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