To our friends and fans;

Making music with Wicked Tinkers is one of the great joys in my life! Let's face it; this is the ultimate mid-life crisis job: driving around the country with my friends, making music, hanging out with the fans, and drinking fine Scotch whisky. It is a blast, to say the least.

I have been very fortunate to have spent most of my adult life making a living in the music industry. Even currently, when I'm not on the road with the boys, you may often find me in Las Vegas, playing keyboards in the orchestras of such shows as Phantom of the Opera, Spamalot, and most recently, the Cirque du Soleil spectacular, KA. This is actually why I moved west from Boston in the first place; to work in the Las Vegas theaters. Connecting with Wicked Tinkers was just happy chance. What was supposed to have been a two-week engagement has turned into a three year joyride, and I have enjoyed (almost) every minute of it.

So now, after three years in Las Vegas, I find that I am getting more and more calls to do shows here. Just recently, a potential career path has opened for me within the Cirque du Soleil organization that I can't ignore. The result of this is that I need to spend more of my time focusing on the work here in town, and to make myself more available to the Cirque producers.

In the coming year you will be seeing me less frequently at our performances. I am and will continue to be a Wicked Tinker! I will do as many of the festivals as I am able, but you are just as likely to be seeing the incredible C.J. Henderson performing on didgeridoo and bronze horn.

I can't say enough about him! C.J. is a great didgeridoo player, a long time friend of the band, and one of the best guys around.. Just know that this transition is made much easier for me knowing what a wonderful addition he is to the Tinkers. From time to time, we'll even share the stage, and I can't wait for those shows! He is already family to us, and I know that you will welcome him with the same enthusiasm that you have shown me.

Slainte!

Jay Atwood