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. But I must share that I'm voting for Kamala. I think she is the sensible choice. Easily the best choice. For me, it's not complicated.
But wherever we stand, let's vote! That's the beautiful thing about our system. We actually have a voice, and our vote is how we raise it.
OK! This month I do have a little news, a seasonal musical recommendation, a new poem, and a little wisdom for our time.
Here we go.
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Contents of This Newsletter
1. Rare Waymores sighting!
2. Kicking off shortly: maiden voyage of my Nashville-Memphis-Delta music-food-culture tour
3. My Ireland 2025 tour (August 12-21, 2025) is sold out. Scroll down to check out my 2026 dates and route
4. Music recommendation for October: Don Henry's Falloween!
5. Poem of the Month: AARP
6. Wisdom for our time from James Baldwin
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1. Rare Waymores sighting!
After performing, writing & recording together for 5 years, Sally Barris, Don Henry and I drifted around to other things. Since then we have performed exactly twice: a Zoom show during the pandemic, and a Bluebird show almost 3 years ago.
But on November 6, we're going to reunite for one night in Nashville. Somehow something special happens when we're together.
Here's the scoop:
What: Don Henry, Sally Barris & Tom Kimmel (A.K.A. The Waymores) in concert
When: Wednesday, November 6, 2025 (7-9pm)
Where: The 5 Spot, 1006 Forest Ave, Nashville TN 37206
*Click HERE for *tickets
*Scroll to Nov. 6 on Events Calendar
What else:
a. Click HERE if you'd like to share our Facebook Event.
b. BTW you can stream our self-titled *album everywhere (Spotify, Apple Music et al.)
**But heads up. There's a duo out there also calling themselves the Waymores. So when you search Apple Music & all those places, you'll know us by our unique album cover. (See bright blue cover above.)
And you can buy the album, (MP3s, CDs, single songs etc at my website HERE.)
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2. The maiden voyage of my Nashville-Memphis-Delta music-food-culture tour: kicking off shortly
My longtime manager/agent Shauna Jamison and I have teamed up to host a super cool music, food and local color tour of Nashville, Memphis & the Mississippi Delta.
There'll be 12 of us, including me and Shauna, in a mini bus. Three nights with day trips from each of our music centers. It's gonna be a blast!
—Though it's late in the day, Shauna says we may have room for 2 more folks. For more info please email her at:
shauna(at)tomkimmel(dot)com
Dates: *Monday November 4 to Thursday, November 14, 2024
*Monday Nov 4 we arrive in Nashville, and we'll circle back to Nashville for our departure on Thursday Nov 14.
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3. My 2025 Ireland tour is sold out!
Here's the scoop on my 2026 tour:
When: Wednesday, June 24 to Friday, July 3, 2026
Where: Counties Cork, Kerry & Clare
Reservations: Our terrific small tour company, *Inishfree Tours, will begin taking reservations this coming February
*Inishfree's slogan is Tours for people who don't like tours.
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4. Music recommendation for October: Don Henry's album, Falloween
I don't know anyone who loves Halloween more than Don ! And this is more than a Halloween album, it's just a great record.
Click HERE to visit his Halloween page.
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5. Poem of the Month
AARP
Joined AARP
early so old
was nothing
or would be
no big surprise
to me.
Lost hearing, check.
Lost teeth, lost faith
and loves I thought
had slipped away.
Lost songs and poems,
hair and even found
I'd lost the need to wish
the dark was light.
I lost the will to push,
the will to fight,
the need to ruin
something right.
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6. Wisdom for our time
“People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.”
-James Baldwin (1924-1987), writer & activist
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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.
James Baldwin photo: Allan Warren
Pen & Ink sketch: James Polk
Waymores cover: Jeff Thorneycroft