Summer Tour 2018

Hi everyone,

I'm going back out on another long drive around the country again this summer, and I'm pleased to present you with a list of some of the places I'll be playing this time around:

6/15 - NORTHFIELD, MA - Northfield Pavilion, with the very cool Massachusetts Walking Tour
6/16 - TROY, NY - Superior Merchandise Co.
6/17 - DUNDAS, ON - [private event]
6/18 - GUELPH, ON - Community Music Guelph
6/22 - ELMWOOD, KS - [private event]
6/25 - BOULDER, CO - The Laughing Goat
6/26 - SANTA FE, NM - House Concert
6/29 - LOS ANGELES, CA - The Hotel Cafe
7/1 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Hotel Utah
7/5 - LINCOLN CITY, OR - Lincoln City Cultural Center
7/6 - PORTLAND, OR - [TBA]
7/8 - OTIS, OR - Sitka Center for Art & Ecology (I'll be teaching a workshop called "Reflecting Place in Music," for which you can/should still register here. It's my second time teaching the workshop, and last year's was lots of fun.)
7/10 - SEATTLE, WA - Vermillion
7/12 - WEST GLACIER, MT - Glacier National Park
7/14 - ADEL, MT - Sieben Live Stock Co.
7/18 - BILLINGS, MT - Montana Gallery
7/20 - MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The Warming House
7/25 - TREMPEALEAU, WI - Historic Trempealeau Hotel
7/27 - SPRING GREEN, WI - White School Collective
7/29 - CHICAGO, IL - Elbo Room Lounge
8/3 - PLYMOUTH, NH - Museum of the White Mountains

Several more dates are still in the process of being confirmed, so keep checking back here for a complete, current list and all the details for each show. And obviously, if you think you spy an opportunity for you to host a house concert somewhere in the blank spaces of the trajectory outlined above, don't hesitate to let me know -- that's my favorite type of show to play, and maybe we can work something out.

In other news, my residency with the New England Trail has been extended through the fall, which I'm very excited about. I've had a pretty amazing year wandering along the trail and getting to know many of the people whose lives connect to it, and I'm glad that I'll get to keep doing that for a few more months. I've started performing some of the new music from this residency at my live shows, and should have some recorded work to share with you as well before too long. I'm also thrilled to be among the featured speakers at the 2018 Northern Woodlands Conference in Vermont this October. You can register for that at a discounted rate if you do so at their website before the end of August.

What else is new? I've been subletting an apartment in Boston for the spring and trying -- mostly failing -- to occasionally spend a night there. I spent a few weeks traveling around playing accordion for a band from Maine. I also flew to Texas this month, where, happily, I replaced my car with one that isn't actively falling apart. Mostly, though, I've been playing around New England, which looked variously like this, this, and this during April and May. (As you may have perceived, that Instagram account is a pretty good way to keep track of where I might be at any given moment.)

I've also been working on a really gratifying side project: over the last several years I've conducted and recording rambling conversations with a few dozen friends and strangers around the country about what it's like to live where they live, and the ways in which geography, place, and movement have impacted their lives and work. I recorded most of those talks without having any idea of what to do with them, but I've finally started to transcribe the things and post them on my website. So far I've only typed up six of them -- I'm a slow typist and the transcription takes up a ton of time -- but they've been a lot of fun to listen back to, and there will be more on the way in a couple of months. You can read them at your leisure here -- and please report back if you do! I've received lots of thoughtful and intriguing reactions to these so far, and I'll be interested to hear what you think.

On another note, it's already been one full year since my album Salt came out (which means I should probably stop introducing it as my "new record" sometime soon). Its first year of life has been one big pleasant surprise for me; it was an unusually tough thing to make, and it means a lot that so many of you have reached out to tell me how it's affected you and become part of your lives. I really appreciate that. You can check Salt out here, and read a little about it here, here, and here if you're interested.

Finally, here's a cool album, here's another one, here's a great book I just reread (and liked even more this time around), and here is an art project that I think is incredibly interesting.

Thanks for everything, everybody. Please keep in touch, and I hope to see you this summer.

Ben