March 2025 Edition

Hello Friend! 

Is it spring where you are? Here in Nashville we’re smack dab in the middle of the “in like a lion” portion of the season, with the back half, the “out like a lamb” portion, as of yet far from view. Last weekend we played up in Chicago, seemingly in the bluster of early spring, only to see snowflakes flying as Ronnie Dale, our bus driver, pulled out from the Gennesee Theatre in Waukegan onto the highway southbound. Flying down I-57 in the whirling snow I still had the song stuck in my head from the encore, that beloved Chicago rave up Jim Croce’s “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”, which, judging from the hoots and hollers, had been a crowd favorite too. Ronnie Dale’s an ace in rain, snow, and sleet. He’s been with us three years now; what a relief to have finally found, a quarter century into the life of this band, a bus driver who really feels like part of our act. Ronnie rounds out a touring dream team, including our road manager Atlanta, GA’s Katie Snyder, production manager Rochester, NY’s Pete Parenteu, lighting director Tyler, TX’s James Leach, stagehand (and master baton twirler) Kettering, OH’s Tyler NIchols, and our new front of house engineer Haywood, CA’s Evan Donahue. All in all this touring team makes the many miles we travel go by like a breeze, and we’re mightily grateful for their love and support. And at long last the driver too is in on the closeness of our Old Crow road family. Like a lot of drivers out there, Ronnie Dale does a lot more than drive a tour bus. For years he was a touring musician and member of Ernest Tubb’s legendary Texas Troubadors band. Ernest Tubb “Thanks A Lot”. When he’s not out on the road with Old Crow or a handful of other acts likely he’s driving a horse trailer packed with Appaloosas to a show. This spring Ronnie Dale will be hauling us from the southwest and the rockies to gulf coast of Florida, and on up through New England. Altogether we’re looking forward to bringing this spring tour to a town near you. Folks have been wondering why we called it the Circle The Wagons Tour and I thought you all might appreciate a little backstory on the title. Ever since the Conestoga days the American traveler has been making tracks, crisscrossing the continent for fortune, fame, or just to take in the awe inspiring beauty of the United States. I’m reminded here, of course, of some of my most treasured traveling tunes. Songs like Woody Guthries, “Hard Travelin’” and The Weaver’s “Gotta Travel On” (or perhaps your prefer Bob Dylan’s version Bob Dylan “Gotta Travel On”. It seems like, no matter the destination, there’s always something to sing about when life conspires to get your wheels a-turning. Pioneering types, like some of the ancestors of this very band, used to draw their wagons in a circle at the close of day. On one hand a posture of defense, it also forged a community, bringing together different families on the same route. Folks without the same destination or reason for being on the road were now conjoin collectively. Writing this here my mind immediately goes to a song I wrote a couple years back which we finally recorded for our Paint This Town album. Old Crow Medicine Show “Reasons To Run”  Flash forward to present day, why would a band suggest a circling of their proverbial wagons? Well, with the high level of uncertainty many of us are feeling right now, it’s a pertinent time as any to come together, forging collectivity into a bond of strength and endurance, and circle the wagons. Now, no matter who your preferred candidate in the last big election, or in future ones, there’s a commonly held opinion across all our 50 states that things in the good ol’ US of A are feeling, as a old Carolina mountain man friend of mine use to say, “kindly different”. And whether you like the current changes, or not, surely we can agree there’s never been a better time to endeavor to come closer as a nation. Sometimes I feel like artists from outside our country can offer us a unique window into our domestic matters, for example The Clash “I’m So Bored With The USA” or  David Bowie’s  “Young Americans”. Then there’s the rare song like Neil Young “Hawks And Doves” where a non-native singer sounds even more patriotic than an American born one. In any case, eyes and ears around the globe are attuned to the machinations of the United States more than I’ve ever known them to be. So, we in Old Crow Medicine Show have elected to do our part. Rededicated to the cause of bringing people together through the power and might of American music, we have decided to spend this year circling our wagons with you, whoever you are. However you feel on the issues we welcome all ya’ll to the party we host every night at our shows, inviting every type of person inside our big tent brand of American roots music. And, not to mince words here, here’s what we mean by all y’all: You’re invited to the show if you voted for Trump or Harris, or if you didn’t vote at all. You’re invited to come and sing along, dance along, clap along no matter what your position on Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, or Russia (our position is PEACE NOW) whether you like Arkansas Razorback basketball or Tennessee Orange (GO VOLS), whether you prefer Kansas City barbecue or California Tri-tip, or if you’re vegan and eat barbecued jackfruit. Our band is made up of musicians, not politicians or policymakers, pickers not preachers, and we welcome you regardless of creed, color, or cause. Everyone’s invited to the Old Crow “Circle The Wagons Tour.” And I mean everyone.  Elon, AOC, Hunter, Don Jr.? Invited. Kamala, Tim, Donald, J.D.? You’re on the list! Schumer, Newsom, Kennedy, and Hegseth? They’re invited too. In fact I truly hope they’ll show up, cause I bet when they shake a tambourine and sing Hank Williams “I Saw The Light” they will better see how a house divided cannot stand. Musicians can make a difference. We’ve stood on the front lines of America’s most turbulent times, armed to the teeth with song. And while the powers that be consort to fear mongering and other playground tactics, we the people remain the true architects of the American experience. So it’s up to us to decide if we’re divided or not. Not some billionaire or special interest group. Well over a century ago Teddy Roosevelt coined the term “the bully pulpit”, a spot from which to stand to deliver important news. Well it’s time we take back the bully pulpit. And the news is this: We the people are tired of the politics of division. So we’re getting together, to sing and dance and laugh together, to work out our differences together. Extra extra. Read all about it. We’re circling the wagons. 

Yours Truly,

 Ketch Secor