I Played a Gig/I Finished a Novel

So, I've had quite the week.

First, I played my first musical gig in about decade.

Murphy's Outlaw of Arizona--featuring two founding members of the Refreshments, my longtime cohort Jim Gerke, and my new bud Mitch Cole--invited me down to AZ to play a bunch of our old material. Little did I know that ten or so family members from Illinois or Colorado would make the trek to take in the spectacle. The week included a trip down to Dustin Denham's basement for rehearsal (where most of my AZ bands started); a great time on Thursday with my mom, dad, wife, and extended family; and a pass through two hours of Refreshments and other songs at Rock Bar on Friday night. This turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected, and I expected it to be plenty fun. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make it a very special trip for me.

Then, this week I came home and finished my latest novel, Nineteen Ways to Destroy Your Rock Band

(They say write what you know.)

This was an eight-year (!) project that started as a memoir of my time in the Refreshments and mutated over the last four years into a novel. It feels wonderful to finally have this thing off my desk. It is now in the hands of a few agents, and I hope to hear something soon. Know that I wouldn't expect the novel to be out any sooner than early 2021, but I wanted to report it's done. I'm sure I'll be posting more on it over the next weeks and months.

What does this mean going forward? It means I can relax a bit and have a good time in 2019 and 2020. First, Murphy's Outlaw is threatening to come to my neck of the woods (Portland, OR) over the summer to do it all over again. The plan is in its early stages, but it actually feel like it's going to happen. If you're interested, please friend me on Facebook, and I will keep you posted on details.

Also, sitting in with Murphy's Outlaws down in Phoenix next year is a no-brainer. I'd love to do it next week but will have to wait until next year.

What else? Who knows? But this thing ain't over, not by a long shot.

Yours in laying down the law,

Art

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