DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

NORTHEAST SHOWS WITH CHRIS PUREKA // 30A FESTIVAL

Well, we made a record. I think it’s a special one but I’m not going to say much about it yet. There’s a moment after a new album is born that’s quite special and fragile. Ten of us went away to an isolated place away from daily life and made this thing together, and almost no one has heard it yet but us. It feels like the whole thing exists solely inside a big lovely prismatic soap bubble drifting somewhere above the day-to-day, like the one Glinda the good witch rode around in. We know that eventually it will pop and we’ll all float back down to earth and it’ll be time to finish it and analyze it and share it and figure out how to pay for it and a million etceteras, it will become part of the world we know. But for just a little while it gets to stay a world unto itself, and I’m not in a rush to leave it.

Writing this I am reminded of when our daughter was born and we three were deep in the first gaze, which seemed to last eons, when the nurses said somewhat incredulously “Don’t you even want to know the gender?!” - and the thing was, in that moment, we really didn’t. It would soon be relevant, but it was not relevant yet. And that’s where this music is now. Someday soon I’ll start figuring out What It Is, but right now I don’t need to know. I’m in a bright bubble, floating. I don’t need anything else.

DECEMBER WITH PUREKA:

Five years or so ago I played a split bill with Chris Pureka at The Chapel in San Francisco. It was the first time we had shared a show in a while, and the first time I got to hang with her dog Iris. The only photo I have from that night is the sweaty post-show one below, where it’s unclear whether we are the proud, tender new parents of Iris or whether I’m trying to wrestle her out of Chris’s hands and run away with her, camera smile still in place. In any case, it will be nice to reunite with both human and dog for our run of co-bills to round out the touring year. Chris will be joined by great sideman Andy Alseri and I’ll have the dreamy company of Sam Moss…a duo of duos, living together in symmetrical harmony. Come join us at The Parlour Room in Northampton MA 12/6 and 12/7, Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord NH 12/8, City Winery Boston 12/10, Murmrr Ballroom in Brooklyn, NY 12/11, Sellersville Theater in Sellersville PA 12/12, Jammin Java in Vienna VA 12/13.

30A FESTIVAL: The last time I played The 30A Songwriters Festival was teamed up with Jeffrey Foucault in 2016. We brought the then-7-year-old kid and spent most of our off-stage time on the beach goofing off and swimming, to the visible horror of the Floridians walking by in parkas. This time around I’ll be on my own and probably spend more time reuniting with friends and catching sets from some of the 600 million great songwriters who will be assembled (the lineup starts with John Prine, Indigo Girls, and Brian Wilson, and then it Just. Keeps. Going). Turns out if you want everyone to come play your festival, you just need to put it in a warm place in a cold month.

SIDE PROJECTS & EXTENDED-FAMILY NEWS:

SESSION PRESS: “NORTHEAST,” the Session Americana record I had the pleasure to play on and co-produce, has been receiving some very kind attention from the press on both sides of the Atlantic. Some writers have given it close, insightful listens, which is a rare and gratifying thing. An example from PennyBlack Music, UK: “There’s not a mis-step on the album. While looking down the track list there are a number of songs that while you can’t wait to hear how the collective have worked their magic on, there are others that you think are just not going to work. But they do. Brilliantly…an amazing performance from all concerned.” The record is being released single by single in the USA; listen on Spotify or wherever you harvest music.

ITMRW: My friend Jocie Adams is a startling firehose of creativity. I spend time with her at a songwriting retreat every year and pretty much every damn day she turns up in the evening having written *several* new works of complex, surprising, totally original songcraft. For the last few years we’ve been hearing her develop songs for a concept album paired with a full theatrical performance - a futuristic narrative set in the year 2080 - and now that project is getting ready to be staged, in Cambridge in January. Seeing a performance by her band, Arc Iris, is like watching the finale of the greatest fireworks show ever, and I can’t wait to experience this production in all of its glory in January 2020 in Cambridge, MA. For now though, the band is trying to rustle up money to pay for this extremely involved undertaking. If any of this sounds intriguing, please check out their site to learn more about how you can pitch in to bring some truly unique art to life.

Yours afloat, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:

DECEMBER 6 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Parlour Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA Tix
DECEMBER 7 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Parlour Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA Tix
DECEMBER 8 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Capitol Ctr for the Arts, CONCORD, NH Tix
DECEMBER 10 - KD & Chris Pureka @ City Winery, BOSTON MA Tix
DECEMBER 11 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Murmrr Ballroom, BROOKLYN, NY Tix
DECEMBER 12 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Sellersville Theater, SELLERSVILLE, PA Tix
DECEMBER 13 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Jammin Java, VIENNA, VA Tix

JANUARY 17-19, 2020 - 30A Songwriters Festival, SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL Tix

tix/info for all shows http://krisdelmhorst.com/tour

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER WITH AMY HELM & ERIN MCKEOWN // DECEMBER WITH CHRIS PUREKA

Hey everybody, we go into the studio this week to start concocting a new album, so I’m going to lay a few quick facts on you and then get back to my important preparations including tweaking of songs, practicing of guitars, wrangling of logistical details, questioning of self-worth, and other fundamental components of the pre-recording process.

NOVEMBER WITH AMY HELM & ERIN MCKEOWN:
In mid-November I’m part of a show called “Liner Notes,” with Erin McKeown and Amy Helm, which will be a night of sharing songs, stories, and conversation with each other and a live audience. There is no telling what anyone will play or talk about, which is my idea of a fun show. This special happening will go down in Turner’s Falls MA at the Shea Theater on 11/15 and the legendary Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock on 11/16.

DECEMBER WITH PUREKA:
The last time I shared a stage with Chris Pureka was in San Francisco in 2014, so it’ll be great to reconvene for some co-headlining dates around the Northeast to round out the year. Chris’s songs are hypnotic and beautiful AND her tiny dog Iris will be keeping us company in the green rooms, so morale should be high. We’ll both play duo on this run (Sam Moss will join me on all these shows) and we look forward to seeing some of you at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord NH 12/8, City Winery Boston 12/10, Murmrr Ballroom in Brooklyn, NY 12/11, Sellersville Theater in Sellersville PA 12/12, Jammin Java in Vienna VA 12/13, with a few more to be revealed.

SIDE PROJECTS & EXTENDED-FAMILY NEWS:
Firstly, my longtime friend Dinty Child has a solo record coming out in January, and the title track, a song of mine called Lucky Ones, has just been released as a single. I wrote this little number at the end of a songwriting retreat in a fit of gratitude for the writing time and my fellow songers, and more generally for getting to live my life surrounded by music and the crazy/wonderful people who make it. I played it for the gang as a drunken closing toast and thought that might be the entire lifespan of the song, but Dinty adopted it as his own and has given it an exciting life traveling the world with him, which is all a birth mother could hope for.

Secondly, many of you have seen Hayward Williams open for me and/or back me up over the years. Hayward writes and plays great and can sing the paint off the wall, and he has a cool new acoustic duo project called COYOTE BROTHER which is out now for your listening pleasure.

Yours in pre-studio jitters, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:

NOVEMBER 7 - KD joins Session Americana on stage to celebrate the release of “NORTHEAST” @ Littlefield, BROOKLYN, NY Tix
NOVEMBER 15 - “Liner Notes:” a Night of Songs & Stories with KD, Erin McKeown, and Amy Helm @ Shea Theater, TURNERS FALLS, MA Tix
NOVEMBER 16 - “Liner Notes:” a Night of Songs & Stories with KD, Erin McKeown, and Amy Helm @ Levon Helm Studios, WOODSTOCK, NY Tix

DECEMBER 8 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Capitol Ctr for the Arts, CONCORD, NH Tix
DECEMBER 10 - KD & Chris Pureka @ City Winery, BOSTON MA Tix
DECEMBER 11 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Murmrr Ballroom, BROOKLYN, NY Tix
DECEMBER 12 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Sellersville Theater, SELLERSVILLE, PA Tix
DECEMBER 13 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Jammin Java, VIENNA, VA Tix

tix/info for all shows http://krisdelmhorst.com/tour

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Hi everyone, there is a lot happening all at once right now in the world (not to mention in my house and brain) so I think I’ll eschew philosphical musings and focus on tangible, relevant facts this month, as follows:

FALL SHOWS: OCTOBER 10 I’ll return to the Second Shift Music Series at the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham MA. This is such a cool space, filled with mesmerizing objects like an antique paper-bag making machine - and it’ll be great to play there with the assistance of dreamboats Sam Moss, Rose Polenzani, and Annie Lynch. We’ll have spent the day rehearsing and arranging new songs we’re getting ready to record, and we’ll definitely take a few of those for their first trip around the block when we hit the stage.

NOVEMBER 7, I get to join Session Americana and most of the guest artists from the “Northeast” record for one more release extravaganza show at Littlefield in Brooklyn, NY. The first round of release shows was joyful and transcendent, and I can’t wait to dive in one more time.

November also brings “LINER NOTES,” a unique happening with mighty friends Erin McKeown and Amy Helm. We’ll all play songs interspersed with interviews and conversations about life in music & on the road - and with over 60 years combined touring experience between the three of us, I’m sure we will find a thing or two to discuss. This show will happen at the Shea Theater on 11/15 and - pinch me! - Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock on 11/16…my long-awaited first pilgrimage to the mythical barn!

In DECEMBER I’m looking forward to visiting some nice rooms in the Northeast with Chris Pureka co-headlining. We’ll be at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord NH 12/8, City Winery Boston 12/10, Murmrr Ballroom in Brooklyn, NY 12/11, Sellersville Theater in Sellersville PA 12/12, Jammin Java in Vienna VA 12/13, with a few more to be confirmed.

AIR RUNNING: The new Session Americana record “Northeast” is coming out one single at a time, and the B-side of the current mini-release is a song I sang lead on - "Air, Running Backwards” by my longtime local hero, Chandler Travis. For the uninitiated, Chandler is many things at once: a theatrical genius, an absurdist comic, an inspired performer and bandleader, and, sometimes easy to overlook amidst the spectacle, a truly great songwriter. I’ve loved this one forever and was proud to make an attempt to do it any amount of justice.

STUDIO BOUND: In early November I’ll officially start work on a new album. The way these things go, there won’t be much to show for it for quite some time, and it won’t actually be “out” until probably the second half of 2020…but I am thrilled (also nervous, sleepless, daunted, awash in details, overjoyed, grateful, and fully stoked) that the process is about to begin! More on this as things unfold over the coming months.

Yours on a strictly factual basis, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:
OCTOBER 10 - KD @ Second Shift Music Series, WALTHAM, MA Tix

NOVEMBER 7 - KD joins Session Americana on stage to celebrate the release of “NORTHEAST” Tix
NOVEMBER 15 - “Liner Notes:” a Night of Songs & Stories with KD, Erin McKeown, and Amy Helm @ Shea Theater, TURNERS FALLS, MA Tix
NOVEMBER 16 - “Liner Notes:” a Night of Songs & Stories with KD, Erin McKeown, and Amy Helm @ Levon Helm Studios, WOODSTOCK, NY Tix

DECEMBER 8 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Capitol Ctr for the Arts, CONCORD, NH Tix
DECEMBER 10 - KD & Chris Pureka @ City Winery, BOSTON MA Tix
DECEMBER 11 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Murmurr Ballroom, BROOKLYN, NY Tix
DECEMBER 12 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Sellersville Theater, SELLERSVILLE, PA Tix
DECEMBER 13 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Jammin Java, VIENNA, VA Tix


tix/info for all shows http://krisdelmhorst.com/tour

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

WHAT I DIDN’T DO THIS SUMMER // SESSION AMERICANA ‘NORTHEAST’ // FALL SHOWS

Earlier this year I was flipping through a magazine 30,000 feet above the ground, like you do, and I read something about a painter working “in obscurity.” This was to say that this artist was toiling away in the shadows without any recognition for their work, which is not what most of us are generally going for. But my immediate reaction was a startling bolt of pure, envious yearning at the idea of being left to do one’s work without anyone paying any attention. I scrawled those two words down on a little scrap of paper and when I shook out my bag at the end of the tour I found the scrap and stuck it on the wall above my desk in the general welter of bits and boops that gather there, and let it stare at me until I figured out what it was trying to tell me.

“Singer-songwriter” is a gig with a certain amount of built-in tension. You’re a writer, so you need a lot of time to withdraw from society, get real quiet and take a deep dive into wherever it is that the songs come from. But you’re a performer, so you also need to go forth often into lights and crowds and stand up in front of rooms full of people who are all looking at you. Essentially the process is a constant pendulum between “Please Leave Me Alone” and “Please Pay Attention to Me,” and even if you love both modes it can be a challenge to find a workable balance and manage the inevitable whiplash. This has always been a feature of this life, but now in the age of social media, there’s a new layer of complication to it, because we’re all - performer or not - supposed to be in “Pay Attention to Me” mode more or less 24/7. 

Mulling it all over, I eventually realized that I was suffering from a temporary deficiency of obscurity. So this summer, I decided to allow myself some time under the radar. It was a quiet time in my tour schedule anyway, and then I gave all social media the Irish Goodbye (for anyone interested in trying this at home, you can’t announce that you’re leaving, it doesn’t work - you need to just slip away) and for months I didn’t send a newsletter, I didn’t post posts, I didn’t pipe up in any noticeable way.  To the naked eye I appeared to be a normal person farting around. I grew a lot of cucumbers and swam with my kid and talked to my neighbors and walked my dog. All the while, I was writing songs. Even when I was not actively working on them, they hung in an invisible wreath around my head like a cloud of pipesmoke. No one was watching, and nothing scared them away. They bothered me and followed me around and kept me awake, and they grew like a garden, bigger every time I turned my attention to them. 

Later this fall I’ll take that pile of songs to the studio with a pile of friends and make a new record. And after that you can expect me to follow you around the internet yelling at you to pay attention to me in the modern way. But I wanted to put a word in for obscurity, whether you’re a professional attention-grabber or not. If there’s a part of you longing to retreat from the fray, to whatever extent you can make it happen: do it. There are things that don’t come out of hiding if the lights are too bright.

All of that said, what’s brought me out of my lair is the need to tell you about a few relevant things, as follows: 

SESSION AMERICANA “NORTHEAST” RELEASE: Friendband Session Americana has a new record of covers by Northeastern songwriters from James Taylor and Bill Morrissey to the Pixies and Donna Summer. I co-produced the record and played/sang on a lot of it, and if you want a sample you can listen right now to the new single: Rose Polenzani fronting Amy Correia’s You Go Your Way, with a B side of Ry Cavanaugh singing the classic Carly Simon hit Comin’ Around Again.

I got to join Session and a stage full of guest luminaries including Rose Polenzani, Merrie Amsterburg, Zak Trojano, John Powhida, Jennifer Kimball, Dietrich Strause, Ali McGuirk, and more for a few fantastic release shows this September, and we’ll do one more at Littlefield in Brooklyn NY on Nov 7. Come celebrate with us in flinty Northeastern style.

OTHER FALL SHOWS: October 10 I’ll return to the Second Shift Music Series at the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham MA. This is a very cool space to play in, and on this night I will be joined by Sam Moss and Rose Polenzani. We’ll be a couple weeks away from heading into the studio to start work on the new KD album, so we are likely to take a number of newer songs for a spin to make sure they’re ready to go.

In December I’ll do a little run with Chris Pureka co-headlining. We’ll be at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord NH 12/8, City Winery Boston 12/10, Murmurr Ballroom in Brooklyn, NY 12/11, Sellersville Theater in Sellersville PA 12/12, Jammin Java in Vienna VA 12/13, with a few more to be confirmed. Details below.

FURTHER LISTENING:

Aside from adding vocals, viola, piano, banjo, and pump organ to the Session Americana record, I’ve had a nice run of contributing to other people’s music of late. I loved playing cello on Jen Zimberg’s new album What Sings, produced by Erin McKeown. I hadn’t known Jen or her music before but there are some really unique and mesmerizing songs on this record. The title track still gets wedged in my head on a regular basis.

I also got to play cello on a beautiful track on Humans Are Special, the new one from my buds Thank God for Science. This one will boldly take you to many unexplored corners of the musical map, so buckle up and dig in!

In terms of stuff i didn’t play on, this month I’ll recommend Anna Tivel’s new one The Question - it’s been out for a little while but I just got my ears on it and it’s a beautiful listening journey, feels like reading a book of great short stories.

Happy fall everybody
Yours in the inky shadows, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:

OCTOBER 10 - KD @ Second Shift Music Series, WALTHAM, MA Tix

DECEMBER 8 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Capitol Ctr for the Arts, CONCORD, NH Tix
DECEMBER 10 - KD & Chris Pureka @ City Winery, BOSTON MA Tix
DECEMBER 11 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Murmurr Ballroom, BROOKLYN, NY Tix
DECEMBER 12 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Sellersville Theater, SELLERSVILLE, PA Tix
DECEMBER 13 - KD & Chris Pureka @ Jammin Java, VIENNA, VA Tix


tix/info for all shows http://krisdelmhorst.com/tour

APRIL NEWSLETTER

BROOKLYN WITH EROCK // SUB ROSETTE // PTOWN // SESSION AMERICANA

2019 seems to have brought with it a strong current of collaborative projects and shared stages, which makes me very happy. More on this as the year unspools, but for now here are some upcoming examples:

BROOKLYN WITH EROCK: Erin McKeown and I have been friends since the Actual Dawn of Time. We live 8 miles away from each other in the hills of western Mass, and once I even made most of a record (Shotgun Singer) in her house, which, much like its occupant, is physically compact but overflowing with good energy and inspirational forces. Erin’s had a wide range of projects in the works lately including musical theater, education, and activism, but she also still sometimes just plays some damn songs and that’s what we’ll be doing, some by ourselves and some together, 4/13 at Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theater.

Jalopy is a unique vibey space tucked away in an odd corner of Red Hook, near the entrance to the Battery Tunnel. There’s assorted banjos on the wall and usually at least one dog in attendance, and a sweet bar attached next door. My great-great grandfather had a tailor shop right around the corner. It’s a homey feeling club in my homeland, Erin and I feel homey with each other, come make yourself at home.

SUB ROSETTE: One of my favorite recurring phenomena in life is the loose collective called Sub Rosa, a magical umbrella which comprises sprawling, ephemeral, seat-of-pants collaborative shows as well as an annual songwriting retreat where any number of my songs have been born. The usual Sub Rosa experience involves a cast of thousands, but starting this month ringleader Rose Polenzani is experimenting with a new scaled-down recurrent version with a smaller footprint. April 17 at the Lizard Lounge is the first one and I’m very excited to be a part of it along with Rose, Dana Colley, Dietrich Strause, Dave Godowsky, Annie Lynch, Zachariah Hickman, and Billy Beard, playing songs to the theme “Great and Small.” Literally no one knows what will happen! Come on down!

PROVINCETOWN WITH SPOUSE: An early heads-up that Jeffrey Foucault and I will play a relatively rare duo show, playing both of our songs around one mic, on May 26 at Twenty Summers in Provincetown, MA. If you live on Cape or were considering heading out for Memorial Day weekend, get your tickets now and we’ll see you there.

NEW SESSION AMERICANA ALBUM “NORTHEAST:” It would take a pretty involved Venn diagram to map out all the different connections between me and the members of the band Session Americana over the years, but a more succinct way to say it is that we are family. When Session asked me to help produce/wrangle/referree their new record “NORTHEAST” which is due out in September, I jumped at the chance to spend time in the studio with them and a cavalcade of other friends. The record is a collection of songs by writers from New England - James Taylor, Donna Summer, Jonathan Richman, Carly Simon, Bill Morrissey, Pixies, Mark Sandman, Patty Griffin, etc - as performed by the Session boys and a slew of local friends including Rose Polenzani, Merrie Amsterburg, Zak Trojano, Duke Levine, John Powhida, Jennifer Kimball, Dietrich Strause, Ali McGuirk, and more. It’s been a great time and it’s gonna be a great listen. A Kickstarter campaign to help fund this beast is now under way…click below to find out more and get on the train.

Lastly, continuing in the theme, here are a few recent releases from friends and allies that I can heartily recommend if you’re in the market for something new to listen to or read:

Peter Mulvey “There Is Another World” (Righteous Babe) - a ruminative and lovely record from my brother-in-song
Lula Wiles “What Will We Do” (Smithsonian Folkways) - strong, smart, beautiful music from one of the best new(ish) bands I know of
Chris Dombrowski Ragged Anthem (Wayne State University Press) - the newest book of transcendent/funny/brilliant/devastating poems from Montana geniusfriend

Yours in togetherness, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:
APRIL 13 - Jalopy Theater, BROOKLYN, NY **co-bill w Erin McKeown** Tix
APRIL 17 - Lizard Lounge, CAMBRIDGE, MA **SUB ROSETTE with Rose Polenzani, Dana Colley, Dietrich Strause, Dave Godowsky, Annie Lynch, Zachariah Hickman, and Billy Beard** Tix
MAY 24 - Twenty Summers, PROVINCETOWN, MA **co-bill w Jeffrey Foucault** Tix

tix/info for all shows http://krisdelmhorst.com/tour

MARCH NEWSLETTER

March is when winter starts to get a little old around here, and people dream of getting away to warm and beachy locales. Sometimes however, trading one’s own version of a bleak late-winter landscape for someone else’s equally bleak version is the best one can do. In that spirit I’ll soon be heading over to the Netherlands and northwestern Germany to bask in their their own trademark versions of grey skies and chilly drizzle.

This will be the first time I’ve gotten to bring the songs from THE WILD overseas, and I’m looking forward to introducing them around. Every time I tour this part of the world I’m amazed at how many great venues there are, all within an area not quite twice the size of New Jersey. Throw in healthy proportions of bikes, small weak beers, and stroopwaffels, and you have a recipe for tour contentment that is hard to beat.

My friend Austin Nevins will be backing me up on electric guitar on all of these shows. Austin is an old friend of mine who has also toured extensively with our mates Josh Ritter, Anais Mitchell, and Anna Tivel, among many others. He’s a great accompanist and listener, always super attuned to supporting the song - and he’s also unfailingly up for tour adventures in the very few hours we’re not driving, playing, or sleeping - whether it be a hike in the redwoods or a visit to the International Mustard Museum - so we can always count on a few unique cultural experiences along the way.

When I get back Stateside my first move will be a cobill with my friend and neighbor Erin McKeown wherein we’ll each play our own stuff as well as cook up some collaborative vibes at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn NY.

In the meantime, yours in exotic drizzle, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:
MARCH 8 - Xinix Rootscafe, NIEUWENDIJK, NL Tix
MARCH 9 - 't Keerpunt, SPIJKERBOOR, NL Tix
MARCH 10 - Paradiso, AMSTERDAM, NL (**early show 16:00**) Tix
MARCH 11 - Meneer Frits, EINDHOVEN, NL (cobill with Krista Detor) Tix
MARCH 12 - Private Event, HAARLEM, NL 
MARCH 13 - Wilhelm13, OLDENBURG, DE Tix
MARCH 14 - Luxor Live, ARNHEM, NL Tix
MARCH 15 - Music Star, NORDERSTEDT, DE Tix
MARCH 16 - Industriemuseum, ELMSHORN, DE Tix
MARCH 17 - Huis Verloren, HOORN, NL Tix

THE FUTURE:
APRIL 13 - Jalopy Theater, BROOKLYN, NY **co-bill w Erin McKeown** Tix
MAY 24 - Twenty Summers, PROVINCETOWN, MA **co-bill w Jeffrey Foucault**

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

PASSIM SHOWS // SONGWRITING WORKSHOP // MARCH EU TOUR

There's nothing at all wrong with a nice strategically-placed California tour in February, but I also really love it when the stars align for me to stay off the road this time of year. The short days and long dark nights are the perfect opportunity to dig down into projects and stay there. This winter in particular I've had the artistic equivalent of a whole bunch of pots bubbling away on the stove, which is deeply exciting and energizing. More on the contents of the pots at a later date, but for now I'll tell you about some shows coming over the horizon.

I'm cramming all my February stage time into one day, Saturday the 23rd at Club Passim, where I'll play two shows at 5pm & 8pm (apparently the kids are into the early shows these days). I loved playing duo with Sam Moss in the midwest in December, so I'm thrilled that he'll be backing me up again for these shows, along with one of my all-time favorite singers, Rose Polenzani. Both shows will feature opening sets by Aurora Birch who I'm looking forward to hearing.

Earlier in the same day, I'm leading a songwriting workshop, 11am-1pm, upstairs at the Passim School of Music. The title is "SONGWRITING THE UNKNOWN," and I'll be sharing a little bit about my writing process, in particular some of my favorite ways to lure the unconscious into the mix and allow it to take me places I wouldn't have known to aim for. Anyone who writes songs, or wants to, or likes talking about it, is welcome. You can bring a song you're working on (and instrument, if relevant) if you're interested in a brief round of discussion and feedback, or just come listen and gather ideas. It's a short workshop, so there won't be time to get too deep into everybody's work, but we'll do what we can.

In March I'll get back into touring gear and visit many favorite haunts in the Netherlands and Germany. Stalwart guitar player Austin Nevins will be along for this run. It's been too long since I've convened with either Austin or Europe; both at once sounds like good times. The last time I toured these countries I had my then-7-year-old daughter with me, so this time around I'm looking forward to occasionally sleeping past 6:30 AM and not having to hide my stash of stroopwaffels.

The venues on the EU run range wildly in size from cavernous to quite cozy, and one or two are pretty much sold out already, so get your tickets while they can be got!

Yours at a steady simmer, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:

FEBRUARY 23 - SONGWRITING WORKSHOP, Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA (11am-1pm) Info
FEBRUARY 23 - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA (2 shows 5pm/8pm) Tix
MARCH 8 - Xinix Rootscafe, NIEUWENDIJK, NL Tix
MARCH 9 - 't Keerpunt, SPIJKERBOOR, NL Tix
MARCH 10 - Paradiso, AMSTERDAM, NL (**early show**) Tix
MARCH 11 - Meneer Frits, EINDHOVEN, NL Tix
MARCH 12 - Private Event, HAARLEM, NL 
MARCH 13 - Theater Laboratorium, OLDENBURG, DE Tix
MARCH 14 - Luxor Live, ARNHEM, NL Tix
MARCH 15 - Music Star, NORDERSTEDT, DE Tix
MARCH 16 - Industriemuseum, ELMSHORN, DE Tix
MARCH 17 - Huis Verloren, HOORN, NL Tix

THE FUTURE:
APRIL 13 - Jalopy Theater, BROOKLYN, NY **co-bill w Erin McKeown** 
MAY 24 - Twenty Summers, PROVINCETOWN, MA **co-bill w Jeffrey Foucault** 

 - ticket links and info for all shows available on the tour page - 

PARLOR ROOM & MIDWEST DATES WITH SAM MOSS

We acquired a tiny green piano and put it in the kitchen, and already life without a kitchen piano seems like an unacceptable idea. November is when New Englanders really get down to business, with the distractions of sunshine and living plants, etcetera, out of the way, and I plan on spending a lot of these cold dark nights cooking up songs with the newest member of the household. 

Speaking of new friends: all of my December shows will feature the Cambridge-based guitarist and songwriter Sam Moss, who I first had the pleasure of hearing last year when he opened a few shows for me. He's a lights-out player with songs that stay with you, and although his recordings mostly use a very small, restrained sonic palette, you can hear tremendous breadth in them, wide ears. I've been waiting for the next chance to play music together, and now it's right around the corner. We'll play a homeland show to get warmed up on Dec 5 at Northampton MA's Parlor Room - and then we'll descend on the upper Midwest together for a few shows, in which Sam will open with his own songs and then join me to back me up playing mine. This junket will hit Evanston IL, Cedar Rapids IA, Minneapolis MN, Viroqua WI, and Lancaster WI, and we would love to have all of these great venues stuffed to the gills with great people. If you live in greater Chicago and you're the kind of person who needs a lot of mental preparation to go out on a Tuesday night, maybe you can start gearing up now.

The world is feeling pretty overwhelming these days, and the best medicine I know is being in a room with people and letting music open the doors to the layers of existence above, and below, the tasks and trials of day-to-day living. We'll meet you there. 

Yours from the kitchen, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:

DECEMBER 5 - Parlor Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA Tix
DECEMBER 11- Evanston SPACE, EVANSTON, IL* Tix
DECEMBER 12 - CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA* Tix
DECEMBER 13 - Cedar Cultural Center, MINNEAPOLIS, MN* Tix
DECEMBER 14 - Ark Theater, VIROQUA, WI* Info
DECEMBER 15 - Three Springs Barn, LANCASTER, WI* Info
*Sam Moss opens

THE FUTURE:
FEBRUARY 23 - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA
MARCH 8-18, 2019 - EU Tour - confirmed dates here

 - ticket links and info for all shows available on krisdelmhorst.com - 

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

MOUNTAIN STAGE // FALL SIGHTINGS 

I won't get on stage in September, which is probably for the best considering the fact that every horizontal surface in my house is currently covered with tomatoes, cucumbers, and raspberries that need dealing with. But back in July I played some songs on West Virginia's Mountain Stage and that show will air on the radio the week of September 22, and on their podcast the week after that. The whole night was wall-to-wall great music, with inspiring sets from Hiss Golden Messenger, Nicki Bluhm, and Teddy Thompson, and I can't wait to hear it again. I managed to rope the house band into playing a few of my songs with me, including one new one I haven't recorded yet, and they jumped right on board like they'd been playing them for years. 

After the taping most of us went down to one of the universe's best bars (The Empty Glass) and sat in with one of the universe's best bands (The Carpenter Ants) on songs by the Staple Singers, Neil Young, and I don't remember what all else. There will be no podcast immortalizing this event, but it was a big slug of musical abandon and joy, and several of us were in danger of quitting our lives and staying in Charleston forever. 

The rest of my fall will mostly be about songwriting and other musical projects, but a few shows will pop up here and there. One imminent and very exciting one is Zachariah Hickman's SONGS AND STRINGS show on October 9 at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, featuring performances by Rose Cousins, Dennis Brennan, Dave Godowsky, Dietrich Strause, and yours truly, all backed by a string quintet(!). I've been working on string settings for some of my songs in spare moments here & there, so we'll do one of my arrangements and a couple more created by Zack. Just having this batch of people on a show together would be a treat in and of itself, but the string format is bound to send it over the line into the realm of the Truly Kickass, so those of you in the area should get your tickets while a few remain.

Down the line I'm playing a short run of midwestern shows in December with the most-excellent Sam Moss opening the nights and then sitting in with me...more on this later but tickets are already available for the Evanston & Minneapolis shows, if you're a planner. 

If you're hankering for live music while I'm laying low, I recommend going to catch Esteemed Spouse Jeffrey Foucault and his righteous band as they continue to play release shows for his new record BLOOD BROTHERS, with dates both East and West this fall.

Yours in Alarming Vegetable Onslaught, *kd

UPCOMING SHOWS:

OCTOBER 9 - Songs & Strings with KD, Zachariah Hickman, Rose Cousins, Dennis Brennan, Dave Godowsky, Dietrich Strause, and string quintet, CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix

DECEMBER 11- Evanston SPACE, EVANSTON, IL* Tix
DECEMBER 12 - CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA*
DECEMBER 13 - Cedar Cultural Center, MINNEAPOLIS, MN* Tix
DECEMBER 14- Heart of the Driftless, VIROQUA, WI*
DECEMBER 15 - Three Springs Barn, LANCASTER, WI*
*Sam Moss opens

MARCH 8-18, 2019 - EU Tour - confirmed dates here

Ticket links and info for all shows available on the tour page

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

TEXAS & MASSACHUSETTS

Well it's been real damn cold, and around here we have indulged in some deep antisocial hibernation to start the year. At this point I'm on week three of mostly speaking to no one aside from the people and animals who live in my house, and it turns out to be alarmingly easy to get used to, so it's probably just as well that I have some dates in February which will force me to put on my singing boots and rejoin some version of society before I forget how. 

I'm kicking February off with a quick visit to Texas, including cobills in Austin and Houstonwith my most excellent friend Matt the Electrician. Matt is a great writer and a super engaging performer among many other talents (talking, skateboarding, beard growth). He also is the ringmaster of my on-and-off-again songwriting group, in which he offers up a title each Wednesday and everyone has a week to write, demo, and send in a song to go with that title. Rinse and repeat, a song a week, inspired or not. When I first joined this venture I was A. terrified, and B. pretty sure it would just be a kind of songwriter calisthenics, and wouldn't yield any "real" songs. Turns out though, if the critical, uptight part of your writer brain is convinced that nothing real is happening, it sometimes loses interest and leaves you alone - which is exactly the situation most conducive to writing curious, brave, and, ta-da, real stuff. All this is to say that a number of the songs on my last two records have originated in this group, so I feel that Matt has a special relationship to them, somewhere between godfather and midwife (midfather?). These shows will be a great time, and I hope you'll help spread the word to your favorite Texans.

I also have a nice little batch of Massachusetts shows including the Spire Center in Plymouth, a couple nights at Home Sweet Club Passim, and my other home base, the Parlor Room. For all of these MA shows I'll be joined by the one and only Kevin Barry, my favorite guitar hero. Anything Kevin plays on sounds at least 600% better than it did without him, and every time I get him on stage with me I feel like the luckiest person alive.

We're also fortunate that Jennifer Kimball is opening the Plymouth show with her own gorgeous songs, and might lend her voice to some of mine too if we play our cards right. 

KEEPING IN TOUCH (or, LETS NOT RELY ON FACEBOOK)

I'll spare us all the longer essay on the challenges of trying to publicize one's tour schedule in the modern world; but one new wrinkle is that Facebook is changing their algorithm to prioritize actual "people" who are your actual "friends," which sounds like a "nice" "idea," but a side effect is that it's going to cut down significantly on the effectiveness of "musicians" such as me communicating with "listeners" like you on that platform. So, a quick review: if you enjoy getting updates from me on FB, be sure to both 'like' AND 'follow' my Facebook page, which should increase the chances of you seeing my posts. But, you might want a backup avenue of communication too. Two good non-Facebook ways to be sure you actually hear about upcoming shows (from me or anyone else) you want to know about: 

BANDSINTOWN is straightforward and reliable - 'track' artists you're interested in and you'll be notified when they're coming your way.

Most direct and reliable of all, SIGN UP FOR THIS NEWSLETTER if you don't already receive it via email. (And be aware that it may show up in your "Promotions" folder unless you set it up not to.)

That bit of housekeeping aside, I hope everyone is enjoying winter in all of its antisocial glory, and I'll look forward to seeing some of you out in the world next month - *kd

Tickets and info for all shows on the tour page. 
CDs, LPs, EPs, T-shirts, songbooks, etc on the store page. 

UPCOMING SHOWS:

FEBRUARY 2 - The Cactus Cafe, AUSTIN, TX (cobill w Matt the Electrician) Tix
FEBRUARY 3 - Anderson Fair, HOUSTON, TX (cobill w Matt the Electrician) Tix
FEBRUARY 10 - The Spire Center, PLYMOUTH, MA Tix
FEBRUARY 22 - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix
FEBRUARY 23 - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix
FEBRUARY 24 - The Parlor Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA Tix

FAREWELL TO 2017

The road never actually ends, but it does pause now and again. 

We had a humdinger of a fall on the release tour for THE WILD, playing something like 30 shows in 15 states across three time zones.
We played lots of old-favorite rooms and some great new ones too.
We found layers and angles and inflections in the new songs, both mine & JF's, that we didn't know were there.
We successfully taught our 9-year-old long division. 
We got to convene with many dear scattered friends, including every member of Eric Heywood's family.
We only had to dig the van out of mud with shovels, in the pitch dark, while it was snowing, one time. 
Our child now has a college fund, thanks to her vigilantly-maintained swear jar. 
We had two road firsts, which are rare at this point: the first instance of the entire band taking to the dance floor (to a cover band in the hotel bar), and the first time getting our van voluminously shat upon (by an Iowan cow). 

All in all it was an adventure both on & off the stage and we couldn't have imagined it any better. 

Deepest gratitude to all the clubs and the hardworking people there who make the shows possible, our ace kid wranglers Cynthia and Danielle, and the amazing audiences who showed up, absorbed so much new music, and gave so much back. 

Above all, thankyou to traveling companions Jeffrey Foucault, Billy Conway, Jeremy Moses Curtis, Eric Heywood. If there's a better feeling than playing music with people you love, I haven't run across it yet.

I hope you all have a sweet holiday season and we'll see you next year - *kd

Tickets and info for all shows on the tour page. 
CDs, LPs, EPs, T-shirts, songbooks, etc on the store page. 

UPCOMING SHOWS:
 

JANUARY 7 & 8 - KD participates in "Songs from Three Mile Island" New Material from the Sub Rosa Songwriting Retreat. Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA Jan 7 Tix, Jan 8 Tix
FEBRUARY 2 - The Cactus Club, AUSTIN, TX (cobill w Matt the Electrician)
FEBRUARY 3 - Anderson Fair, HOUSTON, TX (cobill w Matt the Electrician)
FEBRUARY 10 - The Spire Center, PLYMOUTH, MA Tix
FEBRUARY 22 - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix
FEBRUARY 23 - Club Passim, CAMBRIDGE, MA Tix
FEBRUARY 24 - The Parlor Room, NORTHAMPTON, MA 

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

'THE WILD' RELEASE TOUR WRAPS UP IN THE MIDWEST
 

They say all good things must end, and in this case that appears to be true, as somehow we've reached the last leg of the KD/Jeffrey Foucault release tour for THE WILD. It's been pretty dreamy thus far. It's a luxury to be able to settle into playing the songs night after night and finding just where to live in them. We've been blessed with amazing audiences from coast to coast, close listeners and enthusiastic receivers of the new music, and we're grateful for it. We've gotten to show our daughter Puget Sound and the snowy Cascades, herds of elk in the Columbia Gorge and sea lions on the Oregon Coast, redwoods and banana slugs and Venice Beach. We stand a very good chance of winning this year's award for Most Math Homework Done in a Tour Van as well as Most 'Little House on the Prairie' Binge-Watched in the Green Room. And now we're bringing the whole family circus to the Midwest in December to wrap up this chapter. 

A voting majority of the band is comprised of native Midwesterners: Billy Conway hails from Owatonna, Minnesota, Eric Heywood from Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and JF from Whitewater, Wisconsin. Moses and I are foreigners from the East, but rest assured that we have received many hours of cultural sensitivity training, and we're well versed on the unspoken rules of local etiquette (such as refusing an offer three times before accepting it), as well as the important taboos (such as asking out loud for what what you actually want). If all goes well, we hope to provide the world with an inspiring example of crosscultural harmony and cooperation. 

It's a rare and special thing to get to play a batch of songs with just the right band in just the right room to just the right audience. We've had any number of nights that felt like that over the last couple of months, and with any luck we'll have a few more before we're done. I hope you can come be a part of one of them.

Tickets and info for all shows on the tour page. 
CDs, LPs, EPs, T-shirts, songbooks, etc on the store page. 

Yours in inter-regional solidarity, *kd

DECEMBER 1 - The Ark, ANN ARBOR, MI
DECEMBER 2 - Seven Steps Up, SPRING LAKE, MI
DECEMBER 3 - City Winery, CHICAGO, IL
DECEMBER 5 - CSPS, CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
DECEMBER 6 - Three Springs Barn, LANCASTER, WI
DECEMBER 7 - Cedar Cultural Center, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
DECEMBER 8 - Stoughton Opera House, STOUGHTON, WI
DECEMBER 9 - Back Room @ Colectivo, MILWAUKEE, WI

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

 'THE WILD' RELEASE TOUR HEADS WEST

We spent the better part of two weeks in a borrowed van, crisscrossing the Northeast during the absolute holy-shit peak of fall foliage. We played music in nightclubs and theaters and barns. We tweaked the setlist and the stage setup and the song arrangements, drank a lot of coffee, watched some crazy late-night baseball, and laughed to the point of physical pain. And like a beautiful little blur, that's the first chapter of the release tour behind us. Our task now is to repack, power through some trick-or-treating, and then get our strung-out, oversugared nine-year-old to the airport by early Wednesday morning and launch for Seattle, where our west coast run begins.

The shows have been a dream thus far - sweet rooms, sweeter audiences. So many new songs - of both mine and Jeffrey Foucault's - to wander around in and get to know. We recorded THE WILD very quickly, and it's been great to have a chance to spend more time in each song, unpack our bags and live there a little. I'm playing my brand-new (to me) viola in JF's set, which is a fun challenge not lessened by the fact that all his new tunes are in non-string-friendly keys (E-flat anyone?). But it's exciting to have that instrument out on the road and find places for it in the sonic landscape created by this tremendous band - Billy Conway on drums, Jeremy Moses Curtis on bass, and Eric Heywood on pedal steel.

We are looking forward to playing more music for more people. Our kid is looking forward to finding out what kind of snacks they have in West Coast green rooms and what all the hotels and Airbnbs look like. Morale is high across the board, this crazy tour will almost certainly never be repeated, and we hope you'll come join us at a show.

Tickets and info for all shows on the tour page.
CDs, EPs, LPs, T-shirts, etc on the store page.
There are a few nice new videos up on the media page.

If you'd like to volunteer to help sell CDs etc at a show in exchange for a free ticket, please email info@krisdelmhorst.com

Thanks everybody and see you out there.
Yours in E flat,*kd

NOVEMBER 2 - Ballard Homestead, SEATTLE, WA
NOVEMBER 4 - Old Church, PORTLAND, OR
NOVEMBER 5 - 7 Devils Brewery, COOS BAY, OR
NOVEMBER 7 - Arcata Players Theater, ARCATA, CA
NOVEMBER 8 - The Palms Playhouse, WINTERS, CA
NOVEMBER 9 - Freight & Salvage, BERKELEY, CA
NOVEMBER 10 - Don Quixote, FELTON, CA
NOVEMBER 11 - McCabes, SANTA MONICA, CA
NOVEMBER 12 - Soho, SANTA BARBARA, CA

DECEMBER 1 - The Ark, ANN ARBOR, MI
DECEMBER 2 - Seven Steps Up, Spring Lake, MI
DECEMBER 3 - City Winery, CHICAGO, IL
DECEMBER 5 - CSPS, CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
DECEMBER 6 - Three Springs Barn, LANCASTER, WI
DECEMBER 7 - Cedar Cultural Center, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
DECEMBER 8 - Stoughton Opera House, STOUGHTON, WI
DECEMBER 9 - Back Room @ Colectivo, MILWAUKEE, WI

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

'THE WILD' RELEASE TOUR

October. Fuzzy slippers in the morning, flip-flops by noon. The specific russet light. In the kitchen, we roast peppers and freeze tomatoes, stocking up; in the yard, the elderberry bushes boil with birds doing the same.

In the human world its it's been a particularly difficult week. Reeling from the news from Las Vegas, I was eerily numb. It was only later, blasting Tom Petty records in the house after more bad news, that I could start to crack open, find feelings, find tears, and it reminded me for the zillionth time: this is what music gives us. We get seized up and shut down, whether it's from the shock of a serious tragedy, or just the cumulative effects of all the various armor we need to put on to get through our day. Music takes us by the hand and leads us back to wherever we've stashed our emotions, our humanity even - and opens the door. 

We're heading out on the road in a couple weeks to play THE WILD live for the first time, and the whole project will be this: gather humans in a room together, do our best to make some real music, and hope it helps all of us, on and off the stage, get to where the feelings are.

All of these shows, for the remainder of 2017, will be full-band cobills with Jeffrey Foucault. For the first run, in the Northeast, the lineup is Billy Conway on drums, Jeremy Moses Curtis on bass, and Eric Heywood on pedal steel - a formidable assemblage by any reckoning. JF and I will each get half the night as frontman and the other half as sideman, which to my mind is a perfect ratio. I'll focus mostly on the new album and he'll introduce some tunes from his forthcoming (in 2018) BLOOD BROTHERS. We'll do a few things duet-style along the way too. It's unusual to do a record release tour as a cobill, but this album has been such a family project that we couldn't imagine doing it any other way. We're pulling our daughter out of school and bringing her along in the hopes that she'll take a good look at the whole thing and consider pursuing other lines of work, so that there will be someone in the family with gainful employment who can take care of us down the line when we get rickety. 

Some shows will sell out. You can get tickets for all of them now on the tour page. 

CDs, LPs, the Outtakes EP, T-shirts, anything along those lines you might need are on the store page. 

There is a new video up as of today of me & JF playing "Magnolia" in Montana this summer. If you have any dreamy late-summer afternoons left where you are, with slanty golden light and long blue shadows, that'd be your ideal listening situation. 

Thanks everybody and hopefully we'll see you at a show. *kd

HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO 'THE WILD'

Today we release THE WILD back into The Wild whence it came. No one's 100% sure what a record being "out" actually means these days, but we do know that it's now available in online record stores and some physical ones, and that you can call your favorite radio station and request it, and most importantly that you can now get yourself a copy, in CD or LP or download form, in the store. 

Also there you will find the companion EP, OUTTAKES FROM THE WILD - 5 extra songs from the session that we left off the record - and sweet new T-shirts.

Starting next month I'll be hitting the road with Esteemed Spouse/coproducer Jeffrey Foucault and our valiant band (plus our fourth-grader). We'll be playing THE WILD live and previewing JF's upcoming album BLOOD BROTHERS as we trade sets fronting the band and backing each other up. It'll be a rare aligning of forces, and a special night of music, so get your tickets now and come help us fill these rooms with good vibes. The world being what it is right now, we're all going to need an extra helping. 

Thankyou all for being on board with what I do. I feel outrageously lucky to be able to spend my life putting music into the world, and it only works because you're there to receive it. I hope the new songs prove to be good company.

Yours in gratitude, *kd

THANKYOU PLEDGERS

The Pledgemusic campaign is closed. Thanks so much to all of you who joined in! You can now preorder THE WILD, as well as an EP of Studio Outtakes and new T-shirts, to be shipped on the release date (22 September), in the store. In the meantime, happy listening to everyone who pledged!

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

***HARVEST SEASON: ONE WEEK LEFT TO PRE-ORDER THE WILD***

WWW.PLEDGEMUSIC.COM/KRISDELMHORST

Some of you know I worked as a vegetable farmer for a bunch of years before becoming a full-time musician, and this time of year is indelibly bound up for me with the feelings of the harvest season: the bursting yield of the crops, the slight panic at the seeming impossibility of keeping up with them, the giddy, strung-out, overtired high from working to bring it all in, the background hints of winter waiting in the wings. These days, I just have a semi-feral vegetable garden out back, and some fruit trees & shrubs, and still every fall the kitchen counters are crammed with cabbage and tomatoes, raspberries and plums, in overwhelming, slightly alarming, beautiful abundance.

I love to release an album in this season because it lines right up with all of this. It feels perfectly parallel to have a counter dangerously full of plums and a sunporch dangerously full of boxes of records. After the long growing process, it's thrilling, satisfying, exhausting, and slightly wistful to bring these songs out of the field and hand them over to the people who will put them to use in their lives. 

In the interest of which, there's one week left to sign up for your early copy of THE WILD and behind the scenes musings, right here:

WWW.PLEDGEMUSIC.COM/KRISDELMHORST

I feel bountifully lucky for the interest, support, and encouragement people have given this new album, and for all the sharing and word-of-mouthing many of you have been doing. As a ruminative person making ruminative music, it's an awkward task to run around the internet trying to get people to give you their attention, let alone their money. Any spreading of the word any of you do is deeply, gratefully appreciated. We'll hope to see you at a show this fall - see below for details.

Yours in seasonal abundance, *kd

FALL TOUR: Release tours for THE WILD start in October and go through the end of the year, all co-bills with Jeffrey Foucault, taking turns fronting the band and playing on each other's sets. Come catch us as we swing through! Further details for all shows, as always, are to be found on the tour page.

AUGUST NEWSLETTER

***THE WILD NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER***

There's a long lag time between when you record an album and when you get to start sharing it with the wider world. It was last October, in the full swing of blazing fall foliage, that the band and I holed up in Vermont and made the music that would become my new album THE WILD. Yesterday, floating around in a lake with some nine-year-olds, I saw a few red leaves at the very top of a big maple tree. Almost a whole turn through the seasons, and it's finally time to start introducing the record around to the neighborhood! 

I'm thrilled to announce that you can now PREORDER THE WILD right here: 

WWW.PLEDGEMUSIC.COM/KRISDELMHORST

I made this record with four of my absolute favorite people on the planet, one of whom I went so far as to marry. Jeffrey and I tend to keep our careers running on separate tracks from separate floors of the house, but for this one we decided to join forces and keep it in the family. We brought the band up to a studio called Verdant, in southern Vermont, not too far from our place. It’s an old barn reformatted as a studio, funky in all the right ways and a great place to hang out and be creative. We all slept there in various unglamorous conditions, kept the wood-stove going most of the time, and JF cooked us all some beautiful meals using only a grill and a toaster oven. We brought the dog, who raised morale and made us get outside on a regular basis, which was her whole job. We cut eighteen songs in three days - no small task, especially with most of the first day being devoted to just dialing in the room setup, but this is a band that specializes in getting down to business. 

What I can tell you about the songs is that they're grownup songs. They're about the cyclical motion that runs through our existence like a tide: lose the path, find the path, again and again. They're about how life can get strange as it goes along, and how you can become a stranger to yourself, and your partner or your muse can become strangers too, and then all you can do is keep forging ahead through this strangeness until you start to recognize some landmarks again. The band - Billy Conway, Jeremy Moses Curtis, Alex McCollough, & JF - created sonic settings that make those difficult topics easy on the ears: patient, deep, uncluttered, and ranging from lean and wiry to gorgeously lush. I feel vastly lucky to have been able to make this album with such profound musicians and great friends, and to now be able to share it with you.

I’m releasing this album at an uncertain time in the music business. Our "product" has become a free good, more or less, and for anyone whose life depends on making and selling music this is a significant dilemma. The implied message is that The Market doesn't put a high value on music, but we know that music matters as much to people's lives as it ever did. This kind of crowd-funded campaign is an opportunity for you, aka music fans, aka The Market, to affirm that you do indeed value music and want to support people continuing to be able to make it. Please share the pre-order link with anyone you can, the grass-roots network is the only way this sort of thing succeeds.

WWW.PLEDGEMUSIC.COM/KRISDELMHORST
 

FALL TOUR: The dates for the fall are now, as far as we know, complete. These clubs range from cavernous to cozy; make sure you get tickets early to be safe. All shows will be co-bills with Jeffrey Foucault, taking turns fronting the band and playing on each other's sets. 

Further details for all shows, as always, are to be found on the website. 

Yours above and beyond market-based economics, *kd

KD JULY NEWSLETTER

VERMONT TODAY // NEW RECORD IN SEPTEMBER // FALL US TOUR

Full summer. The peas are history. The peach tree is so loaded up with fruit it is thinking about falling over. We have both baby foxes and baby chickens residing in or around the backyard, and we want to be friends with both of them, but it's awkward when your one friend wants to slay and devour your other friend, so we've had to choose sides. As all of this bucolic drama plays out, gears are turning for a busy upcoming season in music, as follows:

VERMONT TODAY: I have one show this month, and it's today. As a friend of mine wrote in the margin of her RSVP card to my wedding, which arrived around my first anniversary, "Is this information useful at this time, or is it too soon?" I'll be playing solo on the Woodstock town green at 5:30 pm for any Vermonters who knew about it already, are spontaneous about planning, or happen to wander by. Free show! Beer & wine for sale on site! Bring a picnic! Bring dogs! Information is here.

NEW RECORD IN SEPTEMBER: My album THE WILD is currently being pressed in both CD and LP formats and has an official release date of 22 September. I co-produced it with Esteemed Spouse Jeffrey Foucault, who plays and sings on it, accompanied by three bandmates who we both have a ton of history with: Billy Conway on drums, Jeremy Moses Curtis on bass, and Alex McCollough on pedal steel. There will be much more news about it soon including preorder information...for now here's a peek at the track list. 

1. ALL THE WAY AROUND
2. TEMPORARY EXISTENCE
3. THE WILD
4. RULES TO GAMES
5. I DON'T NEED TO KNOW IT ALL
6. MAGNOLIA
7. COLOR OF THE SKY
8. FOOLISH BLOOD
9. LONELY WEST
10. HOLLOW
11. TRACKS IN THE SNOW
12. THE LIGHT IN THE HALL
 

FALL TOUR: Starting in October and lasting through the end of the year, I'll be doing release tours for the new album as cobills with Jeffrey Foucault, taking turns fronting the band and playing on each other's stuff. My set will focus on introducing the new album and JF's will give him a chance to preview some of the great songs from his upcoming 2018 release, which promises to be a humdinger. Those of you who know our careers know that we tend to operate separately most of the time, but doing this record together looked like an excellent opportunity to hit the road together for once, and I can't wait to present the new songs in person with these members of my musical (and actual) family.

Further details for all shows, as always, are to be found on the tour page.

Yours in almost-ripe fruit, *kd

SUMMER SHOWS:
 

JULY 20 - Woodstock Town Green, Free show! WOODSTOCK, VT Info
AUGUST 25 -  Tina Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare @ Co Tix

'THE WILD' ALBUM RELEASE TOUR with JEFFREY FOUCAULT
***All Shows Full Band Co-Bills***

OCTOBER 20 - Stone Mt Arts Center, BROWNFIELD, ME Tix
OCTOBER 21 - Once Ballroom, SOMERVILLE, MA Tix
OCTOBER 22 - Higher Ground, BURLINGTON, VT Tix
OCTOBER 25 - Gypsy Sally's, WASHINGTON, DC Tix
OCTOBER 26 - Rockwood Music Hall, NEW YORK, NY Tix
OCTOBER 27 - The Word Barn, EXETER, NH Tix
OCTOBER 28 - Shea Theater, TURNERS FALLS, NY Tix

NOVEMBER 2 - Ballard Homestead, SEATTLE, WA Tix
NOVEMBER 4 - Old Church, PORTLAND, OR Tix
NOVEMBER 7 - Arcata Players Theater, ARCATA, CA Tix
NOVEMBER 8 - The Palms Playhouse, DAVIS, CA Tix
NOVEMBER 9 - Freight & Salvage, BERKELEY, CA Tix
NOVEMBER 10 - Don Quixote, FELTON, CA Tix
NOVEMBER 11 - McCabes, SANTA MONICA, CA Tix
NOVEMBER 12 - Soho, SANTA BARBARA, CA Tix

DECEMBER 1 - The Ark, ANN ARBOR, MI Tix
DECEMBER 2 - Seven Steps Up, SPRING LAKE, MI Tix
DECEMBER 3 - City Winery, CHICAGO, IL Tix
DECEMBER 5 - CSPS, CEDAR RAPIDS, IA Tix
DECEMBER 7 - Cedar Cultural Center, MINNEAPOLIS, MN Tix
DECEMBER 8 - Stoughton Opera House, STOUGHTON, WI Tix
DECEMBER 9 - Colectivo, MILWAUKEE, WI Tix
 

Further info available on the tour page
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