February greetings!

What a couple of weeks of weather! I pray wherever you are you're warm and safe. We were very lucky here in Memphis. Iced in for a few days, but that’s it. My heart goes out to everybody…

New Year’s Greetings!  

Well we made it through 2025, that much is certain. And for the New Year, I'm praying for a return to civility, common sense, and a reconnection with our founders' values.

I know, it’s a lot to…

December Greetings!

So here we are, mid-December and here come the holidays. You can feel it in the air.. and see it on our to-do lists. Thus I shall be extra brief.

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Contents of This Newsletter

1. New writing…

Autumn Greetings!

It’s a beautiful fall day here in Memphis. I love Memphis. I was born here, have always had family here. And right now Memphis is one of five special cities occupied by federal special forces. I don't like…

Everybody!

If y’all have followed me for any length of time, you know how much I love Ireland. In fact, I'm heading back over there in 2 short weeks.  

Brief Irish history lesson:

Back in 1845, the potato crop in…

Greetings from the planet formally known as Earth!

Summer greetings from the planet formally known as Earth—and how I wish that was funnier..

Speaking of humor, however, not long ago I got a an email from a fan in Germany…

Greetings from Overton Park in Memphis!

It's a beautiful,clear day here. Tomorrow the weatherman says it'll be rainy, and the day after that. Then the temperature will drop to the 40s, then more warm, blue sky days. It's normal spring…

Greetings from Planet Earth!

Speaking of the planet, are y’all familiar with a guy named Bill McKibben? Back in the day, Letterman had him on The Late Show a few times, and that’s where I ran across him. He’d written…

January greetings!

So here we are, neck deep in a New Year, and is this science fiction? This time of great promise and peril, amazing possibility and dark potential? Has there ever been a time of faster change? Definitely not…

December greetings!

Here come the holidays! I'm thinking of them as if I'm approaching a big rapid in my small boat. I hear the roaring in the distance, then it's louder... and louder. I have a look from the top…

November Greetings!

Not to skip past current events, I want to say that I'm still rooting for the home team—Team Everybody. We're a scrappy bunch. Big fan base. BIg hearts.

Speaking of scrappy, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I…

October Greetings!

Well, autumn has finally made it to Memphis. 39° this morning! Had to turn on the heat for the first time.

Speaking of heat, the election's coming up fast. You may have noticed I generally avoid social preaching…

Early Fall Greetings!

One autumn many years ago I camped my way north through New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. I’d never seen autumn colors like that! Fall is beautiful here. But still.

As you know, I keep these newsletters upbeat…

Late Summer Greetings!

It’s been brutally hot here in Memphis, as it has in so many places, but it’s cooler today, with a soft breeze, and I like to think there’s a soft breeze cooling off this crazy hot country…

Summer Greetings Everyone!

Speaking of harmony—we were speaking of harmony, weren't we?—I've been reflecting on my whitewater river runs with old friend Michael Lille. One thing we learned right away is that it's no use trying to fight the river…

Greetings from Ireland!

I arrived in Galway this morning, and it is a glorious blue sky day. So good to be back. Always.

On Sunday I’ll be welcoming my 2024 tour group. We will be heading south to Cork, then…

Hey Everybody,

It's official: the Zen Rydells' new EP, "The Early Years" has been officially released, and you can stream it everywhere.

So if you're an Apple Music listener, you can stream it HERE.

If you're a Spotify user…

May Greetings Everyone!

I’ve discovered you can spend an awful lot of money on teeth—and it’s not that hard to do! Then again, it’s really good having them in working order.

BTW I’m writing you between appointments with a dentist…

Greetings Everyone!

It's a rainy spring day in Memphis, and outside my rain-streaked window the yard is an impressionist's painting of green, white, deep violet, yellow, and pink. (I've really got to learn the names of these flowers.)

OK, the…

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…

Greetings Everyone!

I suppose by now we have all experienced some truly demented weather in still-young 2024. But as Sir Paul McCartney said, "Forge ahead." (He really said it.)

Of late I have been holed up in my studio as…

Happy Holidays Everybody!

As we barrel toward the New Year, I want to take a minute to tell you how much I appreciate you—more than you know!—and to wish you the happiest holidays ever. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa…

Greetings Everyone!

Well I'd begun to think I was immune, but I got Covid three months ago and it kicked my booty right down the road. Now I'm back to normal in most ways, but my brain seems to be…

Fall Greetings Everyone!

We had a hard freeze last night, and I forgot to cover my favorite plants! My periwinkles have bloomed nonstop all summer and early fall, and now, alas, they've frozen and wilted. 

But I do love fall…