Here’s some music we made at Daytrotter Studios.  It was our second time visiting Rock Island, and we recorded fine live versions of Expectations, Don’t Forget, and a brand new song featuring the otherworldly harmony vocals of The Daredevil Christopher Wright. That’s a collaboration we hope to reprise soon, as we’ll be sharing four shows with those boys in the midst of a tour out to the Midwest and back East.

Here is a list of all the dates and locations:

4/14 – Columbus, OH
4/15 – Lexington, KY
4/16 – Newport, KY
4/18 – Madison, WI
4/19 – Winona, MN
4/20 – Minneapolis, MN
4/21 – Eau Claire, WI
4/24 – Lafayette, IN
4/25 – Chicago, IL
4/26 – Grand Rapids, MI
4/27 – Ypsilanti, MI
4/28 – Cleveland, OH
5/3 – Cambridge, MA
5/4 – Upper Jay, NY
5/5 – Burlington, VT
5/8 – Brooklyn, NY

More details, as always, can be found at our website.

I had no idea it could feel so nice to be mis-quoted — like the work is becoming folk music, subject to aural transmission and transformation.

Chris Cook does a very fine job with the song here.

And an anonymous transcriber came up with this version of the lyrics, which introduces a mysterious metaphor: “all my favorite drinks”.

For the holiday season, here’s our version of a never-released song by the great Vic Chesnutt – “Whatever The Reason”

Download from iTunes

Stream from bandcamp

First of all, we’ll be joining her tomorrow at the Bowery Ballroom (!!!). It will be grand. The same show travels to Washington, D.C., and to Philadelphia this week.

The rest of December, I’m busy with a variety of fun things to include two shows with Baby States. We rarely get to perform these days with our drummer Jeremy Gustin, as he’s so often on the road with Delicate Steve. So these shows, on Dec. 20 in Boston, and the 21st in NYC, are special.

What else is exciting? I just had an incredible time writing all the parts and leading the horn section for the David Wax Museum’s CD Release shows in Philly, NYC, and Boston. Cole Kamen-Green (from Cuddle Magic, and the trumpet player you heard all last summer out of car-windows on Beyonce’s ’4′) and Adam Dotson (from Rubblebucket) are the very same dream team that played on David’s record — and they killed it, unsurprisingly, live.

Here’s a quick (and surely incomplete) rundown of musical things upcoming:

Dec. 3 – Cuddle Magic & Anais Mitchell @ the Bowery Ballroom – NYC
Dec. 5 – Cuddle Magic & Anais Mitchell @ the Hamilton – Washington, D.C.
Dec. 6 – Cuddle magic & Anais Mitchell @ Johnny Brendas – Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 7 – Elijah Tucker @ Rockwood 1 – NYC
Dec. 9 – Ronald Reagan with The Michael Winograd Trio, Frank London & Judith Berkson – Ditmas Acoustic @ The Sancuary – NYC
Dec. 20 – Baby States @ the Lily Pad – Cambridge, MA
Dec. 21 – Baby States @ Rockwood 1 – NYC
Dec. 22 – Greta Gertler’s Universal Thump @ Barbes – NYC

And it didn’t hurt that we’re releasing a split 7″ vinyl with our tourmates-to-be, The Daredevil Christopher Wright. Check out our contribution, which was recently premiered by Paste.

Here’s the dates:

• Friday, October 19th at 10:30 pm: Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
with Jesse Sparhawk

• Saturday, October 20th at 11:00 pm: The Terrace F. Club, Princeton University,
Princeton, NJ with Norwegian Arms

• Sunday, October 21st at 8:00 pm: Paperhaus, Washington, D.C.
with The Hollow Boys and The Sea Life

• Monday, October 22nd at 8:00 pm: The Garden, Charlottesville, VA
with Jesse Harper

• Tuesday, October 23rd at 9:30 pm: The 5 Spot, Nashville, TN
Nashville’s Finest – Hosted by Derek Hoke

• Thursday, October 25th: Dan’s Silverleaf, Denton, TX
with The Blue Hit

• Friday, October 26th at 10:00 pm: Frank, Austin, TX
with The Blue Hit

• Monday, October 29th: Cafe Paradiso in Fairfield, IA
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Tuesday, October 30th at 6:30 pm: Some Sum Studio, Winona, MN
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Wednesday, October 31st at 7:00 pm: V1 Backstage Concert Series
Stage Door Entrance, Eau Claire, WI with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Thursday, November 1st at 9:00 pm: The Mill, Iowa City, IA
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Friday, November 2nd: UW Madison – Der Rathskeller, Madison, WI
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Saturday, November 3rd: Lamp Light Music Festival, Grand Rapids, MI
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Sunday, November 4th: The Cat in the Cream, Oberlin, OH
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Monday, November 5th: Howler’s Coyote Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA
with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Tuesday, November 6th: Food & Music with 3 Local Chefs, Rochester, NY
please contact us for details – with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Wednesday, November 7th: Venue TBA in Ithaca, NY – with The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Thursday, November 8th: Putnam Dem, Saratoga Springs, NY
with Railbird, The Daredevil Christopher Wright

• Friday, November 9th: Radio, Somerville, MA
with Railbird, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, and Audrey Ryan

• Saturday, November 10th: The Rock Shop, Brooklyn, NY
with Railbird, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, and Margaret Glaspy

Catch us this week.

Sunday, 8 – 2, at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. 7pm. With Cleek Schrey and Stephanie Coleman.

And Friday, 8 – 7, at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia, PA. 7:30pm. With Delicate Steve.

Mike Baggetta – guitar
Brian Drye – trombone
Dave Flaherty – drumset

Then I’ve got two more weeks before life gets crazy, and Ronald Reagan – Boston’s Premier 80′s Pop Saxophone Duo – hits the road with Amanda Palmer. That’s right … Amanda Fucking Palmer.

The extensive list of tour dates (all around the US between September 10 and October 3) is available for viewing and admiration at our website.

Why?

For one, I had the privilege of playing bari this past week with the eminent Steven Bernstein and his Millennial Territory Orchestra.

Number two: I’m pleased to announce that Ronald Reagan – Boston’s Premier 80′s Pop Saxophone Duo – is poised to invade NYC in a big way, with 4 appearances around the city starting on June 25 and ending with a guest spot at Amanda Palmer’s Music Hall of Williamsburg throwdown!

And thirdly – because I will actually be around this summer!

We shall be the Turkey Vultures!

Details can be found at our website.

For a sense of scale, here’s the itinerary:

April 9th – NYC
April 10th – Philadelphia, PA
April 11th – Washington D.C
April 12th – Frederick, MD
April 13th – Staunton, VA
April 14th – Lewisburg, WV
April 15th – Lexington, KY
April 17th – Bloomington, IN
April 18th – Columbus, OH
April 19th – Ann Arbor, MI
April 20th – Evanston, IL
April 21st – Madison, WI
April 22nd – Minneapolis, MN
April 24th – Fairfield, IA
April 26th – Denver, CO
April 28th – Seattle, WA
April 29th – Portland, WA
May 1st – Sacramento, CA
May 2nd – Santa Cruz CA
May 3rd – San Francisco, CA
May 5th – Los Angels, CA
May 6th – Phoenix, AZ
May 8th – Albuquerque, NM
May 11th – Nashville, TN
May 12th – Knoxville, TN
May 13th – Chapel Hill, NC
May14th – Charlottesville, VA
May 16th – Washington DC
May 17th – Brooklyn, NY