News

April 1, 2013

Gang,
We live in such a friendly neighborhood! Some kind person dropped off this basket of kittens on our front porch in the middle of the night. I’ll bet they figured I’d think they were from the Easter Bunny, but I’m not stupid. I know the Bunny lays chocolate eggs and sometimes, if you’re lucky, Peeps. These little guys are so cute and frisky – I can’t wait to introduce them to our puppy!

A kitchen tip from your pal, Tom:
Have you ever tried putting Peeps in the microwave? Spectacular! In about 10 seconds they start looking like Marlon Brando.

Some gigs coming up this weekend:

Friday, April 5th at 8:00PM, the Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. This wonderful theater was closed for years and years while they figured out how to come up with the money to upgrade the safety features of the building to comply with the new codes. It’s all done, safer than ever, and they’re back in business.

Saturday, April 6th at 7:30PM, I’ll be at the Chandler in Randolph, Vermont. I haven’t been there for some years and am very much looking forward to coming back – a great venue!

And stop by the website, now featuring the newly reissued “Live at the Unicorn,” (my very first album,1962) and “New Year,” from the first of my Club 47 shows at Symphony Hall in ‘81 (though I hadn’t yet started calling them Club 47 shows). (The DVD from last December’s “50 Years on Stage” show is coming along very nicely in post-production and should be ready “soon.” That’s as specific as I feel I can get.)

Happy springtime!

All the best,

Tom Rush

Quote of the month:

If you can’t get a miracle, a disaster will do.

–– William S. Burroughs

Gang,

I am SOOO glad this Pope thing is settled. I mean, they just wouldn’t stop calling, and because of the time zone thing they were waking me up at all hours. I simply could not convince them that I didn’t want the job. I mean, I’ve got the infallibility thing down, and all that, and that’s probably why they wanted me – no learning curve! I kept telling them I’ve got a wife and three kids, and I’m not even Catholic, but they’d come back with “O, nemo perfectum est.” (You know, “Nobody’s perfect.”) (Their Latin isn’t all that good, actually. “Quam cito obliviscaris,” y’know. But I digress.)

I thought about it – the pay was great, the hours were flexible, you get to live in your very own country. What it came down to was wearing that outfit, and they were pretty adamant about it. No blue jeans, no tee shirts, no flip-flops. I said “no,” but I told them I knew guy in Argentina they should check out. “He’d be perfect,” I told them, “fit right in!” They finally listened.

Which frees me up to go on the road next week:

Thursday the 21st is Asheville, NC at the Altamont. For DECADES people have been telling me I should play in Asheville and at last it’s happening!

Friday the 22nd in Moneta, VA, another first for me. (It’s at the Trinity Ecumenical Parish and they’ve asked me if I’ll please try to behave myself. I’ll do my best.)

Saturday the 23rd back at the good old Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, one of my all-time favorite stops. (Last time through Tom Paxton stopped in and joined me for a couple of songs – I’m going to see if I can wheedle him into coming by again.)

And Sunday the 24th in Phoenixville, PA at the Colonial Theatre – this is a co-bill with David Bromberg and should be tons of fun. The two of us always seem to be able to cook up some improbable collaborations. (My favorite was at a festival in the south of France decades ago. I wanted to do the Panama Limited in French and had it translated but hadn’t had time to memorize the results. I played the guitar part and David read the narration/lyrics off a piece of paper. The dumbest thing I’ve ever done on stage – that I can remember – and they LOVED it!)

And one last thing: the DVD (and maybe CD) from the Symphony Hall show last December is in post-production and coming along at a good clip. I’m not going to predict a release date – while infallible, I’m also relentlessly optimistic – but sometime soon.

Spring is coming!

All the best,

Tom Rush

Quote of the Month:

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don’t have as many people who believe it.

George Carlin

December 27, 2012

Gang,

Sorry to bug you again so soon, but Symphony Hall just told me that some blocks of seats for tomorrow night’s “sold out” show have just been released by the camera crew, and they’ve been put up at the box office. These will go quickly – wanted you to be the first to know.

And a reminder: if you can’t be there, there’s a FREE, high-def video webcast, live only, 8PM tomorrow night.
A link to the webcast is at tomrush.com or you can go directly:
https://new.livestream.com/TomRush/symphonyhall

Happy New Year!

All the best,

Tom Rush

PS. I meant to put this in the last newsletter, but forgot. For those of you still interested in year-end gift giving, Nicholas Kristoff has some great ideas:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/opinion/kristof-gifts-that-change-lives.html?_r=0

 

Gang,

There’s a nice piece in the Sunday Boston Globe on the upcoming Symphony Hall show.

We’re sold out, but there are some seats being held by the Hall that will be released today or tomorrow, so it’s worth checking with the box office.

For those that can’t make it, there will be a live webcast (live only – 8:00PM Eastern, Friday 12/28 – no archive, no reruns). You can link to it at TomRush.com. If you’re following me on Twitter [@tomrushmusic], I’ll be sending out a reminder at around 7:30 PM Eastern.

And here are the lyrics to a song I’m writing for the occasion. It’s a sea-chantey kind of thing. (I figure since I can’t seem to get a handle on this modern music, I might as well go the other way, back in time.)

The best of Holidays to you all, and the Happiest New Year ever!

All the best,

Tom Rush

ONE MORE TIME AROUND THE SUN
Words and music by Tom Rush © 2012
Written for Symphony Hall 12/28/2012

Once more, boys, around the sun,
We’ll sail the breeze that blows,
And pray these winds will bring us safely home.
And one more dance before we’re done,
If the ladies will allow,
If the ladies will allow we’ll dance ’til dawn.

One more time around the sun, it’s steady as she goes,
One more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows.

When I was a younger man
A woman took my heart,
Stole my heart, ran off to New Orleans.
But a heart that’s ne’er been broken, boys,
Is a heart that’s never loved,
And a sadder thing this world has never seen.

One more time around the sun, it’s steady as she goes,
One more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows.

The longest nights, the darkest days,
There’s ice upon the rail,
Haul away, we’re bound for better weather.
Let’s make merry while we may,
Though the winter winds may wail,
Let’s raise a glass and dance this dance together.

One more time around the sun, it’s steady as she goes,
One more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows.

Let’s raise a glass to them that’s gone,
Wish ’em fare thee well,
Wish ’em summer winds to fill their sails.
There’s a feather on the water, boys,
Then a wing upon the wind,
And where they’ve gone there ain’t no one can tell.
One more time around the sun, it’s steady as she goes,
ne more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows.

So let’s haul down to Boston town,
Where the ladies all are fair,
The lights are bright, the band will play ’til dawn.
So bend your backs and haul away,
Oh, life is but a dream,
And merrily we row along.

One more time around the sun, it’s steady as she goes,
One more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows.

Now the year is done, a new one comes,
One more time around the sun,
We can ever know what lies in store.
So let’s go spinning one more time,
Twirlin’ round the floor,
Here’s to one more year, and many more.

One more time around the sun, it’s steady as she goes,
One more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows,
One more time, we’ll sail the breeze that blows.

November 25, 2012

So! It appears that our Kickstarter campaign to fund the Symphony Hall show on December 28th was the 5th most successful music campaign they’ve ever done – not bad for the first time out! Amanda Palmer holds the number one slot but she’s cute, which I regard as a form of cheating. She also appears naked a lot, and I refuse to lower myself to cheap tricks like that. I have standards! Gang,

I have, however, seriously considered charging everybody an extra $20 to keep my clothes ON. This could work! A fellow at my school made a good deal of money by NOT chewing the head off a live mouse. It went like this: he announced that if everybody gave him $5 he was willing to chew the head off a live mouse. (This was, mind you, when $5 was $5, or at least $3.75.)

When he had the money in hand he produced his pet mouse and stuck its head in his mouth. As he began to chew, its little legs and tail thrashed about frantically and everybody in the audience blanched and cried “Ewww” in unison. He then announced that, for an additional $5 apiece, he would cease and desist, otherwise he would resume gnawing. The soggy-headed mouse looked at us imploringly. He cleared about $50 and the mouse lived to put on another show. Quite a team!

Speaking of Symphony Hall, the show on the 28th of December is going on sale tomorrow, Monday, November 26th, by phone (888-266-1200 or 617-266-1200, M-F: 10-6pm, Sat. 12-6pm ) or on the web (http://www.bso.org/Performance/Listing – it may take a day or two for it to appear on their website.) It won’t be advertised until sometime next week, so you have a head start. Not many table seats left, good seats still open in the balconies. If you’re a Kickstarter supporter your tickets should be mailed out to you this week. Also, the CDs being reissued for this event are being manufactured as I write this and should ship to the Kickstarter folks well in time for Christmas.

All the best,

Tom Rush

PS. I just got a notice from MacKenzie & Marr Guitars that they’re having a rather astounding Cyber Monday sale on the Tom Rush Signature guitar – check it out! (Note: this is not the Naked Lady guitar, but still a lovely instrument.)

Quote of the Month: Sorry, I couldn’t find a quote relating to chewing the head off a live mouse. And I looked hard!