and there we were!

to all of you who showed up for our quick midwest jaunt: thank you so much for your inspiration and enthusiasm. we, the trio, were thrilled with your response, especially to so much new music you've never heard. amazingly, 4 out of 5 were sold out! not an easy task in this economy. I'm not sure what caused the low turnout in my hometown Cincinnati (maybe they are tired of me) but the fans who made it out were fabulous. it was nice to see rob bear and bob bear and so many other dear friends I rarely get to see. kenny and christy nevels, stan hertzman, john reynolds, laura nyswonger, cassandra stepp, joe madrigal (the original guitarist for sweetheart) jeff crow, phil bates (who made a lovely woodcut of each us) and terry williams, one of the first drummers I learned from. my only regret was the low turnout. on the other hand, in st. louis our sold-out crowd was one of the loudest audiences ever! on a thursday night! peter jest, our long-time shank hall promoter was very pleased with the milwaukee audience*. I could tell because he was telling drummer jokes after the show. both chicago shows were knock-outs and proved to me the importance of playing to seated audiences. some people prefer it to club settings. in chicago we were able to meet with some of our staunchest supporters from the manufacturing sector. interestingly our main endorsements are all in chicago: parker guitars for me, lakland basses for julie, and ludwig drums for eric. we couldn't be happier with the instruments they produce and the treatment afforded us.

this year has started off slowly compared to last year's windfall of shows across 3 continents in 18 countries, but there are reasons (apart from the economy). first, we needed time to complete e, a very important step toward the future and second, we needed to change booking agencies; something which always requires time and effort. the good news is more dates across the USA are on their way! and maybe something in the fall for europe as well.

also on the way are two new records for your listening pleasure.

* to the two people who hated the show at shank hall: I am sorry. you can't please everyone, but I like to try. I hope you two will still give e a chance. new music often takes more than one listen to appreciate.