Hi friends, Let me first say Thank You all for your continued interest in the rambling (both verbally and physically) of this meandering poet. It is insane down here in South Florida - not just the counting, the protests and the waiting waiting waiting to see if the absentee ballot that I cast from Broward County will make the difference. Perhaps by the time you get this note the whole issue will be gone. Perhaps George JR will concede. Perhaps it will snow here in Hollywood, FL. Perhaps my credit rating will improve.
Fueling my insanity here in Florida I am extremely sad to announce that Magda Hiller has decided to call it quits. Over The Counter Culture is over. So once again the bald guy is looking for a musical partner. If any of you are interested please drop me a line or if you know of someone that may be interested ask them to drop me a line. In particular I want to collaborate with a female guitar player. I am willing (ok ready, ok I have the keys in my hand) to relocate out of the um... unique state of Florida. So if any of you have any suggestions I have a map.
Magda and I will be doing a farewell show on Wed Dec 6th at the Hollywood Blvd Theatre at 8:30 PM. We will be recording the show and hopefully be able to make it available as a live album. I would keep my fingers crossed only it is too difficult to type this letter - so I’ll cross them when I am done here.
For those of you who purchased a copy of the record Magda and I were working on Cracker Jack I apologize for the delay. Unfortunately, Magda’s desire to peruse her Solo career will not allow her the time to help finish the project. Hopefully the combination of songs we finished and selections from the live farewell show will suffice. I regret any inconvenience the delay has caused.
OK OK OK... enough of the bad news - the exciting part is that I have a tour scheduled for February in the NW.
My longtime friend and one of my all time favorite performers has agreed to do the tour with me.
Anne Feeney! For those of you who do not know her check out her web site: home.earthlink.net/~unionmaid.com
I have wanted to work with Anne for many years so now I have my chance! She is flying down here next week to help me count votes in Broward County and maybe we will get some rehearsal time in.
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Hi Everybody, Magda and I are enthused to be coming back on the road! It has been a while since the tropical heat wave. This will be the first show on our tour through the Bush dynasty. We will be playing Austin on election night. Could be great - could be a disaster. Yes we are playing both Florida and Texas. We think of them as the Brother's Grim.Jeez - Couldn't they give Neil Bush a state too? Maybe Little w will make him secretary of Treasury. I mean, what the hell they've already got Barbara's face on the one dollar bill.
Last night, Magda and I were up late working in the studio for a new album tentatively titled "Cracker Jack" but alas - it seems it will not be ready for this tour. However, I am convinced it will be worth the wait. We will be selling advance copies and we hope to have it done by the Annual Winter Solstice/ X-Mas/ Kwanzaa/ Hanukkah/ Japanese Emperor's Day/ Boxing Day/Western New Years/My Mother's Birthday Celebration. We will have a note book and will take $12 of your hard earned (two hours at minimum wage - unless you live in Santa Cruz where it is only one hour) and we will write down your address and give you a token pretend copy to look at and stick to your refrigerator with one of Magda's fridge Mag-nets until the real one comes via the reliable and ever efficient US Postal service.
for those of you in the area I hope to see you at one of these shows.
For the rest of you - ya know there are some killer deals on air travel these days - even with fuel prices up hmmm... what does it all mean.
till then: eat more pop tarts, chandler
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Hey Everybody, Chandler here, 150 miles from Cuba. Magda and I have just completed a ground laying tour up the Appalachian trail. We played many cities neither of us had hit before - not to mention ones that I haven’t played in so long I might as well have never played. We made it to the Ottawa Folk Festival and thoroughly wowed them on the main stage. We got to do “Thrift Store Diva” in full darkness from the main stage - I leapt off the stage with a wireless mic, then climbed over the crowd barrier and out into the sea of people spread out before the main stage on blankets and lounge chairs. I was followed by stagehands with flashlights while Magda waxed rhapsodically to the moon over head. It was such a hit that Magda’s photo made it in to the front page of the Entertainment Section of the Ottawa Sun as a part of thier 4 1/2 star review of the festival.
The winner of this months “Towns I’ve Never Been To Award”: Wakefield, Quebec. This was our first time in the Province of Quebec - In a town that is not even on my maps - Go ahead - you try to find it. Naturally we got lost. You should have heard us in thick southern accents asking people who spoke no English how to get to the Black Sheep (or Mutton Noir). We weren’t sure about the word mutton so finally we resorted to “Noir Baaaaaaah?” Well, It worked. We followed some sweet Francophone down the twisted rural highways to the ambrosial town of Wakefield. She is a charming village at the edge of a lake - coal driven passenger trains caress the banks of the quiet lake as it steams past pastry shops, book stores and Magda and Chris sipping rich black coffee from a red cup eating potato flap jacks with freshly tapped maple syrup. No, I do not work for the Wakefield Chamber of Commerce.
Last night, Magda and I were up late working in the studio for a new album tentatively titled ³Cracker Jack.² We have laid the foundation for about 6 songs so far. At this point, we are unsure of a “release date” or even if release is the right word. We hope to have some copies for our tour through Texas in November.
Speaking of tours - here is what we are currently looking at. As ALWAYS if you have any ideas or can help in any way - this thing would not fly with out your help. Many of you have turned us on to House concerts, a place to crash, put up posters - It is that kind of grass roots thing that makes this work as well as it does.
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Hey everybody,
Let¹s see. Since last we spoke Magda and I had a great trip up to the north west. You folks are the best! Hot tubs and anarchists - who could ask for more.
Now it is August and the other day we both said what the hell are we doing roasting in Florida for - so we got out the map and we now have our sites set on Canada. - Canada, August. Now that sort of has a ring to it - Florida, August - they just don’t really sound right. They seem to lack compassion in their conservatism and considering it is around 189 decrees centigrade (in the shade) right now I think we could use some of that Canadian Compassion. But really, I know I am making it sound worse than it really is - it is not that bad - you actually need to wear a parka if you’re in doors - i was at a movie the other day and someone was asked to leave the theatre because they tried to build a fire to stay warm. How can people keep their a/c set so low?
It has been a while since I have managed to make a run like this one - - seems to be straight up the Appalachian trail. An aircraft carrier’s worth has changed since the last time I came through that way so you folks are in for quite an amusing time. I’m sure you’ll be impressed with the new show so please come on out and check it out - let’s catch up. There is even a few places on this trip that I have never played before - Blacksburg, VA, Allentown, PA, Wakefield Quebec. I don’t think Mag has played any of the towns north of Atlanta. So the folks in those towns are in for a real feast.
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Hey Ever you body, Sorry for the delay in getting this out -
We just had a wonderful tour of the NW - to those of you up there - this is likely old news - but to the rest of you - let me tell you -- it was great. Peter Wilde was either a saint or just really particular about who drives his van - for he did ALL the driving. His van NEVER broke down - he told me that he didn’t trust my car karma, but me later he told that it did right after dropping us off at the air port.
Other tour highlights were getting to play with Chad Austinson (from the Convenience Store Troubadours) for three shows! We were never arrested and Darryl Cherney (perched safely behind the redwood curtain) wrote a song about Magda after an incident involving ambulances, paramedics and Darryl grabbing the microphone and shouting what ever you do don’t stop playing! Magda did, and the patient survived! It’s all true.
Our immediate plans are to go to the Kerrville Folk Fest (yes I am going!) Then we head back to the West Coast in July! Love it there.
Then like the "mamma didn’t raise no fools" that we are - we are headed to Canada for August and the Ottawa Folk Fest! We are still booking dates on those shows so as always we could use some help from any of you out there - I have a loose schedule following - if you know of a venue that seems to fit or would be into throwing a house concert please let us know! We could not keep doing this with out y’all!
Thanks for ever, Chandler
Hey Everybody - Magda and I made it to California, and we had our first official gig last night under our joint name Over the Counter Culture. It was great! The ship has launched and we have set sail. Hey magda can you pilot a ship - I forgot to tell you - I can't swim - much less pilot.
Here are the dates of this tour - sorry I can't write much today - the weather is great and I want to go be in it.
Love, chandler
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Hey Y'all,
The bald guy here. I know it has been a while - what can I say. My life has been a bit upside down of late and I have been busy digging my fingernails into the carpet trying to keep from falling through the ceiling. But things are starting to turn around. The end result of the past several months is that I will be leaving the remarkable city of New Orleans. I will miss her. I watched an episode on PBS about the birth of jazz and I have to admit that I got a bit weepy eyed. Speaking of Jazz she has decided to remain behind. She likes the city and I can't say that I blame her. Although she was born in Austin Texas - and was my road manager for several years before we moved to New Orleans - the city is her namesake and she seems to belong there.
I guess my next biggest news is that I have hooked up with a new musical partner - and she fabulous, awesome, and sings well too! On our first event together we bagged The South Florida Folk Fest's National Songwriting Competition for the Best Upbeat Act! You can find her http://www.iko-iko.com/magda/ She lives down there and I plan to relocate there to form a duo with her.
We have yet to come up with a name - and those of you who know me well know I have the worst time naming things so I would love to hear from you -- the most bizarre assembly of eccentrics this side of Paris in the 20's (I have to insert here that my Email list really has to be the coolest group of people on the planet. OK - I know of a few others that are not online - a few of them don't even have phones. And if there are any of you who would like to be relived of my tedious correspondences - dash me a note). Anyway - I would love to hear suggestions of a title for our new Duo.
Magda and I are planning a West coast tour together in April with Peter Wilde - he is in my pantheon of great song writers - check him out at www.efn.org/~peter. Tentative dates to follow. Also - I plan to drive from here (Atlanta) to Cleveland for the Folk Alliance and show case as a solo and then I'll be in limbo for a bit and then off to South Florida.
Phil and I are writing together again - in fact - we had a very good session yesterday afternoon - so be on the look out for new material a new act - hell, maybe I'll grow a comb over and create a new look too!
As for those of us who are fans of the Convenience Store Troubadours: Chad, Frankie, Laura and I all remain friends and will likely work together again in the future in some configuration or another. I highly recommend checking out there projects. CST has always been a loose configuration of road rats and wandering minstrels whose paths weave in and out like the interstate highway system. In fact look for Chad on some of the NW dates.
Well that's the update - here are the dates - as I know them - As always I am hopping some of you may be able to fill in a few holes with a house concert or a birthday party or car wash grand opening or a place to crash or park.
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