OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

LOTS OF THINKING // LOTS OF GROUP SHOWS

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In spring I’ll have a new record out, so these days I’m waking up every morning, popping my brain on, and working away on release prep tasks. Trust me that these aren’t interesting enough to share.

But all work no play, etcetera - so thankfully this fall also features a bouquet of collaborative, celebratory group shows, which is the best possible antidote for long desk days! Details as follows.

LUCINDA // For the last couple years the excellent folks at Signature Sounds have been putting on a series of shows celebrating the work of various influential songwriters. I’ve gotten to be a part of several of them and they’re so satisfying…a deep dive into the catalog of a master, filtered through the sensibilities of a group of singers backed by a great house band. This show celebrates the body of work Lucinda Williams has blessed us all with, and I can’t wait to stew in these amazing songs along with Ali McGuirk, Evelyn Harris, Lisa Bastoni, Mark Erelli, and the Deep River Ramblers at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls, Sunday October 13. When the email went out asking us all to choose favorite songs, everyone’s list was comically long - so many classics, so little time! Come see what everybody chose.

KATE // Two summers ago we were stunned to lose Kate Lorenz, a beloved member of the band Rusty Belle and of our music community, suddenly and way too young. Last year her brother Matt, who performs as The Suitcase Junket, rounded up a stageful of folks who loved Kate for a celebration of her songs and her life, and it was deep medicine for all of us. Next week we’ll do it again at the Stone Church in Brattleboro, VT on Saturday, October 19. The show is called Sparkletown, in honor of one of the sparkliest people any of us has ever known, and will include Matt, Winterpills, Zak Trojano, Caitlin Canty, Session Americana featuring Yours Truly, and many more. There’s no more apt way to celebrate Kate’s life than this convergence of songs, fellowship and joy.

EARFULL // The longstanding Earfull series puts literary readings and music performance side by side in one show. For this one on Tuesday, October 22 we’ll be at The Burren in Somerville, MA, where I’ve spent many hours of my life, given that it was the closest bar to my house when I lived in Somerville for many years. I’ll play songs as will Naomi Westwater, and we’ll hear readings from Marianne Leone and J. Courtney Sullivan. Looking forward to bouncing my songs off of all these folks’ work, as well as enjoying their sets while working through a Guinness or two.

SMITHER // I played at Chris Smither’s 60th birthday party, which I’m absolutely positive was not 20 years ago, but they say we’re celebrating his 80th this year, so I’m choosing to blame a wrinkle in the time-space continuum. Smither is a true living legend, a gentleman, a rascal, a raconteur, a walking encyclopedia, and the author of many decades’ worth of killer songs. We’ll gather to play a few of them at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Sunday, November 10, with the birthday boy in-house, seated on a throne, literal or metaphorical, TBD. Peter Mulvey, Pamela Means, Vance Gilbert, Tim Gearan, The Suitcase Junket, Betty Soo, David Goodrich, and more will all be on hand to help propel the festivities.

I’ll hope to see some of you Northeasterners at one of these special shows, and in the meantime my prefrontal cortex and I will be cooking up plans to come visit some of you in other time zones next spring with a brand new record in tow. More on all of this soon, and for now I hope fall is sweeping you up in its melodramatic glory. *kd

PS I’ve already been alerted to the fact that my brain is on backwards. Honestly, it explains so much.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

OCT 13 - LUCINDA WILLIAMS TRIBUTE, SHEA THEATER, TURNERS FALLS MA Tix
OCT 19 - SPARKLETOWN II, STONE CHURCH, BRATTLEBORO VT Tix
OCT 22 - EARFULL, THE BURREN, SOMERVILLE MA Tix
NOV 10 - CHRIS SMITHER BIRTHDAY SHOW, IRON HORSE, NORTHAMPTON MA Tix

APRIL NEWSLETTER

NORTHWEST IN APRIL // RECORDING UPDATES

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Hello from what passes for spring in New England! In the last week we’ve had half a foot of snow, an earthquake, and a eclipse. Makes you start to wonder if someone’s trying to tell us something. Anyway I’m writing to alert you to a few shows and catch you up.

NORTHWEST SHOWS // I flew home from my last Northwest tour in early March 2020 with inklings that things were about to get weird. If you’d told me it would be four years before I made it back there I wouldn’t have believed you, but here we are! This spring I continue to be mostly off the road working on recording projects, but I noticed a little empty space in the calendar and decided to grab my chance to reunite with Austin Nevins and play a few shows in the northwest corner.

We’ll start out at the Cravin’ Gravy Social Club in Portland, OR on Thursday, April 25. Since decided to do this trip very late in the game, all the Portland venues we could think of were already booked up, and it seemed we might have go Portland-less *until* our friends at Fluff & Gravy Records rode up on their white horse and offered to host us at their groovy, intimate HQ/clubhouse. It’s the perfect place to do this show and I can’t wait to drag my jetlagged self there and play some songs with Austin (Portlander, well-rested) on guitar.

Then we’ll scoot up I-5 and play Saturday April 27 in Seattle, WA at Ballard Homestead. Seattle was one of my earliest non-New England outposts when I first started touring back in the 1900’s…my first booking agent was based there, and I think I’ve played practically every club in town over the years. We’ve had fun times playing at the Homestead and I can’t wait to be there again.

We’ll round up this grueling tour Sunday April 28 in Bellingham, WA at the New Prospect Theatre. This is such a nice room and we loved playing here last time (when it was called the Sylvia). Bellingham is the first place I ever saw the Pacific Ocean (ok not technically the ocean per se but it’s the same damn water and it was close enough to count) and it’s always had a special little glow in my heart.

The thing about this little tourlet is, we have our work cut out for us trying to fill these rooms on such short notice. Please help by coming to the shows, and bringing your friends and your mom and your co-worker’s dogsitter. And we appreciate for any help with alerting the masses! I can’t wait to be in one of my most beloved parts of the country and play old and new songs for northwesterners. People who live Everywhere Else, I’ll be on the lookout for other moments I can grab for quick visits this year - with much more legit touring to come in 2025.

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RECORDS IN PROGRESS // I’m currently the proud custodian of two new records, both in the late stages of mixing, both coming to your ears at some point in the not-all-that-distant future. I tracked one batch of new songs in Maine in November, and a different batch with a different band in Nashville in January, and I’m so excited about both projects! I wish I could share them right this very minute, however these things take forever, so I’m doing my best to sit on my hands and not share too many details.

I do dish out extra tidbits over on Patreon - for instance, many of the new songs showed up there in demo form well before the recordings happened, and I recently shared some behind-the-scenes video from the Nashville session - so if you’re interested in getting glimpses of the process as it unfolds, and/or want to help pay for this recording bonanza, you can join me over there. It’s a nice friendly neighborhood.

May your respective springs unfold gloriously and I hope to see some of you in a couple weeks! *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

APRIL 25 - CRAVIN’ GRAVY SOCIAL CLUB - PORTLAND, OR - TIX
APRIL 27 - BALLARD HOMESTEAD - SEATTLE, WA - TIX
APRIL 28 - NEW PROSPECT THEATRE - BELLINGHAM, WA - TIX

HELLO 2024!

HELLO 2024 // PARLOR ROOM // SUB ROSA ISLAND SHOWS

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HELLO 2024 // I know the starting point of the calendar is just an arbitrary thing we made up to make ourselves feel like we’re in charge, but I can’t help but enjoy the idea of a whole fresh empty new year lying ahead. I’m feeling the new-chapter energy extra strong this year, as I just tracked an album of new songs in Maine in November with the help of the magic people pictured below.

Erik Koskinen, Sam Kassirer, KD, Ray Rizzo, Jeremy Moses Curtis (photo Louise Bichan)

There’s nothing I love more than the process of taking songs that were written in solitude and bringing them to life in collaboration. It’s miraculous to see barebones demos unfurl into full-color, 3-D life over a matter of days. I’m so grateful for the attention and incredible musicianship these folks brought to the party and I absolutely can’t wait to share what we made! All in good time. Meanwhile…

PARLOR ROOM // I’ll ease into the touring year with a show close to home, Saturday January 20 at The Parlor Room in Northampton. A few months ago I did a last minute solo show in Cambridge where we alternated between audience requests and unrecorded or obscure songs I felt like playing, and it was a good time, so I thought I’d reprise it for my western MA constituents. There will be old favorites, there will hopefully be new favorites, there may be an amount of verbal rambling, there will be plenty of unexpectedness for all concerned. When you buy your ticket make sure you send an email or pipe up on socials somewhere and get in your request!

SUB ROSA ISLAND SHOWS // By now you’ve probably heard me rattle on about the annual Sub Rosa songwriting retreat in New Hampshire every June, without which many of my songs would probably still be languising half-written in the cobwebbed corners of my mind. Every winter we gather to perform some of the work from the previous retreat, and these shows are always some of my favorite moments in the musical year. January 29 & 30 (yes, it’s a Monday and a Tuesday, you can do this!) at Club Passim in Cambridge, a dozen or so of us will gather to spin through a collection of songs we wrote last summer. We’ll all be onstage together, trading up on lead vocals, playing arrangements that we whipped up that very afternoon. It’s the very opposite of a polished performance: a loose, half-baked, semi-improvisational group process which is short on perfection and very long on excitement and joy. I personally can’t wait for these and I encourage you to get tix or tune in on the livestream if you can’t be there in person!

A whole new year to live, let’s see if we can make it a good one, full of music, and fellowship, maybe even peace. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

JAN 20 - PARLOR ROOM - NORTHAMPTON, MA - KD Solo “One for You, One for Me” TIX
JAN 28 & 29 - CLUB PASSIM - CAMBRIDGE, MA - “Songs from the Sub Rosa Songwriting Retreat” TIX

KD OCT/NOV

LAMPLIGHTER // HAVERHILL NH // MIDLIFE CHRYSLER

Hi nice people, a few dates and sundry bits to let you in on.

As some of you may have noticed, my 2023 tour calendar has been an exercise in minimalism. It’s turned out to be a year of putting energy into other people’s projects, which has been wonderful and expansive. Throughout my life in music, I’ve always needed to spend time in roles other than frontman. It’s partly that I’m restless by nature and like to change up the view, and partly that I deeply enjoy the transcendence of working in collaboration. Partly that when I’m playing or singing in someone’s band, or helping shepherd a recording process, or writing a song for someone else’s project, it’s not about me at all, it’s purely about music - and I love the clarity and freedom of that situation. Ultimately there’s no substitute for the way different roles energize and inform each other, the dimensionality my musical life gains by varying my relationship to the central project of music-making.

For a while, as the mom of a young kid, my focus narrowed pretty hard. I had to shrink my activity down to my “solo” deal (always a misnomer, nothing in music happens solo) just to keep any semblance of a music career going. I’m grateful and slightly amazed that it’s survived this far! And recently I’ve found myself able to re-activate parts of my spectrum of work, which feels like light returning in spring.

So, it’s been a year of focusing outwards. Some things I’ve worked on have gone public already (see below about the new record from Jeremy Moses Curtis) and others will come to light over coming months and years. But now, I’m getting ready to turn my full attention back towards my own songs. There are recording sessions on the calendar, and there will be record(s?) to talk about next year and, eventually, one assumes, something resembling touring again. It’s exciting to contemplate the possibilities.

But in the meantime here’s what’s happening the rest of 2023!

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LAMPLIGHTER // Every year my friends Peter Mulvey and Barry Rothman curate a week of shows at Club Passim called the Lamplighter Sessions, which take various forms but are all about collaboration, cross-pollination, and spontaneity. I’m always happy when the scheduling gods permit me to participate in this venture, and that’s the case this year: on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, I’ll be a part of “I’ll Tell You All My Secrets” along with Mulvey, Barry, Rose Polenzani, Dana Colley of Morphine/Twinemen, and the Portland duo Muddy Ruckus. I have literally no idea what this show will be, which is a feeling I really enjoy. Come on down or livestream it if you’re curious - or catch any one of the Lamplighter shows Oct 27-31.

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HAVERHILL // On SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5 I’ll be in Haverhill, NH (this is the Haverhill right across the river from Vermont) to play Court Street Arts, a lovely-looking venue originally built as a courthouse in the 19th century. Adjudicating my songs with me will be esteemed councillor Isa Burke, playing guitars and fiddle and singing like she was born to do these things, which I’m pretty sure she was. Isa’s former band Lula Wiles had been slated to join me for the Long Day in the Milky Way release tours in 2020, and I’ve never quite gotten over Covid tanking that plan - so any chance to play with Isa feels like a tiny step towards making things right.

Everything about this situation sounds like the makings of a really fun show, but it’s in an undertraveled pocket of New England for me and I’m worried about people showing up, so if you know music lovers within shooting distance please send them our way. Also, fair warning that as far as I know, this will be the last KD show of 2023 - so make your plans accordingly!

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MIDLIFE CHRYSLER // I had the great pleasure of producing my longtime friend and bass player Jeremy Moses Curtis’s new record Midlife Chrysler, which is out now. I love this collection of songs and couldn’t be prouder of how the project came out. Cheers to Moses, the amazing band (Jeff Berlin, Matt Murphy, Mike Castellana), and the ever-inspired engineering and mixing of Sam Kassirer at Great North Sound Society. It’s a huge honor to be invited into the circle of trust around a record, and I’m grateful to have been in on bringing this beauty to life. Spin it wherever streams are spun, and/or buy a CD to make it a non-non-profit venture!

That’s the news on the music front. It probably goes without saying that it’s been a harrowing week in the world, and everyone’s carrying their own particular combination of grief, fear, confusion, and anger. Seems like an especially good time to stay focused on our shared humanity, and lead with compassion. Thanks everybody. *kd

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UPCOMING SHOWS

OCT 28 - CLUB PASSIM - CAMBRIDGE, MA - Lamplighter Series w Peter Mulvey & others TIX
NOV 5 - COURT ST ARTS - HAVERHILL, NH - KD duo w/ Isa Burke TIX

KD SUMMER SHOWS

HATFIELD MA w SPOUSE // HARVARD MA w LADYFRIENDS

I have all of two shows lined up this summer, both in the great state of Massachusetts (I promise I will start Going Places again soon). Because it’s summer and you have stuff to do, I’ll cut straight to the info.

BLACK BIRCH 7.7 // Esteemed Spouse Jeffrey Foucault and I generally work separately, but we jump at the chance to join forces when the situation calls for it. Sunday July 9 we’ll team up for a show at Black Birch Vineyard in Hatfield MA, hosted by our friends at Signature Sounds. Often the KD/JF show is a one-mic affair so we can pack light and focus on our choreography, but this one will be a full band setup with Jeremy Moses Curtis on bass and Don McAuley on drums. We’ll trade up songs from both our catalogs, including a few new ones from each of us thrown into the mix. Your job will be to sit on the lovely lawn, sip wine or etcetera, and take it in. Tickets are here.

FRUITLANDS 8.10 // Another month, another lawn: Thursday August 10 at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard MA, I’ll play in-the-round with mighty songwriters Deb Talan and Heather Maloney. Fruitlands is a gorgeous piece of land which was at one time a utopian transcendentalist commune. The romance of that venture faded pretty quickly once the transcendentalists realized that farming is hard, and now it’s a collection of museums and trails and rolling fields, but maybe we can summon up the spirit of those utopian ideals for a couple hours. I’m looking forward to sharing the stage with these two dreamboats so much! Tickets are here.

DOWN THE ROAD // Here behind the scenes I’m deep into the distinctly nonlinear (for me anyway) process of envisioning a new record. I’ll be laying low tourwise for a bit longer while that comes together, and during that time the focus of my Patreon will shift a bit as I finish, revise, and test-drive songs which might end up on a recording project. If you want a window into that process, and/or would like to support the ever-daunting challenge of Paying for an Album, please head over and sign yourself up!

Thanks everyone and see you on a lawn somewhere. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

JULY 9 - Black Birch Vineyard (cobill w Jeffrey Foucault) - HATFIELD, MA Tix
AUGUST 10 - Fruitlands Museum (w/ Deb Talan and Heather Maloney - HARVARD, MA Tix

KD ON PATREON

(photo of Sylvie dog by Matt Cavanaugh)

APRIL NEWSLETTER

PARIS // COTUIT // KATE

I’ve been waking up early thanks to the return of my tiniest frenemy, a song sparrow I call Norman (pretty sure we've cycled through a few generations over the years but they're all Norman to me). This guy has a great set of pipes and a strong work ethic, and he sets up and plays his show in the Andromeda bush right outside the open bedroom window every day at a deeply uncivilized hour. In the purest sense I’m a fan, I love Norman’s songs and absolutely respect his gusto, but as a somewhat sleep-challenged person I do end up cursing his hame a fair amount.

This spring I’ve felt a little envious of Norman: he’s doing his show every day, the set list is dialed in, he’s 100% in his groove. It’s been a minute since I’ve been out playing every night, and I miss the flow and the singularity of purpose. I do have stacks of new songs taking up space over here, piled high on every mental surface (and sometimes showing up over on Patreon), and I’m in the process of interviewing them to see which ones want to gang up into what kind of record. Once that all shakes out, I’ll end up back on the road, and then I’ll long to be back home being yelled awake by overachieving sparrows, because that’s how it works. In the meantime I’ll be here counting my blessings every day around 4:30 AM. I trust Norman is doing the same.

PARIS // We had plans to visit friends & family in France and thought we might as well sneak in a show while we’re there, so Jeffrey Foucault and I will bring along the Ear Trumpet mic and play a duo set at the Cafe du Village, a very small neighborhood club in La Place d’Italie on April 23. Our longtime French promoter Herve was coaxed out of retirement to put this together, and for tickets or more info you can email him in just about any earthly language and he’ll help you out.

COTUIT // Meanwhile stateside, I’ll swing by Cape Cod to play the Cotuit Arts Center on April 30. I played this room for the first time last fall and really loved it, so I’m coming back with my not-so-secret weapon Kevin Barry on guitar. It’s a gorgeous place for a duo show, dark and focused, and I can’t wait to spin some plates with Kev in that room. Come out and/or send delegates to represent you if you’re too far away.

SPARKLETOWN // Last summer we lost Kate Lorenz, one of the brightest spirits you could ever hope to meet. Kate played & toured with me a bit as part of the band Rusty Belle, and I miss her voice and her laugh and the here-comes-trouble glint which she brought to every scenario. A bunch of us are gathering to celebrate her music and spirit at the Shea Theater on May 20, and I’ll be there along with The Suitcase Junket, Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, David Goodrich, Jeffrey Foucault, Caitlin Canty, Zak Trojano, Hayward Williams, The Constellations, Mike Roberts/The Rear Defrosters & Other Friends. Presented by Signature Sounds & the Lorenz & Gupta Families, raising money for the Kate Lorenz Memorial Community Fund. More on this next month.

I hope you’re getting your spring fever on, I hope you’re singing your song for all you’re worth, I hope April is treating you well. Thanks for listening and see you out there. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

APRIL 23 - Le Café du Village - PARIS, FR cobill w Jeffrey Foucault Tix/info: email
APRIL 30 - Cotuit Arts Center - COTUIT, MA Tix
MAY 20 - “SPARKLETOWN,” a memorial show for Kate Lorenz - Shea Theater - TURNERS FALLS, MA Tix

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

ZENBARN & PASSIM NEXT WEEKEND // PRINE TRIBUTE

February: blink and you’ll miss it. Here’s a quick refresher on the remaining (and imminent!) tourdates this month -

ZENBARN // This Friday Feb 10 I’ll be up at Zen Barn in Waterbury, VT (a place I just played for the first time recently, posing as a member of Session Americana). This time around it’ll be the KD show, accompanied by certified Vermonter Jeff Berlin on drums, and the most excellent Isa Burke on guitar & vocals and maybe even a little fiddle if she’s in the mood. Before the release of my Long Day in the Milky Way album got sunk by Covid, we’d had a US tour planned with Isa’s band Lula Wiles opening as themselves and then backing me up, and it’s a great sadness to me that it never got to happen - so I’m very happy to finally get to play together. Come behold as we learn songs in real time on stage!

PASSIM // The following night we’ll head back to Massachusetts for two shows, Saturday Feb 11 at Club Passim in Cambridge MA. For these shows I’ll be joined by the aforementioned Isa Burke and my completely-transcendent friend Rose Polenzani. I can hardly wait to sing songs with these two; it’s a rare treat and I hope you’ll join us for either the Early Bird show at 5:00 or the “late show” at the reckless hour of 8:00(!).

WINTER WALK // Bright and early the next morning, I’ll take part in Boston’s Annual Winter Walk to raise funds and awareness to help address homelessness in the community. I have people in my own personal orbit who have ended up unhoused, and it’s made it wrenchingly clear how little can stand between any of us and that predicament. The Walk benefits a number of groups doing great work in the Boston area and I’m happy to be able to pitch in to this effort. If you’d like to contribute any amount large or small, my fundraising page is here.

PRINE TRIBUTE // Looking ahead, on March 3 I’ll be part of a John Prine Tribute show, which is just one event in Northampton’s Back Porch Festival running all weekend. For this show at the lovely Academy of Music, I’ll join Peter Mulvey, Winterpills, Tracy Grammer, and many more friends to play songs selected from the mighty Prine songbook. This should be a good enough time that I’m not sure it even qualifies as work.

Better quit talking or it’ll be March already - hope to see some of you New Englanders out & about this weekend. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

FEB 10 - ZenBarn - WATERBURY, VT Tix
FEB 11 - Club Passim - CAMBRIDGE, MA **TWO SHOWS 5pm/8pm** Tix
MAR 3 - Academy of Music - NORTHAMPTON, MA - John Prine Tribute Night as part of Back Porch Music Festival Tix

KD’s donation site for Winter Walk Boston: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/winterwalkboston23/account/1410330

“ ONCE IS ENOUGH” written by Billy Conway, sung by KD, from the album FURTHER ON:THE SONGS OF BILLY CONWAY

JANUARY NEWSLETTER

JAN & FEB NORTHEAST // FURTHER ON OUT FRIDAY

Well suddenly it’s a whole new year, and if these first few weeks are any indication, it’s fixing to be a busy one. Lots to discuss so let’s get right into it:

JAN/FEB NORTHEAST // I’m starting off 2023 in good company, sitting in with my musical brethren Session Americana for a night at the Spire Center in Plymouth, MA, Jan 27. My contribution to this show is to front a couple songs, pitch in throughout the night on fiddle, acoustic guitar, vocals and bass, and not be in charge of anything else: nice work if you can get it.

After that the forecast is for a microburst of KD shows in early February: four shows, four states, four different musical configurations, if anyone’s keeping score. I’ll kick it off with a solo show Feb 3 at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, where I haven’t been in ten years somehow?! Next up is Feb 4 at Stone Mt Arts Center in Brownfield ME. This show has already been cancelled and rescheduled twice, which is the same as the grand total of show cancellations I’d had in my entire career pre-Covid. Hopefully this time the gods of plague and storm will smile upon the plan, and I’ll finally get to play this date with my most magnificent friend Kevin Barry on guitar.

The next weekend I’ll return to Zen Barn in Waterbury, VT on Feb 10, with the fabulously multifaceted Isa Burke on guitar & vocals and the supremely grounding force of Jeff Berlin on drums, making stuff up as we go along (which is, for better or worse, my performance favorite mode). And we’ll wrap up this kaleidoscopic little stretch with a two-show night Feb 11 at Club Passim in Cambridge MA, where I’ll be joined by Isa and anyone else who may fall into my clutches. Tickets for all these shows are on the tour page…choose your poison and come out out!

WINTER WALK // The morning after all this music, I’ll take part in Boston’s Annual Winter Walk to raise funds and awareness to help address homelessness in the community. I’ve supported this event in various way in the past, and this year the stars helpfully aligned to put me in town to walk myself. If you’re in the Boston area, please consider joining us! Or if you’re in the western part of the state, you can participate in the first-annual Western Mass Winter Walk in Springfield on Feb 5! And no matter where you are, I invite you to pitch in to support the walk; my donation page is here.

FURTHER ON RELEASE // Our album of Billy Conway’s songs officially comes out Friday (January 20), at which point it will hit streaming sites and become essentially free, as music is these days. If you’re someone who streams music but would still like to support the cause (all proceeds from this album will go to the nascent Billy Conway Artist Fund in Montana), you can still buy a download or a CD on Bandcamp anytime to zero out your karmic debt.

For more on this project peruse SongsofBillyConway.com, and/or check out this lyric video for the free Bandcamp track, “Love Ain’t Around,” sung by Jeffrey Foucault. It’s been lovely to work on this record with a group of dear friends, and gratifying to hear how much the songs mean to people as they get to hear them. Billy’s songs are so damn good. It feels joyful and right to have them going out into the world to keep people company.

That covers the nearest slice of the future! I love the feeling of standing on Square One of the year; it’s a time of such curiosity and possibility. Here’s hoping for lots of music together in 2023. Thanks everybody.*kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

JAN 27 - KD sitting in w Session Americana @ Spire Center, PLYMOUTH, MA Tix
FEB 3 - Caffe Lena - SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY Tix
FEB 4 - Stone Mountain Arts Center - BROWNFIELD, ME Tix
FEB 10 - ZenBarn - WATERBURY, VT Tix
FEB 11 - Club Passim - CAMBRIDGE, MA **TWO SHOWS 5pm/8pm** Tix
MAR 3 - Academy of Music - NORTHAMPTON, MA - John Prine Tribute Night as part of Back Porch Music Festival Tix

KD’s donation site for Winter Walk Boston: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/winterwalkboston23/account/1410330

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

SONGS OF BILL // FEBRUARY NORTHEAST SHOWS

FURTHER ON // A year ago we stood in a circle around Billy’s bed and sang him Happy Birthday, after which he said “Who could ask for a better birthday?” Given that he was on his actual deathbed, he could have been forgiven for meaning this ironically, and there were certainly a few rueful snorts from the circle. But somehow, despite everything, he meant it, which was about the Billyest thing ever. No one I know worked more resolutely to cultivate gratitude than Bill, and no one could have stuck harder to that resolution when the shit really hit the fan.

A few months after he died, some of that same group gathered to record some of his many songs. We did it for ourselves really, to be in grief and love and music together, regardless of outcome. But the recordings turned out able to stand on their own, and we’re starting the process of sharing them today, in the spirit of gratitude for Billy, and the songs he left us, and the circle.

The official release for FURTHER ON: The Songs of Billy Conway is January 20, but we’ve just put the album up for preorder on Bandcamp - so we can make our costs back, and support the new Billy Conway Arts Fund. Please check it out and consider supporting this labor of boundless love. http://songsofbillyconway.com

FEBRUARY NORTHEAST // Anyone can tour the Northeast in the unfrozen months, but where’s the challenge? A nice run of February shows is something a northerner can really sink their teeth into. If the weather and the Subaru go along with the plan, I’ll be solo on Feb 3 at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs - a club I apparently haven’t played since 2015, so I’d say we’re due. Then I’ll play with (everyone’s favorite guitar player) Kevin Barry at (everyone’s favorite venue) Stone Mt Arts Center in Brownfield ME on Feb 4. This show was scheduled for March ‘22 and got snowed out, then rescheduled for May ‘22 and got Covidded out. So here’s hoping that the third time is in fact the charm! The following weekend I’ll return to ZenBarn (where I just played a fun show sitting in with Session Americana) in Waterbury VT, and then home to Cambridge’s Club Passim for two shows on Feb 11. A two-show night always was a bit of a marathon even in the Before Times, so this may be the moment we definitively find out just how stamina-eroding the Covid years have been…

It’s been a strange year in a lot of ways, but I’m grateful for so many things: the support of my crew on Patreon who have given me something fun to show up for during the tourless months; a lovely stack of home-based music work including recording, writing, production projects which will mostly come to light in 2023; and every chance I’ve had all year to play music for you in person or online. Thanks for being there and here’s to a lot of music for all of us in the new year. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

FEB 3 - Caffe Lena - SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY Tix
FEB 4 - Stone Mountain Arts Center - BROWNFIELD, ME Tix
FEB 10 - ZenBarn - WATERBURY, VT tix on sale soon
FEB 11 - Club Passim - CAMBRIDGE, MA **TWO SHOWS 5pm/8pm** Tix

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

PARLOR ROOM // SESSION AMERICANA // DOMMER

November’s a lot of things to a lot of people - for me it’s most notably the end of gardens, river swims, and baseball, and the beginning of prime sad-song-writing weather - but it’s democracy season for all of us. I’m sure you don’t need me to point out that there’s an election around the corner and that it’s very important that all our voices be heard and counted, but for that very reason, I feel compelled to point it out. Please vote! It’s literally the least we can do! Extra helpful to vote for people who actually believe in a democratic form of government.

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PARLOR ROOM // The Parlor Room is a beacon of purity in a bullshit-heavy world. It’s a room, people play music in it, other people listen. That’s pretty much it. The people on stage are happy to be there because they feel valued and well taken care of, and the people in the seats are happy to be there for the same reasons, and it sounds good, and they get to bring their own drinks and snacks.

The Parlor is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this month, and my show on Friday November 18 is part of the official festivities. I’ll play this one with a full band, to maximize the celebratory potential, but rest assured we’ll still play plenty of melancholy songs to meet your seasonal needs. I’m grateful to have this place as one of the vital organs of our local music scene, and the fact of any small club surviving and thriving for ten years - let alone these last ten years! - is worth celebrating indeed. Come on down and BYO something good.

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SESSION AMERICANA // It would take a while to list all the ways my musical world has intersected with Session Americana over the last couple decades. Bullet points: Ry and I were in a band together in the previous century, I’ve played on various SA members’ records and they on mine, we’ve collaborated on a gazillion side projects and shenanigans and a few cowrites, and shared many shows and tours, and I even helped produce their most recent studio album Northeast. So yeah: we go Way Back.

Lately they’ve had an open seat in the band, and since I still haven’t fully re-started my touring engines, I’ve had the rare chance to stow away in the van every now and then and join their fray. In this capacity I play acoustic guitar and fiddle, a touch of bass, sing a whole lot of backing vocals, and lead a few of my songs. For me it’s a refreshing mini-vacation from business as usual, and a rare chance to play music without any responsibilities aside from showing up (mostly) on time and knowing (mostly) the songs.

There are a few more of these convergences on the books, starting with the Session Americana & Friends Thanksgiving Eve Extravaganza at the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville MA. This club is in my old stomping grounds, a few blocks from the group house where I lived for $200/month in the late 90’s (the rent’s a whole lot higher now but the landlord still hasn’t managed to get that top corner of the house painted, which always comforts me to see). Lyle Brewer will open the show, which in itself is worth the price of admission, and then we’ll play a big set for you, including a song Ry & I just wrote together last week, and then we’ll all mill about for a while and catch up, and then I’ll proceed directly to co-hosting 20-something family members (plus copious dogs) for Thanksgiving, and that’s officially as far ahead as I’m willing to think or talk about at this time.

* * * * *

DOMMER - Chris Dombrowski is a writer, fishing guide, confirmed rascal, and longtime friend. His new book The River You Touch is an open-plan memoir of family and place, a work that like its author contains great sensitivity, beauty, and humor. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy, or if you prefer reading with your ears, you can listen to the audiobook, read by the Esteemed Spouse himself. We have a strong tradition of Reading to the Cook in this household, so it’s based on solid experience that I recommend being read to by JF. The audiobook version even has the upside of a pause button for when you need to go to the basement for onions, a feature lacking in the in-person model. On the other hand, the audiobook will not do the dishes.

Happy November everyone, mull some cider, cast a ballot, write a sad song or two. *kd

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UPCOMING KD SHOWS
NOV 18 - The Parlor Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA Tix

W SESSION AMERICANA
NOV 23 - The Crystal Ballroom, SOMERVILLE, MA Tix

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

Hi folks, we’re heading into my favorite time of year…I love it when the summer notches down a little, the air crisps up, the river’s still warm(ish), the harvest rolls in. It’s normally a back-to-the-road season as well, but as it turns out, I’ll continue to keep things close to home through the end of this year. I’ve been itching to get back to playing so many places I love, but the fact is it’s still pretty hairy out there for touring, and I’m deep in a few writing and recording projects I took on while things were shut down that are asking for a little more time.  So, I’ll get by on just a few choice shows for just a bit longer. I appreciate all your messages urging me to come back to __________ (insert name of your town here) SO MUCH, and I promise I’ll be out and about more in 2023! In the meantime, a few imminent events for New Englanders:

HARVARD MA:  I’ve never been to the Fruitlands Museum property but it looks like a stunner. They have a beautiful outdoor concert series, and we’ll kick off the season on Thursday, September 8. Their whole fall lineup looks great: Jill Sobule, Deb Talan, Melissa Ferrick, Lilli Lewis, and a bunch more. Please note the early 6:30 pm showtime on this one, which I can only hope is designed to maximize the sunset factor! Kevin Barry will join me on guitar, which takes any good situation and makes it better.

COTUIT MA: September is the best month on Cape Cod, hands down, and I love an excuse to get out there in fall. On Saturday September 24th I’ll play a solo show at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, an outdoor performance with a tent to keep off any hurricanes that might happen by. In my pre-touring days I spent a year living on the Cape teaching outdoor ed. to 5th graders, so don’t be surprised if I lapse into a few botany or geology lessons during the show. If you’re not a Cape Codder, I hereby give you permission to use this show as an excuse to make a weekend of it.

PATREON: Here’s your occasional reminder that for at least a while longer I’m running my Patreon scene, wherein I share freshly-learned covers, KD songs in progress, and thoughts on the creative life. It’s been a really satisfying way to keep an active thread with listeners while the road’s been slow; come over and join us anytime.

OK, keeping it short for my last hot-weather newsletter of the year..more ramblings next month when the weather is conducive to Having Thoughts. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS
SEPT 8 - Fruitlands Museum, HARVARD, MA (with Kevin Barry, guitar) Tix
SEPT 24 - Cotuit Arts Center, COTUIT, MA (KD solo) Tix

NOV 18 - The Parlor Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA

JULY NEWSLETTER (WI, MT)

TREMPEALEAU WI // RED ANTS PANTS FEST

This summer I’ll leave my town (population: 1659) to perform in Trempealeau, WI (population: 2034) and White Sulfur Springs, MT (population: 979). That’s the extent of the summer tour, and to be honest I’m pretty into it. No doubt I’ll start rushing around to a different town every night sometime soon, but for now it feels just fine to stay on the slow road a little while longer. Aside from the bits of performing, I’m sharing covers and work-in-progress every month on Patreon, and working my way through a nice kaleidoscope of recording and writing projects while I wait for my moment to fully re-enter the fray.

Meanwhile, the world is A Lot right now. You don’t need me to tell you this. I’m trying to keep in the front of my mind that there are people whose only hope of staying in power is to keep the rest of us as divided as possible, to make us see each other as the enemy. Not only is it a stressful and depressing way to live, but it saps us of our collective strength. Music, conversation, service, compassion, efforts to connect with people outside our immediate bubble; these are the things that weave us into a resilient fabric. I’m putting my energy there and hoping that my molecules of music can be of any use; even if it’s just by helping pent-up emotions flow.

TREMPEALEAU WI // In the course of some summer meandering, Esteemed Spouse Jeffrey Foucault and I will land briefly at the Trempealeau Hotel and play a show trading songs and backing each other up. This room got rave reviews from the JF band when they played it earlier in the year and I for one am looking forward to being introduced.

RED ANTS PANTS // I was at Red Ants Pants Festival a few years ago playing in JF’s band, and I’m thrilled to be reversing the situation this year, playing my own songs with him joining me on guitar. We’ll also have Eric Heywood handling the mysterious workings of the pedal steel. Red Ants encompasses a great women’s workwear company, a foundation supporting supporting small rural businesses, and on top of all that, one of the sweetest music fests you’ll hope to find. We’re playing Friday evening, followed by my fellow New Englander Martin Sexton, and then Allison Russell and her band, whose fierce, joyous, gorgeous set I was grateful to catch a few days ago at the Green River Festival. Full weekend lineup and tickets here.

May we continue to love, and to hope, and to fight - with and for each other. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS
JULY 17 - w Jeffrey Foucault at Trempealeau Hotel, TREMPEALEAU, WI Tix
JULY 29 - Red Ants Pants Music Festival, WHITE SULFUR SPRINGS, MT Tix

photo // Brittany Powers

APRIL NEWSLETTER

UK W SPOUSE // NY STATE // ISLAND SONGS

Spring in the Northeast always feels a bit like climbing out from under a dark rock and emerging into a bright, vaguely familiar world. This year brings an extra-strength version of that vibe, and it does feel a bit surreal to list all these travels and shows; I’m telling you about them, but at the same time I’m not entirely convinced they’re real. But this is what spring does, there are 3-1/2 crocuses blooming in my yard and suddenly nothing’s too crazy to believe in, so I’m choosing to think that all of this will play out just as described below. No real tours in the near-term, but quite a scattering of dates and formats here as we crank up the various machines and see if they still run.

UK APRIL // Mid-month I’ll leave the US for the first time in you-know-how-long as Esteemed Spouse Jeffrey Foucault and I head to the UK for a few shows in & near London. These nights will be full collaborations with both of us onstage for the whole show, playing into one microphone, trading songs and backing each other up. On the 19th we’re at The Water Rats in Camden, a show which is currently sold out, and on the 21st at The Slaughtered Lamb in Farringdon-ish, for which there are still some tickets available. Our friend Dietrich Strause, who has a new album about to drop, will join us for a couple songs on these nights as well. On the 22nd we’ll closing out Friday night at the Ramblin’ Roots Revue in High Wycombe. Come reunite with us! As always I’ll be accepting alternate merch payment in the form of sleeves of Hobnobs.

NY STATE // I used to play in upstate New York quite a bit, but it seems to have somehow fallen off the tour calendar along the way, so it’ll be interesting to take a swing out there and find out if anyone remembers I exist. Friday April 29 I’ll play a solo show at Argyle Brewing in Cambridge, NY, and then another the next night at 443 Social Club in Syracuse. See you there New Yorkians, we have lots of catching up to do!

SONGS FROM THREE MILE // Every June I have the bewilderingly good fortune to retreat to a lake island with some friends and write songs for a week, with much thanks to a grant from Club Passim’s Iguana Fund. Later in the year we gather at the club to play songs written at that year’s retreat, and they’re truly special nights, full of collaboration and joy, and the uniquely thrilling energy that comes from a whole night of brand-new songs being taken for a spin. This year’s shows, rescheduled from January, are now May 2 & 3 at Club Passim in Cambridge MA. I’m only able to be there the first of the two nights, but either of them is completely worth going to.

STONE MOUNTAIN DO-OVER // The show at Stone Mountain Arts Center last month got snowed out, so now I get to look forward to playing it all over again! More details on this next month but if you’re a planner, you can get your tickets right here right now and check it off your list.

RED ANTS PANTS // I’m thrilled to be in the lineup for this year’s Red Ants Pants Festival in White Sulfur Springs, MT. Red Ants is a multifaceted force for good, making excellent outdoor workwear for women, supporting women-led small businesses, and on top of all that running one of the sweetest music fests you’ll hope to find. Full great lineup and tickets here.

It’s such good medicine to be in a room and experience music together; I hope some of you can come out this spring for a dose. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS
APR 19 - Cobill w Jeffrey Foucault at The Water Rats, Camden/London, UK (SOLD OUT)
APR 21 - Cobill w Jeffrey Foucault at The Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK Tix
APR 22 - Cobill w Jeffrey Foucault at Ramblin’ Roots Revue, High Wycombe, UK Tix
APR 29 - Argyle Brewing, CAMBRIDGE, NY Tix
APR 30 - 443 Social Club, SYRACUSE, NY Tix
MAY 2 - Sub Rosa Songwriting Retreat Show at Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix
MAY 13 - Stone Mountain Arts Center, BROWNFIELD, ME Tix
JULY 29 - Red Ants Pants Music Festival, WHITE SULFUR SPRINGS, MT Tix

photo // Brittany Powers

MARCH NEWSLETTER

DOLLY TRIBUTE // STONE MOUNTAIN // APRIL IN LONDON

Hello residents of almost-spring, what a heavy world these days. It’s important to keep refreshing our connections with all the beauty, vulnerability, grief, hope, joy, and humanity inside ourselves and each other. Going outside helps, community helps, service and purposeful work help, and art and music sure do too. Here are a few things I have upcoming in case they can be of medicinal use to you or yours.

THURSDAY MARCH 3 // I’m part of a Dolly Parton tribute show down the road at Hawks & Reed in Greenfield, MA. It’s hard to imagine a better antidote to weary late winter than the undimmable brightness of Dolly and her songs, and I can’t wait to gather around their light with this group of great musicians including Ali McGuirk, Tracy Grammer, Zara Bode, Lisa Bastoni and many more. Come join us and/or check out the rest of the lineup of Signature Sounds’ Back Porch Festival.

SATURDAY MARCH 12 // I’ll be at one of my all-time favorite places, Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, ME. This is a big beautiful barn in a spot where you might not expect to find a world-class music venue, and always an absolute treat to play. The one & only Kevin Barry will be on hand to play guitar and generally elevate my game. This is my only New England headlining show on the books for the foreseeable, so it might be an occasion to consider a little road trip?

APRIL UK DATES // In April the Esteemed Spouse and I will pop up briefly in the London area. This is not a full-fledged UK tour, just the swiftest of visits, but it’ll be nice to say hello after so long away. Our friends at the Green Note are promoting our London appearances, which started out singular but have become plural: since our show at The Water Rats sold out very quickly, we’ve added a second on the 21st at The Slaughtered Lamb. We’ll also play the Ramblin’ Roots Revue in High Wycombe. All UK shows are cobills in which JF and I will trade songs and back each other up to the best of our abilities.

NY STATE // Syracuse & Albany areas, heads up that I’ll swing through solo at the end of April. More on this next month but: be advised.

No bona fide touring in the works until after summer, but it feels good to start to plan minor forays into the world. I’m looking forward to each and every opportunity to get out and start reconnecting with audiences and the world beyond my little enclave in the hills. Thanks everyone and see you out there - *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS
MAR 3 - Multi-artist Dolly Parton Tribute Show at Hawks & Reed, GREENFIELD, MA Tix
MAR 12 - Stone Mountain Arts Center, BROWNFIELD, ME Tix
APR 19 - Cobill with Jeffrey Foucault at The Water Rats, Camden/London, UK SOLD OUT
APR 21 - Cobill with Jeffrey Foucault at The Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK Tix
APR 22 - Cobill with Jeffrey Foucault at Ramblin’ Roots Revue, High Wycombe, UK Tix
APR 29 - Argyle Brewing, CAMBRIDGE, NY Tix
APR 30 - 443 Social Club, SYRACUSE, NY Tix
MAY 2 & 3 - Sub Rosa Songwriting Retreat Shows - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA

BLOOD TEST THROWBACK SHOW

On Sunday Feb 6 I’ll play through the 2014 album Blood Test and share whatever stories or reminiscences come to mind. Please join me on my YouTube or Facebook if you’re into it! That’s the actual news of this post; anyone interested in a little more story of the making of this album, read on…

In 2008, I released the album Shotgun Singer, toured the US & Europe from February til May, had a baby in June, and transitioned abruptly from a chapter of intense work and frenetic activity to the disorienting, strangely suspended, peaceful/exhuasting state that is life with a newborn. I didn’t sleep a full night for about a year and a half, and I didn’t write anything resembling a song either. In the best of times, after I’ve finished a record I usually have sneaking suspicions that I’ll never write anything again, and in this case it seemed like it was finally coming true. I was mostly too distracted and/or exhausted to worry about it, but when I did I’d get dull distant glimmers of panic. Still, I was overall pretty happy, and I figured if that was it for songwriting, I’d had a decent run. 

At a certain point, though, the kid started sleeping, and then so did I, and then the songs started to show up again. It took a few years to grow a full crop, and some schedule wrangling as the Spouse was in a flurry of recording and releasing side projects, but eventually I had an album’s worth of songs and a patch of clear calendar to work with. I called my friend Anders Parker, a fellow Swede and songwriter whose work I love, and asked if he’d be willing to lend my songs some of his sensibilities. He signed on to produce and be in the band, and we were off.  

Every album begins with making up a set of rules. The extent to which you end up following and/or breaking your own rules is what frames out the shape of the final result. For this one the main rules were that Anders would pick the band, which would consist of just four people including the two of us, and that all the sounds on the album would be made by these four people, no additional players. I was both excited and terrified to have someone beside me choose the personnel, after three projects in a row where I’d orchestrated every last detail. Anders brought in Konrad Meissner on drums, who had played with the Silos for a long time and was at the time the drummer for Brandi Carlile. Our fourth member was Mark Spencer, guitar/pedal steel/keys/bass player and producer, who is usually in Son Volt and has worked a lot with Laura Cantrell, Lisa Loeb, too many to mention. Mark and Anders would take turns playing bass on the basic tracks and overdubbing guitar, keys, and pedal steel. 

Originally I’d intended to make this a residential session at a studio where we could all hole up together, but it turned out people had tight windows of availability between tours, and everyone but me was living at least part-time in Brooklyn, so it ended up making sense to bring the session to the band. Anders steered us to Brooklyn Recording, a great studio in Cobble Hill-ish/Red Hook-ish, run by engineer Andy Taub, who’s worked on too many great records to count. The studio is within walking distance from the apartment building I grew up in, and I got to stay with family friends and walk to work every morning stopping for a bagel at the same deli I frequented in high school, which created a dizzying feeling of time looping in on itself.

We set up with the band together in the live room and me in a booth so I could play and sing live without getting the band in my vocals.  I could see Konrad enough to communicate visually, but everyone else was out of sight. We tracked in September of 2013, four long working days. It turned out to be the first record I made where no one in the band smoked, and I noticed after a while that the whole work rhythm was different without someone’s internal nicotine timer forcing regular pauses. I’m also a little bad about remembering to eat while I’m recording, and the morning after this four-day session Mark announced that he had lost 8 pounds, which definitely made me feel like a bad boss for underfeeding everyone! That said, we did at least eat dinner every night from the neighborhood’s infinite takeout options, and laughed our way through the whole project, which was mostly thanks to/the fault of Mark. We stuck to our rules mostly (although Andy snuck in a 5th-man role with a note or two of bowed vibraphone) and worked to the common purpose of creating something new out of sound and time; a mystical process that never, ever, ever gets old.

I enjoyed singing these songs in the studio so much. The situation in my vocal booth was ideal; I could hear the band perfectly but felt safe and more or less invisible tucked in my low-lit lair with a vintage RCA44 ribbon mic, and singing felt incredibly free. I was overcome with emotion many times during this session, partly because the songs themselves have some heavy freight for me, but also because, after three projects in a row where I was in charge of directing all the details, on this one I could just disappear into the song and devote myself completely to inhabiting the moment. Andy (with the help of assistant engineer/great songwriter Don Piper) got such beautiful sounds, and the chemistry of the band was magic, going from polite strangers to deeply-trusted friends over the course of the first 24 hours or so. The skills, care, energy that everyone brought to this project were all above and beyond the call of duty and for me it was an amazing process of returning myself as a musician for the first time after five or six years of being first & foremost a mom.

This record was a joy to make and I’ll always be grateful to the people who made it with me. A bunch of these songs are also still my favorite ones to play; I’m looking forward to singing my way through them this Sunday. Hope to see some of you there!

Studio photos (the good ones) are by Ted Barron, others are a mishmash

JANUARY/FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

OK, 2022

Prior to Covid, I can only remember cancelling two shows in over 20 years of touring: one for a back injury, one for an ice storm. Lately, of course, cancelling shows has been a bigger part of our job than actually playing them. Still, I have to say I’m surprised that even as we open the book on 2022, it’s only now, almost-February, that I have definitive information on the existence of January’s performance schedule, having spent the last two weeks in various email threads weighing different instances of To Play or Not To Play. Such is our ongoing training in patience, flexibility, and fatalism, and it’s probably making us better prepared for whatever further challenges lie down the road, but I can tell you that at this point I’m pretty into the idea of booking some shows and then having them just…happen! Without any discussion, hand-wringing, existential angst, or waffling!

In the meantime, being late in the game with this, I’ll keep it brief and cut right to the relevant dates. We have here a nice range of Covid-era fare, including rescheduled in-person shows, as-scheduled in-person shows, and even a livestream, which is very 2020. The two most upcoming things: 1/28 at Natick Center for the Arts with my longtime bud Mark Erelli, a show we’ve decided to play and hope for the best, because we need the enlivening and connection that only live music can provide, and we know that many of you do too. Mark and I have been friends for Actual Decades and have shared many road adventures, but we rarely get to play together these days and we’re so looking forward to helping out with each other’s songs and generally having a little musical reunion in a beautiful-sounding room. Vax and mask required obviously! Please take all precautions to protect your fellow concertgoers!

Also, 2/6 is the new date for the twice-rescheduled (!) livestream of the 2014 album Blood Test, in case you’re looking to spend a peaceful Sunday evening wandering through some musical memories. I’ll play through the whole album solo and share some stories about the songs or the recording process, whatever comes to mind.

I hope everyone’s weathering the sucker-punch of Omicron and looking forward the unfolding of a brand new year. Onwards! *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS

JAN 28 - TCAN Center for the Arts with Mark Erelli - NATICK, MA Tix
FEB 6 - Blood Test Throwback Livestream - on KD YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK
MAR 3 - Multi-artist Dolly Parton Tribute Show at Hawks & Reed, GREENFIELD, MA Tix
MAR 12 - Stone Mountain Arts Center, BROWNFIELD, ME Tix
APR 29 - Argyle Brewing, CAMBRIDGE, NY Tix
APR 30 - 443 Social Club, SYRACUSE, NY Tix
MAY 2 & 3 (rescheduled from Jan 23/24) Sub Rosa Songwriting Retreat Shows - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA

BILLY C

When I met Billy Conway I was 25 years old and looking for my life. He came in to play drums on my first album and though I didn’t know my ass from my elbow, I had enough sense to recognize that he had the map to somewhere I wanted to be. I asked him to produce my next record, and I set my course by his light.

Billy brought me into his world, centered around the loft/studio/clubhouse known as Hi-n-Dry. He and his partner Laurie Sargent and their circle of friends were larger than life to me. They seemed to have their shit all the way together, and I held them in awe. I didn’t realize until much later in our friendship that Billy had been mapless then too. Mark Sandman had recently died onstage with Morphine, abruptly leaving Bill without both his friend and his band. He was reeling, disoriented, unsure what was next. We two beginners then, each in our own way, started where we were and built a world together. Over days and weeks in the studio we made a blended family of our respective communities, through endless days of takes, playbacks, pacing, and laughter; long late conversations crowded around the old battered studio table covered in glasses, lighters, and liner notes. Billy gave me the keys to the kingdom. He showed me what mattered and why, how to listen, what to chase, and what to ignore. Working together created the whole architecture of how I think about recording and music, and friendship too.

We made two albums and toured them a little, and then Bill’s next band Twinemen formed and got busy, and I was on the road and couldn’t often afford a full band, and we didn’t get to play much for a while. A handful of years later, I’d met and married Jeffrey Foucault, who one day asked me who was the best drummer I knew. From that question grew another marriage, JF and Bill’s ten years on the road together, music and miles, books and greenrooms, rivers and backbeats. That Billy would appear like a guiding star in each of our lives just when we needed him, who could have written that story? How to describe such a seamless braiding together of music and history and family and love?

He was the shepherd to my younger self, and the partner to my partner. To our daughter he became some unnameable combination of uncle, conspirator, straight man, and coach. As a musician, he was like no one else. His playing was deep, elemental, and infused with joy. He was the rare drummer who always wanted the lyrics when recording a song, and when he was onstage no one could take their eyes off of him. Musically as well as personally, he possessed a rare magic that allowed everyone around him to be the best version of themselves.

Billy left the world the way he lived in it: with generosity and humor, and surrounded by love, showing us all how it’s done, just like always. There aren’t enough tears to cry, and not enough stars in the sky to thank.

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

AND, WINTER

This time of year, always, the slow race against the snow. There’s no such thing as winning, but at least this year we didn’t lose too bad. The garlic and tulips got planted, firewood stacked, chicken coop winterized, the garden pickled and souped and jammed and krauted. And this morning, the first gentle coating, the first rumbling of the plows. Although I definitely heaved a real deep sigh while scraping off the car, I love winter unreservedly, and I’m okay with calling the race and embracing the season of quiet, reflection, and deep inward settling.

Mid-November, we had to say a tough goodbye to Thumbs the cat. Lover of all humans, despiser of everyone else, Thumbs was a neighborhood cat from a troubled home who defected to our apartment in a daring move one night using the pizza delivery guy for cover, and then settled in with us for the next fourteen years. He was our first dependent (although he’d probably take issue with that term), the one who broke trail for the chickens, the dog, the kid, all the domestic responsibilities we weren’t entirely convinced a couple of touring songwriters could sign up for. Having successfully bombed several livestreams, I know he’s a familiar face to many of you, so I figured I’d let you know. He loved fresh voles, roasted squash, and extremely vigorous massage, so you can join us in hoping he’s getting plenty of all of these wherever he’s installed himself now.

WORD BARN // Last show of this confusing, stop-and-start year is Friday Dec 3 at the Word Barn in Exeter, NH. I absolutely love to play this magic room under any circumstances, and with my friend Kevin Barry along it’s possible it will actually be Too Good. It’s a rare treat for me to get a show with Kevin in edgewise between his work with the likes of Roseanne Cash and Peter Wolf, and I can’t imagine a better note to end a tour calendar on. We’ll have Erik Koskinen on hand all the way from Minnesota to open the night. He and The Spouse have toured together quite a bit and he’s a mighty force of songwriting, singing, guitar playing, and producing. Dig his latest one Burning the Deal and you’ll agree.

MYTHAXIS // It’s always a pleasure to talk writing with someone who gets it, and I really enjoyed this interview with Mythaxis Review’s Doug Cole. Although this is probably only half of what we covered, it’s still a nice long conversation, and it was a treat to dig a little deeper into process than many interviews have space for.

PATREON // In the last month or so on Patreon I shared a Replacements cover, a demo or two of songs in the works or from the odds-and-ends pile, and an essay about ways I use freewriting to generate raw material for lyrics. The Patreon project is something I see as finite, maybe a year to a year and a half, which is why I keep mentioning it so that interested parties don’t miss the boat. For my part, it’s both fun and helpful to have a group of friendly, chill, interested people to bounce things off and share stuff that’s not right for the glare of the full internet. Come on over and become one of those people anytime.

THE FUTURE // I don’t need to tell anyone it’s been a strange time, and there’s still a ton of uncertainty about how this work we do - which was pretty outlandish even before Covid, if we’re honest - will come out the other side. We’ve booked some scattered KD shows in the first months of 2022, and hoping to get more robust about it by springtime. In the meantime, I’ve promised the livestreams would kick back in, and in January that will actually happen, starting with the Blood Test throwback show on January 9.

With a second pandemic-scrambled year ending, I want to express my gratitude again for all the ways people - you - have shown up to support me and my fellow musicians trying to ride the waves. Thankyou so much to everyone who’s come to a show or a livestream, ordered music or merch online, thrown streaming-karma tips into the tip jar, joined me on Patreon, shared music or posts with their friends, or sent a note saying my work has provided joy or comfort or companionship. This stuff helps pay the bills, but it also makes the whole endeavor seem worthwhile, which is sustaining in the way that matters most. Thanks everyone and wishing you safe and warm though the long nights. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS
DEC 3 - The Word Barn - EXETER, NH Tix
JAN 9 - Blood Test Throwback Show LIVESTREAM
JAN 23 & 24 - Sub Rosa Songwriting Retreat shows @ Club Passim - CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix
JAN 28 - TCAN Center for the Arts with Mark Erelli - NATICK, MA Tix

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER (OH, MA, NH)

COLUMBUS // GREENFIELD // EXETER

True the fall tour consists of just three dates, but each of them is a beauty!

NOVEMBER 5 I’ll briefly touch down in Columbus Ohio, to perform at the Van Fleet Center with Six String Concerts. This will be a solo show, playing some songs from Long Day in the Milky Way as well as others from throughout the years. Columbus, it’s been forever, we have some catching up to do! I also encourage roadtripping from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other neighboring locales.

NOVEMBER 20 is just down the road at Hawks and Reed in Greenfield. This show is brought to you by Signature Sounds who have moved some of their programming for the fall to Hawks & Reed, where the space is larger and more conducive to spreading out a little bit.

DECEMBER 3 will be the last in-person show of 2021, at the Word Barn in Exeter, NH. Very excited that this one will be graced by the presence of Mr. Kevin Barry, one of my favorite people and guitar players on the planet. It’s a small magic space that we’ll attempt to fill with large magic sounds.

I’m so grateful for each of these chances to play for folks in person. There’s a particular energy that happens when music is shared with people in a room in real time, a little glowing space we get to make and occupy together for a moment. It doesn’t change the world but it rearranges all of our molecules just a bit, and makes us a little better equipped to get through our days whatever they bring. I’m glad to have the chance to visit that well a few times before the year is out and I look forward to seeing some of you there. Thanks everyone.

UPCOMING SHOWS
NOV 5 - Six String Concerts - COLUMBUS, OH Tix
NOV 20 - Hawks & Reed (presented by Signature Sounds) - GREENFIELD, MA Tix
DEC 3 - The Word Barn - EXETER, NH Tix

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

THANKYOU SEPTEMBRIANS // NOV & DEC SHOWS // PATREON // FRIENDS & FAM

This is the month I’m traditionally most loathe to leave home in order to go on tour, something I keep reminding myself as I sail into the second home-based October in a row. It’s lovely to be here communing with the garden, the woods, the geese, the rivers, the middle-school volleyball games; but the parts of touring I miss, I miss profoundly. I have much brighter hopes for 2022, but in the meantime there are a few appearances remaining in this hot mess of a year, more on which below.

THANKYOU // First off, I’m sending thanks to those of you who were able to come out to a show last month. In the Before Times, it was easy for shows to blur together a bit even weeks after they happened, due to the sheer volume of them, and all the near-manic traveling they entailed. These days though, each one stands alone on its own well-lit little pedestal, so I remember clearly how at Passim I yammered like a rookie in an attempt to fill the formerly-comfy, now-unsettling silence of a room full of people staring at me, and how at the Egremont Barn it was 43 degrees at showtime, and my hands more or less stopped working halfway through the outdoor set.

But both these nights were special and joyful and great, because I was playing to real faces in real time, and that’s become a very precious thing. Or actually, it always was precious; what’s changed is our improved ability to realize it. I’m very grateful to everyone who’s contributing to the effort to put live music on safely, from the clubs and promoters enforcing best practices, to the audiences cheerfully adhering to the important protocols as we try to claw our way back to a less vigilant existence.

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER SHOWS // In November, I’ll get on something called an “airplane” for a single show in Columbus, OH - if this seems a tad random to you, that’s because it is, but we’re rolling with it - and I’m also playing closer to home at Hawks and Reed in Greenfield, MA. These shows both require proof of vax and masks for all audience and staff. I’ll also re-start the livestream machine in November I think, as the nights get longer; more on that next month.

PATREON // Morale remains high over at Patreon where I’m continuing to do the musical equivalent of a painter’s studio tour. In my mind, this project is finite, maybe a year or so, at which point hopefully I’ll be back on the road and too busy to keep it up; but in the meantime I’m finding it surprisingly useful and enjoyable. Any amount from $3-$25 per month gets you full access to the deal. Come investigate here.

FRIENDS & FAM // Two dear friends & collaborators released new work in recent weeks. First, my neighbor and BFF Erin McKeown launched her new one Kiss Off Kiss, a straight-up breakup album simultaneously devastating and danceable, produced by Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin. I got to lay down a big stack of backing vocals on one song, which was a mid-pandemic treat. Secondly, my Viking brother (and co-producer of my Blood Test record) Anders Parker offered up Wolf Reckoning, a big enveloping storm of a record, all darkness and energy and swirling light. Do your ears a favor and check out this brand-new music, loosed into a crowded and confusing world.

I hope everyone’s hanging in there and practicing kindness to yourselves and those you encounter in your day, who may be carrying any number of unknown burdens. See you at a show or a computer screen soon; until then I’ll be here waving my hanky at the southbound geese. *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS
NOV 5 - Six String Concerts - COLUMBUS, OH Tix
NOV 20 - Hawks & Reed (presented by Signature Sounds) - GREENFIELD, MA Tix
DEC 3 - The Word Barn - EXETER, NH Tix