Notes from Nashville: Feb. 12, 2024

tour report • upcoming shows in GA & NC • a valentine's day song

Feb 12, 2024

Well, hello there!

Howdy from lovely East Nashville. It’s a dark, cool, soggy day today, but overall we seem to be leaning springward lately. Crocuses are blooming, daffodils are emerging, and the neighborhood owls have started kicking up a ruckus every night. And how’s it going where you are?

Tour Report

We had SUCH a happy and successful outing to Missouri and Illinois! The Focal Point (in St. Louis) and FitzGerald’s (in Chicago) were return visits for us, and Techline Studios was a sort of house-concert-but-not-in-a-house situation that old-time musician friend Ed Hawkes pulled together for us (with the help of hosts Paul and Christine Breen). We had far too much fun sharing old, new, and new-to-us musical tidbits with such warm and game audiences, and came home feeling inspired and giddy.

A Few Highlights…

We spent a little extra time in St. Louis, because grandson Eli is in his first year at SLU. So we got the campus tour and saw his whole scene. And we also ate some truly memorable sandwiches at Eovaldi’s.

Arriving in the fog; getting the SLU tour; on stage; sandwich choosing

Short drives between shows meant we had the luxury of dawdling a bit. And thus we discovered Pocahontas, Illinois, where KK theorized that the tiny population must support themselves by selling each other antiques.

And then there was the delightful gathering of old and new friends in Champaign, including a brief visit with long-time concert hosts Cynthia Voelkl and Ernie Blackwelder (or, as we like to call them, “Bert & Ernie”)…

Illinois scenery; at Techline (photo by Ed Hawkes); old pals Cynthia & Ernie

In Chicago, our friend (and album cover artist!) John Soss gave us some promo assistance and hooked us up with an on-air spot with Dean Richards at WGN radio. Dean was a charming interviewer, engineer Bob Ferguson looked after us with great care, and the view from the studio was impressive:

(A cooler view for me than KK, who doesn’t enjoy heights.)

In the WGN studios with Dean Richards; on stage at FitzGerald's (photos by John Soss)

Upcoming

Mar. 28 • Savannah, GA / Savannah Music Festival
Mar. 29 • Asheville, NC / Wortham Center
Mar. 30 • Greensboro, NC / The Crown

We’re also lining up shows in the northeast as we look toward our summertime at the cabin! More on that very soon...

A Valentine’s Day Song

I’ve been pushing for working more of the Kieran Kane back catalog into our duo repertoire, and this song is one of the recent additions. We figured it would be an appropriate one to share in honor of Valentine’s Day, so here’s a living room video you can send along to your sweetheart:

“Will You Travel Down This Road With Me”

This is a song Kieran wrote with Jamie O’Hara, and they recorded it on the third O’Kanes album. It has since been covered by lots of folks—including George Jones & Tammy Wynette!