I'm very excited to announce that, after much sitting-in and guesting on recordings, I'm a full-fledged member of Circled By Hounds!

They've built a solid following and incredible repertoire of traditional and original songs and tunes over the years. We've done a handful of shows already and it's been a blast.

Circled By Hounds are:
Matthew Hayward-McDonald singing and playing guitar (and lawn implements)
Kathryn Claire singing and playing fiddle, guitar and concertina
Sarah Dee on fiddle and singing
Vash on ...anything that can be struck, beaten or battered into rhythmic submission
and me playing flutes, whistles, singing, a bit of bodhran and shakey-egg.

I'll still be playing with Cary Novotny, Men of the West, KMRIA as well as playing with Colleen Raney and Casey Neill and the Norway Rats. I couldn't be happier.

See you around!

I'm moving the Sunday at Biddy's set to 9PM due to popular demand! Sorry for the inconvenience to you early risers!

My new site is up:
hanzaraki.com

There's a free download; just click on the flower!

Check it out! Nancy Hess (nancyhess@mac.com) created a remix of "Pull the Knife". In my list of life-long dreams, ranked consistently in the top five was to have someone make a remix of a song of mine. I think this is super cool -- thanks Casey! Check it out. Now I need to have someone make a Hanz Araki action-figure...

OK, for anyone who's curious; my flutes were found in the middle of Halsey outside the Edgefield (!!) by Road Dog, the benevolent and preeminent roadie who brought them back to the trailer for the summer concerts, where they were spotted by Brent from the Doug Fir, who called me after seeing my bulletin on myspace.

The best I can figure, they fell out the back of my car as I was giving a nice couple a lift to their car and I simply didn't notice.

That they weren't:

a.) run over
b.) loaded in with Chris Isaac's gear to be swept away on a US tour, eventually returned to me, I'm sure, but after an experience akin to a garden gnome adventure or
c.) found by someone with fewer scruples than Road-Dog is nothing short of remarkable.

Thanks AGAIN to everyone and especially to Road-Dog and all other roadies and crew who so often are over-looked and go unthanked.

Celebrity Showdown - Hanz Araki vs. Hank Azaria

...from The Source Weekly, Bend OR, Jeff Trainor

Thanks to everyone who came to the K.M.R.I.A. shows. We all had a blast. Speaking for myself, I can say without a trace of sarcasm or exaggeration that it was the best show I've ever been a part of. I'm still not quite ready to admit that we did it and it's over, but I do have stories that I'll share upon request. For now, let me just say, the fact that fake snow in a snow-machine is non-toxic doesn't keep it from tasting like shit...