Image via twitter @guensberg image by @gaenorbagley
Gang,
Many, many, many, many thanks to all of you who’ve sent supportive messages. They’ve worked and I am recovered!! I still have a bit of healing to do, but fortunately I am young and strong — my quarantine is up today, Easter Sunday. (I’m not saying for a minute that there’s any deep significance there. Make of it what you will.)
I feel badly that I’ve not been able to reply personally to each and every missive, but I did read them all and loved every one. (And I probably will not be able to make replies for a while — I’m now swamped with all the things that didn’t get done while I was in bed with the bug. An unfortunate image!) I’m a very fortunate guy to have so many people who care!
Please, please, please do stay out of harm’s way. Stay At Home!! This bug has no sense of humor or fairness. We need to protect each other and, most importantly we need to protect the medical workers. They are the ones running toward the danger, and they need our help.
Shows: I screwed up a few days ago and posted some misinformation. Everything through June has been moved down the calendar, some to the fall, some for an entire year (including my eagerly-anticipated trip to the UK in June, now June 2021). But shows from July and onward are still on-schedule. Go to TomRush.com/shows for the latest show-by-show account. We’ll let you know if anything changes.
But for now, because I miss you, I’m going to try to offer you some entertainment in cyber-space (where “going viral” can be a ‘Good Thing™’).
I was half-asleep and the line floated by, “Sing Me A Story, Tell Me A Song.” Seemed like a good idea. We (my cyber-crew and I — I’m from the steam age and am uncomfortable with things that go “beep”) are working to set up a weekly on-line live get-together. The format I’m envisioning is that I’ll pick a song to sing for you, there will be some live Q&A (where I will select the Questions to which I actually have Answers, or for which I am able to make up something interesting), AND then I’ll tell you a Story. This, I think, is the good part.
I’m working on a book about what it’s like to be a travelling musician, and part of that book will be stories of some of the improbable things that have happened over the years and miles. I’ll send out a follow-up newsletter when we’re ready to launch (fasten seatbelts!) and give you a list of story titles (“The Naked Dwarf Tag-Team Wrestling Act.” “Steve Goodman and the Giant Rabbit.” “Clint Eastwood and the Hashish Brownie.” I have two pages-worth of just titles!) and we’ll have a mechanism whereby you can vote for the story you’d like to hear that week, and that’s the one I’ll tell. Could be fun!!
Please, please … stay safe, stay well, Stay At Home!!
Happy Passover, Joyous Easter, Glorious Spring!
All the best,
Quote of the Month: Not a quote really, but a link to a video enhancement of one of my all-time favorite songs from one of my all time favorite albums (of mine), the oft-overlooked New Year from Symphony Hall in Boston in 1981. Tim Jackson, the drummer on the piece and a member of the band for many great years, put some train footage to it and I think it’s lovely: https://vimeo.com/406302565
Thank you Tim! (The playing is all superb, but Bromberg’s Dobro part and Josh Schneider’s sax are … well, give it a listen!)
