February 11, 2000
United Flight something or other...
somewhere between Denver and Cleveland
I just looked back at my last Note From the Road
and realized to my chagrine that it was from an airplane, too.
I'll try to find a different location next time, OK? I'm three
weeks into my month-long residency in Gillette, Wyoming, where
I'm working at Westwood High School teaching Creative Writing,
Photography and Guitar to some very cool students. We're having
a good time, and some folks are even learning a few things, which
is good, too. I woke up at 6:30 this morning (as I do five days
a week while I'm here, believe it or not!) and went to school,
taught all day, came home and packed and caught a puddle-jumper
to Denver, then got on this big ol' plane to go to the annual
Folk Alliance Conference. It's in a different city each year,
this year it's Cleveland. I have nine showcases in the next thirty-six
hours, the first one at 12:30 tonight. My plane touches down
at 11:18, so I hope my baggage shows up promptly and the traffic's
OK...
There's so much exciting stuff going on that I don't
know quite where to start! I guess the new
album is as good a place as any (yep - it's got it's own
page now...). We got most of the basic tracks done in Seattle
just before I went to Wyoming, and Evan (the producer) is busy
tracking some other parts while I'm here. All kinds of cool musicians
are involved with the project, including songwriter friends Christine
Kane, Chris Rosser and Beth Wood, as well as some kickin' string
players, bass player Keith Lowe (Fiona Apple, Bill Frisell),
drummer Dave Jette (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley), David Lange
(Annie Gallup, tons of others), Michael Manring (John
Gorka, Michael Hedges), and my sweetie, Kristin deWitt, singing
harmonies. I'm very excited about where it's going, and can't
wait to lay it on you! We're still hoping and planning to have
it out somewhere in May. The jury is still out on the title,
though there have been several good suggestions, including After
the Rain and Notes From the Road, as well as some
votes for the working title, Corners of the Sky. The other
two that I've chewed on are Lens Cap and Lens,
but I think I've decided against both of those. A suggestion
that I call it Home By Now just came in, too, which I
like. Only problem with that one that I can see is that if you
glance at it too quickly it might look like Home Boy Now,
which might mislead a few folks - Dave with his new rap sound...
Anyway, if you have any more ideas or want to vote for one of
those, please drop me a line! I'd sure welcome the input. After
all, the record's for you. I don't listen to 'em much. :)
The other very exciting thing that's happening is
that plans are starting to shape up for my Fall tour, which will
actually take me all the way around the world... Hard to imagine.
I'm planning to leave the U.S. on September 27 and spend about
five weeks in Australia and New Zealand, then head up to Japan
to do a residency at base schools in Okinawa for two weeks. After
that I'll stop in Europe for a week and a half, then come home
just in time for Thanksgiving. If all goes as planned this will
be the first time I've been home for Thanksgiving with my family
for quite a few years. To be honest, that's almost as exciting
as the trip. But I guess that's the best way... getting to be
excited about going, then excited about coming home.
Kathy and Josh have been doing a great job of holding
down the biz end of things in North Carolina, and I appreciate
those of you who wrote to say so after the last emailing (there
were several of you!). I'm looking forward to seeing them tonight
in Cleveland. They drove up with Christine Kane from NC and have
been hanging out at the conference for the last couple of days
working hard, as usual, so that I can be free to play some music.
Life's good. Thanks, as always, for checking in.
Be well,
David
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