[OTR Announce] Back From Europe Ready for the Next Chapter

[Announcement list for the band Over The Rhine]

Hello from Nowhere Farm,

We flew back from Belfast Sunday evening, arrived home safely to a couple of 
grinning dogs and a swaggering cat. Last night, Karin came opened the screen 
door and said, Drop everything, come quick. I ran outside, and we watched a 
plump, golden, full moon rise over the fields once again drenching the world in 
an eery, after dark light. When a full moon rises in a clear sky out here on 
the farm, it always feels like the brightest night of our lives. 

It had been 5 years since we'd been across the great pond to the old world. 
Karin did the math and realized that since our last trip in 2002, we had 
released eight CD's:

OHIO
Changes Come | Over the Rhine LIVE
Drunkard's Prayer
Live From Nowhere Volume One
Snow Angels
Discount Fireworks
Live From Nowhere Volume Two
The Trumpet Child

So we had a lot of catching up to do with folks abroad who have found all 
this music.

We enjoyed Holland once again. The Dutch are easily some of the most 
organized, most efficient folks on the planet. We can't understand why we don't just 
get them over here to fix New Orleans - they know all about reclaiming reams of 
land from the ocean, planting pristine forests, weaving their endless bike 
paths through it all. The production at Flevo Festival is world class, and we're 
hoping to get our hands on some of the film footage they shot of our 
mainstage performance. Thanks for the hospitality.

We got to spend 4 nights in Scotland (Crief and Comrie). The weather was 
sunny and lovely. We hopped on the train to Edinburgh to meet up with Jack and 
Hazel and 6-year-old Finlay, and then Jack came up to the Highlands for a few 
days. We sat out under the stars and reminisced, solved the world's problems over 
a glass of something good as we are prone to do. Juicy wondered up into the 
hills to talk to the sheep about the world's first blues singer, David the 
shepherd boy, songwriter, fighter, lover, king, a man after God's own heart.

We played a show in Comrie in an old church that had been converted into a 
concert venue, and it's always inspiring to see a village come together to put 
on a show, off the beaten path. Dr. Payne cooked a fabulous meal for us, and 
15-year-old Scottish girls bought copies of The Trumpet Child and had us sign 
them.

It was good to be back at Greenbelt Festival - (Over the Rhine's sixth in 
fifteen years) - lots of memories made at this festival including Karin's song, 
The Seahorse (and in 1995, our first ever whirlwind trip to Wales to find Dylan 
Thomas's writing shack). This time around, Billy Bragg sounded great, and we 
ran into Robert from Willard Grant Conspiracy (who toured with us extensively 
on the Films For Radio tour). Also ran into Ian Archer (and Miriam), a fine 
songwriter from Ireland, who turned us on to Lowden acoustic guitars back in 
1990's. Karin and I have played them ever since. It was good to see Ric and Josh 
and Sarah Masen and Steve Stockman - pretty much impossible (especially for 
Jake) to walk around a corner without recognizing someone. Brandon got to meet 
up with friends he hadn't seen in years, and Lloyd had e-mailed us about 
sampling a 25-year-old Scotch after our show. We were happy to oblige, and there we 
were sitting in a tent, the sound of our laughter and real conversation and 
music in the distance, something resembling the Holy Spirit our glasses. (If 
bread and wine remind us of Jesus, a glass of Scottish Whisky aged with care in 
the misty hills is a pretty good symbol of the 3rd member of the Trinity.)

We ended with a quick trip to Belfast - and played a gorgeous concert hall in 
Armagh. Then back home to our little farm in Southern Ohio - as beautiful in 
its own way as anything we saw on our entire trip.

We were talking a lot about Home the last few weeks. Karin and I have chosen 
a life where pretty much every day we get to spend at home is a prize, a rare 
gift, something we worked for, an event drenched in gratitude. And yet, maybe 
home is not really about geography or air quality, or moonlight, or being in 
the city or out of the city, or in a red state or blue state, or in a music 
town or a working class town. Maybe home has more to do with the work we've all 
done as individuals to increasingly become people we can live with. Maybe home 
is the desire to live soulfully, the tiny ongoing decisions we make that allow 
the soul room to breathe.

That's our prayer for our extended musical family: that we would all find 
lives that allow the soul to thrive.

***

Speaking of, wanna get together this week?

(The Trumpet Child has arrived. We're having a good time with this one.)

Here's what we've got:

Thursday, August 30, 7pm, Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Rookwood) in our old 
neighborhood of Norwood, Ohio: We'll be playing an acoustic set featuring songs 
from The Trumpet Child, and signing copies of the CD, giving away posters etc. 
This is a free performance - everyone is welcome. (We've realized we're probably 
not going to be able to greet all y'all at the Coney show, other than from 
stage, so pls stop by Jo-Beth this Thursday if you're able - we'd love to see 
you prior to embarking on one of our most extensive tours of the USA ever.)

Friday, August 31, 7pm: This is our big hometown, Trumpet Child release 
concert, with special guest Josh Rouse. Finally! Karin has given Coney Island the 
recipe for Show Ponies (a fab summer drink we were served on tour in New 
Zealand, referenced in the new song I'm On A Roll) so you might wannna sample one, I 
dunno. For those who don't know, Moonlight Gardens is a stunning outdoor 
venue at one of Cincinnati's old treasures - Coney Island - a historic amusement 
park on the banks of the Ohio River. WNKU will be taping the concert. Hope you 
can join us. (If you want to make a holiday wknd of it, one of the largest 
fireworks shows in the Midwest takes place this Sunday evening in downtown 
Cincinnati.)

Saturday, September 1st - We're packing the band into The Dame in Lexington, 
Kentucky, for an early show. Check out OverTheRhine.com for details. (In case 
you've forgotten, The Dame is next to one of our favorite hat shops in the 
world.)

This Sunday, September 2nd - We're performing at 3rd and Lindsley, Nashville, 
Tennessee, with special guests Swan Dive. WRLT will be broadcasting the Over 
the Rhine concert live on the air. (Tune in on-line as well.)

The West Coast Tour starts in a few weeks. Check out OverTheRhine.com for 
much more.

Hope to see you soon,

Linford (and Karin) 





**************************************
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