the little venue that definitely can...

dateline: columbia, missouri

here's a few shots from a venue i played a couple of nights ago in the little town of el dorado, kansas called the iron horse concert hall.  (they pronounce it "el doraydo" in kansas...)

don koke started the iron horse an amazing 34 years ago...pretty darned cool that it's still going...they get a great cross section of artists ranging from bill staines, the neilds and mary flower to celtic fingerpickers and bluegrass bands...really attentive audiences, too!

the iron horse is one of those places with an extraordinary array of "things" on the walls, the shelves, the doors...very much like Kulak's Woodshed in L.A.

like, for instance, this well hung banjo....(sorry, couldn't resist)

there's quite a few frogs, the club mascot...or maybe don's...

and, finally, a collection of painted guitars that local artists have decorated over the years. these can even be a bit of a distraction sometimes when i notice something really cool from the stage (in the middle of a tune)...

and, of course, what folk club in the middle of kansas is complete without a giant painting of napoleon!

bottom line?  i LOVE this joint!

listening to: korby lenker - bellingham

Buh-Bye Kerrville (P.S. i love you)

dateline santa fe, nm


home!  got a little delayed at the gas stop in cline's corner, about an hour from home.  they've redone the place and i got totally distracted by a brand new pinball machine...wound up channeling tommy for a bit too long...left credits on the machine after a half hour or so...for awhile in my mind i was at aubin's drugstore, a 15 year old with a  couple of nickels and time to kill before stepping out back for a smoke....


but i digress.  it's been a hell of a few weeks, funerals & folk festivals...here's my home away from home for the past 14 days at the kerrville folk festival...camp nashbill...thanks bill and everyone else for a great time...

played my new tune, "alice dances"  up on chapel hill one afternoon...it's such a beautiful spot...my good buddy drew nelson was hosting...he played the song of his that always makes me cry, true and fine...succeeded once again...

the night before, drew played an amazing mainstage set...his songwriting is getting really powerful...i highly recommend his new album on red house records, tilt-a-whirl...

the master songwriting class continued with a set by the phenomenal eric taylor...damn....

also caught a set by my buddy ronny cox, accompanied by jack williams on guitar, karen mal on mandolin and a fiddle player whose name i missed (but he was great).  i've known ronny and karen for a while now...jack and i were in rival rock and roll bands back in south carolina almost thirty years ago...again, damn...

one of the best ever new folk years...one of the winners was the sea the sea with my friends chuck and mira...great set, kiddos...

lastly i stuck around for an extra day to hear this new kid i've been hearing so much about for the past year or so, john fullbright...omigod, he absolutely blew me away...and i'm (as todd would say) jaded, bitter and old!  the kid is the real deal...

so, thank you kerrville, texas and in particular dalis, bill nash, eric fokerth, tom prasada-rao, kc and david, vern & dirje...i came there with a very heavy heart this year and left inspired and full of life...grazie, tutti!

listening to: j wagner - disappear  (j was a new folk finalist and is  one of the many dedicated volunteers at the festival...also, a hell of a songwriter...)

98 in the shade or why i love folkie boot camp...

dateline - kerrville texas


made it.  been set up at camp nashbill for a couple of days, now.  man, did i ever need this.


i'm still kind of reeling from my mother's passing.  even though there is all the logical "she had been so sick for so long" and "hell, she hasn't known who i was for several years and wasn't sure who she was for the past year or so", all of which leads to "she's in a better place".......


and i'm sure she is, her faith in such things was pretty strong.  we all find the healing we need where and when we need it.  


once all the funeral hoo hah was over and the last car with the last seen long ago relative had departed the restaurant my brothers and i were left with........"well, shit, mom's dead and i'm incredibly sad...sad for all the questions that will never be answered, at least not here...sad for the way she left this world (angry and confused)...sad that, hell i'm 64 years old and my mom is dead..."


time, brothers and sisters....time.  i need to learn to show it a little more respect. 
so here i sit in the kerrville, texas, blessedly air conditioned and free wi-fied public library.  had a wonderful night of music, both listening and playing...like i said, we all find the healing we need where and when we need it.  sometimes we have to drive a few lonely hours pondering the state of the universe to reach our destination, get out of the car only to be engulfed by the healing powers of friends and their amazingly wonderful musicial hearts...


(hmmmm, is crying allowed in libraries?)


i love you all very much.


here's a shot of my good pal matt harlan kicking off the kerrville festivities with a great set.

so much more great music to come....

listening to.....well, everybody!

paper heart in the dirt...

dateline: santa fe, nm


...boy, sure haven't been keeping up with the whole radio/blog thing...
will try to rectify that in the future.
suffice it to say, been some places...and i'll post about 'em.
but for now, it was a wonderful pre=spring spring day in the north of new mexico.   didn't want to go to the gym and be inside so instead i walked to the post office and the library and the grocery store...then walked home carrying a big bag o' fruit and "bully - the life and times of theodore roosevelt "... saw this paper heart lying on the parched desert ground... pretty nice day off the road...

listening to: moors & mccumber - "gravity"

watching: season 6 of "weeds"