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! Climate change & AI, medical & technological breakthroughs, wealth disparity & living room gambling. I thank God for music, art, film, theater and literature. What would we do without them?
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Contents of This Newsletter
1. Next month: live solo show streamed from my studio
2. Sweden in May: Teaching & writing retreat
3. Dates for my 2026 Ireland tour
4. The pace of change: How fast this world is spinning
5. Recommended: A Complete Unknown
6. Wisdom for a New Year from Glennon Doyle
7. A Prayer for California
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1. Next month, join me for solo concert from my studio
Post-pandemic, I practically never stream performances, but I'm taking advantage of an opportunity to share a solid hour of songs and poetry from my small home studio—no emcee, no interview, no imposed structure. Just a chance to spend an hour with you via exceptionally high quality audio and video.
The essentials:
What: Streaming Tuesdays Presents Tom Kimmel
When: Tuesday, February 18, 6-7pm CST
How to watch & listen for free: https://aftontickets.com/
Thank you Gary Pratt & Kathi Caccavale for this opportunity.
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2. Sweden in May: *Teaching & writing retreat
What: The 22nd Annual Gotland International Songwriters Retreat
When: Sunday, May 4 till Sunday, May 11 2025
Where: **Gotland (Sweden)
For more: Visit www.annikafehling.com/
…And/or email Annika directly at annika(at)annikafehling(dot)
Note: The retreat is a great opportunity to leave our hectic world for a week to focus on our writing. Expect good food & warm, easy company for co-writing and sharing our work.
Big thanks to Annika Fehling and Eva Hillered for the invitation to return. I so look forward to it.
*I'll be participating as a fellow co-writer as well as doing some teaching.
**Gotland is an island in the Baltic Sea, accessible from Stockholm by ferry or air.
Thanks to co-writer Antje Zumbansen for the photo.
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3. Dates for my 2026 Ireland tour
Taking reservations next month (February):
When: Wednesday, June 24 till Friday, July 3, 2026
Where: Counties Cork, Kerry & Clare
Reservations: Inishfree Tours begins taking reservations next month (February)
For much more on the tour (and the tours in general), visit my Ireland page:
I'll post registration info as soon as it opens.
About Inishfree Tours:
https://www.inishfreetours.
My 2025 tour is sold out.
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4. Change. A perspective on how fast this world is spinning...
- 17 years ago: The iPhone is introduced
- 12 years ago: CRISPR enables gene editing
- 9 years ago: OpenAI is founded
- 5 years ago: Covid outbreak
- 4 years ago: Invention of AI robot companions for hospitals and nursing homes (plus it's the hottest year in global history)
- 2 years ago: ChatGPT released (and 2023 becomes the new hottest year in history)
- 1 year ago: The James Webb telescope finds inhabitable planets (and 2024 becomes the newest hottest year in history)
Hello 2025! What have you got in store for us?
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5. Recommended: A Complete Unknown
If you haven't seen it, please go. If you're a Dylan fan, it won't let you down. If you don't know anything about Dylan, it won't matter. But see it while it's still in theaters, on a quiet evening, by yourself or with someone who will sit quietly with you. But go.
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6. Wisdom for a New Year (because right now I need a little encouragement)
"I see your fear, and it's big. I also see your courage and it's bigger. We can do hard things, baby. We are fireproof!"
—Glennon Doyle (b. 1972), author & activist
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7. A Prayer for our friends in Southern California
We see you,
stunned at what we see,
what we feel
and are afraid to feel,
what we imagine
and cannot imagine.
Our hearts are with you.
We pray for you.
We pray with you.
Amen
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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.
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