June News from West Tennessee...
Greetings Everyone! Lots to share this month, so let's slide right on through it...
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CONTENTS
1. Sherpas news: The new LP at radio... and more...
2. Ireland: Quick report, plus 2024 links
3. Scotland: Short report, plus 2024 links
4. Personal news: New house, new studio
5. TK Poem of the Month: Note to Self
6. Wisdom for our time (from a street-stenciling graffiti artist)
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1. New Sherpas' "Promise to Harry" album—full steam ahead...
a. Thanks to Hudson Harding Music (Erik Balkey and Bill Coyle), Promise to Harry is NOW in the hands of hundreds of discerning deejays...
...and starting mid-summer we'll be promoting the single, "A Ways to Go."
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b. How to buy or listen to A Promise to Harry
...To buy the physical CD or download hi-fi MP3s at our website, click HERE
...or stream of download the album from all streaming platforms.
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c. Honor Among Thieves: Release of the new album has also attracted new ears to our Honor Among Thieves debut album, and it's also available at our website HERE. (And it's also streaming everywhere.)
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d. A rare trio show next month in Vienna, Virginia.
The Scoop:
Thursday, July 20, 2023 7:30-8:30pm
Nottoway Park presents the Sherpas
9537 Courthouse Road
Vienna, VA 22181
—FREE CONCERT!
—for more info, click HERE
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e. And while I'm up that way...
...I'll be playing a semi-rare SOLO show the following night.
The Scoop:
Friday, July 21, 2023 7pm
Browntown House Concerts presents Tom Kimmel
Browntown, VA (near Bentonville)
—IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING...
...please email me at ptclear(at)yahoo(dot)com
...and I'll pass your contact info along to our host.
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2. Ireland quick report
a. Ireland 2023
A note from my recent (April) trip:
Needless to say, it was sweet. A wonderful group joined me (including dear friends I've known since my schoolboy days), and we sampled the Irish world from the east coast (Dublin) to the south (Waterford) to the wild west (Clare). I so enjoyed being an explorer again!
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b. Ireland 2024
It'll have been 5 very long years since I've hosted a group visiting Counties Cork, Kerry & Clare, and it'll be all the more special because our tour guide will be Billy Mag Fhloinn, a professor at University of Limerick.
Billy leads only two (2) tours a year, and I requested him two years in advance to book him again. He's an engaging scholar on many subjects, a musician and outdoorsman—and he's married to Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh , my favorite female singer in all of Ireland. (So fingers crossed she'll be singing for us when we're in Kerry.)
2024 Dates: Sunday June 23 - Wednesday July 4, 2024
For more info, click HERE.
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3. Scotland brief report
a. Scotland 2023 Tour 1
A note from my recent (May) trip:
It was all I'd hoped for and more. Such a lovely group of folks joined me on my maiden voyage for Traceless Tours. I even found a map showing where two of my ancestral Scottish families lived centuries ago...
We were based in Edinburgh, Scotland colorful largest city, Dunkeld, a country village in the Midlands, and Inverness in the Highlands... and it was such a rich time—impossible to choose a favorite place we visited.
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b. Scotland 2024
I'll be hosting two tours next year, and I'm so looking forward to that springtime return.
Dates of 2024 Tour 1: Friday, April 19-Monday, April 29, 2024
Dates of 2024 Tour 2: Wednesday, May 1-Saturday, May 11, 2024
For more info, click HERE.
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4. Personal News: New house, new studio, new perspectives
I guess we really live in Memphis now because we just bought a little cottage a stone's throw from Memphis's enormous, beautiful Midtown park, smack in the heart of the city.
One of the many sweet things about this place is that there was a little woodshed in back (pictured), and we're almost finished converting it into a little studio for me. I look forward to holing up back there for the next few... years.
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5. TK Poem of the Month: Note to Self
The poet Billy Collins has long been an inspiration. His latest book Musical Tables is a collection of extremely short poems, and as I listened to a recent interview with him I felt challenged to try some very short verse myself. Last month’s poem “God Speaks in Short Sentences” was one effort. Here’s another.
Note to Self
1. I’ve cheated, been cheated on.
2. Lied and been lied to.
3. Hurt and been hurt.
4. Loved, been loved.
If I’ve learned anything
(and at times I’m not sure):
The prize still awaits
behind Door Number 4.
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6. Wisdom for our time from @poetry by boots
Every time we dine at our favorite restaurant we walk past this stenciled-on-the-sidewalk wisdom. It always speaks to me, so this time I took a photo.
"Let go of the people you have to prove your worth to."
—(An unnamed street-writing poet who can be found at @poetrybyboots...)
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Till next we meet, Maximum Peace, Love & Understanding,
Tom
PS Thanks always to the folks at Elixir Strings for keeping me playing the world's best strings for over 25 years.
