hey folks,
These past two years have been great. We did some figuring and estimate that we've been on tour for about 9 months out of the past 24. During that time it was great travelling through y'all's towns and playing music for/with you. But now we're fixing to make a change. For one, Kyle is leaving the band to go the Berkley College of music in Boston. He'll be studying Jazz Banjo up there. Joe and Willie are going to put the whole project on the back burner for a while. We need to put energy into other aspects of our lives that we just can't do when we pick up and travel every other month. So after playing at the Common Ground on the Hill music festival/ folks music camp in Westminster Maryland, we'll be on an indefinite hiatus. Maybe it'll just be a month or two, maybe it'll be a bit longer, hopefully it won't be forever though.
wellness and solidarity,
Here's to the Long Haul
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Playing both contemporary and traditional mountain music, Here's to the Long Haul is born of the historic and ongoing movements for justice in Appalachia and beyond. Willie Dodson and Joe Overton first met and played music in Southern West Virginia in 2006 at the second annual Mountain Justice Training Camp, a gathering of folks working together to fight mountaintop removal coal mining (www.mountainjusticesummer.org). The two developed the idea of an Appalachian string band that would celebrate the culture and life of the mountains by playing traditional music and original songs that tell stories of grassroots movements and everyday people in the mountains and far beyond.
We are yet another offshoot of the deep and wandering roots of Appalachian music, fed by the waters of modern grassroots resistance to that which is wrong and the creation of that which is good in our mountains. You all are that water. May we all keep each other strong, singing, and moving forever forward.
It was nice meeting you in Boston a little while ago. I have enjoyed the disc you traded me. If you ever come to Kanada, let us know and we can help you with some contacts.
Here some of the Subversive Spoken Word & Beatboxing that we do, if you wanna hear it...
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 2 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): WALKABOUT WITH MY PEN
Once drove an old sedan, up north, From a place in Sydney to Cairns; Then to Kuranda I went forth, By train, to look without set plans.
I browsed through the trendy market, With fresh fruits of tropical kind; Walked to the creek through lush thicket - Nature’s hand giving peace of mind.
I dined in a scenic cafe; Then, outside, as I wrote for yen, Some passing Kooris called-out: “Hey, You go walkabout with your pen.”
Request or question, I don’t know - Assured voices, elderly men. That’s now several years ago, And I’ve seen the world - with my pen.
Hey Willie, Andrew Needs Some Help During The Summer and Tim Said That You Can't go on Tour Without Gas so Get a Job. and I Also Saw You Driving a Brown Station Wagon with TN, Tag On it
Thanks for the add. Love your music, especially the old fashioned banjo tunes. Hope you enjoy the music of The Bulgur Mountain Band. Love to hear what you think!
Hey Willie, Are You Going To That PUNK House Again and This Time Please Tell Kyle and Joe To Keep There Shoes on and Tell The People at The PUNK House To Turn That US Flag Right Side Up. Jimmy
Once drove an old sedan, up north, From a place in Sydney to Cairns; Then to Kuranda I went forth, By train, to look without set plans.
I browsed through the trendy market, With fresh fruits of tropical kind; Walked to the creek through lush thicket - Nature’s hand giving peace of mind.
I dined in a scenic cafe; Then, outside, as I wrote for yen, Some passing Kooris called-out: “Hey, You go walkabout with your pen.”
Request or question, I don’t know - Assured voices, elderly men. That’s now several years ago, And I’ve seen the world - with my pen.
I'm sure you guys have seen this. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lays it all out - the Bush Administration's evisceration of all regulations of mountaintop removal...
Thanks 4 adding WS 2 your list of friends.
