SCOTT KIRBY's Mumbo Jumbo May 2017




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May 2017
Greetings from Maine! It's nice to have a week's break before hitting the road this week for a concert at Molly Malone's Upstairs in Covington, Kentucky, on May 24th and then down to Fort Worth and Bryan, Texas, for a couple of shows on the 26th and 27th. Then it's west to Arizona and California. As usual, all the ticket info is available at http://www.scottkirby.com/events.
Andy Thompson in the studio

Chasing Hemingway's Ghost with the Thompsons

As many of you know, I was in the recording studio in Nashville earlier this month for a week laying down tracks for my new Chasing Hemingway's Ghost CD, scheduled for a fall release. I'm working with my old friends and brilliant musicians Matt and Andy Thompson. So far, other than my acoustic guitar parts and a bit of harmonica, they have played every single instrument on the record. Matt has laid down the drum tracks, played lots of percussion, and added some tasty melodica and keyboards parts. Andy has played electric and standup bass, all varieties of acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, ukulele and I expect he may get out his cello before we're done. We've also co-written two songs and I expect they will handle much or all of the backing vocals.

I get lots of questions about the songs we're recording and the musical style we're going for. Other than electric guitar and bass, we're using mostly acoustic instruments and going for a pretty organic sound. I'm really happy with the way Andy has layered acoustic guitars, melodica, mandolin and ukulele choruses under the other tracks to produce a rich and full mix without resorting to synthesizers.

As far as the songs go, it's an eclectic mix of a few ballads mixed in with some folk-rock. One track has a slight Celtic feel, another is a real blues rocker, and I even decided to throw a Sinatra tune on the CD. The title track, "Chasing Hemingway's Ghost," pays homage to the thousands of aspiring artists who have looked to one of Key West most famous residents for inspiration.

More about the CD next month. You can listen to part of a track on my Facebook page.
 
Kris Kristofferson and Scott Kirby at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, 2017

Kris Kristofferson in Charlottesville

I recently posted a photo on Facebook with legendary songwriter Kris Kristofferson. It was viewed by far more people than anything I ever posted, so I thought it deserved an explanation. I stopped in Charlottesville to spend the night with Gary Green. I got in late so went directly to the theater where Gary is the head sound engineer and was running sound for Mr. Kristofferson. During the intermission Gary asked me to meet him downstairs where he introduced me. It all happened in about a minute and I was thankful we had a mutual musician friend in our past to chat about so I wasn't reduced to blabbing on about nothing!

I've always been intrigued how one person could have done so much in a life: iconic songwriter and award-winning actor, Rhodes scholar, army ranger and helicopter pilot, and playing in a band with Jonny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
 

Mayer Kirby Mayer Acoustic Tour

One of my favorite few weeks of the year is hitting the road with Pete and Brendan Mayer and my childhood friend Gary Green. We're already booked for the following, with more info and ticket details to follow in the summer.

SCHEDULE:
August 23: Grassy Strip Music Series, Madison. CT
August 24: Flying Monkey Performance Center, Plymouth, NH
September 7: Star Theatre, Kittery, ME
September 8: Sandbar Grill, Taunton, MA
September 9: Private Event, MA
September 10: Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY
September 12: Reading, PA
September 13: TBA
September 14: TBA
September 15: Rainbow Charity event, Manassas, VA
September 16: Boatyard Beach Bash, Annapolis, MD

Check my website for details of these and for all events in June and July.

                 Thanks for listening!     

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