Hear Over the Rhine on several wonderful compilations: 1) Pottery Barn's new CD compilation, "Nouveau Lounge -- cosmopolitan lounge grooves." (Available at Pottery Barn stores only; no online sales.) Includes Over the Rhine's "Give Me Strength" from Films For Radio and tracks by Moby, Groove Armada and David Sylvian et al. 2) Journeys which includes tracks by Peter Gabriel, Crowded House, Paul Simon, John Lennon et al. 3) The Starbucks compilation, Hear Music - Volume 2: Songs For Long Narrow Stretches, with tracks by David Gray, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Morcheeba, Bruce Cockburn et al. And in Europe, hear Over the Rhine on the "Zen2" compilation along with Coldplay, Dido, Turin Brakes and Air. There is also a 2 CD compilation called "POP 2001" that contains contributions by Radiohead, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, St. Germain, Blur, Everything but the Girl and, you guessed it, Over the Rhine."
Linford recently contributed part of a memoir to a Literary Journal called Image Magazine. You can order the copy that contains his writing here.
January 23, 2002
Hello,
Happy January. This is Linford taking a moment to send a few quick words your way. I hope your year has been a good one so far. Karin and I have spent quite a few days in Barnesville, Ohio, where she grew up, packing up her mother's belongings, getting the house ready to sell. Many of you continue to ask how Karin's mother is doing. Barbara Bergquist lives in Cincinnati now and is still receiving therapy. Initially, the doctors didn't think she would survive her stroke, so as Karin says, we make the best now of these hard won days. Barbara is now able to stand for a few minutes at a time and is able to communicate fairly well using short sentences and phrases. The brain is a mysterious place that doctors know relatively little about. We've learned alot about health care culture and continue to take it a moment at a time. Thanks again on behalf of Karin and Barbara for your thoughts, concerns, prayers and notes of encouragement.
Do we know how cats purr? Seems to me that's a mystery as well, come to think of it.
Moving on to Over the Rhine news, we were moved and humbled by a recently-completed two CD set of cover versions of our songs that fans of the band recorded and collected on a compilation called, What It Takes To Please You. Our jaws dropped open collectively on various occasions, and we smiled alot and even wiped away a few tears. (What more can you ask for in a record?)
What It Takes To Please You is an all-over-the-map collection that hangs together surprisingly well. Drew Vogel and Bruce Lachey coordinated the project and brought it to completion with very few laws broken along the way--a commendable achievement. (Obviously Bruce isn't yet tuned into the legal nuances of a derivative work, but the liberties he took with Karin's lyrics have as of yet remained undiscovered by GMMI Music International and Sony Tunes, the publishers of the song. And hey, he was baring his soul, so we ain't sayin' nothin'. And our former label mates on IRS, Ozric Tentacles, would undoubtedly raise an eyebrow or two if they discovered their music accompanying a computer-generated version of Jack's Valentine, but frankly, they're probably way too stoned to care.)
Anyway, we're very grateful to those of you that took the time to let us see our songs in a different light. It certainly provided us with some enjoyable and stimulating listening as we drove back and forth across Ohio. We felt loved. And Drew and I were just talking yesterday: it means a lot that such a wide variety of people--professional musicians, people who had never recorded before, garage bands, or a few friends with a microphone set up on a church balcony--all wanted to be involved. Our hats are off to all of you.
To those of you who would like to order a copy, you can go to Drew's website: DrewVogel.com. All the proceeds go to Cincinnati Shares, a charity based in Cincinnati that does a lot of good for many diverse folks in our community.
In other news, Jack Henderson, who has been playing guitar with us now for over five years, has put out a fine new solo album called Cheap Tattoo. You can check out the monthly special at overtherhine.com if you'd like a copy, or go directly to Jack's website: bulldogfarmmusic.com. Jack has been doing some producing with other songwriters (with exceptional results). You can also contact Jack at his website if you're interested in recording at his studio.
Earlier this year, I met with the folks at Larkspur who will be printing the limited edition of my first book, Unsung, and I was strangely moved as I drove off Sawdridge Road just South of Monterey, Kentucky, and onto the lane and across the creek that runs through the 60 acre farm where the presses are located. This will be a small book printed a page at a time with every letter of every word set by hand. They take their time down there! And I don't believe I've mentioned this, but Jay Bolotin, a favorite artist of ours, is contributing two woodcuts to the project which will be printed directly into the book from the woodblocks. This makes me, for one, very happy when I think about it. Again, it will be a simple, handmade affair, and we're not sure when it will be done. Everytime we talk, Gray Zeitz always reminds me, We don't work with deadlines.
We'll keep you posted, and get them signed, numbered and mailed out as soon as we receive them. I'm guessing we're still talking about (at least) a few months down the road before we see anything. Larkspur's involvement, although a coup, was not part of the initial plan for the book. If you'd like to get your money back because of the waiting involved, please just drop us a note, and we'll be happy to send you a refund. Thanks for your patience.
Eric pulled several MP3's out of the archive this month. Free downloads abound at overtherhine.com. Help yourself.
And finally, the shape of our year is beginning to emerge. We'll be doing some touring this Spring on the East Coast, the West Coast and a few points in between. Scattered festivals are planned for this summer, including another trip to Europe in August, and we'll be starting work on some new recordings a few months down the road. We'll press record and find out what the music sounds like. (You can see some of the confirmed tour dates already at overtherhine.com.)
This weekend, we're starting off the New Year right at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, Ohio, one of our favorite listening rooms. Jack and Karin and I will play a couple of living room concerts and throw the door open to see what walks in. Join us Friday or Saturday if you can. We often start off the year at Canal Street--these will be the first shows of 2002. We'll look for you... (More info available at overtherhine.com.)
By the way, we'd like to find two people who would be willing to look after our CD table each night in Dayton this wknd. Each volunteer would receive two tickets and a free cd from our catalog. Please e-mail Blair Woods (BigWalkUp@aol.com) if you'd like to help out.
Hope to see you soon.
Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine
. . .
To our extended, ragtag musical family strewn about the world, greetings.
The weather has been all over the map here in Ohio this Spring: early last week it was 75 degrees Farenheit, then it dipped down to the upper 20's, and we woke one morning to snow that looked like powdered sugar sprinkled on a cheap birthday cake. I'm a little chilly at the moment in this back corner bedroom of the Grey Ghost, but it's a stunning Spring day, and I've been trying to remember what the difference is between a starling and a grackle. The blackbirds, shall we say, have been roosting in our black walnut tree. Two squirrels have been hauling mulch up out of Karin's perennials into the hollow crook of one of the oaks, so we've got our eyes peeled for the arrival of their young ones, assuming that's what all the fuss is about. The squirrels keep a watchful eye out for Willow.
Can't remember if we've told the story of the young squirrel that followed me home from the park one Spring. Willow cornered it, but spared its life, and by the time I could encourage the dog to break the stare they were both locked in, something seemed to pass between them, some sort of unspoken agreement. It was as if the squirrel had made a pact that if he could go free, he would be "at our service" for the rest of his days.
And sure enough, there he was following after Willow with that textbook squirrel-trot. She was the new Mama. I was the new chaperone. I was afraid Willow was going to step on the little fellow after awhile--he was so intent on staying near her--so I knelt down, and he jumped up into my arms, and I brought him home.
Karin named him Joe Henry, and we sat out on the porchswing for awhile (I realize this sounds sickeningly idyllic) and watched as the squirrel would try to ride around on Willow's back. The dog wasn't too thrilled about her new sidekick, but was trying more-or-less to maintain a good attitude.
Well, Karin went out and bought a green bird cage that we set up on the backporch, and Joe Henry slept in there at night. During the day he would go out tooling around in the oak trees. Sometimes he would take naps in the sleeve of Karin's flannel shirt next to her smooth forearm. One afternoon, after he had been getting a little more wary and aloof and squirrel-skeptical (we hadn't seen him too much for a few days), he must have gotten into his first squirrel fist fight. I happened to see him easing himself down one of the oaks with a bloody nose, and he soon hopped back into my lap for comfort and re-assurance. He seemed to calm down after awhile. Karin called a "squirrel expert" and of course mothered Joe Henry back to health with eyedroppers and bags of unsalted mixed nuts and what not. Joe eventually made his way out into the world for good, and we left for tour, but we're pretty sure he ended up being the big squirrel that we often saw on the outskirts of our backyard. Some mornings he would just sit and stare at us from a distance as if he knew a secret the other squirrels didn't.
Karin named Joe Henry's girlfriend Lucinda Williams, and believe me, there were plenty of squirrels around for a good while. Our neighbor eventually trapped about a dozen in a live trap and took them out into a woods and let them go free. I suppose this new couple we've been watching is getting ready to take over where Joe and Lucinda left off.
If you'd like to see the young Joe Henry, you can check out this link at overtherhine.com:
http://overtherhine.com/people/contributors/jeffbell.html
I believe this snapshot was taken soon after he arrived on the scene, when he was making a fool of himself around the company we had visiting one afternoon.
Well, it's Spring and here's the news.
OVER THE RHINE DATES
We're finally going to make up the Lexington and Atlanta shows we had to cancel back when the flu bug tackled us. (Nashville--we're still working on.) We have some scattered college dates that we're looking forward to, and we're excited to be heading back out to the West Coast of the USA in May for a swing through some of our favorite cities. You can always check out overtherhine.com for links and more info, but here's a quick rundown.
Apr 12 Lexington KY, Lynagh's Musiclub, 388 Woodland Avenue
Age Restriction 21+
Apr 14 Atlanta GA, Smith's Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Avenue
Age Restriction 21+, tickets on sale at etix.com
Apr 19 Grand Rapids MI, Calvin College
Over the Rhine will perform a 20-minute opening set for Patti Griffin at 9:00pm
tickets $10, 616-957-6282 or tickets@calvin.edu
Apr 20 Canton OH, Malone College, Centennial Center
All ages show (Karin and Linford's Alma Mater!)
Apr 26 Gambier OH, Kenyon College, Rosse Hall
All ages show (The Kenyon Review was one of the first literary journals to publish Flannery O'Connor. If you haven't been to Oxford, England, Kenyon will do. Beautiful!)
*Apr 27 Berwyn IL, FitzGerald's, 6615 Roosevelt Rd.
Age Restriction 21+
*May 03 Seattle WA, Crocodile Cafe, 2200 2nd Avenue
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops, Age Restriction 21+
*May 04 Portland OR, Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops
May 05 Eugene OR, Gutenberg College House Concert, 1883 University St., TWO SHOWS
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops
*May 08 San Francisco CA, Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell Street
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops
*May 10 San Diego CA, The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd.
Note: This is an early show with doors at 6:30 pm and OtR at 7:00 pm.
*May 11 Los Angeles CA, Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops
For the dates that are *starred*: We're looking for two volunteers to sell merchandise for the band. Volunteers get free admission to the show and the cd of their choice. If you're interested in helping out, please e-mail Blair Woods at BigWalkup@aol.com. Let him know if you are volunteering solo, or bringing a friend. Thanks. (If the club specifies an age-restriction, volunteers must be of age.)
OVER THE RHINE *LIVE* ON THE WEB
You can hear Karin and Jack and Linford this Friday, April 12 at 2pm EST on WRVG in Lexington, and on the web at www.wrvg-fm.org... Cue the tape recorders.
THE LATEST ON THE BOOK: UNSUNG
Jay Bolotin is finishing up the woodcuts for the project which will be printed into the book directly from the blocks. (I ordered the wood for the woodcuts (walnut) from a small town in the mountains of Utah.) The complete text has been type-set by hand and is waiting in the wings. The book should be ready to go into "production" in May. Your patience has been strong. Thanks. Please let us know if your address has changed. What was supposed to be a late summer project last year has grown into a summer project this year. We're still having fun though and trust that this delay won't prove too thorny for the early believers in the book. We'll get there.
FUTURE RECORDING
Virgin/Back Porch have given the go ahead for Over the Rhine to begin work on new recordings which the band will begin working on soon. The band hopes to record two full-length albums later this summer and fall. Stay tuned for more.
MONTHLY SPECIAL
For those of you who like to take advantage of our secure server at overtherhine.com for a little on-line shopping break every once in awhile, Karin and I are signing all the merchandise this month that's ordered through the website. So if you've had a hankerin' to fill in a few gaps in your Over the Rhine catalog, or if your ex-boyfriend ran off with your original copy of Good Dog Bad Dog, or if you've always wanted to get one of those huge, collectible Over the Rhine posters autographed, we'll be happy to slap a Spring signature or two on whatever you happen to order. Just thought you might like to know.
Check this out:
http://overtherhine.com/catalog/order.tmpl
Well, I should probably go strap on my roller blades and pine for the days when I was an aspiring 15 year old hockey player attending school north of Calgary, Alberta.
Rock on and stuff,
Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine
(Flying the pop music flag high over the Ohio River.)
(Or something.)
. . .
Hello everyone,
Before the laundry, before unpacking, before giving the dog her much needed bath, before I plunge into the salty wave of the mundane that is the stuff of life, I want to first pause and say thank you to all of you who came out to support us on the west coast. Many of you came bearing gifts - flowers, photographs, sweets, and REAL Hawaiian coffee (thank you Michelle!- you also win the prize for traveling the most miles!). Thank you all for your generosity.
When we get out on the road, we say, "It's good to be out on the road again." And when we get home, we collapse into a heap and say, "It's good to be home again." Some things never change.
It is important to be grateful in all things.
So, this leaves me wishing I could show you some memories that play over In my mind. The beaches on Highway One - hairpin turns, ice plant, and the one, not-so-obvious coyote that allowed itself to be seen standing above us on a rock-strewn precipice. He was a good omen. I guess we need one of those fancy digital cameras. Some day....
We stopped a few times for this ocean view and that huge, huge Redwood (one of many) that Jack just felt compelled to hug. Really. He bought a Basic Guide to Trees along with a "special tool" which called for various stops to gather "samples" and "specimens."
Oh, and a heart-shaped stone - a souvenir for Hazel.
Along the way, we discovered that there were many towns in California we have yet to play. Eureka, San Jose (where I was born), Santa Barbara, Sonoma... I hope we can get to some of these towns some day. It is a mighty big state, after all.
It seems we will always need to plan some extra time for San Francisco. We have so many excuses to stay - all of them friends and family. This trip, I was able to spend some precious one-on-one time with my sister Rose, and also my dear friend Carol-Margaret - by whom I am blessed with so much inspiration. Linford took the BART to spend the afternoon with his sister Frances, her husband Chris and the new-ish nephew, Luke. We celebrated with dinner that night at the Grand Cafe, Hotel Monaco, courtesy of our brother-in-law, Pat. Hats off to Pat. And yet there were many family members we didn't get to see due to time constraints. But that's the nature of touring. And it's our job.
It takes any number of small miracles to put together/pull off a tour of any length. Special thanks to Ali Giampino (Billions) who is the queen of booking agents and to our manager Blair Woods for flying across the gol-darn country to drive our rental from LA to Seattle to meet us - the rental company wouldn't do one-way. Much thanks to both of them.
We have done most of the spring shows without a crew. Thanks to the local dudes at each of the venues and volunteers who helped us in any way. And thanks to those of you who volunteered to look after our merch.
I am looking forward to this late Spring at home. I need to dig in the dirt and pull some weeds, shore up my rose vines and tend to the jungle that is our back yard. And my favorite part of what we do, writing and recording, will be the focus for much of the coming season. We'll see you all again soon.
Until then,
Karin, for Over the Rhine...
. . .
Greetings campers,
It's summertime and I rarely walk out of the house without pausing to pull a small weed or two out of one of the flowerbeds. Jack says a weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place, but he's not a gardener, as of yet. Quack grass is not a flower under any circumstances.
It's been an unbelievable year for the tiger lilies. The grape vines have really come into their own as well, although the squirrels keep eating the green grapes. The squirrel population has exploded in the back yard again, so I need to borrow a live trap from Michael Wilson. You have to drive at least five miles before you drop the squirrels off, or they'll come back. I'm not too worried about the grapes right now, but there is talk of taking a run at a Grey Ghost Merlot one of these summers. Ever since I was a child and my mother showed me pictures she took as a young woman traveling around Europe, I've wanted to see a barefooted girl hitch up her skirt and tramp on harvested grapes to crush out the juice.
The catalpa trees went to town this year: big heart-shaped leaves, hundreds of flowers fifty feet or more off the ground. If you can't remember which tree is a catalpa, look for the big bundles of beans. The tulip trees had a banner year as well. When we were walking Willow in the woods, we kept trying to figure out where all the flower petals and blossoms had come from, strewn along the path.
"Was there a wedding?"
"Probably so." We had visions of rosy-cheeked, golden-curled flower girls sprinkling exotic petals out of baskets. My oldest brother Conrad finally pointed out it was the tulip trees dropping their blooms. Sure enough, we leaned back and spotted the flowers hidden toward the sky in the leafy branches.
When Conrad and his wife Kathy visited us this Spring with their five robust country children, a walk in the woods felt completely different. Their children, Jonathan, Hannah, Jesse, Rachel and Seth, *engage* with the earth: they get down in the dirt on eager hands and knees. Rachel found a beautiful snake skin that she carried home. Jesse ran ahead and came back with reports. Jonathan caught two snakes with his bare hands, and one of the water snakes bit him and drew a little blood. Conrad warned him that they were further South then usual and had to be careful of snakes, but he wasn't too worried because the snake didn't have fangs, just spiky, tiny teeth.
"We'll know something's the matter if you start babbling, if your sentences begin to fall apart," Conrad said.
The children were splashing around in the creek knee deep overturning rocks, reminding me that I should never walk by a creek without keeping my eyes peeled for fossils. They had a contest to see who could cross the creek walking on a fallen tree, the naked trunk slick with dampness and the greens of tiny mosses and molds.
The children sleep in the attic of the Grey Ghost under eaves of odd angles.
In other news, we were informed that a horse gave birth earlier this year, and the offspring was christened OTR Tribute, OTR for short. They thought OTR was a filly at first, but it turned out to be a colt. He'll be entering some initial competitions this August at the Ohio State Fair and then down in Lexington, so keep your fingers crossed. The thought of a Thoroughbred named OTR Tribute makes me very happy somehow.
In other news, we just realized that we're going to be playing our 10th Cornerstone Festival this year. Unbelievable. I don't even remember how we got hooked up with C-Stone Fest back in the early days of the band, but it's hosted by an inner-city mission based in Chicago run by a wonderfully odd assortment of bohemian philanthropists. The festival has grown over the years and now draws about 25,000 people to the middle of nowhere to hear mostly underground bands. Surreal, dusty, sweaty, somehow unforgettable. Anyway, we've been honored by being invited back repeatedly, and here we go again. Our friend Dave Nixon will be looking after our booth for us. Dave presided at our wedding back in 1996 on a fine October day. If you want to volunteer to help Dave out, stop by the booth, and he might sign you up for a shift so that he can take a breather. He's a fine writer, good company, and his daughters' band, Brownhouse, will be playing the festival for the first time this year...
Unsung is finally done. My first book. I'll be driving down to Kentucky to pick them up this afternoon. If you pre-ordered a copy, and plan on being at Cornerstone, you can pick up your signed and numbered first edition there. We'll be mailing out all the others right after we return from the festival. (Make sure we have your latest address if it changed.) I really appreciate the patience of those who ordered the book so long ago.
Many people asked us about the possibility of getting a copy of Unsung after the first run sold out in advance, and thanks to the good folks at Larkspur Press, we were able to secure a second edition of an additional 500. So there should be plenty of books to go around for the foreseeable future. We'll see how many people actually write in to pick up a copy, and if they move quickly, we might consider a small third edition. But when the letters get dumped out of the letterpress forms, there are no more books. (The text of the book was set entirely by hand, one letter at a time, with a tweezers, backwards. The woodcut illustrations were pressed directly on to the pages from the actual woodblocks.)
It's a small book. A first step. They are beautiful. You could say that I'm happy.
We'll get the ordering info up on the website soon.
After Cornerstone, we're going to disappear for awhile to do some recording. In August, we'll be playing some concerts around Europe and visiting Jack and Hazel in Scotland. They bought a house in a small village there. The rest of the European dates will be posted soon. We'll performing in Holland, Italy, England, Ireland, Wales and, hopefully, Belgium.
In September we hope to do a handful of concerts in the South--Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee.
Here are a few recently added links at overtherhine.com to check out:
European Tour dates:
http://overtherhine.com/when/tourdates/index.html
Malone College interview with Linford:
http://overtherhine.com/story/pressarchive/2002/06/01.html
Silver Platters (Seattle) review of Grey Ghost Stories by Lisa M. Smith:
http://overtherhine.com/story/pressarchive/2002/06/02.html
Thanks to Megan Holmes and Ken Carl for concert photos:
http://overtherhine.com/when/concertphotos/index.html
That's all for now.
Enjoy these days,
Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine...
. . .
Hello from Ohio,
It's high time we checked in with you all. Autumn is just around the corner. Sign me up.
We arrived back safely from Europe. It's good to be home. We got to spend most of a week with Jack and Hazel and Finlay at their cottage in Lead Hills, Scotland. Scotland was chilly, damp and deep grey and green the week we were there. Lots of aromatic pipe smoke and Lagavulin to warm the blood and the heart. The sun did come out gloriously on the last day which we spent together in Edinburgh.
And it was soon time for Jack and Karin and I to pack up the instruments and head back out into the world to play concerts in Holland, England, Ireland and Wales. The concert in Italy was cancelled because the venue on the coast was destroyed earlier in severe weather, so we had an unexpected holiday in Pisa--two days and three nights. Italy opens her arms in the most intoxicating ways, and it's not just the '97 Chiantis. We stayed in an old hotel right along the river in Pisa. We climbed the leaning tower at sundown. And Karin and I got to make another day trip to Lucca and take an evening stroll around the wall of that tiny city. There is a road on top of the wall (4.5km) flanked by ancient sycamores. The clouds that clung to the mountains in the distance after the afternoon rains... We were each lost in our own thoughts on the night train ride back to Pisa, so many images to process.
Dublin is a place full of poetry and music lovers. This tiny country called Ireland, one tenth the size of Texas, has given the world an abundance of colorful writers: Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, G.B. Shaw, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, C.S. Lewis--and many others. Karin and I took a literary pub crawl around Dublin with two Irish actors who kept us in stitches with anecdotes of writers and recited passages from the pages of many a fine book. As we walked around Dublin, I couldn't help but notice that the national treasures seemed more modest than those on display in say Rome, Paris, London, Madrid or Amsterdam. Maybe there is a different sort of wealth that has been accumulated in Ireland, something to do with language and music and kindness.
We had dinner outdoors in Amsterdam and watched the folks from the city idle up and down the canals in their sleek wooden boats with dinners spread out and glasses of wine in hand. We played a fine venue there called Melkweg, Dutch for "milky way". It was a converted dairy plant and boasted an enthusiastic audience hollering requests, making us feel good.
It was great to return to Greenbelt and Flevo festivals--although we were in and out quickly this time around. We ended the tour in Laugharne, Wales, stomping grounds of Dylan Thomas. We were surrounded after the show by curly haired, husky farmers from the area, as well as a smattering of folks that had driven in from England. A surreal, special evening. Even a hundred or so cows came over to the edge of the field next to Hurst House after the show leaning as far over the fence as they could.
We spent our last night with Lucy in London, and flew home the next morning.
So we're back at the Grey Ghost again, and it's back to work on some more recording in the coming weeks. The folks at Virgin/Backporch have set a tentative release date for the next record: April 8, 2003. We'll see what happens. (!)
We're also planning a bit of a Rhinelander Revival. The big Christmas show this year at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati is scheduled for December 8th, a Sunday evening. The following Monday, December 9th, we're planning to do a more intimate "Q&A" concert at a smaller venue here in town, more of a hang-out-and-say-hello-in-person-type-thing. (And a chance for more of you, to meet each other.) There will be a few other surprises connected with this affair--more later. But in the meanwhile mark your calendars for December 8th and 9th. We realized that these will be our only Cincinnati appearances this year, so we're gearing up for a good time. Hope you can join us.
Turns out that this Fall, Karin and I are playing a series of living room concerts here and there. We tried this out in Madison, Wisconsin, last Saturday, and it was a blast for us to rework some songs we hadn't done in a awhile, along with trying out more new stuff. With the exception of the occasional one-off, we really haven't done much performing in the last decade as a duo, so it's a bit of an undiscovered country for us. We were a little surprised at how much fun we had. So we'll try this for a bit before firing the full band back up. Here's what we got:
Friday, September 20, Birdy's, Indianapolis, IN
Saturday, September 21, Schuba's, Chicago, IL (two shows)
Sunday, September 22, Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, MN
Friday, September 27, Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH
Saturday, September 28, Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH
Thursday, October 17, Jammin' Java, Vienna, VA
Friday, October 18, Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Saturday, October 19, Club Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA
Monday, October 21 Lexington, KY, Woodsongs (Radio Broadcast)
Friday, November 1, Memphis, TN
Saturday, November 2, St. Louis, MO
Check out overtherhine.com for more specifics...
If you'd like to volunteer to help out with merch at any of the above in exchange for a free ticket and a free cd, pls contact Blair Woods: BlairW@aol.com. Thanks.
That's about it for now off the top of our heads. Keep in touch and hope to see you soon. And thanks for everything,
Linford for Over the Rhine
Hello everyone,
Hope all is well. Karin and I drove to Hagerstown, Maryland, yesterday. We have concerts this evening (10/17) in Vienna, Virginia, tomorrow (10/18) at Messiah College (near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and then Saturday (10/19) in Pittsburgh. If you can join us, check out overtherhine.com for more details. We'd love to see you.
We couldn't help but notice last night as we drove up to the hotel, that we crossed Antietam Creek. Antietam was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War. So we're going to wander around this afternoon and see what we can find before we head to the venue.
We recently watched the Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War, and have come to learn that we're increasingly thirsty for history. Does this mean we're growing older? Last week, I read a book by James Bradley called, Flags of our Fathers, a true account of the six boys that raised the flag over Iwo Jima in WWII. Heartbreaking, shocking, humbling stuff. History does inevitably pose rhetorical questions to each of us: What am I doing with these days that I've been given? How will I look back on my life years from now? What kind of a person am I?
Well before I wander too far off, I should get back to the point of this letter.
Y'all might want to check out the special we're running at overtherhine.com between now and the end of the year.
Enjoy and more later,
Linford for Over the Rhine
Hello from Ohio,
The Grey Ghost, the 111-year-old wooden house we call home, is being poked and prodded, scraped and scrubbed. A new coat of paint has been a long time coming, and she's going to look pretty good in her new grey gown. The sun hit the gable just right yesterday, and we could almost convince ourselves we were living in Maine.
Thanks to all of you who made our concerts last wknd in Virginia and Pennsylvania so memorable. We truly enjoyed ourselves. We were able to fit in a short tour of the Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, and we couldn't drink in deep enough the fall colors in Pennsylvania. We stopped at Sidling Hill on the way to Pittsburgh and stocked up on this year's apple butter for the winter. There's a buffet-style restaurant in St. Clairsville, Ohio, called Mehlman's that did the trick for Sunday Dinner on the way home. (We were some of the few people under the age of 60.) Great pumpkin pie, devilled eggs, pickled beets--check it out sometime.
This is all so rock and roll.
We finally have our itinerary (99%) nailed down for December, and we wanted to get that to you pronto. We always look forward to these end-of-the-year tours. There's something about breathing the crisp air in a new town every morning while the year winds down. And there's that indescribable sense of coming in out of the cold after dark to make some warmly-lit music with a bunch of you folks.
We're very happy to announce that Bill Mallonee from Athens, Georgia, will be joining us for all the December dates this year. Those that know Bill's music know that it's road-tried and tested. Bill is one of the most prolific songwriters we've ever met, and I think the reason we've connected with his music over the years is because (like most good music) it's connected to his deepest human places. Bill's music is all about busted-up dreams, hard-won personal victories and a few deeply-cherished loved ones. (For those of you who are not familiar with Bill, up until recently he called his band Vigilantes of Love. Check out billmallonee.com for more.)
So here's what we're looking at:
*************OVER THE RHINE W/very special guest Bill Mallonee**************
FRI 12/6 - CINCINNATI, OH Taft Theatre
SAT 12/7 - CHICAGO, IL Schuba's (two shows)
TUE 12/10 - CLEVELAND, OH - Beachland Ballroom
THU 12/12 - BOSTON, MA - House of Blues
FRI 12/13 - NORTHAMPTON, MA - Iron Horse
SAT 12/14 - NEW YORK, NY - Makor
SUN 12/15 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Point (two shows)
The Taft date changed several times due to some unintentionally crossed wires etc. Show biz stuff. We were going to try to do a smaller Q&A concert after The Taft show, but after the Taft date changed for the third time, we had to let the smaller gathering go for the time being. We'll try to do something along those lines when our next Virgin/Backporch release comes to fruition. (Late Spring 2003?) More later on that.
Check out overtherhine.com for more details on the dates which will be posted as soon as Eric gets back from his camping trip. We'll try to let you know soon when tickets go on sale for The Taft. This show is our only hometown appearance this year!
Also, be sure to check out the special we're running at the website between now and the end of the year...
That's it for now. Looking forward to seeing you.
Best,
Linford and Karin of Over the Rhine
ps Holy cow, we almost forgot November.
FRI, 11/1 - MEMPHIS, TN - Hi-Tone
SAT, 11/2 - ST. LOUIS, MO - Blueberry Hill
SAT, 11/23 - ANN ARBOR, MI - The Ark
Hello all,
The towering oak tree in the corner of our backyard has been messing with me. I know that many oaks are funny about their leaves. The black walnut is bare. The sycamore across the street is newly white-limbed. The lilac bush is nothing but nude. The catalpas in the park are up to their knees in heart-shaped leaves.
Twice I've made peace with the tree. I know you're going to keep a good number of those leaves, I say, especially in your uppermost branches, until next spring. That's fine by me.
Twice I've raked our yard front and back bare as a swept rug. The piles of leaves go into my box, I empty the box into the areas we're mulching thick into a soft springy bed of sweet-smelling autumn.
But inevitably, the morning after, here they come. A steady sprinkle, not a lot, just enough to un-rake the yard little by little. A sort of brown manna from above. On the porch, on the grass, on the car--every single leaf an oak leaf from the oak in the corner of our backyard.
Some of these late leaves spin down shyly within a few feet of the base of the tree. Others catch some unseen current and careen over the top of the house and disappear from view. Some leaves write their names jaggedly all over the air with a sort of strange cursive. You can almost imagine them tracing the outline of some wild music just beyond our reach. They come a few at a time, and the remaining leaves peer down and rattle their breezy, brittle, leathery applause.
I'm going to have to rake the yard again sometime around Thanksgiving.
***
I wanted to say thanks to those of you who purchased a copy of my first book, Unsung. We printed a first signed and numbered edition of 500. We did a second edition of 500 because many of you who had missed the pre-sale asked about getting a copy. The second edition has been disbursed. The hand-set lead type has been dumped out, the ligatures have been returned to their special compartment, there is no more book.
But thanks to all of you for making my first attempt a good experience. Those words were initially written as the introduction to a much longer piece, so who knows, maybe there will be more somewhere down the line. Special thanks to Larkspur Press and Gray Zeitz for doing such beautiful work on the printing and binding, and to Jay Bolotin for the woodcuts.
(I have the pale curtains drawn, but it's sunny and the falling oak leaves trickle shadows across the second-story windows as if to say, We know you're in there Mr. Detweiler, with that rake of yours. You can close the curtain, but the show goes on.)
We're gearing up for more concerts. Karin and I got to see a lot of color this fall with trips across Pennsylvania and Maryland, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri, Indiana and Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois. Scientists explain why sap rises, but they do not know why sap rises.
We'll be heading to Ann Arbor this Saturday (November 23rd) for a show at The Ark, a listening room with a lot of history connected to it. We'd love to see you if you can join us. Jason Dennie, a favorite, will be opening.
And our Christmas tour approaches quickly. We're going to try something a little different this year. Maybe we'll just leave it at that for now, let you come in out of the cold to a warm room soon-to-be-filled-with-music. Maybe we'll rediscover each other. We're very happy about Bill Mallonee from Athens, GA joining us for these dates:
FRI 12/6 CINCINNATI, OH Taft Theatre
SAT 12/7 CHICAGO, IL Schuba's (two shows)
TUE 12/10 CLEVELAND, OH Beachland Ballroom
THU 12/12 BOSTON, MA House of Blues
FRI 12/13 NORTHAMPTON, MA Iron Horse
SAT 12/14 NEW YORK, NY Makor (two shows)
SUN 12/15 PHILADELPHIA, PA The Point (two shows)
Learn more as per usual at overtherhine.com.
There has been talk of Over the Rhine doing a DVD project. The Taft show in Cincinnati will be filmed/taped this year, and the Minneapolis-based producer/director that we're working with would like to interview fans before (and possibly after) the show. If you're interested in being interviewed, drop Kris a note:
montageproductions@hotmail.com
Kris asked us to mention that the interview questions will be along the lines of: "Describe Over the Rhine's music in a few phrases (What happens when you listen, what do you see, feel...)" Talk about a song that has relevance in your life or an experience when the music of OtR affected you in some way
And there will be other questions, unpredictable and spontaneous. Big questions, little questions. Mid-sized questions.
This project will hopefully continue throughout the coming year, and will document some of the making of the records that we're currently working on, but December 6th will be the first real footage shot. We're anxious to see some of your faces and hear your stories.
***
There are two charities that will be involved this year with our hometown show on December 6th at The Taft. The first is The Inclusion Network. They will be selling the King Records Tribute CD, Hidden Treasures, which benefits the work they do on behalf of the disabled in our community.
(http://www.inclusion.org/index2.html)
The second charity is the Battered Women's Shelter at the Cincinnati YWCA. Karin has been discovering this organization and has been nothing but impressed with their work. Here's where you can help. Make a note, if you can, to bring a little something along to the show to bless women and children this Christmas that are recovering from difficult family circumstances. Here is a very practical "wish-list" that the shelter has provided us with:
Paper products (paper towels, tp etc)
Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, deoderant)
Diapers
Laundry Soap
Combs and Brushes
If you'd like to make a donation to the shelter, you can bring a check made out to the YWCA Battered Women's Shelter. Thanks for joining us in trying to spread a little love... (www.ywcacincinnati.org)
Finally, we need two volunteers to help sell merch for these upcoming shows (including this wknd in Ann Arbor)! Volunteers receive a free ticket to the concert and a free cd afterward. If you're interested, please e-mail Blair Woods asap. (BigWalkUp@aol.com) (Thanks!)
Well, that's about it for now. It's hard to believe, but the holiday season is upon us. Here's hoping that you discover something real this year, off the beaten path.
Yours,
Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine
ps We've realized that our office fax and phones have been under the weather. Sorry about that. We're working on it. If you need to reach us, try otrhine@aol.com.
Well folks,
It's time. There is snow outside. Highs in the low-20's today. Towns w/o power in the south and parts of the Midwest. Yes, it's time for Over the Rhine to hit the road.
Quite often, prior to these December tours, Karin and I look at each other and say, What were we thinking?
But in spite of snowy roads, in spite of our breath making ghosts in the icy air, these hard-won, after-dark Christmas concerts are usually among our favorite shows of the year. There's just something about coming in out of the cold to make music for warm-blooded folks. We're playing as an acoustic quartet this December with a cellist and percussionist--something we've never tried. And somehow, even after all these years, we are excited by the prospect that we have no idea what will happen.
A few reminders:
If you're coming to the Cincinnati show on Friday, please remember to bring an item to donate to the Cincinnati YWCA Battered Women's Shelter. (There's something oddly heartening about showing up at a concert with a 24 pack of TP under one arm. Sort of helps everyone keep perspective.)
And if you'd like to be interviewed before the Cincinnati concert, doors open at 7pm. Kris Barberg, our producer, will be set up in the downstairs lobby. She and a crew are shooting the concert. We're beginning to gather footage for a DVD project, and we'd like you to participate if you're so inclined. Bring along a few stories, and you can leave your hat on.
So we're playing this month in Cincinnati, Chicago (two shows), Cleveland, Boston, Northampton (Mass), NYC (two shows) and Philadelphia (two shows). Bill Mallonee is joining us for all the dates. Woot!
You can check out overtherhine.com for more on all the above. (And it's a great place to get your hands on a fist-full of cd's if you want to spread some music around this Christmas.)
Thanks for everything.
Happy holidays,
Over the Rhine
Howdy,
Today is a blustery, bright December day in Ohio.
We wanted to take a few moments to wish you all happy holidays. We returned home safely from our Christmas tour and have been reflecting on how much we enjoyed ourselves. Thanks to all of you who attended the shows and (heavens to Betsy) to those of you who came loaded down with treats: flowers, cookies, tiny drawings, heart-shaped waffles, banana bread, jewelry, birthday cake!, baskets of Swedish treats, bottles of wine and so on--you surprise and delight us with your kindnesses along the way. Thank you.
We'd like to especially thank Bill Mallonee for joining us on all these dates. And big thank you's of course to the Texans: Brian Standefer (cello) and Will Sayles (percussion) and to our tour manager from Windsor, Ontario: Mike Sponarski.
We'd also like to thank Kris Barberg for toting her cameras around and taping a fair bit of the proceedings. We'll be working on a DVD project with her in the coming year. We're anxious to see what she's come up with so far and we look forward to eventually hearing the stories of those of you who were interviewed.
So we picked out a 9' Frazier Fir last night and began decorating. Today we're going to try to prune and trim the pine tree in our front yard and wrap it in strands of white lights. We feel sort of bad about trimming a tree in December, but our A&R man at Backporch owns a Christmas tree farm in Wisconsin, and he says it should be fine. Our particular pine rejects the classic cylindrical shape and grows wild and glorious in all directions.
We're closing the Over the Rhine office for the holidays. If you ordered CD's etc from the website, everything has been shipped out Priority Mail. We'll take care of any additional orders after Christmas.
We are grateful to all of you. It's been a good year.
Well that's it for now. We'll be hunkered down for the first several months of next year trying to get some of these songs wrestled onto tape. We'll see you at the end of March.
Blessings and other good things your way,
Linford and Karin
- - -
We'd like to recommend the therapeutic massage of our friend Sandie Brock. We think you'll appreciate her sweet spirit and your body and soul will thank you.
- - -
TURN OFF THE TV: Life is too short to live without a good piano in the house. We'd like to thank Terri and Jack Krefting for helping us find our Steinway. If you'd like to find your own dancing partner with 88 keys, give Terri Krefting a call.