Fair Tidings of MYSTERIOUS SHOES and TOUR DATES for THE HANDSOME FAMILY to friends, relatives, and those watching us closely from the white van across the street...

Over the years I have spotted many single shoes lying on the side of the road as well as pairs of shoes thrown up over telephone lines. Only yesterday I spotted a single man's beach sandal (a “flip-flop” in common parlance) lying in a puddle by the dog park.

AUGUST 27: UNITED KINGDOM-- GREENBELT FESTIVAL, CHELTENHAM RACEWAY
(www.greenbelt.org.uk)

Once I came back from a laundromat and found a child's plastic rain boot tangled in with my clean underwear.

SEPTEMBER 14: SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, THE LENSIC THEATRE
SUPPORT FOR NEKO CASE

Last fall someone placed a pair of black men's sneakers on the back fence of my yard. They were perched neatly up there as if someone planned to come back for them, however several months went by and the sneakers remained there untouched.

SEPTEMBER 17: ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: THE PRESS CLUB: "ROCK AGAINST 'W'", 2-3 SONG APPEARANCE DURING THIS BENEFIT TO HELP ENCOURAGE 'W' TO GO BACK TO TEXAS.
http://www.thechurchcamp.com/R.A.W.htm

I kept a careful watch on the shoes from my bedroom window. Sometimes I held a newspaper in my hands so that it would appear that I was reading. Finally, one afternoon, I made my way across the weeds. Inside the right shoe a black widow spider had spun a small web.

OCTOBER 2: ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: THE OUTPOST PERFORMANCE SPACE. AN INTIMATE SHOW IN A LOVELY SPACE WITH OUR OLD FRIENDS, SELSUN BLUE, AS SUPPORT
http://www.outpostspace.org/tickets.html

 I could see the spider in there curled up under the tongue of the shoe, waiting. Inside the other shoe there was a cigarette lighter with a picture of a small dog wearing a Santa Claus hat. The lighter did not work.

OCTOBER 23: RELEASE OF "THE ROSE AND THE BRIAR: DEATH, LOVE & LIBERTY IN THE AMERICAN BALLAD," edited by SEAN WILENTZ AND GREIL MARCUS, PUBLISHED BY W. W. NORTON-- A collection of essays (including one about the song "Pretty Polly" by Rennie Sparks of The Handsome Family), short stories, a comic strip, and art project on American ballads traditional and modern, from "Babara Allen" to "Nebraska." Also to be released at the same time is a companion CD, "The Rose & the Briar" (Sony) featuring "Blackwatertown," a new ballad with lyrics by Paul Muldoon (winner of 2003 Pulitizer Prize for poetry) with music by The Handsome Family.

I became overwhelmed with the sensation of danger and carefully retraced my steps across the yard. I stood in my back doorway and pretended to talk on the phone. In a loud voice I said things like, "No, I’m sorry, but I can’t hold!"

OCTOBER 28 – WEST COAST TOUR WITH GIANT SAND. A very tentative routing here. Most of these dates are NOT confirmed yet and we don’t have many finalized venues neither. So beware. More info. To come.
10/28 Pioneertown,CA
10/29 San Diego, CA
10/30 Los Angeles, CA -The Getty Museum
10/31 San Francisco, CA -Great American Music Hall
11/2  Portland, OR - Berbati’s
11/3  Seattle, WA – The Tractor

NOVEMBER – EAST COAST TOUR WITH GIANT SAND.
11/7  Chicago, IL – The Double Door
      Something or other in here and then
11/10 Boston, MA
11/11 Brooklyn, NY –The Southpaw
11/12 Manhattan, NY – The Mercury
11/13 and 11/14 Washington D.C.

I tossed and turned all night. I do not remember falling asleep, but opening my eyes I discovered that it was well past noon. I remembered a strange dream. An old woman sat on my chest and slapped my face with a pair of white ballet slippers.

DECEMBER – UNITED KINGDOM: THE BIG SESSION with THE OYSTERBAND. We will be among the special guests playing with the Oysterband on this tour. We’ll do a few of our songs with them as well as join the band on some beautiful folk songs. A great joy to play with these talented folks.
 
Fri 26 Nov BATH - PAVILION 01225 463362
Sat 27 Nov SHEFFIELD - MONTGOMERY THEATRE 0114 276 7093
Tue 30 Nov LEICESTER - DE MONTFORT HALL 0116 233 3111
Wed 1 Dec BASINGSTOKE - THE ANVIL 01256 844 244
Thu 2 Dec PONTYPRIDD - MUNI ARTS CENTRE 01443 485934
Fri 3 Dec BRIGHTON DOME - CORN EXCHANGE 01273 709 709
Sat 4 Dec SOUTHPORT ARTS CENTRE 01704 540011
Sun 5 Dec SALFORD - LOWRY 0870 787 5790
Tues 7 Dec BIRMINGHAM ACADEMY 0870 771 2000 (www.ticketweb.co.uk)
Wed 8 Dec EXETER - ST GEORGES HALL 01392 425309
Thu 9 Dec SALISBURY - CITY HALL 01722 327676
Sat 11 Dec LONDON - FORUM 0870 534 4444

I tried to read a book— a romance in which a young country girl rides a wild horse into the sea. I was distracted by the ticking of my wristwatch. I dressed and went outside. I walked in exaggerated movements across the yard, swinging my arms and legs like a marionette and turning my head from side to side in a mechanical fashion. The sneakers were gone from the back fence.

JANUARY: AUSTRALIA!
Finally. A small tour is in the works for the 15th through the 22nd hopefully including, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide. We’re also playing:

January 23, The Harvest Festival, Red Hill (outside Melbourne)

January 28, 29, 30: We’ll be at The Sydney Opera House for three nights as a part of Hal Wilner’s, “Came So Far For Beauty: An Evening of Songs by Leonard Cohen”

I crouched down behind a small thorn bush and waited. Several hours passed. Darkness had fallen so completely that I could not see my own hands flapping in front of my face. The insects around me grew silent each time I moved. I felt insulted. At dawn I looked down at my hands and did not recognize them. I was wearing several turquoise rings that I found garish, but could not remove.

FEBRUARY 26: HOLLAND: The Paradiso, Amsterdam: A NIGHT DEVOTED TO THE SONGS FROM HARRY SMITH’S ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC. We’ll be playing an entire set of songs from the Harry Smith Collection.

I climbed over the fence and ran down the alley. The streets were empty. I was wearing a pair of black, patent leather loafers that were several sizes too small. My heels hung over the backs, scraping painfully along the ground. I took off the left loafer and placed it carefully underneath a  half-eaten stick of beef jerky near my neighbor's mailbox. I threw the right loafer into the public swimming pool. When I returned to my yard, my entire back fence had been removed.

ox RENNIE