Hello August

Summer 2025 and it's twists and turns.

Things kicked off with a fun return to California back in June - and we had great shows up and down the Eastern Sierra and in San Pedro. Reconnected with old friends and made new ones along the way. We're lucky to have the opportunity to maintain this connection with Dave's past home place and the wonderful venues and people and places there. Looking forward to many more visits to come!

We got home from that trip, played our local big event Third Thursday, and were preparing to head to Montana the following weekend when we got a call from our drummer Fernando that he'd crashed his bicycle and broken his collarbone. Over just the next two and a half weeks we had 8 gigs booked, so we got together, ran some songs as a three piece and decided immediately that things would be just fine - albeit different - more folksy, and harmony oriented, but just fine. We notified the venues, all were good, and headed out on the road, without our dear Fernando.

Fred, as he's called by most, had to wait an agonizing week for surgery as we traveled up into the farthest reaches of Montana by way of a wonderful show outside Billings at The Crossing summer concert series, then Butte at the Covelite, and then all the way to within 20 miles of the Canadian border where we discovered a new wonderful venue for us at Home Ranch Bottoms, with a list of artists preceding us that month that should raise any music appreciators eyebrows - Margo Cilker, Martha Scanlan, Brennen Leigh and Jeffrey Foucalt among others, with kind folks Dan and Flan running the show, all off-grid, and whom we hung out with and watched the sky ever so slowly darken that evening - being just a week or so after the solstice, it seemed like it might never fully go dark along the northern horizon... And it felt doubly empowering to know that we could still pull this thing off as a three piece! We hope to go back for the usual two night run next summer and bring a fly rod or two and float the river too maybe and who knows what else...it feels like a place where anything is possible. It was gorgeous.

We made the long drive home, and the three of us continued our July 4th tradition in Ranchester performing alongside our buds Cruisin'. For that Sunday, July 6 we had a festival appearance at a new event that Dave has been organizing at Sheridan College called Music on the Mall. For this first one Branson Anderson, The Fretliners and Yarn were all on the lineup along with us. And to our great surprise and excitement we checked in with Fred and he said that if it was ok with us he'd love to play some percussion on his cajon with a little tambourine pedal and splash. He was only three days out of surgery but we were like ABSOLUTELY! And it was awesome to have him back on stage with us that day, and it was great to see this new event take off with several hundred people in attendance.

The following weekend we chatted with Fred and he just wasn't up for traveling again yet but was healing up well, so we headed back up into Montana for some wonderful shows at the Shane Center in Livingston, Free Cycles in Missoula, and Thirsty Street in Billings. We were settling into our experience as a three piece and felt confident in our performances. If you've ever wondered what the best bike shop in America might look like, or you're just a bike afficianado you may want to make a pilgrimage to Free Cycles in Missoula. We're still a bit haunted by the that beautiful green single speed...

The icing on the cake was getting on the river the following morning with our friend Bob Troutman - even spending just a couple hours on the river in the midst of these travels on the road is so worth it - it completely changes up the nature of the trip and the grind become less a grind and more a pleasure and the drive feels good, and it's just so important. Thanks Bob!!

We got home from this run and hosted a house concert for our dear friend and one of our favorite songwriters Willy Tea Taylor and then enjoyed a weekend off in the Bighorn Mountains fly fishing and trying out our new camper trailer. As the next gig weekend approached we didn't want to push Fred but we secretly hoped he'd be able to make it. He was still sore and not sleeping well, so we rescheduled our Friday gig at the Prairie Dog to later in the summer when the routing might work better, and then he called on that Wednesday and said he'd played his drums for the first time in three weeks or a month really, and he felt like he could play. Thankfully we only had What Festival to contend with for the weekend so we hitched up our travel trailer, dumped his drum cases in the back and hauled it all down to Saratoga for the weekend and camped in comfort with Freddy's comfort as our excuse, and had a magical set performing with the full Fernando for the first time in basically a month and experiencing such an amazing festival location along the river. The set was broadcast live on the radio as a special bonus, and we played as the sun began to dip behind the clouds and the trees drew long shadows and the day fell into evening along the banks of the mighty North Platte River.

And that brings us to August.

Hello August.

Colorado shows coming up next - Aug. 14-17, Fruita, Gold Hill, Boulder, and Fort Collins.

North Platte River at The WHAT Festival