It’s a fantastic spring day in Lafayette Louisiana, and I’m trying my best to enjoy a little time off. I say “trying” because it’s not always easy for a traveling musician to stay home. I mean home is nice, I’ve got lots of great friends, I get to cook at home, go dancing to live music any night of the week, and get my garden going, but I can feel the road once again calling like an old friend. Not necessarily the friend you’re always glad to see, but an old familiar friend nonetheless. I find myself longing to hear those old familiar words that seem to whisper in the wind this time of the year, those sweet words that come like the first crocuses of spring, words like “get in the van” or “get out of the van” or my favorite “get on stage, stop whining and start singing”. Who needs a life coach when you’ve got that? Enough with the decisions and the uncertainties that come with everyday life, I’m once again ready to get back on the trail, hear my spurs jingle jangle, and have the fates carry me like a tumbleweed across the great open spaces. It’s fitting that after a few local concerts in New Orleans and our beloved Lafayette, we should begin our travels in the west, where people in this country go to find a new life, we’ll be spreading our Louisiana gospel to Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Port Townsend to name a few places, which will commence the new era for The Revelers. This new era will surly bring us fame, fortune, and everything Freddie Mercury sang about in “We are the Champions.” At the very least it will bring us good times, good friends and some good stories.
This all seems to have more reason and purpose now that we have a new album that we’re ready to spread to all the open hearts and minds we come across. The new album took a lot of work to say the least, but I would have to say it was truly a labor of love. There’s not only the time it takes to record the actual material, trying to negotiate with six strong willed, yet sensitive artists, there’s also the countless hours spent playing, traveling and spending time together. These things are not always easy, but you can look back on them with pride, as you would a marriage that despite the trials and bumps along the way (usually having to do with me being a selfish asshole) you’ve somehow stuck it out and endured together, finding yourself stronger and more in love than ever before. When I stay with Chris Miller in New York he makes me coffee in the morning just the way I like it, just the right amount of cream and a little sugar. Hell we even notice when someone gets a haircut or new shoes, which you can’t say for all marriages, maybe that’s why we’ve lasted all these years, and until something better comes along we’re absolutely, totally devoted to each other. I just wish for once I could control the radio station, I mean is that really so much to ask?
The new album will be the latest in our string of merchandise enterprises, we’ve sold C.D’s, 45 vinyl, download cards, seasoning and of course Eric’s all natural lotion, but of all the things we’ve brought to the public, I feel this album is our finest effort and represents us at our best. I hope we see you this Summer as we will be bringing our expression of love and devotion to a town near you.