The big announcement is two special Hairball Willie reunion shows in the Chicago area.  It has been 17 years since the last performance of the "classic lineup" of Hairball Willie, and 20 years since work began on Just Defying Gravity, the band's only full-length studio album.  Formally released in June 1993, Just Defying Gravity is now available on Itunes and CDBaby.  Featuring an early version of "Sister Smiles,"  this album was reviewed in Relix Magazine by Mick Skidmore, who declared it "extremely tight and musically inventive."  The May 18 Aurora show is free, but tickets are available online for the May 19 Martyrs' show, which will also feature another reunion of sorts: an opening set by the Dime Store String Band, my old bluegrass group, who I am also looking forward to joining on stage.

In other news, I had the pleasure of co-writing and recording guitar and vocals for a song with Massama Dogo and his afro-funk group, Elikeh, called "Nye Mind Nao," which should be released very soon.  And the John K. Band went into the studio to begin work on "Desert Trance" and "Your Mileage May Vary."  The John K. Band will also be making our first appearance west of the Mississippi in Denver for a three-night run at Quixotes June 8-10.  Also, The Rex Foundation has released most of last December's "Run For the Roses" fundraiser show, and is available for purchase at Nugs.net.

There are also a couple of solo performances on the calendar: a Monday night "off" in the middle of Furthur's Beacon run on April 16th at the Gramercy Theatre opening for Jam Stampede (most likely sitting in with them, as well); and another solo set at a groovy event called The Joy of One-Us on the west front lawn of the US Capitol building on Saturday, June 2nd.