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, near and far, who've been snowed in, iced out and cold.
I've got some good news, a story about my first visit to NYC, the song of the month, and a bit of excellent wisdom for our time from a couple of guys who inspire me.
BTW, today is Rosa Parks' birthday. In the words of the Neville Brothers, “Thank you Miss Rosa.”
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Contents of This Newsletter
1. My 2027 Ireland tour is, as of right now, taking reservations
2. Two seats (2) just opened for my June tour. (This coming June.)
3. New Substack story: "New York, Part One"
4. Song of the Month: "Forever Man"
5. Keanu Reeves is my hero (see pic)
6. Wisdom for our turbulent time from Benjamin Franklin and Bob Marley
1. Inishfree Tours is now taking reservations for my 2027 tour, which runs from July 18-27.
We'll be heading up the West Coast up to Donegal—The Republic of Ireland's northernmost county—then working our way back down the coast.
Lots of info at the Ireland page at my website:
To join me (or request more info), visit the Inishfree Tours 2027 Schedule page *here:
https://www.inishfreetours.
*Scroll down the page and click ENQUIRE by my tour. My good friend Vicki with Inishfree will get back with you right away.)
(Note that these tours fill up very quickly.
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2. Two seats have opened on my upcoming (2026) tour
We just had a cancellation and have room for one couple or two friends sharing a double room for my upcoming June tour.
Dates: June 24-July 3, 2026
Where: Counties Cork, Kerry & Clare
Cost: $2900 per person sharing a double room ($5800 per 2 people)
If you're interested, please email vicki(at)inishfreetours(dot)
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3a. New Substack story: "New York, Part One"
One big advantage of being home is that I have time to try some things I've been wanting to try for a long time. (Writing prose, for example.)
For the past year or so I've followed several writers on Substack, but I've been timid about sharing my own writing. Well, I got over it. Now I'm regularly posting stories, and you can read them with or without a free (or paid) subscription.
(With a subscription you'll get an email whenever I post something new.)
Here's the link to my newest post, "New York, Part One." It's the story of my first visit to New York after living in small town Alabama all my life. (What's fried squid anyway?)
https://tomkimmel222395.
3b. If you'd like to support my writing with a one-time donation…
Substack doesn't allow one-time donations, but if you'd like to drop a coin in the bucket, scroll down and you'll see my Venmo and PayPal QR codes. I'm grateful all support.
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4. Song of the Month: "Forever Man"
Here's another one from my Light of Day album. Just me and the guitar. I wrote this with Michael Lille, and it's one of our favorite collaborations. (It seemed like a dream when we wrote it, but maybe real love is more than that.)
It's a free download this month at my website: https://www.tomkimmel.com
(Scroll down to Song-of-the-Month. You can download it for free or stream it right from the page—and of course you can also stream it at Spotify, Apple Music, et al.)
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5. Keanu Reeves is my hero (see pic)
6. Wisdom for Right Now...
...from a couple of guys who had something essential in common.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Founding Father of the United States,diplomat, inventor
“Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.”
—Bob Marley (1945-1981) artist, music pioneer
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Till next month, Maximum Peace, Love, and Understanding,
TK
PS Thanks always to the folks at Elixir Strings for keeping me playing the world's best strings for over 25 years.
—If you'd like to support my writing, you can make a one-time donation of any amount, tiny to large, via Venmo or PayPal.