To replace Wendy Lewis, who was suddenly afflicted with a busted car, a few friends -- Gerald Dowd, Steve Dawson, and John Abbey -- are coming down Monday to do some music with me. Not sure what it'll be but sure it'll be something!
I just posted a slew of dates, from Friday into late June, on the tour page. I'll be in St. Paul this weekend with Don Stiernberg, then on to Rockford, and there are tickets available for each of those. The first several of my summer shows with Redd Volkaert are also listed; and you can see some upcoming Hideout programming.
Read MoreI'm back at my old haunt on Monday, with Cathy Fink, who I met once in Washington, and Marcy Marxer, who I will have met an hour or two before showtime. The duo of Cathy and Marcy is one ("the duo is one," wow, get Schrodinger on the phone) of the top children's acts in the U.S. They're also fantastic old-time country musicians. Guess which guise you'll see them in at the Hideout.
That pace is, on paper anyway, comfortable by my standards of tracking. I've done some records a bit faster than that, 6 or maybe 7 songs cut in one long day, but that is pretty tough, unless you're Ray Price or Bud Powell and it's 1962. On Monday, Robbie Gjersoe and I showed up at Electrical Audio in Chicago and started the week with two quiet, mournful duets. On Friday, Shad Cobb joined Robbie and me for two faster trios. In between, we were joined by Fats Kaplin, Jenny Scheinman, Todd Phillips, Wayne Horvitz, and Alex Hall. Fats, who is the ultimate utility player in this solar system, played pedal steel, mandolin, violin, and accordion.
Read MoreSo no Monday Hideout show.
Robbie Gjersoe and I will play a bunch of new compositions of mine, many of which are in the running for my next Bloodshot release, which I'm tracking the week following. Since the songs are mostly quiet and 100 people in a bar aren't, we're capping attendance at 60 and pre-selling tickets for this one; so if this is the kind of thing that interests you, I recommend buying in advance. Everyone will be seated, and no tapers, audio or video.
Tomorrow, or tonight, depending on when you're reading, but in either event April 17, 2015, I'll be doing something at the great west-suburban roadhouse in Berwyn that I rarely do there: my own thing. The standard presentation that I give when traveling to other towns, or now and again at the Old Town School or the Hideout in Chicago, is a quartet or quintet that plays stuff from my own records!
Read MoreAs a tribute to my father-in-law, who on CBS-TV's Amazing Race program remarked to my son admiringly of a fellow contestant, "She's a smart girl -- she went to one of those falutin' colleges," I will be falutin' around the midwest this weekend with 4 other smart fellows. There's Robbie Gjersoe, the goofball multi-instrumentalist and Rodney Dangerfield impersonator, who is going to play resonator guitar this outing; Todd Phillips, bassist and co-founder of such enterprises as the David Grisman Quintet and the Tony Rice Unit; Shad Cobb, radically unassuming fiddler whose musical chops are matched only (symmetrically speaking) by his computer expertise; and Don Stiernberg, of whom -- enough!
Read MoreScott Stevenson, he of the outsized brain and intrepid fingers, has invited me to be a part of his Chicago all-star salute to Richard Thompson this Friday night. The master songwriter-musician turns 65 or 66, I forget which, on a date not far from this Friday night. I'd be happy to play these great songs on an excuse twice as thin.
Read MoreWhoa, where have I been? Tonight it's Elvis Costello's 1980 LP Get Happy!!, performed in a very recognizable manner.
Read MoreThursday might not be an ideal night for a party, but maybe an early-evening start time could make it fly. The date is Thursday May 14, and the area is north of Charlotte, south of DC, not closer than 60 or so miles to either. Raleigh, Richmond, or anywhere in between would be perfect. Acoustic trio: Robbie Gjersoe, Todd Phillips, and myself. Drop a line if interested.
Something's there, not me. Back next Monday.
Hideout this week is Nora O'Connor and me, back with our two-human quorum.
I've added several March/April dates to the tour page, the soonest of which appear to your right. I'll call particular attention to the premiere of Kannapolis next week at Duke.
Read MoreWestern Swing night! Gonna be a ton of people onstage, to make it feel more like Tulsa in 1935. (In terms of the per-player payout, it'll feel amazingly like that.) Anna Jacobson, Alex Hall, Peter Seman, Beau Sample, Joel Paterson, K.C. McDonough, and I will throw some love to the late great Bob Wills and all who followed.
First off, this Monday it's another of my yearly Doc Watson nights at the Hideout. I'll play the flattop and perhaps a little banjo, and Steve Doyle and Robbie Gjersoe will juggle bass, reso, uke, mandolin, and yet more flattop guitar. All three of us will sing tunes we've pulled off the records of the man who is my all-time country music hero.
Read MoreJumpin' Jehosaphat! It's me and Don Stiernberg, playing swing, bluegrass, country, and originals (as if that's its own category).
I'll be in Stoughton, Wisconsin on April 11th with a stellar quartet of acoustic players, maybe quintet. I'd like to bring it into the Hideout the following Monday. If anyone would like to host us for a house concert on Sunday April 12, please send me a note. The approximate geographical area would be: N/S Appleton to Peoria, E/W South Bend also to Peoria
Russellmania. All things Russell. Including, with typical generosity, "Russ." Gerald and K.C. and Brian and I will perform music by Russell Brand, Catherine Russell, Russ Kunkel, Arthur Russell, and many others, in the mold of our "House of Stuart" extravaganza last year. Russell-y prizes will be given those who can mentally "russell" up information on some of our more obscure selections, and anyone actually named Russell and can prove it will be admitted free of charge, nay, welcomed as a hero.
I join the Modern Sounds. A longtime goal! The MS are Joel Paterson, Beau Sample, and Alex Hall. Their repertoire, which is mainly what we'll play, is guitar-centric 1930s-1950s R&B and small-group jazz. A/k/a the funnest music ever invented. As opposed to the music featured in Whiplash, which I saw tonight, and which, please don't see.
Given the unusual snowfall in Chicago yesterday, I thought I had better affirm that we are indeed plowing ahead with tonight's presentation at the fabled Hideout. Steve and I love playing so much that it doesn't bother us if only nine people listen.
