Cheers, folks. Hopefully this update finds you well. We’ve certainly navigated some storms of late ourselves, both the figurative and literal variety. But we seem to have emerged relatively unscathed from these trials, with the worst seemingly behind us for now.
These tribulations began when our trusty Jean Claude Damme Van decided to take the weekend off from traveling just as we were pulling out to hit the highway for Knoxville to meet up with Every Mother’s Nightmare at Scruffy City Hall. Thankfully it happened before we were sucked into the vortex of Nashville rush hour traffic, and we could swap out for a slightly more cramped, yet operational vehicle. We made our appointed load-in time, and the show came off without a hitch.
Our mechanic got ole Jean Claude back up and running before we headed out for our next run through Alabama and Mississippi, which included our inaugural stop at the famed Blue Canoe in Tupelo. We very nearly missed this one too, when Matt; who had taken over behind the wheel for a spell, decided to attempt a hairpin 20 MPH ramp at around 55 MPH. Luckily, Matt’s driving didn’t kill us, and neither did the tornadoes or torrential downpour that assaulted Elvis Presley’s birthplace right about the time we took the stage. That seemingly ceaseless dousing dogged us pretty well all the way back home afterwards too, and we didn’t roll back into port until around 6:30AM. Hello dark roast coffee, my old friend.
We more or less immediately set to work in the studio, getting the last bits together on this first batch of new material to receive a proper treatment since the release of ‘Ten & 2’ last June. We’re looking at dropping a few singles or possibly EPs this year, and some of these tunes will make up the first round of that initiative. These will be digital-only releases initially, but if they’re well-received, and the demand is there, we’ll most likely compile them for a physical release down the road a bit.
For now, while supplies last, here’s a quick preview..
While we were in, I got to contribute some rhythm guitar to a cool cover that Kenny’s been working on for his solo EP, and we tracked a new “live in the studio” version of an old fORMER tune that’s been a set staple since he joined up with us. I can’t say where the latter is going to land. Maybe we’ll tack it on to one from this opening salvo of standalone tunes. We’ll see.
We played our annual “let’s see how early we can get out of bed” appearance at the St. Jude’s Nashville Rock N’ Roll Marathon, but almost didn’t get to, courtesy of the already ridiculous traffic being exacerbated by the presence of 250,000 NFL draft attendees in our fair city. Stuck in the sludge, Patrick and I missed the load-in cutoff, and after being told by the authorities that the street we needed to access was in “hard closure”, were forced to find a soft opening(i.e. an alley) to bust through the blockade. So as not to incriminate myself, let’s just say I got us there.
Up next, I’m headed to Opelika, AL (Eighth & Rail) and Atlanta, GA (City Winery) this coming weekend, with my buddy, and fellow songwriter Joshua Ketchmark, to do a pair of solo acoustic dates, before taking a much-needed vacation that includes desert air and a pool.
As soon as I get back, we’re getting our act together for Herrinfesta Italiana in Herrin, IL, where we’ll be opening up for Head East and Loverboy. From there we roll through Cincinnati, and up to Chicago, before resuming work on more new stuff.
We’ve also got a couple of other cool support slots that were just announced, in Maryville, TN with Jack Russell’s Great White in August at The Shed, and Nashville with Tom Keifer of Cinderella in July at The Cowan.
I think that about covers the business end of things through June, so I guess we can continue this one-sided chat in a month or so, unless something big comes up that necessitates an interruption of the regularly scheduled programming.
Be good to each other,
Denny
p.s. Here are the links to all of our “Socials”, as the kids like to call them:
FACEBOOK
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