[OTR Announce] Over the Rhine Big Weekend/New Record

[Announcement list for the band Over The Rhine]

Hello friends,

I’m sitting alone at the Iris Book Café on Main Street in the 
neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine on a dark, December, Tuesday night.

Baby It’s Cold Outside.

Karin is running her bundled errands in the city. We spent her birthday 
at home yesterday, happy to be back safely from Chicago, unpacking, 
doing laundry, getting the dogs to bay excelsior from time to time in 
the kitchen. They can make a racket if we put them up to it.

What an amazing string of concerts that was. It’s all still ringing 
faintly in my ears. Thank you to all you who found us and completed the 
circle so beautifully. Amazing. Really.

The apartment I kept for 10 years is about a block south of here. It 
was in that third-story bedroom overlooking Main Street that we pushed 
the “record” button for the very first time to see what would happen if 
we did.

This neighborhood was like a foreign country to me then. I had grown up 
in a family with a father who would pull the car over to the side of 
the road to admire an old growth deciduous tree, but here on Main 
Street, back in the day, I couldn’t see a single tree from my 
apartment. When my father visited me that first spring, he planted 
flowers in all the third-story window boxes to give us something green 
to look at.

But there was music inside us and when we pushed that red button, 
little did we know we would blow our hearts wide open and spend the 
rest of our lives trying to pick up the pieces. Ah, but you’ve come 
along, so it’s all good, right? We’ve had more than a few dances in the 
kitchen together, spilled some good wine, helped the sun rise a few 
times.

And we’ve got several warm evenings of music waiting for you before we 
call it a year. And we’ve got a brand new record all wrapped up.

Yes. Thanks to you, we ain’t washed up just yet.
__

All the Over the Rhine news worth noting at present:

THIS (LONG) WEEKEND:

It’s a big one.

This Friday night, December 17, THE LONG SURRENDER – LIVE: We’re 
playing our new record from start to finish for the first time at a 
stunningly beautiful theater at The Aronoff in downtown Cincinnati. 
We’ve got 7 musicians on board, and Joe Henry, our producer, will be 
keeping a close eye on the proceedings. (This show is only available as 
part of a Great Speckled Dog package that includes all three wknd 
events. Tix on sale through this Thursday at noon at overtherhine.com…)

This Saturday night, December 18, it’s our annual holiday concert at 
The Taft Theater, with very special guest, friend and ally, Joe Henry. 
We’re going to blow the seams out of the songs with a six-piece-plus 
band, lean deep into THE LONG SURRENDER, and pull a few familiar songs 
from Snow Angels, The Trumpet Child etc into the mix.

Finally, this coming Sunday afternoon, December 19, we’re hosting our 
soiree at St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood with Latte’s made in front of your 
eyes (you’ll be drinking artwork), true Belgian Waffles, festive 
refreshments of various sort, sparkling beverages, acoustic music and 
conversation in a ragged cathedral. Join us as we bring our touring 
year to a close, lift a glass together, grinning.

All of the above is designed to warm up a heart real good, make sad 
people happy and vice versa, and Lord knows we need it.

THE LONG SURRENDER:

Our brand new record, THE LONG SURRENDER, produced by Joe Henry, with 
an amazing cast of musical conjurers is available now exclusively at 
overtherhine.com. It doesn’t officially hit record stores until the 
first week of February, 2011, but we’ve got CD’s now for the faithful. 
If you order, you can download the music immediately, and the CD’s ship 
immediately as well.

Also, we expect to have the first shipment of THE LONG SURRENDER on 
deluxe GATEFOLD VINYL in our hands by this friday. If you’d like to 
order the vinyl, we’re quite sure you’ll have them to you in time for 
Christmas. Drop the needle on a snowy night.

(Please note, the deluxe Box-Set version of THE LONG SURRENDER is still 
in the pipeline, but will ship as soon as they arrive. Stay tuned.)

OVER THE RHINE HOLIDAY CD’s: THE DARKEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR/SNOW ANGELS

Don’t forget that we’ve recorded two Christmas CD’s that hopefully can 
put more than a little warmth into a room this time of year. There was 
a blind girl with braids and a black dress, lived next to me I could 
tell you the address… Snow angel, someday we’re gonna fly…

OTHER OVER THE RHINE TREATS:

We have a brand new t-shirt available, designed by Ohio artist Rob 
Seiffert that has, All My Favorite People Are Broken, tucked into a 
broken-hearted piano. And there’s fresh-roasted OtR blend coffee, and 
Trumpet Child songbooks, and a few spare instrumental records that can 
make a room feel right on a winter night.

Thanks for the part you’ve played in sustaining this labor of love for 
so long.

Well, yes, it’s about that time. I’m gonna head on back to the farm and 
curl up early with a Jon Katz book in bed. We’ll see you on the other 
side.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford (and Karin)
__

Pls share the above freely. Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers, 
you’re welcome. You can stay right here. You don’t have to go.

PS If you’re coming into Cincinnati from out of town this wknd, 
photographer Michael Wilson has an amazing collection of portraits in a 
gallery just across the river in Covington. Drop us a note on facebook 
and we’ll get you the info if you’re interested. And Maurice Mattei has 
his Pictures from Italy up here at The Iris Book Café – another 
beautiful show well worth seeing. Enjoy.