August 2025 Edition

Howdy Friend!

Well, the dog days are howling and the tomatoes are getting more and more like a Guy Clark song everyday. It’s August in the sweltering state of Tennessee, and I sure hope you’re staying cool out there and enjoying the home stretch of summer with family and friends. The past couple weeks have sure been a blur, starting with Old Crow shows up along placid Great Lakes waters. We loved meeting you in Wisconsin Dells and sharing a slice of life’s proverbial peanut butter chocolate fudge. And that show outside of St Cloud with the Turnpike Troubadours certainly was a shebang. We especially enjoyed meeting you by the merch table during our Veterans Salute Show in Columbia, Missouri where, over a sharpie and a shot of whiskey, the band and I realized we have so many songs about soldiers it’s nearly impossible to write them all into one set. To all our active duty service members and their families, especially our sisters and brothers up in Fort Campbell, we wish you a safe, sound, and secure summer.

There were quite a few other stops along the way, including an epic night at the Grand Ole Opry celebrating the 100th birthday of Porter Wagoner, and a subterranean soiree in Cumberland Caverns including a special taping with my exciting new side hustle as host of Nashville PBS's Tennessee Crossroads... and much more. Somewhere amidst those many miles I turned the wheel towards my solo album release for ‘Story The Crow Told Me’ playing numerous live shows, radio spots, etc. alongside my stellar bandmates blues legend Colin Linden and Old Crow’s PJ George III. It’s been great to feel our Old Crow audiences' affirmation of the album, a song cycle which tells the story of my earliest days as a mohawk-sporting punk rock fiddler trying to scratch a living on a Nashville street corner. One of the songs you’ve responded to most is “What Nashville Was”, which I had the privilege to perform alongside my three all-time favorite vocalists, Molly Tuttle, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash.

This song suggests that, when it comes to the music part of Music City, time’s sinuous fibers stretch far beyond genre or generation, providing a timeless soundtrack to a city in constant flux and constant renewal. Or maybe it’s just got the catchy chorus that’s had it streaming so many thousands of times since dropping last month. In either case, I sure do appreciate your love and support. So, yeah, just like the song goes, the one I wrote for our 2017 Dave Cobb-produced major label debut Volunteer….babe it’s sure been a whirlwind. 

Now, the fact that none of what I’ve written so far in this newsletter comprises the bulk of what's actually been happening lately is simply testament to how rich and varied a life in the musical arts can be. Because I haven’t even told you yet about what I did last week…are ya ready? All Aboard! Friends, until very recently, I was wobbling through train cars at dawn, playing more music at a more intense pace of absorption than I have in years, and watching strangers turn to BFF's overnight, while the landscape of America went whooshing past, chugging up the line from Gulf South New Orleans to friendly neighbor Canada’s front door. It was such an amazing ride! Perched at the driver’s wheel were none other than my kindred friends Mumford and Sons. Ted, Ben, and Marcus kept the music (and the party) going well into the night as our serpentine mount, some 16 vintage rail coaches long, wound through dawning light, rattling at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. Along for the ride were the inimitable Maggie Rogers (my Chesapeake sister who first inspired me to start a newsletter, thanks Maggie!) Leif Vollebekk, a Canadian original from the north woods of Ontario who’s one of the wittiest guys I know. The amazing Nathaniel Rateliff, who belted out songs like the whistle on a steam locomotive. Lucius, whose lush harmonies lulled us the sleep like the rhythm of the rails. Chris Thile, the man with the quick trigger mandolin who, with pullman porter precision, kept the trains running on time. Blues diva Celisse whose rock and roll swagger considerably upped the cool factor. Madison Cunningham, a natural guitar shredder who could lay a solo down like dropping a sack of mail. Our hearts never left New Orleans thanks to Trombone Shorty, whose charismatic playing made every occasion as joyous as a jazz funeral. Then there were the incredible talents of the Mumford band. Enrique, Laura, and Darius on the horns. Matt Menafee on banjo and dobro. Andrew Barr on percussion. All told, like the old song goes, this train was bound for glory! 

But the special guests didn’t stop there. On our whistle stop tour to four very lucky cities, four very dazzling artists came out to make the night even more bonkers. In the Pelican State it was country music’s absolute best singer/songwriter in decades, Lainey Wilson. What a joy it was to back her up on just a few of her dozens of hit records like my favorite, Good Horses. In the Palmetto State, it was my treasured friend Darius Rucker who poured his heart into song just like the torrential rains that pounded that night, cooling the heat stricken Carolina upstate. In the Old Dominion, it was the aforementioned pop magician Maggie Rogers who gave one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from a riser 5 feet behind, dancing, strumming, and singing with unrivaled strength and poise. Wow, what a talent. Then, finally, in the Green Mountain State there came New England’s most prolific pen since Robert Frost, one of the most exciting artists of our time, Strafford Vermont’s Noah Kahan, and he friggin’ crushed it. I don’t know which I would rank a higher achievement this year - playing Act Naturally with Ringo Starr, or playing Stick Season with Noah Kahan .

I’m exhausted just thinking about the wonders I saw out the window, in old freight yards, and on stages across the nation upon this epic tour called the Railroad Revival. Slurping oysters in the diner, the sounds of children playing Uno in the club car, the conductors radio squawking at the end of the car, the whistle blowing into the night, the perma-smiles on peoples' melted faces as we gave them a musical night of a lifetime, and the joy I felt of being along for the ride, this being my second Railroad Revival tour, back with dearest friends, Marcus, Ben, and Ted. All in all, this is the stuff that dreams are made of. And don’t worry if you missed it. (Because we made a movie…)

Well, friends. I hate to cut this short, but obviously I need some sleep! So, here’s hoping the month of August is a wonderful time for you and yours, full of picking parties, melted popsicles, sand in your sneakers, and your favorite songs. What I mean is I hope your August is full of the richness of life’s abundance. Like homegrown tomatoes on the vine, may joy ripen in your hearts, and be swallowed with a smile. 

Thanks and love to you all. 

Your Pal,
Ketch