Last week we released a new version of the old Stephen Foster song "Hard Time Come Again No More." This week (actually earlier today) we released a short 8 minute piece on my history with the Guthrie Center - The Old Trinity Church. It's basically a pitch to raise funds for the work we do at the old church, as our usual means of sustainability has been shut down due to the pandemic. The benefit can be seen for free almost anywhere in the world, with the addition that upon a donation there's about a half hour of songs created especially for this event.

I've had trouble accessing it myself, and we've heard from others who likewise are finding it difficult to see. But, for the vast majority of people, seeing it and following through with a donation has been successful world-wide.

if anyone reading this is further interested you can go to The Guthrie Center web page and see it there - www.guthriecenter.org

Enjoy!
adg

Okay we finally got some actual "News" and "Announcements" Finally, after months of work we've got some great news! We are thrilled to announce that Rolling Stone Magazine will premiere the video I did with Jim Wilson. Thursday July 30th starting at 11:00AM ET you can visit http://rollingstone.com and watch the video for our new release!

Thank you for your continued support. We are so excited to share this video with you in two days! The single “Hard Times Come Again No More” will be available this Friday, July 31 via all major digital retailers and streaming platforms.

Okay, so it's really a day after the usual holiday. It's Sunday, July 5th which for me means, we're back at the church for a second round of of songs for distribution via whatever means we have. The venues are still shuttered, including the church. But, we're able to sneak in there and do some recording. It's that kind of year.

We've been (I say we, but it's really been Marti) out in the dirt planting shrubs, flowers and veggies. I've done a little pruning, but otherwise mostly drinking coffee and making comments. Also, there's been an abundance of fireflies flittering over the fields and gardens in the evenings, so I was remembering being a kid fascinated by them.

Last night on July 4th there was fireworks going off on the surrounding lakes and hillsides. Magical stuff. I watched "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on TV just to hear some of the great songs from another era. I also saw "The Music Man" which followed on TCM. It was really amazing to see how cornball can still work. It reminded me that even my own work will seem a little old school in the coming years and decades. No matter how cutting edge something is at the time, it goes through time like everything else and fades away taking a rear seat to whatever is going on at the time.

Hopefully these times will fade the same way, and the world will move on to other issues and other unforeseen problems. How we deal with the turbulence of things changing has always been a source of wonder for me personally. And in the quiet moments of wondering, and amazement I have become increasingly grateful to have simply been a part of it with all of you.

As my friend, Ramblin' Jack Elliott used to say "What a day, what a beach, what a dog!" (Or something like that).

What a journey the last 30+ years has been. Today (June 2, 2020) everything we moved out of the old CrabHouse is moving into the newly renovated house here in The Berkshires. While it's always fun to recreate a space, it's at the same time one of those transitions that most people can't wait to be done with.

The kids and especially the grandkids have been out in the streets letting our political leaders know the future is already here, and it would be good if they embraced it rather than resist the evolving nature of what it means to be an American. Justice is always in transition too until such time as everyone feels it is balanced. That's what those scales are all about. I've always had a fondness for blind justice, as some of you know.

Marti is down stairs instructing the movers as to where everything is going. I'm up at my desk thinking about things. My kitty is hanging out with me. Cantina is not a big fan of strange men coming and going with large pieces of furniture. I need to grab a cup of fresh coffee, and lend a hand. Back to Massachusetts - Moving Back Day!

Although it's hard to pinpoint and exact date, May is probably the month where 25 years ago Dave created arlo.net. It moved from the old board system (which still exists) to its own thing. For the next 25 years arlo.net has been the source of reliable information with everything concerning what we do, what's going on, what we'd like to do, and what everyone thinks about all that. It has also been a forum for things that are important to you individually. arlo.net became our face to the world through the internet.

Our volunteer monitors, past and present have tried their best to insure that our web pages remained free of advertising, self-promotional material and BS in general. They've done a great job. The end result of all this is that our presence on the web has gathered a historic collection of thoughts, comments and ideas. It's especially valuable because it's been around since the very beginning.

Over the years and decades I've been adding and correcting the dates in our schedule. It is the single most comprehensive collection of everything we've done, and everywhere we've been, that exists anywhere. I'm still adding things (as I discover them) that go back to the very start of my public life as a performer and entertainer. Likewise future events are generally updated as soon as possible. I've been able to do all this with the help of others like Hank Reineke, and Terry Ala Berry who either know of or kept records of all this stuff. Occasionally some of our friends here have corrected information or added to it as well. arlo.net has become a repository of our collective adventures.

Events that took place are important, not because I was there, but because they took place. It's not only my personal history but our collective history. I just happened to there some of the time, and it shows up here in our schedule. When added to a larger view, we get a history of what was important to us through the generations, especially through the turbulent times of the 1960s through the times in which we now are living. It's the record that shows we were there.

We are still there. We are here now. And more than that, we've been here awhile. Congratulation to arlo.net for being with us for so long and especially to Dave who made it possible. Happy 25th Birthday! Long May You Run...