Long trip to Big Bend for Jimmy LaFave’s Songwriter Rendezvous yesterday. Flew to Houston, flew to Austin, rode the bus 9 hours to Big Bend. It’s been worth it. I ran and hiked on trails and cross country this morning for two and a half hours, then played in the round with Jimmy LaFave, Ray Bonneville, John Fullbright, Gretchen Peters and Barry Walsh. After that I heard Slaid Cleaves’ interview and performance. Tonight I’m going to hear Kevin Welch, Malcolm Holcomb, Jimmy, Gretchen and Barry, Ray, and then play in the round with Slaid Cleaves and John Fullbright. And then there’s tomorrow…I will get back up on the mesa again, and play more music. Pretty great event. I hope they have it again next year so all of you can come to it.

OK, that’s a lie. I’m a lot further from Louisville than 8 miles. But don’t you just love that Grandpa Jones song? I’ll be onstage with Brigitte Demeyer and Chris Donohue at about 8 pm tonight at Uncle Slayton’s, opening for the Black Lillies. See you there.

Nice review of Bill Toms’ “Memphis” CD here:

Key West was just wonderful. The gig was great. Michael “Crawdaddy” Crawley graced us all with his presence, and he played so great. That is one inspiring man.

I feel like I’ve had a mini Key West vacation: I’m tired, hungover and gained five pounds! Seriously, I was pretty healthy—I walked and jogged for about 3 hours yesterday morning, and even this morning, in a rush to get on the highway back north to Lauderdale Airport, I took a walk back down to my favorite spot, Cuban Coffee Queen, for one last Cafe Con Leche. I told ‘em Paul Griffith sent me, and they smiled.

Even the long ride back up A1A was nice.
Made it through some pretty brutal Miami traffic to the airport.
I was reminded of an old Silos song, the one that says, “Driving down Highway 441 with the windows down. Beer in one hand, the radio blasting…”
Great stuff…
Waiting for my flight to Orlando, and from there to Louisville.

I’ll be at Art Bowman’s House Concert in Lawrenceville, Georgia, this Saturday. It’s all sold out! Sorry for you procrastinators who waited too late. But I look forward to it very much.

And fortunately, the party never ends!



Greetings, my friends, from Key West. Flew to Ft Lauderdale last night, rented a car (after I filmed a quick Lick of the Day), and drove to Key West. Got in a little before 1 AM. I was pretty beat from the drive back to Nashville from Aberdeen, NC, a big Halloween night at home, and then jumping right back into the fray. But there is nothing like waking up in Key West to make you feel like you’ve had a break.

It’s been a wild ride all Spring and Summer. I’ve written all about the Emmylou Harris tour in support of her amazing new album “HARD BARGAIN“. We ended at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, in front of 150,000 people. The next day, I flew to play with Rodney Crowell and Jenny Scheinman in New York, at BB King’s. Since Oct 4, I have been down to the Gulf Coast, to Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, played the Americana Music Conference, played Huntsville, played Virginia and North Carolina, and now I’m at Land’s End.

Up next: Louisville with Brigitte Demeyer, opening for the fabulous Black Lillies, followed by Art Bowman’s House Concert in Lawrenceville, GA. Then…like I said, the party never ends…I’ll be at Jimmy Lafave’s Music Road Songwriter Rendezvous at Lajita’s Golf Resort and Spa in Deep South Texas. We’re talking Big Bend, folks. Viva Terlingua! And on and on…and on…whew…

So by Thanksgiving, I’ll have crisscrossed this great nation several times over, just since early October.

I headed straight for Cuban Coffee Queen for Cafe Con Leche (16 oz, no sugar, please). Walked along the harbor, passing Shrimpboat Studio—home of many great memories of recording the last 3 Jimmy Buffett albums—and many fine looking seafaring vessels.

Finished my coffee and, feeling properly awake and warmed up, I jogged all over Key West in my bare feet. Got sweaty quickly. Ran to the Southernmost Point in the US. Ran around the neighborhoods. In about an hour and a half, I was back at Cuban Coffee Queen for another Cafe Con Leche and a Cuban Mix. Walked my lunch back to the condo.

On a closing note, my kids both got straight A’s this quarter. Ain’t life grand?

Headed for sound check now. Hope to see you tonight—-Studios of Key West.