[OTR Announce] Over the Rhine West Coast Dates & More

[Announcement list for the band Over The Rhine]

Hello friends,

Clouds of leaves were fluttering down this morning in the breezy fall 
sun. The normally contemplative cattle dog began barking at the wind, 
challenging the change in the weather. He runs back and forth along the 
three-board fence for the sheer pleasure of it, restless with nameless 
joy. It’s supposed to get up to 70 degrees today. Yes, Ohio has its 
moments.

***

You forget sometimes how it feels. To drive a few hours to see songs 
embodied and performed on a low lit stage – songs that have gotten so 
tangled up in the significant moments of your life, songs that contain 
so many clues on how to live, songs dense with dark, almost unspeakable 
beauties – and then the music begins and you begin remembering – your 
bones begin remembering – the marrow has a memory – you begin 
remembering your best imaginings, you become intoxicated with 
possibility, your eyes brim with the happiest tears: they belong to you 
and you alone.

GK Chesterton said something like, We need priests and pastors to 
remind us that one day we’re going to die. But we need another kind of 
priest – poets and writers and musicians – to remind us that we’re not 
dead yet.

I like it.

Yes, the other night, a friend and I drove a few hours to the capital 
of Ohio to see one of all my all-time faves, Mr. Leonard Cohen, grace a 
stage at age 75. His voice: a ragged, beautiful gift. His songs, which 
slide like glaciers into being, coming to us from some beautiful, 
substantial beyond…

And as I sit towards the front of the balcony, and hear the songs 
unreel, Bird On A Wire, Anthem, Tower of Song, Suzanne, Famous Blue 
Raincoat, Hallelujah, I remember how important songs have been to me.

And I remember as I sit in the balcony that feeling I felt when I was 
younger, a feeling so complete it eclipsed everything: If I could help 
somebody else feel like I feel right now then my life would not be in 
vain.

It only made the evening feel more significant that we drove a few 
hours – I read a few of Mr. Cohen’s lyrics aloud as Ric steered North 
and the fields rolled by; I read a few of LC’s poems that have become 
personal favorites. That feeling of becoming a little drunk with 
anticipation…

And then you get to the theatre and you look around to see who else had 
to be there. Who are they, why are they here? Are they into the early 
songs, the new songs? Did they hear the Jeff Buckley cover of 
Hallelujah? Madeleine Peyroux sing Dance Me to the End of Love? Are 
they fans of his early novels or the poems? Who are we??

Mr. Cohen has said a few times on this tour, The last time I stood on 
this stage was fourteen years ago. I was 60 years old, just a crazy kid 
with a dream.

Yes, on a Tuesday night in Ohio, Leonard Cohen repeatedly got down on 
one knee to sing his towering songs, songs full of unforgettable 
proposals.

God Bless you LC. May we all be in such a beautiful groove at age 75.

(I saw a girl after the concert walking alone down the sidewalk, 
exclaiming into her cellphone, giddy with joy, I SAW HIM!! There was 
nothing else to say. She had obviously completed something important on 
her list of things to do before she died.)

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
(LC, Anthem)

So as we pack our suitcases today to go find our own stretch of highway 
headed West, we pack with a sense of, YES. Yes in all caps. This is 
good. This is a worthy attempt at finding and sharing the best we have 
to offer. This is what we do.

We sure hope you can join us.

Sincerely,

Linford and Karin

OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT – JUKEBOX TO THE MOON TOUR – 2009

WEST COAST LEG!

(Note: when we play two nights in the same city, the shows will be 
substantially different…)

November 2, Monday, Denver, CO, SOILED DOVE (Special guest, Katie 
Herzig)
(SOLD OUT!) (Call venue to dbl check in case tix become available.)

November 4, Wednesday, Salt Lake City, UT, THE STATE ROOM (Special 
guest, Katie Herzig) Our first concert in SLC in 8 long years! Pls help 
spread the word. Pass a few songs around. We’d love to make some new 
friends. Lookin’ forward!

(November 6, Friday, San Diego, CA:  (CANCELLED.) (We were supposed to 
play Anthology but the venue cancelled because they had an opportunity 
to make more money hosting a private party. Our apologies for your 
inconvenience. Pls join us in Los Angeles!)

November 7, Saturday, Los Angeles, CA, LARGO AT THE CORONET (Special 
guest, Katie Herzig)
November 8, Sunday, Los Angeles, CA, LARGO AT THE CORONET (Special 
guest, Katie Herzig)

*We have been looking for the perfect venue in Los Angeles for years. 
What can we say, this seated, intimate, ALL-AGES listening room has 
hosted a who’s who of songwriters: Randy Newman, Gillian Welch, Aimee 
Mann and many more. Performers as diverse as Jon Brion and Sarah 
Silverman have done lengthy residencies at Largo. There is a great 
family vibe in this place, and we look forward to sharing it with our 
extended musical family. Please join us and bring some of your favorite 
people with you.

November 10, Tuesday, San Francisco, CA, GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL 
(Special guest, Katie Herzig) Another great room full of the ghosts of 
its burlesque past – we always look forward to visiting San Fran. See 
you all soon!

November 12, Thursday, Portland, OR, DOUG FIR (Special guest, Katie 
Herzig)
November 13, Friday, Portland, OR, DOUG FIR (Special guest, Katie 
Herzig)
(If Quentin Tarantino designed an ultra-sheik cocktail lounge in a log 
cabin… It’s going to be a sweaty, visceral coupla evenings!

November 14, Saturday, Seattle, WA, THE TRIPLE DOOR (Special guest, 
Katie Herzig)
November 15, Sunday, Seattle, WA, THE TRIPLE DOOR (Special guest, Katie 
Herzig)

This venue has become another all-time fave. Not a bad seat in the 
house, amazing food and drink, makes for an unforgettable night out all 
around. Hope to see you!!

***

Visit OvertheRhine.com for upcoming East Coast dates and much more!

Pls share the above with the salt of the earth, distant buzzin’ 
cousins, rooms full of students bent over their spiral bounds, 
recalcitrant music critics, girls in dark dresses with red lipstick and 
sad eyes. Fax a copy to your favorite radio station, or slip a page 
into an unsuspecting library book. The bearded painter or printmaker 
who comes out into the street after dark – he spent the day stripped to 
the waist in the studio – make sure he gets a copy along with his 
bourbon or espresso. Fold this letter into an origami menagerie, 
displayed proudly on an ink-stained wooden desk, words folded into 
paper wings. And finally, as always, line the braided wire birdcage 
with its meandering paragraphs and let the white doves crap all night 
long.