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What's
New? -- 2007
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December
21: Prairie Soul will soon be launching its own website.
Watch this space for more details. Launch in early January.
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November
28: I'm happy to announce that Prairie Soul has become a
quartet! Fiddler and vocalist Ben Smith has joined us
and begun to find his place in our arrangements. Equally exciting,
Ben will be adding his vocals and bringing new songs our way
soon. Ben will be joining us for a set (perhaps a bit more?)
at our 12/29 gig at D Dooley's!
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November
11: Here's an update on my solo opening gig for Noah
Earle... I'll be playing 5-6 songs opening for Noah as part
of Music
Folk's Concert Series. I'm planning on playing several new
tunes not part of Prairie Soul's set list, so come on out for
the world debut, eh?
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November
4: We had a nice time at the Kerr Foundation building
last night. Thanks to everyone who came out and those who made
it possible. The Bike Federation had a good turnout and
signed up a nice bunch of new members. Hooray for everyone!
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October
19: Last week at Schlafly's, I played a few original tunes
for the first time in quite awhile. I got a really nice reception
to them that energized me. As a result, I approached Michael
Bohn about engineering on an upcoming recording project.
Check back for details soon.
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October
17: Prairie Soul will be performing at a benefit for the
St. Louis
Bike Federation on Saturday, November 3 at the William
A. Kerr Foundation building at 21 O'Fallon Street just north
of downtown StL and near where Lumiere Place is being built.
The site is also on the trailhead of the Riverfront Trail. Join
us for the inaugural event! For $10 you can hear some cool PS
tunes and enjoy a satisfying array of food and drink while supporting
the reduction of your carbon footprint. Come see us! You know
you want to!
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September
5: John finally got us our return date at Schlafly's-- Saturday,
October 13. Plan on joining us for a golden autumn evening of
Prairie Soul songs.
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August
12: What a great time we had at Schlafly's Bottleworks
last night! What a crowd and what a response! Thanks to all
those that came out on a warm evening, especially to those who
came for the first time. It's always a great pleasure to see
and hear so many friendly bodies. It makes the ragged, day-after
voice and the sore fingers worth it! We're working on return
dates soon!
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August
7: I've been approached about a solo concert in November
on a split bill with Noah
Earle. I'll keep you posted, but, man, you've got to hear
Noah's new songs! Go see him!
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June
28: While I'm loving what the band is doing, I'm missing
some of my original material and have really been itching to
play some of my favorite "classic" songs too.
I'm likely to add an occasional solo gig as we get closer to
the fall to "scratch this itch," so keep an eye on
this space.
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June
13: The trio is adding quite a few new songs on this
long stretch between gigs. Among them are: Heartbroke
(Ricky Skaggs), Devil in Disguise (Gram Parsons), You
Asked Me To (Waylon Jennings), and Every Time You Say
Goodbye (Alison Krauss). We're hoping to begin adding select
original material soon too.
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May
29: Every band has growing pains, I suppose, and we are
not immune. Regrettably, the musician's curse (artistic differences)
has infected us and left Prairie Soul as a trio. We wish Michael
the best in his pursuits and hope to hear some mighty fine blues
spewing from his guitar soon... In a twist on the immortal words
of Michael himself, "Here we go..."
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May
21: We had a great time last Friday at Picasso's. It was
great to see so many people come back to hear us again. Sadly,
that will be our last gig at the Picasso's in O'Fallon. Much
to our surprise, we found out that this location will be closing
on June 2. Please make sure to visit the other location of Picasso's
on Main Street.
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April
12: Due to unforeseen circumstances Prairie Soul must cancel
our upcoming date at Soulard Coffee Garden. We hope to reschedule
soon.
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April
10: The band has begun to get some press the last few weeks.
First, we were mentioned as part of a mid-county entertainment
flyer in the Post. Just last weekend, we got a nice mention
in an article about the Kirkwood Farmer's Market in the
Journal.
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April
5: John just booked us at Schlafly's Bottleworks in Maplewood
for an August date. We're definitely looking forward to playing
this fine acoustic venue and sampling some of the fine wares
of the proprietor. Please mark your calendars!
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April
1: Wow! Picasso's sure was fun last night. It was
great to see folks come back who had been here for the last
gig. Chris, the owner, invited us back for a May date, so we
hope to see you all again. We may also play the Main Street
St Charles location later this summer.
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March
20: It's been great fun working with this band. We've just
added songs as diverse as I Gotta Get Drunk (Willie Nelson),
Ooh Las Vegas (Gram Parsons), Key to the Highway
(Derek & the Dominoes, et al), and The Lucky One
(Alison Krauss). Pretty cool to give these songs the patented
Prairie Soul treatment.
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March
11: Been working hard to get the band booked. We return
to Picasso's in a couple of weeks, but have booked the Kirkwood
Farmer's Market for a couple of summertime Saturday mornings
too. Several other possibilties in various stages of completion.
More announcements soon...
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February
25: Had a great time last night at our debut! Thanks to
the 3Fs (family, friends, and fans) who came out to O'Fallon
to see us. We hope to see you again at Picasso's next month.
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February
6: Look for a redesign of this space sometime in
the next few months. Now that the band is named and has gigs
on the horizon, we'll be using this space to communicate as
a band too. For now, gig info and any news bulletins can be
found here.
And for
clarity's sake, let me remind everyone that the blog
is my opinion and doesn't necessarily speak for the band.
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February
2: And the band name is: Prairie Soul. We've hoped
to evoke the feeling of Americana, yet allow ourselves the freedom
to move outside of strict definitions of style. OK, maybe we
thought way too much about this, but that's who we are.
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January
29: Working with a band has been a great revelation in many
ways. First, the collaboration is a great feeling. Just
working out parts and feel for some of these songs is a great
release. Then there's the challenge of learning new songs
and forcing myself to play more mandolin. Even better
for me is that the creative juices flow a bit more freely. I've
got two new songs very near completion. All in all, I'd
say this is exactly what the doctor ordered.
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January
25: Coming up with a band name is tough business.
From a list of about 60 suggestions, we've whittled it down
to 5 names. We should get this done soon, I hope.
We've
also started work on a demo. We've got some cool places
considering us for gigs this spring and summer. We'll keep
you posted!
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January
16: Band news: "Here we go" can mean a
lot of different things. Just ask Michael.
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January
6: The band has been a really fun diversion the last few
months! I've learned lots of new songs, had great conversation
about music, life, and sex, as well as laughing lots! Here's
hoping that much fun translates to the stage!
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