I'm playing at Smiley's Acoustic Cafe on Wed. Nov. 26 alongside Doug Jones and Charles Hedgepath. I'll be playing a bunch of new songs and some old ones. Hope to see you there!

I uploaded the most recent rough mixes for three new songs—I Shall Drift Along This River No More, Dark Horse, and For To See Her When She Comes. That's my man, Seth Libbey singing with me on I Shall Drift. What a voice!

Marc and I reached Uhuru Peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro at 6 am on World Water Day, and thanks to you, we raised $33,000 for clean water projects in Tanzania!

We left our camp at midnight and hiked through snow and lightning to get to the summit. We actually got to the highest point in Africa an hour earlier than we had anticipated. As you can see from the photo, it was dark and foggy on the summit, but we made it! A special thank you to Maggie Montgomery and Cheryl Stone for making the banner we are holding. All of our donors’ names are on the sign, and our guide and good friend, Simbo, now has the banner hanging in his home.

I was hoping to send this update sooner, but my computer crashed in Africa, taking with it all of our photos and some video! Luckily, the information has been recovered from the hard drive, and soon we will have photos from the projects you to show you.

Thank you all again for your support and well wishes! Your generosity was inspiring.

Asante sana! ("Thank you very much!" in Swahili.)


Kilimanjaro Climb For Clean Water

I'd like to share something with you, something incredible that happened to me the last time I played at the Ould Sod in San Diego. After I finished the all-night gig, a soldier who had just returned from Iraq came up to me. His name is Matt, and I remembered him from gigs I had played at the Sod a couple of years ago

He said, "I just want to let you know that your song "The Most" helped me get through my tour in Iraq. Whenever I really missed my fiancée back home, I would play that song and feel better."

Wow. I was speechless. That pays my wages for the rest of the year.

In honor of Matt and all of our soldiers in Iraq and around the world, I have put "The Most" on Myspace as a free download. Click here to download or listen to the song.

"The Most" was written right after my grandfather died at the age of 93. Pop still worked out 3 times a week and had a sharp intellect. I guess I just thought he would never die. It made me realize that we all share an uncertain journey. "We don't know when we'll go. We'll just have to stick around and see."

I wrote the song as a love letter to my wife, Lynn. This Friday is our 10th wedding anniversary! What better place to celebrate than The Ould Sod. I'll be playing all night, starting at 9 pm. Please come down and enjoy a pint or two with us!

Also, my good friend Tony Brucco will be playing guitar and mandolin with me on Friday. Tony is an amazing musician who has been on tour with me. You won't believe how good he is. We'll be playing lots of originals, some old outlaw country and even some 80's rock 'n' roll. Hope to see you there!

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The Most

I might live to a hundred
It seems to run in the genes
At 22, I had a mid-life crisis
Whatever that means
So if I don't get to say it one last time
If I'm quiet, as a ghost
I want you to know
That I love you the most

I confess the temptations
But I have always been true
And all our confrontations
Baby, I know we'll get through
Sometimes you got to rev the engine
And sometimes you got to coast
So I want you to know
I love you the most

I'm not a shrewd investor
I just write songs and stuff
Sometimes I get paid all right
But it never seems to be enough
You make feel like a rich man
No matter what I've grossed
I want you to know
That I love you the most

I might live to a hundred
You'll probably get tired of me
But we don't know when we'll go
We'll just have to stick around and see
So if I can't relay the information
Once I've abandoned my post
I want you to know
That I loved you the most

I'm off to Africa tomorrow! Off to the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro where I'll be teaching English and computers at a Secondary school. I'll be gone more than a month. I think I'm packed...

On the way, we'll stop in Amsterdam for a couple of days to get our bearings. Then on to Nairobi and a connection to Kilimanjaro. We're working for a division of CARE called Cross-Cultural Solutions, and we'll be staying at a house near Moshi with 20 other volunteers. Don't know what to expect. I think I'm packed...

I'm hoping to post some blogs from an Internet Cafe in Moshi. I can't wait. Now to bed. After I check my bag once more...

Robb Duke was in town, and we stayed indoors and out of the sunshine, tanning ourselves with a Cinema Display. Lots of loud guitars and Robb singing, "You were standing behind a counter. You were refunding another customer. You wore a blue jean dress. That's when I fell in love with you." Getting queasy in the Hollywood Hills and driving by the boarded-up Tower Records on Sunset. Then more guitars. More guitars! Loud and soft. Unique and wonderful the way only Robb Duke can play...



Got my shots today for the Africa trip!

I took my girl to the track for Valentine's Day. We snuck whiskey flasks in our coats, and I won $50 on the 6 horse in the seventh race. Then we ate a Hot-Dog-On-A-Stick with lots of mustard and bought new shoes...

Habari gani?

Lynn and I will be travelling to Tanzania in March to volunteer for Cross Cultural Solutions (a division of C.A.R.E). Lynn will be working in a health care facility, and I'll be teaching English to kids. We'll be stationed at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro for three weeks, and then we'll have a week to travel on our own.

We've both been to Africa before. In fact, we met because of Africa. I had just spent 3 months in Kenya with NOLS, and she was getting ready to leave for Mali in West Africa. We have been talking about going back for 12 years, and now seems like the perfect time. Africa is such a beautiful place with lovely people. Hopefully, we can do a little to help at a time when they are in need.

For more on Africa and fighting extreme poverty, please visit one.org.

I hope your New Year is off to a good start. I was truly blessed in 2006, and I'm looking forward to a good '07. Thank you for your support last year, and I hope to see you again this year.

I'm in the midst of upgrading my studio, and then I'll be back to recording for the next couple of months. I hope to release a series of EP's this year: 2 of my own material and 1 with a new project called Salty. Lots of hard work and good times ahead.

In 2006, I spent a good deal of time traveling and taking photographs. Here's a slideshow of 50 photos that I took around America in 2006. From sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii. From the Mississippi Delta to the Painted Desert. From D.C. to L.A. From Park City to my hometown, Greenville. We live in a big, beautiful country! Let me know what you think..

http://www.flickr.com/gp/22822440@N00/Op3C46

Still working on the novel. I hope to have a first draft finished by the end of the year.

Enjoy a fried peanut-butter-and-'nana sandwich tonight and toast to the King!

Take care,
Brax