May 15, 1997

Dear Near Misses Mine,

“We could you know. We can live any way we want. People take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience – even of silence – by choice. The thing is to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse. This is yielding, not fighting.

I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. Seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop; let your musky flesh fall off in shreds, and let your very bones unhinge and scatter…”

Annie Dillard
Living Like Weasels

I could very calmly go wild this Spring. How about you? It’s embarrassing and beautiful, but an awful lot has happened. Have you heard? Some of you on this list
have kept abreast of the shipping hews, and some of you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. I know I don’t.

I’ll back up and slow down and hold still.
(I keep telling myself.)

Spare Change Anyone?

(Yeah, this is old news in some quarters, but, ready, set, go.)

1. I.R.S. Records, the record company that released Over the Rhine’s first three recordings, went out of business last summer.
2. Over the Rhine independently released two full-length recordings in the second half of 1996: GOOD DOG BAD DOG The Home Recordings and The Darkest Night of the Year.
3.Ric subsequently turned in his apple-picking overalls, and left Over the Rhine after seven years as guitar-slinger, to pursue a solo career and to do some producing.
4.Brian left Over the Rhine for a spell and got engaged to be married, but returned in March to help Linford and Karin write the new swerving chapter of Over the Rhine.
5.Mike Georgin, formerly of Plow on Boy, is playing fretless bass in the new group.
6.We’ll be adding at least one new member in June.
7.Over the Rhine has opened up the archives (full of strange and sometimes compelling intimations from the last seven years) and compiled a third independent collection of unreleased songs, out-takes, “live” cuts (including ‘My Love is a Fever,’ and ‘If I’m Drowning,’) et cetera. This full length CD called *Besides* is available only to those who join the fan club. We wade into a river, immerse you, and you walk out a Rhinelander, dripping smiles in front of family and friends. Behold all things are become new.
8.And finally, work-in-progress or not, we’ve opened our map of the tiny world. We are venturing out again with tweed suitcases full of songs. For I have learned that a good song even partially dressed, can make me shiver and can discover places inside that I didn’t know were there… On a good night, a scantily-clad song can be even more alluring than a song fully clothed. Anyway, we’ll be looking for you. (The plot thickens.) We’ll be looking for your face in Chapter Two.

Bon Courage,
9.The Green Rat

Over the Rhine in Concert MAY DATES
(Sur le Rhin)

Friday, May 2, Schuba’s, Chicago, IL. Two shows: 8 pm, all ages welcome. 10 pm, 21 and over. With Mike Helm.
Thursday, May 8, Carnegie Theatre, Covington, KY.
Emmylou Harris with Over the Rhine.
Doors open at 7 pm. 8 pm show. (All ages.) Tickets available at Ticketmaster.
Friday, May 9, Jammin’ on Main, Cincinnati, OH.
8:05 – 8:50 Cinergy Stage (Between K’s Choice and Barenaked Ladies.)
Saturday, May 17, Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH.
Doors open at 8 pm. 9:30 show.
Sunday, May 18, Staches, Columbus. OH.
Doors 8 pm. Show 9pm. With Richard Buckner. (The club has a new location.)
Thursday, May 22, Cafe Milano, Nashville, TN.
Live broadcast with WRLT. 9:30 show.
Friday, May 23, Downstairs Cafe, Dallas, TX.
(This is in the basement of Wilshire Baptist Church.) Jump back we’re playing a Baptist Church Basement in Texas. Oh my! 7 pm Doors. With Barbara Kessler (7:45 – 8:15) Kirk James (8:30 – 9:15) and Over the Rhine (9:30 – 11:00ish.)
Saturday, May 24, Coffee Haus, Dallas, TX.
(6911 Hillcrest, across from S.M.U. Campus.) 3 pm, all ages welcome. Free acoustic set with Over the Rhine. (We bask in the afterglow, sip mochas, do a few naked tunes, hang out with you in Dallas.)
Sunday, May 25, EMO’s, Austin, TX.
Showtime 11:30 pm. This is a late all-ages show. Over the Rhine after midnight! Monday is a holiday.
Saturday, May 31, Congratulations Brian and Mallory.

A few other noteworthy gatherings:

On Friday June 20, 1997, Over the Rhine will officially be unveiling the new line-up at Bogarts. It looks like our old buddies from Athens, Georgia will join us.
Saturday, June 21, 1997, The Rhinelander Round-up. Stay tuned for details. (For Rhinelanders only.)
We’ll share a meal together, bring out some tall songs, play red rover and dash through some scenes from an Oscar Wilde play if we want.
Wednesday, July 2, 1997. C-Stone Fest, Bushnell, IL.
With The Electrics, Adam Again and The Call. (OTR 8:30-9:45 pm.)
Saturday, July 5, 1997, C-Stone Fest, Busnell, IL.
(OTR 6:30-7:45 pm. with guests.)

We’re off to Europe in August. That’s all we’re saying for now.

Linford

March 26, 1998

Hello e-mail Friends,

This is Linford Detweiler. I’ve been thinking about shortening the last name to Wilder, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m writing to say, hello. It’s been a while.

I have not been trapped under a large, heavy object. Shelly left town and I used to pass her notes in study hall, which she in turn would pass along to you, but her chair is empty.

I’ve been doing a fair amount of staying hidden, writing, thinking, playing the piano late at night, the usual.

I wanted to make sure you knew about an Over the Rhine concert this Saturday. A number of people are flying in to see the concert, and it could be a pivotal evening for our wobbly apple cart. There’s a lot of talk right now about the band getting signed, and there’s the possibility of a two-month tour with an established act which would be a terrific opportunity for us to see North America once again, and give a lot of people the chance to hear about us for the first time.

Anyway, we could sure use your company Saturday evening to show these people we do have a few friends in this world. Hope to see you out there.

Also, we’re going to give our set a practice run at the OtR office at 39 East Court Street Friday afternoon at 1 pm. Anybody that shows up with a Bogart’s ticket is welcome to be a part of the tiny audience. We’re going to be playing seven un-recorded songs at Bogart’s and we can use the practice. Just feel free to stop on by.

(Over the Rhine and special guest, Mysteries of Life, at Bogart’s, Saturday, March 28, 1998. Doors open at 7:30, show at 8:00 pm. $10 tickets at Bogart’s box office, 513 281-8400, or select-a-seat.)

Bon Courage,

Linford

April 2, 1998

Dear Rhines,

Hello again. Thanks to everyone who found us at Bogarts. You were a fine looking bunch. We had a good time getting the songs across even though as usual by the end of the night at that particular venue, the sound seemed to get more and more elusive on stage. I heard mixed reports about the sound in the club, but I hope somehow it all managed to come together in ways that made the everyday numbness fall away.

The good news is that Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies came to the show and spent some time with us, and it looks like we may be living a good part of July through December on tour with them in North America. Over the Rhine will open the shows and then Karin and I will join them for their set: she’ll sing along with Margo and I’ll be playing some Hammond B-3 and Piano. Jack and Terri T. may sit in on some numbers as well. So hopefully this time we really will be performing in a city near you. Finally.

On a different note, A&M Records has asked us to put together a little concert so that they can take a peek at us in action. Critique our clothing and haircuts. Experience first hand our mid- western exuberances. This is probably one of a number of these types of concerts we’ll be doing, but it’s always good to have a few familiar faces present.

We’re selling about 65 tickets at The Buzz Coffee Shop at 2900 Jefferson Avenue here in Cincinnati, where the concert will be held this coming Sunday evening, April 5, 1998. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. You can pick up tickets there during business hours, and be part of this intimate affair Sunday evening. (The $10 ticket proceeds will pay for the sound company etc.) Hope to see you lounging on one of the couches.

It’s a perfect Spring day today in Ohio. I’m going to drive up to Grand Rapids, Michigan this afternoon for a writer’s conference, featuring the likes of John Updike, Elie Wiesel and Bruce Cockburn to name a few. I’m speaking on a panel called, “Musicians as Writers.” I’ve been practicing waiting for just the right moment after somebody on the panel has said something profoundly engaging. I lean into the microphone and say, “I couldn’t disagree more.”

Bon Courage,

Linford

December 16, 1998

Over the Rhine: A new band is picking up fans as its music keeps rolling along.
CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen calls Over The Rhine “one of the great unsung bands in America.”

(CBS) Every once in a while, a great band sneaks up on you and, before you know it, you’re telling your friends about a CD they have to hear, says CBS This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen. He wants to be the first to tell you about Over The Rhine, which he calls “one of the great unsung bands in America.”

The band dropped by This Morning to perform the song All I Need Is Everything from their CD Good Dog Bad Dog and to chat with McEwen.

Over The Rhine (OTR) is a Cincinnati-based band that has been together since 1990, making records and serving as the opening act for such stars as Bob Dylan. The band’s evolution reached a watermark in 1996, when bandleader and keyboardist Linford Detweiler and lead singer Karin Bergquist (who are married) were advised to streamline their sound, focusing on Bergquist’s voice and one or two instruments. The result was the album Good Dog Bad Dog.

Eventually, the band’s music caught the ear of Peter Leak, manager of such bands as 10,000 Maniacs and The Cowboy Junkies. He became OTR’s publisher and dealmaker, and got them a gig as the opening band on The Cowboy Junkies latest tour. In addition, members of OTR contributed vocals and other musical support to the Junkies’ act.

Once the new year starts, OTR will hit the road again with The Cowboy Junkies for the Australia and New Zealand leg of the tour.

While the theme of faith is strong in OTR’s songs, Detweiler doesn’t want listeners to pigeonhole OTR as a Christian band. His father was a Methodist minister, and Detweiler says his own struggles with faith are bound to be reflected in his music. But it is not written with a desire to impose his beliefs on the listener, and he cringes at the thought of his music being defined so narrowly.

Bergquist tells McEwen that she hopes that, when people hear the CD, they will find “some good songs, probably something that is a little hard to put into words.”

While the band does not have a record label, Detweiler says he is not overly concerned.

“For a while, we weren’t sure we wanted to be signed,” he explains. “But we’re giving it serious consideration again. We canceled some dates this month so we could record some new material. We’ve got some people who are listening to it. We’ll see how it goes.”

In addition to Detweiler and Bergquist, members of the band are G. Jack Henderson, electric guitar; Brian Kelly, drums; Randy Cheek, bass, and Terri Templeton, background vocals.

March 12, 1999

Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark. – Agnes De Mille

I remember the first stroke: cobalt blue, a diagonal stroke on a rectangular three-by-four-foot canvas. I burst into tears when I made it. – Pia Stern

Now if you asked me where I’d rather be, I’d say nowhere. – Karin Bergquist

Hello friends,
It’s obvious I don’t know where to begin or you would have heard from me long before now.

I lived for a long time on the top floor of an old brick building on Main Street downtown, and now in this old house I do most of my work here in the attic. I’m assuming all of these words would be different if I was hunkered down in the corner of the basement. But up here I look out and see the tops of the houses and chimneys and parts of trees high up, bare branches interlaced like bloodvessels, veins very still against the face of the sky as if the world was holding its breath, waiting for something to make the first move. For some reason there are a lot of cardinals in this neighborhood and they sit there like the tip of God’s paintbrush, smug in their uselessness. What are we supposed to do with all this red?

How have you all been? When I think of you I remember that I know you and that I don’t. Many of us will never meet but somehow I miss you anyway. Somehow I know that when you brush up against some obscure joy, I feel it a little bit too. And when you come to grips with the phantom pangs that are part of this free ride – this free ride that ends up giving us more than we can ever repay, more than we know how to handle – this free ride for which we bought no ticket – I mean we sloshed around in our Mothers’ womb and laid there in our cribs and we didn’t even know we were riding yet – well, somehow when you ache in that inside place for which we have no name, I feel it a little bit too. I guess I took the long way to say, Fine I hope. (Why do I hope you’re fine? Because when you do something good, that makes it easier for me.)

I’m assuming that some of you are still regularly talking to each other. I don’t know if it’s a relief to you to know that I haven’t checked in on your conversations for a long, long time. But I have a dilemma that I would like you to discuss and then after y’all express yourselves, I think I’m going to get somebody to print out your words to see if you can shed any new light on the subject at hand.

The dilemma is this. I have come to a place in my life where writing and recording music is the most tangible or physical way that I give a little something to the world and I learn a little something in the meanwhile. For years I have thought of what I do as running a vegetable stand. It’s sort of a family-run business (we’re not a chain or a franchise) and people have to go a bit out of their way to come and get what we offer. Because we’re a vegetable stand and not a hypermarket, we try to put a little extra care into what we give people, keep things fresh, organic, and the scenery is arguably a little richer out here.

From time to time people have come in and assured us that they can take this vegetable stand and turn it into a multi-national success story. Running the vegetable stand is a lot of work, and some years get a little lean – you know, maybe there’s an early frost or whatever and the roof of the barn needs repaired. So it’s always interesting to hear what these people have to say, and we try to listen. But inevitably, while people sit around conference tables brainstorming about how Over the Rhine’s next record could sell three million copies, weeks and months go by, and we begin to think, gee, we could have put out a couple of records of our own just in the time it took for this famous label to decide O.K. we are now officially interested in talking about the possibility of definitely working together as soon as we get through this merger that frankly might mean we’re all out of a job in a few months so that’s great news lets go spend $800 on dinner and have a good time.

The short version is this. If you were me and you were at a point that you knew you could make a record with a big budget and a producer that would get released in the next 18 months or so, and then you would promote that record for a few years and if you were successful, do it all over again and maybe make a lot of money and have a couple songs on the radio et cetera, et cetera, or you could take care of the vegetable stand, put out two or three records a year that sounded unmistakably like your own records and could make a comfortable but modest living, what would you do? I’m curious. Remember, the vegetable stand means no significant media exposure, no grammy, no “Florida girls with fluorescent tits” listening to your song on the modern rock station coming out of the boom box by the sand volleyball net. (Sorry, I’m quoting Karin again.)

I’ll be eavesdropping.

Oh those crazy Canadians are trying to lure Karin and I out for another seven weeks this summer. I don’t know. Touring with Cowboy Junkies was a great experience for us. So many firsts. Life on a tour bus, poking around Letterman’s cold studio, touring from Whistler, British Columbia to Perth, Australia. From London, England to Montreal, Quebec to Santa Fe, New Mexico and all over North America really. We’re definitely still adjusting to civilian life. But will we take that tunnel to Canada one more time?

Rhinelanders, I promised myself I would hold off on sending out the final Northern Spy etcetera, until we had finalized plans for the next few years. Perhaps it was another gloriously ill-fated decision which contributes yet again to the thorny path you all have traveled hoping for your twenty bucks worth. But within the next few months we’ll be deciding whether to go with a Capitol-Records-type-deal or whether to continue with our own imprint with distribution, or? I’ll inform you all of rumours of movie soundtracks and other sizzling industry tidbits in that Northern Spy.

Meanwhile, in the next few weeks we’ll be performing three different times as a trio (Karin, Linford and Jack Henderson). We opened for the Junkies with this line-up at a sold-out show at Royal Festival Hall in London and enjoyed ourselves. And we got to meet Elvis Costello in New Zealand who was touring as a duo with Steve Nieve. We were inspired to try something a little more naked musically. It wasn’t possible for all the musicians we’ve been playing with as a six-piece to join us for these three shows, so we’re going to let you peer in this different window with us. The full band should be playing later this year and we’ll let you know more details soon.

P.S. We’ve had a problem keeping up with orders for Good Dog Bad Dog. We ran out of stock at the end of December and we’re expecting a large shipment in the next few weeks. Just thought you might like to know.

Can’t Wait,

Linford for Over the Rhine

March 17, 1999

Hello again,

I just realized when I handed my handwritten scribbles to Stacie the other day, I missed a page. So here are a few additional words.

When I got back from all that travelling with Cowboy Junkies early this February, I sat down over the course of a week or so and recorded a collection of solo piano pieces, songs without words that have been goin’ round in my head for quite sometime. It’s already been mastered, and we’ll be making this CD available later this Spring. The quiet revolution continues…

Over the Rhine on the other hand has so much new music. It’s almost overwhelming. (That’s why this concept of releasing a record for a big label every two or three years is a little puzzling.) There are currently four projects that are taking shape (from which we would draw material for a major label release) and we have a recording studio set up again here in the attic of the Grey Ghost which we are growing very fond of. So brace yourselves for more joyful turmoil. One way or another we’re going to be getting some of this music into your hands even if I have to meet you somewhere with a handbag and a lantern. June 30 will find us either moving forward with a major label or beginning the process of releasing our own work. (Your votes and outcries and discerning admonitions and cheerleading routines have started pouring in. WOW. Thanks.)

Our sincere apologies and thanks to the many, many people who have over the last months expressed their disappointment regarding our absence at The Emery and elsewhere this past December. We missed seeing you all so much. We had a rare opportunity to do some recording that we really couldn’t pass up, and again, hopefully you can hear the results someday. (We are definitely planning a December Tour this year.)

Finally, here are the trio dates reiterated. Tell some compatriots. We’re mostly announcing these by E-Mail so they do have a bit of a secret quality. They are the first Over the Rhine shows since early July of last year, without the benefit of various Canadians taunting us from the wings (in an endearing way.)

Linford

March 31, 1999

Hello again,

I’ve set the timer for five minutes. The days are full beyond measure. Spring.

Thanks again to all of you who sent words regarding our future. I will respond at length soon. It was heartening to find out just how much this curious adventure means to all of us. It’s certainly a story without an ending. We make it up as we go, each day a page of paper.

This Spring, as we keep the lines of communication open with those who have expressed a desire to sign Over the Rhine, we are going to continue recording and playing some scattered dates. Nobody knows exactly what will happen when we all get together at these whimsically earnest musical shindigs, and I suppose that is why we all keep coming back. Here are a few confirmed dates that I know of so far.

Brady’s Cafe, Kent, Ohio, Friday, April 23, 330.673.6060, Tickets $8 in advance. $10 day of show
Bogarts, Cincinnati, Ohio, Friday, April 30, 513.218.8400, Tickets $12 in advance. $14 day of show. Available through Ticketmaster, Friday, April 2.

(Saturday morning Rhinelanders are welcome to get Brunch at Kaldi’s Coffeehouse and Bookstore at 1204 Main Street. They open at 10am. Karin and I are going to wander down for coffee and hellos at about 11am. We’d like to give Kaldi’s an idea of how many to expect, so please e-mail Stacie ASAP at OTRhine@aol.com if you plan to be there.)

Schubas, Chicago, IL, Saturday, June 5, Two shows: 7:00pm ALL ages, 10:00pm (approx) 21 & over, Tickets $10 in advance. $12 day of show. (Available thru Schubas Website www.schubas.com or 773.525.2508.)
Peabody’s Down Under, Cleveland, OH, Sunday, June 6, Tickets $8 in advance, $10 day of show.
The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI, Friday, June 18, Tickets $10 in advance, $12 day of show.

It was good seeing your faces in Dayton and Nashville. I think of a good song as something that lives and breathes. I think of musicians that I have shared the stage with as people who know how to dress up a song in endearing clothing. But playing as a trio without a rhythm section is almost more about undressing a song: it’s a little embarrassing but flirtatious and at times a means of falling all over again. But we’ll be inviting a few more people back on stage in the near future, believe me.

Finally, if you saw the X-Files this past Sunday, you might have chuckled when somebody walked on and said, “My name is Detweiler.” But you surely must have raised an eyebrow when Fox Mulder went looking for someone named Karin Berquist who was unusually fond of dogs. We were certainly in shock. We knew that this was the second episode written by a friend of ours, Jeff Bell, but we had no idea he was capable of this kind of tomfoolery.

To make a long story shorter, Karin has been obsessed for quite a number of years with the X-files, not to mention David Duchovny. When we sat and talked to Jeff last Fall outside Royce Hall at UCLA after opening for the Junkies, Karin jokingly pleaded for an opportunity to die in Mulder’s arms with something exploding out of her chest. Well, it didn’t quite happen just like that, but much of the episode was filled with inside jokes about this “Karin Berquist” who was “enamored of” Fox Mulder, obsessed with dogs et cetera. The original script did have the character “Karin Berquist” die in Fox’s arms, but the scene didn’t make the final cut. Instead, the Detweiler character took a stake through the heart after pushing Karin by the throat through a second story window, but that’s neither here nor there. (Jeff Bell wrote and directed the video “Happy With Myself” for us and in the space of a few days helped put together the “Serpents and Gloves” interviews and so forth, back in 1994 after we recorded “Eve”.)

Stacie said quite a few people had e-mailed saying, what is up?! That’s pretty much all I know. Jeff Bell did plant the seed for naming our fourth record Good Dog Bad Dog, because he flew his Weimaraner, Zoe, from California to Cincinnati for the video shoot. He carried two pictures of her in his wallet. One was “Good Dog”, the other, “Bad Dog.” Karin loves Zoe, as she does all dogs. You can figure the rest out. (There are a couple of hints at this in the episode as well.)

The timer went off a long time ago, but more soon. I do want to try to send more words your way this year. I hope this is a good thing.

Peace,

Linford for Over the Rhine

April 21, 1999

Hello,

I’m up here in the attic again in the morning. If you were sitting here, I would hit you with a barrage of possibilities and watch your face.

God bless you what is this? We will be releasing two CD’s at the Bogarts show this April 30 here in Cincinnati. The first is called “Amateur Shortwave Radio”. A music journalist phoned a few weeks back and reminded me that this is the ten year anniversary of Over the Rhine. Sure enough, we recorded the first half of ‘Til We Have Faces in the spring of 1989, so I couldn’t argue. Of course we felt we needed to throw a little party, open a good bottle of wine, do a little dance around the kitchen. This new record draws together under one roof a unique and curious sampling of what you would have heard (and did hear) if you walked into a room during an Over the Rhine performance back in the earliest days of the group through just a few weeks ago at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton. It documents some extremely rare and mildly embarrassing but undeniably exuberant early quartet renditions as well as good clean versions of songs such as Moth, Anyway and I Will Remember, which feature the six-piece version of the band (with Mike Georgin on bass…) There’s a track with the Northern Kentucky Symphony that we re-mixed and mastered which is gloriously schamaltzy and full of chirping crickets and a recent reworking by the original quartet of Over the Rhine’s first ever cover tune. It’s a record full of smiles and tears and you’re probably on it too. And it’s a record that confirms for me that yeah, I would definitely do it all over again.

The second CD we’re releasing is called “I Don’t Think There’s No Need To Bring Nothin’.” It’s the collection of eleven solo piano tunes I referred to earlier, the simplest recordings I’ve ever made. Of course, in both CD’s there are notes which I wrote – as if life were study hall and you were the shy girl three seats up on the left.

At least we haven’t been sitting around doing whatever it is people do who sit around doing nothing.

Incidentally, the Bogarts show will consist of the sassy six-piece. Niki Buehrig, formerly of Plow On Boy will be opening. It’s been over two years since Niki has stepped up to a microphone in public with her acoustic guitar here in Cincinnati. If you’ve heard her, then you already know she’s one of the region’s rare musical treasures. Hope you can join us and look for a few surprises.

This Friday, April 23, we’ll be performing as a trio with Jack at Brady’s Café in Kent, Ohio. One of the friendliest rooms in the universe… We ain’t rehearsin’, so look out. (Of course, Thursday, we’ll be sneakin’ around the Hartville Flea Market.)

Finally, in response to the E-Mails we received regarding our future with the (changing) music industry, let me say Thank You. I would say about 20% of you said definitely go with the vegetable stand, it’s great. About 20% said go with the big offer, it’s a no-brainer, this is a rare opportunity, don’t trifle with the American Dream. Most of you said listen carefully to your heart. Take risks, venture into the unknown but only if you can keep your spirit intact. Go for the biggest audience possible, but don’t let anybody make you something you’re not. (And yes, it would sure be nice to have easier access to your recordings.)

A coupla comments: the record industry is an overstuffed man in a three-piece suit wobbling around on stilts right now. There’s going to be a lot of change in the next ten years. Our ability to anticipate some of those changes will allow us to keep making records for a living or not. That being said, I do absolutely want to reach the largest, widest audience I can (with spirit intact.) The question is can I ultimately reach more people as an independent, or with a major label? If a musician ever pretends that he or she makes records and gets up on stage with the hope of being ignored, well, it ain’t so.

Also, if I make a record and ANYBODY likes it, I’m grateful. If it so happens that Florida beach girls love “All I Need Is Everything”, that is fantastic. But it gets weird when the people at a big label start second guessing how to get the Florida girls or anybody else on your side before you record note one. If an artist ever thinks his or her work is too good for someone who genuinely appreciates it, that’s a bit sick.

So what’s going on? Our manager is currently negotiating a deal with Capitol for us. When they make us their best offer, we’ll consider it. If it makes more sense for us to keep putting out our own records, there are a number of smaller companies such as Rykodisc that would be interested in distributing those records nationally for us while allowing us to retain 110% control over everything. And along with this distribution we could continue operating the virtual vegetable stand and ultimately own all our recordings.

In the meanwhile, we’re going to be putting out records that we like hand-over-fist. We’re beginning our next full-length recording May 7. Karin and I are going to take a five-week break to tour as members of Cowboy Junkies for their summer tour this July, and then mix the record when we get back in August. I for one can’t wait to hear it. And as for us, come on you Florida girls, come one, come all.

Thanks for listening. Hope you can make the shindig.

Peace,

Linford

May 5, 1999

Hello everyone,

My sister Frances in San Francisco has a birthday today. All together now, “Happy Birthday Frances!”

Thanks to all of you who were part of the 900-plus folks who slipped into Bogart’s the other night. We had big running-over buckets of fun sloshing that music all over each other, having the wind knocked out of us, wringing wet on the inside with bittersweet joy. You are good to us. Thanks again for ten unpredictable, rewarding years. Happy anniversary honey.

Do y’all like this music or what? Stacie basically blew through the first 1000 copies of Amateur Shortwave Radio in two days trying to fill your orders and now we have to sit around for a week waiting for the second (and larger) batch to arrive so she can continue. Give that Stacie some encouragement. She’s barefoot in the office with an incessantly ringing phone, faxes, e-mails, a box of solo piano records on one arm, a conductor’s baton in the other, a sharp pencil behind each ear and somehow she’s the calm in the midst of the storm. It’s amazing. It may take several weeks, but believe me, she’s gonna take care of you, your order is in good hands.

We’ll be doing four shows in June with a flashy formidable five-piece: Karin Bergquist, Brain Kelley, G. Jack Henderson, David LaBruyere and yours truly. We hope to do a big outdoor show in late August with everybody. More on that later.

The June shows are:
Saturday, June 5, Schubas, Chicago, IL. (2 shows)
Sunday, June 6, Peabody’s Down Under, Cleveland, OH.
Friday, June 18, The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI.
Saturday, June 19, Canal Street, Dayton, OH.

The gathering at Kaldi’s Saturday morning was gloriously serene. Three endearing people showed up and Karin and I had breakfast with them and also chatted with Katie Laur and other friends at Kaldi’s and then Jack, David, Brian and Mallory wandered in and we drank too much coffee, tired and happy. Three people! Life is good.

Bon Courage,

Linford

July 26, 1999

Hello,

Karin and I just got to spend a day at home, a blazing hot Sunday in Ohio. (A friend of mine, Eric King, recently described this weather as “hotter than a Deuteronomy based sermon at a summer holiness camp meeting revival.”)

As most of you know, Karin and I have been touring as members of Cowboy Junkies for their Summer Waltz tour. I hope a few of you have had the chance to join us. We have enjoyed ourselves immensely. There are a few dates remaining:

Monday, July 26, The Vogue Theatre, Indianapolis, IN (317.254.2028)
Tuesday, July 27, Ravinia Pavilion, Highland Park, IL (Near Chicago: 847.266.5000) Leo Kottke opens.
Wednesday, July 28, Meadowbrook, Rochester Hills, MI (Near Detroit: 248.340.7406)
Thursday, July 29, Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio (Near Dayton: 937.296.3300) Joe Ely opens.
Saturday, July 31, Wolf Trap, Vienna, Virginia (Near DC: 703.255.1902)

There are worse ways to spend an evening than hearing Margo and Karin sing together.

Speaking of dates, Over the Rhine will be performing at Moonlight Gardens, Coney Island, Saturday, September 11. This beautiful outdoor venue is just a few miles east of Cincinnati on the Ohio River. We’re also headlining the Blue Jordan festival the following Saturday here in Cincinnati. Then September 24th, we’re playing Gordon College, just North of Boston and there’s a show coming up Sunday, August 22 at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. You can mark your calendars, but more lateron these and other Fall dates. And yes, the December tour will be happening this year. The Emery maybe closed for renovations, but the tour will culminate here in Cincinnati, December 18.

Wonder of wonders, I’ve stolen moments on tour with the Junkies to write Northern Spy Number Four. We’ll be getting the final package in the mail to the Rhinelanders early this Fall. It will contain the whole handwritten story of the world.

In other dreamy news, Eric King, I’m told, has introduced hisself to ya’ll. He is in the process of building (we have the technology) the virtual orchard – – Over the Rhine’s first ever locally operated website. If you experienced Don’s old site, or Jeff’s current site, these long distance love offerings were put together from afar by generous boys who had a hell of a time getting me to pick up the phone. Was it my Luddite tendencies or my lack of desire to interfere with their visions or the fact that I was in love-I can’t remember. With little to go on, they did the band an invaluable service by giving us presence on the net. But now we’re setting aside our guitars and notebooks for a time and drawing up sketches for this new definitive resource, a somewhat infinitely – layered universe of discovery, a sketchbook playground, a wonder in the woods for those who love words and music.

Think of it as an Over the Rhine CD booklet as big as your house.

We’ll be having a grand-opening this Fall and this is where We could use some input. Part of the initial festivities will include offering an Over the Rhine MP-3 sampler free to the world a limited time, which will include at least one song from each of Over the Rhine’s seven full-length CD’s. If you had to pick ten songs that convey the heart of what Over the Rhine is about, which ten would you include? (At least one each from Till We Have Faces, Patience, Eve, Good Dog Bad Dog, The Darkest Night of the Year, Besides and Amateur Shortwave Radio.) You can post your compilations on the discussion list, or E-mail them directly to Stacie at OTRhine@aol.com. We’re curious to see how your list compares to ours.

Along with these Autumn adventures, we’ll be finishing our new studio recording this Fall. We got a good start in May and June and I for one am anxious to hear these new songs all dressed up and down. More on this in The Northern Spy…

Well, it’s about time to grab my suitcases. There’s so much more to life than words.

Linford for Over the Rhine

September 1, 1999

Hello again,

How have you been?

This is Linford writing from Toronto, Ontario on a fabulously brisk morning, bright and airy, Northern and keen. I’ll be meeting Karin at 7pm tonight at one of our favorite little French restaurants in all the world, Le Select Bistro on Queen Street. We’ve grown fond of this city.

(Karin and I performed at the Ottawa Folk Festival Saturday night with Cowboy Junkies and incidentally Ottawa is an unusually stunning city in its own right-the wise, old and towering dark stone parliament buildings, the baritone clanging bell towers and winding footpaths high above the river.)

We’ve actually been doing a little recording with Cowboy Junkies and let me tell you hearing Margo’s voice coming straight through the headphones can make your heart stop beating to listen.

But yes, here in Toronto we poke around in bookstores and record stores and fall asleep listening to Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 or Nick Lowe’s “Dig My Mood” or Tom Waits: “The Mule Variations.” We puzzle over the new Sparklehorse CD in headphones and try to figure out Nick Drake and close our eyes reminiscing to Ron Sexsmith’s finely crafted simplicity on “Whereabouts.”

Jane Siberry performed right before us at the Ottawa Folk Festival and she is one of the avid spiritual seekers of our generation, exploring tirelessly the ways and means of keeping her soul free and vibrant and quivering. She seems to long to live vividly from the deep center and music and words careen out of her like the dreamed prayers of the newborn.

A few weeks ago when Jack and I were in Nashville recording, we spent part of a Sunday afternoon with the New York Times in a Coffeehouse named Fido near the neighborhood of Green Hills. We were marveling to learn that Tom Waits would be performing at The Beacon Theater in New York City on a Saturday following an Over the Rhine show at Gordon College just north of Boston in late September. Well we stumbled out of bed early the next morning and the moment tickets went on sale we sprang into action like stock market tycoons on a Black Monday speed-dialing two hotel phones with trembling fingers and saying the rosary and after about fifteen minutes Jack had four fifth row orchestra tickets on his English credit card and a stupid grin on his sleepy face. (Who cares that with a few service charges tacked on and what not they cost $94 apiece…)

This is the sort of tomfoolery that made me want to stand on an upside down wooden box in the first place, playing a gypsy fiddle for anyone who cared to listen until the horse hairs clung ragged to the bow for dear life: some music feels like a long lost lover who slipped out of our arms through a secret doorway to walk and talk with God, and it’s worth just about anything to see them again even if it means borrowing money from a loan shark and driving through the night until the stars blur.

It’s September folks and we’re entering hands down into the best part of the year here in Ohio. We’re counting the days on our fingers till the Coney Island Moonlight Gardens get together. And what can you expect?

I hear Karin and Terri singing and dreamy. I hear the waves of Jack’s guitar washing the Ohio River ashore and the sound of the piano. I hear Jeff Bird of the Cowboy Junkies who will be sitting in with us coaxing sweet sadness out of his harmonica and mandolin, and David’s bass playing with all the room in the underworld. I hear the ultraviolet ukulele under Uma’s underbelly. (Actually I made this last part up.)

I don’t know but can you see back-lit clouds and girls swaying under the bright thumbprint of the moon in this old favorite outdoor venue where the young used to arrive by riverboat and dance to swing bands and hold hands beneath the same sky, each starring in their own Midwestern, being filmed in black and white through the infinite camera of the mind’s eye?

We’re counting this one down. Ten days numbered on two open hands. Our ten year anniversary. And I sure hope that the piece missing from this coming night so perfectly puzzling isn’t you. More later, but she’ll undoubtedly be whispering to her sidekick, “Look who’s here.” And I’ll have my head bowed and my eyes closed hoping.

Down by the river we’ll dream awhile.
Linford

P.S. My favorite bird has always been the Redwing Blackbird but Karin and I were reading about Indigo Buntings a few days back and we learned this and I quote: Females are never blue.

Over the Rhine
Coney Island Moonlight Gardens
Cincinnati, Ohio
Saturday, September 11, 1999
Special Guest: Niki Buehrig (formerly of Plow On Boy)
Doors Open: 7pm
Showtime: 8pm (OTR on stage at 9-ish)
Tickets available through all Ticketmaster outlets ($10) and at the door.
All ages welcome. Bring compatriots, cameras, notebooks and rested lungs. Circulate this letter to the old and weathered, to the young misfits as you see fit. It’s enough for now.

Linford

September 7, 1999

I don’t have the kind of temperament that burns out young – I’m a late bloomer. I hope to be painting when I’m 90 years old. – Alex Colville

I’m sitting here by the lake on the edge of Toronto but I’m thinking of the river on the edge of Ohio. How many days until we meet there?

I’m thinking of some words to a song that Karin and I recorded a few autumns back but never performed or played for anyone. I’m surprised that I can remember it so clearly. I’m tossing you these words like the first handful of yellow leaves I saw on the ground the other afternoon in Ottawa.

Come every frail September
with its flush of naked fire
there’s a child that I remember
(like an almost imperceptible change in the weather)
she left me standing far away
back somewhere on a different day

Was it you that said
with a needle and thread
I could mend the tear in the world
stitch it up like a ruffian’s face
dance under clouds of diaphanous lace
while the moon grows round
in her hand-me-down crown
full of ghosts out of our past
HEY ALL YOU SLEEPWALKERS
the dreams they seldom last until September
it’s no ordinary world
come September
she’s no ordinary girl

(This may make no sense at all without the music. Maybe we’ll give it a maiden run at Coney.)

The clouds up here above the lake are wispy and silk-spun and plain as day are the silhouettes of two angels, their arms outstretched as if reading secret maps as they fly face down across the sky above the lake. Plain as day right here in Canada. What next?

A dark honey-skinned couple. She’s wearing a white shroud and holding a wrapped baby. They pause by the fountain and he asks if I’ll take their picture. I approach them with my Midwestern grin. Her nose is pierced with a small but intricate piece of gold jewelry. She says nothing, but smiles once. I frame them in front of the fountain and freeze a moment of their lives for them.

I heard something the other day in a song on the radio about what we end up with. Two dates on a tombstone and a tiny dash between them. The tiny dash in the marble between the two dates is your gift to yourself and the world.

I think of my life and the days I feel like my only gift is to make a mess of things–my only calling to be a failure. And I sit here and I think, “I have to try harder. I have to do better. I have to get closer and go deeper. I have to help you and you have to help me. We don’t have a choice. The tiny dash in the marble between the two dates is everything.”

These confounded clouds. Now there’s a different angel, face down across the sky with billowing hair above the lake and two arms raising a long trumpet to her lips (this is such a cliché) but there she is plain as the dying day anyway. I know you won’t believe me but the clouds up here are purple and lavender and lilac this evening and entertaining angels unaware. And in the time it takes to write the words down it’s all a lie because now the clouds are all becoming medieval with ancient orange and the sky behind is Maxfield Parrish hushed turquoise. And I’m not joking, a white clipper ship appears on the water with seven sails and families of blackbirds slowly circling as if somebody is pulling all the strings grinning and we’re supposed to just sit back and watch the show in disbelief.

Maybe we’re not supposed to try harder. Maybe we’re just meant to be together. There are moments when I can only hope so. One day we’ll be humming our songs in real time living what we can’t put into words.

Down by the river we’ll reconcile.
Linford

Over the Rhine
Coney Island Moonlight Gardens
Cincinnati, Ohio
Saturday, September 11, 1999
Special guest: Niki Buehrig formerly of Plow On Boy
Tickets $10 at Ticketmaster outlets or $12 at the door
All ages welcome.

September 9, 1999

Dear Faithfully Dangerous,
I am painting you.
The rough textural handlings,
the murky settings,
the wholly original approach to oils,
the treatment of light and shade.

I am painting you.
I’ve been profoundly affected
by your meeting place for the avant-garde,
peeling back the comfortable to expose a world.

I am painting you.
Large, figurative, highly charged,
filching from your purse,
the striped light from the blinds,
the awakening of twenty-first century art.

I am painting you.
The sweeping hills,
the dream-like quality,
this series of views
the subject of a lifelong search.

I am painting you and
this could be the end of God.
Or the beginning.
(A softly glowing niche,
enticing yet prohibitive,
you welcome the eye
while simultaneously excluding the body.)

Our attention is drawn to what is usually inconspicuous
in a fragile relationship that hinges
upon the flick of a switch.

I am painting you.
A self-taught artist linked to minimalism
because of his concern with architectural space
and subtle intervention.

My embrace of your light as medium, however,
is timeless.

Down by the river just you and I.
Linford for Over the Rhine

Over the Rhine at Coney Island’s Moonlight Gardens, September 11, 1999. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 day of show. Tickets available at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the door. Doors open at 7pm and show starts at 8pm. Niki Buehrig is opening.

P.S. We’ll be playing a handful of songs with a few other groups tonight at Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park as part of a benefit for a number of charities and community-minded organizations. It’s called Friends Fest and it’s free. So if you are interested in a teaser of sorts, maybe we’ll see you on the benches under those tall trees. We start setting up around 7:30 and will probably squeeze in about half-an-hour’s worth of music in our segment.

Also, please note that the Christmastime concert in Cincinnati has been moved to December 11, 1999. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra needed the Taft Theater Saturday, December 18, so we moved to Saturday, December 11. We have a fantastic evening in mind for you and I’m sure Karin will probably let the cat out of the bag at the Coney Island Show. She’s not so good at keeping secrets.

September 21, 1999

Hello again,

Whole grain toast with red raspberry preserves from Oregon and orange juice for breakfast on a grey Monday morning – I’ll start writing and see how far I get before Karin wakes up and puts the coffee on.

I want to thank all of you who made your way out to Coney Island on that lovely September Saturday night. I keep remembering and smiling all to myself. About 850 people gathered by the Ohio River. What a beautiful audience you all were underneath those hundreds of little white strung lights.

Niki Buehrig walked off stage and said what so many say who open an Over The Rhine show: we have one of the best listening audiences in the world. We are fortunate.

The concert unfolded like an evening one has been meaning to spend for a long time with a few close friends. We were all breathing together and that’s what makes music worth playing. Hearing Jeff Bird’s harmonica and mandolin made me want to do something good for the universe which seemed to be bending right along with his notes. David’s old Fender bass had all that room to move underneath the world and I got to listen to his playing in a brand new way. Jack’s understated guitar textures have a way of contributing to the flow of conversation without monopolizing it. That’s Jack’s appeal: he plays guitar like someone who’s listening to the words. Terri T. has the ability to blend her voice uncannily with Karin’s. People still ask me, “Where did you find her? She sounds EXACTLY like Karin.” Well actually she doesn’t. She has her own voice. But she has the rare ability to match Karin’s tone and to breathe with her.

It was a beautiful night. Thanks so much for being there. (People flying in from California, driving from Chicago, coming down from Michigan, sneaking in from the South: my goodness.)

The Blue Jordan Festival last Saturday couldn’t have been wilder or more different. Jeff Bird got stopped at the border of Canada in U.S. Customs with his contraband harmonicas and they turned him away. It’s going to take 30 days to iron out a snag in his work visa. (These musicians are a threat to society. You can never be too careful.)

But we took a deep breath and called Don Heffington, one of our favorite drummers. He was in a band called Lone Justice and has played with Bob Dylan, Victoria Williams, Tom Waits, The Wallflowers and others. Bless his heart, he dropped everything, hopped on a plane at 5AM the day of the show, flew to Cincinnati, Jack picked him up in his white ’79 Lincoln, we ran most of the set once with much laughter and conversation, packed up and drove North to Sharon Woods.

The Blue Jordan folks are fantastic but they had called the night before to say they really wouldn’t be able to accommodate our typical stage requirements for a six-piece band. This, combined with the fact that the last festival we had played was Lilith Fair, replete with twenty-four stage hands and a separate mixing console for each act (maybe we’ve been a little bit spoiled) and the fact that everything was running about an hour behind schedule Saturday made for a somewhat farcical, surreal, damp, cold night: I’d do it again in a heartbeat. (Blue Jordan Festival is only in its second year and those very capable people will continue to fine tune, I’m sure. It’s already an exciting development for the Cincinnati music scene and will no doubt grow.)

The only crew we brought was our front-of-house engineer who spent 45 minutes attempting to wire the stage together for the six of us, and we spontaneously decided to go ahead and start our set before he could line-check the main system. He therefore spent most of the night trying to figure out why David’s bass was coming through Terri’s channel, et cetera. Yeah, we’re professional alright. Part of the system kept shutting off, and there was a low hum which made me wonder if there were a bunch of Buddhist monks underneath the stage.

I never did get my monitor sorted out and I looked down during the set and unbeknownst to me I had cracked my thumbnail and there were bloody smudged roses from middle “C” all the way up the keyboard about an octave and a half and I thought of Annie Dillard’s cat in Pilgrim At Tinker Creek. I guess I was subconsciously hoping that if I hit the keyboard hard enough the monitor might start cooperating. I didn’t hear a note Jack played all night, so I have no idea what he was up to, but I could hear Karin and Don and Terri and David and we had quite a roller coaster ride and sometimes these chaotic concerts are the ones worth remembering. And I kept trying to figure out why I was so happy even though we were probably making fools of ourselves.

I guess because the whole night felt so off-kilter, I went on a few rambling Hammond B-3 tirades that I was pretty embarrassed about later, but when the Spirit feels like it wants to move you have to take that leap of faith in the heat of the moment and dive off the high board and hope that it’s more than just stringing a bunch of cliches together, blah, blah, blah.

Todd and Mitch Kearby and Scott Ross and Kat helped us unload and set up and they were fantastic. Tyler Brown helped our sound engineer try to sort out the madness. Thank you.

But I wish you could have been sitting where I was on stage. Don is a wonderful monster. It reminded me of being in a mid-sixties ragtop Buick Wildcat, on the hills of Fairpoint, Ohio.

Brian Kelley stopped by the house Friday night and I think it’s safe to officially announce that he is no longer part of Over The Rhine. As some of you know, almost three years ago we announced this same piece of news and then a few months later he was back in the band still grinning, still haunted by the holy ghosts of his Pentecostal past. We didn’t want to jump the proverbial gun this time.

When I sat down with Brian early last Spring to discuss the next Over the Rhine record, we got through most of the details there in Sitwell’s Coffeehouse one evening and then drove our separate ways home. In the time it took to reach my house, I knew that Brian and I had probably learned from each other in this lifetime all that we were meant to. We had certainly grown in very different directions as people. I called him later to express this and he said he had been thinking more-or-less the same thing and that ten years was a long time. (Out of respect for Brian, I won’t discuss all the particulars of why it makes good sense to us not to continue working together.)

To some people the idea of change is always read as some version of catastrophe, but nothing could be further from the truth. An artist’s first responsibility is to grow and sometimes that means leaving safe, established, predictable working relationships. It takes courage to move forward even when it’s not convenient. It takes courage to say, “If you should ever leave, then I would love you for what you need.”

I’m extremely grateful for Brian’s contribution to the seven Over the Rhine recordings currently in existence. I’ve always been a fan of his playing and that’s why fourteen years ago I sought him out in a little white church in Marlboro, Ohio where he was playing in his family’s band. Our journey together was unpredictable, and at times exceedingly rewarding. Brian has the potential to have a very bright future, and I’ll be paying attention along with everybody else who appreciates his musicality. There were moments on our recordings that were bigger than all of us. What more can a musician hope for?

People occasionally ask me how I can be excited about making music after being in “the business” and at times certainly struggling for over ten years. I can think of three reasons immediately: one, I’ve learned how to hear my own voice and I try to make time to listen. Two, I’ve learned to surround myself with people I find inspiring, people who shape the way I think and enjoy what they do with the intuitive sense that life is an immeasurable gift. Three, I’ve learned to keep moving.

The ensemble at Coney was a living, breathing entity. If you ever have the chance to gather 800 people by a river and to walk out on stage with six people who have never performed together before but who know how to listen well, let me assure you your heart will not only beat faster, you’ll start making use of senses you didn’t even know you had. In short, for a couple of hours, you will truly live.

I think back over the ten years of Over the Rhine and the changes and experimentation in the band and the determination to try different things and it keeps me interested. One of these days, I’m going to send an E-Mail entitled, “Fans and Change: Ladies and Gentlemen the Sky is Falling.” For your consideration, it would be fun to gather anecdotes and artifacts documenting the countless times over the course of the last ten years we’ve been informed by what seems to be a tiny vocal minority somewhere in the wings that Over the Rhine has more-or-less been ruined. I think you would find it all truly humorous and amusing.

I can remember when a record called Patience was the end of Over the Rhine (it was SO DIFFERENT than ‘Til We Have Faces, What were we thinking?) and then according to some we OBVIOUSLY sold out with Eve and then when we started playing the songs from Good Dog Bad Dog, my god this was DEFINITELY the end.

It’s an interesting phenomenon, Bob Dylan plugging in his guitar and alienating millions of his earliest followers, Joni Mitchell embarking on her jazz phase, line-up changes in The Rolling Stones, Picassso’s distinct periods, Dylan Thomas abandoning his poems to attempt a novel, Elvis Costello breaking up The Attractions and going on in recent years to record with a string quartet or Burt Bacharach, Glenn Gould walking away from a brilliant concert career to write books and radio dramas and focus more on recording-what’s wrong with these people?

Can there be any art without change?

I’m amazed and strangely humbled that as we’ve continued to experiment, in the last two years alone, our audience around the world has basically tripled. Maybe a commitment to not making the same record over and over keeps more than just the artist interested…

It would be of interest to me to open this discussion with you all eventually.

In the meanwhile, pick your own high dive and do the cannonball into the days and nights you’ve been given. According to some, we only go around once.

Linford

P.S. For the discussion group only: Stacie informs me that I have reached Darth Vader status, and shields me from your posts regarding my genius for evil lest I gloat incessantly and my appetite for gleeful destruction of all whom I encounter grows insatiable. I am absolutely flattered and I thank you. It must mean that at the very least you’re on topic, which I understand can be rare. I now begin to fantasize about what my version of a death star would look like. I now no longer dream about owning and operating my own apple orchard: I will settle for no less than the entire universe.

December 2, 1999

PRESS RELEASE: HOLIDAY CONCERT IMMINENT, OFFER OF NATIONAL RECORD DEAL ACCEPTED

It has taken three years of hard work as an independent act, four independent records, an international tour with Cowboy Junkies and a lot of “Thanks, but no thanks” bargaining along the way, but once again, Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler of Over The Rhine have come to terms with a major label, and will be signing a national record deal. Virgin Records, home of Peter Gabriel, Lenny Kravitz, The Rolling Stones and the Spice Girls among others, are bringing Over the Rhine into their fold of acts, and will begin releasing the band’s material in the year 2000.

Virgin is in the process of starting a new “imprint”, a smaller division under the umbrella of the larger company called “Backporch”. David Lowrey of “Cracker” and “Over the Rhine” are the new division’s first signings. So what did it take to convince Over the Rhine’s songwriting team – a partnership that was very prepared to enter the new millenium with a simmering underground operation that seems to steadily expand the group’s following – to sign on?

Virgin began by dispatching John Wooler to Cincinnati, the A&R man who has in recent years nurtured artists such as Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker and Pops Staples.

“These were all artists with strong unapolegetic visions who didn’t necessarily fit the mainstream MTV mold,” explains Karin Bergquist. “We’re huge fans of just about everyone John has worked with and it took the pressure off to hear someone say it’s not always about a smash pop single, it’s also about being true to a vision come what may.”

Virgin eventually offered Over the Rhine a deal that the band describes as “exceptionally artist friendly”: total artistic freedom, tour support, recording budgets, advances and, oddly enough, thousands of actual copies of each of the band’s own future Virgin releases that Over the Rhine is free to sell through their existing virtual vegetable stand and on tour.

Virgin agreed to pick up the story where the band’s former label, IRS Records, left off, and will release Good Dog Bad Dog nationally on January 26, 2000. Over the Rhine will follow it later in the year with a collection of new material, much of which is already recorded. Virgin also agreed to put the the three IRS Releases, Till We Have Faces, Patience and Eve back into circulation, and to substantially increase the royalty rate payable to the band that IRS had initially negotiated. Over the Rhine tracks will be included on at least two compilations in the year 2000 featuring more established artists such as Peter Gabriel.

“They’ve tried very hard to structure a deal that doesn’t interrupt what we have already established,” says Detweiler. “We’re going to roll the dice and see what happens. It’s been fun to see this come together. It feels pretty good.”

But before Over the Rhine dives headlong into the unknown new year, it’s time for a celebration of the journey thus far: the many miles covered, the encouragement of the many who have made friends with these simple songs, the joy and heartbreak that comes from sinking your teeth into any dream. Over the Rhine promises a hometown concert at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati on December 11, 1999 that wings its way full circle through seven records and ten years of loss and redemption. The band will include their own singular haunting renditions of traditional seasonal material. The band will play as if it’s their last night on earth. (Again.)

Last year Over the Rhine cancelled their December tour to record demos. This year, the band will play four concerts as a seven piece:
Karin Bergquist: Vocals and Acoustic Guitar (Norwood, Ohio)
Linford Detweiler: Piano and Hammond Organ (Norwood, Ohio)
David LaBruyere: Bass (Atlanta, Georgia)
Jack Henderson: Electric Guitar (London, England)
Jeff Bird: Harmonica, Mandolin, Melodica, et cetera (Guelph, Ontario)
Terri Templeton: Backing vocals and Violin (Northside, Ohio)
Don Heffington: Drum Kit (Los Angeles, California)

Jeff Bird is the multi-instrumentalist with the Cowboy Junkies. Don Heffington has played with Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris and Victoria Williams.

Leo Kottke, acoustic guitar instrumentalist extraordinaire, met Karin and Linford this summer touring with the Cowboy Junkies. Linford describes him as an important writer trapped in a guitar vitruoso’s body. Leo’s weathered wit and rootsy mind-bending instrumentals are a perfect start to this long-awaited evening, that many consider a Cincinnati tradition. Come celebrate ten years with Over the Rhine.

February 7, 2000

Welcome to the new Over the Rhine web site.

Welcome home. You have found the definitive resource for all things Over the Rhine. We hope this trove of words and images will answer a few questions, raise a few eyebrows, make you smile and perhaps bring a tiny bit of the sea to your eyes as you remember, discover, uncover and wander around freely. We hope that you feel obscure places and faces inside of you waking up, warming to new possibilities. We hope that you leave here feeling somehow replenished and that as you step back out into the crisp night air you find yourself saying, I want my life to be a work of art.

Keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Only God can speak a universe into being and even then it supposedly took six days and was exhausting.

Our dream is that eventually you can come to this place and find the lyric to any song we’ve recorded, freely print out the music of a song you were hoping to perhaps have sung at your wedding, grin with us at bygone days, learn more about the gifted array of musicians that have helped us take these songs around the world and back, check out when you might have a chance to share an evening of music with Over the Rhine and maybe even get yourself a picture of that beautiful dog.

Many people have discovered our recordings more or less the same way that the ancient city of Babylon was discovered: by digging. We hope the fact that you can readily obtain any Over the Rhine recording right here doesn’t take too much of the fun out of the whole thing. But this place you’ve found is also our little storefront to the world. It’s our very own porch sale. It’s our vegetable stand. And we keep it well-stocked with homegrown goodies. Leave the money in the jar, and help yourself. We’re probably off working somewhere else. Yeah, probably in that place we used to call The Imaginary Apple Orchard.

But thanks for stopping by. Come back often. Breathe deeply. Roll over. Good Dog.

Yours truly,

Linford and Karin

March 21, 2000

Dear Grace,

It’s all greek to me.

There may come a day when it is not enough to touch you with words. In the meantime, I choose them carefully and recklessly. I look for the curves and the pulse in the language and try to wrap something around you that will warm you and cause your soul to arc, your spirit to spark.

Yours and mine, God knows.

Look deep down your hollow belly inside and ask yourself in the dark if it’s true: does any of this really make any difference at all?

Is the skin that separates your beating heart from mine really just the smoothest kind of barbed wire?

Wait. Just how alone are we anyway?

So what if I dream about keeping a journal with you? Would that make me your audience and you mine? We would write our secret universes within and so far only love can make me lift a pen anyway.

So here goes.

Write me.

You have to pick up the pen and move it, she whispers.

You have to leave a crumbtrail of words or you’ll never find your way back. You have to step out into the words a hungry orphan and hold hands with someone along the way. You have to be as good to words as you know how and some night when you least expect it you’ll find them being good to you. Even later you’ll learn to trick yourself into believing someone cares.

She looks away. Oh yeah, one more thing. Inspiration comes afterward, not before.

And this is the story of how my life became a true story.

Hello everyone,

It’s me Oh Lord again and Jesus we are off to quite a start here, aren’t we? Talk about “ripping handfuls of pages from …memoirs and calling it music.” I’m up here in the attic of the Grey Ghost, the rest of the house is asleep, and I’m looking out the window on an unremarkable morning, stunned. I have found the secret of eternal life. I now know how I want to live and it’s so obvious I don’t know if I should risk telling you this secret or not, but I will. Before I can talk myself down.

I am going to die.

These few words, if I embrace them, will tell me what I must do with this gift of too-large life I’ve been given. Oh, but it’s so hard to hear. I have to practice.

I am going to die. I, am going to die.

All of us here on this sweet terrain are terminal. I hold these words close and I am free.

I’m thirty-five, so by the law of averages I figure my life is half over. Half of my life is virgin soil, untouched by any plow. Amazing. I was given a garden and I’ve only tilled up half of it. I was given a day, and the entire night remains intact, unlived. I was given a woman and she is only half undressed. The bottle of wine, half empty. The book, half written.

The desire to write burns in me now like the burning bush Moses encountered in the wilderness: it burns in me always but is not consumed. I want to leave behind some token of gratitude for the time here on earth I was given. I want to tell my version of what it was like to be part of this family we call humanity. I want to say, Hey, I saw that. (Did anyone else?) It’s one of the few gifts I can imagine giving to myself. It’s one of the few gifts I can imagine giving to others.

Half over? And now life ups the ante and says, I am dimensional and careening and full of surprises. No man or woman knows me. No man or woman knows the day or the hour when the needle lifts from a particular spinning life, when the music ceases quite suddenly to play audibly. All quiet.

In other words, I can’t say for sure that I’ve only travelled half the distance. I may be farther along and further in than I know. So to live a good day is to live that day as if it were my last. This key can unlock the double-bolted door of what it means to be truly alive. Or as my friend Jack is prone to say, It’s our last night on earth. Again.

So yes, somedays I flounder and lay about in the mud like a hog on valium. And I don’t know why some days are so hard to redeem, to cash in. God looks down and says, This one’s on me son. Enjoy. It’s the gift of a brand new day or night and you’d think I’d make love to this day and we’d ride off into the sunset together, and I’d lean over and say, I’ll never forget you. Ever.

But maybe the day sits yawning out in the car while I’m standing in line at the bank with a fistfull of unpaid bills. Or the wistful new day walks in and her skin is glowing, she’s lighting up the whole world and I’m thinking about filing my taxes, one of the cats just threw up, and the answering machine is full, blinking. The day wants to be swept off her feet and sometimes the best I can come up with is surfing the channels in some hotel room, half awake. Or maybe the day whispers, I came all this way for you, and it’s a drive-thru for dinner?

But when I hold the given words close, which I do now increasingly, I become a student of life. I am given clues always now, and I try to listen. And the mundane begins to bleed together into a larger sense of purpose which I continue to discover. Somedays I choose wisely, the hours are my lovers and I am heartened. The rest of the time, I forgive myself and try to smile. I am going to die. But I’m also going to live for awhile.

OK, I should probably rein it in a bit now. This is an announcement list after all, so I should announce things. (Other than, I am going to…) But I’m addicted to giving you the best that I know how. I polish this string of five and dime pearls until they shine, get my courage up, walk across the playground and hand them to you, hoping for the best.

Maybe this is how my father felt after pouring his heart out in the pulpit like a bottle of perfume to the little church full of coal-miners in Fairpoint, Ohio. He steps back after the benediction like a blind man who has seen the face of God and lived, his soul raw and trembling but somehow strangely quieted and at rest. The sanctuary is still as a tomb. Somebody walks forward, turns around, and says, Are there any announcements?

Bubbles had a seizure again last Tuesday. The youth will roast wieners before the softball game. The women’s sewing circle is having a potluck.

I’ll ease into it.

Starting with a few books… On Michael Wilson’s recommendation, I picked Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis off the shelf. I had been having trouble falling asleep after the tour ended. Wrong book to pick up before bedtime. I read until 5am, mouth agape. It has entered my short list of Most Important Books I Have Known. A rending document of utter loss and redemption. “Pleasure for the beautiful body, suffering for the beautiful soul…” Highly recommended. Am finishing Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Looking forward to hearing her speak at the writers’ festival at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan next week. I expect to smile a lot. (Karin finished Travelling Mercies and praises it often.) (Karin and I will be performing after Anne’s talk.) Also looking forward happily to seeing Maya Angelou perform again. There is no other word for what she does. She’s a one-woman greatest show on earth.

Karin and I arrived home safely after sitting in again with Cowboy Junkies on their Winter Waltz, and doing more recording with them in Toronto. The daffodils are in bloom here in Ohio, although the weather has turned chilly. We managed to steal time to perform as Over the Rhine quite often while we were on the road. (Thanks to those of you who were able to look us up.) We enjoyed our trip to Seattle and Spokane, and loved playing in all those record stores here and there, little living room concerts.

And overtherhine.com has sprouted just in time for Spring. It has been fun watching this garden grow. We anticipate adding to it significantly, but it’s a good point of departure for what we envision. Stop by. We welcome your feedback.

This summer, my old roommate from college will be working with me to transcribe many of the Over the Rhine songs that have become your friends in recent years. We will be developing a library of music which will be freely available at overtherhine.com. Those so inclined, will be able to print out copies of this new music and accompany themselves at a piano, or flesh out the songs with an acoustic guitar on the tailgate of a pickup truck out West. We’ve received hundreds of requests for printed music for songs like Rhapsodie, Little Genius, Paul and Virginia, Latter Days, Poughkeepsie, Weak In the Knees Across the Sky, Moth, June etc. We are finally getting around to addressing this need.

There’s also a blank canvas alongside each recording at overtherhine.com where we invite listeners like you to submit your reviews of songs and albums. It often occurs to us that in the letters we receive, our music is discussed more intelligently and in-depth than it sometimes is when professionals review the recordings. If a song has made a deep impression on you, or you feel one recording stands out as the definitive OtR work to date, please take some time to share your thoughts and impressions. We feel our listeners’ insights will be of interest to many. Including us. We’ve received a few submissions and are anticipating many more. Help us tell the story. Remember, the people here are not shy.

There’s also a little out of the way place at overtherhine.com called Over the Radio. In this room there is a list of the radio stations currently playing the Virgin/Backporch re-release of Good Dog Bad Dog. Tune in and roll down the car window. Spring is coming. Most of the Backporch campaign has focused on college radio so far, but this will be broadening in coming weeks. If your favorite station isn’t listed, consider giving them a call. Or e-mail us and we’ll have Virgin follow up.

We’ve been fairly pleased with Virgin/Backporch so far. They recently surprised us by announcing the impending release of a compilation which contains All I Need is Everything. Other contributors include Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Crowded House, Cowboy Junkies–Hello! You can go to the site for more info which will be posted soon. Starbucks licensed several songs for in-store air-play and people have been commenting on hearing Over the Rhine while they contemplate the day’s caffeine rush. And the release date for the new Over the Rhine recording has been set: September 12, 2000. The days promise to be quite full, and we may not be able to be in touch as often as we would like, so if you want to keep your finger on our pulse, overtherhine.com will be the place.

Finally, the most practical reason the website exists is to let you know when we can be together. When dates are confirmed we forward them to our webmaster and they magically appear the next morning. One date that was confirmed this morning may merit a special invitation.

Over the Rhine will be taping another segment for CBS This Morning (now called The Early Show) on April 5th in Manhattan. CBS would like to invite an audience to be a part of the performance this time, and if weather permits, we are going to play outdoors around noon in a courtyard/plaza that holds about 150 people. (There is no charge to be part of the audience.) We’ll post more details on the site as they become available. Join us if you can for this foray into television sets around the country.

More importantly perhaps, that same evening, (Wednesday, April 5th), Over the Rhine will be performing at a small off-Broadway theater in New York City called The Lambs Theater, at 130 West 44th Street between 6th and Broadway. (“The Lamb Goes Down Easy on Broadway.”) Doors 7:30pm, Show 8:00pm, Tickets $15 at the door. (General Admission, all ages welcome.)

Karin and I have increasingly been contemplating living for a time in New York City. It is a city which you can positively become drunk on. You lift the glass, the wine runs red out of the corners of your mouth and down your neck and there is laughter.

We have learned to open our arms to the palpable energy of this place. We walk into the Met and everything changes. The subway pulls into Grand Central Station and something dies and is born again that we can’t put into words. These waves of beautiful people pouring down Park Avenue–the city is being washed clean by the broken and renewed dreams of the many who are called here, and the few who are chosen. And we are adrift in this tide of humanity, unmoored and reeling. We are Americans in New York. And we dream of playing in this city more often.

Kiss an April day full on the mouth and join us in America’s greatest city for an evening of music which promises a voice in full-bloom, earthy music crying out for roots in this weedy, overgrown world we love with our lives. (Some of us are born better lovers than others. Some of us long to be reborn so that we can love better.)

I think that’s about it. There’s a Weimaraner waiting for her run.

I long to hear these words sung, flung at the sky by a real set of lungs. I hope to see you.

In the meanwhile, live a little.

Still skinny as sin,

Linford

P.S. As I write this, nearing the end, I receive two phone calls, one from our office, one from Ric Hordinski. A friend of ours, Gene Eugene (Andrusco), died unexpectedly in his sleep. (He couldn’t have been much older than I am, I think to myself.) I don’t know what to make of this sad news. Gene fronted his own band, Adam Again, which was never widely recognized in the world at large. I saw people dance to this band after midnight who were so lost in the music that they couldn’t have told you their own names, tears of joy stinging their eyes. Gene recorded and mixed a handful of Over the Rhine songs on eve: Should, Sleep Baby Jane, Birds, June, Bothered.

Gene, we only know that we must follow sooner or later. Thank you for the gifts you gave us. The Cuyahoga River on fire…

Farewell for now.
y

March 23, 2000

Hello again already,

We realized after our office dispatched my letter yesterday that the paragraphs were butchered en route leaving a rag tag trail of words a mile long that looked as if they’d been drug along the bottom of the Ohio River all night by someone trolling for catfish. Now if you’re like me, you hate this with a pure and bitter hatred. Please rest assured that we will do everything in our power to make sure this never happens again. I don’t blame you if you abandoned the affair a few lines in and moved on with your life.

The good news is, these letters are now archived at overtherhine.com. You can go to the site and read a clean version if you so desire.

When somebody asked if there were any announcements, I forgot to mention a few important bits of information.

After six years downtown on Court Street, our offices have moved. Please make a note of this new contact information:

New address:
Over the Rhine
Post Office Box 12078
Cincinnati, Ohio 45212

New phone: 513.731.6837 (731-OVER)
New fax: 513.731.9668

The e-mail address remains OtRhine@aol.com

And again, our new website is overtherhine.com

Karin and I are playing a little syndicated radio show this coming Monday, March 27, in Lexington, KY. The “live” audience tickets are sold out, but there is a live webcast at woodsongs.com that will begin around 6:45pm EST. I’m told that an interview and whatever tune we play for an encore will be available at kentucky.com following the performance. We will also perform in Lexington on Monday on WKYT TV (CBS), on a program that airs at noon. And on radio station WRVG at 3pm. Kentuckians will say, Ok, Ok, that’s enough now. Go on back to Ohio.

And the show that will be keeping us up at night:

Over the Rhine in concert in New York City at The Lamb’s Theater, 130 West 44th Street between 6th and Broadway. (“The Lamb Goes Down Easy on Broadway.”) Doors 7:30 pm, Show 8 pm, Tickets $15 at the door. (General Admission, all ages welcome.)

overtherhine.com for more info…

Thanks for listening.

Bon courage,

Linford Detweiler

March 28, 2000

Hello again,

Just a quick note to invite you once again to join Over the Rhine on April 5th in New York City for a full day of music, dizzy heights and who knows what all. For those of you who would like to be part of the studio audience for Over the Rhine’s performance on CBS This Morning (The Early Show), here are the details.

Admission is free and all ages are welcome. ***Please RSVP by e-mailing your name(s) to CBSEarlyshowaudience@yahoo.com to let them know you are planning to be there to see Over the Rhine perform. Direct your note to Steven Kimbrough. (We will be giving away Good Dog Bad Dog posters to all who attend, plus other treats courtesy of Virgin Records and The Imaginary Apple Orchard.) Come to the CBS Building just South of Central Park at the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street. (767 5th Avenue.) Ask for Alexandra or Steve. If weather permits, we’ll be performing outdoors in a courtyard. ***Be there at 10:30am.

We don’t watch a whole lot of TV so it’d sure be nice to see some familiar faces nearby. If we’re going to crawl into television sets around the country, we would just as soon you got down on all fours with us. (Wag tail here.) Good dog.

And the concert that makes us grin from time to time: that same evening, (Wednesday, April 5th), Over the Rhine will be performing at a small off-Broadway theater in New York City called The Lambs Theater, at 130 West 44th Street between 6th and Broadway. (“The Lamb Goes Down Easy on Broadway.”) Doors 7:30pm, Show 8:00pm, Tickets $15 at the door. (General Admission, all ages welcome.)

We’re curious to see if the big apple can make room for the Imaginary Apple Orchard. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, it might be road-trip time.

Until then,

Paul and Virginia

September 8, 2000

Over the Rhine – Press Release
Coney Island Moonlight Gardens Concert
Cincinnati, Ohio
Friday, September 15, 2000
Doors open @ 7pm, Showtime @ 8pm
With Special guests Ticklepenny Corner and Brownhouse
Tickets available at all Ticketmaster locations…

Virgin/Backporch recording artists Over the Rhine will be taking a break from putting the finishing touches on their new album long enough to perform a hometown concert at historic Coney Island’s Moonlight Gardens this Friday, September 15, 2000. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show, and available through Ticketmaster outlets.

Over the Rhine’s new album, Films for Radio, will be released early next year on Virgin’s Backporch label. The band is describing the record as pop music ala Over the Rhine, and promises it will feature the band’s curious signature blend of joyful sadness, mysticism and sensuality, simplicity and unpredictability.

Over the Rhine will dip into the new batch of songs at Friday’s concert, and trip through older recordings as well, putting new twists on songs that have been in the band’s expanding repertoire for years.

In addition to finishing their own collection of new recordings in the year 2000, Over the Rhine launched their new website earlier this year at overtherhine.com. Every month, the site features a free, previously- unreleased MP3 recording, and also contains free permanent MP3 files of selected songs (which fans voted on and picked as definitive), from each of the seven existing full-length recordings. There are weekly quotes, weekly recommendations of books and films, weekly “specials”, complete archives of lyrics, downloadable sheet music files, and additional “selected writings” of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler. There are growing press archives, copies of old newsletters and numerous photos. The band recently hosted a short story contest (contestants finished a story that Linford Detweiler started) and received scores of entries from around the world. The company hosting the band’s site has reported that overtherhine.com is one of their busiest domains, receiving in excess of 18,000 visitors a month. And the band stresses that the site is still evolving.

Starbucks has licensed an Over the Rhine track for an upcoming compilation which is to include contributions from Elvis Costello, Miles Davis and Jeff Buckley. Two films have licensed songs for upcoming soundtracks.

“Our music continues to quietly spread its wings and drift out of town,” says Karin Bergquist. “We’re not talking about airplanes trailing colorful banners, but the songs are persistently finding their way into good places.”

The line-up Friday night will consist of a quintet featuring band leaders Karin Bergquist (vocals and guitar) and Linford Detweiler (keyboards and guitar), Jack Henderson on electric guitars and lapsteel, David LaBruyere on bass and Don Heffington on drums.

Ticklepenny Corner, an up-and-coming act from Wisconsin, and local teen sensations, Brownhouse, will open the concert.

“It’s one of our favorite venues,” says Linford Detweiler. “It’s like a family reunion down by the river. And it’s our last outdoor concert of the year which for us, sort of officially marks the end of summer.”

November 26, 2000

Hello from the attic,

These gray November days bathe everything in gray: my thoughts, my dreams, my world. I was talking to a friend on Thanksgiving morning after running five miles (Jim Wilson) who said he was going to try to write eight good songs by Christmas (and he was hopeful), but the hard part was finding the words. His daughter Leah told him, Writing is easy, Dad. Just close your eyes and write what you see.

Is this what I have tried to do for the last ten years? Close my eyes and write what I see? There is a line in the first song on Over the Rhine’s new feature-length album (Films For Radio) that reads, Roll the movie of my life inside of my head.

Maybe these internal worlds, these arguments won and lost on the inside without uttering a word, the vast impressionistic terrains and uncharted waters out of which epiphanies sometimes surprise us by leaping into focus, the shadowy corners of inside rooms where rays of light occasionally and unpredictably illuminate parts of us we had no idea existed–maybe these fertile places that contain everything we’ve witnessed, participated in, felt, longed for, are what we hope to uncover and rediscover when we close our eyes and pick up a pen.

(How are you? I’m fine.)

And now the mist is becoming the lightest rain, holy water sprinkled by infinite fingers above the rooftops, slicking the patient dark trees. A breeze is taking the hands of the pines gently, asking them to dance for no reason, swaying them one way or another just because.

Well, we leaned into the harness this Fall and harvested a garden of you, our faithful few: the few, the many who have supported us so generously over the last years through thick and thin.

We have a new record finished, but we have a major label now, so there is always the chance that someone important at the label will hear the record, like it more than they expected, and want to invest more into it, in which case, we’ll open it back up and play around some more, something that is not exactly a chore, but sometimes the hardest part about painting is knowing when you’ve made your last stroke.

Plan “A” is for the record to be released February 27, 2001. We’ll let you know if that changes.

You have been so patient through all of this. I hope you feel it’s worth the wait. We’ve tried some new things on this record, done some things the way we always have, tried to surprise ourselves and even Jesus a few times. I’m pretty happy with the collection of songs, I think, which I noticed the other day were pretty much all written in the first person.

There are songs by Karin. Songs by me. Songs by me and Karin. We even covered a song that sort of came out of nowhere at us that was written by Dido Armstrong. The chorus says simply:

Give me strength to find the road that’s lost in me.
Give me time to heal and build myself a dream.
Give me eyes to see the world surrounding me.
Give me strength to be
only me.

We found it strangely close to home and rather spontaneously decided to include it in this new collection. I guess I sort of see the song as a prayer of sorts, and it fit nicely right after “I Radio Heaven”. (Not to mention cross-pollinating with other bits of lyrics on the record: I don’t know who else to be, more and more I’m secretly just me.)

I’ve been asking myself what the themes of the record are and I’m not completely sure yet. There seem to be several, but one running theme seems to be about the surprising difficulties involved in telling the truth to ourselves and others. (Just thinkin’ outloud.)

Well, I better get to the other newsy bits and move along with my day. It would seem that prime time television is starting to discover Karin’s voice. A significant portion of “Latter Days” was recently included in an episode of Felicity, and “Give Me Strength” was featured on a rather intriguing episode of NBC’S Third Watch last Monday evening. Both have generated an uncommon amount of e-mail etc., which begs the question, what would happen if more people actually got a chance to hear Karin sing?

There was a very fine compilation album that Hear Music put together that is available at Starbucks which includes tracks by David Grey, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Morcheeba, Bruce Cockburn et al, as well as “All I Need is Everything” from Good Dog Bad Dog. (GDBD continues to surprise us with its ability to venture out into the world with just a suitcase full of simple recordings. To make friends, and post us interesting letters. Again, we thank you for taking such good care of this music.)

Finally, we certainly hope we will have the chance to be together in the coming weeks. We’re piling onto the bus this Tuesday night and heading west for Minneapolis. Our tour starts Wednesday and ends in NYC on December 21st (with a few breaks). Bundle up some friends and come spend an evening inside out of the cold. We’re playing some of our favorite little rooms in all of the USA. The music will be so close, you’ll be able to reach out and fill your pockets with dripping handfuls of it. We have no idea what to expect, even after all these years. That’s the beauty of all this I guess. (The world can wait.)

You can go to overtherhine.com for complete concert listings, ticket info etc. Hope to see you.

And finally, “The Homecoming Show”. (An extended evening of music. And maybe a few rabbit trails.)

Every December we try to put together a special show in our hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. This year promises to be one of our favorite evenings of music in a long, long time. Critically-acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith is joining us at the Taft Theater on Saturday, December 9th. If you haven’t heard Ron’s three records, the eponymous debut, followed by “Other Songs”, and then “Whereabouts”, you missed three of the most beautiful recordings of the last decade. Simply put, Ron is one of the most gifted songwriters making music today.

And as if getting one of our favorite songwriters of all time on the bill wasn’t enough of a coup, Texas pop phenomenon Sixpence None the Richer is rounding out the proceedings this year with their melodic, irresistible armload of songs and melancholy musings. We watched in amazement as Sixpence did the impossible over the course of the last few years, namely, conquering pop radio, VH-1 and late night television (not to mention airwaves all over the UK, Europe and Japan) on an independent label and on their own terms. Help us spread the word, gather some friends together, pile in the car and join us just a stone’s throw from the Ohio river for a warm evening of musical communion and a few surprises. We’ll be looking for you.

Special note: we’ll be taping Over the Rhine’s portion of the show for re-broadcast on several radio stations, and much of the evening’s proceedings could end up on a “live” cd or ep. Hope you can enjoy with us this little chapter in the band’s ongoing history. Road Trips-R-Us.

Well, I guess I’ll sign off and get back to working on those liner notes.

Still trying to create spaces where good things can happen,
your apple cart kid,

Linford Detweiler

The short version (more info at overtherhine.com):

(Don’t ask me why, but it’s our favorite time of the year to tour):

*Wednesday, November 29, Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, MN
*Thursday, November 30, The Busted Lift (webcast), Dubuque, IA
*Friday, December 1, Pres House, Madison, WI
*Saturday, December 2, Schubas, Chicago, IL, Two shows
*Sunday, December 3, Miramar Theater, Milwaukee, WI
(We’ve never played this venue in Milwaukee, but by all reports it’s a very nice little theater in the round. Up-and-coming Ticklepenny Corner will be joining us. Higly recommended.)
*Friday, December 8, Duncan Hall, Lafayette, IN
*Saturday, December 9, Taft Theater, Cincinnati, OH
(Our homecoming concert with Sixpence None the Richer and Ron Sexsmith. Be part of our “live” audience–the show is being taped.)
*Wednesday, December 13, Lil’ Brothers, Columbus, OH
(w/Ashley Peacock. Ashley sent us a cover of Etcetera Whatever that absolutely knocked me out. Looking forward to hearing him “live” for the first time!)
*Thursday, December 14, Symposium, Cleveland, OH (w/Ashley Peacock)
*Friday, December 15, Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA, Two shows
*Saturday, December 16, The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI (w/Ashley Peacock)
*Wednesday, December 20, Rosebud, Pittsburgh, PA
*Thursday, December 21, Makor, NYC

(Almost all shows have special guests–I only mentioned a few…)

If you would be willing to put up posters to help promote the above shows, please contact Stacie BeBout at otrhine@aol.com…

Over the Rhine’s new feature-length album in fine record stores everywhere February 27, 2001.

November 28, 2000

Give Me Strength

Hello to all of you who have been asking where you can find a recording of Karin’s performance of the song “Give Me Strength” as featured on NBC’s Third Watch. (We’ve been deluged with inquiries.) We have good news and bad news. The bad news is the song has not yet been released. (Patience.) The good news is that “Give Me Strength” will appear on Over the Rhine’s new feature-length album, Films For Radio, due to be released nationwide on Virgin/Backporch, February 27, 2001. Stay tuned. And more good news: Karin’s voice is yours to spin and unravel on any of the seven Over the Rhine albums already in existence. It is a voice that has been described as “mildly smokey with sweet, warm undertones–and just a hint of the sea. Robust and succulent. Fulfilling and unforgettable. Made in tiny quantities, it is esteemed and savoured around the world by a fortunate few.” (Who writes this stuff?) More succinctly, someone once said that the music of Over the Rhine makes sad people happy, and vice versa. Glad you found us. Hope to meet you one day soon.

The World Can Wait, 2000 Dates

You’ll find six musicians breathing together with eyes mostly closed, hoping for something that is hard to put into words. You’ll meet our vicar, Dave Nixon, a gifted writer who is traveling with us and looking after the Imaginary Apple Orchard Boutique on this tour. There’ll be scarred, battered suitcases full of scrappy notes and sketch books and thick socks piled in corners of rooms next to tiny candlelit stages… A huge tour bus parked illegally in the alley out back… Girls with scarves and mittens and red cheeks tilting back mugs full of coffee. Boys with poetry and beer hullaballooing their broken hallelujahs into the late night, making ghosts with their breath, embarrassing themselves and grinning. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Hope to see your faces once again. The world can wait.

The Homecoming Show

(An extended evening of music. And maybe a few rabbit trails.) Every December we try to put together a special show in our hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. This year promises to be one of our favorite evenings of music in a long, long time. Critically-acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith is joining us at the Taft Theater on Saturday, December 9th. If you haven’t heard Ron’s three records, the eponymous debut, followed by “Other Songs”, and then “Whereabouts”, you missed three of the most beautiful recordings of the last decade. Simply put, Ron is one of the most gifted songwriters making music today.

And as if getting one of our favorite songwriters of all time on the bill wasn’t enough of a coup, Texas pop phenomenon Sixpence None the Richer is rounding out the proceedings this year with their melodic, irresistible armload of songs and melancholy musings. We watched in amazement as Sixpence did the impossible over the course of the last few years, namely, conquering pop radio, VH-1 and late night television, (not to mention airwaves all over the UK, Europe and Japan) on an independent label and on their own terms. Spread the word, gather some friends together, pile in the car and join us just a stone’s throw from the Ohio river for a warm evening of musical communion and a few surprises. We’ll be looking for you.

February 5, 2001

Overwhelming to some, Addicting to many…

Hello everyone. I guess it’s really going to happen. This morning we received a box of pre-releases: final versions of Over the Rhine’s new record, Films For Radio. CDs with final artwork will follow shortly. The official due date is March 13, 2001.

I’m not sure how to feel. Part of me is very excited. I did one interview already with a magazine based in Philadelphia, and the reviewer had liked what he heard. But this surprised me for some reason. It’s a messy, juicy record full of doubts and hopes and tiny epiphanies. It occurs to me that we should try to be more reserved: it might be less embarrassing for everyone.

If you showed up for a date with Karin’s voice these days, the door would open, and you would find yourself being wrapped up and kissed keenly on the mouth on the lamplit porch before you even had a chance to clear your throat and speak her name. While singers like Ron Sexsmith and Suzanne Vega make notable careers out of being understated, coy, never breaking into a sweat, it seems to me that Karin sings as if it’s her last night on earth, her last ever song, her last blushing gasp.

Overwhelming to some, addicting to many…

Those of us who are addicted are accustomed to closed eyes, blindfolded hearts, outstretched arms, fingers brushing deliciously against smooth fleet dreams and trembling toward downy hidden places enfolded with musky spirituality and melodic sighs.

You might say I’m a fan, and I’ve had my coffee.

So I sit down here in the library in Cincinnati and look out the lofty windows. It’s spitting snow and like always, I have no idea what to expect. I have chosen a life that is irrepressibly unpredictable.

Overwhelming to some, addicting to many…

So anyway, what I want to say is, for those of you who are intrigued by this sort of thing, we’re putting the farm up for sale once again. You can pre-order a copy of Films For Radio thru the end of February, by calling our office or by visiting overtherhine.com. At the beginning of March, Karin and I will take a few days to sign and number these CD’s reflecting the order in which we received your order. A package with the special goods will be hand-delivered to your door on the 13th of March. You might receive number 2. You might receive number 42. If you order copies for your many exotic lovers around the world, you might receive numbers 61 thru 76. We will also slip in a tiny trifle that is a surprise.

* * *

After we sign all the goods, we’ll begin packing our bags and rehearsing for the first leg of our tour. We will be working up a brand new evening of music which will be coming soon to a theater near you so to speak. We’ve got our work cut out for us, because this record has a fairly broad sonic palette and will definitely push the Over the Rhine envelope in some new directions. We think you’re gonna like it.

We have some scattered college shows coming up that we’re looking forward to, but the Films For Radio tour will officially begin on March 23rd at Bogarts in Cincinnati. Other cities that we’ll visit in the first leg include:
Rochester, Michigan
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Indianapolis, Indiana
St. Louis, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Denver, Colorado
Salt Lake City, Utah
Seattle, Washington
Portland, Oregon
San Francisco, California
Los Angeles, California
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Dallas, Texas
Austin, Texas
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Chicago, Illinois
Detroit, Michigan

et al

You can go to overtherhine.com for more information. We’ll post the dates as they are confirmed. A second leg will cover more of the East Coast, South and Southeast.

Note: If you or a friend are on a college concert committee, or just happen to own your very own amphitheater in the desert and would like to book an Over the Rhine concert for this Spring, please contact Stacie at our office immediately: otrhine@aol.com… We’ll pass the info along to our brand new booking agency, and we’ll try to fit you in. We’re open to variety when it comes to concert venues, as you might have noticed.

We would also like to sincerely thank all of you who looked us up last December. We had an absolute blast on our Christmas Tour–I don’t know how else to describe it. Our audiences (You) were warm, quick to smile, energetic–you gave so much. Special thanks to those of you who brought flowers for Karin (!), or came bearing tiny gifts: homemade jewelry, a copy of a favorite book, care packages for the bus… Your generosity is always humbling. We are so fortunate to have encountered such wonderful people who call themselves fans of Over the Rhine.

* * *

Rhinelanders! You are a neglected body of jilted lovers. We’re sending you all a postcard with a secret website address. You can go to that clandestine place and peruse all the artwork, lyrics and liner notes for the new project, check out Northern Spy #4, and then some. This will bring all your memberships to a close, and we may reinvent some new secret society in the future. An Over the Rhine funny hat club! Whatever we come up with, I can promise you it won’t involve me writing regular newsletters.

* * *

The small print. For those of you who would like to pre-order signed, numbered editions of Films For Radio, they are $15 each, and we pay the shipping anywhere in the U.S.A. (Foreign orders, add $5 per cd for shipping and handling.) Phone 513.731.6837 and talk to Stacie. Foreign orders with credit card and shipping info may be faxed to 513.731.9668. (We’ll also be posting order info at overtherhine.com. You can take advantage of our secured server if you wish.) These special signed copies can only be ordered through the end of February. Stacie will ship them out for March 13th delivery to your door.

* * *

Thanks for your time and interest everyone. It’s been a wonderful, heartbreaking, stimulating, fantastic ride. We hope to see you soon.

Bon courage,

Linford Detweiler, for Over the Rhine

ps: Our hearty congratulations to Jack and Hazel on the birth of their son, Finlay Joe Henderson.

February 6, 2001

Films For Radio Red Light Special: Whoa!

Hello again everyone,
The phones have been ringing off the hook at the office. It’s like trying to win tickets on the radio to the Reading Festival in England or something. So glad that so many of you are looking forward to this recording. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm. Orders have been pouring in. We are deluged with your kindness. We are drowning in good will. Grace has been put on hold, and joy has been monopolizing the call-waiting.

I guess my mysterious letter managed to confuse a few people, and we’re still not sure who got it and who didn’t. I’m told it hasn’t appeared in the archive. At least some people probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Yesterday’s letter will be posted at overtherhine.com soon, and the Films For Radio Pre-Order Special should be up and running on line by the end of the day at overtherhine.com. Please order on line using our Secure Server if you can. It will save Stacie a lot of work. Poor girl.

Karin had to hold the phone while she took a pee break.

A few quick clarifications: this special is running for the entire month of February. Come March 1st, it will be over, and there will be no more signed and numbered editions available. But it IS running for the entire month of February, so don’t panic if you didn’t get through today. We’ll sign and number the cd’s to fill however many orders we receive during the month of February, whether that ends up being 500 or 5000. (My hand hurts already.)

Stacie will ship these out so that they will be delivered to your door on March 13th. The cost is $15 per signed cd–we pay the shipping anywhere in the U.S.A. Foreign orders, please add $5 per cd for shipping and handling overseas etc.

One other quick aside: someone printed out a copy for us of an on-line article that was recently sent to the Over the Rhine discussion list. We had a wonderful time speaking with Jessica at Kaldi’s, but one part of the interview made me feel a little awkward when I saw it. The interview took place last November before our Christmas Tour, and since it was published well after the tour, I’m assuming the editors probably changed a few things in order to make it sound more recent.

Jessica was asking about the line-up that we were planning on taking out in December, and it hadn’t been confirmed yet at that time. I answered by saying something like Karin, Jack, Terri and myself and a drummer and a bass player. The editors changed the question to, Who did you take out on tour last December? They left the answer Karin, Jack, Terri and myself and a drummer and a bass player. In my mind, it sounded like, Oh, y’know, Karin, Jack, Terri, myself and some drummer and bass player–like who cares…

Well in case it matters to anyone besides me, we care! Just to clarify, the drummer was Dale Baker, and the bass player was Chris Donohue. If someone would have actually asked me after the tour who we took out, I would have named them with a big grin on my face, because they are a fantastic rhythm section that played such a wonderful part in making our tour last December so enjoyable and memorable. (Wade Jaynes filled in for Chris in Lafayette, Indiana and at The Taft in Cincinnati.)

We always seek to acknowledge the players that we’ve had the privilege of working with. And Dale and Chris are two of the best ever. Just thought I’d mention it.

Well, I better run along. We’ll see you on that Spring Tour that is going to take us to some bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, down to Austin where we’ll be drinking from those deep musical wells, and back to Chicago which a friend of mine just described as the #1 city in America for live music. I couldn’t think of a reason to argue.

Bon courage,

Linford Detweiler

March 12, 2001

Films For Radio Pre-order update

Hello everyone,

Thanks to all of you who took time during February to pre-order a copy of Films For Radio. Almost 2000 of you took time to call or write in advance for your signed and numbered copy. Thanks for your generosity and enthusiasm. Good things have been happening with the record already, and the official release date is tomorrow! Wow, we made it.

Karin and I hunkered down in the dining room, and got our pens out and played records and talked and talked. It was a lot of work, but we had a lot of fun. We listened to Coldplay, Jim Scott, Sigur Ros, U2, Sarah Vaughan, on and on. In case you’re wondering how much time it takes to sign 2000 cd’s, we worked from 5:30pm to 12:30am, got up the next morning and worked till 4pm. We hauled everything over to Stacie, and then took Willow for a meandering run through the woods to celebrate.

A quick note on behalf of Stacie who runs our office, our miracle worker, the Power Puff girl behind the curtain who is coordinating everything. Almost all of the orders have been shipped already (in the order they were received). It’s a bit tricky, because Stacie was under fairly firm directions from Virgin not to have copies circulating in the real world prior to March 13th. We decided to use UPS so that we could track everything, and we were timing everything quite scientifically. But we had a minor snafu with UPS on Friday–we were supposed to receive a big stash of shipping forms for the weekend, and they didn’t arrive. Our Pitney Bowes postage meter was getting low, so we lost a key shipping day for some of the later orders. To make a long story short, everything will ship today or tomorrow, and will arrive very shortly thereafter. Most of you will receive your orders tomorrow as planned. Please bear with us if the precious goods arrive a day or two late. (European orders are a bit hard to pinpoint, but they are in the mail and should be arriving in due course.)

Please don’t call or e-mail Stacie to check on the status of your order. They are all shipping even as we speak. After they’re all shipped, later this week, if you want to call the office to commend Stacie on her excellent work, that’s all fine and good. In short, Stacie, you rock.

Well, now what? We’re going to rehearse this week, and we’ll be seeing all of you before we know it, I would imagine. We’ll keep in touch, and keep you posted on the latest. overtherhine.com is always a good resource for tour dates and general news, or the occasional pithy quote.

Thanks for everything and thanks especially for discovering our music and making it some small part of the story you’re writing with your life,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

June 3, 2001

Hello folks,

I’m stealing a rare moment at home in the attic of the Grey Ghost to write this brief letter of thanks, and to let you know a little of what the rest of the year holds for us.

First of all, to those of you who joined us at any of the 50 or so concerts we just completed, Thank you! Thanks for giving us the best tour we’ve ever had the privilege of experiencing. It only ended yesterday, and it already begins to feel surreal, like a distant dream. You have taught us how drowning works.

Metaphors aside, we continue to be blessed with some of the warmest, most encouraging fans/followers/friends of just about any band going. We appreciate all you’ve done for us, and for allowing us to continue making music and recordings for over ten years, whether or not the mainstream media was aware of us, diligently raising the pop music flag high over the Ohio River.

The garden is growing these days, and we’ve been working very hard. (Or is this an exhausting form of play, the sort of thing that made us flop down smiling as children, lungs heaving, staring at the sky while we caught our breath, lost in the sculpture of clouds?) We’ve been home now for less than 24 hours (after being away for much of the last few months), and in a few hours Karin and I are flying to Paris. We’ve never been there, and we get a day off to rest and walk around before we begin doing interviews and “promotion”. Then we travel to Brussels for more radio and press, then Cologne, then Amsterdam, then back to Paris. We got to sleep in our own bed for one night last night, and because it was only one night, Willow was under the covers with us like a smiling, seventy pound mole.

It’s exhausting to write this at the moment, but we’ll be joining the Cowboy Junkies later this Fall (late October thru late November) for an extensive tour of Europe. Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, France, etc–so many places where Over the Rhine has never had the occasion to go “sur le Rhin”. We’ll post the dates soon, and we’re looking forward to getting to meet those of you who have faithfully written for years, asking when we might visit your country. We’ll be opening for the Junkies as a trio, and then sitting in with them again–should be great fun, and an eye opening trip. We hope to take the full band to Europe next Spring.

We’re planning a special tour again for this December back in the USA, and there will be scattered appearances over the summer, as well as another jaunt out to the West Coast this Fall in one of those Prevost tour buses that we’ve come to think of as home away from home. So hopefully we’ll see more of you. But thanks again for all your support of Over the Rhine. You’ve enabled us to do what we dreamed of doing.

Good things have been happening with Films For Radio. The album was embraced by AAA Radio across the country, entering the top 5 of many stations’ playlists. Virgin/Backporch is going to begin working on other formats over the summer. We’ll see what happens with this complex little collection of home movies. Stay tuned. We may never run with the popular crowd at school, but it feels as if we are uncovering a secret world.

Finally, just for fun. Several literary magazines and publications have in recent months approached me about the possibility of contributing some of my writing to upcoming issues. I was thrilled to contribute part of a memoir to a journal that I’ve subscribed to for years called Image. (The issue will be coming out later this year. We’ll post more info on this and the other publications at overtherhine.com.)

Writing is something that has interested me immensely, and writing is the reason I became a songwriter. After studying piano in college, writing a handful of songs and starting a band was the only option open to me where I could conceivably play around with words for a living. I felt it was the only serious choice at the time.

I didn’t really understand why critics from the beginning referred to the music of Over the Rhine as literate, poetic, full of the “wine dark sparkle of inspired phrase”… We were initially described as quite “bookish” and so on and so forth. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was a writer trapped in a songwriter’s body. Maybe it was because I dreamed of writing. Maybe I was cramming that longing into the lines of my songs.

Anyway, what’s my point? Along with music, I hope to pursue writing with just about everything I can muster in the coming years. But it has occurred to me that as I enter the world of editors and publishers and begin to think seriously about writing, I will inevitably “lose my innocence” in regard to the craft of writing. I will be increasingly forced to think about what I am doing, rather than just writing because I felt the impulse, because I had to to make sense of this life I was given and the world I found myself lost in, because I insisted on opening my eyes and paying attention.

Before that inevitable loss, which happens whenever we begin to pursue something we love, I’m going to weed through some of what I wrote in the last decade while I was still only discovering I was a writer, and collect it into a book that can serve as a document of what I was writing before I knew what I was doing. Before I had the audacity, the hubris, the nerve, the insanity to think of myself as a “writer”. Before it occurred to me, as one writer put it, that I should turn joy into cash!

Well, many of you have asked me when I was going to publish my first book, and I have an answer now: July. The working title for the collection is, Close Enough to Share One Spine. And I’m also going to put the finishing touches on a new collection of solo piano recordings, (Lord willing, I can hear my father say) tentatively called, A Book of Matches and A Satellite Dish. This too will be available in July, but the title might change. A Book of Matches and A Reel to Reel is an option. Also, Michael Wilson has the following great line in one of his books: “hymntime in the land of abandon”. But I’d have to check with not only Michael, (who was generous enough to leave the words “I Don’t Think There’s No Need to Bring Nothin'” on our answering machine), (part of an invitation to dinner), but also Jeff Bell, who wanted to use Hymntime in the Land of Abandon as the title for one of his screenplays.)

We’re still working on the title. What It Takes To Please You is no longer available, so it’s tough.

As we are prone to do in the Imaginary Apple Orchard, we’re going to run one of those red (delicious) light specials and allow the faithful few to reserve signed and numbered copies of these labors of love in advance.

For those of you interested in copies of the book *and* the new piano cd, this is Stacie’s pre-order special: $25 includes shipping and handling for copies of both the book and the cd after they arrive hot off the presses in July. Those of you interested in one or the other (or neither) can order (or not) later in July after they are added to the catalog. The cost will be $15 each plus shipping and handling at that time. (Office note: to clarify, the special is only for those interested in pre-ordering signed and numbered copies of both the book and the cd.)

To place your pre-order, you can call Stacie between 10am and 5pm EST, Monday thru Friday at the Over the Rhine office, fax your order with shipping and credit card info to 513.731.9668, or go to overtherhine.com. Our wise webmaster will be posting info soon on how to take advantage of the July fireworks via secured server.

Thanks again everyone for keeping abreast with us on this “troubled sea that we sail for free”. We hope your lives will grow increasingly vivid and rewarding. Keep in touch and we hope to see you soon,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

July 26, 2001

Hello fellow travelers,

A welcome breeze blew in yesterday evening. The trees waved goodbye to the heat as things cooled down a bit. I love how they turn their leaves inside out in expectation. This morning the world is grey and it looks as if the rain could stay awhile.

I’m in the attic again. Later this morning, Karin and I will drive across Indiana, into Illinois. We’re playing an acoustic concert this evening in Wheaton–a grand piano, a few guitars, a voice. We’ll see what happens.

The year filled up and ran over. We’re standing ankle deep in superfluous life. And rising.

Here is the latest from the Imaginary Apple Orchard.

JULY 2001

The manufacturers have assured us that we will have the new instrumental CD before the end of this month. We’re a little nervous–it’s getting close, but I guess we’ll take their word for it. I recorded the music at home, and if you hear the record, I think you’ll feel as if you were here, sitting at the table, or poking through one of the bookshelves on the South wall upstairs. As soon as we receive the CDs, I will sit down with pen in hand, and Stacie will mail the signed and numbered copies out to those of you who ordered copies in advance. For those that did not pre-order, we will post info later in August about how to obtain copies.

The release date of the book has been pushed back to August 29th. When I started working on the project earlier this year, I had wanted to collect together some of my scraps of writing that had been lying about in half-filled notebooks. When I was in the final stages of sifting and gathering, I happened to see the sky out in Western Illinois, and the book took an exit ramp without warning, pages fluttering throughout the car, spilled coffee, and I began a new piece of writing which seems to want to take over the lion’s share of the space available. Finishing this new piece became the focus of the project, and we are just now entering the production phase. I’ve never done this book-thing before, but I can see that writing is unpredictable and dangerous. Again, those of you who pre-ordered will receive a signed, numbered copy, postage paid, as soon as we receive them. Everybody else can look for more info later in August at overtherhine.com.

In the meanwhile, if you’d like to whet your appetite, I have an excerpt from a memoir published in the current issue of Image magazine. I’ve been a fan of this journal for years, and have managed to collect every issue they’ve ever put out. It was a real honor for me to be included. If you’d like to order the latest issue of Image, and see for yourself what feels like my first real published piece of writing, you can go to www.imagejournal.org, and order online. Many quality bookstores also carry the magazine.

In other news (I think Stacie already mentioned it), Karin will be sitting in with Cowboy Junkies for a few dates on the West Coast later this month, a working holiday:

7/29 Humphrey’s, San Diego
7/30 John Anson Ford Theatre, Hollywood
7/31 House of Blues, Ventura
8/1 Late, Late Show w/Craig Kilborn (CBS)

You can check out cowboyjunkies.com for more info.

AUGUST 2001

Karin and Jack and I will be doing our own version of On The Road in August. We’re going to be playing material from Films For Radio and the earlier records as a trio, as well as trying out some new songs for the first time. There will be about 10 dates on this tour:

8/9 Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH
8/14 Iota Cafe, Arlington VA
8/16 Maxwells, Hoboken NJ
8/17 Mercury Lounge, NYC
8/18 Tin Angel, Philly PA
8/19 Middle East, Boston MA
8/22 tba, Richmond VA
8/23 Grey Eagle, Asheville NC
8/24 tba, Knoxville TN
8/25 Lynagh’s, Lexington KY
8/26 Southgate House, Cinci OH

These shows will be more conversational, loose, unpredictable. A fair number of the venues are new to us. Check the website for more info as the last few dates are confirmed. Hope you can stop by and say hello.

SEPTEMBER 2001

Karin and I will be opening for Cowboy Junkies and joining them for their set as well. We’ll be posting the dates soon. A good number of them are in the Southeast. The Calvin College date will be rescheduled.

OCTOBER, NOVEMBER 2001

We’re off to Europe. More dates opening for and sitting in with Cowboy Junkies. Films For Radio has been released in many European countries (a first for us). We’ve sold more records in Paris than we have in Cincinnati! This is our first extended tour of Europe. We hope to return often.

Karin and I got to fly Over the Rhine in Koln (Cologne) for the first time last June. The Germans reminded us that the Rhine has long been considered a source of inspiration for artists and poets, so there were definitely additional layers of significance to the name in the Old World.

Et mon Dieu: Paris. There are no words for that first walk along the Seine after dark. No words. If you haven’t been to Paris, put her down on your list of things to see before you die.

DECEMBER 2001

We’ll be doing our Christmas tour once again with the band. The date of the big Cincinnati show at the Taft is December 7. More dates will be posted at the site when we get a little closer.

That’s about it for now. I better go pack that tweed suitcase.

Dive into the deep end,

Linford

August 20, 2001

As we walked off stage after our concert in Hoboken, New Jersey, this past Thursday, we received word that Karin’s mother had suffered a serious stroke and wasn’t responding. Because no flights were available, we checked out of our room in NYC and drove through the night back to Ohio. Upon arrival, we learned that a brain hemmorage had caused her to lose consciousness. Fortunately, she had been talking on the phone to a friend when this occurred, and an emergency crew was able to break into her house, resuscitate her, and get her to the emergency room. She was then transferred two hours away to the surgical intensive care unit of a large hospital. The right side of her body is showing signs of paralysis, but she has begun breathing without a respirator and the next few weeks will involve a lot of waiting to see what develops. (Barbara Bergquist is 69 years of age, and Karin is her only child.)

We are uncertain what will be possible for us this Fall at this point, but we have canceled some of our August dates so that we can focus on the important family decisions that will need to be made.

If you would like to send a note of support to Karin in the meanwhile, mail will be forwarded to her from this address:

Over the Rhine
P.O. Box 12078
Cincinnati, Ohio 45212

We’ll post any developments with the band’s schedule etc at overtherhine.com. Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.

That’s all for now,

Linford

October 10, 2001

Hey folks,

It’s Linford here with a quick update for you all.

First, Karin sends her thanks for the heartfelt words of encouragement that so many of you took time to send regarding her mother’s health. They meant more than you know. Look for a longer update from Karin as things continue to progress. Karin’s mother is still trying to regain her speech and the use of the right side of her body, following the brain hemmorhage, but she is in stable condition, and continues to make tiny improvements. She has been transferred to Cincinnati, and it has been a very difficult time, but we continue to hope for the best. Immense thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.

I did do some touring with Cowboy Junkies in September in order to help pay a few band bills, but I was home just in time to celebrate wedding anniversary numero five. So in spite of a lot of what’s been happening, life has had its good moments during these blustery October days. Indian summer. Crows gathering in the trees.

We were deeply saddened and of course stunned by the tragic events that unfolded in NYC, Washington DC and Pennsylvania on September 11. Like so many artists and musicians, we were at a loss for words. We too had to ask ourselves, What place does art and music have in times like these?

Our hope is that we can somehow participate in tiny redemptive acts in the coming months and years, that may (even if in ways embarrassingly small) help to heal this broken world of ours. When any of us encounters beauty, we subconsciously dream of a more perfect world, the door is flung wide on new possibilities that we can’t yet imagine, we breathe more deeply and wonder if we have more to offer than we know. Although I couldn’t imagine making my own music for quite some time after September 11, the music of others held me at times and was a comfort somehow.

While our government launches the bombing campaign in Afghanistan, we are troubled by many conflicting feelings. My heritage is one of pacificism, but it seems presumptuous to wax eloquent about loving one’s enemies when I enjoy the relative safety and prosperity of a land well-guarded. It is the duty of governments, I suppose, to protect themselves and their people. I do believe if the men flying those planes on the 11th could have killed 5,000,000 instead of 5000 they would have done so. It’s unsettling to know that there are people who would happily eradicate Western Civilization. And yet as we start blowing things up in Afghanistan, it is inevitably the poor who will suffer, families huddled along the sides of roads, and it just feels so damn archaic somehow. With all the intelligence and resources that we have available to us, couldn’t we help the world invent a different way? And yet it seems there are many (even in Washington) who are struggling to see the big picture.

Well, I’m sure you’ve all been thinking some of these same things. As usual when it comes to things that matter, there are no easy answers. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims and their families.

Moving on to things Over the Rhine for the time being, again, in spite of everything, we are going to go forward with our tour of Europe. We feel it’s the right thing to do, and we will have the opportunity to introduce our music (God willing) to thousands of new people. Hopefully our guardian angels will have a relatively uneventful trip apart from a lot of sightseeing and some unusually inspired music.

And finally, I have another update on my book project. We had to cancel about 30 shows recently to deal with a family crisis, and I was left with a book project that I suddenly couldn’t pay for. I pulled the plug on plan “A”. In the meanwhile, I was absolutely delighted and surprised when a small press in Kentucky that I have admired from a distance for years, offered to print a limited run of my project. Larkspur Press has been making beautiful, handmade, letterpress books, and chapbooks for years. I had purchased several of their editions of Wendell Berry poems or short stories, and had always thrilled to see their commitment to fine bookmaking. I’ll be meeting with them later this year, and I can’t believe my luck, frankly, that they are willing to be involved.

Now the thing is, they are all Luddites at heart down at Larkspur, and they warned me that they don’t pay attention to deadlines. All they would commit to is getting me my book sometime next year! I, for one, am willing to wait, and eager to see the result of their efforts, whenever that may be.

Karin asked me the other night how many had pre-ordered my book during the little special we ran back in June. I said, Oh, about 250 people. She said, That’s definitely enough for an angry mob.

Well put.

Here is where we are: This book is going to be limited to a run of 500 copies. If you pre-ordered one last June, some time next year you will receive your signed and numbered Larkspur Press edition. If you would like to get your money back because of the delay, just e-mail Stacie at otrhine@aol.com, and she will send you a check for $15.00 and take you off the list.

I’m guessing that, at the end of the day, most people won’t mind waiting, so let’s assume that 250 are spoken for. I would like to give 100 to family and friends, so that leaves 150 that are still available. These will sell for $15 plus $3 shipping, and we will be putting them up on the website catalog soon. If you would like to reserve a copy, you can do so while they last. Because there are a limited number, I’ll go ahead and sign and number these as well.

(For those that pre-ordered, to buy Grey Ghost Stories and the book separately costs $36 with shipping, so you saved $11. We do apologize for the change in plans.)

And last but not least, after an unforeseen two month break, we are thrilled to be doing a few intimate shows this wknd. Friday, we’re playing at Brady’s in Kent, Ohio, and Saturday, we’re playing in the tiny town of Dalton, Ohio, a stone’s throw from Kidron, which is more or less in the heart of Amish country. You can catch the Amish flea market and cattle auction during the day in Kidron, buy a few heifers to feed over the winter, and then hear our own unique brand of sorrow and love flowing mingled down that evening in Dalton. It’s part of a new concept we’re working on: weekend getaways with

Over the Rhine. Wonder of wonders, my parents will be attending this show. Anything could happen.

(Brady’s is the sort of warm, glowing establishment that Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry would have loved after several days of tiresome trekking.)

Go to overtherhine.com for all the pertinent info. We hope to see you.

Until then, be brave and free and inspired,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

October 10, 2001

Hello again,

We have gotten many dozens if not hundreds of perplexed letters from fans of the band over the years that have expressed dismay, lack of comprehension, amusement, disgust or grave offence over things they have read on the Over the Rhine discussion list. And we’ve watched the list shrink over the years to a few hundred people while our other mailing lists or announcement lists have grown to thousands and thousands. Many of the people that took time to write, signed up on the list with great enthusiasm, and then felt they (regrettably) needed to move on for whatever reason. (99.9% of those who wrote wanted to make sure they could keep abreast of all developments with the band, they just didn’t want to do so through the discussion list.)

The common theme of all the letters has been, What does 99% of this stuff have to do with you or your music?

The people who have taken time to write want to know why we give “these people” an unmoderated forum in which they can bicker about religion, slander founding members of the band, flood e-mail boxes with the equivalent of off-topic inside jokes ad nauseum, “flame newbies” etc.

Our response has always been something to the effect of, Well, we don’t really take time to read most of the posts, and the discussion list is not for the faint of heart. Our hope has always been that out of relative chaos would come beauty, and maybe, even more importantly, friendship. And I point to Jay and Lindsey tying the proverbial knot as an example of a most wonderful flower that sprouted from such, supposedly, thorny soil. (Which raises the question of whether they are still on the list.) I also point to the “listies” going way out of their way to rendezvous with one another and share meals before and after Over the Rhine shows. That’s pretty cool.

That being said, it gets trickier when band members we’ve hired do check in on the disscussion occasionally, and then come to me and say, Linford, for God’s sake man, pull the plug.

I’ve put off doing so for some reason, but I do begin to wonder if this forum has run its course and needs to evolve into something else.

The urge to re-examine the Over the Rhine discussion list came to me when somebody sent me an excerpt (more or less immediately) following the events of September 11th in which one of the posts said something to the effect of “Well, it’s about time.” After I realized I was physically ill, it became one of the rare moments in the last ten years when I regretted recording a single note of Over the Rhine’s music, because my band’s name was loosely attached to that sentiment on a piece of paper that someone printed out and handed me. My first response was to respond with outrage, but then I reconsidered the wisdom of doing that, and tossed my letter into the digitial dust bin.

When much of the recording industry went digital, we musician-types discussed at great length ways to keep the warmth in our recordings. Digital recordings tended to be a bit thin-sounding, even harsh, and tended to lack the well-rounded sound of the analog tape recorders we had grown accustomed to. And those funky old reel-to-reel tape recorders were a lot more fun. They even smelled good.

I used to spend hours every week writing letters to friends. I would buy old stamps from the 1940’s and 1950’s at face value for the envelopes and pick odd paper to write on (discarded blue prints, the covers of vintage paper backs, scraps picked up here and there in my travels…) Or maybe I’d pull out the old Smith Corona my Dad had given me and clatter away–the bell ringing at the end of every line. When somebody responded to one of my letters, and I pulled one of their letters from my own mailbox, it would change the tone of my entire day if not week. They were little prizes, little pieces of humanity, cause for celebration. And I love associating handwriting with somebody. It says so much. The way people write is closely linked to their sense of humor, or the way they smile, what they care about. I was a fountain pen junkie. I loved having ink stained on my fingers.

I miss those days. E-mail is a whole ‘nother world, as my wife would say.

When we record our songs digitally, we jump through every imaginable hoop to keep our cd’s sounding as warm as possible. When I send an e-mail, I try somehow to keep some of the warmth of being human in whatever I send, and it’s not easy. The digital world, perhaps technology in general, can suck the warmth out of what makes us humans human.

I guess that’s my complaint about at least some of what I read on the discussion list on a regular basis: it lacks warmth. In a place where, theoretically, we’ve invested a few thousand dollars over the years to bring people together to discuss something as wonderful as music or art and how these intersect with their lives and beliefs, some of what I read on the discussion list is surprisingly, just so damn cold. I wish the tone of much of what I read was warmer somehow. I hope our music exudes a certain warmth, and I like to pray that it does.

And maybe that’s all that many of our fans have asked at the end of the day. They came expecting warmth and a community that could somehow celebrate and respect the diversity of the many people from around the world who have come to discover Over the Rhine’s music. To their surprise, they often found, well, something else.

And I think the list has weathered some storms. Maybe it’s hard to maintain equilibrium when people are constantly coming and going.

At any rate, offensive stuff aside, on behalf of the band and those who work for the band, let me just request generally that those who do choose to participate on the discussion list agree to love one another. Let’s be known, if we are to be known for anything, as a place where people can come to relate music to the whole of human experience, and do so with warmth.

When we started the band, we got in a huddle and agreed to play for anyone that would walk up the sidewalk and buy a ticket. Believe me, we never imagined the diversity of those that would do just that. We’ve played in dives, churches, street festivals, beautiful theatres, on breath-taking campuses (Kenyon College anyone), at folk festivals, hippie festivals. We’ve shared the stage with punk bands at the Daily Double in Akron, Ohio, as well as string quartets in Finland. We even played one high school prom. On paper, doesn’t it seem like a good idea to put all you folks (who are willing) in a room and get you talking? That was our intent.

So make friends. Respect one another. Laugh outloud, but enjoy the diversity of others. Be patient, good dog, y’know, stuff like that. Warm. Avoid, whenever possible, blasting off the verbal equivalent of a digitally-guided Tomahawk missile. These are human beings that we’re talking about.

The unfortunate reality of so many people leaving the list, is that much of the mail we receive directly should be on the discussion list! People write us and tell us all manner of stories, and ask questions that we never dreamed of. I find myself thinking, what a shame that more of this stuff doesn’t find its way to the people that stepped forward at one time and said, I’d like to discuss the music of one of my favorite bands. Maybe it’s time for some of you who have written us letters to come back to the list, or to sign on for the first time. Maybe it’s time for some of you who have left in disgust, to help set a different tone if you can.

Consider it an experiment whose days may be numbered!

And post away.

Yours,

Linford Detweiler

November 28, 2001

Hello everyone,

The late November sky in Ohio is a gray goosedown comforter flung gently over our town, held aloft by leafless trees. It rained before the sun came up. The branches are dark and slick and feminine. An American flag ripples gently on a front porch down the street. A housewife backs her car out of the driveway: the children are at school. Telephone wires out the attic window cut the world into slung crescents, as if this life was painted a slice at a time.

Someone said that J.R.R. Tolkien expressed disappointment that we would use the word “tree” to describe towering sources of shade. Maybe that’s partly why he felt compelled to invent his own language.

Good heavens, we apologize for the technical glitches with the digest version of the discussion list yesterday. The boys in Boston said that a loop was unwittingly created that spewed out messages by the dozens. Good thing God created the delete button. Sorry about the mess in your e-mailboxes.

Well, this is really just a short note to say we made it back safely from touring 13 countries in Europe and the UK. It was the trip of a lifetime in many ways. So many beautiful cities: Dublin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Berlin, Stockholm, Lisbon, Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, small tucked-away towns in Italy etc. Words seemed to want to fall out of my mouth as I looked around.

Italy is a leatherbound book.
We walk on marbled endpapers
beneath the glass blown sky.

There is something about a
mountain vineyard that seems
to suggest, Hope is not
lost. All may be well with the world
after all.

It was surreal to have the opportunity to perform our bag full of songs in such faraway places. We found the audiences to be warm and curious about a band called Over the Rhine. The Germans were especially protective, explaining that the Rhine has long been considered a source of inspiration for writers and musicians. If we could only name the band after a river in every European country…

Thanks to all who made us feel so welcome.

The beds in Scandanavia seemed to want to wrap us up and comfort us. The Norwegians and Swedes in particular have put alot of thought into their duvets and goosedown pillows. Unbelievable. I now understand why some thick blankets are referred to as “comforters.”

Quickly, if we had to appoint an apartment–start a new life abroad with European goods–and were only allowed to take a few things from each country, this is how we might go about fluffing the nest:

>From France: Wine and Food
>From Italy: Clothing, Shoes, Leatherbound Notebooks
(Or Vice Versa)
>From Scandanavia (sorry to lump it all together): Beds and Furniture
>From Germany: Cars, Interior Design
>From England: Literature, Rock and Roll, Newspapers
>From Ireland: Guinness, Music, Literature
>From Scotland: Single Malt Scotch (Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Balvenie etc.)
>From Holland: Fresh cut flowers, Bulbs, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
>From Belgium: Beer and Chocolate

You get the idea.

We definitely need to spend more time in Spain and sunny Portugal. Those countries seemed to slip through our fingers too quickly. We’re planning on a follow-up European, Over the Rhine tour in the Spring–we’ll keep you posted.

I suppose I was surprised at how good it was to get back home to Ohio. If Europe is a lovely, infinite maze, America is a funky, scrap heap of possibility. We run our errands or heat up leftovers and it all feels as if we’ve won a prize. We’re home!

Well, hope you all are well back here on this side of the ocean and that you had opportunity to feast with family and friends this past week–lift a glass to the good things.

We wanted to make sure you knew you were invited to join us for our December tour, and especially our homecoming show here in Cincinnati on December 7th where we’ll be joined by Buddy and Julie Miller and Erin McKeown. It’s been a hard year in many ways, but a good one. Music feels especially good to me right now for some reason. Hope to see you. Check out the website for the particulars, and we’re going to do something we’ve never done: e-mail you a tiny poster that you can print out and give to friends and family if you wish. Or you can discreetly post a copy in a cafe 2000 miles away. In case you were wondering, here is the line-up for the December tour:
Dale Baker: Drums
Wade Jaynes: Bass
Jack Henderson: Electric Guitar
Linford Detweiler: Keyboards
Karin Bergquist: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

We’re hoping to have Kim Taylor sit in on a few things over the course of the
tour, and at the Taft show in Cincinnati, we’ll try to get everyone up on
stage for a few rousing numbers.

We were encouraged by many of the thought-provoking responses we received directly or via the e-mail discussion list regarding the history and future of the list. More on that later. In the meanwhile we encourage you to participate, and we’re going to try to make appearances on the list when we can.

I believe that’s about it for now. Hope to see you down the road somewhere before year’s end.

Peace on earth, goodwill to you and yours,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

January 23, 2002

Hello,

Happy January. This is Linford taking a moment to send a few quick words your way. I hope your year has been a good one so far. Karin and I have spent quite a few days in Barnesville, Ohio, where she grew up, packing up her mother’s belongings, getting the house ready to sell. Many of you continue to ask how Karin’s mother is doing. Barbara Bergquist lives in Cincinnati now and is still receiving therapy. Initially, the doctors didn’t think she would survive her stroke, so as Karin says, we make the best now of these hard won days. Barbara is now able to stand for a few minutes at a time and is able to communicate fairly well using short sentences and phrases. The brain is a mysterious place that doctors know relatively little about. We’ve learned alot about health care culture and continue to take it a moment at a time. Thanks again on behalf of Karin and Barbara for your thoughts, concerns, prayers and notes of encouragement.

Do we know how cats purr? Seems to me that’s a mystery as well, come to think of it.

Moving on to Over the Rhine news, we were moved and humbled by a recently-completed two CD set of cover versions of our songs that fans of the band recorded and collected on a compilation called, What It Takes To Please You. Our jaws dropped open collectively on various occasions, and we smiled alot and even wiped away a few tears. (What more can you ask for in a record?)

What It Takes To Please You is an all-over-the-map collection that hangs together surprisingly well. Drew Vogel and Bruce Lachey coordinated the project and brought it to completion with very few laws broken along the way–a commendable achievement. (Obviously Bruce isn’t yet tuned into the legal nuances of a derivative work, but the liberties he took with Karin’s lyrics have as of yet remained undiscovered by GMMI Music International and Sony Tunes, the publishers of the song. And hey, he was baring his soul, so we ain’t sayin’ nothin’. And our former label mates on IRS, Ozric Tentacles, would undoubtedly raise an eyebrow or two if they discovered their music accompanying a computer-generated version of Jack’s Valentine, but frankly, they’re probably way too stoned to care.)

Anyway, we’re very grateful to those of you that took the time to let us see our songs in a different light. It certainly provided us with some enjoyable and stimulating listening as we drove back and forth across Ohio. We felt loved. And Drew and I were just talking yesterday: it means a lot that such a wide variety of people–professional musicians, people who had never recorded before, garage bands, or a few friends with a microphone set up on a church balcony–all wanted to be involved. Our hats are off to all of you.

To those of you who would like to order a copy, you can go to Drew’s website: DrewVogel.com. All the proceeds go to Cincinnati Shares, a charity based in Cincinnati that does a lot of good for many diverse folks in our community.

In other news, Jack Henderson, who has been playing guitar with us now for over five years, has put out a fine new solo album called Cheap Tattoo. You can check out the monthly special at overtherhine.com if you’d like a copy, or go directly to Jack’s website: bulldogfarmmusic.com. Jack has been doing some producing with other songwriters (with exceptional results). You can also contact Jack at his website if you’re interested in recording at his studio.

Earlier this year, I met with the folks at Larkspur who will be printing the limited edition of my first book, Unsung, and I was strangely moved as I drove off Sawdridge Road just South of Monterey, Kentucky, and onto the lane and across the creek that runs through the 60 acre farm where the presses are located. This will be a small book printed a page at a time with every letter of every word set by hand. They take their time down there! And I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this, but Jay Bolotin, a favorite artist of ours, is contributing two woodcuts to the project which will be printed directly into the book from the woodblocks. This makes me, for one, very happy when I think about it. Again, it will be a simple, handmade affair, and we’re not sure when it will be done. Everytime we talk, Gray Zeitz always reminds me, We don’t work with deadlines.

We’ll keep you posted, and get them signed, numbered and mailed out as soon as we receive them. I’m guessing we’re still talking about (at least) a few months down the road before we see anything. Larkspur’s involvement, although a coup, was not part of the initial plan for the book. If you’d like to get your money back because of the waiting involved, please just drop us a note, and we’ll be happy to send you a refund. Thanks for your patience.

Eric pulled several MP3’s out of the archive this month. Free downloads abound at overtherhine.com. Help yourself.

And finally, the shape of our year is beginning to emerge. We’ll be doing some touring this Spring on the East Coast, the West Coast and a few points in between. Scattered festivals are planned for this summer, including another trip to Europe in August, and we’ll be starting work on some new recordings a few months down the road. We’ll press record and find out what the music sounds like. (You can see some of the confirmed tour dates already at overtherhine.com.)

This weekend, we’re starting off the New Year right at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, Ohio, one of our favorite listening rooms. Jack and Karin and I will play a couple of living room concerts and throw the door open to see what walks in. Join us Friday or Saturday if you can. We often start off the year at Canal Street–these will be the first shows of 2002. We’ll look for you… (More info available at overtherhine.com.)

By the way, we’d like to find two people who would be willing to look after our CD table each night in Dayton this wknd. Each volunteer would receive two tickets and a free cd from our catalog. Please e-mail Blair Woods (BigWalkUp@aol.com) if you’d like to help out.

Hope to see you soon.

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

April 10, 2002

To our extended, ragtag musical family strewn about the world, greetings.

The weather has been all over the map here in Ohio this Spring: early last week it was 75 degrees Farenheit, then it dipped down to the upper 20’s, and we woke one morning to snow that looked like powdered sugar sprinkled on a cheap birthday cake. I’m a little chilly at the moment in this back corner bedroom of the Grey Ghost, but it’s a stunning Spring day, and I’ve been trying to remember what the difference is between a starling and a grackle. The blackbirds, shall we say, have been roosting in our black walnut tree. Two squirrels have been hauling mulch up out of Karin’s perennials into the hollow crook of one of the oaks, so we’ve got our eyes peeled for the arrival of their young ones, assuming that’s what all the fuss is about. The squirrels keep a watchful eye out for Willow.

Can’t remember if we’ve told the story of the young squirrel that followed me home from the park one Spring. Willow cornered it, but spared its life, and by the time I could encourage the dog to break the stare they were both locked in, something seemed to pass between them, some sort of unspoken agreement. It was as if the squirrel had made a pact that if he could go free, he would be “at our service” for the rest of his days.

And sure enough, there he was following after Willow with that textbook squirrel-trot. She was the new Mama. I was the new chaperone. I was afraid Willow was going to step on the little fellow after awhile–he was so intent on staying near her–so I knelt down, and he jumped up into my arms, and I brought him home.

Karin named him Joe Henry, and we sat out on the porchswing for awhile (I realize this sounds sickeningly idyllic) and watched as the squirrel would try to ride around on Willow’s back. The dog wasn’t too thrilled about her new sidekick, but was trying more-or-less to maintain a good attitude.

Well, Karin went out and bought a green bird cage that we set up on the backporch, and Joe Henry slept in there at night. During the day he would go out tooling around in the oak trees. Sometimes he would take naps in the sleeve of Karin’s flannel shirt next to her smooth forearm. One afternoon, after he had been getting a little more wary and aloof and squirrel-skeptical (we hadn’t seen him too much for a few days), he must have gotten into his first squirrel fist fight. I happened to see him easing himself down one of the oaks with a bloody nose, and he soon hopped back into my lap for comfort and re-assurance. He seemed to calm down after awhile. Karin called a “squirrel expert” and of course mothered Joe Henry back to health with eyedroppers and bags of unsalted mixed nuts and what not. Joe eventually made his way out into the world for good, and we left for tour, but we’re pretty sure he ended up being the big squirrel that we often saw on the outskirts of our backyard. Some mornings he would just sit and stare at us from a distance as if he knew a secret the other squirrels didn’t.

Karin named Joe Henry’s girlfriend Lucinda Williams, and believe me, there were plenty of squirrels around for a good while. Our neighbor eventually trapped about a dozen in a live trap and took them out into a woods and let them go free. I suppose this new couple we’ve been watching is getting ready to take over where Joe and Lucinda left off.

If you’d like to see the young Joe Henry, you can check out this link at overtherhine.com:
http://overtherhine.com/people/contributors/jeffbell.html

I believe this snapshot was taken soon after he arrived on the scene, when he was making a fool of himself around the company we had visiting one afternoon.

Well, it’s Spring and here’s the news.

OVER THE RHINE DATES

We’re finally going to make up the Lexington and Atlanta shows we had to cancel back when the flu bug tackled us. (Nashville–we’re still working on.) We have some scattered college dates that we’re looking forward to, and we’re excited to be heading back out to the West Coast of the USA in May for a swing through some of our favorite cities. You can always check out overtherhine.com for links and more info, but here’s a quick rundown.

Apr 12 Lexington KY, Lynagh’s Musiclub, 388 Woodland Avenue
Age Restriction 21+

Apr 14 Atlanta GA, Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Avenue
Age Restriction 21+, tickets on sale at etix.com

Apr 19 Grand Rapids MI, Calvin College
Over the Rhine will perform a 20-minute opening set for Patti Griffin at 9:00pm
tickets $10, 616-957-6282 or tickets@calvin.edu

Apr 20 Canton OH, Malone College, Centennial Center
All ages show (Karin and Linford’s Alma Mater!)

Apr 26 Gambier OH, Kenyon College, Rosse Hall
All ages show (The Kenyon Review was one of the first literary journals to publish Flannery O’Connor. If you haven’t been to Oxford, England, Kenyon will do. Beautiful!)

*Apr 27 Berwyn IL, FitzGerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt Rd.
Age Restriction 21+

*May 03 Seattle WA, Crocodile Cafe, 2200 2nd Avenue
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops, Age Restriction 21+

*May 04 Portland OR, Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops

May 05 Eugene OR, Gutenberg College House Concert, 1883 University St., TWO SHOWS
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops

*May 08 San Francisco CA, Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell Street
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops

*May 10 San Diego CA, The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd.
Note: This is an early show with doors at 6:30 pm and OtR at 7:00 pm.

*May 11 Los Angeles CA, Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
opener Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops

For the dates that are *starred*: We’re looking for two volunteers to sell merchandise for the band. Volunteers get free admission to the show and the cd of their choice. If you’re interested in helping out, please e-mail Blair Woods at BigWalkup@aol.com. Let him know if you are volunteering solo, or bringing a friend. Thanks. (If the club specifies an age-restriction, volunteers must be of age.)

OVER THE RHINE *LIVE* ON THE WEB

You can hear Karin and Jack and Linford this Friday, April 12 at 2pm EST on WRVG in Lexington, and on the web at www.wrvg-fm.org… Cue the tape recorders.

THE LATEST ON THE BOOK: UNSUNG

Jay Bolotin is finishing up the woodcuts for the project which will be printed into the book directly from the blocks. (I ordered the wood for the woodcuts (walnut) from a small town in the mountains of Utah.) The complete text has been type-set by hand and is waiting in the wings. The book should be ready to go into “production” in May. Your patience has been strong. Thanks. Please let us know if your address has changed. What was supposed to be a late summer project last year has grown into a summer project this year. We’re still having fun though and trust that this delay won’t prove too thorny for the early believers in the book. We’ll get there.

FUTURE RECORDING

Virgin/Back Porch have given the go ahead for Over the Rhine to begin work on new recordings which the band will begin working on soon. The band hopes to record two full-length albums later this summer and fall. Stay tuned for more.

MONTHLY SPECIAL

For those of you who like to take advantage of our secure server at overtherhine.com for a little on-line shopping break every once in awhile, Karin and I are signing all the merchandise this month that’s ordered through the website. So if you’ve had a hankerin’ to fill in a few gaps in your Over the Rhine catalog, or if your ex-boyfriend ran off with your original copy of Good Dog Bad Dog, or if you’ve always wanted to get one of those huge, collectible Over the Rhine posters autographed, we’ll be happy to slap a Spring signature or two on whatever you happen to order. Just thought you might like to know.

Check this out:
http://overtherhine.com/catalog/order.tmpl

Well, I should probably go strap on my roller blades and pine for the days when I was an aspiring 15 year old hockey player attending school north of Calgary, Alberta.

Rock on and stuff,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine
(Flying the pop music flag high over the Ohio River.)

(Or something.)

May 14, 2002

Hello everyone,

Before the laundry, before unpacking, before giving the dog her much needed bath, before I plunge into the salty wave of the mundane that is the stuff of life, I want to first pause and say thank you to all of you who came out to support us on the west coast. Many of you came bearing gifts – flowers, photographs, sweets, and REAL Hawaiian coffee (thank you Michelle!- you also win the prize for traveling the most miles!). Thank you all for your generosity.

When we get out on the road, we say, “It’s good to be out on the road again.” And when we get home, we collapse into a heap and say, “It’s good to be home again.” Some things never change.

It is important to be grateful in all things.

So, this leaves me wishing I could show you some memories that play over In my mind. The beaches on Highway One – hairpin turns, ice plant, and the one, not-so-obvious coyote that allowed itself to be seen standing above us on a rock-strewn precipice. He was a good omen. I guess we need one of those fancy digital cameras. Some day….

We stopped a few times for this ocean view and that huge, huge Redwood (one of many) that Jack just felt compelled to hug. Really. He bought a Basic Guide to Trees along with a “special tool” which called for various stops to gather “samples” and “specimens.”

Oh, and a heart-shaped stone – a souvenir for Hazel.

Along the way, we discovered that there were many towns in California we have yet to play. Eureka, San Jose (where I was born), Santa Barbara, Sonoma… I hope we can get to some of these towns some day. It is a mighty big state, after all.

It seems we will always need to plan some extra time for San Francisco. We have so many excuses to stay – all of them friends and family. This trip, I was able to spend some precious one-on-one time with my sister Rose, and also my dear friend Carol-Margaret – by whom I am blessed with so much inspiration. Linford took the BART to spend the afternoon with his sister Frances, her husband Chris and the new-ish nephew, Luke. We celebrated with dinner that night at the Grand Cafe, Hotel Monaco, courtesy of our brother-in-law, Pat. Hats off to Pat. And yet there were many family members we didn’t get to see due to time constraints. But that’s the nature of touring. And it’s our job.

It takes any number of small miracles to put together/pull off a tour of any length. Special thanks to Ali Giampino (Billions) who is the queen of booking agents and to our manager Blair Woods for flying across the gol-darn country to drive our rental from LA to Seattle to meet us – the rental company wouldn’t do one-way. Much thanks to both of them.

We have done most of the spring shows without a crew. Thanks to the local dudes at each of the venues and volunteers who helped us in any way. And thanks to those of you who volunteered to look after our merch.

I am looking forward to this late Spring at home. I need to dig in the dirt and pull some weeds, shore up my rose vines and tend to the jungle that is our back yard. And my favorite part of what we do, writing and recording, will be the focus for much of the coming season. We’ll see you all again soon.

Until then,

Karin, for Over the Rhine

June 29, 2002

Greetings campers,

It’s summertime and I rarely walk out of the house without pausing to pull a small weed or two out of one of the flowerbeds. Jack says a weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place, but he’s not a gardener, as of yet. Quack grass is not a flower under any circumstances.

It’s been an unbelievable year for the tiger lilies. The grape vines have really come into their own as well, although the squirrels keep eating the green grapes. The squirrel population has exploded in the back yard again, so I need to borrow a live trap from Michael Wilson. You have to drive at least five miles before you drop the squirrels off, or they’ll come back. I’m not too worried about the grapes right now, but there is talk of taking a run at a Grey Ghost Merlot one of these summers. Ever since I was a child and my mother showed me pictures she took as a young woman traveling around Europe, I’ve wanted to see a barefooted girl hitch up her skirt and tramp on harvested grapes to crush out the juice.

The catalpa trees went to town this year: big heart-shaped leaves, hundreds of flowers fifty feet or more off the ground. If you can’t remember which tree is a catalpa, look for the big bundles of beans. The tulip trees had a banner year as well. When we were walking Willow in the woods, we kept trying to figure out where all the flower petals and blossoms had come from, strewn along the path.

“Was there a wedding?”

“Probably so.” We had visions of rosy-cheeked, golden-curled flower girls sprinkling exotic petals out of baskets. My oldest brother Conrad finally pointed out it was the tulip trees dropping their blooms. Sure enough, we leaned back and spotted the flowers hidden toward the sky in the leafy branches.

When Conrad and his wife Kathy visited us this Spring with their five robust country children, a walk in the woods felt completely different. Their children, Jonathan, Hannah, Jesse, Rachel and Seth, *engage* with the earth: they get down in the dirt on eager hands and knees. Rachel found a beautiful snake skin that she carried home. Jesse ran ahead and came back with reports. Jonathan caught two snakes with his bare hands, and one of the water snakes bit him and drew a little blood. Conrad warned him that they were further South then usual and had to be careful of snakes, but he wasn’t too worried because the snake didn’t have fangs, just spiky, tiny teeth.

“We’ll know something’s the matter if you start babbling, if your sentences begin to fall apart,” Conrad said.

The children were splashing around in the creek knee deep overturning rocks, reminding me that I should never walk by a creek without keeping my eyes peeled for fossils. They had a contest to see who could cross the creek walking on a fallen tree, the naked trunk slick with dampness and the greens of tiny mosses and molds.

The children sleep in the attic of the Grey Ghost under eaves of odd angles.

In other news, we were informed that a horse gave birth earlier this year, and the offspring was christened OTR Tribute, OTR for short. They thought OTR was a filly at first, but it turned out to be a colt. He’ll be entering some initial competitions this August at the Ohio State Fair and then down in Lexington, so keep your fingers crossed. The thought of a Thoroughbred named OTR Tribute makes me very happy somehow.

In other news, we just realized that we’re going to be playing our 10th Cornerstone Festival this year. Unbelievable. I don’t even remember how we got hooked up with C-Stone Fest back in the early days of the band, but it’s hosted by an inner-city mission based in Chicago run by a wonderfully odd assortment of bohemian philanthropists. The festival has grown over the years and now draws about 25,000 people to the middle of nowhere to hear mostly underground bands. Surreal, dusty, sweaty, somehow unforgettable. Anyway, we’ve been honored by being invited back repeatedly, and here we go again. Our friend Dave Nixon will be looking after our booth for us. Dave presided at our wedding back in 1996 on a fine October day. If you want to volunteer to help Dave out, stop by the booth, and he might sign you up for a shift so that he can take a breather. He’s a fine writer, good company, and his daughters’ band, Brownhouse, will be playing the festival for the first time this year…

Unsung is finally done. My first book. I’ll be driving down to Kentucky to pick them up this afternoon. If you pre-ordered a copy, and plan on being at Cornerstone, you can pick up your signed and numbered first edition there. We’ll be mailing out all the others right after we return from the festival. (Make sure we have your latest address if it changed.) I really appreciate the patience of those who ordered the book so long ago.

Many people asked us about the possibility of getting a copy of Unsung after the first run sold out in advance, and thanks to the good folks at Larkspur Press, we were able to secure a second edition of an additional 500. So there should be plenty of books to go around for the foreseeable future. We’ll see how many people actually write in to pick up a copy, and if they move quickly, we might consider a small third edition. But when the letters get dumped out of the letterpress forms, there are no more books. (The text of the book was set entirely by hand, one letter at a time, with a tweezers, backwards. The woodcut illustrations were pressed directly on to the pages from the actual woodblocks.)

It’s a small book. A first step. They are beautiful. You could say that I’m happy.

We’ll get the ordering info up on the website soon.

After Cornerstone, we’re going to disappear for awhile to do some recording. In August, we’ll be playing some concerts around Europe and visiting Jack and Hazel in Scotland. They bought a house in a small village there. The rest of the European dates will be posted soon. We’ll performing in Holland, Italy, England, Ireland, Wales and, hopefully, Belgium.

In September we hope to do a handful of concerts in the South–Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee.

Here are a few recently added links at overtherhine.com to check out:

European Tour dates:
http://overtherhine.com/when/tourdates/index.html

Malone College interview with Linford:
http://overtherhine.com/story/pressarchive/2002/06/01.html

Silver Platters (Seattle) review of Grey Ghost Stories by Lisa M. Smith:
http://overtherhine.com/story/pressarchive/2002/06/02.html

Thanks to Megan Holmes and Ken Carl for concert photos:
http://overtherhine.com/when/concertphotos/index.html

That’s all for now.

Enjoy these days,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

September 18, 2002

Hello from Ohio,

It’s high time we checked in with you all. Autumn is just around the corner. Sign me up.

We arrived back safely from Europe. It’s good to be home. We got to spend most of a week with Jack and Hazel and Finlay at their cottage in Lead Hills, Scotland. Scotland was chilly, damp and deep grey and green the week we were there. Lots of aromatic pipe smoke and Lagavulin to warm the blood and the heart. The sun did come out gloriously on the last day which we spent together in Edinburgh.

And it was soon time for Jack and Karin and I to pack up the instruments and head back out into the world to play concerts in Holland, England, Ireland and Wales. The concert in Italy was cancelled because the venue on the coast was destroyed earlier in severe weather, so we had an unexpected holiday in Pisa–two days and three nights. Italy opens her arms in the most intoxicating ways, and it’s not just the ’97 Chiantis. We stayed in an old hotel right along the river in Pisa. We climbed the leaning tower at sundown. And Karin and I got to make another day trip to Lucca and take an evening stroll around the wall of that tiny city. There is a road on top of the wall (4.5km) flanked by ancient sycamores. The clouds that clung to the mountains in the distance after the afternoon rains… We were each lost in our own thoughts on the night train ride back to Pisa, so many images to process.

Dublin is a place full of poetry and music lovers. This tiny country called Ireland, one tenth the size of Texas, has given the world an abundance of colorful writers: Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, G.B. Shaw, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, C.S. Lewis–and many others. Karin and I took a literary pub crawl around Dublin with two Irish actors who kept us in stitches with anecdotes of writers and recited passages from the pages of many a fine book. As we walked around Dublin, I couldn’t help but notice that the national treasures seemed more modest than those on display in say Rome, Paris, London, Madrid or Amsterdam. Maybe there is a different sort of wealth that has been accumulated in Ireland, something to do with language and music and kindness.

We had dinner outdoors in Amsterdam and watched the folks from the city idle up and down the canals in their sleek wooden boats with dinners spread out and glasses of wine in hand. We played a fine venue there called Melkweg, Dutch for “milky way”. It was a converted dairy plant and boasted an enthusiastic audience hollering requests, making us feel good.

It was great to return to Greenbelt and Flevo festivals–although we were in and out quickly this time around. We ended the tour in Laugharne, Wales, stomping grounds of Dylan Thomas. We were surrounded after the show by curly haired, husky farmers from the area, as well as a smattering of folks that had driven in from England. A surreal, special evening. Even a hundred or so cows came over to the edge of the field next to Hurst House after the show leaning as far over the fence as they could.

We spent our last night with Lucy in London, and flew home the next morning.

So we’re back at the Grey Ghost again, and it’s back to work on some more recording in the coming weeks. The folks at Virgin/Backporch have set a tentative release date for the next record: April 8, 2003. We’ll see what happens. (!)

We’re also planning a bit of a Rhinelander Revival. The big Christmas show this year at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati is scheduled for December 8th, a Sunday evening. The following Monday, December 9th, we’re planning to do a more intimate “Q&A” concert at a smaller venue here in town, more of a hang-out-and-say-hello-in-person-type-thing. (And a chance for more of you, to meet each other.) There will be a few other surprises connected with this affair–more later. But in the meanwhile mark your calendars for December 8th and 9th. We realized that these will be our only Cincinnati appearances this year, so we’re gearing up for a good time. Hope you can join us.

Turns out that this Fall, Karin and I are playing a series of living room concerts here and there. We tried this out in Madison, Wisconsin, last Saturday, and it was a blast for us to rework some songs we hadn’t done in a awhile, along with trying out more new stuff. With the exception of the occasional one-off, we really haven’t done much performing in the last decade as a duo, so it’s a bit of an undiscovered country for us. We were a little surprised at how much fun we had. So we’ll try this for a bit before firing the full band back up. Here’s what we got:

Friday, September 20, Birdy’s, Indianapolis, IN
Saturday, September 21, Schuba’s, Chicago, IL (two shows)
Sunday, September 22, Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis, MN

Friday, September 27, Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH
Saturday, September 28, Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH

Thursday, October 17, Jammin’ Java, Vienna, VA
Friday, October 18, Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Saturday, October 19, Club Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA

Monday, October 21 Lexington, KY, Woodsongs (Radio Broadcast)

Friday, November 1, Memphis, TN
Saturday, November 2, St. Louis, MO

Check out overtherhine.com for more specifics…

If you’d like to volunteer to help out with merch at any of the above in exchange for a free ticket and a free cd, pls contact Blair Woods: BlairW@aol.com. Thanks.

That’s about it for now off the top of our heads. Keep in touch and hope to see you soon. And thanks for everything,

Linford for Over the Rhine

October 17, 2002

Hello everyone,

Hope all is well. Karin and I drove to Hagerstown, Maryland, yesterday. We have concerts this evening (10/17) in Vienna, Virginia, tomorrow (10/18) at Messiah College (near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and then Saturday (10/19) in Pittsburgh. If you can join us, check out overtherhine.com for more details. We’d love to see you.

We couldn’t help but notice last night as we drove up to the hotel, that we crossed Antietam Creek. Antietam was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War. So we’re going to wander around this afternoon and see what we can find before we head to the venue.

We recently watched the Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War, and have come to learn that we’re increasingly thirsty for history. Does this mean we’re growing older? Last week, I read a book by James Bradley called, Flags of our Fathers, a true account of the six boys that raised the flag over Iwo Jima in WWII. Heartbreaking, shocking, humbling stuff. History does inevitably pose rhetorical questions to each of us: What am I doing with these days that I’ve been given? How will I look back on my life years from now? What kind of a person am I?

Well before I wander too far off, I should get back to the point of this letter.

Y’all might want to check out the special we’re running at overtherhine.com between now and the end of the year.

Enjoy and more later,

Linford for Over the Rhine

October 24, 2002

Hello from Ohio,

The Grey Ghost, the 111-year-old wooden house we call home, is being poked and prodded, scraped and scrubbed. A new coat of paint has been a long time coming, and she’s going to look pretty good in her new grey gown. The sun hit the gable just right yesterday, and we could almost convince ourselves we were living in Maine.

Thanks to all of you who made our concerts last wknd in Virginia and Pennsylvania so memorable. We truly enjoyed ourselves. We were able to fit in a short tour of the Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland, and we couldn’t drink in deep enough the fall colors in Pennsylvania. We stopped at Sidling Hill on the way to Pittsburgh and stocked up on this year’s apple butter for the winter. There’s a buffet-style restaurant in St. Clairsville, Ohio, called Mehlman’s that did the trick for Sunday Dinner on the way home. (We were some of the few people under the age of 60.) Great pumpkin pie, devilled eggs, pickled beets–check it out sometime.

This is all so rock and roll.

We finally have our itinerary (99%) nailed down for December, and we wanted to get that to you pronto. We always look forward to these end-of-the-year tours. There’s something about breathing the crisp air in a new town every morning while the year winds down. And there’s that indescribable sense of coming in out of the cold after dark to make some warmly-lit music with a bunch of you folks.

We’re very happy to announce that Bill Mallonee from Athens, Georgia, will be joining us for all the December dates this year. Those that know Bill’s music know that it’s road-tried and tested. Bill is one of the most prolific songwriters we’ve ever met, and I think the reason we’ve connected with his music over the years is because (like most good music) it’s connected to his deepest human places. Bill’s music is all about busted-up dreams, hard-won personal victories and a few deeply-cherished loved ones. (For those of you who are not familiar with Bill, up until recently he called his band Vigilantes of Love. Check out billmallonee.com for more.)

So here’s what we’re looking at:

*************OVER THE RHINE W/very special guest Bill Mallonee**************

FRI 12/6 – CINCINNATI, OH Taft Theatre
SAT 12/7 – CHICAGO, IL Schuba’s (two shows)
TUE 12/10 – CLEVELAND, OH – Beachland Ballroom
THU 12/12 – BOSTON, MA – House of Blues
FRI 12/13 – NORTHAMPTON, MA – Iron Horse
SAT 12/14 – NEW YORK, NY – Makor
SUN 12/15 – PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Point (two shows)

The Taft date changed several times due to some unintentionally crossed wires etc. Show biz stuff. We were going to try to do a smaller Q&A concert after The Taft show, but after the Taft date changed for the third time, we had to let the smaller gathering go for the time being. We’ll try to do something along those lines when our next Virgin/Backporch release comes to fruition. (Late Spring 2003?) More later on that.

Check out overtherhine.com for more details on the dates which will be posted as soon as Eric gets back from his camping trip. We’ll try to let you know soon when tickets go on sale for The Taft. This show is our only hometown appearance this year!

Also, be sure to check out the special we’re running at the website between now and the end of the year…

That’s it for now. Looking forward to seeing you.

Best,

Linford and Karin of Over the Rhine

ps Holy cow, we almost forgot November.

FRI, 11/1 – MEMPHIS, TN – Hi-Tone
SAT, 11/2 – ST. LOUIS, MO – Blueberry Hill
SAT, 11/23 – ANN ARBOR, MI – The Ark

November 21, 2002

Hello all,

The towering oak tree in the corner of our backyard has been messing with me. I know that many oaks are funny about their leaves. The black walnut is bare. The sycamore across the street is newly white-limbed. The lilac bush is nothing but nude. The catalpas in the park are up to their knees in heart-shaped leaves.

Twice I’ve made peace with the tree. I know you’re going to keep a good number of those leaves, I say, especially in your uppermost branches, until next spring. That’s fine by me.

Twice I’ve raked our yard front and back bare as a swept rug. The piles of leaves go into my box, I empty the box into the areas we’re mulching thick into a soft springy bed of sweet-smelling autumn.

But inevitably, the morning after, here they come. A steady sprinkle, not a lot, just enough to un-rake the yard little by little. A sort of brown manna from above. On the porch, on the grass, on the car–every single leaf an oak leaf from the oak in the corner of our backyard.

Some of these late leaves spin down shyly within a few feet of the base of the tree. Others catch some unseen current and careen over the top of the house and disappear from view. Some leaves write their names jaggedly all over the air with a sort of strange cursive. You can almost imagine them tracing the outline of some wild music just beyond our reach. They come a few at a time, and the remaining leaves peer down and rattle their breezy, brittle, leathery applause.

I’m going to have to rake the yard again sometime around Thanksgiving.

***

I wanted to say thanks to those of you who purchased a copy of my first book, Unsung. We printed a first signed and numbered edition of 500. We did a second edition of 500 because many of you who had missed the pre-sale asked about getting a copy. The second edition has been disbursed. The hand-set lead type has been dumped out, the ligatures have been returned to their special compartment, there is no more book.

But thanks to all of you for making my first attempt a good experience. Those words were initially written as the introduction to a much longer piece, so who knows, maybe there will be more somewhere down the line. Special thanks to Larkspur Press and Gray Zeitz for doing such beautiful work on the printing and binding, and to Jay Bolotin for the woodcuts.

(I have the pale curtains drawn, but it’s sunny and the falling oak leaves trickle shadows across the second-story windows as if to say, We know you’re in there Mr. Detweiler, with that rake of yours. You can close the curtain, but the show goes on.)

We’re gearing up for more concerts. Karin and I got to see a lot of color this fall with trips across Pennsylvania and Maryland, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri, Indiana and Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois. Scientists explain why sap rises, but they do not know why sap rises.

We’ll be heading to Ann Arbor this Saturday (November 23rd) for a show at The Ark, a listening room with a lot of history connected to it. We’d love to see you if you can join us. Jason Dennie, a favorite, will be opening.

And our Christmas tour approaches quickly. We’re going to try something a little different this year. Maybe we’ll just leave it at that for now, let you come in out of the cold to a warm room soon-to-be-filled-with-music. Maybe we’ll rediscover each other. We’re very happy about Bill Mallonee from Athens, GA joining us for these dates:

FRI 12/6 CINCINNATI, OH Taft Theatre
SAT 12/7 CHICAGO, IL Schuba’s (two shows)

TUE 12/10 CLEVELAND, OH Beachland Ballroom

THU 12/12 BOSTON, MA House of Blues
FRI 12/13 NORTHAMPTON, MA Iron Horse
SAT 12/14 NEW YORK, NY Makor (two shows)
SUN 12/15 PHILADELPHIA, PA The Point (two shows)

Learn more as per usual at overtherhine.com.

There has been talk of Over the Rhine doing a DVD project. The Taft show in Cincinnati will be filmed/taped this year, and the Minneapolis-based producer/director that we’re working with would like to interview fans before (and possibly after) the show. If you’re interested in being interviewed, drop Kris a note:

montageproductions@hotmail.com

Kris asked us to mention that the interview questions will be along the lines of: “Describe Over the Rhine’s music in a few phrases (What happens when you listen, what do you see, feel…)” Talk about a song that has relevance in your life or an experience when the music of OtR affected you in some way

And there will be other questions, unpredictable and spontaneous. Big questions, little questions. Mid-sized questions.

This project will hopefully continue throughout the coming year, and will document some of the making of the records that we’re currently working on, but December 6th will be the first real footage shot. We’re anxious to see some of your faces and hear your stories.

***

There are two charities that will be involved this year with our hometown show on December 6th at The Taft. The first is The Inclusion Network. They will be selling the King Records Tribute CD, Hidden Treasures, which benefits the work they do on behalf of the disabled in our community.
(http://www.inclusion.org/index2.html)

The second charity is the Battered Women’s Shelter at the Cincinnati YWCA. Karin has been discovering this organization and has been nothing but impressed with their work. Here’s where you can help. Make a note, if you can, to bring a little something along to the show to bless women and children this Christmas that are recovering from difficult family circumstances. Here is a very practical “wish-list” that the shelter has provided us with:

Paper products (paper towels, tp etc)
Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, deoderant)
Diapers
Laundry Soap
Combs and Brushes

If you’d like to make a donation to the shelter, you can bring a check made out to the YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter. Thanks for joining us in trying to spread a little love… (www.ywcacincinnati.org)

Finally, we need two volunteers to help sell merch for these upcoming shows (including this wknd in Ann Arbor)! Volunteers receive a free ticket to the concert and a free cd afterward. If you’re interested, please e-mail Blair Woods asap. (BigWalkUp@aol.com) (Thanks!)

Well, that’s about it for now. It’s hard to believe, but the holiday season is upon us. Here’s hoping that you discover something real this year, off the beaten path.

Yours,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

ps We’ve realized that our office fax and phones have been under the weather. Sorry about that. We’re working on it. If you need to reach us, try otrhine@aol.com.

December 5, 2002

Well folks,

It’s time. There is snow outside. Highs in the low-20’s today. Towns w/o power in the south and parts of the Midwest. Yes, it’s time for Over the Rhine to hit the road.

Quite often, prior to these December tours, Karin and I look at each other and say, What were we thinking?

But in spite of snowy roads, in spite of our breath making ghosts in the icy air, these hard-won, after-dark Christmas concerts are usually among our favorite shows of the year. There’s just something about coming in out of the cold to make music for warm-blooded folks. We’re playing as an acoustic quartet this December with a cellist and percussionist–something we’ve never tried. And somehow, even after all these years, we are excited by the prospect that we have no idea what will happen.

A few reminders:

If you’re coming to the Cincinnati show on Friday, please remember to bring an item to donate to the Cincinnati YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter. (There’s something oddly heartening about showing up at a concert with a 24 pack of TP under one arm. Sort of helps everyone keep perspective.)

And if you’d like to be interviewed before the Cincinnati concert, doors open at 7pm. Kris Barberg, our producer, will be set up in the downstairs lobby. She and a crew are shooting the concert. We’re beginning to gather footage for a DVD project, and we’d like you to participate if you’re so inclined. Bring along a few stories, and you can leave your hat on.

So we’re playing this month in Cincinnati, Chicago (two shows), Cleveland, Boston, Northampton (Mass), NYC (two shows) and Philadelphia (two shows). Bill Mallonee is joining us for all the dates. Woot!

You can check out overtherhine.com for more on all the above. (And it’s a great place to get your hands on a fist-full of cd’s if you want to spread some music around this Christmas.)

Thanks for everything.

Happy holidays,

Over the Rhine

December 21, 2002

Howdy,

Today is a blustery, bright December day in Ohio.

We wanted to take a few moments to wish you all happy holidays. We returned home safely from our Christmas tour and have been reflecting on how much we enjoyed ourselves. Thanks to all of you who attended the shows and (heavens to Betsy) to those of you who came loaded down with treats: flowers, cookies, tiny drawings, heart-shaped waffles, banana bread, jewelry, birthday cake!, baskets of Swedish treats, bottles of wine and so on–you surprise and delight us with your kindnesses along the way. Thank you.

We’d like to especially thank Bill Mallonee for joining us on all these dates. And big thank you’s of course to the Texans: Brian Standefer (cello) and Will Sayles (percussion) and to our tour manager from Windsor, Ontario: Mike Sponarski.

We’d also like to thank Kris Barberg for toting her cameras around and taping a fair bit of the proceedings. We’ll be working on a DVD project with her in the coming year. We’re anxious to see what she’s come up with so far and we look forward to eventually hearing the stories of those of you who were interviewed.

So we picked out a 9′ Frazier Fir last night and began decorating. Today we’re going to try to prune and trim the pine tree in our front yard and wrap it in strands of white lights. We feel sort of bad about trimming a tree in December, but our A&R man at Backporch owns a Christmas tree farm in Wisconsin, and he says it should be fine. Our particular pine rejects the classic cylindrical shape and grows wild and glorious in all directions.

We’re closing the Over the Rhine office for the holidays. If you ordered CD’s etc from the website, everything has been shipped out Priority Mail. We’ll take care of any additional orders after Christmas.

We are grateful to all of you. It’s been a good year.

Well that’s it for now. We’ll be hunkered down for the first several months of next year trying to get some of these songs wrestled onto tape. We’ll see you at the end of March.

Blessings and other good things your way,
Linford and Karin

– – –

We’d like to recommend the therapeutic massage of our friend Sandie Brock. We think you’ll appreciate her sweet spirit and your body and soul will thank you.

– – –

TURN OFF THE TV: Life is too short to live without a good piano in the house. We’d like to thank Terri and Jack Krefting for helping us find our Steinway. If you’d like to find your own dancing partner with 88 keys, give Terri Krefting a call.

July 1, 2003

Hello everyone,

It’s been a long time. Hope you’re all doing well this summer.

Just a short update for now. Over the Rhine has finished a new double album. It’s called OHIO. OHIO contains 20 new songs and over 90 minutes of music. If you have as much fun listening as we had recording, it’s going to be a good year all around.

Virgin/Back Porch will release OHIO August 19th in the USA, and across Europe and in South Africa on September 8th.

You may recall that we had thought maybe we would record two projects simultaneously: one more sparse, the other full-bodied. In the end, it felt like the songs belonged together, so we surrendered ourselves to our first double album.

OHIO is our tenth project overall, and we will be doing a special edition on vinyl in a gate-fold jacket. Much more on all this later.

I’m not sure what happened, but while we were recording OHIO, we made peace finally with the idea that this music has a lot to do with why we’re here. Writing and recording songs is just what we do, and I think we’re letting go of the suspicion that maybe there is something more important lurking around the corner. While we were making OHIO, I had the calm but happy realization that barring some unforeseen catastrophe, we’ll still be making records 20 years from now. It’s good to know what it is that you’re meant to be doing.

It looks like we’ll be touring all of the USA once again this Fall, and we’re looking forward to seeing all of you again. Our booking agent is confirming dates now. In a few weeks, you’ll start to see some routing posted at overtherhine.com. We’re planning a release concert at Bogarts here in Cincinnati on August 30th. Then we’ll start in the Midwest, head East, then out to the West Coast and South through Texas, New Orleans etc. Stay tuned for more at overtherhine.com.

In the meanwhile, if you’re planning on seeing the band at Cornerstone this Friday at midnight, you’ll hear some of the new songs from OHIO for the first time. We’ve got a wonderful five-piece band with us that we’re considering for the Fall tour, and we’re feeling pretty cathartic these days, so hang onto your chairs. Karin and I are also performing an acoustic set on Thursday at 6pm, and we’re doing a songwriting workshop Thursday at 4pm. So, stop by and say hello if you’re in the vicinity.

Also, our good friend and mentor Dave Nixon is looking after our booth this year. We’ve got some fine new t-shirts hot off the presses to check out, and if you’re just in need of some good company, feel free to stop by for a little conversation. Dave is one of our all-time favorite people.

There have been hundreds of details beckoning in regard to the impending release of OHIO, but I think things will start to settle down in a few weeks. We’ll get the website updated and begin taking advance orders for OHIO, in case you’d like to reserve a signed copy with a few special treats thrown in.

In the meanwhile, I’m off to proofread the liner notes and credits one last time before we let them go.

Till we meet again,
Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

ps Discussion list folks: Do you have any favorite double albums? Least favorite? It’s hard to imagine the history of rock ‘n’ roll without The White Album, London Calling, Exile on Mainstreet, Songs in the Key of Life etc. Where have all the double albums gone?

September 1, 2003

Note from Karin:

Hello everyone and thank you so much for coming out this weekend in support of the release of ‘OHIO’. You gave us much to be thankful for. I can’t tell you how great it felt to be able to see you all, and of course, how amazing it was to play our songs for you under the stars.

A special thanks to those of you who came bearing gifts, or Mojo, as we like to say. I have managed quite a collection of treats over the years and Linford can vouch for the fact that I keep it all! Thank you Annabelle and Bill for the flowers and treats and a big tip of the hat to Keith for driving twelve hours from New York to spend the weekend with us at the shows! I heard a rumor that one couple flew in from Portland, Oregon? Is this true? Thanks to all the listees who keep that on-line torch lit and burning well, and who manage to make every show an event. And of course, thanks to the hospitality staff at both The Dame and the Moonlight Garden venues. You made us feel so welcomed. I am so looking forward to this tour and hope to see you all out there somewhere along the way. Safe travels to us all.

until we meet again,

Karin, for Over the Rhine

September 16, 2003

Hey y’all,

Hello from OHIO.

Well, it’s just about time. Our suitcases are lying open in the bedroom. There’s a hint of crisp Fall weather in the air. The squirrels in the backyard have been stuffing black walnuts in unlikely places. The clouds have had a deep blue backdrop of late and breezes to skid them across the sky…

We’re going on the road.

Karin and I drove to Bloomington, Indiana, this past Sunday to have dinner with Paul Mahern, the silver-haired, radiant young man who helped us record the songs on OHIO. Paul lifted a glass and said, Hooray for us! And we laughed and talked our way through a meal outdoors, a cool late summer evening. We agreed that we had all been given good lives. There is such a thing as grace.

Our new double disc set, OHIO, was released several weeks ago. Reviews have been coming in and a lot of critics have taken time to really wrestle with the songs and themes of this accidental double album. Even writers who were unfamiliar with Over the Rhine seem to want to spend a lot of time with the music. One reviewer said he secretly hated the record because he couldn’t stop playing it! Anyway, we think of our fans as deep listeners, and we try to make records accordingly. Thanks for all the little notes of encouragement you’ve sent our way. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

If you’d like to read a couple reviews of OHIO, copy and paste these links into your browser:

http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/o/overtherhine-ohio.shtml

http://www.nynewsday.com/entertainment/local/newyork/ny-p2top23417932aug19,0,7279223.column?coll=ny-nyc-entertainment-headlines

http://promontoryartists.org/lookingcloser/music/ohio.htm

We’ll start posting more at overtherhine.com when we get around to it, which might take awhile actually.

We received an advance issue of Paste Magazine #6 and were a bit stunned to see that the editors had devoted 6 and a half pages to OHIO, and given it a five star review. It’s especially gratifying, because it’s one of the few magazines that Karin and I read pretty much cover to cover. The editors of Paste Magazine are doing a beautiful job of spreading the word regarding music (and culture) they feel is deserving that may or may not receive coverage in the mainstream media. If you haven’t subscribed yet, go to PasteMagazine.com. If you’re a music lover that enjoys looking a bit deeper, you won’t regret it. Each magazine comes with a 22-song sampler cd of new music.

It was through Paste Magazine that we discovered the music of Irish singer, Susan Enan, and we asked Susan to join us, along with Stephen Delopoulos, as the opening acts for the first two legs of our upcoming tour. (Stephen has a song on the forthcoming Paste sampler as well.) We certainly hope you can join us for a wonderful evening of music and camaraderie.

Once again, we’re asking for two volunteers to look after our merch on these upcoming dates. Volunteers receive free admission to the concert and a free cd and get to meet many of the fine folks that attend our shows! If you’re interested, please e-mail Michele at micbunch@yahoo.com and put “Merch volunteers” w/venue, city and date in the subject.

Here are the tour dates:

(Shows with asterisks are already covered…)

THU 9/18 CLEVELAND, OH Beachland Ballroom w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
*FRI 9/19 GRAND RAPIDS, MI Calvin College w/special guests Susan Enan and Sufjan Stevens (Sufjan has a new cd called Michigan. Nebraska and Ohio were taken.)
SAT 9/20 CHICAGO, IL Schuba’s w/special guest Susan Enan
SUN 9/21 CHICAGO, IL Schuba’s w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
TUE 9/23 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Fine Line w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
WED 9/24 MADISON, WI Luther’s Blues w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
FRI 9/26 DUBUQUE, IA Busted Lift w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
SAT 9/27 ST. LOUIS, MO Duck Room w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
SUN 9/28 MEMPHIS, TN Hi-Tone w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
TUE 9/30 KNOXVILLE, TN Pilot Light (Note new venue) w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
WED 10/1 LOUISVILLE, KY Uncle Pleasant w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
THU 10/2 INDIANAPOLIS, IN Birdy’s w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
FRI 10/3 BLOOMINGTON, IN Vertigo w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
SUN 10/5 CRITTENDEN, KY GRANT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (Near Cincinnati,
afternoon show) w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
THU 10/9 PITTSBURGH, PA Moondog’s (Note new venue) w/special
guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
FRI 10/10 PHILADELPHIA, PA North Star Bar w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
SUN 10/12 NEW YORK, NY Bottom Line w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
MON 10/13 NORTHAMPTON, MA Iron Horse w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
TUE 10/14 BOSTON, MA TT the Bears w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
THU 10/16 ARLINGTON, VA Iota w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
FRI 10/17 ASHEVILLE, NC Stella Blue w/special guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
SAT 10/18 ATLANTA, GA Echo Lounge w/special
guests Susan Enan and Stephen Delopoulos
SUN 10/19 NASHVILLE, TN 12th and Porter w/special guests
Griffin House and Stephen Delopoulos
FRI 10/24 DAYTON, OH Canal Street Tavern
SAT 10/25 DAYTON, OH Canal Street Tavern
SUN 10/26 BERWYN, IL Fitzgerald’s

We’ll start with the above, and work on the West Coast dates a little later. We’re still finalizing a few things… Stay tuned for more at overtherhine.com…

If you’d like to be among the first to join our new “Over the Rhine Street Teams”, and help spread the word about our music and the above, please e-mail OTRteams@yahoo.com for more info.

We think you’ll love this five-piece band. We’ve been blessed through the years with the privilege of collaborating with a lot of good people and players who have taught us much. But wow, fasten your seatbelts. We are so looking forward to this.

We’ll be sending out information soon regarding the forthcoming special edition of OHIO on vinyl! My head’s spinning like a broken record player…

Have a wonderful Fall and come say Hello.

Godspeed,

Linford Detweiler

October 22, 2003

Over the Rhine: Upcoming dates, volunteers etc

Hello from OHIO,

We’re home once again for a tiny break. We start our trip heading West this Friday: save a bus bunk for me.

It’s been exciting and rewarding to take these new songs out on the road this Fall and let them explode in concert. Thanks to all of you who found your way and spent an evening with us. Your feedback has been so encouraging. The current five-piece band is very special. We hope to see you soon.

Once again, we’re rounding up some merchandise volunteers to sell our cd’s et cetera at the upcoming shows. If you’re interested, we get you into the show for free, and give you the cd of your choice at the end of the evening. Please e-mail otrvolunteers@yahoo.com if you’d like to help out. (We need two volunteers for each concert.)

Also, we’re still working on developing our street teams. If you’re able and willing to help put up posters and fliers near a venue where we’re playing, or at your college, or around various neighborhoods or wherever you think it would help to get the word out in regard to an upcoming Over the Rhine concert, we’d really appreciate the help. Again, please e-mail otrvolunteers@yahoo.com for more info. We’ll have the label send you some fliers or you can immediately download and customize your own fliers at:
http://overtherhine.com/story/bandbio/index.html

When responding to otrvolunteers@yahoo.com, please put your city and either “Merch” or “Street Team” in the subject heading, e.g. DENVER/Merch. Thanks again. We really appreciate your help. As Karin is prone to say, without all of
you, we’d be homeless.

The Eastern half of the USA has been so beautiful this Fall. It seemed like we had one perfect Fall day after another, crisp blue air, leaves turning. We’re heading out now to see how the other half lives. Hope to see you soon.

UPCOMING OVER THE RHINE FALL DATES–WEST COAST LEG
Fri Oct 24: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern
Sat Oct 25: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern
Sun Oct 26: Berwyn IL, Fitzgerald’s (Near Chicago)
Mon Oct 27: Kansas City MO, Grand Emporium
Wed Oct 29: Denver CO, Lion’s Lair (Two shows)
Thu Oct 30: Colorado Springs CO, 32 Bleu
Fri Oct 31: Colorado Springs CO, Woodmen Valley Chapel (acoustic, opening for Bebo Norman)
Sun Nov 2: Boise ID, Neurolux
Mon Nov 3: Seattle WA, Tractor Tavern
Wed Nov 5: Portland OR, Lola’s – Crystal Ballroom
Thu Nov 6: Eugene OR, Agate Hall, Gutenberg College
Fri Nov 7: San Francisco CA, Slim’s
Sat Nov 8: Los Angeles CA, Knitting Factory
Mon Nov 10: Tucson AZ, Solar Culture
Wed Nov 12: Dallas TX, Club Dada
Thu Nov 13: Austin TX, Stubbs BBQ
Fri Nov 14: New Orleans LA, The Parish
Sat Nov 15: Little Rock AR, Juanitas

I should also mention that we’re bringing along 2 amazing unsigned songwriters to open these shows. We believe both Susan Enan (Ireland) and Griffin House (USA) are going to make some exceptional records that come to be widely known. We look forward to hearing you say, We first saw them with Over the Rhine back in 2003! (And our thanks to Steven Delopoulos (and Susan) for the first five weeks of the tour. It was great fun.)

This is what I’ll remember most,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

ps There will be a Christmas tour this year starting in Akron the Friday after Thanksgiving and ending in Nashville (we hope) on December 18th. Here are a few of the confirmed dates if you’d like to volunteer or mark your calendars. Stay tuned at overtherhine.com for more.

Fri Nov 28: Akron OH, Lime Spider
Sat Nov 29: Columbus, OH, Little Brothers
Sun Nov 30: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark
Wed Dec 3: Beaver Falls PA, Geneva College, Old Main Auditorium
Thu Dec 4: Brooklyn NY, Southpaw
Fri Dec 5: Baltimore MD, Fletcher’s
Fri Dec 12: Cincinnati OH, Taft Theatre (!)
Special Guests: Susan Enan, Pedro the Lion
(other cities tba include DC, Lexington, Atlanta (a full show this time),
Nashville, Chicago, Champaign, Milwaukee)

Live soulfully…

October 28, 2003

People talkin’, keep on walkin’… Lucinda Williams

Hello again,

This is humbling and hard to write but necessary.

We’ve been having the most amazing tour musically this year and we extend our deepest gratitude to all of you who joined us at the concerts in the past five weeks or more. The people we are touring with inspired us deeply, worked hard and played their hearts out every night. Our thanks to Will, Paul, Rick, Spinner and Hunter: we hope to reunite with you all soon.

We have postponed the rest of the dates for this year’s Over the Rhine tour indefinitely for personal and family reasons. There are two trees in our lives (we do choose our record covers carefully): one is our music and one is our marriage. Sometimes we water one or the other, hopefully both.

We’ve poured our hearts and our souls into our music this year, and we’ve seen that tree bear a lot of fruit and flourish. But we’ve increasingly realized that there has been very little room left over for anything else including our relationship and marriage. As difficult a decision as it is, we’ve decided we must go home to do some much needed caretaking and work to preserve this part of our lives.

We aplogize for the timing and to those of you who made plans to see us in the coming weeks. We’re human beings and we’re all broken and sometimes our lives get way out of balance. Knowing this is an amazing place to start. Please keep us in your prayers and again, we hope to see you soon when the time is right.

We really love what we do, but we’re not willing to sacrifice our relationship and marriage on the altar of a career. We think you’ll agree when we see you again that our music is more alive than ever.

Best,

Linford and Karin

November 27, 2003

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,

Just a quick note to bring you up to date on a few things. First, thanks to all of you who sent words of encouragement our way when we decided to postpone part of our Fall tour. Your sweetness and wisdom meant alot. The break was much needed, however unfortunate the timing. We plan on making up those few weeks of dates out West etc. this coming March. We hope to see you then, and again, thanks for your understanding and graciousness.

In the meanwhile, we are so looking forward to this year’s Christmas Tour. These end-of-year tours are always very special to us, and this one in particular feels significant. Sometimes we need this music. Music can be a form of prayer, a form of healing, a form of happiness, sadness, drenched in joy, heartbreaking. Bring it on. We’ll be playing these shows as if they’re our last.

Here is the itinerary in case you haven’t stopped by overtherhine.com recently…

Fri Nov 28: Akron OH, Lime Spider (That’s this Friday folks!)
Sat Nov 29: Columbus, OH, Little Brothers
Sun Nov 30: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark
Mon Dec 1: Cleveland OH, Beachland Ballroom
Wed Dec 3: Beaver Falls PA, Geneva College, Old Main Auditorium
Thu Dec 4: Brooklyn NY, Southpaw
Fri Dec 5: Baltimore MD, Fletcher’s
Sat Dec 6: Arlington VA, Iota
Mon Dec 8: Carrboro NC, Room 4
Tue Dec 9: Athens GA, 40 Watt Club
Wed Dec 10: Atlanta GA, Echo Lounge
Fri Dec 12: Cincinnati OH, Taft Theatre (Special Guests: Susan Enan, Pedro the Lion) Please bring a non-perishable food item for the Over-The-Rhine Freestore Foodbank.
Sat Dec 13: Champaign IL, High Dive
Sun Dec 14: Chicago IL, Martyr’s

Our special guest for all of the above is the fab Susan Enan. An amazing band called Pedro the Lion (from Seattle) is also joining us for our hometown concert at The Taft on the 12th of December in Cincinnati. We’ve seen Pedro’s songwriter, David Bazan, perform a few times and there is something vitally important going on there. Fasten your seatbelts.

Please also note that we’re asking all who attend The Taft show in Cincinnati to bring a non-perishable food item for the Over-The-Rhine Freestore Foodbank. Like many charities in the last few years, they’ve been struggling to keep up. Thanks in advance.

We always try to do something a little different on these December tours, and we decided to spread the love around somewhat as far as the band goes for these particular shows. Devon Ashley (one of two drummers we used on OHIO) will be joining us this time out, and Matt Slocum (of Sixpence None the Richer) will be playing cello and guitars. Rick Plant returns on bass. We think you’re going to come in out of the cold and be thoroughly warmed by this special group of players. (Our friend and mentor Dave Nixon is doing merch, Spinner is back tour managing/sound engineering and we’re using Tawd Bell for our truck driver, stage hand and guitar tech. Rawk on.)

Thanks to Will and Paul and Hunter for a great run earlier this year. See you on the other side…

There is much to be thankful for. That’s definitely a redeeming quality about America–we set aside a day to give thanks. The Europeans and Brits think we’re a little strange, but I like the idea of a day where we’re invited to give thanks for friends and family… And hey, we’ve got pumpkin pie. How can you argue with that?

Well, we hope to see you all soon.

Turn on the music,

Linford for Over the Rhine

ps For a few more days (through the end of November) the entire Over the Rhine cd catalog is on sale for $9.99. If you *have* to shop on Friday, brew yourself a good cup of tea, and pay overtherhine.com a visit.

March 3, 2004

Hello from OHIO,

We thought we’d send a long overdue update letter your way regarding the goings on here in this gently sloping orchard called Over the Rhine.

It’s not hard to believe in the idea of Spring these days. Something about the way the air smells, the light lingering longer in the evenings, the neighborhood mockingbirds reeling oblvious through their borrowed snippets of songs. (We enjoy reading that previous sentence aloud in a posh English accent.)

We hope you’re all doing well.

Karin and I are looking around as if for the first time after a much needed sabbatical. We’ve been lying low and in each others arms, basking in the small joys and victories of being at home together. We’ve talked and laughed our way through many a late night bottle of red, and Karin even after all these years, finally taught me how to make a good cup of coffee, a responsibility I’ve gladly taken on from time to time on cold crisp mornings.

We’ve also enjoyed long relaxed hours of reconnecting with family and friends that we all too often leave behind when we tour.

We adopted a companion for Willow, a Great Dane mix who goes by the name Elroy Levon. Elroy and Willow have become fast friends, growling playfully and rolling around together on the living room floor. The new boy, Elroy, has heaped a 100+ pounds of new love into the Grey Ghost mix. It has quickly become difficult to imagine our previous life without him. He’s particularly happy in the mornings and his version of tail-waggin’ is contagious. (And a little bit dangerous. He’s got a two-foot tiger tail that really gets to whippin’.) The dogs get us out of the house for air in the mornings and evenings (a good thing). When they run, it reminds us that it is good to do what we were born to do. (We’ll post some pictures of Elroy soon. We like to describe him as a cross between a Holstein and man’s best friend.)

Karin and I have been taking a new look at these days and dreaming aloud about the years ahead of us. We know we want to love each other real good, to truly grow together and put down deep roots. We want to sit on the front porch together many years down the road and reminisce about all this and laugh alot.

We know we want to continue to write and record–our project list is criss-crossed with notes and scribbles.

We know we want to start a family.

We know we want to continue to perform–it’s a part of our lives which continues to be mysteriously life-giving. (And we miss all of you when too many days go by without making some kind of lovely ruckus together.)

We know we want to spend more time working together at home.

We know we want to control the squirrel population in the back yard. (Thank God for catch and release traps.) We should never have brought Joe Henry home.

We know we need to paint the kitchen.

We’re a little unsure how to fit all of this together sometimes into a life that’s deeply nurturing yet spontaneous, rooted in community, yet adventurous. We’re looking for a rhythm. We long for wisdom and grace.

Our sincere thanks to all of you for your encouragement, your creativity, your prayers and thoughts as Karin and I took this much needed time to be together, alone. (You sent drawings, cards, flowers, GDBD dog bowls (!), dessert wine, notes, letters, many tiny gifts. You sent your prayers. They were heard.)

OHIO, this here double album, our latest, has been a good roller coaster ride. It’s kicked up a fair bit of dust on the back roads of the music industry. We immensely enjoyed seeing all of you last December on our annual Christmas Tour. (Check out the MP-3 of the month at overtherhine.com!)

The listeners of our home town AAA station (WNKU 89.7fm) voted OHIO number one for 2003, and CityBeat, our arts and entertainment weekly, inducted Over the Rhine into the Cincinnati Music Hall of Fame. (Twenty years too early.) But most importantly, we feel we made the record we needed to make. We are happy that so many of you seem to enjoy these new songs.

Believe it or not (typical artists) we’re thinking a lot about our next record already. Stay tuned.

We’re planning on many updates to the website this year, and (long-time-comin’) we’ve now brought a message board to overtherhine.com. We’re not letting go of our e-mail discussion list, but we feel the message board is a logical progression and will make it easier for Karin and I to participate in this on-line community that has grown over the years. There will be a link on the home page soon, but if you want to join and participate immediately, go to overtherhine.com/orchard, and have at it! We look forward to hearing from you.

(Thanks to Drew Vogel for getting this up and running for us. And thanks again to Eric King for his webmaster ways. Congratulations to the Kings on the birth of their fourth (leap year) child, Anton Michael, on February 29th!)

As for touring, we were planning on heading out to the West Coast for a few weeks of dates this Spring, but we’ve decided to hold off for a number of reasons. (And sorry about the February Los Angeles concert. We were supposed to be part of the filming of a pilot television show, but that was postponed, so we had to lay low.) If we don’t get to the West Coast soon, maybe we can do some Christmas shows in December and get caught up with all of you. It’s been too long.

Look for a few intimate concerts mostly close to home in coming months, (we may ask you to do most of the traveling for awhile) and a few festival appearances when the weather gets a bit warmer. (As per usual, stay tuned for specifics at overtherhine.com.)

I have a new instrumental record completed that we’ll be making available through the website soon. It’s called, Unspoken Requests.

(Nursing mothers, loosen your blouses…)

Well, we think of you all often. We thank you for giving this music a home, for listening so well for so long.

Keep in touch,

Linford and Karin

July 8, 2004

Hello from OHIO,

It’s a breezy summer day here at the Grey Ghost, not too hot, bright skies, wispy clouds. Tracy just brought the kids over for a swim this afternoon. We’ve got a big round galvanized watering trough full of fresh water under the grape vines in the backyard. It’s rather small as swimming pools go, but it’s wet and cool and feels good. Gets the job done. Plenty enough water for contests to see who can hold their breath the longest, rousing sea crab tussles and a neat little game called, “Ready-set-splash-the-crap-out-of-everyone.”

Our dear friends Dave and Jody Nixon are coming over for supper this evening so I’m going to have to try to be brief. We’ll write more later. Karin’s got the table set. Life is good.

In no particular order:

It was great fun getting the band together recently and playing shows in Chicago, Columbus, Cincinnati, Lexington, as well as at Cornerstone Festival in southern Illinois. We always feel compelled to say thank you to those of you who make the effort to come out and cheer us on as we try our songs on for size every now and again, spread our wings, take a dive. Our audiences are very special. Hooray for us.

After fourteen years of fairly active touring, we thought we had seen just about everything. But then we woke up in Columbus and discovered that all of our touring gear had been stolen except for the Hammond B-3 in its road case. I guess that was the one thing that they couldn’t lift.

We waited around for a few hours and filed a police report finally and then booked it to Cincinnati where several very helpful friends came to our rescue and loaned us instruments etc to play the sold out show at Twentieth Century Theater.

It was a blast and we were able to shake the whole thing off for the time being and enjoy ourselves, enjoy you, the evening. I think it was the first Over the Rhine show where someone took up a collection (what used to be called a love offering if memory serves) and handed us a bag with about $600 in small bills to take the edge off. My knee jerked and I started playing Just As I Am, and Karin was crying and said something to the effect that there were tears and cash on stage and it was turning into a bona fide evangelistic experience.

We talked through the whole thing and it’s just stuff, and nobody was hurt, and it’s not a mortal wound. But when somebody enters your world and messes with it, it’s hard to shake the feeling of being violated. It is emotional to lose instruments that you’ve played and written and recorded with for years. Our prayers fluctuated between Old Testament and New Testament prayers: May they fall into the snare they’ve laid for themselves. May we forgive them.

We’ve still got the important stuff: each other, our friends, the watering trough.

But what the heck, if you’re poking around in music stores or pawn shops and happen to see any of the following feel free to let us know:

Karin’s Lowden Acoustic Guitar: handwritten Serial Number 8406 on the label inside the sound hole.
Leslie Organ Cabinet Model No: 122 RV, Serial Number H65918, with accompanying Starbound Road Case.
Yamaha P200 Digital Piano Serial Number 016459 in a Showcase Custom Road Case Serial Number 2846.
Karin’s pedal board w/Fishman Pre-amp etc in a road case marked “over the rhine”.
Karin’s vintage Fender Twin Guitar Amp in a road case marked “over the rhine”.

That’s just the tip of the proverbial ice berg lettuce. Maybe we’ll get serious (we’ve been trying to round up serial numbers etc) and post a complete list on the site and turn the wrath of our fans loose on the world armed with lyrics such as “Eyes wide open to the great train robbery” and “I didn’t know that murder could be good”.

Changing the subject:

We’re working on our next project for Back Porch, but in the meanwhile, we’ve made available through the website only a recording of a concert that was made informally while we were on tour last Fall. It’s not a perfect recording by any stretch of the imagination, but it does seem to capture some of the raw energy that has a lot to do with you being in a room with our music. Some of the songs on OHIO seemed to want to explode when we performed them in front of an audience, and we tried to hang on and take a good ride together when the spirit moved. We’ve tried pretty hard to document just about every phase of our journey so far as a band, and we think you’ll enjoy this memento of a very cathartic chapter. Here’s the link if you’d like to pick up a copy of CHANGES COME | Over the Rhine LIVE:
http://overtherhine.com/music/recordings/cd12/cd12.html

We’re not going to tell you where the concert was recorded. Maybe you can figure it out. If you weren’t there, you were probably there in spirit.

Thanks also to those of you who picked up a copy of Unspoken Requests, my new piano cd.

Also, we’re going to be selling off (and retiring) all the remaining t-shirts that were released with OHIO. So if you’ve been meaning to pick up a “Wine Me, Dine Me, Over the Rhine Me” t-shirt, or an OHIO shirt (remember, it sounds exotic to people that don’t actually live here), get ’em while supplies last. They’ll be going on sale in the next few hours for $9.99… (If technology cooperates.)

Well, it’s supper time.

Hope to see you all soon, and thanks for discovering and uncovering our music. It looks good on you.

Linford for Over the Rhine

September 15, 2004

Subject: Northern Spy #41

Hello from the attic of the Grey Ghost…

1. Fall is our reward for living in Ohio. A swing state. A battleground state. Whee!

2. This past Saturday we played The Black Swamp Arts Festival in Bowling Green, Ohio. Gorgeous day, great crowd, some familiar faces. (Big college football game down the road. Lots of people wanting to hear music nonetheless.)

3. Karin surprised me. Sometimes I forget. The girl can sing.

4. And thanks. What can we say? Over the Rhine fans are pretty special, eh? We had just about all our gear stolen on the road a few months back. People here and there around the world who listen to our music got their heads together on-line and took up a collection. A love offering if you will. Right around $4000 was raised if you consider the Fender guitar amp that we received in a cardboard box, meticulously padded, and the shopping bag full of cash at the 20th Century Show. Wow.

5. Stiv and Drew presented us with a check at The York Street International Cafe. A television station showed up with a camera. We thought we made the evening news. We thought we were gonna be able to thank all y’all on tv. We thought we were famous and what not.

6. We were bumped that evening by hurricane Charlie.

7. Karin played many guitars in search of a replacement for her Lowden. She played old Martins and Gibsons. She played a few Taylors and looked troubled. She played a 30-year-old Gibson called “The Dove” that was a contender. Karin said the dove inlays reminded her that we needed to forgive the bastards that stole all our stuff.

8. Finally she located a tiny store in Coshocton, Ohio, the only store in Ohio that carries Lowdens, and we drove some back roads, a day out, the two of us drinking coffee and talking, looking at the sky. We found the store in an old house by a creek. Wildwood Music. Signed picture of Johnny Cash on the wall. Karin played many different Lowdens and then finally picked up a brand new guitar–the same model as the one that was stolen, the O25c. She gave it a strum. Cedar, East Indian Rosewood, Pearwood binding. Tears came to her eyes.

9. That was the one.

10. Felt like home.

11. In the meanwhile, I was eyeing this pretty little girl of a guitar myself, and Karin said I could take it home since I had a big birthday comin’ up and since I had agreed to drive all that way.

12. We were both proud owners of new Lowdens.

13. New acoustic guitars sure smell good.

14. We may be the only working band in America whose fans bought the instruments being played on stage.

15. It’s election season, and we submit this for your consideration. The Poopsmith Song! Our first recording with and for children. A universal theme. Based on a true story. We grinned alot recording it. Lotsa parents have downloaded the free MP-3 from overtherhine.com. Their pre-schoolers seem to agree: Play it again! We did a focus group with my neices and nephews. Satisfying giggles all around. One mother wrote us and said it significantly helped her son narrow down the range of targets.

16. The Poopsmith Song! was supposed to be included on a parenting cd that was going to be distributed free to parents in Ohio. The project is being organized in part by Hope Taft, wife of Republican Governor Bob Taft. The music coordinator loved the song. The music was screened by a political adviser to the Republican Party. The song raised concerns. It was too edgy. Potentially politically damaging. An election year. “We can’t include a song about poop.”

17. Family values.

18. We resist the urge to have thousands of you send zip-lock baggies, stool sample safely sealed, to the Governor’s office.

19. “We were going to put it in the potty, but I guess you and your advisers know of a better place to put it.”

20. “See what brown can do for you.”

21. Ha, ha, ha. Well, the song is still free and available at overtherhine.com.

22. (Then there are the 20-something, single, literary listeners. “I don’t know, I just don’t get as much from this song on repeated listenings as I do from some of the other songs.”)

23. No shit, Sherlock.

24. I love writing these newsletters.

25. Page two.

26. Oh, now this. (The end of an era.) We’re freshening up our announcement list and moving it to overtherhine.com. If you’re already on one of the existing lists, you should receive an e-mail in the next few days inviting you to click on a link and subscribe to the brand spankin’ new announcement list. If you do that you’ll continue to receive these masterpieces. (And there will be a pop-up window on the overtherhine.com home page where you can sign up as well.)

27. The e-mail discussion list is being retired. Many thanks to all of you who contributed over the years. It was a good run. The discussion has been moved to The Orchard, our on-line forum. Stop by and join this growing community if you’re so inclined. (Would anyone be interested in a “Lostee’s Forum”?) By the end of the month, we hope to add monthly “live” chats. Stay tuned.

28. We’re told that this Sunday evening, September 19th, Idea #21 (Not Too Late) will be used in an episode of Jack and Bobby on the WB, 9pm Eastern. (This song was the hidden track on OHIO.) Check it out.

29. This just in from Karin. Karin measured the tail of our Great Dane this morning. Elroy’s tail is 1′ 9″ long. In case you wanted to know. (For purposes of clearance and safety.)

30. We’ve got two very special double headers coming up–Old Towne School of Folk Music in Chicago on Saturday, September 25th, 2004. (Two shows: early and late.) (An amazing venue, our first time.) And Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, Ohio, Friday and Saturday, October 22nd and 23rd. (Our 2nd living room.) Hope to see you. We’ve got a few new ones to try out.

31. Our kitchen is painted! Thanks for your help Angie. Love the three beautiful red doors.

32. Due to the success of our “Dorm Room Special”, we’ll be running another poster sale soon. Stay tuned at overtherhine.com. Inspiring walls by us.

33. The DVD is still in the works. Hope to have a final creative campfire with Kris Barberg soon to cut it all together. Thanks to Kris for her unwavering dedication to this project, and patience.

34. We’re planning another Christmas tour–just a few chilly, come-inside-out-of-the-cold weeks–mostly close to home. Consider this your invitation to come to us. The big homecoming Taft Theater show in Cincinnati is scheduled for December 11th.

35. Thanks to NYC sisters Britt and Heather for the beautiful rose bush (!) and the old, well-loved Salinger books. We planted the rose bush in the back yard. It bloomed!

36. Thanks to all of you who have made our music some part of the story you’re writing with your lives.

37. We’re working on recording a new collection of songs for all y’all.

38. I think that’s it for now.

39. Bye. “Life is strange. Life is good. Life is all that it should be.”

40. Linford

41. & xoxo Karin

November 27, 2004

Hello fellow travelers,

It’s a rainy November Saturday night in Ohio. Big moon last night behind naked oak branches. Roaring fire in our back yard under crisp star-sprinkled sky. Tonight, cold and wet outside, so we sit in a warmly lit kitchen. And wouldn’t you know, we’re listening to our new record. Giving it a spin before it gets sent off for final mastering on Tuesday. We realized in the last few days that it’s called ‘BORN’.

We had been sketching and writing off and on for much of the year. Turns out we started recording for real on election day, and finished mixing on Thanksgiving Eve. A relaxed record made at home in this wooden house we call the Grey Ghost. Upright bass. Piano. Acoustic guitars. A few horns. A few subtle textures. A voice.

Karin and I stayed home more this year and felt the water in the well rise. We felt the seasons change close to home. There’s a lot of love on this one.

Over the Rhine | BORN is set to be released March 29, 2005 on Virgin/Back Porch Records.

1. I Want You To Be My Love
2. Born
3. Drunkard’s Prayer
4. Bluer
5. Spark
6. Hush Now (Stella’s Tarantella)
7. Lookin’ Forward
8. Little Did I Know
9. Who Will Guard The Door
10. Firefly
11. My Funny Valentine

***

We were driving the other evening and Karin said, Look at the sky: Winter is wrestling with Autumn.

And it went on for a few hours. A looming large moon. A circus of white clouds parading toward the horizon. A dark storm shadowing us a few fields over out the driver’s side window.

Winter won and stomped its foot and said, I’m here to stay. It spit snow on Thanksgiving day. The hats and scarves and gloves have come out of hiding, which means it’s time for us to bundle up once again and take our suitcases full of December songs on the road. Candlelit stages. Come-in-out-of-the-cold evenings together. Mulled wine, cigar smoke, laughter, love and all its possibilities, rosy girls with half-filled notebooks, boys with songs up their sleeves, music for sale, we wake up dreaming.

Dig out the crumpled up road map. Select a few close companions. Come find us. Say hello. It’s not the same without you.

Over the Rhine | DECEMBER 2004 TOUR DATES

Thursday, Dec 2 Pittsburgh, PA The World
Friday, Dec 3 Columbus, OH Little Brothers
Saturday, Dec 4 Akron, OH The Lime Spider
Sunday, Dec 5 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
*
Tuesday, Dec 7 Madison, WI Luther’s Blues
*
Thursday, Dec 9 Grand Rapids, MI Calvin College Fine Arts Center
Friday, Dec 10 Indianapolis, IN Birdy’s
Saturday, Dec 11 Cincinnati, OH The Taft (Our Annual Homecoming Show.)
*
Monday, Dec 13 OFF! (Karin’s Birthday)
Tuesday, Dec 14 Lexington, KY The Dame
*
Friday, Dec 17 Chicago, IL Schubas
Saturday, Dec 18 Chicago, IL Schubas

Check out overtherhine.com for more info.

***

Spread a little universe of music this Christmas:

Over the Rhine: Till We Have Faces (The band is born.)
Over the Rhine: Patience (The band gets signed to its first record deal.)
Over the Rhine: Eve (The band turns up the volume.)
Over the Rhine: Good Dog Bad Dog (The band grows up.)
Over the Rhine: The Darkest Night Of The Year (The band revisits a childhood Christmas.)
Over the Rhine: Besides (The band raids its broom closet for overlooked goodies.)
Over the Rhine: Amateur Shortwave Radio (The band celebrates 10 years of touring and survival.)
Over the Rhine: Films For Radio (A densely cinematic song cycle that wins the band an international following.)
Over the Rhine: The Cutting Room Floor (The band opens its sketchbook.)
Over the Rhine: OHIO (The band reveals its roots and accidentally makes a double album.)
Over the Rhine ‘Live’ | Changes Come (The band documents a cathartic concert.)
Over the Rhine: BORN (Coming March 29, 2005 on Virgin/Back Porch. Bare-boned songs blossom in our very own living room.)

Solo:
Linford Detweiler: I Don’t Think There’s No Need To Bring Nothin’
Linford Detweiler: Grey Ghost Stories
Linford Detweiler: Unspoken Requests

Visit overtherhine.com for holiday specials. (Thanks to the fine folks at Paste for the great job they do fulfilling all of your orders.)

***

Feel like getting to know others who have discovered our music? Go to overtherhine.com and visit The Orchard, our on-line forum.

***

Well, it’s been a rewarding journey. Thanks for your support and companionship along the way. We have learned much. We have many wonderful memories. You all have our wishes for a truly blessed holiday season.

Godspeed,

Linford and Karin

ps Our office is currently an unmanned spaceship, and we’ve had our heads buried in our new songs. We apologize–we’re pretty far behind on correspondence. If you’ve been waiting for a bit of info or a sign of life, we hope to get caught up in the next several days before we leave for tour. Thanks for your patience. See you soon.

December 22, 2004

Dear Apples, Rhinestoned Cowboys, Lostees, Friends, Fans and Folks,

We are home again, home again, jiggity jig, in the midst of a winter storm — our first of the year — and the timing couldn’t be better. God seemed to smile on our travel this season. Unbelievable weather for driving, touring. And the shows — so many of you came out to welcome us to your city. So many of you drove as far as we did — if not farther. Thanks for that. Many musicians have expressed concerns about poor attendance issues. We are so grateful NOT to be having that problem. Thanks to you.

As we think back on the tour, there are so many memorable images from the Midwestern cities that we got to visit this time around.

The warm audience that first night in Pittsburgh helped us get over our start-of-tour jitters. More than 7% of those who attended that night signed up to sponsor kids through World Vision — the best response of the tour. Well done. Thanks to Ryan Luther for working the World Vision table on this string of dates and for helping the crew.

We always look forward to the rambunctious Columbus crowd at Little Brothers, and wow, there were a lot of you!

The Lime Spider in Akron was also packed — sold out in advance, and we had a blast that night even if Griffin House did steal my Chimay Blue out of the dressing room. Wink.

Thanks by the way to Griffin and his band for the good company and incredibly moving music.

Ann Arbor is always a treat. I found my Grinch-green faux-fur wrap at one of the many tempting boutiques. (Who brought the girl?) And it was great to have Paul Mahern work with us on the road for the first time at this show. Paul is the producer and engineer who helped us record Ohio as well as our new record. More on that soon.

Madison, Wisconsin is so beautiful at Christmas time. It was great to see our lovely friends Kim, Linnea, Hansi and Tom. Another amazing crowd for a Tuesday night during Finals Week!

Calvin College is always a special stop for us. Ken Heffner, a music lover and long-time ally, has referred to us as Calvin’s house band, and we couldn’t be more up for it. Their Fine Arts theatre is amazing (especially when it’s packed with people who seem to listen so deeply) and the Bosendorfer grand piano makes all the pianists on the tour happy. Special thanks to Myron and Molly for the apple skillet pie fresh out of the oven, and for letting us get some much-needed dog love via Gideon.

Birdy’s in Indianapolis was also packed full of warm folks, and we got to traipse around the Broad Ripple neighborhood again. It was fun to play Devon’s hometown.

The Taft show, a sea of white roses… Where do I begin? Thanks Kylie for offering up your apartment for the ‘white rose assembly party’ and to all of you who took the time, planned, schemed. I can’t tell you what a major emotional wimp I am. You truly choked me up this time. I had such a difficult time delivering that first song. You have no idea. Or maybe you do. (For those of you not in the loop, I was surprised by 24 dozen white rose bouquets lovingly arranged around the stage…)

Birthdays do not suck anymore.

Lexington gave the band a night or two off. Byron and Devon got to check in with their families. Linford and I did the Dame ala duo. A hip little Kentucky club, the Dame. Great hat shop next door where Linford bought that black fedora he’s been wearing.

And for those of you who stole my lyrics, you know who you are. I will hunt you down. For those of you who got caught red-handed stealing my lyrics, the ones with the ‘DO NOT STEAL THIS’ printed on the top of the page, I know who you are and I will hunt you down too. Just for fun!

We regrouped with the rhythm section for the ending of this year’s ‘Loungy Christmas Tour’ and were greeted by two sold-out-in-advance shows in Chicago. Rock my world. Maybe we’ll do three nights at Schubas next time? What do you think? I have absolutely no problem spending a couple of days and nights in Chicago. Twist my arm. Go on. Twist it.

Elroy, the big guy, our harlequin great dane, just came into the kitchen, tail flailing in a circular Pete Townsend motion, reminding me that it is in fact snowing outside and piling up in the yard and he and Willow would very much like to make snow angels — their version.

We would like to thank those of you that simply took the time to come to the shows, those that walked, those that drove, those that flew (Trudes, Michelle, the fellow from Germany who came to Schubas whose name I cannot pronounce let alone spell, etc. etc.) Thanks guys. Thanks Bill for spending 54 quality evenings of your life with us. And for the flowers. Dude, I bet FTD LOVES you as much as we do!

Thanks also to:

Michael for the seahorse ornament, Betsy and Ben for the wine, Meg I. for the beautiful flowers and kind words, Jill and Julie at Younique Design East for making me look better than I really do, Paul and Ann for the end-of-tour impeccable aesthetic shot-in-the-arm at your Stained Glass studio in Oconomowoc. The Spransy’s for the Swedish hospitality — the best kind! Julie and Emma Rose for the basket of homemade cookies, Hazel for the painting — and you are only 2 and 1/2 years old? I can’t wait to see your work at 3 and 1/2! Hazel Henderson for the (late) Mr. Wonderful doll. You have no idea what role he played in our show! I say ‘late’ because Linford finally snapped. I’ll say no more. But will call soon.

These are just a few that come to mind. A complete inventory would be quite impossible. (Please say that last sentence with a posh English accent – for Byron.)

Your gifts to us were original and astoundingly moving. Thoughtful and generous. You make us wonder what on earth we did to deserve this. You make us appreciate our chosen path. You keep us humble — no mean feat!

All this to simply say thank you. We’ll try to give a little back to you this coming Spring when we do it all over again. See you then.

You truly are the absolute best audience in the world. We are blessed.

Finally, (Elroy is getting impatient and he’s BIG) thanks to Devon and Byron for your incredible musicianship and friendship.

And to Ryan Henry for all your help. The word that keeps coming to us is Godsend. (And a certain Hank Hill quote.)

May you all have a Blessed Merry Christmas and a Hopeful New Year,

Karin (for us)

February 11, 2005

Goodbye Grey Ghost

Hello fellow travelers,

Another overcast, chilly winter day here in Ohio. Hopefully all the clouds just mean that nature is stirring up some cosmic cookie dough in the sky. Hopefully the sun will come out before too long, and we’ll have spring, fresh out of the oven.

I love snow, but this time of year, all the trees start looking a little forlorn, a little impatient. This time of year is all about lookin’ forward, I guess.

***

Karin and I just got back from Barnesville, Ohio. We got a sad call from Lisa, Karin’s best childhood friend, the matron of honor at our wedding. Lisa’s son Brandon had been killed instantly in a car accident. He was a freshman at Kent State University.

In many ways, Brandon was the kid that we all wanted to be. He was well loved by his peers, athletic, adventurous, a hard worker, funny, girls loved him, he made his family proud. And then he was gone.

So we drove up for a few days to participate in some of the worst that life has to offer. It was good to stay with Lisa and her family – cry together, reminisce together, be quiet together, talk when talk was needed.

It was heartening to see the support from the surrounding community. About 1400 people showed up at the viewing in the tiny town of Barnesville to pay their respects to the family – students, friends, Amish neighbors, co-workers�

Now we all try to take some of the heartbreak home and live with it. We can’t imagine, but we hope in small ways to bear each others burdens. We think about our faith. We believe, and we pray for help with our unbelief.

Make sure the people you love know they are loved.

***

Karin and I have sold our house to a young family and will be moving this Spring. Two young boys, Collin and Aidan, will explore this attic with its odd angles where I’ve tried to write. Chad, the father, will be poking around in the basement where we currently store all the oversized posters. Renee will be kneeling in the roses that Karin planted. Maybe they’ll all sit like we used to under the grape vines. May they be blessed.

Our friends helped us get our foot in the front door of this forbidding old Victorian and by some miracle, the songs that we wrote and often recorded right here enabled us to pay them back. When Karin and I got married, we still had separate apartments. But this is where we set up shop together. We lovingly called this big wooden house the Grey Ghost. We tried to be good to the house. It was good to us.

This is the house where Karin taught herself to cook. This is the house where I sat at the table and said, Wow. I love that woman.

And this is the house where quite often on New Year’s Eve we’d gather some friends together for food, stories, poems, music. After midnight, my men friends and I (Oh, and Aralee would usually join us) would stomp up the stairs and gather ’round in the attic, and the top of the house would fill with aromatic cigar smoke. The cigar of choice was called the “Hemingway Short Story.” We talked and smoked into the wee hours and sipped our Lagavulin. For those few hours, no matter what the New Year might bring, we were unstoppable.

It was here at the Grey Ghost that we put together and released:

Amateur Shortwave Radio
Films For Radio
The Cutting Room Floor
OHIO
Changes Come (Over the Rhine LIVE)
Drunkard’s Prayer

And my three house-bound solo albums:

I Don’t Think There’s No Need To Bring Nothin’
Grey Ghost Stories
Unspoken Requests

It’s been a good chapter.

Make sure the people you love know they are loved.

***

Where are we going, you ask?

Ah, be careful of your dreams. After years of rambling about Imaginary Apple Orchards and philosopher farmers (Wendell Berry, Robert Frost, Rockwell Kent, The Wyeths et al), Karin and I bought a little 5-acre farm outside of Cincinnati, with an old pre-Civil War brick house, with crooked floors, with cracked windows, with melancholy mice.

What have we done!

But we can see the sky properly. We can build proper fires. We can plant new trees and watch them grow in the shadows of the old ones that are already there. We can grow our own food. Karin says, We’re aging musicians, and we need to become more self-sufficient!

I would like to have the Amish help me with a windmill to draw well water for the garden.

One night a lop-sided pregnant moon came up behind the dilapidated barn and took our breath away. One night we heard the owls calling across the fields.

We’ll probably have to take the barn down and rebuild someday. We’re going to be careful with those hand-hewn beams.

What will this do to us and our music? We’re not sure. Say a prayer.

Make sure the people you love know they are loved.

***

Our new record is coming out March 29th. It’s called Drunkard’s Prayer. It was recorded right here in the rooms of the Grey Ghost. I am proud of all of our records, flaws and all. Each represents a time in our lives, and we poured ourselves into each. But there’s something about Drunkard’s Prayer that is special-hard to put into words. Even after all these years, I think I can finally say I have a favorite.

We’ll be posting all the info soon. Soon, you can pre-order one if you wish. Karin and I will sit down here at the Grey Ghost one last time and sign the pre-ordered copies until our fingers ache. We’ll play music, pour a glass of wine, talk deep into the night. Who knows what we’ll find.

We’ll also let you know more soon about some of our upcoming trips. We’re not going to be away for long periods of time this year, but we’ve got some warm-up shows coming up in the Northeast. We’re playing some release concerts here in Cincinnati at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley, March 31st and April 1st, then a trio of shows in Dayton, and then we’re heading for the West Coast later in April. We’re happy to announce a very special guest: Kim Taylor will be opening for us this year, and sitting in with us some along the way. Stay tuned at overtherhine.com for more. We’re looking forward to seeing you.

Make sure the people you love know they are loved.

Bye for now,

Linford for Over the Rhine

February 25, 2005

Hello from Ohio,

There’s a chicken hawk that has been shadowing the neighborhood of Norwood these last few weeks. The pigeons have never been so nervous. The hawk doesn’t really fly. It hurtles in perfect silence from some high vantage point, slices the air outside of our kitchen windows, rounds the corner of the house and is gone. Its ways are above the ways of the neighborhood birds. It came from some outside place with more air and space. It feels foreign here. Overqualified. Its beauty is too wild.

As we prepare to leave this neighborhood, I can’t help but see this bird as some sort of sign. It feels like it was sent to fetch us, to kill some illusion, to open our eyes. It seems like it was sent to let us know that it’s okay to go. We’re leaving the city. The farm beckons. More air and space.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. We’ll keep you posted.

***

But for now, this!

You can now pre-order your very own copy (or copies) of Over the Rhine’s new cd, DRUNKARD’S PRAYER.

Why should I order in advance you ask?

1) Karin and I will sign by hand all the cd’s that are pre-ordered. This strange little ritual takes a day or two. You can participate in a sort of benevolent torture. Fun!

2) You’ll receive a small surprise from the band with your signed cd, if you order in advance. (Karin suggests authentic Norwood pigeon feathers.)

3) When you are kind enough to pre-order through the band’s website, most of the money actually goes directly to Over the Rhine, which helps with touring costs, food for Willow, Elroy and the cats while we’re away, and get this, farm fencing!

4) Avoid the disappointment of going to a record store on March 29th only to discover the cd is sold out, or hasn’t yet arrived. (Unless something unforeseen goes severely haywire (or you live in a distant foreign land) you’ll have your signed copy the day DRUNKARD’S PRAYER is released. We have a plan.)

Every time we release a new project, we can’t help but thank our growing community of listeners for giving us the opportunity to continue to write and record songs for a living. You all continue to surprise and inspire us with your encouragement and support. We don’t hesitate to view all of this as mildly miraculous. Thank you again. As Karin likes to say, Without you, we’re homeless.

DRUNKARD’S PRAYER feels like the most personal record we’ve ever made. An interviewer recently asked me what I hope people get from this record. I said that whenever I encounter a work of art that moves me in a significant way, I always walk away wanting to be a better human being. I feel it all over my skin. This chemical reaction is a mystery. I don’t begin to understand it. But I said I hope this is what happens when people hear this music. I hope people breathe more deeply and find ways to be more courageous, more open, more generous, more fearless, more loving.

May it be so.

Details, particulars, and old rabbit trails at overtherhine.com…

***

We’ll be debuting barebones versions of many of the new songs in the Northeast next week. We’re very happy that our former Grey Ghost housemate Kim Taylor is opening the shows and then sitting in with Karin and I. We’ve been rehearsing in the living room right here where we recorded DRUNKARD’S PRAYER. We crack each other up quite a bit. Hope you can join us.

Monday, February 28, Annapolis, Maryland RAM’S HEAD
Tuesday, March 1, Vienna, Virginia JAMMIN’ JAVA
Wednesday, March 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania TIN ANGEL (Two shows)
Friday, March 4, Northampton, Massachusetts IRON HORSE MUSIC HALL
Saturday, March 5, Lancaster, Pennsylvania THE CHAMELEON CLUB
Sunday, March 6, NYC, NY MERCURY LOUNGE

Tuesday, March 29, DRUNKARD’S PRAYER USA RELEASE DATE!

HOMETOWN DRUNKARD’S PRAYER RELEASE CONCERTS:

Thursday, March 31, Cincinnati, Ohio TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATER
Friday, April 1, Cincinnati, Ohio TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATER

Tickets for the Cincinnati shows are now available. Europeans and Brits: come on over. Canadians: come on down. Cheap flights abound.

We’re also looking forward to a long weekend at one of our favorite venues, Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, Ohio, as well as a long overdue trip to the West Coast in April. Check out overtherhine.com for more.

Karin’s got dinner on and the pasta is smelling good on a Friday night right here at home. The dogs are sprawled out. There’s a smattering of snow outside, and it’s cold, but it’s warm inside. What can I say.

Be well,

Linford for Over the Rhine

PS Speaking of the West Coast, we’ve got shows booked in Seattle, Portland, Eugene, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. We’re still looking for shows on April 24-26 between Eugene and San Francisco. If you’d like to recommend a venue or music-friendly coffee house, or if you know of someone en route who is a successful house concert host, we’re open to suggestions. Please e-mail Dave Palmer: davepalmerinc@yahoo.com…

Thanks!

May 8, 2005

Hello fellow travelers,

Hello from Nowhere Farm.

I sit in the morning sun of a Sunday with my thick, cream-colored mug of Karin’s fresh-brewed coffee. Here I am on the back porch of our new 170-year-old house. I look out across hundreds and hundreds of acres of undulating farm fields at a woods full of spring. Out here you don’t merely notice the seasons changing, you live the change from the inside out.

The grey wet world of winter that had us wearing three layers inside this old farm house while we ripped up crooked floors and dug out crawl spaces with shovels and buckets has been overtaken by a new world filled with every shade of green, full of fresh air and light and life as far as the eye can see. The only sound this morning is the considerable birdsong that comes at us from almost everywhere. We’ve heard killdeer, redwing blackbirds, cardinals, robins, sparrows, the noisy confabulations of grackles and starlings.

When we ate supper yesterday evening around a small table under the old maple trees, purple martins wheeled around the chimneys and then discovered us and came down to our level doing fly- by’s three and four feet off the grass as if to ripple the wine in our glasses with the breath from their own wings past our ears. (Or maybe they were chimney swifts, but we thought we saw blue.)

The birds are everywhere. They nest in the eaves of the house and we hear the hoarse squeaks of the hungry young.

***

We got our piano moved in the day before we left for the West Coast. I played it in the old room at the end of the house and listened to the sound of the wide-plank hardwood floors and plaster walls and divided light windows built before the civil war. The piano sounded good, full of history. We can make music here. And then I walked out on the porch, and there, listening less than a foot away from the back door was a motionless, sprawled, five-and-a half-foot black snake with bands of brown diamonds. I cannot tell you the primal chord that this struck. I say five-and-a-half-feet, because he wasn’t quite as tall as me.

Luckily Karin was away and it took me three garden tools to dispose of the old fellow, and there I was apologizing while I killed him, and I had to write about the experience for most of the rest of the afternoon. I wrote the black snake the best poem I could write for ending his life. I hope it’s a good poem.

My friend Brandon said that coexistence is an ideal that cannot always be realized. “If it hadn’t been day three, and if he hadn’t been a foot from the back door…”

“But the fact that he was listening to me play the piano, a sound he may not have heard all his life, a curious serenade coming from what would soon kill him…”

“I have to make this farm safe for my family, for the ones I love…”

Snakes get a bad rap. I’m really glad I didn’t meet him while I was lying under the house in the crawl space, barely able to roll over on my own stomach. (Every plumber and electrician out here seems to have his own story about the snake in the crawl space. Our own electrician would sometimes send in his teenage daughter. She was fearless when it came to dark, unknown spaces and would run wire anywhere.)

There are powerful metaphors at work that make me secretly mourn his blood on my hands.

***

It’s almost too beautiful here to write. But I hope not. Is it harder to give the world a little something beautiful when you’re in the thick of it, when there’s a redwing black bird at waist level every 100 feet or so along this gravel road we walk together as the sun sets? When the sound of the breeze in the pines sounds like the Holy Spirit? When trees I cannot name in the distance are covered in blossoms, each a bouquet several times my height? When a pair of Canadian geese fly by and honk their hello’s while we’re having dinner under the trees?

Karin is giving Willow a bath with the hose in the yard. Elroy got up and went over and lay down behind a stone wall. He’s hoping that it’s not his turn next. The dogs are confused. They think we moved to a park and will have to go home soon. The first week we were out here, even though we were working some of the longest days of our lives, I kept thinking we were on vacation and would have to go back to the city soon.

The house has a ways to go. Even now, our only source of water inside is a utility sink in the laundry room. We have a toilet but no bathtub yet. A refrigerator but no kitchen sink. One late evening after a long sweaty day of moving, we ran a hose from the laundry sink out to an apple tree covered in white blossoms. Karin had bought a chrome handheld shower which we put on the other end of the hose. I climbed a stepladder and wrapped the handheld shower around a branch, climbed down, went inside and turned on the hot and cold water. A perfect shower came straight down out of our apple tree, what looked that night like the world’s very first tree, a tree drunk with the perfume of its own budding. The moon was coming up over the roof of the house, the sky was awash in stars. It took me my whole life to realize we were all born to bathe out doors in the open air.

The farm is full of simple pleasures.

***

Our tour of the West Coast was very memorable thanks to all of you who found us for those evenings of music, much of it from our new CD Drunkard’s Prayer. And it was memorable thanks to the towering redwoods we drove under driving south from Eugene on Highway 101. And memorable thanks to the rocky beaches along the coast covered with scrubbed driftwood in every imaginable shape, some of the world’s best sculpture washed up haphazardly on a beach, lying there free, no admission, on the edge of an art gallery of waves on fire for miles toward a setting sun.

I’m working on a new song that’s almost done. One bit of the refrain is:

This world’s so beautiful
I don’t know where to begin.

This world’s so beautiful
I can’t tell what shape it’s in.

You all filled the rooms we played in Seattle all the way to San Diego with expectation and energy. We were way overdue for a trip out west. Thanks for giving us such a warm welcome back. You were undoubtedly some of the best audiences we’ve played to in over 10 years of touring. Thanks for the many tiny treats: the flowers, wine, cigars, books etc…..

We couldn’t have moved out to this farm without the community of friends that gathered around us and helped pack, helped work on this house, helped us move, helped us tour. We couldn’t have moved out to this farm without the community of all of you who have discovered our music and helped give it a life. We thank you all. We have been blessed with so many good and generous people.

***

This week we’ll be heading to Florida for four shows, and then a week from today, we’ll be playing Atlanta. We do hope you’ll come by and share some of these songs with us. We’ve got a very gifted group of musicians out right now, and the songs feel very much like living things. You can burn a painting and it disappears. You can’t burn a melody. A melody is one of those unseen, eternal things that we can’t touch with our hands. Thanks to Rick and Devon and Kim for their good company and musicianship, and thanks to our crew: Chris, Drew and Ryan. (Good luck Ryan with your new chapter.)

Stop by overtherhine.com for the particulars on shows this week in Jacksonville, West Palm, Stuart, Orlando and Atlanta. Some of these places we’ve never played before and aren’t quite sure what to expect. We hope to see you. We’re looking forward to it.

When we work, we travel from city to city. Now when we come home, we disappear, leave the city, breathe deep, slow down a little. It feels like the best of both worlds. There have been many moments when we were overwhelmed, a bit afraid that we had bitten off too much–too many unknowns. But now we’re here at Nowhere Farm, and this hard-won moment is drenched with peace and rejuvenation.

Thanks for listening and may you all discover your own doorway to true joy,

Linford for Over the Rhine

PS You can still order our new CD, Drunkard’s Prayer, through overtherhine.com. Our sincere thanks to all of you who pre-ordered. That was a huge help to us. Most everyone got their CD on or before the release date as planned, but one shipment of Drunkard’s Prayer was lost and our label couldn’t track it down for love nor money, which resulted in a delay. We apologize to the few who had to wait. We also ran out of stock on a few items because of the overwhelming response. We really appreciate your generosity. Just to clarify, it wasn’t the staff of Pastemusic.com that was at fault. And we really do feel like we’ve got the few remaining bugs worked out at this point for the future. Our audience is growing, and it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Thanks again and we hope to see you soon somewhere down the road.

July 27, 2005

Nowhere Farm

Hello,

It’s a breezy July Wednesday morning, and a breeze on our little farm is a significant gift. First of all, we haven’t seen a car all morning, so the air is well worth breathing deeply. It’s a sensation closer to drinking than breathing.

Second, the locust trees have been an unexpected surprise. Earlier in the spring they were covered with sweet-smelling white blossoms, but now they have deep green, leafy branches with a knack for wrapping themselves around armloads of wind and not letting go. They bend surprisingly low, and lean into each other seductively, sharing windy jokes and whispers. (Karin almost changed the name of the farm to Locust Grove, we’ve been so taken with them.)

Third, the wind makes waves in the fields. The soybeans just curtsy self-consciously, but the wheat is transformed into a muted golden ocean that ebbs and flows. (Kim Taylor suggested that for our next video, Karin and I run towards the wind-blown wheat in our vintage bathing suits – beach gear in tow – and snorkel around in the wavy fields. Perhaps the occasional hand-operated folk art fish would rise up during a chorus.)

Fourth, the wind in the pine trees sounds like the holy spirit arriving, passing through, moving off to participate in whatever God is trying to get done. I’ve been reading Lauren Winner’s book, Girl Meets God, and she, thinking outloud, suggests that the holy spirit is what quiets all the other voices in our heads so that we can occasionally hear what God might have to say.

Finally, we’ve had some brutal heat here in the Midwest the last several days, and it’s wonderful to feel the air move. They say every wind has its weather, and we’re hoping some rain will blow in for the garden a little later. Right now, the sun is still bright, but there is the foreshadowing of rain in the sky, something subtle.

My mother and father came down for their first visit, and they grew up on Amish farms, so we were nervous about how our little place would look to them. My father walked over to our fence by the garden and within a few minutes had the bobwhite quail answering his whistles. He said he heard birds that he hadn’t heard since he was a boy. We worked the garden together, planted some more sweet corn, transplanted some watermelon and squash plants. He was genuinely excited about the richness of the soil, the view, the peacefulness. I guess I had forgotten how much he loved birds and their songs. He made field recordings with a reel-to-reel tape recorder when we very young, and played his discoveries at the breakfast table while we kids leaned over our hot cereal.

This winter we’ll find a good spot near the kitchen window for my father’s handmade bird feeder, and next spring we’ll start to find nooks for his bluebird boxes. We also want to see if we can lure some purple martins, see if we can convince them that they should make Nowhere Farm their home.

My mother spotted the apple tree in the front yard, and said, There’s no way we’re letting those apples go to waste. So we sat together under one of the ancient maples and peeled and quartered, and she helped us make several batches of lightly sweetened home made applesauce. She also brought a big bag of fresh oak leaf lettuce from their garden and made my favorite home made dressing, and between Karin doing her thing in the kitchen, and my Mom pulling out a few specialties, we ate like our farm had been transported to Southern France.

We’ve seen things out here. Bloated, blood-red moons on the rise. On a dark night, the milky way spilling down the center of the sky – somebody get a mop. We’ve seen a thousand acres of waist-high fireflies – no wonder people believed in Elves moving secretly across the night.

Karin’s got our porch decked out with many a colorful potted flower, each of which she has a knack for naming precisely (my own memory is pretty much shot at this point). So the butterflies flutter by and wow us with their extravagances, their fine art wings, their swallowtails. And the hummingbirds will thrum by in high gear, and hover on a dime, and dip into the blooms to extract their elixirs, the sweet stuff of life, from Karin’s potted flowers.

Then there’s the rain out here across the fields, the gentle, soaking rains or the crash-bang, bust-the-sky storms, the trees turning their leaves inside out to drink, the mist lying across the fields on newly wet evenings.

The sunsets, different every evening, turning the fields colors that we can never imagine in advance.

We are rich, but none of this belongs to us. Karin says, The only things we own are the moments. Everything else is like a book borrowed from the library: it will all be returned.

My oldest brother Conrad and his wife Kathy and their five kids came down for a visit. The kids pitched their tent in the maple grove. We played badminton and increasingly cut-throat croquet and picked black berries and dumped spoonfuls of fresh berries on our pie and ice cream. Jonathan, Conrad’s oldest son, caught the largest large mouth bass of his life at a nearby pond in one of the fields, a bass longer than his elbow to the tip of his fingers. He’s been crazy about fishing ever since he could maneuver around on all fours, so it was great to know that this visit will be forever etched in his fishing memory. He was visibly shaken with joy when we stopped back to check on him, but he did manage to more-or-less document the fish with the family video camera before he tossed it back.

But what about the dark underbelly of all this beauty? It was a bad year for ticks this spring, so we’ve had to be vigilant with the dogs. Ticks will hide between their toes, or find an unsuspecting spot on a wagging tail. I missed a tiny tick that got a good grip on the nape of my own neck overnight. The bite still itches even now, a month later. I had to go to a country doctor and drive down a long farm lane and wait in the waiting room on old church pews and look out the window at the pond with Canadian geese walking about, suspicious heads held high as if a nurse might approach one of them unannounced and try to hook a wing up to an I.V.

A large hawk flies in to Nowhere Farm almost daily, lately crying the saddest cries. We don’t know why it’s so sad. Perhaps it is tired of all the killing. The black birds get nervous, and the hawk will leave us neat piles of plucked black bird feathers after her meals, and once the severed head of a young possum on one of our paths, eyes still open, looking both ways.

I’ve had to learn the elusive art of killing poison ivy – 12 and 15 foot award-winning vines, Magnum P.I. – woody, hair covered vines thick as misshapen baseball bats, leaves full of warts and oily secretions. The huge ivy vines twice as tall as me are the queens, and they’re usually surrounded by knee or waist-high younger plants – the protective pawns – all waiting to make us itch.

And when it got hot and the air got very still and close this last week, the horse flies came buzzing around doing fly-by’s. The dogs get jumpy and snap at them violently. These are Arnold Schwarzenegger flies about an inch long – a sort of cross between a common housefly and a Hummer – with fluorescent green racing stripes on their eyes and zebra stripes across their bellies and a scissors where their mouths should be for cutting through skin and hide and sucking blood.

Nests of helpless baby birds tumble out of trees during storms and sometimes we try to feed the sad, injured nestlings for a few days while they’re waiting around to die. And the birds, born with more music than they know what to do with, fight viciously with other birds of different colors to defend their little pieces of earth, their territory.

There’s the occasional snakeskin in the attic above the kitchen that makes us nervous, worst case scenario being we open the silverware drawer one morning and lose Karin. And of course when you’re raising vegetables, any number of bugs will long to infest whatever it is you’re trying to grow. Beetles were rioting on the sweet corn tassels yesterday morning, and our tremendous pumpkin vines (sprawling with pumpkins the size of cannon balls) are starting to get a bit mushy brown near the roots. I saw a large green caterpillar covered with white larvae, that I think were eating the caterpillar, while the caterpillar ate our tomato vines. Hmmm.

Karin pulls the shameless, mating Japanese beetles off of the rose bushes she planted, in her first flower bed out here, near the front of the house. Clouds of insects sometimes throw themselves at the lighted 170-year-old night windows of our house.

It’s a bit wild out here around the edges.

There’s a dark side, but we root for the beauty of it all. And we believe the reckless beauty that surrounds us will somehow win the day. We build our occasional fires after dark with a few friends, and try to figure it all out. We help each other laugh.

So we’re out here. And while the farmers eye their fields of corn and harvest their wheat and grow enough soybeans to give a truck full to seemingly every man, woman and child in America, we grow a different crop. We hope this place will be a new home, a place to retreat to after working city to city, a place in which good music and new words can grow and thrive – music and words that can be of use to us and our friends.

There are a lot of unknowns out here, and we need those unknowns to keep it interesting.

We wonder outloud what Autumn will be like. The first snowfall: everything completely still for miles.

Re-establishing our lives on Nowhere Farm pretty much consumed every resource we could muster, but we did manage to take much-needed, much-loved breaks to continue playing our music, namely the new songs on Drunkard’s Prayer, as well as songs that have been around for awhile. Again, our thanks to the many of you who made these evenings so memorable for us.

We were surprised at the few thousand people who showed up for our concert in Louisville for WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday, in spite of stifling heat and the fact that Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson were playing half a mile away.

We played another packed midnight show at the Illinois Cornerstone Festival, and of course we always love those sold-out Chicago crowds at Schubas.

And speaking of rooting around for beauty, we’ve got more dates coming up that we wanted to let you know about. We love this new chapter on the farm, but we look forward more than ever now to our trips from city to city to fill a room somewhere for an evening with music. Kim Taylor will be joining us once again. We hope to see you.

So here we go:

August 26, Friday, THE DAME, LEXINGTON, KY – a rock club next to a kickin’ Chapeau shop. Good music and a new hat for all.

August 27, Saturday, CONEY ISLAND MOONLITE GARDENS, CINCINNATI, OH. One of our all-time favorite venues. Join us at this historic and lovely outdoor amphitheater in front of a hometown crowd, beneath the stars, down by the muddy river.

September 2, Friday, LITTLE BROTHERS, COLUMBUS, OH. It always surprises us how much love shows up in this room, the quintessential dive.

September 3, Saturday, CLUB CAF�, PITTSBURGH, PA. The coziest room we’ll play all fall. Get your tix early, it will sell out in advance.

September 4. Sunday, JAMMIN’ JAVA, VIENNA, VA. One of those great East Coast, coffee house listening rooms. This show also tends to sell out in advance.

September 6, Tuesday, JOHNNY D’S, SOMERVILLE, MA. Our first show at this venue. Don’t know a thing about it. Hope to see some familiar faces though.

September 7, Wednesday, MERCURY LOUNGE, NYC, NY. Yes.

September 8, Thursday, TLA, (THEATRE OF LIVING ARTS), PHILADELPHIA, PA. A big deal for us to return to this larger venue. Thanks Philly for giving us a shot. C’mon out Lancaster folks, etc.

September 9, Friday, IRON HORSE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS. Last time we made an after show pilgrimage to Emily Dickinson’s house.

There’s more to come, but if you want to mark your calendars well in advance, we’re planning another triple header for the first weekend of November at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, OH. And the Christmas tour is taking shape: Two shows at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on December 3rd, and our homecoming concert at the stunning Taft Theater in Cincinnati on December 10th. Hope you can join us.

We’ll be sending out some short notes in coming days about some summer sales at overtherhine.com. And we’ve got a few surprises up our sleeves. More on that soon. Stay tuned.

The journey continues. Days of joy, sadness, beauty, dreaming, hard work, tedium, restlessness, longing, confusion, laughter, clarity, tiny victories, peace.

Thank God for music.

And thanks for listening,

Linford Detweiler for Over the Rhine

August 19, 2005

Pour me a glass of wine
Talk deep into the night
Who knows what we’ll find

Intuition, deja vu
The holy ghost haunting you
Whatever you got
I don’t mind

I was born to laugh
I learned to laugh
Through my tears

I was born to love
I’m gonna learn to love
Without fear

“Born” (c) Over the Rhine, from the new release “Drunkard’s Prayer”

Over the Rhine IN CONCERT, with special guest Kim Taylor:

Fri Aug 26: Lexington KY, The Dame

Sat Aug 27: Cincinnati OH, CONEY ISLAND MOONLITE GARDENS. (One of our all-time favorite venues. Join us at this historic and lovely outdoor amphitheater in front of a hometown crowd, beneath the stars, down by the muddy Ohio River.) Tickets for this special ALL AGES show are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling 513.241.7469 or 513.562.4949, as well as on-line:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/16003AFA018E923E?artistid=753213&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

Or you can pick up tickets at the door at Coney Island on the day of the show — no one will be turned away.

More dreamy, late summer nights:

Fri Sep 02: Columbus OH, Little Brothers
Sat Sep 03: Pittsburgh PA, Club Cafe
Sun Sep 4: Vienna VA, Jammin’ Java
Tue Sep 6: Somerville MA, Johnny D’s
Wed Sep 07: New York NY, Mercury Lounge
Thu Sep 08: Philadelphia PA, Theatre of Living Arts
Fri Sep 09: Northampton MA, Iron Horse Music Hall

We hope to see you!

Please share these above dates… There’s still no word like your word of mouth.

***

And back-to-schoolers:

Visit overtherhine.com to fill in any lonely spaces in your cd collection.
“Over the Rhine attempts to create the musical equivalent of a pair of wings…”

DRUNKARD’S PRAYER — “The latest cd, recorded in the living room of The Grey Ghost, is possibly the most intimate offering from Over the Rhine thus far… Unforgettable songs, beautiful, real, close to the bone…”

CHANGES COME — “This concert recording captures a cathartic, electric night on the OHIO tour…”

OHIO — A sprawling double album that critics referred to as “a cry from the ravaged heartland” and “necessary, ambitious pop music…” See for yourself…

THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR — A private collection of songs off the beaten track including a post-9/11 version of Neil Young’s Helpless…

FILMS FOR RADIO — A richly arranged project that took Over the Rhine to over 13 countries in Europe and around North America…

AMATEUR SHORTWAVE RADIO — Happy Birthday to us: a musical cake baked from scratch that celebrated a decade of musical exploration…

BESIDES — Our first behind-the-scenes collection of oft-requested Over the Rhine moments that were never officially released…

THE DARKEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR — An alternative to jingly, syrupy fare, this after dark collection “conjures some of the real mystery of Christmas, snowy open spaces, frozen stars, warm lamp-lit rooms…”

GOOD DOG BAD DOG — Many writers have referred to this collection as the band’s “homespun masterpiece…” Thanks to you, this cd has had a good life.

EVE — “A tempestuous, adventurous, rambunctious exploration of lost innocence and more…” Enjoy.

PATIENCE — A dreamy collection of songs that landed Over the Rhine a national record deal and the seeds of a fantastic following that has stuck around for years.

TILL WE HAVE FACES — The band’s earliest songs, recorded in what sounds like heaven’s three car garage, the songs that started it all…

And don’t forget Linford’s spare instrumental recordings:

I DON’T THINK THERE’S NO NEED TO BRING NOTHIN’
GREY GHOST STORIES
UNSPOKEN REQUESTS

Music for writing, thinking, studying, painting, birthing, and especially nursing — or so we’re told…

Drink your life down deep, breathe, open wide, bust on through.

Thanks for listening — without you, we’d be homeless.

Lookin’ forward to layin’ eyes on you soon, hopefully,

Over the Rhine

PS This e-mail may be shared, broadcast, printed, posted and distributed, or otherwise disbursed freely to friends and acquaintances alike without reproach.

October 20, 2005

Hello from Nowhere Farm,

A Stray Dog’s Life is Good Enough For Me…

Today is Friday, October 7, 2005. There’s a different kind of chill in the air today. It’s a gray day, breezy, and wet through and through with gentle rain. Change is afoot. The grass is green. The grass loves this cooler weather. The leaves of the maples are starting to turn now in earnest. The golden rod isn’t quite as brilliant as it was a few weeks ago, when it sugar-buzzed with pollen-drenched, disbelieving bees.

Our garden looks like a fall garden – the zucchini and cucumber vines and sweet corn long dried up, a few ripe tomatoes and peppers still hiding here and there, butternut squash lying conspicuously about. I picked the last few, ripe watermelon yesterday. They’re not as big as some of the 35 pounders we hauled out earlier, but they feel and sound ripe. So we’ll sit on the porch swing some evening soon and see what we’ve got. That was a childhood memory I enjoyed reliving – bringing in a heaping wheelbarrow full of ripe watermelon.

My father tells me there is no food so good as the food grown in your own garden.

But soon the frost will come, and the cycle of life will turn once again. The ground will lie fallow for awhile. Rest. We’ll hunker down for our first winter on Nowhere Farm.

For a long while, we knew another day would come eventually. And it did. I wrote the following to a few family members and close friends Tuesday morning:

Goodbye to a Friend…

Hey all,

I wanted to let you know that Karin and I got back from taping a radio show Sunday night to discover that Willow was failing. She had stayed overnight with a friend who she loves while we were gone, but had a rough time. We ran some tests yesterday, and she has issues with her stomach and lungs and kidneys. She had lost most of her hearing in the last 4-6 weeks. Seems like the light is fading from her body. She’s unable to eat anything except for a little broth, and she can’t seem to even keep that down.

She’s very weak, but still has a spark in her eye. Miraculously, Willow surprised us at 10am this morning and got herself up, gulped down some water and looked at us as if to say, Let’s go. We all (Karin, Willow, Elroy and I) had a nice walk on the farm. For 15 minutes, she shook off her troubles and got lost in what she loved. When it was over, she lay down, and it soon became even more clear that she was dying. In a final act of kindness, we’re going to take her into Cincinnati this afternoon and say goodbye, spare her the hours or days of further suffering.

It was almost 10 years ago to the day that she came into our lives, and we can’t imagine the last decade without her.

I still remember the Fall day 10 years ago that Karin and I drove into the country to meet with a Weimaraner breeder. She interviewed us for hours and let us see her dogs and talked about what would happen if we bought one of her dogs — it would have to be co-owned, and “finished” — made into a bench champion etc. We couldn’t afford any of it, and were wondering, how would we do all this and make our music?

But the woman warmed to Karin and finally said, You know if you’re just looking for a companion, a neighbor of mine just picked up a beautiful Weimaraner that was running on the highway. She’s been posting signs, and taking out ads to see if anyone claims her. If nobody does, you might be able to help out with giving her a home. She’s a great dog, but she’s been on the run for awhile…

A week later, this amazing, athletic hunting dog was in Karin’s apartment. I can’t begin to describe the joy this development brought. From the moment we laid eyes on her, we couldn’t help but grin at her intelligence, energy and just the stunningly beautiful way she was put together. Her past, prior to the day she found us, remained a complete mystery.

Yesterday, Karin was waiting at the vet’s office with Willow while he did an emergency C-section on another dog. A woman walked into the waiting room and said to Karin, Do you remember me? Ten years later there she was — the breeder who had connected us with Willow. It was one of her Weimaraners that was being operated on and she brought out one of the little puppies with its eyes still closed — the cycle of life and death right there in the room.

It was almost like God saying, I gave you this animal, and I’m still here. It’s ok.

A friend said that dogs awake to their last day with gladness in their hearts.

We had always prayed that we wouldn’t get a call somewhere on the road informing us that Willow was gone. We wanted to be able to say goodbye. This is what the answer to that prayer looks and feels like. Lots of tears, lots of joy.

Love from Ohio,

Linford & Karin

We knew the day would come and it did.

I had never seen an animal put to sleep. A few friends stopped by beforehand to say goodbye, and of course Robert, the man who became like a brother to us by visiting the Grey Ghost and taking Willow to the park and walking her and playing with her every single day that we were away on tour in the last decade. (With the exception of the few adventures/near disasters when we took Willow along with us.) We realized that Robert had never once turned us down – never said, I can’t make it, there’s a foot of snow on the ground, I’m too sick, or that weekend won’t work for me. Not once in ten years. When Robert walked into the room in those last moments of her life, Willow struggled to her feet one last time to give him the props he so deserved.

A few friends shedding tears with us… Tears of joy and sadness – they come from the same place. Everyone said goodbye. Then it was just Karin and I and Willow and the vet that had patched her up from time to time. (We used to joke that there was a different scar for every year that we’d known her.) She was completely relaxed. Her body was tired from holding it all together for us. Earlier we had both spoken with her at length. Karin held her as we drove the hour from the farm into the city. When I told her she was going to lie down and go to sleep and go chase some squirrels, she looked at me with gratitude and relief. And in a few seconds she was gone. When I saw her at complete rest like that I knew we had done the right thing. Her work here was done.

Ten years ago, when Karin realized that she had a powerful hunting dog on her hands, she decided communication was of the essence, so she took Willow to puppy school and worked with her on the basic commands – Sit, stay, lie down, OFF! (a general command meaning, Back away, don’t eat that) heel, etc. Willow was a quick study, but the command that was used to let her know she was free from obligation was “Release.” Karin whispered that to Willow repeatedly in her final hours. That’s the command that Karin has been using as we try to let go now. Release.

There are some who would argue that a dog’s life is insignificant. But God so often chooses to use insignificant things in significant ways. In the grand scheme, we’re all insignificant until love shows up. She was a spark for us, and life is a bit dim right now without her.

What am I mourning? I’m mourning the end of the special connection I saw between the woman I love and her very first dog. I’m mourning the fact that I’m getting older. Ten years ago, when Willow arrived, we had no idea what to expect. It was the start of a new adventure. Now we look back at another chapter of our lives that has ended.

Willow was good for us. She helped us have a semblance of a routine. It was contagious to watch how she insisted on doing what she was born to do.

We write these songs because we want to feel things deeply and listen well to our lives. So in times of loss, maybe we feel a bit more than we wish we did, and this makes it exceptionally painful. We know the day will come when we’ll look back with only gratitude and fondness for the ten years we woke up together. I guess no one notices the moment a dog becomes part of the family. She was a true kindred spirit somehow.

Good Dog.

***

Road Trips, Rose Hips and More…

You all have been good to us again this year. So many memorable nights of music and good vibes…

We had an unforgettable evening down by the river at Coney Island’s Moonlight Gardens in late August. Soon after, we drove to the Northeast, visited some of America’s great cities. Those of you who attended the concerts wrapped your arms around us with welcome. Thanks for all the good memories and after dark gifts.

It occurred to me that you thought we were deep and it turns out we’re not deep. All we do is write simple, slightly off-kilter love songs and gather a few people together and sing about love. We’re not that deep. Songs about simply wanting to love well those closest to us. Songs about wanting to love those people that have hurt us, and those we’ve hurt. Songs about wanting to love what we cannot name, what we have yet to see. Songs about being in love with the reckless beauty of the sky, the lay of the land, the grin of a child. Songs about failing to love more deeply, about being partially blind to what we want to see more clearly. Songs in which we wonder out loud if we’re in love with God, or simply in love with all our unanswered questions.

On clear nights when we have friends visiting we have a little game we play. We walk toward the barn and gather under a pole in the yard that has more or less the equivalent of a street light on it, a light which silvers the blades of grass and makes the maple trees glow in the dark. We tell everyone to look up, and we count to three slowly, very slowly, and then flick the light off and the entire farm is bathed in black. The stars swim instantly into precise focus. And it seldom fails to take our breath away. And it looks like a vandal took a pitchfork and just pricked the daylights out of the membrane sky.

Dark, dark, dark…

But then do you have days, certain days, when you know you’ve been given so much, probably much more than you deserve, more vast good than you’re even aware of, and yet you can’t muster up the strength to kick the melancholy out of the house? What is that about? Those days when we can’t access our joy. Voices in our heads telling us lie after lie after lie.

–We’re failures.
–We’re mediocre.
–We’re lousy friends.
–We’re lousy partners.
–We’re wasting our lives.
–We’re alone out here on this fuckin’, ramshackle, ragged, broke down, heartbreakingly beautiful farm, and it’s all a pile of crap.

I think of these thrown days as emotional tantrums where I commit every significant sin in the space of a few hours – the sin of ingratitude, the sin of wanting it all, the sin of not loving myself and therefore finding myself incapable of loving anything or anyone.

Have you heard about this Japanese scientist who tapes labels to jars of water? The water with the encouraging, affirming labels (you are beautiful, I love you) makes lovely molecular snowflake-like crystals, the water with the bad labels (I hate you, I wanna kill you) turns snaky brown.

Our own bodies are something like 90% water.

What are we doing to ourselves with our own thinking?

We need to try to be good to ourselves and each other.

Fall back…

If you squint your eyes at the distance, you can almost see the end of a year looming. So we’re heading back out, finding the slow curve of headlights on the highway, lost at sea, happy together, on the verge. Hope you can come along for the ride.

Please join us (see overtherhine.com for more details, or e-mail OTRhine@aol.com):

Saturday evening, October 22, 2005: we’ll be playing at Paste Magazine’s Rock-n-Reel festival in Atlanta (Decatur), Georgia. The folks at Paste magazine have brought some much-needed fresh perspective into covering music and culture in America. This is their first attempt at hosting a film and music festival. Check out pastemusic.com for much more. (Over the Rhine plays at 7pm-ish after the inimitable Erin McKeown, and before the ultimate slow burn band, LOW.)

Sunday evening, October 23, 2005: Road trip anyone? How about taking a drive through the Fall colors and meeting us at Blue Cats in lovely Knoxville, Tennessee. Kim Taylor opens.

Thu Oct 27: Wheaton IL, Wheaton College — Coray Alumni Gym… One of Bono’s stops on his cross-country speaking tour, and didn’t Frederick Buechner guest on the faculty for a spell?

Fri Nov 04: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern – One of the coziest, most legendary listening rooms in North America. Always a favorite. Three nights!

Sat Nov 05: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern

Sun Nov 06: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern

Sat Nov 12: Columbus OH: Grace Central (An evening of words and music with Linford Detweiler.)

Thu Nov 17: Kent OH, The Kent Stage – A ragged old theater with a haunted piano and red velvet seats. This performance is part of the renowned Kent Folk Festival.

Fri Nov 18: Belleville OH, Belleville Opera House – A first for us… Come find us in this small Ohio town, and we’ll just have to see what happens now won’t we?

Sat Nov 19: Grand Rapids MI, Calvin College Fine Arts Center – A beautiful venue on a campus that takes its music and culture seriously. This one’s definitely worth a drive as well.

And looking ahead to our Christmas Tour, mark your calendars now! We’re talking hot mulled wine, Salvation Army Store faux-fur coats, scarves flung exuberantly over shoulders, rosy cheeks, take-me-out-of-the-cold warm-on-the-inside music, All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue. groups of friends stumbling forward together laughing outloud, scribbled back pocket poems, dinner before the show, we do it every year,

OVER THE RHINE CHRISTMAS DATES

Thu Dec 1: Akron OH, Lime Spider

Fri Dec 2: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark

Sat Dec 03: Chicago IL, Old Town School of Folk Music (2 shows, early (7pm) and late (10pm)…

Sun Dec 4: Des Moines IA, Vaudeville Mews

Tues Dec 6: Minneapolis, MN, Details coming soon…

Wed Dec 07: Madison WI: High Noon Saloon

Fri Dec 09: Indianapolis IN, The Music Mill

Sat Dec 10: Columbus OH, Little Brothers

Thu Dec 15: Nashville TN: 3rd & Lindsley

Fri Dec 16: A town in Kentucky near you, Details coming soon…

Sat Dec 17: Cincinnati OH, Taft Theatre. We’re ending our year at home and invite all to join us for this special show at a 2600 seat historic theater. ***Please note: Karin and I are planning extra activities for December 18 as well – a 1pm reading & upright piano performance by yours truly, and a special candlelight, wine & cheese catered, Q&A acoustic performance by Karin and Linford at 5pm. (Both additional performances will be held at St. Elizabeth’s Cultural Center (A Cathedral of the Arts) in Norwood, Ohio.) We wanted an opportunity to spend a little more time together this year. Throw a little rendezvous. MORE DETAILS SOON. Please plan on spending the extra day with us if you’re so inclined.

Yours truly,

Linford (&Karin)

November 16, 2005

Hello from Nowhere Farm,

(No-where, or now-here, you decide.)

There’s a lot going on. We’ll try to be brief. As a friend once sang, Life is strange, life is good, life is all that it should be…

***

Come see Over the Rhine this weekend…

Thursday, November 17, at the Kent Stage (a lovely old theater with red velvet seats) in Kent, Ohio. We’re honored to be a part of the 39th Annual Kent Folk Festival. This performance will be recorded for later broadcast.

Friday, November 18, at the Bellville Opera House, Bellville, Ohio. Travel only by back roads and meet us after dark in a lovely little Ohio town, the kind of town that Sherwood Anderson conjured so vividly in his spare, moving short stories. We’ll write a few stories of our own.

Saturday, November 19, at the Calvin College Fine Arts Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan. We’re always happy to be part of this concert series, one of the nation’s finest. Looking forward to the Bosendorfer grand piano, with those few extra low notes.

***

Check out our on-line specials…

The end of the year approacheth. Every song we’ve ever recorded is on sale. Hooray. Woo-hoo. Enjoy. Check out our flea market here:

http://overtherhine.com/catalog/order.html

And stay tuned for more info on the upcoming Christmas Tour, (overtherhine.com) as well as special performances on December 18th, and a limited edition, signed CD of highlights from this year’s homecoming concert at the Taft!

You’ll be hearing from us again soon,

Captain Hallelujah Wannabe

ps Thanks for the great three-nighter at Canal Street Tavern. That was a good ride.

January 4, 2006

Rambling Tour Diary – And a Glimpse of 2006

Once again, Hello from Nowhere Farm,

Happy New Year.

The quilted earth is asleep out here, steeped in winter moisture beneath a soft gray sky.

We wanted to send some words your way to thank you all once again for making our December tour better than we could have imagined. Where do we begin?

Karin and I were up at 5:30am at the farm on day one, surrounded by snowy fields. Beautiful sunrise snuck up on us as we packed the suitcases and guitars and headed to Cincinnati where we met Rick and Devon and Kim as well as our fine crew: Brandon, Dave and Ryan. Goodbyes to family members and friends. Hugs all around.

And we’re off.

It was snowing in Akron when we arrived, but the Lime Spider was all abuzz as we tried out new songs for the first time. There was a skating rink across the road with real after dark skaters. Folks from Germany had set up a semi-circle of tents and were selling their crafts and passing out hot mulled wine. The whole evening could have taken place in one of those little snow globes we used to shake up as children. It was all true: We were on the road at Christmas time.

Ann Arbor was as festive as ever. The shops around the club were all staying open till midnight and from note one it felt as if the sold-out crowd at The Ark was ready to hop aboard some imaginary train. Once again we were surprised by how the unique electricity of an audience has so much to do with the way the music feels, and our evening in Ann Arbor was truly a highlight of the tour. Thanks to all of you who shared that night with us.

On to two sold-out shows at one of our new favorite venues in America: The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. This 400-seat theater is one of the most intimate we’ve found and is run mostly by dedicated volunteers. The folks at Old Town had a grand piano waiting for us on stage, and welcomed us with open arms to one of America’s great music towns. Hard to imagine a better way to spend a Saturday night…

We made the trek to Des Moines through the bitter cold and reminisced about our trip to Iowa in a blizzard years earlier to open for Bob Dylan. This time around we had no idea what to expect at Vaudeville Mews on a Sunday night with below zero temperatures. The venue was packed with folks from not only frozen Iowa, but a smattering of surrounding states as well. Wow. There they all were, bundled up stylishly, ready for something good. And yes, at least one person said they had seen us at that Bob Dylan show in Ames years ago, and had kept an ear out for the music ever since.

During the show in Des Moines there was a couple standing right in front of the stage that would occasionally lean into each other while the music got itself made. I offer them this scribbled snapshot:

Everybody Is Sick Of Love

Except for the girl dancing slowly
Folded in the arms
Of her gentle boy
Her eyes closed in precious disbelief.

So I am watching the joy on her face,
You have never seen such pure peace and delight,
Because if you had,
Your eyes would have been closed too.

(Or maybe you have seen.)

But thanks to her,
This broken world was briefly mended
For one fleet night before it ended.

***

A lovely listener whisked us off to her specialty cheesecake restaurant in the morning for brunch and spoiled us all with a table full of fine food that had been (in the words of my mother) “made with love” and it was like sharing a family meal together. Our sound engineer, Dave Foreman, had celebrated his 50th birthday on the road in Des Moines, so the timing couldn’t have been better. (Dave’s nickname is TDJ: Too Damn Juicy. Once you get to know him, you can just call him Too Damn, for short.)

Dave has toured with quite an impressive number of influential American musicians and songwriters, and he is fond of commenting that he has never seen a community of fans who were so open, who wanted to connect with the music and each other so deeply. Dave says songs are prayers we’ve been given for when our wounds are too deep to speak. He really believes that the connections made through music (and prayer) are what holds this ol’ universe together. He really loves being around all y’all and wanted you to know.

After brunch, we drove North to Minneapolis from Des Moines and the temperature dropped with every mile and the thermometer was empty by the time we arrived – the mercury had disintegrated. But the Fine Line filled up with warm bodies, and we lived that longed-for sensation of coming in out of the cold to a clean, well-lighted place where music was going to sweep us away somewhere hopefully unimagined. We got to share a quick supper with some new friends – Doug Pagitt and his wife. We talked about holistic medicine and food and adopted families and…

And then it was on to Madison where I got to reconnect with an old friend, a painter that we met at an Irish Pub in Dubuque years ago. Tom and I went out for a Thai meal together and ordered the five course feast (Surprise us!) and talked of all the things we cared most about, our families, our life’s work, where we were now and where we longed to be, the many good things we’d been given so far. Tom Metcalf is an American Artist bursting at the seams with energy and ideas, and he has the facility of a fine Renaissance Painter. It’s all beautifully contagious. After the concert we smoked our aromatic cigars and lifted our glasses and Tom’s not worried that he has to be in front of his college art students in the morning back in Dubuque because they need to feel this coming from him – his willingness to be up all night staying keen, wrapping his arms around the gift of being alive.

Then we knew it was going to start snowing, and we had to drive to Indianapolis, and we grabbed our coffees and green teas in the morning and made ghosts with our breath. If we’re not traveling on a bus, I promised Karin long ago I would always drive if we ever got into bad weather on tour since I grew up for some years in Montana and went to school in Alberta and then my parents did some time in Northern Minnesota and I know all about driving in the snow. And after school in Alberta I worked for a Mennonite farmer and the cows were so calm as they streamed into the barn and calmly found their assigned stanchions. And every evening after school I backed a trailer about 150 feet through a narrow passageway to where the silage was stored. Little did I know that starting a band one day would involve backing a trailer which to my surprise I realized I knew how to do virtually in my sleep. One wonders from time to time if everything that happens is preparing us for something later in life.

So we studied the atlas and decided to bypass Chicago and I drove the nine hours to Indianapolis with snow falling heavily almost all the way. And we pulled up to the hotel and it was laughter and gladness all around, we’d made it, we were alive, and there was still time to get a warm dinner. And Devon got to pile off for a night or two in his own bed.

And we had a good crowd at The Music Mill, but some nights it’s impossible for us to tell whether an audience is really tuned in or not, it’s almost as if there is a veil between the audience and the stage, and we’re trying to rip it open, but we can’t seem to break through. But from what we could tell in the end, the music was getting through, we just weren’t sure at first.

In Columbus, we were sure, because Little Brothers, although the quintessential dive, was packed and the crowd was wound up tight ready to burst, standing shoulder to shoulder right in front of the stage and shouting out little tidbits of encouragement, and we remembered what that felt like.

So then it was home to the farm for a few days to celebrate Karin’s birthday which we did and then of all the possible developments, we lost Karin’s voice there for a spell and thought we were going to have to explain to a few thousand people that our hometown concert was going to have to be rescheduled due to a singer with no sing. But a couple of trips to the doctor and a specialist here and a referral there and some prayer for help tossed into the mix and bless her heart she got it back just a little at a time and got through the night and it felt like the best Taft Show yet. And holy smokes this audience of ours: replaces stolen guitars for us, shows up with 26 dozen white roses for Karin, and converges on this historic theater to pack it to the rafters. And in fact, as we travel from town to town, we are humbled by little gift baskets of goodies left on stage, the occasional bottle of wine, a carefully selected book with a personal inscription, handwritten notes, tiny surprises slipped to us again and again as if to say, Keep it up. You’re not alone. We’ve found each other. In some mysterious way, this all matters.

Thank you.

And thanks to Amy Rigby for joining us on this special night. And thanks to Kim Taylor for an amazing year – for all that singing and for the laughter. We made it and covered a lot of good miles together. From the departure point of a few Grey Ghost rehearsals, we found our way to both oceans, saw some coastal Redwoods, played Manhattan twice, poked around Florida, and ended up in front of that amazing crowd at The Taft none the worse for the wear. Not bad.

And then for a little something extra Karin and I had offered an invitation to gather at St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood the day after the Taft. And Ryan cleaned that ragged old cathedral, and Krystal decorated, and Drew and Wendy took care of the food and wine, and Jody helped us with the coffee, and Brandon and Dave made everything else go, and we actually threw a little party. Some words, some music, some conversation. It was really great to connect with those of you who could make it. This is something we’d like to start doing at the end of every year.

We finished out the year in Nashville and were delighted when Buddy Miller hopped up on stage and sat in with us at the end of our set. We’d love to do some dates together with him sometime. He and Julie are special folks. Thanks to all of you who made the effort to join us for this rescheduled date. Sorry once again about the change in plans. And it was awful nice to see Dave Perkins (our partner in crime when we recorded Films For Radio) and his sons Max and Jack – have a little sit down at Fido. And to check in with our occasional side-kick Wade Jaynes.

A lot of memories, and a lot of music…

So, if you were there and want a little keepsake, or if you weren’t able to join us and want to get a little taste of what you missed, it’s not too late to order the commemorative, limited edition CD that we’re putting together. It’s always an adventure to try to bottle live performances, but we think you’ll enjoy this document of a tour that brought to a close a great year. (Check out overtherhine.com.) Thanks again to Rick and Devon for their inspiring musicianship and friendship. It was a lot of fun to hear how the songs on Drunkard’s Prayer blossomed on the road. Thanks again to Brandon and the rest of the crew for helping make it all happen.

We’re going to lay low now for a couple of months to write and recover. We’ll start the year officially in March with a couple of “firsts” for Over the Rhine: Our first tour of New Zealand as a band, and our first-ever appearances at SXSW in Austin. More on all this soon…

(Oh, and I guess there will be a couple of small appearances in February. Just a teaser or two.)

Another first in 2006: Karin and I will be leading our first songwriting workshop in Santa Fe the first week of August. (The Glen Workshop is hosted every year by Image Journal at St. John’s College.) So if you know of a budding, aspiring songwriter who might want to join us, or if you’re just someone who loves music who wants to observe, keep us in mind. It’s a stunning setting, and a great group of people. More details on this soon as well.

Finally, thanks to those of you who signed up at the shows to sponsor a child through World Vision. If you’re interested in helping us meet our goal of getting 200 kids sponsored through the Over the Rhine community, please e-mail OTRhine@aol.com. Please note, all of you who e-mailed before the tour or during the tour, I had those e-mails in a folder that I was planning on responding to when things got a little quieter. Alas, the folder is gone. PLEASE E-MAIL AGAIN and I will respond with a personal note of thanks and get your e-mail forwarded to the right person. Again, for the equivalent of a couple of CD’s a month ($30) we can provide clean water, a support structure and an education for a child directly effected by the AIDS crisis in Africa. Please join us.

We wish you all the best in this coming year.

Peace,

Linford for Over the Rhine

PS Happy significant birthday to Bill today!
PPS I’ve heard rumors that Karin is working on a post-tour letter as well. Don’t say we never write…

February 7, 2006

Just a quick hello and the latest from Over the Rhine:

The limited edition Over the Rhine CD (LIVE from Nowhere, Volume One) is mixed and mastered. We feel like this little collection of concert recordings far exceeded our expectations. We’re quite sure you’ll be tickled at what we were able to bottle. Sonically, it sounds as good as anything we’ve ever sent out into this world. And it contains generous swigs of previously unreleased material…

Releasing a limited edition collection of concert highlights at the end of each year is a new tradition we want to establish. We think LIVE from Nowhere, Volume One is going to be a tough collection to beat with future volumes, but we’re up for the challenge, and when you hear the hoopla y’all make from time to time, we think you’ll understand.

We’re still finishing up artwork and notes, and then it’s off to the manufacturer and then Karin and I will sign and number 3000 copies by hand out here at the farm. When they’re gone, they’re gone. Collectors’ items are us. So we’re getting there, and we’ll keep you posted. (When you hear this collection we think you’ll be glad we took the time to get it right.)

Here is the track listing:

1. Faithfully Dangerous
2. Spark
3. Born
4. Lookin’ Forward
5. Drunkard’s Prayer
6. White Horse
7. Etcetera Whatever
8. Fever
9. Son of a Preacher Man
10. Moondance
11. My Love is a Fever
12. Paper Moon
(and a hidden track – from Sunday at St. Elizabeth’s, just a taste…)

We’ll post some MP3’s soon at overtherhine.com and pastemusic.com to give you a little shot glass worth of what’s to come.

There were some technical difficulties with our recording of The Taft this year, but we included a handful of recordings from The Taft concert in 2004 (just prior to the release of Drunkard’s Prayer). The result is a well-rounded document of this chapter in the band’s history. We feel like it all worked out. Whew!

You can still order a copy of Over the Rhine’s LIVE from Nowhere Volume One at overtherhine.com. And we’re extending our CD sale of the rest of the catalog until we get these all mailed out. Check out the lowered prices at overtherhine.com if you need to plunge your arms up to the elbows in Over the Rhine’s music. You get the point.

***

Finally, it’s February, and it’s great weather to get in the car and find a change of scenery. Put it in drive and take a spiritual journey. Leave behind your care and your worry.

Here’s the crumpled road map:

You can kick back, daydream, scribble in your sketchbook and hear yours truly play the piano, read poems, and reconstruct stories from the past:

Linford Detweiler SOLO:

This Thursday, February 9, Holland, Michigan, Lemonjello’s

This Friday, February 10, Long Grove, Illinois, Life on the Vine
(www.fundamentalrecords.com/concerts.htm)

Saturday, February 18, Bellville, Ohio, Highlands of Ohio, Unitarian Universalist Church

(See overtherhine.com for more details and links…)

And Over the Rhine’s very first show of 2006!

Friday, February 17, Lexington, KY, The Dame

Another great opportunity to pick up a new hat at the shop next door: You look to be about a 7 & 1/4…

***

And if you’re in the neighborhood, or feel like finding a little gorgeous summertime on the other side of the world, don’t forget Over the Rhine is touring New Zealand in March:

Here are the main festival appearances:

Tuesday, March 7, Keri Keri, New Zealand, Bay of Islands Arts Festival
http://www.nzinfo.com/boiartfest/index.html

Thursday thru Sunday, March 9-12, Wellington, New Zealand,
New Zealand International Arts Festival (Five Performances)
http://www.nzfestival.telecom.co.nz/festival-club/over-the-rhine.php

We come back to the USA just in time to make our way to Austin, Texas, for a few performances at South by Southwest on Friday, March 17. (Neil Young is the keynote speaker this year.) We’re told that there will be a limited number of tickets available to the public at Antone’s on Friday night for our
10pm performance. Join us if you can.

***

Hope the New Year is a good one so far.

Much more later!

Bestest,

Linford, Karin and the Office Dogs

February 26, 2006

Hello from Nowhere,

It’s a beautiful winter morning in Southern Ohio, bright, crisp and cold. Elroy and I walked on the paths, and he’s had his breakfast. We saw no rabbits. Karin is about to put the coffee on. The house is waking up slowly.

The winter Olympics hockey final is LIVE on TV. Finland vs Sweden – all Scandinavia glued to their televisions for the gold medal game, with powerhouses Russia, USA and Canada eliminated. Karin and I have had the winter games on in the background for the last few weeks. Bobsledding, ski jumping and aerials, ice dancing, figure skating, curling, speed skating… We of course enjoy providing our own commentary.

Ice dancing: For this next combination, turn if you will to page 42 of the Kama Sutra.

Luge: Man, it’s just your ass and a coupla blades.

Speed skating: This is the Mennonite girl from Canada. She’s won 5 medals. My sister Grace told me about her…

I went to high school in Canada. The Canadians taught me to skate on those beautifully lit hockey rinks out on the after dark prairies. (I took the occasional slap shot to the knee.) They taught me to ski in Banff. In Phys Ed, we walked down town, picked up those odd brooms and learned all about curling. I can appreciate the winter Olympics.

***

We’re packing our bags today and leaving for New Zealand in the morning. We’re terribly excited about this trip. I haven’t been outside of the country since my trip to visit Jack and Hazel and Finlay in Scotland during Christmas of 2003.

New Zealand is a special place for me, not only because it’s truly one of the most beautiful places on earth, but because it was there that I decided to start a band. Friends of ours, Sandie and Owen, were playing a festival outside of Wellington and somehow invited me along to play bass. Standing in those mountains in front of 400 kids in the rain who refused to leave reminded me that music was home for me. I wanted to write some songs and see if people would ever care enough about them to stand in the rain and listen. A few months later, back in Ohio, Over the Rhine began recording a handful of first demos. Now, finally, this music is going to take us back to Wellington to the New Zealand International Arts Festival for five performances. We’re playing a festival in Keri Keri, and stopping in Auckland for various appearances. Sometimes you just have to raise a glass on a Sunday Morning and celebrate the small victories.

I think we’re going to make Mimosas.

***

Uh oh, I hear Karin whooping it up in the living room. Sweden must have scored.

Well, just the news and then I need to go open the suitcase and start filling it with summer clothing. (Yes!)

The Limited Edition LIVE CD’s didn’t make it to the farm in time for us to sign them, so that will all have to happen when we return from New Zealand. Sorry for the delay. They will all be shipped out at the end of March.

If you’d still like to order a copy of “Live From Nowhere, Volume One” go to Overtherhine.com. You can see the track listing, the artwork and also check out a few MP-3’s for a little striptease. We think you’re going to like this special collection that reminds us of a wonderful year on the road with a great band and crew and the world’s best music fans to boot.

In May we’ll be touring the West Coast and parts of the Midwest. A band called HEM is planning on joining us. Stay tuned at overtherhine.com for more info on that. The working title for the tour is “Gorgeously Stoned On You” but whether or not that sticks is anyone’s guess.

I think I heard my first Kildeer last night, so Spring can’t be too far away. That means we’ll be seeing you soon.

You are missed,

Linford Detweiler

P.S. Karin Bergquist says: A cup of coffee in the morning and the Swedish Hockey Team, not bad. That little thing about winning the gold medal doesn’t hurt either.

April 24, 2006

Hello everyone,

Springtime. Hope all is well. Thought we’d pass along a little overdue news from Nowhere. (Might want to get comfortable: it’s a long one. If you just want the Over the Rhine tour dates, skip to the end.)

First, here’s the part that was written in March:

We’re home again, sitting at the dining room table after breakfast, putting a few words to paper. Had a cup of Karin’s strong coffee, scrambled a pan full of eggs, toasted some whole grain bread, raspberry jam, glass of cranberry juice, the usual. Elroy is curled up asleep after his morning walk. A couple of the neighbor dogs were poking around in the maple grove, and he tore over there to say hello and make sure all was well. A little tail waggin’ in the morning…

(Aralee said that Elroy caught his first rabbit while we were away. A big one. She tossed it in the garden. Next day the cloak and dagger turkey buzzards arrived from the top story of the sky and left nothing but the backbone. We can’t walk on the paths without a cottontail darting off somewhere.)

We came back from New Zealand to find the silvery limbs of the old maples rouged with fuzzy buds. In fact as you look out across the fields, all the tree lines are rosy cheek red with expectation. Winter dumped three inches of snow on the farm to celebrate the arrival of the first day of spring – daffodils blooming in the snow – but I don’t think it will last through this day. My father said they used to call that a sugar snow – those late snowfalls that would come during maple syrup season.

And the birds are returning for real: robusty robins everywhere, the rusty hinge conversations of the grackles, starlings chuckling like old Tom Waits himself, the whistles and unwinding asides of the redwing blackbirds. Kildeer feigning alarm in the open fields, practicing their distractions for later when their ground nests are full of young. Cardinals singing a new song, a song they’d never sing in the winter.

Haven’t heard the bobwhite yet this spring. I’m afraid the hawks were awfully hard on them this winter.

I saw the first redwing blackbird in one of the locust trees next to the garden the day before spring. Impeccable timing. I think the redwing is my favorite. We come back from tour, the redwing comes back from God knows where. Those wings dipped in bright paint.

***

So New Zealand. Packing our bags at the farm for our first real trip of the year, Brandon dropping us off at the airport… (The crew and band will catch up with us in a few days.) The flight to Los Angeles: I’m thinking a nice nap will be just what the doctor ordered, but then we hear the movie is Walk the Line and we can’t help but watch. (I remember reading The Man in Black before I was a teenager.) Karin and I process how fortunate we are to be able to travel together making music we can call our own.

We meet up with Glen our manager at good ol’ LAX, and then the long flight over the ocean. (My Mother, when I said goodbye on the phone, couldn’t help wondering aloud how many planes were lying at the bottom of the Pacific.) Each passenger on Air New Zealand had his or her own movie library available with headphones etc, so we watched Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and then most of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. Then slept as long as we could.

Our time in New Zealand felt charmed from beginning to end. It was one of those trips that made us look back and think, We’re glad we didn’t give up, or none of this would have happened. A few firsts: We had never before arrived in a foreign country on tour and heard our music playing in the International Airport when we arrived. Same when we departed. Drunkard’s Prayer was number one on the “Heatseekers” chart and one of the top 20 records overall in the country. (We couldn’t recall ever having a record at the top of any sales chart.) And we had never before played four consecutive SOLD OUT shows in one city, let alone beautiful Wellington.

Our first stop was Auckland. Thierry and Rae at EMI NZ rented us a great little apartment above an airy and sunny cafe on Ponsonby Road across from a sprawling city park with trees that looked like they were fertilized with fairy tales. We arrived early in the morning after 24 hours of traveling, but we knew we would stay up and drink cafe coffee and have breakfast and explore until the sun went down. Thierry and Rae kept us busy the next few days doing interviews and radio and TV etc, and we did a little invitation only gig (just Karin and I) that was taped for the New Zealand equivalent of VH-1.

Then we headed up to Keri Keri to meet Rick and Devon and Brandon and Dave. Everybody had arrived safely so we strolled into town together and Dave said, I forgot my rosary – I’m just going to look for a used book store and get some much needed solitude. But then somehow he took a left turn and ended up at the pub where like Dylan Thomas himself, he had half the sweet intoxicated town gathered around singing and telling stories and still whooping it up long after the sun went down. Fisherman pulling fresh lobster off the truck to broil for the spontaneous American, bartenders slipping home to get their acoustic instruments so they could join in… We only heard the rumors, but later realized that just about everyone in Keri Keri was on a first name basis with our sound engineer.

The next day someone was kind enough to loan us their beach house on a remote, secluded bit of sea with bold rock outcroppings and Pahootakowa (sp?) trees big as our farm house back home. We ran headlong into the late summer ocean and combed the sand for heart-shaped rocks and other unexpected bits of underwater artwork. We cooked a meal for each other, having stocked up on supplies earlier in the day, Brandon at the grill. After dark we looked at the sky and saw that the moon was waxing fuller on the opposite side from what we were used to and the stars were not the same stars we saw at home in Ohio, Orion’s sword at an odd angle, or maybe that’s not Orion.

In the morning some of us ran along a river trail in the Keri Keri woods and heard birds crying out that we had never heard before.

That evening we played our first New Zealand concert with the band. The songs had found themselves a home, far from home. People gave out little cheers when we started one that they were looking forward to hearing performed for the very first time. Great grin factor and wonderful to enjoy the fruit of good labor.

Then onto the little plane headed south in the morning and dropping into the windy Wellington airport… (The locals coached us: it’s pronounced Wundy Willington.) Our hotel on the water overlooking sailboats bobbing up and down… The Wellington International Arts Festival in full swing, Spanish flamenco dancers, French trapeze artists, actors and musicians from around the world mingling late at night, and some of the best wine in the world (New Zealand’s finest whites and big reds being passed around free as a hand shake…)

And those French trapeze artists, gathering around Karin wanting to buy her champagne: what’s up with that? I never knew that Karin singing, Swing me on your trapeze, could be so problematic.

We met many lovely people, and we look forward to returning as soon as we are able – maybe for one of those winery tours we’ve been talking about. Special thanks to Thierry and Rae for their hard work and generous spirits. And to Carla and the festival organizers who made us feel so welcome.

A good life: Believe in what you do, and do it.

***

But now it’s April on the farm, another gorgeous day in April, it’s not supposed to be this gorgeous. I took my first outdoor shower beneath the cherry tree beneath blossoms once again. But the apple tree in the front yard is waving around in the wind like a big calico dress stealing the show this year – a riot of white blossoms. Hard to imagine it will have energy left over for actual apples. Karin trimmed some apple blossom branches and put them in a vase on the dining room table. Beautiful. Looks like we dropped $100 on a fancy florist.

We’ve been mowing the paths and carrying our breakfast outside while the backyard woodpecker taps out a few quarter notes on one of the maples. The dove is on her nest. Robins are engineers, solid Midwesterners. Their sturdy, mud-reinforced nests are the bird equivalent of a three bedroom ranch with a two car garage. Doves are bohemians. They lay a few twigs crudely on a low branch and hope for the best – a writer’s shack, an afterthought. I look up from this letter and watch the patient dove.

It’s been exactly a year now that our friends helped us load the boxes and furniture into the farmhouse. There are signs of progress. The award-winning poison ivy thriving about the property when we first moved couldn’t handle my many attacks last year, and opted to give up trying to come back this spring for the most part. We’ve seen no snakes, which is fine by me. And there seem to be far fewer ticks now that we’ve mown all around the garden, and tamed a few wild areas here and there.

I don’t know how big the garden will be this year because we want to grow a lot of songs in the coming weeks and months. But I do clearly remember the sensation of reaching underneath our vines and pulling out a plump tomato for lunch and thinking that the curious weight in the palm was almost as pleasurable as cupping one’s hand on a breast. Almost.

I didn’t know when we bought the farm if I might want to just stay out here more and more and turn into a bit of a hermit writer or something. But no, I look forward to traveling city to city now more than ever. I couldn’t just disappear into the land. I need music, and the energy of people. But thank God for a place to retreat. If you could see the view from this porch, I think you’d agree.

***

The big news is we got a call from our friend Tracy who knew of some folks who were moving and needed to find a home for their seven-month-old male Weimaraner. We looked at each other and realized that we might be ready to get a buddy for Elroy. Maybe it was time. We figured it couldn’t hurt to look.

He lives with us now.

We had forgotten the crazy, unpredictable, and often hilarious intensity that is the young Weimaraner’s world. Every meal is a pie-eating contest. Every photo is a photo with a Weimaraner in the middle. Every walk is a game to see who can be in the very front. Every flowerbed calls out, shred me. Every cat, smell my ass.

It’s a commitment, but we’re up for it. I’ve had to learn about being the pack leader, which is hard for me sometimes as I increasingly prefer the relaxed and groovy Zen approach to life. But the dogs need a pack leader, and for our world not to explode, that pack leader has to be me right now. I’m working on my calm, assertive, no bullshit Daddy voice. And a well-rounded dog life: exercise, discipline (training), affection.

So say hello to Shakey Jake Lewis. (Karin decided he must have been a blues guitarist in a former life.) We have to take quite a few Jake breaks so that Elroy doesn’t get too worn out. We think he’s gonna turn out good.

And Drew Vogel sent along these words today, which resonated so well with how we were feeling: I am constantly pleasantly surprised at the capacity of the heart — you loved Willow with all your heart. That love is not diminished as your love for the new puppy grows — your heart expands to be able to accommodate it without taking anything away from the memory and love of Willow.

Well said.

***

But hey, wanna get together?

We’re going to tour the West Coast this spring and a decent bit of the Midwest and South with a band from Brooklyn called Hem. Like us, they’re in love with the American Songbook and hope to be making music for a long time. Should make for a lovely evening all around. We still enjoy playing songs from Drunkard’s Prayer and Ohio and a smattering of earlier tunes as well. But new songs have been making themselves known which we are itching to debut. We’ll be touring with Devon Ashley on drums and percussion, and Rick Plant on bass and guitar. As far as we know, this will be our last tour with Rick as he and his family are planning a move to Melbourne, Australia. Our recent trip down under must have done a number on them! Rick has been with us for much of the last three years. He will be missed.

Here are the dates, and do join us. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Over the Rhine and Hem (see notes for particulars…)

Sweet Intoxication Spring Tour 2006

May 6 Bellingham, WA – The Nightlight (Over the Rhine only, No Hem.)
Special guest: Willy Vlautin, lead singer for Richmond Fontaine.)
May 7 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s (Hem closes show.)
May 8 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom (Over the Rhine closes show.)
May 9 Eugene, OR – WOW Hall (Over the Rhine closes show.)
May 11 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall (Over the Rhine closes show.)
May 12 Sacramento, CA – The Underground (Over the Rhine closes show.)
May 13 Fallon, NV – Barkley Theater at Oaks Park Art Center (Over the Rhine only, No Hem.)
May 15 Los Angeles, CA – Knitting Factory (Over the Rhine closes show.)
May 16 San Diego, CA – Belly Up (Hem closes show.)
May 19 Cincinnati, OH – Ava’s Hope Benefit Concert at Crossroads (Over the Rhine only, No Hem. Special guest: Katie Reider.)
May 20 Fort Wayne, IN – Come 2 Go (An evening with Over the Rhine only, No Hem.)

Home to the farm for a break…

May 30 Chicago, IL – The Double Door (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 1 Bloomington, IN – Buskirk-Chumley Theater (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 2 Nashville, TN – Exit/In (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 3 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 5 Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre (Hem closes show.)
June 6 Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 7 Chapel Hill, NC – NC Local 506 (Hem closes show.)
June 8 Washington, DC – The Birchmere (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 10 Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club (Over the Rhine only, No Hem.)
June 12 Boston, MA – Paradise (Hem closes show.)
June 13 Philadelphia, PA – Theater of the Living Arts (Over the Rhine closes show.)
June 14 New York, NY – Concert Hall
at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (Hem closes show.)
June 15 Northampton, MA – Ironhorse (Hem closes show.)

(PLEASE NOTE: Some shows may not have tickets on sale yet. Check out overtherhine.com for more info.)

Enjoy this time of year bursting with newness, and hope to see you soon,

Linford

May 27, 2006

Hello again,

We wake up on Nowhere Farm on a Saturday morning and let the dogs out. Mist lying in the fields, bobwhite whistling from hidden places, doves bending a few notes from slender throats… Hummingbirds darting up to the back porch and hovering on a single vibrating note, like tiny musical instruments with invisible strings. No cars going by, no people, just the songs of birds and the fields and the open air and the new light of morning. Heck of a show for an audience of two.

Are you going to make the coffee or am I?

Yesterday morning, first thing, Elroy spied a black dog snooping around the garden while we were walking on the paths and he and Jake tore off around the bend after it. I expected this to be a short-lived bit of excitement, but by the time I rounded the corner, I saw Elroy in perfect Greyhound race track form, and I watched stunned as he disappeared over the horizon at full speed in pursuit of the black dog, the black dog running for broke while somehow simultaneously embodying the dog essence of, Oh Shit.

Jake, the new Weimaraner, who has been making lovely farm dog progress all around, processes this new development in his devious Weimaraner brain and decides to go into Catch-me-if-you-can mode when I whistle for him. I have to turn it into a game and finally coax Jake back into the fenced yard and latch the gate. As I set out through the thigh-high wheat field, across the creek and toward the distant tree line where I last saw Elroy, I hear Jake behind me wailing and griping and yelping like someone is beating the puppy, utterly offended that his morning walk has been cut short, cursing me and the day he was born. I have to ignore him and continue through the wet fields in pursuit of the ghost of a Great Dane. Eventually, I crest a hill and see Elroy down on the edge of a woods facing east, looking contemplative. I holler his name. He seems to snap out of a trance, and turns loping toward me soaking wet, happy tongue lolling out. I can’t scold him for coming to me. And he leans on me as if to say, I’m just doing my job. The Weimaraner puppy is more than enough. We don’t need no more dogs around here.

I understand.

We begin the slow trek back to the farm. As we come into view of the old house I see Karin on the back porch in her nightgown looking amused, waiting for the first story of the day.

It’s not all peace and quiet.

**

So we have this weekend at home on the farm, a holiday weekend low key and alone, just what we need right now.

Tuesday, our world will shift the other way as we head for Chicago to start the second leg of our Spring tour. Now that we have this off-the-beaten-track piece of earth that we can disappear to, I find myself looking forward to these musical gatherings in the city more than ever. We had a fine run down the West Coast with Hem. We had a great evening in our hometown at the Ava’s Hope Benefit. We’ll see if we can top it as we work our way South and then back up through the Northeast. We’ll be dipping liberally into the songs of Drunkard’s Prayer, Ohio, Films For Radio and Good Dog Bad Dog. We’ll also continue introducing new songs that have recently arrived. Makes for a good night all around.

Here’s the skinny (and check out overtherhine.com for more details).

Paste Magazine Presents:

Over the Rhine and Hem
Sweet Intoxication Spring Tour 2006

Tue May 30: Chicago, IL, Double Door
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Thu Jun 01: Bloomington IN, Buskirk-Chumley Theatre ALL AGES
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Fri Jun 02: Nashville TN, Exit/In ALL AGES
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Sat Jun 03: Atlanta GA, Variety Playhouse ALL AGES
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Mon Jun 05: Charlotte NC, Visulite Theatre ALL AGES
Over the Rhine opens; Hem closes

Tue Jun 06: Asheville NC, Grey Eagle ALL AGES
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Wed Jun 07: Chapel Hill NC, Local 506 ALL AGES
Over the Rhine opens; Hem closes

Thu Jun 08: Alexandria VA, Birchmere ALL AGES
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Sat Jun 10: Lancaster PA, Chameleon Club
(No Hem on this show)

Mon Jun 12: Boston MA, Paradise
Over the Rhine opens; Hem closes

Tue Jun 13: Philadelphia PA, Theatre of Living Arts ALL AGES
Hem opens; Over the Rhine closes

Wed Jun 14: New York NY, The Concert Hall ALL AGES
Over the Rhine opens; Hem closes

Thu Jun 15: Northampton MA, Iron Horse Music Hall ALL AGES
Over the Rhine opens; Hem closes

See overtherhine.com for more…

Special thanks to the good folks at Paste Magazine for their help in getting the word out regarding these dates. We’re honored to have Paste as a presenter of the tour. If you haven’t had the pleasure of subscribing to Paste Magazine as of yet, it’s easily some of the best writing about music (and film and books and…) that you’ll find in America today.

Check out this link for a special offer for fans of Over the Rhine and/or Hem…

https://www.pastemagazine.com/offer/otrhem

And for those of you able to attend one (or more) of the concerts, don’t forget to check out our new shirts, the limited edition tour poster, and the few remaining copies of Live From Nowhere Volume One, as well as the plethora of additional Over the Rhine treats at our little traveling boutique. We have a lot of fun designing our wares, often with the help of long time friends.

Enjoy this holiday weekend, and do join us if you can. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Lookin’ forward,

Linford for Over the Rhine

This is the letter that went out. Please post on website. Drew, If you can post it on the Orchard, and Brandon — MySpace, that would be great. Thanks, Linford

November 10, 2006

Hello, Hello,

It’s been awhile. (Might want to get comfortable, pour a glass of something… This could take a little time.)

How have you been?

It’s an unseasonably warm November day today in Ohio. The fog snuck up all around the farmhouse in the wee hours this morning – we couldn’t even see the barn from the upstairs, East bedroom window. It was like waking up in the sky.

Most of the leaves have left the trees, and it’s supposed to be a bright 70 degrees today. Fall in Ohio is soothing and delicious. We have turned our clocks back. In the early evening, the windows of the farmhouse glow warmly now as mist rises up on the fields. Night comes before the evening meal. The air is moist and alive. Chilly breezes kick up now and again and flirt with the pines.

I’ve been meaning to write for some time. Sometimes it’s important to be quiet for awhile. Listen deeply. Learn a little. Labor well in obscurity. Disappear. Lose your life to find it.

It’s harvest time on Nowhere Farm. We grow songs mostly.

This is what we’ve got for you.

1. Snow Angels

After talking about it for years, we have finally made a new Over the Rhine Christmas Record. We’re on pace for one every decade. Snow Angels is our second. It’s a record full of upright bass and piano and percussion and little surprises and of course Karin’s increasingly soulful singing. I think it feels a little unlike any other Christmas Record I’ve heard. (Which might have to do with the fact that we wrote almost all of the songs.)

We hope that Snow Angels is a record that becomes part of the landscape for small gatherings of people who love each other. A record that’s a good companion for long winter afternoons spent alone. A backdrop for road trips across wide open spaces after dark. And we hope that you’ll feel drawn to revisit various songs on Snow Angels all year round.

If you’re hungry for something a little different to pass out to friends and family this year, something soulful, something alive, please keep Snow Angels in mind. We hope this music gets itself shared.

(We tried to package Snow Angels as beautifully as we could. Thanks to Clinton Reno for the wonderful illustrations, to Michael Wilson once again for stunning photographs, and to Owen Brock for helping put it all together. The package includes all the lyrics, extensive (characteristically rambling) notes, credits and more.)

Snow Angels will ship in early December, rubbing shoulders with other presents in the US Mail, flying in planes over the Atlantic to points beyond. We’re going to begin taking pre-orders very soon at overtherhine.com. (We’ll send out a note and let you know when we’re good to go). We’ve never done this before, but those that pre-order will be given a web address to a secret archive of Karin’s Nowhere Farm sketches – Karin’s earliest outlines of many of the songs that became Snow Angels . Fun. Those that pre-order can begin listening to these intimate performances right away.

(Please note: If you’re planning to see one of the first Over the Rhine Christmas Concerts this December, it may make sense to just pick up your copy (or copies) of Snow Angels at the show rather than having them shipped during a busy month…)

We’re making Snow Angels available directly to fans of Over the Rhine this December, and are planning a national release for this project in 2007. Check out overtherhine.com for more details.

2. LIVE From Nowhere Volume Two

This is a new Over the Rhine tradition we’ve started. We signed and numbered 3000 copies (Oh, my hand…) of Volume One, which Sold Out. Now for Volume Two!

Basically, we’re going to gather the juiciest highlights we can come up with from our December 16 Taft Theater show, our Christmas Tour, and maybe we’ll even pull a treat or two from our Sold Out tour of New Zealand earlier this year. (We also taped a couple of the concerts when we were out with Hem this Spring and Summer – so there’s a lot to choose from.)

If you enjoyed Volume One, we think we can make you real happy with Volume Two.

(Due to various lengthy, earnest letters, not unlike this one, which we received from those who weren’t able to get a copy, we are making Volume One available digitally at I-Tunes etc. But the real, signed, numbered copies of Volume One are no longer available.)

We’ll be taking pre-orders for Live From Nowhere Volume Two , which will ship in March of 2007. (We’re giving ourselves a little breathing room.) Karin and I are going to sign and number 3500 copies this time around, and we’ll include a small gift for those that pre-order. Get ’em while they last if you want ’em! Check out overtherhine.com for details.

3. Let’s Throw a Little Soiree

Sunday, December 17th, at 3pm, the day after our Cincinnati homecoming concert at the beautiful Taft Theater in Cincinnati, Karin and I are inviting you once again to join us at St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood, Ohio, for some acoustic music, spoken word, festive food and drink, conversation, and basically a chance for us to have a little holiday gathering with our extended musical family before we call it a year. We really enjoyed this last December, and hope to see even more of you this time. Check out overtherhine.com for more details.

4. Over the Rhine Blend

Just for grins and to keep life interesting: Join us for a cup of good coffee – the kind we now wake up with every morning at Nowhere Farm, specially blended for artists, writers, musicians, day dreamers and night walkers!

Karin and I made an important discovery recently: fresh-roasted, organic, fair trade coffee roasted in small batches by someone who approaches the whole process like an artist is truly eye-opening.

Fresh, organic, fair-trade, made in small batches – we hope it sounds suspiciously like Over the Rhine’s music…

This unique blend is fresh-roasted exclusively for Over the Rhine by Chuck Roast. You order, the beans are roasted the day they ship, Oh my.

Order yours at overtherhine.com. (Coming soon.)

5. We’re traveling to you. You’re traveling to us. We’re getting closer.

(Or something like that.)

We had an unforgettable year on the road in 2006. It started with two beautiful weeks in New Zealand where we had the time of our lives playing Sold Out shows and fraternizing after hours with French trapeze artists and Spanish flamenco dancers. We had a lovely time cavorting around the USA with Hem in the spring and early summer. Our songwriting workshop in Santa Fe this August was a truly charmed week (which alone could easily fill it’s own separate letter. Thanks again to all who participated.) We got to play a benefit concert for Africa with Aimee Mann and the Indigo Girls a few weeks back, and performing at Tall Stacks down by the river in Cincinnati (with Wilco, John Hiatt, The Blind Boys of Alabama and dozens of wonderful musicians) was simply magic. Thanks to all of you who found us.

But notwithstanding the above, for some odd reason, we look forward to these upcoming concerts all year long. Something about bundling up, dodging the snow (hopefully), coming in out of the cold, and making music with all of you  – our extended musical family – at this time of year… Well, it’s just our idea of a good time. We really hope you can join us.

(This week: We’re hopping on a train across Canada with Cowboy Junkies and others for some cozy evenings of music on the train as we make our way across the prairies and through the Canadian Rockies. We’ll be looking out the window for the Northern Lights and I’ll give a shout out to my old high school in Alberta as we sneak through Calgary. Come find us in Vancouver when we hop off if you can.)

Wed Nov 15: Vancouver BC, Regent College, 8:00pm, all ages

Fri Nov 17: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern, ages 18+

Sat Nov 18: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern, ages 18+

***OVER THE RHINE Snow Angels Tour 2006***

Thu Nov 30: Columbus OH, Little Brothers, ages 18+

Fri Dec 01: Bloomington IN, Buskirk/Chumley Theater, all ages

Sat Dec 02: Chicago IL, Double Door, 21+

Mon Dec 04: Holland MI, Hope College (Knickerbocker Theater), all ages

Tue Dec 05: Kent OH, The Kent Stage, all ages

Thu Dec 07: New York NY, Joe’s Pub, all ages
(Two Shows)

Fri Dec 08: Philadelphia PA, Theatre of Living Arts, all ages

Sat Dec 09: Annapolis MD, Ram’s Head, 21+

Sun Dec 10: Washington DC, Jammin Java, all ages

Thu Dec 14: Nashville TN, 3rd & Lindsley, all ages

Fri Dec 15: Lexington KY, The Dame, 21+

Sat Dec 16: Cincinnati OH, Our Homecoming Concert at the beautiful Taft Theatre, all ages. Special Guest: Mary Gauthier. (If you haven’t heard Mary’s music, check out her CD, Mercy Now . You are in for a treat! Wow. Road trips are us – hope you can join us for this special evening.)

Sun Dec 17: Cincinnati OH, Gathering/Soiree/Exclusive performance at St. Elizabeth’s, all ages. You’re all invited!

Much more at overtherhine.com…

Well I need to go pack for a train trip. And the Canadian Rockies.

Hope to see you all soon,

Linford

November 25, 2006

Hello again,

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

We’ve been having beautiful Indian Summer weather in Ohio. Sunny, mild… At night the stars have been bright and close, Orion’s sword pointed at the roof of the farmhouse. We’ve seen one twinkling star or planet (we’re overdue for a refresher map of the night sky) winking white, green, red and blue.

This morning the dogs did it again (for the second time since we’ve lived here): we were walking on the paths as the mist was disappearing from the fields, the sun just getting started, a few winter birds flitting through the bushes, all peaceful, when Elroy spotted a big whitetail buck and a doe about 50 yards away to the East, silhouetted by the sun like a picture you’d see on an old hardware store calendar.

I didn’t know whether to be proud or pissed off as our Great Dane mix (who looks like an oversized Greyhound when he runs) and our year-old Weimaraner (sleek, rippling muscles, the nose of a blood hound) took off full-bore, wide open, flat out, everything on ten after the offending wildlife. The deer waved their white tails around a bit and began loping away. But then the buck realized that these dogs weren’t going to lose interest anytime soon – in fact they singled him out and these dogs were damn fast – and he changed his tune pretty quickly and began covering some ground real quick, rack tucked back and hoofs blazing away.

Have you seen a large animal with antlers try to outrun a pack of wolves recently? It awakens certain latent primal instincts.

I watched the chase for about a half a mile before the dogs and the buck disappeared over a grassy slope and down into a wooded creek area. I’m sure once the buck got into his element, and jumped a fence or two, the outsmarted dogs found themselves with nothing but burning lungs and mud-splattered tummies.

But in the meanwhile, it’s an odd feeling to be standing on the edge of a small farm that once had beloved dogs and suddenly has none.

I ran slowly about a mile through the fields toward the East, whistling, calling. Elroy! Shakey! Nothing. A large hawk flew down out of one of the tree lines and circled away toward the north, the sun making the white feathers on the inside of his wings flash like mirrors.

About 15 minutes later, just as I’m starting to wonder what life will be like without them and begin circling back, I see the black and white head of a loping Dane begin to appear over a small grassy hill in the distance like the head of a distant trotting horse, and then here comes the rest of him and shortly thereafter a Weimaraner, tongue flopping out the side of his grinning mouth, ears waving hello.

Well, Karin had said this would be a good day to give them a final pre-winter bath, so we’re going to get the hose out and wash them down. Karin will say things like, Elroy, Did you run away from your forever home?! And the dogs will listen, and we’ll wonder how much they understand, and they will flop down on the porch and gaze out into the open air happy on the farm.

(And you know you live in the country when your dogs chase a buck over the horizon and you come home and tell your wife and she asks, How many points?)

+++

Well, it’s about time for those of us in Over the Rhine to chase our dreams over the horizon as well. They always outsmart us, but they make us happy. We come home with the musical equivalent of burning lungs and muddy bellies. Here’s a recap once again of what we’ve got for you.

SNOW ANGELS.

With eleven original songs, we think you’ll find Snow Angels a quintessential Over the Rhine recording. We had a great time recording this one, our 2nd Christmas CD in ten years. If you order your copy (which will ship in early December) at OvertheRhine.com now, we’ll send you an address where you can download eight of Karin’s Nowhere Farm sketches: early, bare boned versions of many of the songs that eventually became Snow Angels. (And if you just can’t wait, Snow Angels is available now on i-Tunes, E-Music etc.)

LIVE FROM NOWHERE VOLUME TWO.

A little tradition we started last year… We collect the best 2006 concert highlights we can come up with onto a limited edition, signed and numbered CD. Pre-order yours at OvertheRhine.com. (Volume One is sold out, but is available for download on i-Tunes etc.) Volume Two will ship in March with a small treat for those that pre-order.

OVER THE RHINE CHRISTMAS GATHERING.

Karin and I would like to invite you to join us on December 17th at 3pm (the day after our Taft Theater Homecoming Concert) for a holiday gathering featuring an acoustic performance, some spoken word, some conversation and of course some festive food and drink. We did this last year as well, and it’s a great way to end our working year, surrounded by our extended musical family. See OvertheRhine.com for directions and more details.

OVER THE RHINE BLEND.

We’re now up and running: Join us for a cup of good coffee – the kind we now wake up with every morning at Nowhere Farm, specially blended for artists, writers, musicians, day dreamers and night walkers!

This unique blend is fresh-roasted exclusively for Over the Rhine by Chuck Roast. You order, the beans are roasted the day they ship, Oh my.

***OVER THE RHINE Snow Angels Tour 2006***

Thu Nov 30: Columbus OH, Little Brothers, ages 18+. Take a dive with us! It’s always amazing to us how you transform this piss and vinegar club into a warm, inviting room full of music, laughter and conversation. Consistently one of our favorite crowds anywhere.

Fri Dec 01: Bloomington IN, Buskirk/Chumley Theater, all ages. This lovely theater in one of the Midwest’s best-kept-secret towns is a beauty. Bloomington features no Interstate Hwy, and the widest array of Int’l Cuisine that you’ll find just about anywhere. Two Tibetan Monasteries, great Thai food, our favorite recording studio – you can be sure we’ll be taping this concert for LFN Volume Two. Join us for a special evening (an easy, beautiful drive from Cincinnati).

Sat Dec 02: Chicago IL, Double Door, 21+. Time to turn the volume back up. This was one of our favorite evenings on the OtR/Hem tour earlier this year.

Mon Dec 04: Holland MI, Hope College (Knickerbocker Theater), all ages. Come find us in a quaint Northern town, where the sun sets early this time of year.

Tue Dec 05: Kent OH, The Kent Stage, all ages. Another one of our favorite theaters with red velvet seats and a piano with a broken heart.

Thu Dec 07: New York NY, Joe’s Pub, all ages. (Two Shows). This venue is a regular stop for everyone from Emmylou Harris to Nellie McKay. Our first time – come find us in the Big Apple at Christmastime. Order dinner, stay awhile.

Fri Dec 08: Philadelphia PA, Theatre of Living Arts, all ages. One of our favorite venues, this is the first year we get to play a Christmas Concert at TLA.

Sat Dec 09: Annapolis MD, Ram’s Head, 21+. Last time we played Ram’s Head it snowed and snowed and snowed. We’ll see what the grand piano can conjure up this time.

Sun Dec 10: Washington DC, Jammin Java, all ages. Cozy room, great food and drink.

Thu Dec 14: Nashville TN, 3rd & Lindsley, all ages. Look for a musical guest or three.

Fri Dec 15: Lexington KY, The Dame, 21+. We love that hat shop next door, and we love the warm folks that find their way to The Dame whenever we show up.

Sat Dec 16: Cincinnati OH, Our Homecoming Concert at the beautiful Taft Theatre, all ages. Special Guest: Mary Gauthier. (If you haven’t heard Mary’s music, check out her CD, Mercy Now. Wow. Road trips are us – hope you can join us for this special evening.)

Sun Dec 17: Cincinnati OH, Gathering/Soiree/Exclusive performance at St. Elizabeth’s, all ages. You’re all invited! Check out OvertheRhine.com for maps and more details.

Please pass along this info to any family and friends who might be interested.

STREET TEAMS.

We’ve always known that our music couldn’t survive without your help. If you’d like to assist us in getting the word out about upcoming concerts (namely, print out and post some fliers up at your favorite neighborhood haunts) please join our street team. (Please note, we’re starting a separate mailing list for those that join – you’ll be the first to hear about upcoming concerts, and we’ll try to have some fun along the way.) More info and downloadable fliers at:
http://www.overtherhine.com/team/index.html

MERCH VOLUNTEERS;

We need at least two volunteers for each of our Christmas concerts to help manage the Imaginary Apple Orchard Boutique. Lots of music, t-shirts, hand-screened posters – the good stuff. It’s a good opportunity to meet some great people, and we appreciate your help. We’ll give you tickets to the concert, and you can help make it all work. Please e-mail Brandon@overtherhine.com with the words “OtR MERCH VOLUNTEER [City/State]” in the subject line. If you don’t hear back from us, don’t worry – it just means we’re already covered.

Well, I think that’s about it for today.

Make sure the people you love know they are loved.

And hope you can join us – we’ll see you soon.

Linford for Over the Rhine

December 14, 2006

Hello fellow travelers,

Just a quick hello and a note to let you know what’s shakin’…

We’ve had a great time on the road these last few weeks and in spite of the fact that there’s a nasty bug going around, we’re fighting back. We’re strong when we’re together. And we’re lookin’ forward to seeing many more of you this week as a good year winds to a close.

Hope you can join us.

OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT:

Tonight, Thursday December 14: Over the Rhine with special guest Swan Dive at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, TN.

Friday, December 15: An evening with Over the Rhine at The Dame in Lexington, KY.

Saturday, December 16: Our holiday homecoming concert at The Taft Theater in Cincinnati, OH. Mary Gauthier joins us at this beautiful, historic venue just a few blocks from The Genius of Water.

Sunday, December 17: Our 3pm gathering at St. Elizabeth’s with wine, coffee and festive food. It’s not too late to get your name on the guest list. There’ll be music and conversation and general conviviality — we really enjoyed ourselves last year. Hope you can make it. Check out OvertheRhine.com… (If you order a ticket, or have done so recently and it hasn’t yet arrived, don’t worry, we have your name on the guest list. And your welcome to bring a friend or your family along.)

***

All Snow Angels CD pre-orders have shipped and it’s not too late to order copies for family or friends. Eleven original Over the Rhine songs, with genuine Over the Rhine, thrift store-clad super-heroes on the cover, extensive liner notes and more. File it under: “And now for a little something different…” Check out OvertheRhine.com for details… (If you’re in Cincinnati, you can pick up a copy at Shake It Records, Everybody’s Records, Joseph Beth Booksellers or at Barnes and Nobles.)

And the word is in: People love our Over the Rhine Blend: organic, fresh-roasted, fair-trade coffee shipped direct to your door! And we love the fact that it’s got y’all talkin’… Y’know, real conversation and what not. It’s a great stocking stuffer, and we guarantee it will be the best smelling stocking in the room. Order yours at OvertheRhine.com…

You can also pre-order your signed limited edition copy of Live From Nowhere Volume Two at, you guessed it, OvertheRhine.com…

Thanks for a great year. And hope we see you this week. (The weather they’re calling for in Ohio this week is beautiful, sunny, mild. Spontaneous road-trippers welcome.)

Peace,

All of us in Over the Rhine

PS (And we’re currently workin’ on rescheduling the DC and Annapolis shows in January.)

March 10, 2007

Over the Rhine Spring Update Letter: Not a long way from OK.

Karin and I are lounging this afternoon drinking coffee, doing some writing, a little reading.

In Shawnee, Oklahoma.

(And it’s Springtime to boot – seventy degrees, sunny, bright.)

Might want to grab a cup of coffee yourself and settle in somewhere comfortable. This is going to take awhile.

Well, you see, we got an invitation to come out here and play our songs at a coffee house on OBU’s campus. OBU: Oklahoma Baptist University. In addition to the concert, one of the professors, Kristin Todd, a real bona fide musicologist, wanted to host a little Q&A session in the afternoon with the students and us. (One thing among others that came out of the Q&A time was we realized the musicologist had an exceedingly low estimation of Brittney Spears. Who’da thunk it.)

When we started Over the Rhine we decided we were going to play for anyone who walked up the sidewalk and bought a ticket. We take a lot of pleasure in the fact that Over the Rhine’s audience is one of the more diverse we know of. We’ve got teenagers all the way up to listeners with well-loved record collections compiled in the ’60’s… And we get e-mail from many different folks from pretty much all around the world who have found the music here and there, and who are drawn to it for different reasons – people with a wide array of stories.

In America, in recent years, it sometimes seems like many folks are becoming increasingly entrenched in their political camps. Certain religious affiliations are becoming increasingly rigid. When groups of people insist on surrounding themselves almost exclusively with others most like themselves, real conversation can be hard to come by. (Conversation that celebrates the reality that since people have the ability to see things very differently, maybe we can actually learn from each other, be surprised.)

We love the fact that Over the Rhine’s music invites people with vastly different backgrounds to join an open conversation.

That being said, and stated in rather lofty terms, I’ll be honest: We were a bit apprehensive about visiting a Baptist University. Just out of curiosity, what do you think of when you hear the word, Baptists?

Well, two Baptist girls, Juli and Carol, picked us up at the Oklahoma City airport. Before long, they were quoting liberally from TV show, The Office, and it soon became clear that they had an uncanny knack for remembering reams of dialogue from dozens of films, including all the Christopher Guest movies, Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman etc… These girls obviously loved to laugh and needed to laugh a lot.

Not only that, they were good storytellers.

There was the time they shot pool all night with a bar-hopping eccentric named, simply, “Honey.” We’ll leave it at that.

Or the time that Carol’s visiting friend was determined to attempt to water ski with his prosthetic leg, which flew off and managed to their shock to ski upright for quite some time, an errant leg sailing on its own across the water still attached to its own ski! The horrified observers on the beach thought they had witnessed a terrible accident. Word got around the community, and that Sunday morning the pastor at their church actually asked for prayer for the boy he had heard about who had lost his leg at the lake over the weekend.

Or there was the time Carol’s friend was in charge of playing “The Wedding March” at a double wedding with two expecting brides in rural Oklahoma. Her friend was pretty rusty on the keyboard, but good luck, they realized that the keyboard had “The Wedding March” programmed in. All you had to do was hit the “demo” button, and there it was, intro and all. But when they pressed the “demo” button for the processional during the wedding, they realized that “The Wedding March” soon changed to a funky modern jazz ditty, and then a bizarre polka – showcasing whatever wacky sounds and repertoire some overly exuberant programmer felt the keyboard was capable of. They couldn’t figure out how to shut it off, and the pregnant brides had to walk down the aisle and try to act natural. The mother of one of the expecting brides shot Carol and her friend a look they’ll never forget.

And then there was the time that the OBU “Bisonettes”, which consisted of 45 singing Baptist girls, took a bus trip to the Grand Canyon, but ended up visiting a Naval Base where they got dressed up to the nines and found themselves incapable of not giggling predictably – walking cliches of sexual tension – in the company of 60-80 beautiful sailors in full uniform. Juli’s beautiful, blue-eyed sailor, Dan, coaxed her phone number out of her even though she was in a serious relationship at the time, but alas, never called.

But then Carol and Juli could also be very serious and use words like “hermeneutics” which, they reminded us, was the science and art of interpretation. Or they could talk about their film class, in which they were currently studying Alfred Hitchcock and had just watched Psycho (the original) for the first time – and what a prolific visionary Alfred Hitchcock was etc.

The fact that the average American eats their weight in refined sugar every year came up in conversation. And Juli’s belief that the only proper way to listen to Ella Fitzgerald was on vinyl.

Did you get those band names by the way?

Ella On Vinyl
Eat Your Weight In Sugar

(No extra charge for that.)

Monica, the woman on staff in charge of organizing events on the Baptist campus, is a huge Lucinda Williams fan, loves Anne Lamott and Annie Dillard – juicy women in general – and really has a passion for inviting kids that attend OBU to embark on a journey of discovery that hopefully will greatly expand upon what they were given in their often sheltered, church backgrounds. She believes that the anti-intellectualism prevalent in some churches is not really all that helpful. So she hopes to provide an environment that can be expansive, holistic, challenging.

Someone on the Baptist campus had scrawled Over the Rhine lyrics all over a large poster board and posted it prominently in the student center:

The last time I saw Jesus I was drinkin’ bloody mary’s in the South in a bar room in New Orleans rinsin’ out the bad taste in my mouth…

There is all this untouched beauty the light the dark both running through me…

Pour me a glass of wine, talk deep into the night, who knows what we’ll find…

I’m not letting go of God, I’m just losing my grip…

Carol’s roommate got back at 2am from a Snow Patrol concert in Tulsa. Carol was listening to Ray LaMontagne in the car.

Juli said if God’s voice sounded like Ray LaMontagne, she would do anything he asked.

And I realized that when we’re actually willing to sit in the same room with people we perceive as being much different, Baptists for instance, we discover that we have way more in common than we don’t. Generalizations fall flat when there’s a breathing, laughing, thinking individual in front of you, with as much humanity as you yourself possess.

I’ve found this to be the case all my life.

So we remember to try to remain open, and we try to remember not to guess what Oklahoma Baptist University will be about before we actually get there and have a chance to share drinks and a meal, and have a real conversation. We remember that we will play for anyone who walks up the sidewalk and buys a ticket.

And good for the Baptist girls for taking what they were given and expanding on it, wrestling with the big questions, and laughing often at the wild ride this life inevitably is.

***

So how are you?

We’ve gotten the first taste of Spring on our tongues here at the Farm. We’ve sprung forward ready or not.

Here’s the Over the Rhine news you’ve been waiting for. Hopefully.

LIVE FROM NOWHERE VOLUME TWO

The manufacturer tells us that the Live From Nowhere Volume Two CD’s are on a truck headed our way. We think you’re going to like this one very much, and that years from now, Volume Two will be the one to beat, but hey, we’re not going to jinx it. You can stream some tunes now on the vintage radio at OvertheRhine.com, or get a taste at myspace.com/overtherhine.

LFN Volume 2 contains a live recording of Karin’s oft-requested version of Orphan Girl, our off-kilter duet of Baby It’s Cold Outside, and a tipsy-gypsy, full-band recording of Hush Now, to name a few. Thanks to all of you who pre-ordered so far! (Everyone who pre-orders will receive a tiny treat in addition to the CD.) Karin and I have our pens in hand, and will sign, seal and deliver ASAP. (Thanks to Michael Wilson and Bill Ivester once again for the beautiful photographs, and to Jake and Mickey and both Pauls for such a fresh spin on so many songs. It’s been fun. Looking forward to much more.)

PORT MERCH

We have a new team of folks handling all the orders (CD’s, T-Shirts, Posters, OtR Blend etc.) that are placed through OvertheRhine.com. We think you’re going to love the prompt customer service and attention to detail that Port Merch provides. Check them out:
http://www.overtherhine.portmerch.com/stores/home.php

Our friends at Paste helped out with this for several years. As Paste Magazine grew into the most interesting music magazine in America, it increasingly became a situation where all hands were needed on deck to assemble issue after great issue. (We’re fans of Paste in case you haven’t noticed. Thanks to all of them for their help and belief in Over the Rhine’s music.) We’re excited about this fresh start with Port Merch. Their staff is standing by to assist you with your order. Let us know how it goes!

Port Merch currently has a full cornucopia of Over the Rhine treats including all CD’s, some T-Shirts, and Clinton Reno’s beautiful, hand-printed, tour posters. Clinton has done four so far for Over the Rhine. We still have at least a few of each available.

There are specials as well, including a free, autographed Michael Wilson photograph of my sidekick and I with any coffee purchase. And if you haven’t tried our coffee yet, well, C’mon now! Put a bag of Over the Rhine blend on your kitchen counter, and just see what happens.

DOWNLOAD OF THE MONTH

(Rare songs for sale. Will work for headphones.)

We’re going to begin building (for fun and profit) an archive of monthly downloads available exclusively at Port Merch. This March: A careening Live rendition of Goodbye Charles featuring Paul Patterson on violin. Check it out if your I-Pod needs a little extra bounce this Spring. (And if you’re planning an overnight road trip anytime soon, you might want to crank up the February download: Word on the street is: it’s roadworthy.)

DISCOUNT FIREWORKS

This is our last project with Back Porch Records, our record label for the last six or seven or so years. We’re now free agents. The sky is the proverbial limit. It’s 2007, and that means the music industry rulebook has been thrown out! Time for a rewrite. Exciting.

Thanks to all at Back Porch for their efforts on behalf of the music of Over the Rhine.

If you’re in the mood for a nationally-released Over the Rhine compilation, which contains a selection of recorded highlights from the last fifteen years, quintessential Michael Wilson photographs, as well as characteristically rambling liner notes, Discount Fireworks is for you! (Also contains a strummy, modern musical testimony called, Last Night On Earth Again, in which, Karin, our protagonist, contemplates, the unpredictable things that tended to happen in our concerts in the early days when people would occasionally yell, Freebird! Enjoy.)

LET’S GET TOGETHER

Join us for a dreamy, conversational, understated St. Patrick’s Day Weekend at Canal Street Tavern. This Friday, Karin and I and the boys are all driving up to Dayton, Ohio, to one of our all-time favorite listening rooms, what we’ve come to think of as an extension of our musical living room. Cincinnati band Ellery opens. Tickets are still available for both nights. Visit OvertheRhine.com for details.

Here’s more dirt. Mark your calendars. We hope to see you:

Over the Rhine: Live From Nowhere:

Fri Mar 16: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern, age 18+ (Special Guest: Ellery)

Sat Mar 17: Dayton OH, Canal Street Tavern, age 18+ (Special Guest: Ellery)

Fri Mar 30: Goshen IN, The Goshen Theater, all ages

Sat Mar 31: Nelsonville OH, Stuart’s Opera House, all ages

Sun Apr 15: Atlanta GA, Smith’s Olde Bar, age 21+

Mon Apr 16: Charlotte NC, Visulite Theatre, age 21+ (Double Bill with Vienna Teng)

Wed Apr 18: Charlottesville VA, Gravity Lounge, age 21+

Thu Apr 19: Vienna VA, Jammin’ Java, all ages

Fri Apr 20: Annapolis MD, Ram’s Head Tavern, age 21+

Sat Apr 21: New York NY, Joe’s Pub, all ages
TWO SHOWS: 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm

Fri Apr 27: Cincinnati OH, 20th Century Theatre, all ages (Special Guest: Ellery)

Sat Apr 28: Cincinnati OH, 20th Century Theatre, all ages (Special Guest: Ellery)

Wed May 02: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark, all ages (Special Guest: Ellery)

Thu May 03: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark, all ages (Special Guest: Ellery)

Fri May 04: Akron OH, Lime Spider, all ages (Special Guest: Ellery)

(We’re looking for two people to help out at the merch table for all the above shows in exchange for tickets. If you’re interested, pls e-mail Brandon@overtherhine.com. Pls put “MERCH VOLUNTEER/DATE/CITY, STATE” in the subject heading of your e-mail. If you don’t receive a response, no worries, just means we’re covered. Thanks.)

(If you’re interested in helping out with the Over the Rhine street team, please sign up at myspace.com/overtherhine. Thanks!)

MISCELLANEOUS

We’ll be posting details at OvertheRhine.com soon for the Songwriting Workshop in Santa Fe that Karin and I will be leading once again the first week of August. It was an unforgettable week last year, and we’re lookin’ forward to Round Two.

Also, the Over the Rhine cross-country musical train ride is being planned for July of 2008. We’re going to invite some gifted friends to join us for performances every evening, and sell 70 or so tickets to those of you crazy enough to board the train for a freewheeling week of American music and stunning scenery. Details coming soon.

THE TRUMPET CHILD

Finally, Karin and I will be heading to Nashville next week to finish the next full-length Over the Rhine CD due out in August of 2007. The working title is, The Trumpet Child. Send good thoughts our way. (Can you say, Horns, Strings, Clarinets?) Fasten your seat belts: it’s going to be fun.

Thanks for your generous support over the years. It means the world.

Keep in touch.

Spread a little love.

More soon,

Linford (and Karin)

April, 2007

Over the Rhine Quick Update

1. It’s springtime in Ohio. The grass is green, green, green. The maples are covered in buds. But I overheard two women speaking yesterday, and they said we might get snow later in the week. And to think that the cherry trees are already in blossom.

2. Thanks to all who joined us this past weekend in Goshen, Indiana, and Nelsonville, Ohio. Two wonderful venues that we hope to return to in the not too distant future. We enjoyed ourselves very much, and if you haven’t seen Mickey and Jake do their thing with our music yet, you’re in for a treat.

3. Good news: All of the Live From Nowhere Volume Two CD’s have shipped!!! Thanks for all the kind words about the project. If you don’t receive yours shortly, let us know, and we’ll follow up to make sure everyone’s peachy. Check out OvertheRhine.com for recently-added song by song commentary and song credits.

4. The tiny treat: Ok, we’ll ‘fess up. We had ordered OtR stickers to include with all the pre-ordered CD’s, but when the order arrived, we didn’t feel that the stickers were high enough quality. So we worked out a deal to have a do-over. Problem is, the do-over batch still hasn’t arrived. Rather than hold up everyone’s order, we opted to go ahead and ship the CD’s without the tiny treat.

5. How the @*+%%!! do I get my tiny treat, you ask? Well, how ’bout this:

6. When the stickers arrive, we’re going to ship out enough to cover all the pre-orders to Port Merch, our new on-line fulfillment company. When you place your next order (Trumpet Child anyone, later this year?) just mention that you pre-ordered LFN Vol. 2, and Port Merch will include the sticker with your next order.

***Or, if you have plans to attend any concert this year, we have a secret password. You can simply walk up to the table and say, I Pre-ordered LFN Volume Two. Where the Bleep is my sticker? Our volunteers will be slightly traumatized, but they’ll know exactly what to do.

***If there’s no way on God’s green earth that you’re ever placing another order, or seeing Over the Rhine this year (and yes, we are traveling to Europe and the UK in August) simply drop us a note at otrhine@aol.com and we’ll mail your sticker as soon as they arrive. Sorry for any confusion. As Juicy sometimes says after soundcheck, If it ain’t one thing, it’s somethin’ else!

7. We just mixed the new Over the Rhine record that’s due out this August. Very exciting. Someone in the know described it as “dark, vibey, Berlin meets Paris Cab Cabaret…” We’ll never tell, but stay tuned for much more.

8. Finally, don’t forget about these upcoming shows. We sure do hope to see you. It’s way more fun that way:

Sun Apr 15: Atlanta GA, Smith’s Olde Bar, age 21+

Mon Apr 16: Charlotte NC, Visulite Theatre, age 21+
with Vienna Teng

Wed Apr 18: Charlottesville VA, Gravity Lounge, age 21+

Thu Apr 19: Vienna VA, Jammin’ Java, all ages

Fri Apr 20: Annapolis MD, Ram’s Head Tavern, age 21+

Sat Apr 21: New York NY, Joe’s Pub, all ages
TWO SHOWS: 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm

Tues Apr 24: Beaver Falls PA, Geneva College, all ages

Fri Apr 27: Cincinnati OH, 20th Century Theatre, all ages*

Sat Apr 28: Cincinnati OH, 20th Century Theatre, all ages*

Wed May 02: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark, all ages*

Thu May 03: Ann Arbor MI, The Ark, all ages*

Fri May 04: Akron OH, Lime Spider, all ages*

*Special Guest: Ellery

Bye for now,

Linford for Over the Rhine

PS It’s back! The April Download of the Month: The Poopsmith Song!

Check out OvertheRhine.com for much more.

July 2, 2007

Hello from Nowhere Farm,

It’s a cool, bright summer morning, a delicious breeze is bending the locust trees, three hummingbirds are hovering around Karin’s feeder here on the back porch, Elroy is stretched out at my feet, Shakey, our Weimaraner, is off exploring. The chipping sparrows have another nest with three grouchy baby birds in the little potted pine on our porch, just a foot or so to the right of the porch swing. My father said that on the Amish farm of his childhood, the chipping sparrows would line their perfectly round little nests with horsetail hair. We don’t have horses (in spite of the fact that various locals have offered to give us their gentle old mares, donkeys etc) so when we see the chipping sparrows building their nests, I give Elroy a good brushing and leave the fur in the yard. Sure enough, their nests are always lined with his black and white hair, the baby sparrows nestled in a black and white Great Dane quilt. We save the Elroy-lined nests for our Christmas tree.

And we’ve had goldfinches this summer – sometimes 6 or 8 at a time in flight together, extravagant in the sun. And the bobwhite quail always come in close to nest in the golden rod and the blackberries. We leave plenty of wild patches for them. We hear them calling back and forth much of the time.

Shakey has turned into a world-class frisbee dog. We whip the frisbee as far as we can through the maples and Shakey does his Derek Jeter routine and somehow always makes us look good, as he rarely fails to make the catch running at full Weimaraner tilt. (He usually manages to grab about three feet of air for effect.) Then he circles back with doleful eyes, ears flapping with satisfaction, drops the frisbee at our feet and sits and points with his front, right, bird dog paw up, waiting for the next throw.

The moon has been full, and a few nights ago I took a midnight bike ride along the back roads, through the moonlight drenched fields, the moon tagging along over my shoulder, my lungs full of night air. That has to be the holiest light on earth.

The coyotes have been howling down in the creek the last few nights, restless with the sacredness of it all.

Saturday night, we were driving out of Chicago, and that big moon was asserting itself over the skyline, ducking behind the John Hancock building, following us home, an excessive, glowing, communion wafer. We are so grateful that we can work from city to city and then return home to the farm to these expanses of quiet, wake up with our coffee and each other, a little breakfast, the everywhere bird song, the breeze, the trees, the sky. And very little else…

And at the end of the day, as you may well know, when it comes to Nowhere Farm, we grow songs.

The Trumpet Child is Coming Soon.

Driving home recently, we were talking about balance. How we want to increasingly live in the moment. No past. No future. Only now. How we want to be thankful for all we’ve been given, and nurture a warm interior Yes.

We are able to support ourselves with our music, we are able to make the records that we choose to make, we are blessed with opportunities to take our music around the world and pass it around, we are surrounded by many good, supportive people. We never want to take any of it for granted.

And yet on the other hand, we want to remain hungry. We want to be open to going deeper. We don’t want to settle. We want to do the work that is required of us, work that will allow us to step more fully into our shoes as songwriters. We want to grow.

I was talking to a friend a few days ago, a music manager who’s been around the block, who’s observed Over the Rhine for many years since the very early days of the band. He said, Linford, Nobody gets bigger 18 years into their career. This is crazy. Look what’s happening with Over the Rhine!

We had a good laugh and traded a few stories.

But the good news is, Karin and I do believe we’re still growing as writers. We do feel like our story is still unfolding. We do feel like we’re caught up in something. And if we quit believing that, we’ll come back to the farm and put the guitars in their cases and get on with the rest of our lives. We don’t want to waste anybody’s time.

In the meanwhile, we’re up for what’s next. It’s all happening.

So, we dressed up a new website for this brand new Trumpet Child chapter. (Thanks to Rob Seiffert for his help with this.) Check out OvertheRhine.com for all the latest.

We’ve started a brand new record label, Great Speckled Dog, and lined our nest with Elroy’s fur.

We’ve got a great team together: Thanks to our Chicago-based manager, Glen Phillips, for helping us get this record out the door. Thanks to our NYC-based publicists, Diana and Abby at Shore Fire. Thanks to Mark and everyone at Skyline, who are putting the finishing touches on our tour this Fall. Thanks to everyone at Music Allies – they’ll be working to get these songs on the radio, spread around here and there, anywhere adventurous American music is still being played. Thanks to our Cincinnati-based road crew: Brandon, our tour manager who’s also running our Cincinnati offices, and Dave, our front-of-house engineer. Thanks to Eric and Drew and Michael and Owen as well for years of help. Thanks to Jake and Mickey for the present day holy ruckus. And thanks to our producer, Brad Jones, and all the musicians who helped us deliver The Trumpet Child. Life is good.

Join us at OvertheRhine.com this coming Sunday evening. At 8pm Eastern, we’re going to give The Trumpet Child its first spin from beginning to end, its very own LIVE, world premier webcast. Never done this before. It’s a listening party, and you’re invited. Karin and I will slip into The Orchard chatroom afterwards and field any questions, tip our hats to all of you, our extended musical family.

You can pre-order a copy of The Trumpet Child now at OvertheRhine.com and receive three free mp3’s immediately. A little taste without giving away too many surprises… Those that pre-order will also receive a special treat when the CD’s ship in August. (We think the extra bit will put a smile on your face this time around…)

And finally, many of the CD’s in our back catalog are currently on sale for $9.99 if you want to fill in a gap or two in your collection, or pick up a gift for a friend.

Drop us a line and let us know what’s new, what’s on your mind. Hopefully we’ll see you later this Summer and Fall. Quite a few of the tour dates have been posted on the site, with more coming soon.

It’s all happening.

Enjoy,

Linford (and Karin)

August 28, 2007

Back From Europe Ready for the Next Chapter

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 bursting through 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 (Crieff 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 the 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 in 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)

September 11, 2007

Hello everyone,

We built the last fire of September on Nowhere Farm this past Sunday evening. Opened a good bottle of wine, sat by the fire, looked at the Ohio milky way spilled extravagantly over the ancient maples.

I took the last bike ride of September yesterday evening on my little six mile route through the fields before dinner and watched the sun set turning the clouds silver and every shade of rouge imaginable.

Early this morning before sunrise, a thunderstorm got into a tussle over the house and Elroy climbed into bed with us for the duration.

We walked the paths when we got up after morning rains. The golden rod is turning, the fields are starting to turn a warm yellow, and there’s a goldfinch sitting on a late summer nest in one of our little locust trees.

It’s time to say goodbye to the farm once again. We’ll be home in October.

Over the Rhine’s Trumpet Child tour heads West this week beginning with two SOLD OUT shows at Seattle’s beautiful Triple Door. Check OverTheRhine.com for upcoming tour diary updates and photos. Karin’s first Trumpet Child tour diary entry (Release) is enclosed at the end of this letter.

A couple of late matters of business:

We are going to need at least two merch volunteers in each city on this upcoming run. If you’d like to help us out, pls send an e-mail to merch@overtherhine.com, with the following in the subject line: “MERCH VOLUNTEERS (Date, City, State).” In the e-mail, pls include your first and last name, e-mail address and cell phone number, along with those of anyone you’ve enlisted to help. If you don’t hear back, it just means we’re covered for that date. Thanks so much – a big help to us.

And check out OverTheRhine.com for new Trumpet Child ring tones (a first for
us?) and more fun stuff. (And we’re finally announcing the t-shirt design winners (!) this week: stay tuned.)

We’ll see you out on the great American highway.

Without further ado, over to Karin:

Tour Diary August 30 – September 4, 2007

From the pre-show in-store book-benders at Jo-Beths, to the Big Band gala glory of moonlit Moonlight Gardens, to the sweaty rockin’ out toxic swill of Lexington’s Dame, to the radio friendly song seekers @ Nashville’s 3rd & Lindsley, and home again…

So that’s how you rock and roll through jet lag? Ok. I get it. Carry on then.

One UK/European run done, one CD Release weekend, four months on the road to go, and we’ll call that a good start. We’ll talk about 2008 later. I’m going to have to take it one day at a time for a while please.

We’re greasing the gears, padding our lumpy, bumpy van bunks with books and feather tics, Jake’s casing up the amps and holding her steady, and Mickey’s trying to figure out how to bundle his menagerie of skins and toys to strike and smack, and we’re taking our vitamins and diffusing essential oils, packing our best clothes.

I’m spending as much of the next few days as I can at my peaceful farm with my sweet furry hounds and one old cat. Brandon, Dave, Nick and the guys will do much the same with their wives and sons and daughters, friends and family, no doubt questioning why the hell they are leaving their homes for what Robbie Robertson dubbed a ‘goddamn impossible way of life’ anyway. And all the while knowing it’s what they do.

And we’ll give Elroy a treat, a Great Dane sized hug, and tell him how we’re going to try to make him proud and bring home the doggy chow and that this is what we were born to do like he was born to run. We’ll throw the Frisbee as far and as hard as we can for the Weimie. And scratch his chest till his eyes glaze over and tell him what a good boy he is.

You know, all those things that you say, YOU the reader, the listener, and all the things that you do for us� you often follow up a compliment with ‘I’m sure you hear this all the time’ and we smile and try to find a fresh way to say, ‘Yeah, but if you only knew how badly we needed to hear it today’ and smile and only say thank you.

Bill’s bouquets remind me that yes I really am a girl and I love that (!) and Keith offers civilized and extravagant gifts of wine that we treasure for special celebratory moments at home. And then there’s Kent and Sue flying across the Midwest to spend their holiday weekend with us. Kylie and her infamous ornery sweetness – does she know how many big brothers and sisters she really has?

You all (far too many to mention by name) have NO IDEA what you mean to us. And in our often hectic pre-show agenda and our post-show stupor we fumble around to find the words and only come up with Thank Yous. We wanna do better.

West-coasters, we’re coming your way. It’s always a gift, and we’re bringing new songs and looking forward to seeing some faces, old and new. All good faces. Let this CD Release Party continue on…

I think often about the word Release and what it means to us and to me. Our feeble English language where one word bears the weight of so many disjointed, misfired, slipshod meanings and interpretations.

Release.

What it meant to my old girl Willow when she took her last breath and heard the word whispered in her ear, Release.

What it means when an entire year (or more) of your life is devoted to the making of a recording of music (and the songs that probably took thirty + years to mature in the oak barrels of your soul) and how it feels when the little brown box comes to you in the hands of a stranger in a delivery uniform, and you sign the Release form and run inside the house and cut carefully the sealed edges to reveal the lovingly (Rob Seiffert) designed digipak inside. Is it like giving birth and graduating this life force all in one day? At one moment responsible for everything and then for nothing as it is Released out into the world, all completely out of your hands?

Release.

So, I guess I need to mention that I haven’t had much spare time to document all the tour diary festivities of this past month. Really, it’s all a little blurry. Hopefully these words will do.

With Elroy’s help, I woke today at 8:30am, plodded outside in my PJ’s and turned on the desperate sprinkler underneath the maple trees that have started dropping entire limbs (!) because it is so dry. Took the boys for their morning walk — I walk, they tear through the paths — threw the Frisbee for the Wiemie, played rope-a-dope with the Big Guy (that’s Elroy, not God, although… I’ve played rope-a-dope with God on numerous occasions) and made a pot of Chuck’s best coffee.

Linford is still sacked out. I would be too, but I took the first morning home shift with the boys. He will take his turn tomorrow.

I love all this. This is the only reward I’ll ever need.

Ok, and maybe the occasional gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

And maybe the odd, one-off dog-shaped statue from Sophie and her sweet folks from Alabama.

It was awfully good of WRLT to broadcast our set over the Nashville airwaves. All of you folks down there remember to thank them for us. We’ll be back in December to do another show with them – this time at the Belcourt.

And, yes, Brad Jones will be there. Heaven only knows what he’ll decide to play this time. He can play whatever he pleases as far as I’m concerned. Would that we could clone him so he could continue to produce great recordings at his studio while simultaneously touring the country with us. That man should have a twin!

Fats will be weaving his melodic tapestries on the road with Kevin Welch and Kieran Kane for much of September. Catch them if they’re in your neck of the woods. We’ll try to grab Fats again as soon as possible for some more Over the Rhine time.

I’m sure we’ll be kidnapping Paul Patterson away from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as well, as allowed. He is positively Herculean. (!)

Molly Felder will be joining us from time to time out there on the great American Highway. Between full time motherhood and her wonderful music with Swan Dive, she’s got her hands full. Molly is always welcome to sing and swing with us. I think Linford describes her best — a bundle full of joy up there on the stage. And an incredibly talented one, at that.

Ok all. We’re comin’ atcha with our black-eyed Susans. Let’s play.

And most of all… Thank You.
Karin (and Linford)

PS Special thanks to Misty, my guardian angel liaison and metaphysical traveling companion.

October 3, 2007

Over the Rhine’s Ohio Homecoming

Greetings all,

Hello from sunny St. Louis. After a memorable, truly spectacular run down the West Coast from Seattle to San Diego, past redwoods and whales, we headed east through the desert, watched an eery, violet sunset, greeted a massive moon rising, waved at Pike’s Peak, woke to the morning snowfall across the top of the rockies outside of Denver, felt the restless wind of the wide open Kansas grasslands on our faces, crossed the rivers, covered the miles, lived to tell. Yesterday we drove through a Missouri downpour, and here we are today: feet back on the solid ground of the Midwest.

Tonight we play the storied Duck Room at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis, owned by none other than the man Chuck Berry himself.

This Friday, it’s the beautiful Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington, Indiana, a town that has been good to our music. (We recorded much of Ohio there, mixed Drunkard’s Prayer and Snow Angels there, mastered Good Dog Bad Dog there back in the day…) Not to mention the fact that Karin and I will be celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary that evening, on the road, together.

Saturday, October 6, 2007, we cross the border arriving home in Ohio after 4 long weeks of spreading the music of The Trumpet Child around America. We’ll be performing for the first time this Saturday at the beautiful Wexner Center in Columbus – a dream come true for us. William Wegman is currently showing his whimsical photographs of Weimaraners at the Wexner, so you can be sure we’ll be checking out his show earlier in the day and invite you to do the same. Hope you can join us for this very special evening of dogs and music!

This current month-long leg of The Trumpet Child tour ends in Morgantown, WV, on Sunday, October 7, with a performance for syndicated radio show Mountain Stage. Do join us if you can. We’ll be meeting up with our old friend Amy Rigby there who is also performing and has been living in France. We expect a full report.

Check out OvertheRhine.com for more details on the above.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement along the way. It means the world.

More soon I’m sure,

Linford for Over the Rhine

November 1, 2007

Rounding 3rd and Heading for Home

Hello all,

Just a quick late night note from Philly to say thanks for an unforgettable tour — undoubtedly the best of our career so far. We covered so many miles of beautiful country since late July, and those of you who attended the concerts have been inspiring and amazing to us in countless ways. In short, thanks for everything. We are blessed with the best listening audience in the world.

If all goes according to plan, Karin and I will be back at Nowhere Farm this Sunday evening for some much needed rejuvenation. I’ll send out a real letter sometime in November.

In the meanwhile, we’re looking forward to our final concert this evening with wonderful Rosie Thomas in Philadelphia, and to our live broadcast with WXPN at noon on Friday, November 2. Tune in online at xpn.org if you’d like to listen.

The Taft Theater Concert in Cincinnati is planned for Saturday, December 15 with special guest Michelle Shocked. We are planning another conversational gathering, acoustic show and Christmas party for the afternoon of Sunday, December 16 so that we can bask in the afterglow of a great year with all of you who might be interested in meeting up with us. More details on all of this soon — stay tuned at OvertheRhine.com… You’re invited.

And finally, we wanted to mention a very special bit of news. Michael Wilson, one of America’s most gifted, sought after photographers, is opening a portrait studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. Soon, anyone can make an appointment to have this important American artist make an archival, natural light portrait that can be enjoyed by loved ones both now and in years to come. Michael Wilson has photographed many vital songwriters, musicians, writers and artists around the world. We’ve been priveleged to include Michael’s work in many of Over the Rhine’s CD packages over the years. We are thrilled that his services will now be available to anyone.

On the evening of this coming Wednesday, November 7th, Michael Wilson will be showing work at York St. Int’l Cafe, and there will be a silent auction of some of his photographs as he launches his new portrait studio. All are welcome. Admission is free.

Check out this link which contains the invitation if you’d like to attend:

http://daylightportrait.com/opening

See you there if not before,

Linford and Karin

November 16, 2007

Hello all,

We returned home to the farm to chilly fall weather. The old maples had waited for us: they still had their leaves and have slowly blushed crimson and rusty yellow in the last week or so as if on cue. The first mildly shocking thing upon arriving home was the absence of birds and butterflies. The hummingbirds were gone, the songbirds had all but vanished. The silence is stunning – mostly just the sound now of the restless wind through the trees and pines.

The bluejays assert themselves in this new silence – their monosyllabic diatribes reverberate through the woods. The bluejays seemed to be everywhere when we got back, and it wasn’t long before the hawks noticed. We have twice found circles of neatly plucked bluejay feathers in the field, like the dying embers of a blue fire.

Of course, the cardinals are still here leaving the occasional smear of red in the air – the tip of God’s paintbrush. The blackbirds and grackles do their dizzy maneuvers, little black undulating clouds morphing just above the harvested fields. And occasionally, cozy little birds of a dusty blue grey make themselves known in the bushes, stealthy and bright-eyed – birds that I can’t name, which I assume must be Canadian, just passing through.

The second mildly shocking thing was Elroy got skunked on our very first after dark walk – the first night we were home. He trotted over to the weeds to fish lip a dark moving animal and took a direct blast to the head. Wow. I carried the 20 guage around for a few days, but haven’t seen hide nor hair of the offender. Fortunately, Karin has a special potion that a local farmer gave her (involving peroxide, baking soda and dish soap). She got the Great Dane smelling pretty good all things considered. But it was pretty ripe around here for a few days. Oh well, that’s the price you pay as a dog for waking up every morning surrounded by 1500 acres of not too much.

This is the time of year when we can begin to see the end of a long road. I wouldn’t want to count the number of miles we’ve traveled since late July, and we have more miles to go, but we can now begin to see the finish line. Now we feel always that sweet tiredness that comes from having given the best that we could muster, the hard-won exhaustion of seeing a long road through to the end. As the darkness arrives earlier each evening, we hunker down as much as possible at home in the old farm house in the warm lamp light. But I do love sneaking out later and walking alone after dark through the blustery fields, seeing the mist rolling in around the house. I’m an incurable night walker.

The finish line. In our case, it’s our annual hometown Christmas concert at a beautiful, historic, 2600 seat theater, followed by a little party that we throw in a ragged old cathedral the following afternoon. We invite anyone to attend and to our surprise, people from all around the world accept the invitation.

We hope you can make it this year on Saturday, December 15, for the concert, and Sunday afternoon, December 16, at 3pm for what we’re calling our Snow Angels Soiree: Chuck will be serving his impeccable lattes, we’ll have some drink and assorted refreshment, some acoustic music, some spoken word, some conversation, dozens and dozens of slightly used roses.

We continue to marvel at the unique symbiotic relationship we have with our extended musical family. We look back on all the miles and ask ourselves, How did we just do all that? Often it simply comes down to the energy and enthusiasm of an audience propping us up. On a good night, something takes over that’s bigger than all of us. Bigger than the caffeine, the drugs, the sleeping pills, the women of the night that constantly surround us…

(Just wanted to make sure you were still with me…)

We’ll try to bottle hints of the elusive magic again on the limited edition series we began a few years ago called, Live From Nowhere. Hard to believe we’ll be up to Live From Nowhere Volume Three already, after this year. You can pre-order your limited edition copy now. We’ll include as many musical highlights as we can from The Trumpet Child and Snow Angels tours, including reworked versions of some older Over the Rhine songs, and maybe a surprise or two. Should be fun.

So check out OvertheRhine.com for details and much more.

And I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself: we’ve got miles to go before we sleep.

Once again, we’re looking for a few good volunteers to sell our wares in each city at our concerts. Who better for the job than folks who have actually listened to the music. If you’d be willing to help us out pls send an e-mail to merch@overtherhine.com. Pls put MERCH VOLUNTEER/CITY/DATE in the subject heading. Include your contact info in the body of the e-mail. If you don’t hear back, now worries, it just means we’re covered. Thanks again.

Here are the remaining dates this year…

This weekend:

This Friday, November 16, Canton, Ohio, Malone College. SOLD OUT. (Yes, our alma mater, the liberal arts college where Karin and I first made tentative music together. No tickets remain, but come sit in the hallway if you’re in the neighborhood…)

Saturday, November 17, Dayton, Ohio, Canal Street Tavern. SOLD OUT. (One of our favorite listening rooms and the only venue in America where we play two sets. Tradition. Limited standing room only tickets will be made available the night of the show.)

Sunday, November 18, Cincinnati, Ohio, The Taft Theater. The Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. (We’ll be playing a short set to kick off the proceedings. Thanks to CityBeat and to all who nominated us for Album of the Year and Best Cincinnati Musical Ambassador…)

***

Short break at the farm. You can be sure we’ll trim our tree early. Karin will festoon the old staircase (so it will all be waiting when we arrive home). Vince Guaraldi will suddenly be in heavy rotation.

***

OVER THE RHINE SNOW ANGELS TOUR 2007

Saturday, November 24, Chicago, Illinois, Old Town School of Folk Music. Two Shows! Special Guest Griffin House. (Wonderful venue in a fab neighborhood in one of America’s greatest Live Music cities.)

Sunday, November 25, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cedar Cultural Center. (Finally. Looking forward to seeing all of you – our first appearance at this venue – we’ve heard good things.)

Tuesday, November 27, Madison, Wisconsin, Majestic Theater. (Great city to visit during the holidays – you’ll probably see Karin and I bundled up wandering around with our hot coffees exploring.)

Wednesday, November 28, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Miramar Theater. (Go Packers.)

Friday, November 30, Kent, Ohio, Kent Stage. (Beautiful old theater, red velvet seats, piano with a broken heart…)

Saturday, December 1, Columbus, Ohio. Private show.

Sunday, December 2, Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Ark. (Always one of our favorite stops on the Christmas Tour. Another great town to walk around in during the holidays.)

Friday, December 7, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Calvin College Fine Arts Center. (Wonderful venue – we still aspire to be the Calvin College House Band.)

Sunday, December 9, Goshen, Indiana, Goshen Theater. (Karin and I ended up in this area on our backroads Midwestern honeymoon. We hit the Shipshewana Antique Auction, and to our knowledge, this is the only place in the world you can find a hotel room with genuine handmade Amish quilts, oak furnithure and an ultra-modern hot tub.)

Tuesday, December 11, Nashville, Tennessee, Belcourt Theater. (Our first headline show at this historic venue. Hope you can join us. Thanks to WRLT for all their help with this one. Look for some additional musicians to appear.)

Wednesday, December 12, Indianapolis, Indiana, The Music Mill. (Hopefully we won’t have to drive through 10 hours of snow this time.)

Thursday, December 13, Lexington, Kentucky, The Kentucky Theater, with Michelle Shocked. (Our first headline show at this historic venue. Thanks to all at Woodsongs for their help.)

Saturday, December 15, Cincinnati, Ohio, The Taft Theater, with Michelle Shocked. (Join us in our hometown for our final concert of a very big year in this stunning venue. Always a special evening. Tickets are selling fast. Special thanks to WNKU for all their support over the years. Note: tickets are available at OvertheRhine.com w/o expensive service charges.)

Sunday, December 16, Cincinnati, Ohio, (Norwood): The Snow Angels Soiree at Saint Elizabeths. (3pm. Join us for an afternoon of conversation, drink, festive food, impeccable lattes, an acoustic performance by Over the Rhine and some spoken word and Q&A. We’ll bask in the afterglow together. See OvertheRhine.com for ticket info.)

That’s the finish line. Then we disappear for 6 weeks. In late January we head to Florida and Texas (finally) and parts unknown.

Hope to see you soon and thanks again for everything, As my wife likes to say, without you we’d be homeless.

Lookin’ forward,

Linford (and Karin)

Pls feel free to pass this letter around to family and friends. Perhaps parts of it are fridge-worthy.

January 27, 2008

Hello again from Ohio…

Ahh, it’s a new year, still. It’s been freezing cold on Nowhere Farm for weeks – temperatures hovering well below freezing, short days, long nights, weather that tempts us to mostly stay indoors, try to stay cozy, draw relaxed, extravagant hot baths in the evenings, snuggle on the couch with sleepy dogs.

We do bundle the dogs out doors at least twice a day to let them run around on the farm, play catch with the Frisbee, make ghosts with their heaving lungs in the frozen air. After they’re good and tired, as the sun is going down, it’s my turn to take a 40 minute walk across the fields down to the creek, the dark creek water freezing here and there this year.

We had a lovely Christmas in Canada with my sister Grace’s family, my brother-in-law Peter and their 3 college age (!) children in Sarnia, Ontario (just a stone’s throw from Narnia as we are prone to say). Every late afternoon, religiously, Grace takes a lengthy, brisk walk around the lake, before the evening meal, and I got caught up in the spirit of these rigorous constitutionals, trying my best to keep up with her. (Grace and Peter are good examples for us in many ways.)

So as the Ohio sun is setting, I’ve been walking as the crow flies across the fields, down along the banks of the tree-lined creek, making my own extended loop. Once I walked right up on a Great Blue Heron, a massive bird springing up out of the creek right in front of my eyes, angling its six-foot wingspan just so to maneuver upward through the overhanging sycamores. Up close, calling that bird Great, is no exaggeration. I can still see the infinite, weird blue of its back as it rose.

Once, just as darkness fell, I saw a top-heavy owl gliding dead silent just above the curve of my favorite hill before it disappeared into the woods.

But dang it’s been cold! (Freezing here on the farm, Christmas in Canada, touring Minneapolis, Madison, Milwaukee, Ann Arbor, Chicago etc last December…)

Our break went by quickly. We had family stop in here at the farm on a few occasions. My brother Myron and his wife Molly and their daughter Betsy Detweiler moved to Cincinnati late last year, so it’s been fun to see them getting settled in to their new house.

We tried to catch up on paper work, clean up some of the many loose ends lying around from a busy year of touring. But we did take time to really enjoy this 180 year-old farm house, our little hideaway. And Karin and I took time to dream out loud a bit. On a few occasions we did revisit our restorative formula of opening a bottle of wine and sitting down for extended conversations in the evening. The scrabble board came out a few times. But recently, though we waited as long as we possibly could, it was finally time to take the tree down. Karin festoons the house so artfully, and when we finally put everything away, that usually means it’s time to get back to work in earnest.

So tomorrow, we fly to a warmer place. We pick up our instruments and try to make a lovely ruckus. We see who walks in the door, we gather ’round, we play our songs, tell a few stories and hope something amazing happens. Somehow, with your help, we often, much to our surprise, succeed. We hope you can join us.

OVER THE RHINE TRYS TO FIND A WARM PLACE

Tue, 2008-01-29
St. Augustine, FL
Cafe Eleven

Wed, 2008-01-30
Stuart, FL
Lyric Theater
All Ages – 7pm

Fri, 2008-02-01
Lake Worth, FL
Bamboo Room

Sat, 2008-02-02
Orlando, FL
Backbooth
7:00pm, All Ages

Mon, 2008-02-04
Birmingham, AL
Workplay

Wed, 2008-02-06
Houston, TX
Mucky Duck
(SOLD OUT)

Thu, 2008-02-07
Austin, TX
Cactus Cafe
seated, general admission

Fri, 2008-02-08
Austin, TX
Cactus Cafe
seated, general admission

Sat, 2008-02-09
Dallas, TX
House of Blues Dallas – Cambridge Room
seated, general admission

Mon, 2008-02-11
Little Rock, AR
Revolution Music Room
8pm All Ages

Tue, 2008-02-12
Memphis, TN
Hi-Tone
8pm All Ages

(More details and additional dates at OvertheRhine.com.)

Pls share the above info with family, friends and all who might appreciate a soulful, melting-pot evening of American music.

And once again, we’re looking for a few good volunteers to sell our wares in each city at our concerts. Who better for the job than folks who have actually listened to the music. If you’d be willing to help us out pls send an e-mail to merch@overtherhine.com.

(Pls put MERCH VOLUNTEER/CITY/DATE in the subject heading. Include your contact info in the body of the e-mail. If you don’t hear back, no worries, it just means we’re covered. Thanks again.)

Don’t forget to pre-order your copy of Live From Nowhere Volume Three at OvertheRhine.com. 2007 was a truly fantastic year for our music – thanks to all who made it so. We are compiling the best 2007 concert highlights onto this limited edition CD. All who pre-order will receive an exclusive treat.

Bill Ivester has been doing a great job with our MySpace page. Stop by, check it out and say hello. (myspace.com/overtherhine)

We have a few more things to announce soon. Stay tuned.

And by all means, if you need to get warm, come find us in Florida, Alabama, Texas and points beyond…

Lookin’ forward,

Linford and Karin
Over the Rhine

February 21, 2008

Hello again,

We stood outside last night in the freezing air
on snow so cold that it squeaked when we walked
and watched the total eclipse
of the full moon.

(I’ll try not to break into verse.)

The shadow coming across her lunar face was eery, turning her into an overripe blood orange, or a ball-shaped wound that had been bandaged poorly.

Someone thousands of years ago may have described this event as the moon springing a surface leak and slowly flooding with rust-colored water that had steeped in Autumn leaves. A different theorist may have ventured (excuse me please) that the moon was made of cheese.

Or yes, those prone to visions of this world hurling toward some dramatic conclusion would certainly be predisposed to the idea that the moon may well be turning to blood in front of their eyes.

But regardless, there was that fully eclipsed moon over the farm glowing vibrant and weird at 10pm, lit as if from within, turning the sky into a new outer space as if we were looking up from a different planet. And the stars were bright, the big dipper just to the left of the barn, Orion over the neighbor’s field, a swath of spilled milky way across the sky, just because.

The dogs chased each other around for awhile, but we soon had to put them inside – it was just too cold.

Our friend Misty told Karin that cosmically speaking, this eclipse is a Big Green Light. Karin texted back, YOU GO GIRL! and Misty got to laughing up there in Cleveland.

But yes, why not, we’re giving ourselves (and anyone else who could use one) a Big Green Light.

Here we go.

***

Big Green Light Number One

Our thanks to the best listening audience in the world for the following:

SOLD OUT SHOWS this past month in St. Augustine, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Houston, Austin (2 nights) and Dallas. And great crowds in Stuart, Birmingham, Little Rock and Memphis.

Thanks for a great run, and yes we did get warm, although the memory is distant as we look out now on a still snowy farm with more snow falling. (And a special thanks to all of you who welcomed us back to Texas (finally!) so beautifully. Thanks for the many small gifts and mementos. We look forward to returning regularly.)

Big Green Light Number Two

If you’re able and willing, join us this Saturday, February 23, 2008, in Louisville, KY, at beautiful Bomhard Theater for another warm evening of sultry midwestern cabaret. Our thanks to WFPK, one of the great remaining independent, listener-supported American radio stations, for their help with this concert. Ben Sollee opens. Hope to see you there!

Big Green Light Number Three

We were delighted to receive an invitation from Ani DiFranco to join her on a few weeks of dates in March. Ani is a free spirit who defied the odds years ago by starting her own record label and owning her own music from the start. Her songwriting is juicy, vulnerable and unpredictable, and she’s influenced hundreds of aspiring guitar players with her volatile, unbridled approach to her instrument. We hope you can join us. Pls spread the word.

Over the Rhine on tour opening for Ani DiFranco:

Thu, 2008-02-28
Concord, NH
Capitol Theater

Sat, 2008-03-01
Rochester, NY
Auditorium Theater

Sun, 2008-03-02
Pittsburgh, PA
Carnegie Music Hall

Wed, 2008-03-05
Columbus, OH
Lifestyle Communities Pavilion

Thu, 2008-03-06
Knoxville, TN
Bijou Theatre

Fri, 2008-03-07
Athens, GA
40 Watt Club

Tue, 2008-03-11
Tampa, FL
Tampa Theatre

Wed, 2008-03-12
Jacksonville, FL
Freebird Live

Fri, 2008-03-14
Nashville, TN
The Ryman

Sat, 2008-03-15
Birmingham, AL
Workplay Soundstage

Sun, 2008-03-16
New Orleans, LA
House of Blues

Again, hope to see you!

Big Green Light Number Four

We’ll soon be performing for the first time on etown, a nationally syndicated radio show out of Boulder, Colorado, that we’ve been fans of for a long time. For years, hosts Nick and Helen Forster have been creatively building community and encouraging everyone to live peacefully with our planet. (After all, it’s the only planet in the universe that we know of that teems with life.) Pls join us as a member of the audience if you’re able.

Sun, 2008-03-09
Boulder, CO
Boulder Theater
E*town radio show taping with Over the Rhine and the BoDeans.

Much more to announce soon. Pls share this letter with family and friends or anyone who might be interested.

Deep blessings,

Linford and Karin/Over the Rhine

April 30, 2008

Dear listener,

Hello, this is Linford from Over the Rhine. Thanks for pre-ordering your copy of Live From Nowhere Volume Three. (Hard to believe we’re up to Volume Three already.) We do appreciate the support immensely. As my wife and partner in crime, Karin, still likes to say, Without you, we’d be homeless. It’s true.

As you may have heard, we had a plan. We were going to finish our tour with Ani DiFranco mid-March of this year, return home, tie a bow on the LFN3 project, and send it off to the manufacturer so that we could ship them all out in April.

But then I got the call that no traveling musican ever wants to get on the road. My father passed away unexpectedly on March 15th, and I must admit I was completely caught off guard by this bit of unfortunate news. Other than Karin, my father was the character who had figured most prominently in my life. He was the one who brought home the upright piano and first recorded my childhood compositions. He was the one who discovered so much of the music that influenced me as a child. He was the one who wasn’t afraid to ask the big questions, and ask them often. I could go on.

But after driving through the night from Birmingham to return home, there was my family asking me to write my father’s obituary.

There has been an incredible series of events since then, but it’s been a difficult chapter, a chapter for which I’ve had no rehearsal. I’ve started to write about it on various occasions so that I could bring everyone up to date, but I guess I’m not able to do that just yet. I take a good run at it, but I end up wandering outside after a few paragraphs to sit on the porch swing for awhile.

Dovetailing with the above was a health issue that became acute for Karin, which required surgery. So we decided to postpone some dates, and we were both in recovery for the most part for several weeks. Lying low at home, trying to heal up. I went for many a walk through the surrounding fields. Sometimes Elroy (our Great Dane) would follow along to try to keep my spirits up, although he seldom left the foot of Karin’s bed for her first several days of healing.

We played our first shows this past weekend at a favorite little venue here in Ohio, and it felt good and right to begin making music again together. But other than that, we haven’t been able to get a whole heckuva lot done.

So, we’re going to need a little grace from you. Realistically, it’s probably going to be late June before we get this limited edition CD out the door. The good news: we’re going to work very hard to give all of you who pre-ordered some extra, free downloadable music and conversation that will hopefully make your wait worthwhile.

Again, thanks for pre-ordering, and please forgive the delay. As John Lennon once said, Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. We’ll get there.

Peace,

Linford and Karin

ps And of course, if the above doesn’t work, we’ll happily pass along a refund.

July 18, 2008

Greetings dear listeners,

Just a quick update to say that Live From Nowhere Volume Three was mixed and mastered a while back, but we’re still waiting on the finished copies from the manufacturer.

Wait, wait, wait.

Last year, give or take, we released four projects:

Snow Angels
Live From Nowhere Volume Two
Discount Fireworks
The Trumpet Child

This year, it’s all we can do to get one out the door.

We apologize that this one has taken so long. Thanks for your patience (and for the many notes of encouragement you’ve sent over the past several months).

We should have them hopefully soon, and when they arrive, we’ll get them mailed out pronto.

We thought about posting up a few teasers from Live From Nowhere Volume Three, but we decided to just let the thing land in the mailbox the old-fashioned way. All at once.

We had our touring sound engineer, Dave Foreman, aka Juicy, do the mixes on this one, so you’re getting the real thing, real snapshots of what actually happened by the engineer who was mixing the concerts at the time. Michael Wilson contributed a beautiful cover photo, and Bill Ivester passed along a couple of his concert photos once again. Owen Brock put the package together. We think you’re gonna like it. Stay tuned.

***

In the meanwhile, there are still plenty of opportunities to catch the (five-piece) band outdoors this summer.

Over the Rhine LIVE:

Tue, 2008-07-22
Cleveland Heights, OH
Cain Park
8pm, All Ages
TICKETS ONLY $2!

Wed, 2008-07-23
Kettering, OH (Near Dayton)
Fraze Pavillion
7:00pm, All Ages
FREE SHOW

Wed, 2008-07-30
Santa Fe, NM
Christ Church Santa Fe
A benefit for IMAGE Journal
More info will be posted soon! (Special acoustic performance by Karin and Linford.)

Sun, 2008-08-03
Newport, RI
Newport Folk Festival
w/Levon Helm, Gillian Welch etc.

Mon, 2008-08-04
New York, NY
The Living Room
7:00pm & 8:30pm
Songs will be taped for broadcast by XM Radio.

Tue, 2008-08-05
Ridgefield, CT
CHIRP
7pm – free outdoor show
FREE SHOW

Wed, 2008-08-06
Bethlehem, PA
Musikfest

Sat, 2008-08-30
Pagosa Springs, CO
Four Corners Folk Festival
(Special acoustic performance by Karin and Linford.)

We’ll be taking our Christmas tour to the West Coast for the first time this year… More on that later.

And if you’ve been thinking of a cruise to the Carribean during the late winter, join us next February along with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin etc, for a very special musical journey to a warm place.

Sat, 2009-02-28
leaving Port of Miami,
Cayamo Cruise

We’ve also begun work on our first few Over the Rhine songbooks, long overdue, so hopefully those will be available later this year as well.

We’ll send a real letter along one of these days with much more, but wanted to let you know a little of the latest.

For now, 1000 blessings,

Over the Rhine

Check out all things Over the Rhine at overtherhine.com: Concert dates, discount prices on tickets and recordings, limited edition posters, T-shirts, downloads, OtR Blend Coffee and much, much more. Enjoy!

ps Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to the family of the heroic Katie Reider: 1978-2008.

September 2, 2008

Greetings dear listeners,

This first day of September feels like a new beginning. Here we are hunkered down on our little farm in Southern Ohio. What will happen next?

Some of you no doubt heard that we cancelled our recent trip to Colorado because of a health setback. We missed you. But there’s no place as welcome as home when it comes to recovery, and we continue to learn about the importance of rest, and slowing down, and recognizing the need for a break. Maybe we’re still waiting for our souls to completely catch up with our bodies. Sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us.

Yes, The Trumpet Child chapter is winding down. It’s been a full year with thousands of miles covered, hundreds of interviews given, and so many memorable evenings of music with all of you who we continue to think of as our extended musical family. Some highlights that come immediately to mind: our recent appearance at The Newport Folk Festival. (Standing side stage and watching Levon Helm sing and play The Weight is something we’ll never forget.) Playing to amazing outdoor crowds at some beautiful summer sheds this summer was a whole lot of fun for us. (We hope the trend continues!) And we had a fantastic time leading another songwriting workshop this past August in Santa Fe with 16 people who taught us so much. (We listened to songs, but we talked about life.) We could go on.

Yes, now we’re out here under a familiar Ohio sky, a few familiar trees. Many of the hundreds of birds that nest here on the farm are getting ready to fly South. Elroy and I watched in disbelief as a few dozen cedar waxwings flew down on both sides of the path all around us yesterday and began eating ink berries. The male indigo buntings are starting to fade, their blue a little less miraculous everyday. We’re still picking plenty of late-coming ripe tomatoes out of the garden, both yellow and red. (I’m still convinced that cupping a hand beneath a plump, vine-ripened tomato in summer is a par ticular pleasure that the church must have forgotten to forbid.) But the golden rod is yellowing, and will soon announce in earnest that ready or not, fall is coming. You can hear it out here in the night orchestras of insects: Sing like your life depends on it, it won’t last forever.

One significant mile marker which makes our own heads spin is the impending 20th Anniversary of Over the Rhine. We recorded our first demos in the Spring of 1989. Those songs eventually became the record, Till We Have Faces, and now almost 20 years later, it’s just sort of hard to take it all in. There are days when we feel utterly blessed, charmed. That this labor of love could continue for 20 years, that our audience still continues to grow, that this music continues to get spread around hand to hand by people who are often in the process of becoming life long friends – it all smacks of the miraculous.

But then there are days when we feel like we’re auditioning for a starring role in the book of Ecclesiastes. Did any of it matter at all? Did we accomplish anything even remotely unique, or worthwhile, or useful? We know the work did matter to us and to others. We know the music at times played a life-giving role in some of our stories. We know some folks listened to the songs during their last few days on earth. But some days are a drawn veil: we just can’t seem to access the meaning in any of it.

I know it’s a cliche, and this paragraph will be wasted on the young, but now, looking back from this vantage point, 20 years seems like a snap of the fingers, gone. I’m sure this has something to do with the fact that we buried my father this Spring. But there are days now when we pan back on a chapter that’s ending, and the overwhelming feeling is, We had so little time. The years vanished. Take care what you hang a life on.

So we hope to live in the present. There’s a goldfinch sitting on her new nest on the other side of the locust grove even though summertime is running out. There’s a thick, cream-colored mug of fresh coffee on the desk. We’re still here. There’s still time. I’ll bet good money the September moon will rise with her full-lipped face and drench us in her sacred light.

When we least expect it, in our hearts we’ll come to find, a tiny, insubstantial spark of hope.

So what kind of beautiful ruckus will we make in the next 20 years? How will that look? How should we join in, play our small part in the everywhere, always going on song? Good questions. We’ll have to find out. But first we’re going to have a little fun.

Join us if you dare.

***

Over the Rhine in Concert (Please see OvertheRhine.com for details. All concerts below will feature full band performances.)

OCTOBER

October 11, Elk Creek Vineyards, Owenton, KY. Pour me a glass of wine, talk deep into the night, who knows what we’ll find… Join Over the Rhine at a fabulous winery during the prettiest month of the year for an outdoor concert under October skies. It’s a short drive from Cincinnati, and we’d love to make this an annual tradition. Don’t miss this very special evening – a first for us. (Yes, we’ll think of this as the unofficial kick-off of our 20th Anniversary festivities. We’ll lift a glass of something good together.)

NOVEMBER

November 7, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC
November 8, Melting Point, Athens, GA
November 9, Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC (We thought we’d check in again on our friends in the Southeast before the year got completely away.)

November 15, Majestic Theatre, Madison, WI (Lookin’ forward to returning to this lovely, historic venue…)

WEST COAST CHRISTMAS TOUR

November 29, The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
November 30, The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
December 1, Aladdin Theatre, Portland, OR
December 2, Ross Ragland Theater, Klamath Falls, OR
December 4, The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
December 6, The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA (We promised we’d head West and find all y’all this December…)

MIDWEST CHRISTMAS DATES

December 12, Bomhard Theater, Louisville, KY (Friday)
December 13, Double Door, Chicago, IL (Saturday)

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF HEARTACHE: A Special 20th Anniversary Holiday Celebration of the Music of Over the Rhine:

December 19, The Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH: An evening with Over the Rhine. featuring music from decade one.

December 20, The Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH: An evening with Over the Rhine, featuring music from decade two.

Here’s the skinny folks. The first night, we are going to delve deeply into the early recordings which include Till We Have Faces, Patience, Eve, Good Dog Bad Dog,and our first Christmas record, The Darkest Night of the Year. We will enlist the help of various musicians and guests for this first evening, but are very excited to announce that Ric Hordinski and Brian Kelley will be joining us to revisit many of the early songs which launched our career.

The second night will focus on songs from the last ten years, drawn from the recordings Films For Radio, OHIO, Drunkard’s Prayer, The Trumpet Child, and our most recent Christmas record, Snow Angels. Again, look for various guests and key contributors to Over the Rhine’s recordings as the night unfolds.

Sound like a party? Yes it does. (Discounted tix for those attending both nights are available at OvertheRhine.com.)

And we will bring the year to a close once again at St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood, Ohio, with our Sunday Soiree, on December 21st at 3pm. God willing, we’ll bask in the afterglow of a two night stand, another amazing year, share some wine and refreshments, and conjure up some acoustic music in this ragged, sacred old cathedral. More info and tickets will be made available soon at OvertheRhine.com.

We’ve got some other 20th Celebration plans up our sleeves for 2009, including Cayamo Cruise in February of 2009 with Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, John Hiatt, Buddy Miller and others.

And we’re working on our first round of deluxe Over the Rhine songbooks. Finally.

Well, we hope you can share the above with us. It’s no fun at all without you. Thanks again for being part of this ongoi ng adventure.

All the good stuff your way,

Linford and Karin

November 27, 2008

Hello friends,

Happy Thanksgiving from sunny Southern Ohio. I tried writing this on the porch swing, but it’s just a little too chilly around the edges. This is our last day on the farm before Over the Rhine’s Snow Angels Tour 2008 commences on the West Coast. We had four beautiful deer grazing in the front yard this morning. The two frisky yearlings were trying to get the older ones to play, but they were too watchful. The bluejays were curious. An illuminated cardinal absorbed and reflected sunlight from the top of a bare maple, an anonymous beacon, the tip of God’s paintbrush.

There are little surprises from time to time, but things get a little bleak, monochromatic out here when all the leaves come down in the fall. But then again, it’s revealing to see the structure of things underneath, the dark skeletal silhouettes of familiar trees, bare limbs veined against billowing skies.

The land rests in the winter after the harvest, and we come here to our little farm to rest.

But come tomorrow morning we’ll be flying to the city of Seattle and points beyond, and we love to feel that energy too. Someone said that the story of the peaceable Kingdom of God starts in a garden, and ends in a city. We’ve come to appreciate and need both.

I know of no better time of year to convene in warmly lit rooms for real music. There’s something about bundling in out of the cold and the dark of these late Fall evenings, and gathering together with friends and strangers alike for the simple grace of a song sung from the heart.

What we really need this time of year is music.

We are thankful that we’ve been given the privelege of making music for coming right up on 20 years now. We’re glad we’ve found each other. We couldn’t have done it without the generous spirit of so many of you – some of you found the music in recent years, some of you found it years ago. Regardless we hope to see many of your faces once again in the coming weeks. Let’s lift a glass of something good together.

Please share this info freely with family and friends. Details (and much more) available at OvertheRhine.com.

Lookin’ forward,

Linford and Karin and the band and crew

OVER THE RHINE SNOW ANGELS TOUR 2008

WEST COAST LEG:
(With Special Guest Jim Bianco)

(SOLD OUT) Saturday, November 29, Seattle, WA, THE TRIPLE DOOR
(SOLD OUT) Sunday, November 30, Seattle, WA, THE TRIPLE DOOR

(We love this venue, and we always look forward to visiting Seattle, but these shows have been sold out now for weeks. Easy road trip anyone? Please consider joining us in Portland at the beautiful Aladdin Theater, or in Klamath Falls at the beautiful Ross Ragland Theater. We don’t wanna miss you.)

Monday, December 1, Portland, OR, ALADDIN THEATER
Tuesday, December 2, Klamath Falls, OR, ROSS RAGLAND THEATER

Thursday, December 4, San Francisco, CA, SLIM’S (***Please note the venue change. This is a full-circle night for us as we played Slim’s on our first ever national tour opening for Adrian Belew. We’ll catch The Fillmore some other time. Please spread the word, and we hope to see you for what promises to be a cathartic, electric evening.)

(Friday, December 5: Happy Birthday Juicy!)

Saturday, December 6, Los Angeles, CA, TROUBADOUR (Our first appearance at this storied club once frequented by Tom Waits and so many others. Sure hope you and yours can join us.)

(Sunday, December 7, Pasadena, CA, Private show.)
+++

A FEW MIDWESTERN DATES:
(With Special Guest Jim Bianco)

Friday, December 12, Louisville, KY, BOMHARD THEATER (We are excited to return to this lovely venue in Louisville, one of our new favorites. Please note we will also be performing this same Friday on WFPK for their “Live Lunch” at noon. Join us if you can or tune in online at WFPK.org.)

Saturday, December 13, Chicago, IL, DOUBLE DOOR (Happy Birthday Karin! Another evening that promises to be highly energized as we all squeeze in out of the cold of one of Chicago’s great neighborhoods. Come early and do some exploring or get some shopping done. And get your tix soon: they are going fast. Lookin’ forward!)

+++

And finally:

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF HEARTACHE
A SPECIAL TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
TWO NIGHTS. TWO DECADES. TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SHOWS.

Friday, December 19, Cincinnati, OH, THE TAFT THEATER (Original bandmembers Ric Hordinski and Brian Kelley (along with Jake Bradley, Mickey Grimm, Kenny Hutson, Julie Lee, Kim Taylor, and Paul Patterson) join us as we revisit quintessential OtR songs from the first decade of the band’s existence. We’ll explore/explode songs from Till We Have Faces, Patience, Eve, Good Dog Bad Dog and The Darkest Night of the Year (and more). We’ve been rehearsing with Ric and Brian, and this is shaping up to be a very special night. If you enjoyed the band back in the early days at Sudsy Malone’s and far beyond, this is a not-to-be-missed evening.)

Saturday, December 20, Cincinnati, OH, THE TAFT THEATER (Night two finds us along with Jake Bradley, Mickey Grimm, Kenny Hutson, Julie Lee, Kim Taylor and Nick Radina, rolling out favorites from Films For Radio, OHIO, Drunkard’s Prayer, The Trumpet Child, Snow Angels (and more). These annual holiday shows are something we look forward to all year, and this year promises to be memorable. Hope to see you!)

Sunday, December 21, Norwood, OH, ST. ELIZABETH’S – Over the Rhine’s Sunday Soiree: Join us in a ragged cathedral for festive food and drink, relaxed conversation and careening acoustic tunes as we celebrate the end of our working year together with our extended musical family (you). And bring the whole family. (Tix available at OvertheRhine.com)

(PS For those who have e-mailed asking, Why no Christmas show this year in Philly, Nashville, Kent etc. etc. !!!, we had to spread the December love to the West Coast for once. In the meanwhile, please join us if you dare for the big weekend in Cincinnati. We’ll do our darndest to give you the OtR feast of a lifetime over the course of three days. Hope you can join us.)

PPS Karin cooked our Thanksgiving meal a few days ago since we’re leaving first thing in the morning. Ask her sometime about her homemade stuffing with roasted chestnuts and figs. Thank God for leftovers.

February 5, 2009

Hello friend,

Over the Rhine is setting out to find a little midwinter inspiration. We’re looking for a dash of warmth on the inside, a timeless tune, a little laughter and conversation. We’re going to drive and watch the winter go by and make ghosts with our breath on the cool glass as we look out the window. Maybe we’ll write something on the foggy windshield with the curious tip of a finger, and watch it disappear.

We do hope you might come in out of the cold and join us. We’ll see what happens.

This we do know after quite a few years: It’s not the same without you.

OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT 2009

Tonight! THURSDAY, Feb 5, Annapolis, MD, Ram’s Head
FRIDAY, Feb 6, Elmer, NJ, Appel Farm
SATURDAY, Feb 7, Carlisle, PA, Carlisle Performing Arts Center
SUNDAY, Feb 8, Alexandria, VA, Birchmere

**

THURSDAY, Feb 19, Nashville, TN, Mercy Lounge, Benefit Concert for the Flannery O’Connor/Andalusia Foundation with Mary Gauthier, Old Black Kettle, Minton Sparks… What an honor to be able to raise some money to help preserve the farm where Flannery’s peacocks once roamed raising hell as only they can.

**

SATURDAY, Feb 28 THRU Mar 7, Miami, FL, Cayamo Cruise. Over the Rhine joins Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Indigo Girls, John Hiatt, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller and many more, for a big musical boat ride to a warm place.

**

SATURDAY, Mar 7, Stuart, FL, Lyric Theater
SUNDAY, Mar 8, Orlando, FL, Plaza Theater

**

FRIDAY, Mar 27, Dayton, OH, Canal Street Tavern
SATURDAY, Mar 28, Dayton, OH, Canal Street Tavern

Check out OvertheRhine.com for details. Pass this around to family and friends.
Stay warm, and much more soon.

Peace like a river,

OtR

April, 2009

Hello friends and extended family,

I know of a glass blower who gets up every morning in the dark to do his work. Before the world wakes up, before the phone starts ringing, in the sacred remains of the night when all is still, he gathers and begins to fuse his raw materials: the breath from his lungs, glowing flame, imagination, dogged hope.

I used to work from the other direction. I loved the feeling of still being up after the rest of the city (and world) had grown sleepy, the light of a lamp making my third story bedroom windows glow while I leaned over my desk and sailed towards something I couldn’t name.

Someone sent me this little excerpt awhile back, in a beautiful letter of encouragement I should add, the sort of letter that makes everything slow down, hold still:

Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?
(GK Chesterton)

I’d really be okay with this being my epitaph.

When I was younger I would often write myself short job descriptions. I was thinking out loud about what might be worth hanging a life on, a life I was willing to sign my name to:

Create spaces where good things can happen.

Give the world something beautiful, some gift of gratitude,
no matter how insignificant or small.

Write love letters to the whole world.

Build fires outdoors, and lift a glass and tell stories,
and listen, and laugh, laugh, laugh. (Karin says I’m still working
on this one. She thinks I still need to laugh more, especially at
her jokes, puns and witty asides.)

Flip a breaker and plunge the farm into darkness so that the stars can be properly seen.

Do not squander afflictions.

Own the longing, the non-negotiable need to “praise the mutilated world.”

Find the music.

I still crave the extravagant gesture, the woman spilling a year’s wages on the feet of Jesus, the rarest perfume, washing his feet and drying them with her hair, a gesture so sensual it left the other men in the room paralyzed with criticism, analysis, theoretical moral concern – for what – the poor? Or was it just misdirected outrage in light of the glaring poverty of their own imaginations?

(Some friends of mine were talking about this scene the other night. We got to imagining Mary with a pixie haircut, which made the drying more difficult. We were drinking wine and Rob had made something to eat late at night: take a cracker, put a thin slice of fresh pear on it, then some sautéed goat cheese from the skillet, and top it with walnuts drizzled with honey from the oven. At midnight?!)

Someone once described our music as a mash-up of spirituality, whimsy and sensuality.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Music and art and writing: extravagant, essential, the act of spilling something, a cup running over…

The simultaneous cry of, You must change your life, and Welcome home.

I’ve been trying to write songs again, and I’ve been hitting a maze of dead ends. I want the songs to reveal something to me, teach me something. It’s slow going. I’m not sure where I’m going. Uncertainty abounds.

But the writing works on me little by little and begins to change me. That’s why I would recommend not putting off writing if it’s something you feel called to: if you put it off, then the writing can’t do the work that it needs to do to you.

Yes, I think there’s something there. If you don’t do the work, the work can’t change you. (No one expects to change overnight.)

My sister Grace recently sent me this quote from a slim little volume called Art and Fear:

Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding.

A blessing for the writers among us: May all your dead ends be beautiful.

When I was younger and I found myself sitting down in a new season of writing, I would put my pen down and close up the pica typewriter (the only letterpress printing machine I ever learned to operate all by myself, the bell of encouragement and mild alarm ringing at the end of every line, I can still hear it) and feel compelled to clean my rooms, put my world in order. It used to take 3-4 days.

Now it takes 3-4 months.

Our messes get bigger. And bigger.

So, I’ve been getting “caught up” with taxes and filing, putting things away, making lists, getting more than a few lagging projects out the door that are overdue (the first Over the Rhine songbook?!). And on and on.

Someone in our Santa Fe songwriting workshop once confessed, I’m good at a lot of things that will kill me. For those of us who write, there are always so many options that don’t involve the dilemma, the extravagance of the blank page. When we sit down to write, there’s never a guarantee that we’ll have anything to show for it that we can touch with our hands, or see with our own eyes. In fact, life is a lot cleaner and more manageable when I’m not writing.

Yes, I’ll just admit it. I’m a writer that all too often is more than happy to run from writing. But sooner or later I realize something is dying inside. And then I try to get back to work.

**

So talk about extravagant. Spring has been trying to come to the farm. The red maples have been budding. Their branches almost seem to glow at times as if strung with hundreds of delicate lanterns. The goldfinches are turning golden in front of our eyes. Why do they fade for the winter?

Are we getting older? Yes. We are bird watchers. (We’ll jump out of the rocking chair for a red-headed woodpecker.)

Karin is now a three dog Mama. We took in two strays last winter on a bitter cold night. The mama cattle dog soon got adopted to a 36 acre farm with horses, a heated kennel, a family with two dog-and-horse-loving-girls. They named her Ruby. Ruby landed on her feet and has been living the good life.

The puppy decided to stay and adopted Karin. She named him Porter.

Hey Porter! (Dammit, Porter!)

So we’ve got the Great Dane, the Weimaraner and the mixed up Cattle Dog pup. Saul the cat observes it all, walks upstairs and goes to sleep. Karin’ll probably post some pictures up soon somewhere.

Karin has been twittering.

I still need four pages.

We had too good of a time and made many new friends on Cayamo, our songwriting cruise of the Caribbean. So much great music. Yup, we better had write some good songs. I think every pore of my body was rum-soaked by the end. We needed all that sunshine. Snagged a few good stories too.

Our cabin on the ship had sliding glass doors and a little outdoor oceanside porch on the 7th level, and I would sit out there at 2am and watch the moonlight on the endless waves and think of all the people who had crossed the ocean on a boat back in the day, off to start a new chapter. Talk about sacred, all those moonlit waves, the deep rhythm of it.

And we still think fondly of the amazing 20th Anniversary weekend we had last December with so many of you. We’ve got a few more 20th Anniversary shenanigans up our sleeves.

But we are going to be home more for the spring. Hopefully we won’t grow too fond of the hearth for our own good. Hopefully we will get our work done. Hopefully we will still make more than a little room for the occasional extravagant gesture.

Which brings me to Texas.

We’re going to pack up the five-piece band and our crew for a week and head for the Lone Star state at the end of the month for a change of scenery, some old songs, some brand new songs, some camaraderie, something surprising. In this new economy we need music and real conversation more than ever.

We do hope you will join us.

Over the Rhine IN CONCERT:

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, Private Show, Austin, TX
Thursday, April 30, Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
Friday, May 1, Warehouse Live Studio, Houston, TX*
Saturday, May 2, Texas Union Theatre, Austin, TX*
Sunday, May 3, Texas Union Theatre, Austin, TX* (No OtR songs repeated from previous night.)
*(w/Special Guest Lucy Wainwright Roche)

Pls note that we are playing Austin not one but two nights. When we have opportunity to play a city two nights in a row in 2009, we will not be repeating any songs over the course of the two nights. So there will be two completely different shows. Hope to see you!

Oh yeah, one more, and one of our all time favorites:

Saturday, June 6, 2009, The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI

Check out OvertheRhine.com for more details.

Well, we’re glad we’ve found each other. Thanks for sticking around. Hope our paths cross soon. See you in Texas!

Peace like a river,

Linford (and Karin) of Over the Rhine

PS Pls pass this letter around freely to your friends and family. Chop it up and twitter it. Crumple it in your mind, strike an imaginary match and start a fire. Print it out, line the birdcage with it and let the white doves crap all night long. Spread it on the floor and train a puppy to squat and pee. Make a paper airplane out of it and toss it off the Golden Gate Bridge. Slip it between the pages of an old Southern Baptist hymnal, or into the yellow pages of a phone booth phone book if such a thing still exists. Maybe a writer will find it, God help her.

July 15, 2009

Hello friends and extended musical family,

It’s been a beautiful summer so far. Hope you’re enjoying it.

I woke up at 7:15 and gave everything in the vegetable garden a drink.
Karin watered all of her flowerbeds last night.

We’ve been eating cucumber salads and making pesto and last week we took
two laundry baskets full of zucchini and crook neck squash to the
orchestra rehearsals. (Karin felt that there was no better ice-breaker
than a big green zucchini.) The players snatched them up and later in
the week we heard all about zucchini brownies, zucchini on the grill,
zucchini bread.

I had hoped that maybe a baritone sax player or a valve trombone player
would slip a zucchini into the bell of their horn for a mute at some
point, but I did not see that.

Karin and I have been talking about writing a collection of garden
poems, somewhat erotic in nature, called, The Illicit Zucchini.

Not sure where we’re going with it, but I have made a mental note that
zucchini rhymes nicely with bikini.

I remember wondering aloud after we had our first garden out here about
whether the church had missed a sin. The pleasure of cupping ones hand
around the smooth underbelly of a vine-ripened tomato is about as blood
red sensual as it gets. Yep, they might have forgotten to forbid that
one.

But actually we’ve gravitated mostly toward yellow tomatoes. They’re

full of flavor, less acidic. I feel like I’m in the act of eating
something golden, nectar filled, something the ancient Greeks would have
passed around on a platter.

People ask us what we grow on the farm. Well, songs, of course, first
and foremost. And Karin’s flowers. And a large vegetable and herb
garden. We tame our once-neglected farm by cutting meandering paths just
about everywhere. But we leave the edges wild with weeds: thistle,
milkweed, dogbane, golden rod, inkberries, red clover, Virginia creeper.
I scribbled this recently in a poem I was working on about my father:

Let the songbirds have thorny hidden places for their wild melodies.

Yes, the songbirds do seem to appreciate the untamed edges of the world.
This morning Elroy and I startled about two dozen bobwhite quail on the
back paths. They exploded into flight and then coasted low and away
toward the edge of the farm. Sometimes an indigo bunting will leave a
streak in the air so blue you can close your eyes and still see it for
days.

And we love to watch the native saplings reclaim their rightful places:
the red maple, black locust, black cherry, persimmon… the tupelo, ash,
elm, cedar… hackberry, mulberry, silver maple, pin oak…

When the sun goes down, you might see me out walking after dark, feeling
the coolness along the edges of the trees, the open air above our meadow
full of clover. 0A Slowly the land is revealing itself to us.

Yes.

**

Well, big thanks to all of you who came and found us in the hills high
above the Ohio River last Saturday evening. I thought the orchestra
sounded amazing, and it’s a thrill to play with an orchestra – a rare
gift for a songwriter. It had rained on and off for much of the day and
we had just about written off the whole thing at one point, but lo and
behold the clouds parted just in time, the air cooled and a beautiful
evening emerged. I was a little more nervous than usual, but I think it
all came together beautifully. Thanks for being there. (If you think all
the previous vegetable ramblings were risqué, try reading the lyrics to
Afternoon Delight sometime, let alone singing it with a straight face.
We’ll have to see if the recording turned out.)

Yes, it is still the 20th Anniversary of Over the Rhine, and we still do
have a few 20th Anniversary aces up our sleeves.

So here goes:

The Trumpet Child Deluxe Songbook

I think probably more than any other question over the years, we have
been repeatedly asked, When will there be sheet music available for Over
the Rhine’s music?? Well after 20 years, we are finally taking you
seriously. We now have our first OtR songbook!

We started with all the songs on The Trumpet Child, and by the time we
added all the extras, we were holding a 126 page book packed full of
music and various surprises. Whether or not you intend to actually play
the notes (which we carefully edited at our home piano here on the farm)
we think you might like this keepsake of sorts, which documents
profusely the most recent musical chapter of Over the Rhine. Yes, it’s
got the piano music, guitar chords, lyrics, photos, a rambling essay by
yours truly, playful performance notes and more. Pick up your copy now
at OvertheRhine.com… and let us know what you think.

(Special thanks to Michael Wilson, Bill Ivester and The Brothers Wright
for the many photographs. And thanks to John, Casey and Andy at our
publishing company for helping make it all happen!)

Live From Nowhere Volume Four

Wow. Number four in this series already?

Volume One focused mostly on the Drunkard’s Prayer tour featuring Devon
Ashley on drums, Rick Plant on guitar and bass, Byron House on upright
bass and Kim Taylor singing harmonies and playing acoustic guitar. (Now
available digitally only.)

Volume Two saw the line-up of the band evolve to include Mickey Grimm on
drums and percussion and Jake Bradley on upright bass and guitar, and
this collection prominently features the playing of special guest and
Cincinnati treasure, Paul Patterson. (A handful of unsigned CD’s still
remain, because we realized we missed a box. Also available digitally.)

Volume Three was al l about The Trumpet Child, but includes some
performances from the Ani DiFranco tour, when we opened the shows as an
acoustic trio. Hear producer Brad Jones, Mickey Grimm, Jake Bradley and
Paul Patterson work their magic on the band’s most recent songs. Volume
Three was recorded live and mixed from beginning to end by Juicy
himself. (A limited number of CD’s still available.)

Which brings us to Volume Four, the current installment!

We had so much to choose from for Volume Four, but we realized, before
the moment passed, that we really needed to dedicate this edition to the
special reunion concert that took place with Ric Hordinski and Brian
Kelley (and many talented friends) on Friday night, December 19, 2008,
at the Taft Theater. We turned up the amps and even Karin broke out her
electric guitar as we revisited the recordings from the first decade of
Over the Rhine.

What can I say? It was electric fun, a truly memorable evening in all
the best ways, and we tried our best to bottle the experience for you.
It took TWO CD’S, and a 20-page booklet, and a special package, but we
got it done. Paul Mahern (producer of OHIO and Drunkard’s Prayer) helped
us get Volume Four all put together and sounding good (before he flew
off to work with T-Bone Burnett).

We’ll have the CD’s in 2-3 weeks, and they’ll ship as soon as they
arrive. If you pre-order your copy now, you can download all the
music immediately and dive in. Let us know what you think.

Here is the track listing:

Over the Rhine LIVE FROM NOWHERE Volume Four

20th Anniversary Reunion Concert Decade One
TWO CD’S – LIMITED EDITION

DISC ONE

1. Eyes Wide Open
2. How Does It Feel (To Be On My Mind)
3. HDIF Reprise
4. Within Without
5. Like A Radio
6. Conjectures Of A Guilty Bystander
7. June
8. Circle Of Quiet
9. Daddy Untwisted

DISC TWO

1. Paul And Virginia
2. Poughkeepsie
3. Faithfully Dangerous
4. A Gospel Number
5. All I Need Is Everything
6. If I’m Drowning
7. I Painted My Name
8. Latter Days

Recorded Live, Friday, December 19, 2008 at The Taft Theatre in
Cincinnati, Ohio.

The exciting thing about Volume Four is that many of these songs evolved
significantly in concert from the original recordings and were never
before released. So it feels like Volume Four fills a significant gap in
our musical journey thus far. (If you’re new to the band, maybe these
recordings will make you curious about our first handful of records:
Till We Have Faces, Patience, eve and Good Dog Bad Dog. If so, don’t be
shy.)

Again, pre-order your copy now at OvertheRhine.com, and you can download
the music on both discs immediately. Hope you like!

And finally, we have quite a f ew concert dates in the coming weeks and
months: Albuquerque, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver, Omaha, Kansas City, St.
Louis, Bloomington, IN, Louisville, Lexington, Milwaukee, Madison,
Minneapolis, SLC, The West Coast etc etc. (Please check out
OvertheRhine.com for details and tickets.)

Finally, we wanted to especially make you aware of one of our hometown
faves:

Friday, September 11, 2009: An evening with Over the Rhine at Coney
Island Moonlite Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio. Join us by the Ohio River
in this beautiful, historic venue and bring the family. Hope to see you
under the stars.

Well, that’s about all the news I can fit into the usual four pages.

Twenty years folks. We thank you.

Whaddya say we do something good in the next twenty? We’ve got some
ideas.

Love from Nowhere,

Linford and Karin

PS Pls pass this letter around to the usual suspects. Print it out,
climb a tulip tree and wave it at passing cars. Tweet key phrases.
Scribble excerpts in the margins of your biology textbook. Cross-stitch
a paragraph on a porch swing pillow. Tattoo a phrase or two on a
smooth-skinned limb. And my personal favorite: line the birdcage with
multiple copies and let the white doves crap all night long.

October 6, 2009

Hello extended musical family,

How in the world are you?

(You might want to pour a glass or mug of something good, sit back and get comfortable.)

It’s October in Ohio. Our little piece of slow curving earth is changing right in front of our eyes everyday. Color is slipping into the faces of the trees. The nights are chilly. I slip on a wool sweater and a cap now when I walk the after dark paths.

The orchards are selling their new apples. I picked up a bag of jonathans recently – an excellent eating apple for late afternoons. A lot of folks have been talking about the honey crisps. I look for an apple not too sweet that pops and snaps when you sink your teeth into it and break off a bite.

Karin and I celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday – a clear, crisp fall day much like the day that found us 13 years ago in Eden Park in Cincinnati surrounded by family and friends.

It’s good to be in love.

And we’re just back from Canada. Our niece Maria was married on Saturday, the first Detweiler grandchild to tie the knot.

She and her husband wrote part of their own vows and what struck me was how they promised each other that they would do everything they could to help the other meet their full potential. It was as if they believed the other had the raw materials to be truly great, and they each were owning a responsibility, a duty to help their partner get there, even if they didn’t fully understand yet what that looked like.

I don’t think I had ever quite heard this at a wedding ceremony. Maybe it’s something the younger generation gets. I like it.

When we arrived back at the farm, we were sad to hear that the father of Kenny Hutson (the multi-instrumentalist that’s been touring with us for a good while) passed away Sunday evening. We think of all the late night stories that Kenny has told us about growing up hunting and fishing in Georgia and playing bluegrass with his father. Apparently when Kenny’s Dad was at a music festival years ago getting ready to walk on stage, Bill Monroe leaned in and gave him the following instructions:

Y’all just rare back
And let it go
Like you ain’t got
A care in the world.

Our thoughts are with Kenny and his family.

We are at the stage of life where we are watching the young begin their fresh chapters, as our parents and their friends begin now one by one to speak their last few lines and step off stage.

Living out here on our little farm in Southern Ohio for almost five years now, we feel the deep rhythm of the seasons like never before. The full moon rises in a different place every month as it circles the house. Different wild flowers bloom at different times – the asters being one of the very last of summer to splash their colors around the farm. The hummingbirds vanish before the first hint of frost. The September sky opens up, the clouds get bigger and whiter. It all begins to feel familiar as it cycles over and over.

I ran across this from my journal earlier this year:

March 17, 2009:

“Now it feels like Spring is nosing around. The maple trees have their red buds. The finches have hints of gold seeping into their soft bodies. The yard is greening. The weatherman says 70 degrees today. Hooray.

Some overachieving midwestern robin is already well on her way to every robin’s dream: building the world’s most sturdy nest. She arranges her grasses, stuffs her family’s mattress.

Twenty years ago this month, without knowing what we were doing, we began making tentative new recordings in a basement garage. All we had was a dream and more heartache than we knew what to do with. We have left behind a trail of deeply flawed recordings, hopefully as deeply flawed as our own humanity/hearts, and in that sense, honest. We wanted the music to make us look better than we actually were. I suppose we succeeded somewhat, but mostly failed to pull the wool over the eyes of the world.

There is a lot of aspiration in the music. We wrote what we longed for. We wrote a lot with our eyes closed (more about the world inside than the world outside?). We aimed impossibly high and prayed that when we fell inevitably short, it would still somehow be good.

We tried to write songs that would stick to the listener’s skin. We tried to write songs that someone might want to listen to on their next to last day on earth. Isn’t that, after all, pretty much everyday? We tried to write songs that were relevant to the moments in life most pregnant with significance and possibility.

We tried.

What excites me more than the first twenty years is the next twenty. A yet-to-be-written-book. It feels like spring.

Someone said, In your twenties and thirties you learn. In your forties and fifties you earn.

I like that.

Hopefully, I’m less torn up inwardly now. Less conflicted. (Some might argue this is a liability for a writer. I don’t think so.)

It’ll be good to see how it all shakes out. New terrain. Choose your cliché .”

**

Yes, the next 20 years. It’s no longer springtime and yet we know seasons bursting with creativity will come round again in their time. It’s gray and wet outside today but new songs are starting to land. We have a few finished that are beginning to point the way forward for the many songs that are unfinished. We’ll see where it goes. We hope you can come along. We hope you sink your teeth into the not too sweet songs and feel the pop and snap as you break off a bite.

And we know this: when the nights begin to get colder, we come looking for you.

It’s October. If we squint our eyes we can see all the way to the end of the year.

Hope to see you,

Linford and Karin

**

OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT 2009

NORTH:

(This week!)

October 8, Thursday, Milwaukee, WI, PABST THEATER (Special guest, Vienna Teng)
October 9, Friday, Madison, WI, MAJESTIC THEATRE (Special guest, Vienna Teng)
October 10, Saturday, Minneapolis, MN, CEDAR CULTURAL CENTER (Special guest, Vienna Teng)

WEST:

November 2, Monday, Denver, CO, SOILED DOVE (Special guest, Katie Herzig)
November 4, Wednesday, Salt Lake City, UT, THE STATE ROOM (Special guest, Katie Herzig)

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. 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)

November 10, Tuesday, San Francisco, CA, GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL (Special guest, Katie Herzig)

November 12, Thursday, Portland, OR, DOUG FIR (Special guest, Katie Herzig)
November 13, Friday, Portland, OR, DOUG FIR (Special guest, Katie Herzig)

November 1
4, Saturday, Seattle, WA, THE TRIPLE DOOR (Special guest, Katie Herzig)
November 15, Sunday, Seattle, WA, THE TRIPLE DOOR (Special guest, Katie Herzig)

EAST:

November 30, Monday, Philadelphia, PA, WORLD CAF É (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)
December 1, Tuesday, New York City, NY, HIGHLINE BALLROOM (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)

December 2, Wednesday, Tarrytown, NY, TARRYTOWN MUSIC HALL (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 4, Friday, Boston, MA, BERKLEE PERFORMANCE CENTER (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 5, Saturday, Old Saybrook, CT, KATHARINE HEPBURN CULTURAL ARTS CENTER (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 6, Sunday, Albany, NY, THE EGG (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 8, Tuesday, Washington, DC, THE SYNAGOGUE (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)

MIDWEST:
December 10, Thursday, Kent, OH, KENT STAGE (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)
December 11, Friday, Ann Arbor, MI, THE ARK (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)
December 12, Saturday, Chicago, IL, OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC (TWO SHOWS, 7pm and 10pm!) (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)

December 19, Saturday, Cincinnati, OH, THE TAFT THEATRE, Over the Rhine’s annual holiday homecoming concert. Tickets on sale now at OvertheRhine.com, Taft Theatre Box Office, Ticketmaster etc!

December 20, Sunday Soiree, Cincinnati, OH, ST. ELIZABETH’S IN NORWOOD:

In addition to the above, Karin and Linford would like to invite you to joi
n Over the Rhine on Sunday, December 20th at 3pm at St. Elizabeth’s, 1757 Mills Ave., Norwood, Ohio, 45212, for a holiday gathering featuring an acoustic performance, some spoken word, some conversation and of course some festive food and drink. (This gathering takes place the day after our Taft Theatre holiday homecoming concert.)

We have had so much fun with this the last four years in a row. It’s a great way to end our working year, surrounded by our extended musical family. See OvertheRhine.com for more details.

(Price of admission entitles you to bring a guest OR your spouse and children.)

I think that’s about it. Five pages is going to have to do it this time around. Thanks again for everything. (And by the way, if you’ve e-mailed recently, sorry, we’re more than a little behind with correspondence.)

xo from Nowhere,

L&K

PS Please feel more than free to share this letter with family and friends. Forward it, chop it up and TWEET it, FACEBOOK it, MYSPACE it, blog it, podcast it in a posh accent, print it out and let the Weimaraner chew it up like ill-fated homework, crumple it, strike an Ohio bluetip match and light an outdoor fall fire, nail a copy to the sugar maple and let the sap bleed the lines to syrup, place a copy for good luck in each newly raked pile of leaves, line the wooden crates with its pages and then fill them with sweet potatoes which must cure for 10 days at approximately 85 degrees Farenheit before eating, and finally, our favorite, place a crisp copy (printed on Mohawk Superfine) on the floor of the Victorian bird cage and let the white doves crap all night long.

October 29, 2009

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.

November 24, 2009

Hello extended musical family,

Happy Thanksgiving! Might want to sit down, pour a glass of something good, and get cozy.

Over the Rhine arrived safely home from the West Coast. A wonderfully warm, SOLD OUT crowd awaited us in Denver at the Soiled Dove. Thanks for making us feel so welcome and for your generosity. We’re already lookin’ forward to next time. (And special thanks to our many friends and workshop alumni from Santa Fe who attended!)

We love The State Room in SLC and hope to return more often – thanks to all of you who found us – our biggest crowd ever in beautiful Salt Lake. And we’re still smiling about all the friendly, helpful girls in Temple Square.

Largo in Los Angeles is a great little room – there’s talk of us doing a Friday and Saturday next time. San Francisco – you all were incredible. (Karin’s Swedish cousins were well represented at this one.) And the tour wound down with a SOLD OUT show in Portland (they made 50 extra tix available Friday night and squeezed ’em in) and two SOLD OUT shows in Seattle at the beautiful Triple Door.

I think (maybe for the first time ever?) the last night of the tour might have been our best. Jake and Mickey and Kenny continue to surprise us with their ability to dig deep musically. (And special thanks to our crew: Colm, Nick, JP and Greer for covering all those miles with us.)

Yes, we are thankful. We are blessed that you, the people who have found this music, have given these songs such a good life for so long. It’s been satisfying to watch it all grow, slow and steady, little by little, year after year like a well-planted tree.

And so we say it again, Thank You.

It’s a gray, misty day here on the farm. We planted six pine trees when we got back: two Norway Spruces, three white pines and a Canadian Hemlock. It gets sort of monochromatic out here after all the leaves come down, so it’s nice to see more splashes of evergreen in November.

But it’s not all roses and champagne. Our house was built in the 1830’s, which means it’s an ongoing, lifelong project (like most of the things we choose). There’s a problem with one of our box gutters, and while we were gone one of our brick walls began absorbing too much water – we think (?). So I had to open the trap door behind the couch and slide down into the crawl space and explore the underbelly of the pre-Civil war house. It’s a good thing I’m long and lean, because I can barely fit under there. I soon start feeling like Charles Bronson’s character in The Great Escape as I stare at the floor joists unable to roll over. Of course, there’s always the possibility of waking up a sluggish 5′ black snake, but that thankfully did not happen, and I met no aggressive spiders or other surprises. But a couple of rooms in our lovely old house now smell like rotting cabbage and that remains something of a mystery. We have a carpenter coming out in the morning to help snoop around.

We’ll see some family and a few friends this week, and then before we know it, Sunday will be here and Over the Rhine will be on the road once again. We will leave our unfinished business behind. We’ll all meet up in Philadelphia for a nightcap and then start the December leg of the tour, which promises to be a good ride.

After we played in Denver, we rec’d a beautiful letter from a listener who said,
“I felt my soul being pieced back together while you played.”

May that be a blessing for all of us: As the year winds down, may we feel our souls being pieced back together.

Another listener at Seattle’s Sunday night show wrote and said, “I’ve listened to Drunkard’s Prayer until it was worn to a polish like a string of rosary beads – each song a prayer for the Desperate and Hopeful.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Let’s find each other, and gather all of us in a room, the desperate, the hopeful, anyone who longs to piece their soul back together: All are welcome here.

We’ll be lookin’ for you.

Peace like a river,

Linford and Karin of Over the Rhine

**

OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT

(Pls note: for many of these concerts, tickets are available directly through OvertheRhine.com with very low service fees. And just an aside, there are $15 balcony seats available for our Taft Theatre Homecoming Concert.)

November 30, Monday, Philadelphia, PA, WORLD CAF� (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)
December 1, Tuesday, New York City, NY, HIGHLINE BALLROOM (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)

December 2, Wednesday, Tarrytown, NY, TARRYTOWN MUSIC HALL (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 4, Friday, Boston, MA, BERKLEE PERFORMANCE CENTER (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 5, Saturday, Old Saybrook, CT, KATHARINE HEPBURN CULTURAL ARTS CENTER (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 6, Sunday, Albany, NY, THE EGG (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)
December 8, Tuesday, Washington, DC, THE SYNAGOGUE (Co-Headline with Vienna Teng)

MIDWEST:
December 10, Thursday, Kent, OH, KENT STAGE (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)
December 11, Friday, Ann Arbor, MI, THE ARK (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)
December 12, Saturday, Chicago, IL, OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC (TWO SHOWS, 7pm and 10pm!) (Special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche)

December 19, Saturday, Cincinnati, OH, THE TAFT THEATRE, Over the Rhine’s annual holiday homecoming concert. Tickets on sale now at OvertheRhine.com, Taft Theatre Box Office, Ticketmaster etc! Since it’s still our 20th Anniversary, we’re going to settle in for the evening and play two extended sets of music. Hope you can join us!

December 20, Sunday Soiree, Cincinnati, OH, ST. ELIZABETH’S IN NORWOOD:

Karin and Linford would like to invite you to join Over the Rhine on Sunday, December 20th at 3pm at St. Elizabeth’s, 1757 Mills Ave., Norwood, Ohio, 45212, for a holiday gathering featuring an acoustic performance, some spoken word, some conversation and of course some festive food and drink. (This gathering takes place the day after our Taft Theatre holiday homecoming concert, as we bask in the afterglow so to speak.)

We have had so much fun with this the last four years in a row. It’s a great way to end our working year, surrounded by our extended musical family, sharing a little timeless holiday cheer. And if you’d like to have an OtR gift signed for someone, we’ll be at your service. See OvertheRhine.com for more details.

(Price of admission entitles you to bring a guest OR your spouse and children.)

Check out OvertheRhine.com for more info.

OVER THE RHINE FLEA MARKET!

And a reminder that we have the following readily available as you remind people later this year that you care about them with a little something special/unexpected. All these potential gifts are $20 or less and can be shipped directly to your loved one:

We have two full-length Christmas/New Years/Wintertime CD’s:

The Darkest Night of the Year (recently re-packaged in a beautiful digipak): $14.99
(Includes traditional carols and original songs all sepia-filtered through the vintage Over the Rhine lens.)

Snow Angels: $14.99
(Includes new favorites All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue, White Horse, New Redemption Song, We’re Gonna Pull Through, and many more…)

The Trumpet Child Songbook: 126 pages of music and love, our first ever. $19.95
(Includes many previously unpublished photographs and an extended essay by Linford Detweiler, in which he unwraps early childhood memories and finds the inevitable crumb trail leading directly to this most recent collection of songs.)

The Trumpet Child: $14.99
(The heart of our current repertoire, this collection continues to sell steadily. Contains new OtR classics I Don’t Wanna Waste Your Time, Trouble, I’m On A Roll, The Trumpet Child and many more. Share it with someone not yet familiar with OtR.)

Live From Nowhere Volume Four: $19.99
(Over the Rhine comes alive! This double disc set documents the very special reunion concert with Ric Hordinski and Brian Kelley (and many friends) last December at The Taft, as we unpacked the first decade of our recordings. A great introduction to Over the Rhine’s formative years, and the excitement that surrounded those early days.)

OHIO: Still only $14.99
(This double album was recently named one of the 50 best/most influential of the last decade by Paste Magazine. These original songs are a celebration of the music that Karin and Linford grew up with in small Ohio coal-mining towns: Rock-n-roll, Gospel, Country and Western, Bluegrass etc.)

Drunkard’s Prayer: $14.99
(Possibly Over the Rhine’s most intimate record – recorded in the living room of the Grey Ghost with upright basss, piano, acoustic guitar, cello etc. An enduring collection of songs that explore the hard-won victories and survival of a long-term relationship/lifelong fling.)

Good Dog Bad Dog: $14.99
(Recently repackaged in a beautiful digipak, this is our little record that could. Contains OtR classics Latter Days, All I Need Is Everything, Etcetera Whatever, Jack’s Valentine and much more.)

OtR on VINYL: $9.99
(Both Snow Angels and The Trumpet Child are available on vinyl for the young and hip, for the audiophile in your life, for the old-school collector that needs a portable record player spinning on the porch on a summer night, a string of bare lightbulbs glowing nearby, moths drunk with illumination.)

Linford Detweiler’s Solo Piano recordings: $14.99
(These recordings continue to find their way to amazing places. Most recently, inner-city students in Chicago eat their lunches quietly while this music plays. And a mother plays the tunes often for her unborn baby who then falls asleep to it every evening after making its arrival on earth. If you need someone dreaming outloud at a piano near you, some unobtrusive companionship, a backdrop for the poems you’re writing or the paintings in progress that are wrestling you to the ground, consider these primitive collections of songs without words.)

20th Anniversary OtR Blend Coffee: $12.50
(Chuck roasted us a new blend for our 20th. We’ve been drinking it here on the farm. Wow. He will roast it fresh and ship it to you or directly to a friend. Dark, full-bodied, soft cinammon notes and an unexpected twist at the finish.)

Live From Nowhere Volume Three: $14.99, OR FREE with any $30 purchase while they last.
(Contains Live Recordings of Don’t Wait For Tom, I’m On A Roll, Nothing Is Innocent and much more…)

And there is a smattering of frame-able posters, and OtR clothing to sort through. Think of it as a church basement rummage sale. We do appreciate your support.

Please see OvertheRhine.com for all the goods.

Please share this newsletter freely with friends and family close by or in a distant city. E-mail it, scribble a note on it and put it in a first-class envelope, copy a line or two on a humorous picture postcard, drop a page into the ocean and watch it sink slowly, the ink bleeding into blue, an inquisitive fish rising from below, one eye on you, one on her watery world. Post it on a bulletin board on campus at Berklee School of Music with the Berklee date highlighted, as if to say, There’s this band from Ohio, that’s gonna show you a thing or two, about changing the oil, in the engine of a song… (Hee hee. Oh yeah.) Tape it discreetly in a bathroom stall at a seminary in Kentucky, a little unexpected reading near the toilet. And finally, our favorite, we apologize that we went a little over four pages this time, all together now, Place a fresh copy on the floor of the gilded cage and let the white doves crap all night long.

xoxo,

Over the Rhine

March 1, 2010

Hello friends,

This morning as I was walking the dogs on the paths – that is before Elroy and Porter took off and chased the neighbor dog over a mile down the road, heading East, we won’t talk about that (Karin saw what happened, put her coat on over her pajamas, started the car and picked me up as I began walking after them, but yes, BEFORE all that):

I had the sensation that Spring was coming.

Not that it felt like Spring mind you. The snow has only half-heartedly begun to melt. The scattered patches of ground make the earth look like a tattered blanket that needs a good washing. The dirt and brown grass is in that in-between stage, somewhere between frozen and muddy. Everything is drab and gray and still very chilly – low to mid thirties.

What made it feel like Spring is this: the birds are singing differently. They are singing a new song.

I suppose this isn’t a new observation, but it sure felt new to me. In the gray clouded-over morning, the songbirds sang like they believed that if they could find the right notes, and if they could let them go into air made joyful with conviction, the light would come.

It was singing that made me believe in the possibility of Spring.

***

As for us?

While the songbirds work their subtle music into the air of Ohio in the next few weeks, do their darndest to make any distant hint of Spring lean closer for a listen, we are going to leave this familiar piece of land and go looking for the right notes of our own. We are going to let them go with all the conviction we can muster, and believe the light will come.

We are going to go looking for a warmer place.

While the winter Olympians were careening down the mountains of Western Canada, or using ice as a platform to create something wonderful, we were snowed in much of the time here on the farm recording simple versions of many of the new songs that have arrived.

We would very much like to try out some of these new songs on you.
It’s good to get a feel for a new song,
Wrap your arms around it,
Give it a good squeeze to see how it responds.

And did I mention we are looking for a warmer place?

These Ohio winters are trying to get the best of us.
We keep ourselves warm with new music.

We do hope you can join us.
We’ll see what happens.

Lookin’ forward,

Linford (and Karin)

Over the Rhine IN CONCERT March 2010

March 4, Thursday, ORLANDO, FLORIDA, Plaza Theatre
March 5, Friday, PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA, Borland Center
March 6, Saturday, STUART, FLORIDA, Lyric Theater

March 8, Monday, DECATUR, GEORGIA, Eddies Attic (2 SHOWS! Early/Late�)
March 9, Tuesday, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, Workplay Theatre

March 11, Thursday, ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, Grey Eagle Tavern
March 12, Friday, SHELBY, NORTH CAROLINA, Don Gibson Theatre
March 13, Saturday, CARRBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, The Artscenter

March 16, Tuesday, BOWLING GREEN, OHIO, Kobacker Hall at Bowling Green State University. (Proceeds to benefit victims of the Haitian earthquake.)

Check out OvertheRhine.com for ticket links, venue links, and
MORE DATES in APRIL, MAY and beyond, including
a special musical train trip we have planned for this November.

Hope to see you.

Much more soon!

April 23, 2010

Hello extended musical family,

Might want to pour a cup of something good and settle in. You know it always takes me at least four pages to say a proper hello.

Hope you are well.

Many thanks to all of you who were able to join us at our recent concerts down South and beyond: many memorable moments, some very enjoyable evenings. Thank you. And thanks for letting us try out some of our new songs. We’re heading out again on Saturday for a sweet little run (KY, MN, IL, MO, IN). Hope to see you.

We have some big news.

Spring has come to Ohio. The grass is green, the silver maples have their leaves, our part of the earth has tilted back toward the sun, which seems to take pleasure now in drenching the house in morning light. If you stand on the porch, close your eyes, turn your face toward the sun and let it shine on your eyelids, if you breathe deeply, it feels like someone is pouring a pitcher of light directly into your soul.

The birds are drunk on spring, flirting, nesting, singing. Our lone tupelo tree has new eager buds that make it look like a candelabra full of tiny green candles. My mother says if you pay attention it’s like watching the world being created all over again right in front of your eyes.

Karin and I sit on the porch swing, and we often wonder aloud: Could we share this? What if we could use our little farm as a creative gathering place for the occasional outdoor concert, a songwriting workshop, a place where we could help other young artists find their way forward? Hopefully, we can continue to put the infrastructure in place for that to happen. But that’s a conversation for a different day…

Yes, we are feeling adventurous. (Maybe adventure is simply paying attention to the part of you that wants to be created all over again.)

We are feeling like we want to invite you along.

We have some big news.

For the first time ever, this coming May 17, Karin and I are planning to travel to the West Coast to make an Over the Rhine record. We are going to work with producer Joe Henry and an amazing cast of characters. We are going to make a record that we can’t quite imagine. Hopefully it will be a little bit strange and a little bit wonderful.

Hopefully we will, “Blow the seams out of the songs…” (JH)

One thing for sure: We are going to be surprised.

There are at least three reasons why we still want to make music:

One: We believe making music has something to do with what we were put on this earth to do. If we leave our songs alone, they call to us until we come back to where we belong. When we live in the sweet spot of that calling, it gives others (you?) permission to discover the sweet spot of your own calling and live there.

Two: Both Karin and I have had occasion to bury loved ones. When we put loved ones in the ground, we find that we lose interest in acquiring stuff. We know we can’t take it with us when we go. No, it’s not about acquiring, rather it’s about what we are able to leave behind. That’s what gives life meaning: doing work that you can leave behind, your personal token of gratitude to the world in return for the gift of getting to be alive in it. (We believe the opportunity to make this record with Mr. Henry has everything to do with what we will leave behind.)

Three: Presence. There is a beautiful passage of scripture that made an impact on me as a child that I have never forgotten. Jesus said that if you help someone in need, someone hungry or naked or thirsty or imprisoned, if you are able to be present with them and soothe them in some way, it’s the same as if God was hungry or naked or thirsty or imprisoned and you found a way to help God.

There is so much need in this beautiful broken world it can be overwhelming. Maybe the most profoundly satisfying thing about making music for the last 20 years is we have watched people invite our music to be part of the big moments of their lives – a slow dance in the kitchen with someone who changed everything, a walk down the aisle at a wedding, a child being born… Unfortunately, big moments also occur during seasons when it feels like everything is going horribly wrong. We all need music during those dark times too – I know I do. It’s always humbling and amazing to learn that our music can be present in those too-difficult-too-imagine times. In some small way, through our music, it feels like we get to be present too, even when that is physically impossible. We get to be there in spirit.

That’s enough to keep us coming back.

That and all the sex and drugs…

I’m just kiddin’.

One dilemma with doing something creative for a long time is it can become a bit predictable. If an artist doesn’t push forward into fresh territory, doesn’t continue to risk something, doesn’t seek out new people who can teach her something unexpected, help her find a new way into the center of it, something vital begins to atrophy.

Karin and I have been writing our new songs for a good while now. I suppose many of them are understated glimpses into the people we are (so far) and the people we long to be and the difference that lies between.

Songs are little holders of ideas and images and questions that we want to remember. Sometimes the songs simply gather together some particular details of our life here on the farm. The songs teach us what we care about, and on a good day surprise us. Sometimes the new songs soothe us during our own dark moments. Sometimes they try to lend a helping hand.

Underneath our writing, there is a hunger and belief in possibility: the possibility that the “best” Over the Rhine record hasn’t been made yet. The possibility that our best work is still out there waiting for us. The possibility that we can still grow…

With this in mind, we asked ourselves, If we could make our next record with any producer/ally, someone who could help us record a project that we can’t quite imagine and envision (we want to be at least a little bit surprised as I’m sure you do), who would that person be?

We thought of some of our favorite moments on records we had heard in the last several years.

A name that quickly rose to the top of our list is songwriter and producer Joe Henry.

Joe has been quietly making records (well not that quietly, he has won at least two Grammy’s) that don’t sound like other records being made in 2010. They are a little bit dark and cinematic and funky and unpredictable. It seems like he loves to help performers who have already covered a lot of miles – people like Mavis Staples, Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, Solomon Burke, Louden Wainwright, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Mose Allison – rediscover the soul of what they do in new light.

But maybe even more importantly, Joe is a fine songwriter. We were excited about the possibility of getting his perspective on the actual writing.

Well, it’s always a long shot when you start at the top of your list, but to make a long (amazing) story short enough to fit into this letter, Joe has fully embraced the idea of helping us make this next Over the Rhine record. The ensuing conversation has been wonderful. We have discovered some friends in common, and I think we will discover even more common ground along the way as we discover the next chapter of the band together. We are even writing a song together that keeps us up at night in a good way.

Here’s the thing: this is the point in the process where early in Over the Rhine’s career a record label would have stepped forward and offered to put up the money to make this record. The label would then have taken outright somewhere between 80-90% of all the money the record made (your money). Out of the 10-20% that was our share, they then would have reimbursed themselves all the money they advanced us to make the recording possible, plus many other costs associated with its release. (This felt sort of like paying down your mortgage after the bank had already figured out how to keep 80% of your paycheck. And then the big surprise waiting at the end: after you paid off your mortgage, they still owned your house! That is, the label, after it was all said and done, owned the record forever.)

For years, most musicians went with the above, because the labels controlled distribution, and if you wanted to get your records in a record store… well, this is probably all old news to you.

For much of our career, we (and countless others) tried with varying degrees of success to find creative ways around this model. It made many of us fiercely independent. We felt we had to break free, come what may. (We should mention there are good people still working at record labels, who are trying to get good music released, but unfortunately, it feels like most labels have been all but devoured from the top down…)

Several years ago, Karin and I turned down several offers, cashed in all of our personal resources, found an investor to help us get started, and formed our own label, Great Speckled Dog, which we 100% own. We secured our own national distribution deal.

When it comes to our music: We are now in the driver’s seat. (Our label, GSD, is named after our Great Dane Elroy, of course: Him old, but him baby.)

Our first chapter with our very own Great Speckled Dog Records was the release of The Trumpet Child and Snow Angels. We learned a lot. Thanks to you, those projects supported us, and our touring ensemble, for almost 3 years. The Trumpet Child is on pace to eventually out sell any record released on our behalf by a label in the last 20 years. It has been a rare blessing, to see the audience for our music continue to steadily grow.

But now we find ourselves very much at the end of an album cycle winding down. It’s time for the next step. It’s time for a new Over the Rhine record.

Friends, the good news is this:

In 2010, there is no middleman.

It’s just us and you.

So, for the first time in our career, we are simply going to appeal directly to you, the people who care about Over the Rhine’s music, and ask if you will partner directly with us in making this new record.

We have a little less than four weeks to raise the money. It’s an ambitious step for us, but it feels right.

Whatever funds we are able to raise will go directly to our label, Great Speckled Dog, to help take care of this new music we will make. It will be used to help cover actual recording costs, and give the songs the best send-off into the world that we can afford. (We do plan to see the record distributed nationally and internationally.)

Close friends are always surprised when we begin to tally the costs involved in getting an Over the Rhine record recorded and out the door. We’ll spare you a full report, but generating a well-made thing – it does add up.

If you’re willing to help us make this record, we will offer our gratitude in all sorts of ways. (We’re not asking for something for nothing. We had a little fun and came up with a whole range of options you can grin at.)

If you can spare $15 now, we’ll make sure you have your beautifully packaged CD one month before the official release date, along with a personal thank you on Over the Rhine’s website, 3 bonus tracks and a small surprise when the CD ships.

We will not presume, but if you are able and willing to give way more than $15, we will gratefully accept, give you any number of special treats in return, and put the funds to good use to make this next chapter of Over the Rhine possible. We will hopefully have more than a little fun along the way. We will keep you posted.

Once or twice in my life I got to see my Amish relatives get together with friends and neighbors and frame a barn on a Saturday. This doesn’t feel all that different to me. It’s always humbling to admit you need help, but if you find the courage, it creates a space for a community to come together.

Maybe making this new record together is just that: An opportunity to come together to leave something behind, a little token of gratitude to the world for the gift of being alive in it. We will write our names on the music (and yours if you’re game) and let people know we were here. We tried to pour a little pitcher of light into the soul of the world.

We hope you will join us.

Curious?

Walk down this rabbit hole to get all the details:

http://www.overtherhine.com/makearecord.php

Love from Nowhere,

Linford and Karin

PS:
Karin and I will be selling a few of our worldly possessions to help make this possible, including some (vintage) musical instruments and (vintage) recording equipment that we no longer use regularly, some of which we used to record past Over the Rhine projects. Stay tuned for more info in case you’d like to own a little piece of OtR history.

PPS:
Please feel free to share this e-mail with family and friends. Leave a copy on the paint-splattered oak table next to works-in-progress. Line the rows of your flower beds with its pages, cover them with 2-3 inches of mulch and keep the weeds down. Slip a copy of the letter after scrawling the words “WHAT NEXT?!” in red ink on it into the LP jacket of The Trumpet Child as a sort of extended warning label. And finally, loosely line the Victorian birdcage with these pages edge to edge and let the white doves crap all night long.

PPPS:
To manage your subscription to the Over the Rhine newsletter (or to unsubscribe from this list), please visit:
http://overtherhine.com/mailman/listinfo/otrannounce_overtherhine.com

Or, to unsubscribe via email, send a blank message to: otrannounce_overtherhine.com-leave@overtherhine.com

May 14, 2010

Hello from Ohio,

The coffee is made and goes down dark and smooth on a cool gray Spring morning. The dogs are outside. (We had never seen this before but they actually treed a groundhog yesterday. He was about 25 feet up a black locust tree when I came out to see what the ruckus was about, the cattle dog singing a triumphant falsetto.)

Karin’s hummingbirds have returned to her back porch feeder. She says the sound of the first thrum always “sends an electric shiver of joy from the soles of her feet right up to the top of her head.”

The male goldfinches are positively exotic their colors are so bright. Tiny Ohio jungle birds…

The barn swallows are back. They winter as far south as Argentina and can fly up to 600 miles a day. I think they are my personal favorites right now. There is so much joy in their flying as they dart waist-high above the fields, making what the Audubon book calls “a constant liquid twittering…”

The bobwhite quail have moved in close for nesting. They call more or less constantly, and if we whistle a “Bob-white?” from the porch, they always call back. They never give up – we always stop after awhile and the conversation ends with them having the last word. I’m told the bobwhites like to nest where there are dogs around because the dogs keep some of the natural predators away.

A mourning dove is sitting on her nest. She selected a precarious hidden place where a few blooming blackberry canes meet. When it comes to nest building, the doves are masters of flimsiness.

It’s always amazing to me that of all the particular places on earth, birds raise their young every year right here in the wild corners of our little farm-in-progress. This is their home too. My father encouraged us to leave the edges of things wild. He was the one who taught us how to get the bobwhites to answer back.

My father moved our family a lot back in the day, and he always got his birdhouses up pronto. My sister Grace and I were processing our childhood one time and this little couplet showed up:

All the places we had to roam,
Just to give a bluebird a home.

After I wrote his obituary, after we buried my father, after we said goodbye to Amish relatives I hadn’t seen in years, Karin and I came back to the farm, and a strange and lovely mockingbird arrived and followed us around for a number of weeks, singing constantly. We had never had a mockingbird here before. He beckoned in the mornings outside our bedroom window. He sang in our apple tree. He sang near the fire pit where we like to gather on summer evenings. He followed Elroy and I on our walks.

It’s hard to be sad when a mockingbird follows you around singing. The music felt like a sacrament of comfort, some small heaven-sent gift.

I don’t know why I’m telling you this.

I’m drinking my morning coffee and sat down to write you.

Tomorrow Karin and I are flying west to sing and capture some songs of our own.

We finished the last song (Ohio’s last demo) and sent it off Tuesday and our producer, Joe Henry, has now helped narrow the field to the 14 that we’ll gather ’round and play for this new project. But he warned us that after we dive in we may be surprised and other songs may raise their hands unexpectedly. It will all be revealed.

(A quick aside, Mr. Henry has been a wonderful ally and foil and newfound friend during this process. We are excited for you to hear the brand new song we co-wrote with Joe, and look forward to more collaboration.)

Three weeks ago we invited you, the people who had found our music and given it a life (those of you who have invited the songs to follow you around) to partner with us in making this new Over the Rhine record.

I don’t think Karin and I are exaggerating when we say we have never quite experienced the gift of community on this level before.

Karin and I have been working to move to a place in our lives where we can live debt-free, but now I realize this will not be possible. We will always carry a debt of gratitude to our extended musical family.

You all stepped forward and completely paid for this new recording – all recording costs, studio costs, musicians, mastering – and we haven’t even recorded a single note yet.

Your generosity has allowed us to completely immerse ourselves in our writing lives these last few weeks as we finished all the songs and made final preparations to begin recording this Monday, May 17.

We will say thank you by making the most beautiful, meaningful record we are capable of making. The exciting thing: I still don’t know what it’s going to sound like! I think we will all be surprised.

We are going to continue our fundraising campaign through June 26, the date of the special Good Dog show we have planned with Ric and Brian. Any additional money that we are able to raise will go toward the accompanying artwork (vinyl too!) and the various costs that go along with putting a record out into the world, giving it a good first day at school, letting people know it actually exists: manufacturing, marketing, assembling the right team, preparing to tour etc. We will do all we can to give this music (our record/your record) the best life it can have.

But friends, the music is paid for. We are feeling inspired, humbled, empowered and loved. And we thank you.

It’s time to pack the suitcases.

Let’s make a record.

Love from nowhere,

Linford and Karin

August 16, 2010

Over the Rhine, Update, THE LONG SURRENDER,
September Concerts, Conversations on a Musical Train

Hello friends,

If you knew how many times I have sat at my desk to start a letter to you all, you would laugh. Sometimes life is too big to write down, too saturated with significance, too sad, too happy, too much.

The truth is, I could have written many different letters, all too long. Scraps of them surround me here and there in the piano room, like a patchwork quilt that unraveled.

I have written about our time with Joe Henry and the amazing musicians he gathered in South Pasadena. The time we spent recording THE LONG SURRENDER, our yet-to-be-released new offering of Over the Rhine songs, how it felt like Joe put everything on a train, all the surprising things we saw out the windows as we rolled through the night, the rumble and the rhythm.

(Or did Joe put the songs out to sea? It did feel like something hard to quantify was captured. We had to hit the lifeboats a few times, but yes, Joe got us all somehow safely back to shore, grinning.)

Suffice it to say we are anxious to share the music with you, and maybe you can help us describe what happened after you hear for yourself.

THE LONG SURRENDER is being mastered this week. (We thought we had it awhile back but then realized we were still in the hunt. A few final touches still to go.) We are busy, busy getting it all dressed up and ready to let go in the world. The official release date is 1/11/11, but of course there will be plenty of foreshadowing along the way, and those of you who pitched in to make it all happen will hear it much sooner.

We are grateful to all of you and grateful to be (almost) holding the record we couldn’t imagine in advance, the seams blown out of the songs, the roof blown off the house of our catalog, only the sky above.

And I have written about my Uncle Rudy passing away, my uncle who as a boy, hid an acoustic guitar in the haymow of the barn, and a secret accordion under the horses’ manger. How my brother Myron and I drove to Northeast Ohio to pay our respects and discovered after we had signed the register and sent our flowers on ahead to be placed by the casket that we had arrived at the wrong funeral. (How Uncle Rudy would have laughed!) We eventually found the right church, passing Amish buggies along the way. My cousin William took our breath away because he looked so much like my father it was like seeing a vision. And finally, as we were walking out into the evening air to drive home, I noticed the barn swallows were flying, flying in circles and figure eights above the roof of the wooden church where Rudy lay, darting back and forth and round and round as if they loved the feel of whatever it was they were slicing with their wings.

Something felt good on their wings.

I have written about being asked to deliver my first college commencement address in Eugene, Oregon, and of the short trip down the coast we took afterwards to touch base with Karin’s side of the family, staying up late with her Aunt Nor in the kitchen, looking at old black and white photographs and hearing the old family stories, gathering around the piano to sing some harmonies, reconnecting with Karin’s sister Rose, and my sister Frances and their families, and of course, many of the Swedish, San Francisco cousins.

I have written about saying goodbye to our (great) Great Dane, Elroy, our intuitive, beautiful companion, our very own Great Speckled Dog, the few-thousand-plus walks we took together over the years, that quiet communion and deep connection. We miss him. Karin had always prayed that we would be home when Elroy’s time came, and somehow that prayer was answered. We were able to say, Goodbye. Thank You.

I have written about our recent trip to Santa Fe and the weeklong songwriting workshop Karin and I lead there, the other writers and poets and painters we have come to call friends because of The Glen Workshop, how we learn from our students, the small miracles we witness there throughout the week. (And thanks to all who welcomed Karin and I at our performances in Albuquerque. New Mexico has become a very special part of the world to us. More a little further down on the train ride we have planned in that part of the world.)

Yes, I have run out of space in these letters to say what I need to say. I need to begin thinking about the pages of a book or two to make room for more. A place with a little more elbow room where I’m not imposing…

Know that we think of all of you often, and look forward to some face time hopefully soon.

Yes, we do want to catch you up on some specific Over the Rhine news. We are preparing to air out songs new and old, engage in a little evening conversation, be surprised by laughter.

We hope we can be together.
Soon.

Love from Nowhere,

Linford and Karin

+SEPTEMBER 2010 CONERTS:

Sept 4, Saturday, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, FOUR CORNERS FOLK FESTIVAL

Sept 5, Sunday, Denver, Colorado, SOILED DOVE
Sept 7, Tuesday, Omaha, Nebraska, THE WAITING ROOM
Sept 8, Wednesday, Kansas City, Missouri, CROSSTOWN STATION

Sept 10, Friday, Nashville, Tennessee, MERCY LOUNGE (as part of Americana Music Festival, wrist band required)

+OUR FAVORITE OUTDOOR VENUE:

Sept 11, Saturday, Cincinnati, Ohio, CONEY ISLAND MOONLIGHT GARDENS. Join Over the Rhine down by the Ohio River in this lovely, hometown, historic setting, one of our all-time favorites, as we bid farewell to summer under the stars with an extended evening of songs, accompanied by an orchestra of cicadas, crickets and katydids.

+POUR ME A GLASS OF WINE/More SEPTEMBER 2010 DATES:

Sept 16, Thursday, New York City, New York, CITY WINERY
Sept 17, Friday, Philadelphia, Pennsylania, WORLD CAF� LIVE
Sept 18, Saturday, Centreville, Virginia, VIRGINIA WINE FESTIVAL
Sept 19, Sunday, Centreville, Virginia, VIRGINIA WINE FESTIVAL

(More dates listed at OvertheRhine.com)

+Over the Rhine, CONVERSATIONS ON A MUSICAL TRAIN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

(We’ll be sending out a few more official notices RE the following, but wanted to give you the jump while the paint is still fresh…)

November 5-10, 2010

We have finalized the line-up for our musical train ride in November!

In an extravagant gesture, in an attempt to do something hopefully unforgettable, we are gathering some of our favorite people together and putting them on a train through the sacred spaces of the American Southwest. We are going to pour a glass of something good, and watch you fall in love. There will be music and conversation and much more. We will hop off the train in Santa Fe and explore, we will eventually even peer over the edge of the Grand Canyon – take that elusive family vacation together.

There are 45 total tickets available. We hope you can join us. (The train leaves from Los Angeles. Check out OvertheRhine.com for more.)

ON BOARD:

OVER THE RHINE – We (Karin, Linford, Jake Bradley, Kenny Hutson, and our very own surprise guest, drummer and percussionist, Mickey Grimm) will be playing concerts throughout the trip, raising glasses to and with our friends (old and new), and watching some of our favorite parts of the world go by…

SWAN DIVE – Songwriters, Bill DeMain and Molly Felder, (and Molly’s husband, Mickey Grimm) will delight you with their harmonies and beautifully-crafted pop songs. Bill and Molly have performed and collaborated with many of Nashville’s most gifted. You will soon come to appreciate their generosity as both musicians and curious human beings… (swandive.org)

LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE – Lucy grew up in Greenwich Village, New York City, the daughter of Suzzy Roche of The Roches and Loudon Wainwright III. Her childhood was spent living out of a suitcase, either on the road with her parents or being ferried around to different relatives in her big musical clan – one of the most storied musical families in North America.

We have had the privilege of touring with and getting to know Lucy. We love her songs, her clear-as-a-bell voice, her instinct for a great story, and her unforgettable sense of humor. You will too. (www.myspace.com/lwrlwr)

MICHAEL WILSON – is an American photographer and music lover who has photographed a wide array of songwriters and artists – Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Emmylou Harris, BB King, Andy Warhol, Joe Henry, Randy Newman – and many, many others. His photographs have figured prominently throughout Over the Rhine’s recorded catalog, and Karin and Linford have cited Michael as one of their most important influences, musical and otherwise. Michael will be presenting his work throughout the week and has generously agreed to make individual portraits of all who board the train – an amazing keepsake. Those interested will also have the chance to hop off the train at various times, cameras in hand, and make photographs with Michael. (michaelwilsonphotographer.com)

LYNN NEAL – It just so happens that our naturalist on board, who will be available to illuminate much of what we’re seeing, answer questions, provide some historical context etc is a Barnesville High School graduate from Barnesville, Ohio, and former classmate and friend of Karin’s. Lynn now resides and works and conducts research in Arizona, and has a contagious, memorable sense of humor as well. We’re so happy it worked out for her to ride along.

MICKEY GRIMM – Mickey deserves his own category. He recorded and toured with Over the Rhine the last several years, but has recently gone into semi-retirement to be able to spend more time with his family in New Harmony, Indiana. Few people have made us laugh more than Mickey – and we realized we had to get him on board so that all could experience his storytelling and flare for the colorful and absurd. Not to mention general sweetness and considerable talents.

This ride is a lot to pull off, and a little bit crazy, frankly, in a hopefully beautiful way – but if you’re willing, we think it has the potential to be quite amazing. (Much like life itself.) Hope to see you.

Again, check out OvertheRhine.com for more. (And more updates soon.)

Whew. I think that’s about it for this one.

xo,

L&K

PS Please share the above with friends and family near and far, print out the pages and wrap fish and chips in it, line the soles of a vintage pair of cowboy boots with the words, read excerpts over a cell phone discreetly on a rattling street car, tweet your sweet, slip a rain-soaked copy into a Methodist hymnal or a New York Times, and finally, our favorite, line the bird cage with the pages and let the white doves crap all night long.

October 26, 2010

Greetings friends,

It’s a blustery fall day out here on Nowhere Farm.

I made the coffee dark and strong, and Karin and I sat on the porch swing for awhile. Five deer crossed the road at the edge of our property. A redtail hawk was flying low over the fields.

The leaves of the towering maples are mostly rosy or wine dark or fiercely yellow. Karin has been saying we need to pull out the leaf rakes. I tend to want to wait until every last leaf comes down before I roll up my sleeves.

The last flowers of summer to bloom are the wild asters, and I brought in a huge white bouquet a few days ago, which Karin arranged on the dining room table. That’s the last wild bouquet of the year. Now we turn our attention to arranging our songs and setting out to find you, with hopefully a little of the same wild beauty still fresh in our minds.

Living out here on our own is an ongoing experiment. We do love the deep solitude, but we weigh the isolation. Maybe someday we’ll have a dog friendly apartment on the edge of a park in a vibrant city, where we can surround ourselves more often with the flinty sparks of creativity of other writers, musicians, painters. But hopefully we can always keep our little Ohio farm. I was reminded of all the memories we’ve made out here when a chipping sparrow nest blew out of one of the maples this morning. The nest had been lined earlier this summer with Elroy’s hair.

As for all the Over the Rhine news… this is the time of year when we squint our eyes and see all the way to New Year’s Day.

THE LONG SURRENDER

The brand new Over the Rhine record, THE LONG SURRENDER, produced by Joe Henry, which many of you helped us make is getting closer everyday to being let loose in the world. There’s a lot that goes in to getting this music wrapped up and ready, but we are just about there. We had a clandestine online listening party for all those who contributed and will be letting all of you (blood) donors download THE LONG SURRENDER very soon. Then we’ll be starting the presale for the rest of the world. The official release date is 1/11/11, but those who preorder can experience our latest labor of love much earlier. Stay tuned at OvertheRhine.com for all the details. Feels like it’s gonna be a good chapter in this ongoing story.

THIS COMING WEEKEND

Join Over the Rhine in the land of the Amish, apple orchards and frosty pumpkin fields for two very special fall concerts. We will be previewing many of the songs from THE LONG SURRENDER and much more as a sultry trio. (You’re going to feel it in the hips.) (Karin says I’m the only writer she knows who can get away with invoking sultry hips and the Amish in the same paragraph.)

Friday, October 29, 2010, Goshen, INDIANA, Goshen Theater (with Julie Lee!)
Saturday, October 30, 2010, Grand Rapids, MICHIGAN, Calvin College (the inaugural performance at the newly renovated Fine Arts Center, anxious to see their brand new venue, hope you can come find us)

CONVERSATIONS ON A MUSICAL TRAIN

November 5-10 There are just a few spots (2?) still available if you want to hop on board. We haven’t left the station just yet.

Check out OvertheRhine.com for all the details – some of our favorite people join us for a musical train ride through the great American Southwest.

SANTA FE

Please note that the following Santa Fe concert is open to the public. (We’ll all be hopping off the train for an evening. Hope you can join us!)

Saturday, November 6, 2010, Santa Fe, NEW MEXICO, Santa Fe Brewing Company (with special guests Swan Dive and Lucy Wainwright Roche)

WEST COAST – THE LONG SURRENDER PREVIEW

Karin and Linford will be bringing the aforementioned sultry trio West, rolling the grand piano out on stage and previewing songs from THE LONG SURRENDER in some of our favorite West Coast venues. Look for some special guests along the way in addition to our lovely supporting star, Lucy Wainwright Roche. We envision an extended, intimate evening of music and conversation. Hope to see you and yours!

Friday, November 12, 2010, Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA, The Troubadour (former haunt of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and many others)

Saturday, November 13, 2010, San Francisco, CALIFORNIA, Great American Music Hall (former haunt of burlesque dancers and bootleggers, still beautiful and wild around the edges, a perfect venue for our infamous love songs)

Monday, November 15, 2010, Eugene, OREGON, WOW Hall (a lovely old community theater in an amazing town)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, Portland, OREGON, Aladdin Theater (a beautiful neighborhood theater in one of our favorite progressive cities, a city full of great coffee and books, see you at Powell’s etc)

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, November 19, 20, 21, THREE SHOWS!,
Seattle, WASHINGTON, The Triple Door (great sounding room, amazing hospitality, roomy stage, the wine dark sparkle of polished glasses in dim light)

Over the Rhine DECEMBER TOUR

Come in out of the cold and join Over the Rhine for some warm evenings of music as we not only preview songs from THE LONG SURRENDER, but dip into The Darkest Night of the Year, Snow Angels and beyond. We are putting together a world-class band this year to bring our touring year to a close, and it won’t be the same without you.

Friday, December 3, Marion, OHIO, Palace Theater (a first for us)
Saturday, December 4, Kent, OHIO, Kent Stage (red velvet seats, piano with a broken heart)
Sunday, December 5, Ann Arbor, MICHIGAN, The Ark (coziest listening room in America)

Tuesday, December 7, Columbus, OHIO, Lincoln Theater (a first for us, and a long overdue return to Columbus – hope to get more than a little reacquainted)

Friday, December 10, Louisville, KENTUCKY, Bomhard Theater (gorgeous theater in a very musical city)
Saturday, December 11, Chicago, ILLINOIS, Old Town School of Folk Music,
TWO SHOWS: 7pm and 10pm (our favorite venue in Chicago, beautiful 400 seat theater, fabulous holiday neighborhood)

THREE DAY CINCINNATI HOLIDAY WEEKEND:

Friday, December 17, Jarson-Kaplan Theatre (In the beautiful Aronoff Center),
Cincinnati, OHIO: Special world premiere performance of THE LONG SURRENDER (featuring some of the musicians who played on the record as well as our producer Joe Henry). We are going to perform the new record from beginning to end.

Yes, we are keeping alive one aspect of our Great Speckled Dog fundraising campaign: LIVE IT. This special performance on Friday is being offered only as part of an exclusive three-day package that INCLUDES admission to The Taft the next evening, as well as our Sunday afternoon Soiree at St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood. Check out OvertheRhine.com for all the details. Proceeds will assist us in operating our own Great Speckled Dog record label, as we prepare to officially release THE LONG SURRENDER. Thank you.

Saturday, December 18, Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OHIO: Our annual homecoming concert will feature very special guest, Joe Henry, the producer of our latest record, and an extended cast of musicians. (Tickets available separately or as part of a three-day pkg.) Available at OvertheRhine.com…

Sunday, December 19, St. Elizabeths: Join Karin and Linford for an acoustic performance, some conversation, and festive food and drink in a ragged but lovely cathedral in Cincinnati. Tix available separately or as part of three-day pkg.)

Details on all the above at OvertheRhine.com…

And that will bring our 2010 touring year to a close. Thank you for being a part of it.
Without you, we’d be homeless.

Peace like a river,

Linford and Karin

December 5, 2010

Hello friends,

I’m sitting in an Irish Pub in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I can hear the distant hum and roar of Sunday football up by the bar, but I found a quiet corner in the back near the fireplace, which is crackling happily. Strands of white Christmas lights are strung above the stone hearth. A few families are tucked into booths nearby still having late Sunday lunch. But I sit alone with my keyboard and write this letter, and I’m happy for the solitude.

And lo! My bowl of hot chili arrives with some hearty looking Irish bread and butter on the side. All is well indeed.

Wanted to take a moment and pass along the latest:

OVER THE RHINE’S DECEMBER TOUR

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are on the road. This is my favorite time of the year to tour. I don’t know, there’s something about the dark evenings, the snow flurries, the breath from warm lungs making ghosts in the night air, people coming in out of the cold and peeling off scarves and hats in search of a soulful song – it all works, it’s all in the wheelhouse of our calling.

And we’ve tried once again to rise to the occasion. We’ve got an exhilarating 6-piece band that we get to lean into every night. There are 11 of us touring together at present (band and crew) all in the interest of making a memorable evening of music worth leaving home for. It’s a deeply communal enterprise, which thanks to you, continues to somehow thrive. (Thanks to all of you who have found us so far on this run.)

Please check out overtherhine.com for details on upcoming shows in Columbus, Louisville, Chicago and a very special three-day weekend (December 17-19) in our hometown of Cincinnati. We hope to see you.

OVER THE RHINE’S NEW RECORD: THE LONG SURRENDER

Over the Rhine’s new record, THE LONG SURRENDER, produced by Joe Henry, has arrived and is available NOW exclusively at overtherhine.com.

Whenever a new CD arrives for the very first time, it’s always a pregnant moment: all of a sudden, there’s no turning back.

So we opened up a box and lifted one out with a certain degree of nervous anticipation: Wow. They are beautiful.

Friends, it’s for real. We didn’t just dream the whole thing.
WE MADE A RECORD!

Order your copy of THE LONG SURRENDER, and you can download all the songs immediately. And if you’re still checking off your gift list, please consider picking up some extra copies for friends or family. We will ship them to you pronto. (If you already pre-ordered, they are already in the mail.)

Thanks for all the lovely feedback so far. We’ve been having a great time airing out songs from THE LONG SURRENDER on this latest tour. Rave on.

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. Strings of lights above the bed, curtains drawn and a glass of red… we’re gonna pull through.

OTHER OVER THE RHINE TREATS:

Again, if you’re still looking for some unique gifts for loved ones, don’t forget about our fab Over the Rhine blend fresh-roasted coffee, The Trumpet Child Songbooks, collectible posters, playful OtR tees-they are all available at overtherhine.com…

Well, we want to thank you again for the part you play in this ongoing conversation. We are grateful.

As my wife still likes to say: Without you, we’d be homeless.

Alright.

They will soon be calling me to the piano at The Ark for soundcheck this evening. I better run along for now. With any luck, later tonight we’ll walk on stage, the room will lift off the ground, float up into the sky, blow apart, and we’ll discover we have a nice new view of things.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin

PS Please share these words freely with all, orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers etc etc.

December 14, 2010

Over the Rhine Big Weekend/New Record

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.

March 22, 2011

Hello from Ohio,

Hope you’re enjoying Spring so far.

This past Saturday night, we gathered with a few friends on Nowhere Farm to watch the swollen perigree moon rise. And rise!

Then we moved to what Karin likes to call her Winter’s Funeral Pyre. Earlier, we had gathered up armloads of fallen branches out of the woods, and then hauled a few loads of split wood, and finally arranged them all carefully in the fire pit around last year’s Christmas tree. After the moon was well up, we struck a match (Ohio Bluetip Strike Anywhere) and watched winter go up in sparks and flame. We told a few tall tales. Laughed in the cool night air. Eventually, we lifted our glasses and said goodbye to the long winter and fully embraced the idea of spring.

And sure enough Sunday I was out walking after dark. There was a warm breeze blowing. An owl was calling. The peepers were holding their first round of auditions.

And now the daffodils are in bloom. The red maples are budding. The grass is trying to remember what green feels like. We’re believers.

And with the sap rising all around, we have packed our suitcases full of songs from The Long Surrender, and will soon venture out to find you. See if we can chime in and help something bloom; help the season change.

The band and crew arrived in Cincinnati today. It was time to blow the dust off. I always forget how good it feels, leaning into the songs. Leaning into a good band is like leaning into a good dancing partner. All of a sudden you want to stay up late. You want to see what happens.

We certainly hope to see you. Soon.

Here’s the dirt.

Over the Rhine’s MARCH AND APRIL ~ LONG SURRENDER TOUR DATES (with full six-piece band):

This Friday (!) March 25, Boston, MA, Café 939 at Berklee
This Saturday, March 26, New York, NY, Highline Ballroom,
*Sunday, March 27, Washington DC, The Birchmere
*March 29, Philadelphia, PA, World Café Live
*April 1, Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Small’s Funhouse
April 2, Akron, OH, Musica
*April 5, Ann Arbor, MI, The Ark
*April 7, Milwaukee, WI, Turner Hall
*April 8, Chicago, IL, Lincoln Hall
*April 9, Madison, WI, Majestic Theater
*April 10, Minneapolis, MN, Cedar Cultural Center

*With very special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche!

(Some of you have heard that we were planning a short tour of Japan in mid-April. Those plans are currently on hold. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the noble people of Japan during this time of ongoing loss and recovery. We’ll post more info as we’re able.)

INFAMOUS LOVE SONGS:

April 29 and 30, Cincinnati, OH, Aronoff Center, Over the Rhine performs with the Cincinnati Ballet: 20 songs from The Long Surrender, Drunkard’s Prayer, OHIO, The Trumpet Child and more. (Three different choreographers offering world premiers.)

(And check out OvertheRhine.com for more dates in May. Fear not if your city isn’t yet included. More to come.)

GOOD DOG BAD DOG Live:

And now this!

As part of our fundraising efforts last year, we performed GOOD DOG BAD DOG from beginning to end in front of a generous audience in Ric Hordinski’s beautiful Monastery Studio. It was a hot and sweaty June night, and we taped every note. We are now making the recording of this special concert available for download here:

http://overtherhine.portmerch.com/stores/home.php?cat=325

Hard to believe that 2011 marks the 15th Anniversary of the release of Good Dog Bad Dog, a record that has continued to surprise us with its life force again and again. We think you’ll dig the show!

(And we hope to mark GDBD’s anniversary at various points throughout the year.)

Lookin’ forward:

OtR TRAIN RIDE, Colorado Mountains, Music, Hot Springs, Anyone?

September 22-30, New Mexico and Colorado: Conversations on a musical train. We’re teaming up with the fine folks at Roots on the Rails once again for another train adventure. Last year we had fellow travelers fly in from Germany, Sweden, the UK, Canada, Alaska and from all over the USA. We’ll be joined by two incredible songwriters: Mary Gauthier and Richard Shindell. Photographer Michael Wilson and naturalist Lynn Neal will also be on board. Join us for a truly unforgettable week. Tickets available at:

http://www.flyingunderradar.com/

Finally, again, we owe a debt of gratitude to all of you who pitched in last year to help make The Long Surrender. (And, of course, our immense thanks to all who have embraced this new music, and helped to give it a life.)

We thought you might like to read a few excerpts of what critics have had to say about this record that we couldn’t have made without you. It’s always important to take reviews with a grain of salt, but on the other hand, if there are people that listen deeply and have affirming things to say about the work itself, it certainly helps get the word out. Enjoy. If you helped make this record, these are your reviews too.

(And by the way, Please feel free to pass this letter around and share freely: Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers, you’re welcome. You can stay right here. You don’t have to go.)

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford (and Karin)

+++

Press Quotes: Over the Rhine | The Long Surrender

“Twenty years after their recording debut, rural Ohio-based singer/songwriters Linford Detweiler and wife Karin Bergquist and their associates have delivered a set of mature, graceful and sad songs that in a just world will win them wider recognition. Working with producer Joe Henry, they use intimate, soulful arrangements to showcase Bergquist’s achingly beautiful voice.” -USA Today

“There may be no more soothing voice in music than Karin Bergquist’s. She could be interpreting jazz standards, but fortunately she applies that balm to her and husband Linford Detweiler’s beautifully languid originals, which invoke hard times and celebrate the survival of the least fit … when a Lucinda Williams duet isn’t even The Long Surrender’s high point, things have gone very right.”
-Entertainment Weekly

“a marvelously evocative effort, one that recalls the torch song epiphanies of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald … Sparse, sultry and yet undeniably mesmerizing, The Long Surrender is a clear victory for all concerned.”-Blurt

9.2 (out of 10)
“the most emotionally raw and musically nuanced [album] of the band’s fine career
… Over the Rhine have pieced together a lovely, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting musical mosaic.” -Paste

* * * * (out of four)
“a work as exquisitely beautiful as Van Morrison’s most graceful efforts.” -Los Angeles Times

“vintage Over the Rhine – introspective, hook-filled songwriting, drawing on a diverse musical heritage anchored by Karin Bergquist’s gorgeous emotive vocals. It is a formula that has served the husband-wife team of Bergquist and Linford Detweiler well … The production is one of the band’s more intricate, polished efforts thanks to producer Joe Henry.”-The Cincinnati Enquirer

”Over the Rhine is one of the best husband/wife duos since Richard and Linda Thompson, and The Long Surrender proves it.” -Ink19.com

Imagine a sultry songbird who’s at the same time ballroom-elegant and back-alley mysterious … [Bergquist’s] cracked, unbridled emotion drives such pieces as the sexy “Rave On,” just one perfectly dramatic example of the duo’s uncommon wordplay. Detweiler plays diamond-chip piano notes, and the brilliant accompanists include string genius Greg Leisz and muted beat-keeper Jay Bellerose … Eventually, there’s no denying any of the sweeping magnificence of Over the Rhine.” -Hittin’ the Note

-more-

* * * * (out of five)
“The songs of The Long Surrender are country-based, atmospheric treasures full of passion and featuring nothing but the finest musicianship … If you’ve never heard of or listened to Over the Rhine, The Long Surrender is an excellent starting point.” -bullz-eye.com, esdmusic.com

“aggressively beautiful, like those ’60s protesters who confronted soldiers with flowers … it becomes useless to resist The Long Surrender.” -Newsday

“one of the most literate bands in indie rock. Joe Henry … is the perfect producer for the group’s melancholy chamber cabaret … Heartbreakingly beautiful.”
-Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Hear Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist interviewed by host, Melissa Block, on NPR’s All Things Considered:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=133595205&m=133595204

If you’d like to hear Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Anthony DeCurtis discuss The Long Surrender with Claudia Marshall on NYC radio station WFUV, check out:

http://www.wfuv.org/music/musicreview

In the meanwhile, we’ll keep celebrating “the survival of the least fit…”

THANK YOU.

April 20, 2011

Greetings friends,

Hello from Ohio. We returned home from tour, loaded in the suitcases and guitars and I immediately took an after dark walk around the farm. I had forgotten the physical sensation of feeling bright moonlight on my face with eyes closed.

The robins build their nests, but put no eggs in them for awhile. They stand off at a distance and wait to see what happens. If nothing extraordinary occurs, then they go ahead and put the beautiful blue eggs in the nest.

Again, it’s a wonder the mourning doves have any offspring at all. They pick the most inane places for their flimsy nests, which often blow away before they’re completed.

Our neighbor said they saw a full-grown male ring-necked pheasant in our front yard, but we haven’t seen him. We have begun to hear the bobwhite though, and the elegant barn swallows are back. Their flight always sends a shiver down the spine.

It’s been cool, wet, a little stormy in Ohio. Was good to be home for a spell.

Thank you to all of you who joined us on our Long Surrender Tour from Boston to Minneapolis. Truly, an amazing run…

Here is some of the latest Over the Rhine news:

JAPAN. Karin and I are hopping on a jet tomorrow and flying to Japan. We are going to offer our songs in a spirit of healing and support at Watching The Sky Festival, April 24, and at AOYAMA CAY in Tokyo, April 25. We know we will receive far more than we could ever give.

ABC’s BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Fans of Kim Taylor and Over the Rhine may want to tune in this coming Sunday evening, April 24. :0)

INFAMOUS LOVE SONGS: Over the Rhine performs LIVE with the Cincinnati
Ballet on April 29 and 30. Three Performances! Three nationally-known choreographers have choreographed 19 of our songs in three acts. We perform live with the dancers at the beautiful Aronoff Center. Join us!

MAY CONCERTS: OtR ON TOUR: Upcoming dates in Ohio, Virginia, Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee! Check out overtherhine.com

Over the Rhine: Conversations on a Musical Train: September 23-29, 2011, with amazing guests Mary Gauthier, Richard Shindell, Michael Wilson and more. Join us for a musical train ride, mountains, hot springs, outdoor fires and lots of music.

Yes, overtherhine.com for more on all the above.

Peace like a river, Love like an ocean,

Over the Rhine

May 17, 2011

Dear friends, compatriots, co-conspirators, fellow travelers,

A late night dispatch from the farm…

One year ago today, Karin and I walked into The Garfield House in South Pasadena, California, for the first time. Many of you who had found Over the Rhine’s music and given it a good life had stepped forward in advance of our trip and pitched hard-earned money into an imaginary hat that we passed all over the world to make this particular adventure possible.

Our producer, Joe Henry (also a songwriter, performer, recording artist, writer, husband and father) had assembled a band of musicians that would soon help The Garfield House lift off the ground, drift out over the Pacific Ocean, and blow apart. I’m happy to say that even though we got the songs out over the deep sea and had to hit the life boats, Joe Henry got us all safely back to shore.

Without being too metaphorical, musically speaking, it was truly the week of a lifetime for us. We started on a Monday afternoon, May 17. The first two songs we recorded that first afternoon were Sharpest Blade (co-written with Joe, and The Laugh of Recognition, written by Karin.) We wrapped the following Friday afternoon, May 21. The record is full of a number of ‘first takes’. The band felt like a beautiful dancing partner. We just wanted to lean in, close our eyes and take the ride.

We called it The Long Surrender.

One year later, even now we find ourselves needing to thank not only our captain, Joe Henry, but Ryan Freeland, the engineer who recorded and mixed the following cast of conjurers so beautifully:

Jay Bellerose (all manner of drums, weather, a one man marching band)
David Piltch (upright bass, electric bass, masonry, scaffolding)
Greg Leisz (pedal steel, lap steel, mando cello, tenor guitar and things I don’t know what to call)
Keefus Ciancia (outdated keyboards, moonlit orchestra in a box)
Patrick Warren (Chamberlin, reed organ, expansion coordinator)
Levon Henry (tenor saxophone, guardian angel appearing in the 3rd act)

And our soul singers:

Niki Haris
Jean McClain
James Gilstrap

And finally, Lucinda Williams, who leaned into the song Undamned in front of our eyes, trading lines with Karin, reminding us all that tears of joy and sadness do indeed well from the same place.

And if you have invited these songs to be a part of your life, you too have our gratitude.

Thank God for music.

If you haven’t yet heard The Long Surrender, please visit overtherhine.com or any fine upstanding record store and jump off the high dive into the deep end. Don’t be shy now. It’s not the same without you.

Karin and I can’t remember a time we have been called upon to work harder than we’ve worked in the last few months since the release of The Long Surrender.

We were privileged to take our first trip to Japan recently and offer our songs at an outdoor festival, as well as on a few radio stations and in a music venue in Tokyo. Songs like Latter Days, Days Like This and All My Favorite People feel different in a country still grieving 27,000 dead or missing.

We arrived as students and listeners and found so much to absorb. There had been four small earthquakes (by their standards) the day before we arrived. Our host, Hajime, explained to us that there was nothing we could do by worrying to change this reality they lived with. In fact, if we experienced an earthquake, he explained there was really no way to control what was happening – it’s impossible to predict whether it’s safer to stay inside or run outside. The important thing regardless of events beyond our control was to embrace the moment in front of us gracefully and surrender the rest.

The food, the kindness we experienced, and a pristine, sunny, embryonic Easter Sunday Morning in Japan were unforgettable. Thanks to all who found us on this trip and made us feel so welcome – we hope to see you again soon.

The day after we got back from Japan, we rehearsed with the band for 8 hours to prepare for two dress rehearsals and three performances with the Cincinnati Ballet, a company of 33 dancers from around the world. Three choreographers had worked up a program in three acts set to 20 of our songs, which we performed live as a collaboration with the dancers.

There certainly aren’t enough pages available in this letter to describe what happened, but it was another highlight of our 20 years of making music together. And so moving: Karin had to close her eyes during the songs Only God Can Save Us Now, and Who Will Guard The Door (the first written about her mother, the second about her father shortly after his death) in order to be able to sing them while they bloomed in front of us on stage. The good news is there is already talk of trying this again, or taking it to another city, or, or, or??? (C’mon P&G or GE or Great American Insurance Company: we need a sponsor.)

Last week we made a quick visit to Calgary and Winnipeg and offered some music as part of an evening’s conversation with our good friend, editor of Image journal, Greg Wolfe. We were reminded of the years I spent as a young teen on the prairies of Alberta. Perhaps I haven’t fully acknowledged the influence those wide open spaces must have had on my songwriting. But we do hope we can visit more often.

So, on the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the recording of The Long Surrender, lift a glass with us and mark your calendars:

Tuesday, May 17th: NPR’s WORLD CAFÉ airs our interview with David Dye, and our performance of several songs from The Long Surrender. Listen in on your local NPR station, or stream online.

OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT: (more info at overtherhine.com)

Wednesday, May 18th: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA: Jefferson Theater, with very special guest, Kim Taylor (writer of the song, Days Like This, recently featured on ABC’s Brothers and Sisters…)

Thursday, May 19th, WILMINGTON, DE: 11th Annual Non-Comm(vention) with The Civil Wars, Bright Eyes, Justin Townes Earle, The Jayhawks and many more.
SOLD OUT. (Our set Thursday evening will be broadcast on WXPN out of Philadelphia. Stream online.)

Tuesday, May 24th, ST. LOUIS, MO: Old Rock House, with very special guest, Sarah Siskind

Wednesday, May 25th, LOUISVILLE, KY: WATERFRONT WEDNESDAYS.
With Harper Blynn and Cabin: an evening of music in the open air to calm the Ohio River, and help spring arrive. ***FREE SHOW.*** THANK YOU WFPK!

Friday and Saturday, May 27 and 28: DAYTON, OH: Canal Street Tavern, our living room away from home, with very special guest, Sarah Siskind

Sunday, May 29, NASHVILLE, TN: Third and Lindsley: with very special guest, Sarah Siskind. LIVE BROADCAST ON WRLT. Tune in, or stream online.

Recently announced! Our beautiful wknd in the South:

Thursday, June 16: CHARLOTTE, NC: The Visulite Theatre, with very special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche

Friday, June 17: ATLANTA, GA: Variety Playhouse, with very special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche

Saturday, June 18: ASHEVILLE, NC: The Orange Peel, with very special guest, Lucy Wainwright Roche

Check out overtherhine.com for more, including info on our appearance at Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, and a weeklong, musical train trip we have planned for September with Mary Gauthier, Richard Shindell and Michael Wilson. A week of mountains, open fires, evenings of music, hot springs, new friendships formed. (We wouldn’t encourage you to jump in on something like this if we lived more than once.)

Hope we can be together soon one way or t’other.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin of Over the Rhine

PS Please circulate this information freely. Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers, you’re welcome. You can stay right here. You don’t have to go.

June 11, 2011

Dear extended musical family,

Well, after 20-some-odd years in the music business,
songwriting,
recording,
releasing projects,
touring in the USA and abroad,
performing on radio stations,
the occasional tv show,
on moving trains,
on a ship at sea,
outdoor festivals,
headlining our own Over the Rhine shows,
supporting more well-known artists on the road,
being on and off record labels,
running our own label along the way at various points,
working with publishers and distributors large or small
while all the while remaining fiercely independent of spirit-

One begins to feel as if one has seen it all.

But if I know only one thing for sure this morning here on Nowhere Farm:

We have not seen it all.

Take our Friday evening show at Canal Street Tavern a few weeks ago. Into this storied listening room in Dayton (if you had a good arm you could throw a baseball into the nearby minor league ball park) we have brought our suitcases full of songs old and new over the course of much of our career, to offer them in a space that feels like our living room away from home.

It’s not a big place, so people arrive early before doors open and take their place on the sidewalk with their books to read, or a box of chocolate chip cookies from a favorite recipe to share, and the line grows down the block, and it feels a bit like vanishing America, people standing around on a sidewalk trading war stories, laughing, cells vibrating a bit in the context of a group of human beings leaning together in the same direction, flesh and blood.

But then shortly after the doors opened two ducks arrived and got in line. A male and a female mallard…

Allow me to repeat that: TWO DUCKS.

I didn’t see any of this and I didn’t dream any of it – it was reported to me by multiple witnesses. The female duck seemed to be in charge (?!) and when doors opened she walked up the steps to enter the venue beckoning to the somewhat skeptical male to follow. It was as if she wanted to buy a ticket. She may as well have been smoking a cigarette.

A duck walks into a bar…

Apparently, several concerned concert-goers ran to their cars to retrieve food for the temporarily earthbound water fowl in case they were hungry. They were ambivalent, but seemed intent on seeing the show. When no one provided them with paper tickets, they milled around for awhile, and eventually left.

I heard multiple accounts of this story because much earlier that day in the state of New York, our friend Keith had purchased us a celebratory bottle of wine in anticipation of the unfolding evening. He had asked the wine shop owner to recommend something good and he had. The wine, a big California blend, 2007 vintage, of 72% Zinfandel, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc is called Paraduxx. The label looks like a beautiful old postage stamp. It’s printed on uncoated paper and has a painting of two ducks on it: hooded mergansers to be exact. When Keith handed us the bottle after the show, the previous story came out (as if being uncorked) from several bystanders, and was confirmed by the ticket takers and merch sales people in the entrance of the venue.

Apparently everyone knew about it except me.

If you can help us with any of the symbolism here, please write to us at:

OTRhine@aol.com

(Karin requests photographs, as well, please.)

As a writer, I know there’s something here. But I do not know what. I would have to write to find out.

No.

We have not seen everything.

I’ve realized often that when it comes to wine, or coffee, or the occasional enjoyment of a fine cigar (the tobacco thereof grown in the light of some island sun) I’m drawn to blends. I’d like to think that the music of Over the Rhine is a blend, different strains of American music (gospel, country & western, rock & roll, old hymns, scratchy jazz 78’s) being poured together like wine through the ache of a heart to bleed something beautiful into the veins of the world.

I won’t lie to you. There are certainly moments on the road when exhaustion sets in.

(We’ve noticed that hotel rooms are increasingly becoming toxic environments – it seems to be getting worse – rooms designed without the possibility of opening a window – chemical cleaners – chemicals used to prevent bedbug breakouts – new carpets off-gassing into a closed system – central air conditioning units that become moldy – it all takes a toll on a respiratory system.)

(Flying on an airplane has hit an all-time low in the enjoyment and comfort department. It used to be kind of special to get on an airplane. The good news is it has gotten so laughably uncomfortable to travel by air, that it has to begin improving in the very near future. I think we’ve hit bottom.)

And there is a lot of uncertainty that goes along with trying to offer the world something beautiful for a living. I cannot imagine what picking up a check every two weeks would feel like. In the last 20 years, it has been all over the map. Truly an adventure, but thank God I married a woman with a high tolerance for risk. We live life without a safety net. We discover we are survivors.

But I do have the following spiritual exercise handed to me often. Whenever I begin to feel that my life is particularly difficult, I can open the mail.

I can read about the father holding the hand of his son who just passed away from cancer at 3:30am, thanking us for signing that CD that they listened to, for the exchange of a few notes. Miraculously, it meant something, provided some small sacrament of comfort.

I can read about the 19-year-old girl that stumbled into a tent on a pig farm with friends to discover us playing on a stage after midnight. How (she continues) she felt something she could not name beckoning her, 19-years-old, pregnant, scared, overwhelmed. How she picked up a CD (Good Dog Bad Dog) and went home and pointed the speakers at her growing stomach, over weeks and months and especially played the song The Seahorse to the unseen baby that she gave up for adoption, and how that song still connects her to that child. Now she’s in her thirties, and after a journey of counseling and healing, she’s married and expecting again, and this time she’s going to keep the baby, and the music is still playing.

And I can hear a voice saying:

You’ve never lost a child
You’ve never been asked to leave loved ones behind and go to Iraq or Afghanistan
armed to the teeth
You’ve never faced a life-threatening illness
You’ve never missed a meal
You’ve never slept in the rain

Etc.

My life is not that hard.

(My sister reminded me, laughing, that actually we did miss a few meals as kids and did sleep in the rain, but as far as the rain, I think it was just the one time… I suspect we’ll get into all that someday in our respective memoirs.)

I picked up Karin yesterday evening at the airport. She had been doing more recording at The Garfield House in South Pasadena (with friend and brother Joe Henry). We stopped at a favorite café on the way to the farm and traded stories and laughed and the wine flowed, and we had so much to talk about (and laugh about) just being apart a few days that I was wondering if people thought that we were caught up in some new romance. I hope we didn’t turn too many heads.

Life continues to be a mixture of joy and sorrow and laughter and pain and small victories that offer cause for celebration.

Thank God for music.

+++

We are taking the six-piece band out on the road for a few potentially unforgettable summer evenings. We are going to swing for the fences. We are going to put the songs right into your wheelhouse. Drink some sweet tea. (Ducks optional.)

We are bringing along our friend and compatriot, Lucy Wainwright Roche, a girl with a quiver full of stories and songs of her own that need to be shared.

PASTE PRESENTS OVER THE RHINE IN CONCERT,
with special guest Lucy Wainwright Roche*

(THIS) THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2011, CHARLOTTE, NC, VISULITE THEATER*

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, ATLANTA, GA, VARIETY PLAYHOUSE*

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, ASHEVILLE, NC, THE ORANGE PEEL*

+++

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, SHAKORI HILLS, NC, WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL (OtR 9pm)

+++

THURSDAY, JULY 7, AKRON, OH, STAN HYWET HALL AND GARDENS

+++

CONVERSATIONS ON A MUSICAL TRAIN:

Don’t forget about our train ride, September 22-29. Join us with special guests Mary Gauthier, Richard Shindell, Michael Wilson and more, for music, hot springs, mountains and trains – the week of a lifetime. Overtherhine.com for details.

More to come.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin of Over the Rhine

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

July 30, 2011

Dear extended musical family,

Hello from Santa Fe – where we just lingered over a gorgeous brunch at Pasqual’s, with dear friends Barry Moser and Emily Crowe. Wrote the letter below a few days ago at the farm, but didn’t get it mailed before we hopped on the plane… xo.

+++

Woke up this morning on the farm, on the blurry edge of the world, mist rising off the fields, the embryo of a new day breaking open, pink and lavender spreading like a hopeful rumor in the east. A glowing crescent was clinging to the edge of the still-high moon like a spooning lover. A patient hawk sat silent in the dead elm, the goldfinches waking up, the first hummingbirds arriving at Karin’s feeders, thrumming the invisible harp of the world with their wings.

The morning smelled like a freshly opened bottle of wine – leaves, earth, the damp woods, berries, grass.

There is still more than enough beauty in one morning alone on earth to break a heart wide open.

We’ve missed you.

There can be no doubt that it’s summertime, but I am reminded again of something I once read:

For every person who has ever lived there will come, at last, a spring he will never see. Glory then in the springs that are yours…

I suppose that could be changed to, Glory then in the seasons that are yours.

This past week I heard something that was new to me: an adult dove teaching an adolescent dove to sing. Such a willing student trying to find those five notes! Its voice was too high, and it couldn’t do the elongated yodel near the beginning, but the teacher was patient. Over and over it would call, and the younger dove would do its (laughable) imitation (which sounded almost owl-like). And then, finally, it found its lower register, and that yodel happened. It was sort of like the world stopped spinning for a moment when that discovery was made.

The next day they were at it again, but it didn’t take as long for the song to begin to fall into place.

I hope our songs embody moments of discovery like that, rather than just reporting on discoveries already made.

Speaking of birds, last time, I wrote about the two ducks that walked into a bar, arriving at our concert in Dayton, and your letters in response were amazing. We need to figure out how to do a public “mail bag” one of these days, so that we can share some of what finds its way into our mailbox. Thank you to all of you who wrote – so many amazing notes and letters.

If there’s some bit of correspondence you want to pass our way:

otrhine@aol.com

(Please forgive us in advance if we are unable to respond to everything personally, but we make a point to read and receive everything as we’re able.)

Well, it’s the Wild West out there when it comes to the music industry. Feels like everything’s getting shot up, welcome to the gold rush, everyone racing toward the next horizon, unsure what’s ahead, hoping to get there (where?) early, hoping to cash in somehow.

Some days it’s hard to remember that we wanted to do this because we love music.

But I guess I always believed that if we continued to grow as songwriters, if we insisted on trying to make interesting records to the best of our ability at the time, if we remained open and curious in spite of all the mind-numbing marketing, we would somehow not only make a living, but a life, and the way forward would be revealed. So Karin and I do try to lean still into the heart and soul of the matter: the songs themselves.

And I’m happy to report that there are some new songs arriving, whispering to themselves along the wild edges of things. It certainly feels like something is making itself known.

Much more on that soon.

And we continue to dream out loud about if, how and when we might begin sharing Nowhere Farm with our extended musical family. We still find ourselves occasionally wondering as to whether this place could be shared with other writers, other music lovers, a place for the occasional concert in the open air. Maybe we could have the Amish help raise a barn that would be used as a venue, a place where we could host small concerts, and workshops. Or maybe we could offer a writer who was finishing a book a little hermitage on the edge of things. Gather around a fire in the evenings and compare notes, or not. Maybe our paths would cross when I was out walking Porter.

And then we would eventually just leave it all to a foundation of some kind and others could use it after we were long gone. We could plant some trees that would outlive us.

We’re having a lot of conversations. Maybe the way forward will be revealed.

But yeah, regardless, we miss you and wanted to check in.

Here are a few other announcements, and then I really must finish packing for our trip to Santa Fe.

SANTA FE, THIS SATURDAY

This Saturday, July 30, Karin and I will be performing a special show at Sol Santa Fe…

Then beginning Monday, we’ll be leading our weeklong songwriting workshop at St. John’s College along with other writers, painters, poets etc, many of whom we have come to call dear friends. Our eighth consecutive year at The Glen Workshop: amazing.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

Keep an eye out at overtherhine.com for much more soon regarding our touring plans this late summer and fall. Many exciting firsts, and returning to some favorite haunts as well. We’ll be posting upcoming concerts in the next few weeks.

CONVERSATIONS ON A MUSICAL TRAIN

It’s not too late. There are still seats available. Check out this amazing link and please tell your friends, family, anyone in desperate need of a soul-refreshing change of scenery:

http://www.flyingunderradar.com/rails/FT11NG.htm

Yes, what can we say about our train trip this September 22-29? Meet us in Albuquerque as we travel into the Rockies of Southern Colorado. We’ll be riding legendary, high-altitude narrow-gauge steam trains just as the aspen leaves are turning golden, riding through some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. In the evenings, we gather around for music. In Pagosa Springs, we’ll rest in those hot springs under the stars for a spell…

We’ll be joined by songwriter Mary Gauthier: Find Mary’s song Mercy Now, a song that continues to be timely and prophetic, one of the great songs of our generation, and you’ll discover why Mary is on board. She’s juicy and wise, a fellow student of life.

Folk singer Richard Shindell will be joining us. A few of our friends are crazy about his songs. We’re curious, and look forward to meeting Richard and hearing his music under such unique circumstances.

Photographer Michael Wilson will be joining us again. Michael has been an important musical mentor and longtime friend to Karin and I. If you’ve enjoyed his photographs in our (or many others’) album packages over the years (or found any of his books), you’ll know why he is one of the great, highly sought-after photographers working today. Michael will be making individual portraits of all who ride the train – a memento of an unforgettable week.

Karin’s childhood friend, naturalist Lynn Neal, will be on board, to help illuminate the landscape, answer questions and make us laugh. You’ll see what I mean.

Last year we had people arrive from Sweden, Germany, the UK, Canada, Alaska, and around the USA. Small miracles happened in front of our eyes. Life is short – we hope to see you.

Someone reminded me that I wrote this awhile back:

The life you are meant to find will wring your heart to the point of breaking, and then douse you with buckets of joy when you’re not looking.

Sounds about right I suppose.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford (and Karin), Nowhere Farm

PS Other ways of keeping in touch:

Check out Over the Rhine on facebook for (almost) daily updates, and news tidbits.

If you’re hungry for other tiny observations, asides, headlines, non-sequiturs, follow us on twitter:

Over the Rhine: @overtherhine

Karin: @karinbergquist

Linford: @linfordjerome

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

September 21, 2011

Dear friends,

The hummingbirds are history.

Karin tends her feeders all summer and the porch thrums continuously. And then one day in September, they vanish.

The wild asters are finally blooming: the last flower of summer.

And the field of golden rod is alive with honeybees. You walk a mown path and the whole world hums in a dream of honey.

Geese have been flying overhead. Crows gather along the edges and seem to enjoy their ability to cuss out everything.

Summer is slipping away.

And we too, yet again, have packed our bags full of songs and love notes to the imperfect world, and we are setting out to find – you?

Please do join us if you can for a little “heartbreak and laughter, the joy and the tears, the scary beauty of what’s right here…”

Maybe we need each other more than ever.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin of Over the Rhine

The Long Surrender – Over the Rhine Fall Tour Dates

SEPT 22 – 29 TRAIN TRIP, ABQ, DURANGO, SILVERTON, SANTA FE ETC ETC.

Note: the following two shows are open to the public:

SEPT 22 – ALBUQUERQUE, NM w/Mary Gauthier and Richard Shindell
SEPT 23 – DURANGO, CO w/Mary Gauthier and Richard Shindell

OCT 2 – HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL, San Francisco
OCT 4 – The State Room, SLC, UT
OCT 6, 7 – The Soiled Dove, DENVER, CO Two nights!

SUPPORTING LUCINDA WILLIAMS:
OCT 8 – Billy Bob’s, FORT WORTH, TX
OCT 9 – Warehouse Live, HOUSTON, TX
OCT 11 – Juanita’s, LITTLE ROCK, AR
OCT 12 – The Pageant, ST. LOUIS, MO

+++
More OtR Headline shows:
OCT 27 – Club Café, PITTSBURGH, PA
OCT 28 – Malone College, CANTON, OH
OCT 29 – C2G Music Hall, FORT WAYNE, IN

NOV 5 – Bomhard Theater, LOUISVILLE, KY

NOV 11 – EMERY THEATER BENEFIT CONCERT, CINCINNATI, OH (More info TBA soon!) (11/11/11)

WEST COAST!

NOV 13 – El Rey, LOS ANGELES, CA
NOV 15 – Great American Music Hall, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
NOV 17 – Aladdin Theater, PORTLAND, OR
NOV 18 – 20, The Triple Door, SEATTLE, WA (THREE SHOWS)

CHRISTMAS TOUR:

DEC 2 – Berklee, BOSTON,
DEC 3 – Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
DEC 4 – The Birchmere, DC
DEC 5 – World Café Live, PHILLY, PA

DEC 7 – The Lincoln Theater, COLUMBUS, OH
DEC 8 – Kent Stage, KENT, OH
DEC 9 – Calvin College, GRAND RAPIDS, MI
DEC 10 – Old Town School of Folk, CHICAGO (Two shows! Early and late.)

DEC 17 – The Taft Theater, CINCINNATI, OH (Tickets on sale soon!)
DEC 18 – St. E’s, Sunday Soiree with fans, CINCINNATI, OH (More details very soon!)

Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers, you’re welcome. You can stay right here. You don’t have to go…

October 25, 2011

THE LETTER: There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly of the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

– From Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille

Dear extended musical family,

Karin came across the above quote recently while we were privileged to be on the road opening some shows for Lucinda Williams. You know how I tend to ramble on in these letters? I’m tempted to bite my tongue for once and let the above stand. It was so timely and resonated deeply with both of us.

+++

But I must at least say Thank You to all of you who joined us on our recent travels. We convened in Albuquerque and then rode trains along rivers and through mountains. (You really come along on one of these train tours someday.) We traded songs with Mary Gauthier and Richard Shindell along the way and found ourselves inspired. We offered songs beneath tall trees to a setting sun in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. We found warm audiences waiting for us in SLC and Denver. And finally, thanks again to Lucinda Williams and her band and crew and fans for making us feel so welcome as we brought this most recent tour to a close. It was a true honor to be able to share the stage with one of our longtime songwriting heroes. If you haven’t heard Lucinda’s latest album, Blessed, or heard the band she’s currently touring with – you’re missing something special.

+++

We arrived home to fall here in Southern Ohio. I won’t deny that it took a full week or more to recover from the road this time around. It seemed both Karin and I had a bad case of the post-production blues. It’s a mystery – you go out and offer whatever it is you have to give with your whole heart, you meet lovely people along the way, you see some unforgettable places, you think, I’m doing what it is I was put on this earth to do. You arrive home feeling like you’ve accomplished something, and the dogs confirm it by throwing a party. You get all the suitcases and guitars back into the house, and drop onto the couch in a state of exhilarated exhaustion. But then sooner or later you find yourself staring with unblinking fish eyes. Everything begins to fade to black and a door swings open and doubts walk in like they own the place.

We’re failures.
This is all a waste of time.
What were we thinking?
Who are we kidding?

I don’t know where the dark clouds in my head come from, but Karin and I have learned not to try to solve the world’s problems when we’ve just returned home. I guess we just need some time for our souls to catch up with our bodies.

So we let the dogs love on us. We take long walks alone. I like to wander down to the creek and look at the familiar trees along the way, watch the sky put on a little show in the evenings. A big stack of mail eventually gets opened. A first load of laundry gets thrown in. Evening meals are prepared together. We discover the right book to read. Or the right film to watch. (Andy Goldsworthy, Rivers and Tides.) Slowly the pieces begin to fit back together again. It’s a beautiful heartbreaking imperfect world. And it’s a gift to be alive in it.

And then, slowly, it’s time to return to the work at hand.

For the time being, what we have to offer you and each other is music. This particular music wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t made it, and if you hadn’t given it a life. These are songs for nights intent on growing longer, songs for warmth against the chill of loneliness, songs for leaning into the closeness of a prized loved one, songs to comfort and help us let go gracefully of what we’ve already lost, songs for keeping the soul tuned to the subtle voice that all too often gets drowned in the din of a rushing world, the voice that whispers, Keep the channel open.

We try to keep the channel open.

And we are hoping to see you and yours and make a little lovely ruckus together. This is a good time of year to gather ourselves together. Share and celebrate a little long surrender and more. Maybe we’ll be surprised…

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin

PS If there’s a particular song that you would like to hear, e-mail us your request, and let us know which show you’ll be attending. We’ll try to pull at least a few out of the hat each night… otrhine@aol.com

PPS And oh yeah btw: We do have some brand new songs, the ink still drying. We’ll try a few of these out on you as well, you can be sure.

+++

Over the Rhine | This Week! | Fall Back Roads Run

(Visit overtherhine.com for links and more info.)

This Thursday, OCT 27 – Club Café, PITTSBURGH, PA. One of the coziest venues we’ll play all year in a neighborhood well worth exploring. Our living room for the evening.

This Friday, OCT 28 – Malone College, CANTON, OH. My birthday, thank you very much, in the Ohio town where I was born, in the Ohio town where I met Karin at a small Quaker liberal arts college, in the town where we performed together for the first time etc etc. Not much significance here. Not much reminiscing during this show. Very few stories to tell on this particular night…

This Saturday, OCT 29 – C2G Music Hall, FORT WAYNE, IN. Ah, Amish country. The Essenhaus nearby, where Karin and I stopped for a night on our little Midwestern honeymoon back in the day. Driving the back roads. (Come to think of it, we just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on the road in Boulder, Colorado. A bottle of French wine in a little French restaurant called Mateo on Pearl Street. Check it out sometime. A candle on the table in the festooned courtyard.) Also, my brother Jonathan turned 50 and realized he needed to begin painting again. He’s currently pursuing his MFA at St. Francis University in Fort Wayne. Lookin’ forward to seeing bro Jon and the family and some of his recent work.

Saturday, NOV 5 – Bomhard Theater, LOUISVILLE, KY. One of our favorite venues in one of America’s most musical river cities – a lovely theater with a huge collage of lost and found musical instruments as a backdrop. This one is not to be missed. With very special guest, our friend, Lucy Wainwright Roche.

Friday, NOV 11 – REQUIEM PROJECT: Emery Theatre Benefit Concert, CINCINNATI, OH. Join us, and a wide array of colorful characters from Cincinnati’s diverse arts community, for an evening of beautiful mayhem as we re-open the doors of this lovely and storied theater in the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. This is the first theater that Karin and I ever headlined with the band. Those memorable, sold out nights had our hearts beating for weeks afterward. We are thrilled that there is a strong vision coming together to save and restore and revive this historic Cincinnati landmark. Don’t miss a wonderful collaborative night for a great cause. http://www.emerytheatre.com/

+++

WEST COAST! With very special guests, Milk Carton Kids
Tickets on sale now for all shows.

NOV 13 – El Rey, LOS ANGELES, CA (Over the Rhine’s debut at El Rey! Our only SoCal appearance in 2011. Look for some special guest appearances. Please come find us and say hello.)
NOV 15 – Great American Music Hall, SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Beautiful old bordello. Looking forward to returning to San Fran after the amazing HSBF.)
NOV 17 – Aladdin Theater, PORTLAND, OR (Lovely old theater in a lovely city.)
NOV 18 – 20, The Triple Door, SEATTLE, WA (THREE SHOWS) (Our favorite place to end our West Coast tours – becoming a tradition. Fabulous listening room. Fabulous food and wine. Happy to be returning after our debut at Bumbershoot Festival.)

EAST COAST AND MIDWESTERN Christmas Tour – An Over the Rhine tradition. Come in out of the cold and join us this year as we try out some brand new Christmas songs on you, and pull favorites out of our catalog like rabbits out of a black fedora.

DEC 2 – Berklee, BOSTON, MASS
DEC 3 – Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
DEC 4 – The Birchmere, DC
DEC 5 – World Café Live, PHILLY, PA

DEC 7 – The Lincoln Theater, COLUMBUS, OH
DEC 8 – Kent Stage, KENT, OH
DEC 9 – Calvin College, GRAND RAPIDS, MI
DEC 10 – Old Town School of Folk, CHICAGO (Two shows! Early and late.)

DEC 17 – The Taft Theatre, CINCINNATI, OH (Our homecoming show at the newly renovated Taft! Can’t wait to see it.)
DEC 18 – St. E’s, Sunday Soiree with fans, CINCINNATI, OH, 3pm (We lift a glass with friends in a ragged old cathedral and bring our working year to a close with some acoustic music and festive food and drink.)

‘As for your tender heart, this world’s gonna rip it wide open. It ain’t gonna be pretty, but you’re not alone. All my favorite people are broken.’

Please share the above freely. xo.

L&K

November 25, 2011

Greetings extended musical family,

It’s a crisp sunny morning in Ohio. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Karin spread the table here at home yesterday for just the two of us:

Nowhere Farm Thanksgiving Menu 2011

Chicken stuffed with garlic, onions and rosemary
(basted and infused w/Sauvignon blanc and citrus stock)
Homemade gravy
Mashed potatoes
Chestnut fig dressing
Fordhook Lima beans
Garlic naan
Cranberry apple butter
Moscato

One of the supreme bonuses of my life: I knew the young Karin could sing. I didn’t know she could cook.

(Today we head to Indiana for our family gathering so there’s more to come.)

I took a walk last night after dark beneath the stars and was reminded of what I wrote as a younger man:

“And the sky. The sky is an upside down cobalt blue breakfast bowl of stars newly spilled and milky and we feel our eyes sting in the chill air. And we begin walking in the same direction and I realize there are so many things I’d love to tell you because now there is no longer need for words.”

The younger version of me: I was often overwhelmed with how to respond to the unwieldy gift of being alive in this beautiful, heartbreaking world. I didn’t know where to begin.

But eventually I came to believe that music was as good a response as I was ever going to come up with. What better way to try to say thank you? Was there ever going to be a more nourishing ritual than gathering a group of people together in a room somewhere where we could make music over the course of an evening and have a conversation of some kind? Lean into the imaginary harness, and bend the world ever so slightly toward the hopefulness we longed for?

I know of no better time of year for music. The dark evenings are growing ever longer. The night air helps us make ghosts with our breath. We’re going to find some warmly lit stages and offer our songs to the close and holy darkness.

It’s not the same without you.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin

+++

December 2011 Over the Rhine Christmas Tour

(We’ll be pulling songs from our two Christmas/Winter CDs: Snow Angels, The Darkest Night of the Year, and playing a few of your requests along the way from our entire catalog.)

With very special guests, The Milk Carton Kids (You will love!)

(After 20 years of touring, suffice it to say the following are among our favorite venues ever):

DEC 2 – Berklee Performance Center, (at Berklee School of Music), BOSTON, MASS
DEC 3 – Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
DEC 4 – The Birchmere, DC
DEC 5 – World Café Live, PHILLY, PA

DEC 7 – The Lincoln Theater, COLUMBUS, OH
DEC 8 – Kent Stage, KENT, OH
DEC 9 – Calvin College, GRAND RAPIDS, MI
DEC 10 – Old Town School of Folk, CHICAGO (Two shows! Early and late.)

And finally we bring it all back home to end our working year in Ohio:

DEC 17 – The Taft Theatre, CINCINNATI, OH (Our homecoming show at the newly renovated Taft! Can’t wait to see it. With very special guest, our friend, Lucy Wainwright Roche!)

DEC 18 – 3pm, St. Elizabeth’s, Sunday Soiree, CINCINNATI, OH, (We lift a glass with friends in a ragged old cathedral and share some festive food and drink. Also, get this: Q&A with K&L. Join us.)

‘As for your tender heart, this world’s gonna rip it wide open. It ain’t gonna be pretty. But you’re not alone. All my favorite people are broken.’

+++

Also, please consider sharing the music of Over the Rhine during this season as you contemplate gifts for friends and family. We have specially priced bundles of both Snow Angels and The Darkest Night of the Year (5 CDs for $50, or 10 CDs for $75).

And starting next week we are going to add this:

Five CDs that changed our world: OtR Studio CD package $50
Good Dog Bad Dog
OHIO (2 CD set)
Drunkard’s Prayer
The Trumpet Child
The Long Surrender

(Also, you will receive The Trumpet Child songbook with any order over $35.)

Thanks as always for your support. As Karin likes to say, Without you, we’d be homeless.

http://www.overtherhine.portmerch.com/stores/home.php

overtherhine.com

January 28, 2012

Hello again,

Well, 2012 has fully arrived; a new year circled the earth and found each of us, and here we are again, well on our way, ready or not, moving into what lies ahead. The turning of the year has always felt like a sacred moment to me. Before I was married, I would often borrow my parents’ little vintage camper, parked by a creek off the beaten path in Northeast Ohio. I would spend New Year’s eve walking alone after dark along a quiet road, and for some reason it often snowed, and it was like walking between the lines of a Robert Frost poem.

And I would sit at the little table in the camper and scribble down notes by the light of a small lamp, intuitively giving myself little spiritual exercises in which I would try to re-dream the past and remember the future.

After our Christmas tour wound down this past December (thank you, for so many memorable nights of shared music, and for the many little notes and gifts and encouraging words) Karin and I made our way back to Nowhere Farm for some much needed recovery time. In my post-tour haze the next morning, I picked out a lovely Norway spruce at a neighbor’s farm that, once upright in our pre-Civil War farm house, proved to be about two feet too tall. So it required some creative sawing and trimming in the dining room, but we mostly managed to laugh and keep the Chrismas cussin’ to a mininum. And decked out with many homemade ornaments made by young nephews and nieces, not to mention trivets that Karin and I have collected in our years of traveling together, it was indeed a festive tree in spite of the shave and haircut.

A big tree for a big year.

The holidays came and went and last week Karin and I started our working year by walking in our bare feet along the gulf coast of Florida at the 30a Songwriter’s festival. It was chilly in the shade but bright and warm in the sun, and while it was snowing back at the farm, Karin found herself eating Apalachicola Bay oysters outdoors for breakfast, and WOW were they tasty, and salty, and briny, and full of the infinite wonder of the sea. And we were reminded that the vocation of songwriting is a long and winding road, a road that often winds uphill, but it’s a vocation that nonetheless affords occasional unforgettable views and surprises.

And this week (big news) another Great Speckled Dog (in miniature) arrived at Nowhere Farm: we have taken on a blue merle Great Dane puppy called Miss Minnie Pearl – our Pearl Merle Girl. Shakey and Porter are a little unsure of whether she’s just visiting or staying, but sooner or later it will sink in that she is indeed their little sis. And then she will gradually become their BIG sis. So we’re trying not to die from all the cuteness, and I’m sure we’ll post some pictures from time to time.

Well Karin and I have been thinking about recording more music this year, so much more on that soon. (Feel like making another record or two?) But in the meanwhile, we need to try out a few of the new songs at a few of our favorite venues that we were unable to visit in 2011. We need to break the songs down to their simplest fundamentals and see how they fly. And revisit a few old friends as well. So without further ado, we thought we’d ask you out on a date or two. Care to dance?

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin

OVER THE RHINE FEBRUARY 2012 TOUR DATES

Wednesday, February 1, Annapolis, MD, Ram’s Head Tavern: An acoustic evening with Over the Rhine

Thursday, February 2, Frederick, MD, Weinberg Center For The Arts: An acoustic evening with Over the Rhine

Saturday, February. 18, Dallas, TX, The Granada Theatre
Sunday, February 19, Austin, TX, The Cactus Café

Saturday, February 25, St. Joseph, MN, College of St. Benedict

More dates will be announced soon – stay tuned at overtherhine.com for all the latest.

Follow us on twitter, and chk the Over the Rhine Facebook page for daily updates.

As for your tender heart, this world’s gonna break it wide open; it ain’t gonna be pretty, but you’re not alone.

April 1, 2012

Hello again friends,

It has been good to watch the many tiny miracles we refer to as ‘spring’ reveal themselves yet again here on Nowhere Farm. The buds and blooms (and birds) arrived early this year. As March now winds down, and the crescent moon climbs higher in its dark and curving dance with Venus and Jupiter, we are reminded that the world still has its surprises. Those surprises continue to be both tragic and wondrous.

Close long time friends are told that two of their children are struggling with rare genetic illnesses that will likely become progressively challenging. The prognosis is not encouraging.

The old maples around our farmhouse wave in a display of red buds.

Our godchildren struggle to navigate the sometimes troubled and ugly terrain of public high school. We root for them.

Daffodils bloom uproariously in the ditch.

Everywhere you look the world is broken and beautiful.

We marked the 4th anniversary of my father’s passing this March 15, and I have to admit I have not done particularly well. The mockingbird that followed me around the farm that first summer in his absence has appeared only briefly this spring and quickly flies elsewhere. Grief feels incomplete.

But we try to sing our way through. We’ve been recording simple versions of our new songs here on the farm, and my father certainly makes his appearances. For example:

Well the hallelujah chorus used to make my Daddy cry
I still wonder ‘bout the ruckus angels make up there on high
In the meanwhile there are measures we can take to get us by
Lay me down next to you in Ohio

Yes, we try to sing our way through.

There are two musical projects taking shape in our midst that we hope will be revealed this year. And yes (thanks for asking) we will most likely try once again to make these records communally with you, our extended musical family. (That is if you’re willing and still feel like betting on the muse.) We’ve been scheming about ways to make the whole experience fun and hopefully somewhat unique. More soon on all this.

(And if you have any ideas or suggestions, drop us a line: otrhine@aol.com). (We certainly were humbled and blessed by your collective generosity in making The Long Surrender.)

Yes.

In the meanwhile there are measures we can take to get us by:

Karin and I are seeking stages off the beaten path to try out some of the new songs, to hear the new songs in the context of some of our older songs, to feel how they breathe in a room in front of an audience…

Which brings us to you.

Join us for some bare-boned, warmly-lit evenings of music as we try to get at the heart and soul of the matter.

Hope to see you.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford (and Karin)

+++

Acoustic Evenings with Over the Rhine

EASTER WEEKEND:

Good Friday, April 6, San Rafael, CA, Marin County Civic Center Showcase Theater
Saturday, April 7, Santa Cruz, CA, Kuumbwa
Easter Sunday, April 8, Sacramento, CA, Harlow’s

Thursday, April 12, Ponte Vedra, FL, The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
Friday, April 13, Stuart, FL, The Lyric Theatre
Sunday, April 15, Tampa, FL, David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts

Friday, April 27, Decatur, GA, Eddie’s Attic
Saturday, April 28, Duluth, GA, Red Clay Theatre (Atlanta Area)

Friday, May 4, Evanston, IL, SPACE
Saturday, May 5, Evanston, IL, SPACE (Chicago area)

See overtherhine.com for much more…

Please share this letter freely. Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers, you’re welcome. You can stay right here. You don’t have to go.

Thanks.

+++

And now for something a little different, for those of you who would like to read the fine print, here is a draft of a poem I wrote not too long after my father died. My uncle Rudy, mentioned in the poem, has also been laid to rest.

Enjoy.

LJD

+++

Slowly the land reveals itself
To us.

We learn to recognize
The difference
Between a starling
And a female redwing
Blackbird.

Slowly the land reveals itself
To us.

We learn to recognize
The difference between
A honey locust
And a black locust,
A chokecherry
And a wild black cherry.

Slowly the land reveals itself
To us.

***

Our neighbors
Nurse hundreds of white pine seedlings
In the warm diffused light
Of a greenhouse.
During the first twelve months,
The trees, each in their own individual pot,
Grow to the height
Of not quite half an inch.

We stand
And fall silent
By folding tables
Spread with a miniature forest.

***

Slowly the land reveals itself
To us.

We learn to recognize
The difference between
Killing time
And resting.

***

As we tend
Our once-neglected farm
We tame it by cutting
Meandering
Walking paths
Everywhere.

But we leave the edges wild
With thistle, goldenrod,
Dogbane, pokeweed.

Let the songbirds
Have thorny hidden places
For their wild melodies.

I walk the paths
In the deep silence of the after dark
And feel a wild relief
Of anonymity.

I disappear.

***

Walking through my old neighborhood
In the city,
My father once remarked,
Ah, this is my favorite tree:
The sweet gum.
He leaned on it for a few moments
As if leaning on an old friend.

It hadn’t occurred to me
That I should have a favorite tree.

***

The beech tree has a plain name,
But its bark is smooth as a
Woman in the woods.

Once, my father told me that when
He and his brother Rudy returned to the family
Farm in Delaware, they saw on the old
Beeches there, words they had carved
With Barlow blades as boys
Fifty-some years earlier: the names of girls
They thought they loved,
And their own names
Waiting for them still,
Preserved like benign childhood wounds
In a diary of dappled sunlight.

When I last saw my Uncle Rudy,
I asked if those beech trees were still there.
He said, Oh no, and fell silent,
And his eyes glassed over.
He peered deep into the distance
And held his noble mouth
Like men do,
Who will not weep
In the face of the grim indignities
Of old age.

***

I planted a young beech tree this spring
On the edge of our woodlot.
I dug the wild thing free
With a spade, carried it home
Out of an old falling down fencerow
By the creek.
I hugged the root ball wrapped in burlap
To my chest like an infant in arms
And nodded hello to the May apples
As we passed by.

The breeze rustled the beech leaves
Like a tiny sail
And made of us a small boat
As we steered across the field
Toward home.

Now we watch the transplanted beech tree.
It’s been touch and go.
It’s always difficult, isn’t it:
Getting favorite things to grow.

***

I spoke recently with an intelligent,
Well-read American friend
(Who I like and admire)
About a trip he and his family
Made to Red River Gorge in Kentucky.
Sitting there in the springtime
Surrounded by
Vast stretches of deciduous forest
And the stern silences of steep cliffs,
It occurred to him and his family
That they weren’t
Quite sure what to do with themselves.
Eventually they got in their car
And felt relieved to go looking for a
Pizza Hut out along the highway.

It occurs to me now that going to the woods
Without knowing any of the many names
Of its inhabitants
Must be about as interesting as going
To a beautiful library
Without knowing how to read.

How hard have we worked to acquire
Our fresh ignorance?

***

After Daddy died, I was surprised to find
I needed to know the names of trees,
The names of birds and weeds
Gone to seed.

John Detweiler could no longer
Do the naming for me.

I spoke the names myself for once and found
New vocabulary for my wilted grief.

It just so happens
It was Red River Gorge
That became an open book to me.
It was there for the first time that I began
To call the towering
Tulip poplars by name. And the sourwood,
The redbud, the dogwood.
I walked beneath the tall umbrellas
Of large leaf magnolias and by banks of blooming
Rhododendron. I learned the difference between
Staghorn and winged sumac.
I watched the chinkapin oaks
Sway in their exchange of high secrets,
Felt the soft swish and hush of the low branches
Of hemlocks on my bare arms along cool creek banks.
I grinned to myself past thorny patches
Of devil’s walking stick,
Touched the bark of sugar maples, red maples, silver maples—
Whose leaves still squint toward the ground.

And far up on a ridge, finally,
I walked beneath a lone beech tree,
Leaning toward me.

Surely the lone beech tree spoke something
In the deep silence
Of its shade,
As I leaned on it
Like a new friend,
And felt its uncarved skin.

***

The young beech trees cling to their
Leaves in the fall
And long after other trees are bare,
As you drive by the woods,
They will seem to twirl
Like girls in pale skirts
Dancing there.

September 4, 2012

Dear ones,

Hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend.

Is it just me or are there strong hints of autumn everywhere?

The birds have gone mostly quiet in the mornings.

The staghorn sumac is already turning crimson, the field of golden rod is starting to turn, evening mist is creeping into the low fields. The acorn and butternut squash are lying exposed in the garden. The school buses are picking up children on back roads.

Yes, there is something about the light and air that is foreshadowing fall.

Karin is down in Louisville acting in an independent film with some heavy hitting songwriters – John Doe, Aimee Mann, Loudon Wainwright III and Joe Henry. I got to spend the weekend down there and drink in some of the vibe. It was especially good to reconnect once again with Joe, who as you know, helped us catch and release The Long Surrender.

Joe always thinks of September 1 as New Year’s Day, “the gateway into fall; marking the time to set aside distractions and truly engage in the soul’s real work; to rededicate yourself to love and service, forgiveness and mystery.”

(That’s the kind of small talk that emerges over a very cold gin martini with Joe.)

But yes, Amen, in that spirit, it’s September: Happy New Year!

Karin and I are still writing for these next few projects that are taking shape. It reminds of me of our first trip to Scotland. We took a ferry to the Isle of Arran (where I first attempted to drive on the left side of the road: I grazed a few mailboxes and nudged a sheep or two into the ditch, but other than that we eventually arrived unscathed at the youth hostel.) But anyway, we pointed to a small Scottish mountain one afternoon and decided to pull the car over and climb it. How long could it take?

The thing is, once we started climbing and neared the top, we realized we had further to go. And we would climb, and climb some more, and then from that new vantage point, we would see we were still not all the way there.

And so on.

It was nearing dark and quite cold when we finally made it back to the car. Later, after a change of clothes, we opened a door to the heartwarming glow of a Scottish pub in the middle of nowhere, families having dinner, pints being poured all around, noisy laughter and conversation, dogs lying on the floor in front of a roaring fire place. Unforgettable.)

But that’s the thing about writing. You think you’re nearing the end of the long climb, and then you realize there is more. Sometimes the doors just keep opening. One thing leads to another. A new song might make you aware in your mind’s eye that there is an unexplored adjacent room full of draped furniture that seems to be calling your name.

Anne Lamott compares this idea to driving at night. We can’t see the destination when we set out, but we can see as far as our headlights show us. And we drive that far and then we can see a little further. Eventually we get there.

Ray Bradbury said, Walk up to the edge of the cliff. Jump off. Build your wings on the way down.

It’s been good to surrender once again to the music, and feel it take us to wherever we need to go. It’s been good to be surprised by some new songs that have made themselves known late in the process. Yes, they often seem to be tugging us somewhere we cannot fully name. But I have a feeling, much as it was with that Scottish pub, we will eventually stumble in out of the cold to a place of warmth and laughter and camaraderie.

(Interesting side note: when we were walking across the brushy field toward the mountain, we criss-crossed a number of small flowing streams etc, but occasionally with no warning, one of our legs would suddenly plunge through the low growth into three or four feet of silty water. We were all soon soaked to the skin and a bit perplexed, but we were young and determined to press on. Later we were told we had crossed one of those infamous Scottish bogs, where people sometimes disappear and never resurface. Another metaphor for writing in there somewhere I suppose… Tie a rope around me, I’m goin’ in.)

But yes, I promise we will be announcing our new plans for these projects very soon. We are once again going to invite you all along and see where this next chapter takes us.

In the meanwhile, we have some lovely evenings planned for this fall. Lots of new songs we are anxious to try out on all of you… And some familiar ones as well, of course. Some listening rooms, some gorgeous theaters, some historic music venues… it’s gonna be good.

But it’s not the same without you. Hope you can come find us.

Rock on, rave on,

Linford (and Karin)

+++

WALTZ ACROSS TEXAS (When Karin’s movie shoot wraps early next week, we’re hitting the ground running and heading back to Texas. Join us!)

Thursday, September 13: Wimberly, TX: BLUE ROCK STUDIOS

Friday, September 14: The Woodlands (Houston), TX: DOSEY DOE

(Saturday, September 15: Austin, TX: Private Concert)

KENT STATE FOLK FESTIVAL

Friday, September 21, Kent, OH: KENT STAGE, with special guest Girlyman

(A festival with a lot of history just a stone’s throw from Hartville where my family lived when I was born. Beautiful in late September! Hope to see some familiar faces.)

NORTHEAST AUTUMN LEAVES TOUR (We are going to venture into the heart of Fall, and watch trees light themselves afire from within. Watch the faces of the trees blush at the prospect of standing around naked all winter. In short, we are leaving home in search of “a little kickass beauty before we die…” Road trip anyone?

Thursday, September 27, Pittsburgh, PA: CLUB CAFÉ

Friday, September 28, Harrisburg, PA: MIDTOWN SCHOLAR

Saturday, September 29, Sellersville, PA: SELLERSVILLE THEATER

Monday, October 1, Northampton, MA: THE IRON HORSE

Tuesday, October 2, Boston, MA: CLUB PASSIM (Two shows: 7pm and 9:30pm)

Thursday, October 4, Fall River, MA: NARROWS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Friday, October 5, Fairfield, CT: FAIRFIELD THEATRE COMPANY

(K&L 16th Anniversary – Gonna be a sweet show.)

Saturday, October 6, Londonderry, NH: TUPELO MUSIC HALL

Sunday, October 7, Pawling, NY: TOWN CRIER CAFE

ADDITIONAL FALL DATES:

Friday, October 26, Dayton, OH: THE VICTORIA THEATRE

Saturday, October 27, Canton, OH: MALONE COLLEGE (Homecoming)

Saturday, November 3, Bloomington, IN: BUSKIRK CHUMLEY THEATRE

Thursday, November 8, Bloomington, IL: BLOOMINGTON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Friday, November 9, St. Louis, IL: OLD ROCK HOUSE

Saturday, November 10, Louisville, KY: BOMHARD THEATRE

Friday, November 16, Seattle, WA: THE TRIPLE DOOR

Saturday, November 17, Seattle, WA: THE TRIPLE DOOR

+++

We’ll be announcing CHRISTMAS TOUR dates soon as well. (This year, we’re actually kicking off the tour at The Taft in Cincinnati on December 1. Sunday soiree is December 2. Save the dates. More to come.)

+++

And finally, we are taking another musical TRAIN TRIP September 2-7, 2013, in ALASKA! Join us if you dare for a musical adventure/conversation in the last frontier. We announced this trip to our train “alumni” a few weeks ago, and many of the available tickets disappeared instantly. But there is still room for you! More info/make reservations here:

http://www.rootsontherails.com/2013-trips-alaska—kenai-peninsula

+++

Check out overtherhine.com for more info on all the above. Please share the above freely.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean… L&K

November 1, 2012

Dear extended musical family,

Might want to pour a glass of something good and settle in. You know me.

Karin and I have been writing songs together for over 20 years now and recently celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. You would think that after so long there would not be many “firsts” left to experience. And yet we are finding that is not necessarily so.

In early 2010, for the first time, we approached all of you with the idea of making a record together. Rather than borrowing money from a label, we all placed our bets on the muse, so to speak, and pitched in sight-unseen to hopefully offer the world the gift of something beautiful, textured, real – and with wild edges.

Over 2000 of you responded, and the record we all made was called, The Long Surrender. Karin and I gathered for five days on the West Coast with producer Joe Henry, and a group of world-class musicians. We leaned into the songs and let them reveal themselves with few preconceived notions. It felt like all of you had bestowed a blessing on us in advance, and we hoped everyone who heard the songs would feel that.

We all wanted to be surprised. We caught and released something together and sure enough, doors started opening.

We were encouraged when USA Today, The LA Times and NPR’s All Things Considered (to name a few) ran strong reviews or features of The Long Surrender on the day it was released. Many more followed. Apparently our group effort could pack a punch.

We began performing the songs around the country, and for the first time, Karin and I received an invitation to perform in Japan. We arrived shortly after the devastating tsunami, and offered songs like “All My Favorite People” and “Undamned” to people who had no words for the immensity of the tragedy that had breached their shores. Songs feel different in those situations. Suddenly, music feels strangely valuable and vibrates with a currency all its own. Songs can help us take a few steps toward healing. Songs are safe containers for the best and worst that life has to offer. It was an important trip for us. (As we write this, we view the images from the massive storm that recently hit the East Coast of the USA. We all want to do what we can to help.)

For the first time, we got to perform with a full ballet company. Not knowing what to expect, our 6-piece band set up and began playing. We watched the thirty-plus dancers in the Cincinnati Ballet explode, embrace and embody our songs in front of our eyes. We couldn’t quite believe what we were seeing and feeling. And the audiences that poured into the 2700 seat hall for three performances seemed to agree that they hadn’t experienced anything quite like it before either. (We’ll be doing this again in 2014 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this fine company.)

For the first time, we got to tour with one of our influences and American songwriting heroes, Lucinda Williams, who also recorded a duet with Karin on The Long Surrender.

And for the first time we had the opportunity to play an outdoor summer concert in our old namesake neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine at the newly renovated Washington Park. It was the first performance in a green space that sprawls in front of Music Hall where our hometown orchestra and opera performs. We had no way of counting, but we were told that approximately 7000 people streamed into the park and put down blankets and listened to an evening of music in what is still widely thought of as the “bad part of town.”

The life of a traveling musician can be exhausting. Robbie Robertson called it “a goddam impossible way of life.” And like many writers we are sometimes tormented by thoughts that what we have done is worthless, that we have somehow failed. Failed to achieve wider recognition. Failed to live up to our full potential. We are not immune to moments of self-pity.

On a good day, we silence those voices and get back to work. We lift a glass to the good moments along the way, and we lean forward once again into what we love, come what may. We try to tell the truth and make it rhyme.

Yes. The time has arrived for Over the Rhine to get back to the real work of recording our new songs. And once again we are going to invite you to come along for the ride, to bet on the muse, to be surprised. We are going to believe that there are still “firsts” out there to be found. We are going to continue the idea of together, offering something beautiful, subversive and soulful to the world. And we are going to up the ante this time.

Why make a record together when we can make two?

We have two projects that we’ve been writing toward for the last few years. The first is tentatively titled “The Farm.” It’s a group of songs that revolve around the last seven years that we’ve spent in the rolling fields of Highland County, Ohio, in an old pre-Civil War farmhouse that we’ve come to think of as home. We’re learning to call things by name out here. And when the time is right, we look forward to gathering you together on the farm and offering these songs to you on the very patch of earth that they grew out of. That, my friends, will certainly be a first.

The second project is a Christmas/Wintertime/New Year’s collection called, “Blood Oranges in the Snow.” It continues what we started with The Darkest Night of the Year and Snow Angels – records that we hope capture some of the reality of a beautiful – but often conflicted and even heartbreaking – time of year. Hopefully, we’ll make winter a little more soulful for those with ears to hear.

We are planning to release these projects in the second half of 2013.

We are hoping to take these two significant creative steps forward with you. We are hoping to create records that we are all willing to sign our names to. Call it a burgeoning, collaborative, musical legacy.

Or maybe it’s just an acknowledgment of what Karin has been saying for years:

Without you, we’d be homeless.

We’ve come up with donation levels for each project that can fit any budget. We’ve tried to have fun with it, but also make sure you’re getting a good value for your money. But I guess at the end of the day that comes down to the songs.

Someone said that we need pastors and priests to remind us that one day we are going to die. But we need poets, writers and singers to remind us that we’re not dead yet.

Anybody still up for betting on the muse? We hope you’ll join us.

LET’S MAKE A RECORD. Or two…

Peace like a river, love like an (Ohio) ocean,

Linford and Karin

P.S. Here’s some of what was written about our last attempt at communal art making. Special thanks to all of you who have been asking, When can we do it again? Rave on.

+++

THE LONG SURRENDER

”Twenty years after their recording debut, rural Ohio-based singer/songwriters Linford Detweiler and wife Karin Bergquist and their associates have delivered a set of mature, graceful and sad songs that in a just world will win them wider recognition. Working with producer Joe Henry, they use intimate, soulful arrangements to showcase Bergquist’s achingly beautiful voice.” —USA Today

“There may be no more soothing voice in music than Karin Bergquist’s. She could be interpreting jazz standards, but fortunately she applies that balm to her and husband Linford Detweiler’s beautifully languid originals, which invoke hard times and celebrate the survival of the least fit . . . when a Lucinda Williams duet isn’t even The Long Surrender’s high point, things have gone very right.” —Entertainment Weekly

“a marvelously evocative effort, one that recalls the torch song epiphanies of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald . . . Sparse, sultry and yet undeniably mesmerizing, The Long Surrender is a clear victory for all concerned.” —Blurt

“the most emotionally raw and musically nuanced [album] of the band’s fine career…Over the Rhine have pieced together a lovely, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting musical mosaic.” —Paste

* * * * (out of four)
“a work as exquisitely beautiful as Van Morrison’s most graceful efforts.” —Los Angeles Times

“Over the Rhine is one of the best husband/wife duos since Richard and Linda Thompson, and The Long Surrender proves it.” —Ink19.com

“Over the Rhine is your introspective village preacher, lonely and open, melancholy and rejoicing, bitter and thankful.” —Christian Science Monitor

“aggressively beautiful, like those ’60s protesters who confronted soldiers with flowers…it becomes useless to resist The Long Surrender.” —Newsday

March 17, 2013

Hello friends,

Do you believe in coincidences?

Here’s what.

I was invited to contribute an essay to a journal called IMAGE on the word “human.”
(If you’re curious you can read the essay here:)

http://imagejournal.org/page/journal/articles/issue-75/human

(And a follow up interview with readers here:)

http://imagejournal.org/page/news/ask-linford-detweiler?comment=14691

I didn’t really know where to begin, so I just told the story of Karin and I making our first tentative songs in the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, and then eventually moving East of the city to an old pre-Civil War brick farmhouse. We had found the house in the bend of a back road one day as we were driving around trying to finish a song. There was a For Sale By Owner sign posted in the front yard, and we found ourselves sitting down at a bank signing some papers not long after.

The move was a big change for us, and has had a lot to do with both Karin and I becoming more human I hope – growing more in tune with our past, getting our hands into the earth a bit and trying to learn the names of the many birds, trees and weeds that surround us. We call the place Nowhere Farm, and we mostly grow songs.

When my father first saw the new/old place, he encouraged us to “leave the edges wild.” And we have tried to do just that. (The songbirds have repaid us by returning year after year to nest and raise young and praise each new day as only they can.)

Well, one woman who read the essay in Macon, Georgia, was curious, because she had family roots in Highland County, Ohio, and wondered if we lived anywhere near there. Since she was very interested in genealogy and history, she did some research, consulted some public records and so forth and felt all the breath leave her body when she learned that we were living in her great-great-grandparents’ house!

Now Karin and I have lived here for eight years, and from day one we have been saying we need to do some research and learn more about the history of this place we’ve come to call home. It’s something we’ve talked a lot about, but our touring schedule keeps us coming and going, and our writing is an ongoing commitment, and by the time we take care of three big dogs, and get a vegetable garden in, and keep up a house built in the 1830s – well, doing the research is just something we never got crossed off the list.

So imagine our surprise and disbelief when we opened a package from someone named Judy in Georgia, and read Judy’s long letter and began going through the documents and photos that she had enclosed.

First was a certified copy of a land grant, signed by President John Quincy Adams, awarding the land we live on to the family of a Revolutionary War soldier who had died in the war. (The original document was framed and passed down through the generations and would have hung on our walls at one time.) The soldier’s only son, James, claimed the grant, and James’ son, Robert, built this house in 1833. He and his wife Emily had 9 children, and they walked and played and cried and laughed in these rooms – this very room – where I am writing these words. (Judy’s grandmother used to come here to visit the house as a child, and in fact she enclosed a picture of the front of our house taken in the 1950s.)

When Karin and I pick up our guitars in these rooms, or sit at the piano and play our songs on these wide plank wood floors hammered together with square nails, we often feel like the house is thirsty to soak up the music. We’ve always wondered about the people that walked through these rooms 100 years ago, 150 years ago. Who were they? What happened? I wrote about this curious sensation in the essay.

Now I’m holding a 100+ year-old photograph in my hand, and I see the faces of Robert’s son Joseph, his wife Mary, their daughter Della Jane, and so on and so forth…

Now I can sit in these rooms, and be quiet and listen, and look at this photograph and write a song called Della Jane. Now we have faces.

I just had to let you know.

There’s one more layer. IMAGE journal has been good to Karin and I over the years, inviting us to Santa Fe to lead workshops, and inviting me from time to time to contribute pieces of writing for publication. The editor of IMAGE (Gregory Wolfe) has never been shy about the fact that they consider Flannery O’Connor to be the patron saint of the journal. Well, it just so happens, Judy’s husband (Judy mailed us the package, remember) works at Andalusia, Flannery O’Connor’s old farm near Milledgeville, Georgia, the place where she lived and wrote (now a historical site that welcomes visitors).

(And Judy – not previously familiar with our music – also mentioned that in the office at Andalusia, there hangs a framed poster from Vanderbilt University for an event that was called “The Enduring Chill: Remembering Flannery O’Connor”. It was a two-day affair that featured performances by Over the Rhine, Mary Gauthier, Julie Lee and others. In addition to the concert, we all had a moderated panel discussion at Vanderbilt about Flannery’s writing that was quite lively…)

Well, my oh my. I don’t quite know what to make of all these connections. I don’t know if they feel as significant to you as they do to Karin and I, or not.

(And I won’t mention that the day after receiving Judy’s package I turned on “This American Life” and the theme of the entire show was “coincidences…” Great btw, highly recommend looking up the podcast.)

I must admit there have been more than a few moments like this in my life – my own story seems so very full of foreshadowing: I was often given hints of things to come in such profoundly evocative ways. I’m not sure whether to see these “coincidences” as God-infused (that is my tendency and instinct) or whether this infinite universe is just full of surprises, and how could it be otherwise.

So what do you think? Just wanted to share this unexpected gift of provenance. Maybe you’ve had some coincidences of your own? Let us know: otrhine@aol.com

And, I guess before this all gets away from me, I better pass along the news regarding all things Over the Rhine. There is a lot to report. Hope to see you all soon.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford (and Karin)

+++

Memorial Day Weekend Concerts at Nowhere Farm: May 25 & 26

We are adding a second concert here at Nowhere Farm this Memorial Day Weekend. (May 25 is sold out.) This is part of our ongoing fundraiser as Karin and I prepare to record and release not one, but two (!) new projects this year.

Come on out and see the place that John Quincy Adams gave to the family of a Revolutionary War soldier – this old house that we’ve called home for the last 8 years. Meet Minnie Pearl, our 130-pound Great Dane puppy, Shakey, our Weimaraner and Frisbee expert, and Porter, our stray cattle dog mix that we took in on a cold night. We’ll play simple, back porch versions of our new songs for you on the very soil that they grew out of. And, weather permitting we’ll watch the (super) full moon rise out here on our little farm on the edge of the world.

If you’d like to read all about this collaboration with our extended musical family, please visit overtherhine.com and click on Let’s Make A Record. Your participation can be as simple as pre-ordering the CDs. Or as significant as arranging for a private house concert: Karin and I will show up with our guitars and perform for you and your friends in your living room. (We have space left for just a few more of these.) And if you’ve already contributed, but would like to upgrade your contribution to be able to attend the farm concert (Barn Dance) please email:

Chip@portmerch.com

We must admit that hosting these concerts has really gotten us dreaming about what the next chapter (Third Act?) of Over the Rhine could look like. We may have the biggest announcement of our career regarding this soon. Fasten your seatbelts.

APRIL Over the Rhine CONCERTS:

Later this month, Karin and I will be heading out to South Pasadena to work with producer Joe Henry and a lovely cast of players once again to record the songs for – working title – The Farm. (!!!) Immediately following the sessions, we are going to take a swing through the Southeast. Fresh out of the studio, I’m sure we’ll be more than a little anxious to share more of these new songs that have arrived on the scene as well as some old familiars. Join us! We’ll try to help usher in a little springtime.

April 5 (Friday) Franklin Theater, Franklin, TN*
April 6 (Saturday) Workplay Theater, Birmingham, AL*
April 8 (Monday) Melting Point, Athens, GA*
April 9 (Tuesday) The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC
April 10, (Wednesday) Fletcher Opera Theater, Raleigh, NC*
April 12, (Friday) Jefferson Theater, Charlottesville, VA*
April 13, (Saturday) Rams Head Onstage, Annapolis, MD*
April 14, (Sunday) Ephrata Main Theater, Ephrata, PA*
*with very special guest Ben Sollee

Check out overtherhine.com for more dates…

GOOD DOG BAD DOG – LIMITED EDITION HARDBOUND LYRIC BOOK ILLUSTRATED BY AMERICAN ARTIST BARRY MOSER

Finally, our dear friend Barry Moser illustrated a hardbound book (limited edition) of the lyrics from Good Dog Bad Dog. Barry is a National Book Award winning illustrator, who has illustrated Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland, the KJV Bible, and hundreds of other fine books. This labor of love contains engravings of some of the dogs we’ve loved over the years, and celebrates not only our friendship with Barry, but the survival of these songs that we recorded over 15 years ago. You can pick up a copy here:

http://overtherhine.portmerch.com/stores/product.php?productid=18614&cat=329&page=1

+++

Well, I think that’s enough to chew on for now folks. Four pages is usually about where I leave it. Feel free to share this email with loved ones over coffee, pass it around during happy hour, slip it in the cereal box for breakfast reading, or cut up a little fresh ginger and add it along with a spoonful of raw organic honey (or guava nectar) to a cup of late winter herbal tea, and perhaps these words can serve as a placemat.

xo,

L&K

---

Dear extended musical family,

It’s a gorgeous spring day here on the farm, warm and sunny but with a cool breeze. A song sparrow has been stealing the show all morning next to the back porch, its liquid whistle rippling the air. Minnie Pearl picked up a baby starling and carried it around for awhile, but she used her soft mouth and set it down when Karin asked her to. I took it over to the maple grove, and it happily flew away, its young life still in tact, its dark eyes glittering. (I’m not sure that it knew until that moment that it could fly.)

I’m now sitting in our little writing shack. Karin and I had always dreamed of having a writing shack, a simple room inspired by the likes of Dylan Thomas etc. We were able to put the finishing touches on the old springhouse just before our farm concerts, and we now have this simple room with a view. We’ve been living here on Nowhere Farm for eight plus years, and it took every bit of that to restore this old shed little by little. The folks who attended our farm concerts (from near and far) christened it for us by signing our guestbook.

If I have a memoir in me, it will be written in this room. If I don’t, I will find out I don’t in this room. And maybe I’ll get that first book of poems together as well. If all the new songs leave room…

The first ever Nowhere Farm gatherings were lovely. We put up a big top tent, and strung some lights along the paths, and Greer hand-painted signs on cedar shakes to keep everyone pointed in the right direction. Chuck from La Terza served world-class cappuccinos. We grilled some gourmet hot dogs for a late night snack, and the cookie carry-in was out of the park. It was very moving to offer the songs to those with ears to hear on the very soil they grew out of. At the very least, we will probably try to make this an annual event, and who knows, maybe the next time we can do a “barn raising” with an Amish crew… Take another step toward having a permanent venue/structure out here. Thanks for the inspiration.

The new double album that many of you helped us make has been mastered, and we are now in the manufacturing/set up phase, which takes awhile.

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World.

The official release date is September 3, 2013. Those that pitch in to help us record (catch and release) receive the music early.

Can’t wait for you to hear. It feels very much like the start of a new chapter. Stay tuned at overtherhine.com…

We didn’t have much time to bask in the afterglow, because last wknd we flew to Colorado for three concerts. An amazing trip that began in Ouray, and ended in Boulder via Denver… Thank you to all who found us – it really was stunningly beautiful to make the drive from Durango to Ouray, and then drive up to Denver. We’ve made some good friends in the shadows of those mountains. You all have a beautiful state. We hope to come back soon.

It’s been a busy spring, and the weather was a little chilly for awhile, so we are finally going to plant our vegetable garden this evening. Should grow like gangbusters now that the ground has warmed up.

We have a number of shows throughout the summer where we will be previewing songs from the new record as well as the tried and true. And we are happy to announce that on the first official leg of the Meet Me At The Edge Of The World Tour, (September) we will be joined by kindred spirits – a very inspiring duo to be sure, Kenneth and Joey, aka The Milk Carton Kids. Looking forward to the communion.

Let’s get together soon.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin

Over the Rhine 2013 Summer Concerts

* M A R K Y O U R C A L E N D A R S *

This wknd!

Friday, June 7, Hudson, NY, Club Helsinki
Saturday, June 8, Northampton, MA, Iron Horse Music Hall

Saturday, June 22, Nelsonville, OH, Stuart’s Opera House (come see us in the heart of the Appalachians, not far from home)

Friday, July 12, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Winnipeg Folk Festival (our first time!)

Saturday, July 20, Akron, OH, Musica (seated show)
Sunday, July 21, Charleston, WV, Mountain Stage – Culture Center Theater
Monday, July 22, Lexington, KY, Woodsongs

Saturday, July 27, Calgary, Alberta, Calgary Folk Festival (near where Linford went to High School in Three Hills. Lookin’ forward!)

Sunday, August 11, Nashville, TN, 3rd & Lindsley (WRLT broadcast)

Friday, August 23, Decatur, GA, Eddie’s Attic
Saturday, August 24, Duluth, GA, Red Clay Theatre

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World Official Release Date: September 3, 2013

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World Hometown Release Concert: Cincinnati, OH, Coney Island Moonlight Gardens, Friday, September 13 (tickets on sale soon)

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World Tour Dates, Leg One, with very special guests, The Milk Carton Kids: (tickets on sale soon)

Friday, September 20, Chicago, IL, Park West
Saturday, September 21, Grand Rapids, MI, Calvin College
Sunday, September 22, Milwaukee, WI, Turner Ballroom

Tuesday, September 24, Iowa City, IA, Englert Theatre
Wednesday, September 25, St. Louis, MO, Old Rock House

Friday, September 27, Minneapolis, MN, Cedar Cultural Center
Saturday, September 28, Madison, WI, Majestic Theatre

More dates (Northeast and West Coast TBA soon. Stay tuned at overtherhine.com)

Rave on.