New Year / New Site / New Dates / New Merch!
robot love • kkrg shows • joachim shows • a kash buk playlist • and more...
This is The Squealemite, my sporadic email newsletter where I share updates about my musical activities, plus plenty of other tidbits about listening, learning, and life in general.
What Ho!
Greetings from freakishly frigid East Nashville! The snowfall here has been significant but fluffy, and despite the bitter cold the sledders have been out in force in our neighborhood. If you’re also experiencing this communal Winter Weather Event, I hope you’re staying toasty and safe!
Tour Dates
Before I wander off into all my other sharing, here’s the most pressing news: I’ve got real-life shows coming up, both in my duo with Kieran Kane and also backing up Joachim Cooder…
KKRG:
Jan. 26: Saint Louis, MO // The Focal Point
Jan. 27: Champaign, IL // Techline Studio
Jan. 28: Berwyn, IL // FitzGerald’s
Mar. 28: Savannah, GA // Savannah Music Festival
Mar. 29: Asheville, NC // Wortham Center
Mar. 30: Greensboro, NC // Carolina Theatre
Joachim:
Feb. 22: Kansas City, MO // Folk Alliance Int’l Conference
Feb. 29: Bellingham, WA // TBA
Mar. 1: Vancouver, BC // TBA
Mar. 2: Port Townsend, WA // TBA
Mar. 3: Seattle, WA // TBA
New Year, New Site
I kicked off 2024 with a fresh website, thanks to the assistance of my designer brother Jonah Gellert. It’s not only a new look, there are also changes in how I share my fiddle tune videos and other info. We’re still doing some little tweaks, and there’s more content to come—but I hope you’ll go exploring and let me know if you come across anything wonky.
I’ll spare you the behind-the-scenes overthinking that led to the new “free” and “paid” access to the tune videos archive (no doubt I’ll get into it more in my Fiddlegeek newsletter), but I will say I’m hugely grateful to the folks who have donated to my virtual tip jar over the years to keep the whole machine going.
Robot Love
Since I last wrote, I started an Instagram account that’s specifically for my experiments with artificial intelligence. I’ve always been a lover of absurdity, and the a.i. I’ve been using delivers that by the boatload. (I’ll be heartbroken when the robots figure out what fiddles and banjos actually look like. And words.)
As I’ve gotten more attached to the robots that I’m collaborating with, I figured they needed some representation. So I’ve started making merchandise that depicts robots playing instruments, including these valentines/postcards:
And these banjo-playing robot buttons:
And there’s more to come, so stay tuned!
Kash Buk Playlist #2
A while back I put a playlist up on my YouTube channel that was curated by an elusive character known as Kash Buk, whose tune choices were shared with me by Ry Cooder. We recently wrangled another playlist out of Mr. Buk—this one is entitled “Kash Buk’s Songs of Praise: Between Midnight and 4”—and it’s up now.
I asked Ry how to explain Kash to my newsletter readers, and he responded thusly:
Kash is an ex-meat cutter, sometime guitar player, infrequent song writer, and an all-around man for the Lord. Often been overheard to say, ‘There will be a reckoning.’ May have had to do with his steel player, Sonny Kloer, soloing in the wrong key again…
Then a little while later, I got this:
I’ll note that once you get Kash Buk started on building a playlist, he doesn’t know when to stop, so it’s still growing. Enjoy!
Cool Stuff
Fiddlegeek alert: musician and 78rpm record enthusiast Peter Honig now has a Bandcamp page where he’s sharing not only his own great playing, but also his wonderful “Standard Variations” collections.
Another terrific new addition to Bandcamp: a reissue of the beloved classic Red Mules album from 1992! Go get it!
Okay, just one more Bandcamp recommendation: the Nora Brown & Stephanie Coleman release, Lady of the Lake.
My whole family was excited (and touched) to read this delightful piece on my great-uncle, composer Fred Steiner.
Check out some of what Dick Connette has been up to.
Have you donated to the Association for Cultural Equity yet??
Wrapping Up
I’d say that’s enough for the first newsletter of 2024, wouldn’t you?
Thanks so so much for reading and caring about what I’m up to. You’re a gem. Take care & keep in touch!
Tinkerty tonk —
xo rayna
PS: If you haven’t gotten your fill of my ramblings, you can get more at KKRG News. (And I’d also recommend subscribing to our duo YouTube channel, because Kieran and I will have some fun musical bits popping up there soon.)
See ya at FAI in February! Can't wait! 4 of us from Wheatland are attending....
Red Mules! Yay! my cassette tape of that one isn’t long for this world.
NYT article on music pirating and streaming.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/business/music-streaming-fraud-spotify.html