Hey Everybody!
In March a few years back I was touring in Canada with the Waymores. It snowed every day we were there, so driving was an adventure. One day we rolled into Saskatchewan, where snow plows had piled the traffic-black city snow high on each side of the street.
Somehow that gig was in a basement jazz club, and during the show my trio partner Sally Barris said to the crowd, “Y’all don’t despair. Spring is on the way!
From the back of the room a gruff voice boomed out, “This IS spring!”
Well, wherever you are (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway), spring is here or on the way. Happy spring!
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CONTENTS of This Newsletter
1. Ireland 2025: Now taking reservations
2. Zen Rydells EP finally “in the can”
3. New feature starting with next newsletter: Song of the Month
4. Poem of the Month: “Well Behaved Dogs”
5. Food for Thought from Octavia Butler and Barbara Tuchman
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1. Ireland 2025
I've said many times that Ireland sustains me. I so appreciate that beautiful country and its colorful wry, generous people. This summer's tour is sold out, but we're taking reservations for 2025. You'll find all the info at my website if you click HERE.
The bare bones:
What: I host my annual music-centric tour for Inishfree Tours
When: August 12-21, 2025
Where: Counties Sligo, Mayo and Galway
For: Inishfree Tours
Everything else: VIsit my Ireland page HERE and Inishfree's website HERE
And if you have questions after looking things over, please feel free to email me directly at ireland(at)tomkimmel(dot)com
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2. The Zen Rydells’ new EP “The Early Years" is coming in May!
I mentioned in past newsletters I was producing an EP for the duo Zen Rydells (Kenneth Robinson & Ed Hunsberger). So after picking it up and putting it down for long stretches, it's all done and shipped it to the mastering lab. Very exciting.
Tentative release date is May 3, and I'll be letting you know.
In the meantime you can listen to my favorite song from their first EP—“Ambulance.”
It’s an awesome poetic rocker. Click HERE to listen on Spotify. (You can also find it at Apple Music and all the others streaming outlets. (Just search for “Zen RyDells.”)
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3. New feature starting with next newsletter: Song of the Month
I'm thinking it will be fun to share a song of mine every month. Maybe some of songs from my back catalog, some outtakes, vocal/guitar studio one-takes. You'll be able to click-and-listen from my website from a link in this newsletter.
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4. Poem of the Month
Well Behaved Dogs
Everyone in my neighborhood
is training their dogs
You see them with their short leashes
hear the crisp clear commands
notice the belt pouch
of tiny training treats
They pass by and the dogs
walk closely beside them
no tugging no barking
no bad behavior of any kind
My dog is a wild animal
If he were bigger
he would kill people
he would kill everything
He thinks everything
deserves to be killed
and he would mete out punishment
if he weighed more than 8 pounds
He is unruly and will never be trained
Yesterday a slender walker skirted us
on the sidewalk as he snapped
and snarled and strained to reach her.
How intimidating, she said.
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5. Food for thought for these challenging times
“All struggles are essentially power struggles, and most are no more intellectual than two rams, knocking their heads together."
—Octavia Butler (1947-2006), author
“War is the unfolding of miscalculations."
—Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989), author, historian
Till next month, Maximum Peace, Love & Understanding.
TK
PS Thanks always to the folks at Elixir Strings for keeping me playing the world's best strings for over 25 years.