Halloween/Thanksgiving

Back home again in Nashville after a short run of dates with Mark Knopfler out west, five shows, all in small theatres; Long Beach, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and a couple in Oakland, California at the beautifully restored Oakland Fox Theatre.  I've had lots of folks wondering about the Notes From The Road, if I'd be writing and if not, why not.  Just plain laziness I suppose, didn't feel like cranking it up for such a short run, but as an overview I'll say that these shows were nothing short of a joy, loads of fun and a real pleasure being back on the boards with the best musicians and friends in the world.

We based from Los Angeles for most of the dates, flying out for the shows then back in after.  Having played four months this past summer in Europe, it really took us no time at all to get ship shape, just a couple of days rehearsal and we were on our way.  For the two shows at the Oakland Fox we were joined again by the lovely Ruth Moody who had just  finished her own tour the night before and graced us by staying on a couple of extra days to be with us on stage.  Every show was relaxed and chocked full of great playing, it was the perfect epilogue to the 2013 Privateering tour.

Most of you are well familiar with my scribbling from the road while touring, as well as Guy Fletcher's great tour journal but you may not be acquainted with Isaac Shabtay's tour/travel blog.  Isaac attended every single show of the Privateering tour as well as the previous two tours.  His is a broad overview not only of the shows themselves but of his travel experiences getting to each one, food, photos and folks along the journey.  Isaac has recently published a book of his experiences and photos of the Privateering tour, I have one, it's great and you can find it here:   http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/isaac_s  Check it out.

Always good being back on the west coast for me personally as I'd spent so many years living and working there, from the late '60s through the mid '80s.  I had a chance to spend some time with my brother and his wife and as a bonus was able to catch up with some of my old Neil Diamond band mates for lunch.

It's definitely autumn now in Nashville, the leaves turning, falling, days shortening, Halloween, cool evenings and mornings, the smell of the air is different... a good time of the year.  With the holidays just around the corner, I'll finally put my suitcases up on the shelf for a while  I'm looking forward to a couple of recording projects, beginning a new album for myself at some point early next year and continuing later this month with the Alison Krauss record I've been playing on.

To all the Yanks who follow these sporadic postings, here's wishing you a warm and peaceful Thanksgiving.

Richard