First of all, I’d like to thank the Austin Chronicle readers for voting me into the Austin Music Hall of Fame.  I’m honored to be included with so many fabulous musicians and friends. It’s a lovely gesture from my hometown of 28 years.

I’ll be touring Italy in a few weeks with Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women. It’s our first time overseas, and my first time across the pond since 2007. I love to see the world – I was trained by my folks to travel well and drink everything in. I hope I have an afternoon to explore; I haven’t been to Italy since I was 12. It might have changed some.

The tour dates are posted on my Upcoming Gigs and Tour Schedule page, along with DAGW stateside dates for August, September and October. I have other fun stuff on the calendar too, both local and out of town.

I’m thrilled have contributed songs to Bill Kirchen’s latest CD “Word To The Wise”, released in May, continuing a tradition started with his earlier CD “Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods”. The whole CD is a< knockout, with singing by the likes of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Paul Carrack, Maria Muldaur, Dan Hicks, Chris O’Connell, Blackie Farrell and Norton Buffalo.

 As Mix Magazine Online says, the album “(ventures into) deep country with “Arkansas Diamond,” co-written with Bill’s Austin friend Sarah Brown and his wife Louise, the same crew responsible for the contemplative, wide-open-spaces ballad “Time Will Tell the Story.”

 A 3rd co-write, “Talkin’ ‘Bout Chicken”, will be available to download from the label’s site soon. I think it’s the sexiest chicken song ever written. Don’t miss it.

Last but not least, look for a new CD from the Lucky Tomblin Band in September, (untitled as yet.) Like the last two, this one is kind of a revue, with numbers by all the various members. My two songs are “Open Up Your Heart and Let Me Go”, a brand new song of mine, and “Get A Little Goner”, by the Kirchen/Brown/Kirchen team.  The CD features the illustrious Lloyd Maines as producer, plus the usual all-star crew – Lucky, Redd Volkaert, Earl Poole Ball, John Reed, Bobby Arnold and Jon Hahn.

More to come….