobby Bare).... This audience was great & with us from the start. There were many song highlights... "Big River", "Extra", "Fall", "Say Little Darlin'", "Angel Of The Morning", a very revival-like spirited sing-a-long of "Dance With Jesus", "Wild Thing", "Do Your Part", etc.... but what I remember most was a most was the babies in the audience that seemed to cry on cue (so glad the moms & dads brought them) & the most reverent version of "Holy Shit" .... "HOLY SHIT... here's to all of you!!!" ... CARRIE & I WERE REALLY CONNECTED TONIGHT.... & JOHN WAS JUST AMAZING!!... loved this show!! ... look forward to coming back to play for these people soon. Hi to all, including:

My great friend from grammar school days, Billy Kraft... his wife Dawn & friends Bob & Debbie... sorry we couldn't talk more Billy... great to see you!... HI Ed, "Holy Shit"... emmissary... glad you heard us on U of H radio and thought enough of us to come... Hi Don & Barbara (the London connection) ... & London friends... & son Ben ... great to see you again... Hi Bruce... & Walt & fiddler of 2 years, Mary ... good luck with that... & THANKS FOR COMING BACK!!! ... Hi Todd ... thanks for the kind words... Hi Liz & Andy... Hey Rick... thanks for the kind words as well... Hi Natalie & Kris... Jamie... say hi to Ramcey... Hi Joan & Jim... at the front table ... thanks for the great vibe ... it's always great to have the people in front so into the show.

Now about RICK... this is one hell of a guy... aside from owning this place as a labor of love ... he works hard at his day job (construction) to support this place... AND LOVES TO COOK... so when everyone left, sensing we could use a late night snack... while trading inside Italian jokes with John... wanting to show off his world-class fries, he got busy in the kitchen... WHAT A FEAST... GREAT SANDWHICHES, FRIED SHRIMP ...... & HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE FRIES... OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!

THANKS FOR TAKING SUCH GOOD CARE OF US RICK... GET CARRIE'S PRIVATE POWDER ROOM READY... WE'RE COMING BACK!!


MAR 27

We checked out of our hotel around 12:00 noon ... made a brief drive through stop at Dunkin Doughnuts... drove southeast on route 9... then north on 95 up to Providence... then east on 195 to Fall River... arriving just after 2:00 at a modest, but clean and comfortable, Quality Inn (Exit 4). My room looked right out on the water... not bad for $64... good job, Chuck! (Chuck's my great old friend who does such a great job helping us with this stuff).

THE VENUE - THE NARROWS CENTER

Nestled low along a river bed.. in an industrial area not unlike those found in Newcastle, England... is this venue surprise of the year..... THIS IS THE ROLLS ROYCE OF VENUES... A big old monster loft space on the top (third) floor of this old industrial building... the space is maybe 80 yards long and 25 yards wide... the large stage is set back along the windows that look out on the river... the artists face the audience that are seated in old church-like pews (but more comfortable) ... with other interesting chairs on the perimeter... all set in a semi-circle that stretches over 75% of the large area... off to the far left is the coffee & snack areas.

Looking from the stage beyond the audience ... and stretching the length of the room ... are several (4 or 5) interesting room show/work spaces for local artists to sell or work at their craft.

This is a non-profit venue ... and their is an amazing spirit for the volunteers that keep this place running. Great to be welcomed by Bert as we arrived... his pride in the venue was evident from his words... and that's the spirit that stayed with us the entire night... THANKS TO ERIC FOR WORKING HARD TO GET US GREAT SOUND!! As we were heading for a terrific dinner at the wonderful restaurant adjacent to the venue.... it was so good to meet the fellow that booked us, PATRICK & HIS TERRIFIC YOUNG BOYS, OWEN & BENJAMIN.

THE SHOW

Since we had never played here before & had not gotten any significant radio play in the area we were surprised to see a fairly full audience of about 100 people... THANKS TO PATRICK & ALL RESPONSIBLE.

Thanks Louie for opening.. sorry we missed you.

We divided the show into two sections again... with only a short break in between. This was another wonderful audience... bassist Mike was just terrific in his new roll ... thanks for the hard work, my friend... you done good! The audience really appreciated the brilliant musicianship of John... as well as Carrie & Mike... so many highlights.. let's go with "Extra", "Midnight On The Water"/"Say Little Darlin" medley, "Memphis Texas" &"Wild Thing" and maybe their highlight of them all for me... "We Come Up Shinin'" ... which ended just a damn great night. Hi to all ... including:

Carrie's great friend from school... & terrific soul singer... Kara. I'll really look forward to hearing you after Carrie's raves... Also great to see JAN & SIMON ... Carrie's (now mine as well) other great Boston friends... THANKS FOR BRINGING DRUMMER-EXTRORDINARE, BOBBY BARE (not the singer) ... HEY BOBBY... SEE YOU SOON!!!

Also high to

REM & LYNN... great to see you again ... 'till next time... hi to Jim & Cindy, Kevin (who has a 25 year old Carrie of his own), Jeff & Gail ... Tom ... who saw us at the Green River Fest. ... Mike & Martyann, Peter... from Jamaica Plains (near where we recorded the duet CDs) ... Hi Nancy (LOVED CARRIE)... thought I was ... OK ... too... well, thanks (he said smiling) .. Hi MARLENE... great to see you ... so glad your brother took you away from wallpapering!!! ... Hey Joe ... good to see you ... Rick .. THANKS FOR BEING FRONT & CENTER WITH THE "LAST CHANCE" SPIRIT!!! ... & a big hello to Elizabeth, Vincent & Jeff.

AFTER HOURS

Great to meet Jeri (Louie's step daughter), Jessie (Louie's daughter ... so glad you both caught the show!)... & Jodi & Shannon after the show... WHAT GREAT GIRLS... Jessie, Jeri & Jodi are all singers... & from some acapella outbursts I'd say they're all pretty damn good... not the typical pop fluff attitude either... Janis Joplin... Alison Krauss... influenced... THE GREAT THING ABOUT THESE GIRLS IS THAT THEY ARE SO HONESTLY SUPPORTIVE OF EACH OTHER... LOVED THAT!!! ... John & I had a great time!... loved the hot dogs... DON'T FORGET... ONE WITH EVERYTHING ... ONE WITH EVERYTHING PLUS HOT CHEESE... no, no... NOT CHEESE.... HOT CHEESE!!! ... GOT IT!!!.... love you "guys" ... talk to you soon

Sunday Mar 28 -Peacedale R.I.

Wound up the tour with a great afternoon at a house party with Liz & Dan Furguson & friends. What a cool place ?  Dan has an amazing collection of Cds - almost everything retro country/folk/Texas? and the stuff in the house gives off that same vibe. We played for 40 people (seated) in a small room with just enough room for John, Carrie & I to perform.

The Show

What an amazing audience!! Lots of  loose off-the-wall chatter as we were all in it together from the start? so many highlights ? let's go with "Extra", "Big River", "Him Who Saved Me", a most spirited version of "Wild Thing"? & finally as wild version of "Holy Shit" as we've done, with the "church Choir" in full effect! ? WHAT AN AFTERNOON.

THANKS TO ALL WHO PITCHED IN FOR THE GREAT AFTERSHOW DINNER!! ? CARRIE, JOHN & I REALLY APPRECIATED IT

Lost most of my notes so I'll miss some names? but from memory & some notes:

hi to:

Liz, Dan & kids, May & Neil? thanks so much for having us? hi Karen? glad we could be part of your great day? thanks for telling me about the father/daughter thing ? love when that happens!! .. Hi to birthday girl (I think) Amie, ?  hi to Jack, Lutz, Natalie, Nancy & Charlie & Emily? appreciate the kind words? Jay & Stephanie? & Jim & Nancy? thanks as well ? Mike ? thanks for the kind thoughts & the spins? & Gary?  I feel the same way? I get a chill every time Carrie's voice hits mine? Hi Kady (like the spelling).. HI TERRY? ANDREA?. & ALL THANKS SO MUCH FOR A MOST MEMORABLE DAY?. SEE YOU NEXT TIME

Note: for those concerned? the trip home? 95 to 34 to 15 to New York? was a piece of cake -no delays whatsoever!