December 12, 2003, 10 AM
Atlanta, GA

It's hard to believe the year is drawing to a close. Last night I played my last show for the season, heading home today for a full month of waking up in my own bed. That's pretty extraordinary for me, and I'll be relishing every moment of it. This past year included a great deal of travel, though I haven't actually counted up the road days yet. 2004 will hold trips to New Zealand, the Middle East and Guatemala in just the first half of the year, not to mention a wedding.

on stage in Germany

But I'm getting ahead of myself - when I last wrote one of these updates, I was just starting my German tour. That was a blast, and the vacation time afterwards was wonderful. Deanna came over for a week after all the shows were done and we wound our way down through France, living on bread and cheese and wine and good company, and making up our route as we went along. Deanna grew up at the beach, and since it was starting to get cool in Germany, we decided to wind our way south to the Mediterranean. Warmth, of course, is definitional to vacation. We went horseback riding in the Camargue, wandered through old French cities, narfed on crepes in outdoor cafés, had a "pique nique" beneath the Pont d'Avignon... good livin' for this folk singer. We don't get lots of time together, but we make it count.

sous le pont d'Avignon

I came home to a quick tour through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. That consisted of nine shows in ten days, and knocked Oklahoma and Kansas off the list of states I haven't played in (there are only five left). Close on the heels of that run, we headed out for the release party tour - five shows in five cities in five days. I was joined by Don Porterfield on the bass and, for three shows, River Guergerian on drums and percussion. Chris Rosser, who was one of the producers of the CD, sat in on keys and dotar at the Grey Eagle show. We had free munchies at each show and had a great time. I've gotten a bit spoiled playing with those guys, actually, and I have my eye on doing more band shows in the future.

at the Spin release party with River and Don

And now the CD is out!! I worked hard on this project, and it's amazing to finally have it out in the world after focusing most of my energy on it for the better part of the last year. The feedback so far has been strong and positive, and that's encouraging. I was trying to not wear people out on the new material before the CD came out, and it's great to finally be able to lean into the new material at shows.

So now I'm headed home. I'll work on the house some and spend some down time with Deanna and my family and get rested for the new year. In January I'm headed to New Zealand to be the headline act for the Auckland Folk Festival, kicking off a four-week tour down there. Not long after returning I'll be headed to the Middle East for peace concerts in Palestine and Israel. And around those runs I'll be doing shows in the U.S. Keep in touch - hopefully we can catch up somewhere along the road.

In my faith tradition this is Advent, a time of waiting expectantly. I do believe in miracles. In fact, I believe that everything is a miracle if you look at it closely enough. I hope your holidays will have some space for reflection and be a time of renewal and rejuvenation. Though there seem to be few signs of its coming, I wish you peace, and encourage you to work for it in all the ways you can think of.

David