A hell of a ride. Though we miss our brother Mark , we've been blessed by Steve Kimock's willingness to jump in as a sub, and the Dog remains strong. Actually, so far on this tour it has been quite literally a ride, since we've gone from Milwaukee to Atlanta to New York before Boston...our nation's highway system seems to be holding up. The heat part was most in evidence in New York, where Ratdog and Keller both whipped up quite a sweat in Central Park. Boston was cool and foggy, just like home - but the music burned.

The high point of the tour thus far - at least from the amusement standpoint - took place at the All Good Festival in West Virginia this past weekend. Very beautiful mountaintop location, fog coming up the hillside as the sun set, big and enthusiastic crowd. After a Jay Lane-led "RatDog Experience" funk jam with Kenny, Bob, Robin, Jeff Chimenti, two guest rappers including Flipside, and special guest Brian Stoltz on a smaller stage in the afternoon - a nice response - the band came on to the main stage near midnight and played an excellent set. The band went back on for an encore, and the band on the stage across the way began to play. Don't know if it was an overeager stage manager or somebody trying to make a point. "What is this, a battle of the bands?" said Jay. And the other band ground to a halt…RatDog lit into a stormin' "Touch of Grey," and it was indeed All Good.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: We've had a special gig in mind for some time, but we had to keep it a secret for business reasons - so now we can let you in on it. As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road, RatDog will be playing in Lowell, Massachusetts (the birthplace of Jack Kerouac, the author) on August 12th. Many of you know that "Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to never-ever land" was also Dean Moriarity in On the Road - there never would have been a G.D. or a RatDog without that book...Bob will be on-stage talking about Neal before the music starts, and it'll be a unique Ratdog show. It's in Boarding House Park, a very small space, so go to www.lowellsummermusic.org to get tix (or GDTSToo.com) - quickly.

And remember, in Dog we Trust