DEAD MAN THEME
Dead Man Theme
I think this would be amazing for you and Micah to play live together this year.
Bandit needs to come out again too.
Cheers.
T-Bone
Thanks T-Bone
Love neil
Be well
VOLUME 4
Neil,
I’m looking forward to seeing you in Virginia this summer. 🙂
I’ve been loving all of the Archive boxed sets. Is there anything you can share about volume 4?
What period of music will it cover? Do you have an idea when it will be released? I’m 65 years old … not sure how long I can wait.😳😂
Regards!
Mike
Mike
V4 will take us from the later 80s through the turn of the century and past that…
Love neil
Be well
GORGE
Hey Neil!
Just looked again at the available tickets for the Gorge show. You have hardly sold any tickets! Any chance you could move that show closer to Seattle? Maybe Marymoor Park or Carnation farms? Both are outdoor venues.
See ya somewhere out there!
KJ
KJ
it’s too far from Seattle. We are changing it now.
Love neil
Be well
SHAKEY
Will there ever be an audio version of “Shakey” by Jimmy McDonough?
Thanks
Sorry, I don’t know.
LOVE Neil
Be well
MINNESOTA STATE FAIR
Hi Neil,
Many thanks to you and John O. for the Minnesota State Fair concert. I have read many comments in the past about how awesome your interplay with Pig Robbins was during that concert, and I TOTALLY agree!! Thanks also to David Skoglund for requesting it.
Keep ’em coming!!!
Love,
Mary Jane
Thanks Mary Jane
Love Neil
Be well
VENUE IDEAS
Hi Neil, I just wanted to make a future concert venue suggestion for you. If you ever tour down South again, please consider playing the new Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon, Georgia. As far as I know, you haven’t played in Macon before. Willie played at the venue last month!
Connor
Thanks Connor
Love neil
Be well
SONG X?
Hey ho, away we go. Can’t wait to see you and the Chrome Hearts in Dalhalla and Bergen in a few weeks. Any chance you bring out Song X, Act of Love or Big Time on the upcoming tour? Those 90s songs are so good and need to be heard live if they speak to you.
Cheers from Sondre in Norway
Thanks Sondre
Love neil
be well
FIRESIDE VINYL
Hello Neil, Watching Fireside episode, any of this going on vinyl?
What’s best: create or perform?
Egil, see u soon
No plans for that yet….
Thanks!
Love Neil
Be well
MU-TRON OCTAVE DIVIDER
Hiya Neil!
I hope you, Daryl and all the team at NYA are well.
I have an historical “technical” question for you that may be a bit too long ago to remember (like almost 50 years!!)—so apologies if this is an unreasonable expectation.
The first recollection I have of you using the Mu-Tron Octave Divider was on Rust Never Sleeps (Into the Black) and on some of the songs on Live Rust. I know it was an effect that had a BIG Impact on us all! Do you recall how you came to discover the Mu-Tron, your initial impressions of the effect and was RNS the first time you started using it? (I believe the Mu-Tron OD was released in 1977). Are you still using the same one today (knowing you like to hold onto things), or has road-wear resulted in a replacement/alternate octave divider? If so, is it a Mu-Tron or another type?
Thanks for taking the time to read my note and keep well!! I’m really looking forward to “Talkin to the Trees”!
Cheers
DJ – NSW Australia
DJ
,
Still using the original one. Got it in 77.
Love Neil
Be well
ELECTRIC NATURAL BEAUTY
Electric Natural Beauty
Hey there Shakey, could you have your great team add this live track as an outtake from the Horse’s 10/31/96 show in Hamilton, Ontario please? Thank you sir!
Love You Shakey! Keep on rockin’ and voicing your opinion in this beautiful but unjust world!
Take care! J
J
we will check that out
Thanks
be well
Love neil
BOB 30TH ANNIVERSARY
I love all black sound and the jam you did with Bob Dylan and everyone else in the 30th anniversary and the song My Back Pages—absolutely awesome
Thanks
LOVE Neil
Be well
LAKEFIELD AND BEYOND
Dear Neil
I took my partner Allison, my son, and his girlfriend to see the Lakefield farm benefit concert. It was a perfect spot for a concert. Among the trees, and the farm teaching space—I don’t think I could have imagined such a concert. But there I was with my family and you on stage.
My son is heading into his final year of university in microbiology and genetics—“hunting big game at the micro level” is what he calls it. It is probably his last year at home before heading off to grad school, so when you played your song My Boy—it connected deep. We spend the weekend in Peterborough—I had not been there before—but I suddenly realized traveling around Peterborough and the area around the concert that you and I were raised in similar terrain. I was raised north of the Sault Ste.Marie in a small town called Goulais River, just near the Mile Hill where your car Mort experienced some troubles before breaking down. I realized during the weekend that many of your songs connected to me due to that similar youth space.
I am sure that if I said that when my parents said pack up; we are heading into town for groceries—you would know that emotional trip – every weekend or whatnot throughout the early years, traveling the 30 minutes or so into the city! Away from the trees—the forest and into the urban scape and all its excitement. It was such a youth to go from that country life into the city.
Also having one of the great lakes nearby, where you would sometimes go to the big lake! In my case, Lake Superior. All those lakes, rivers, streams and the forests! I had a special connection to trees growing up—we had so many trails that each tree would mark out the trail—you got to know almost every tree in the forest. Its shape, its smell and its direction. Also many a fort was built up in those trees or near those trees. Such an sweet youth growing up. I felt that space near the concert and I am sure not far from where you grew up that influenced so many of those songs you wrote and sang that I have listened to many times over. Reliving life, helping me figure out life, trying to grow, trying to make sense of it all.
Your music played a big part of it—but it is more than the music. The way you lived your life—the way you carried the message of many things that so many hold inside that define so many of us. Lover of nature, the planet and trying hard to be a good person—away from the trappings of the ditch. We all of course spent some time with a wheel or two in the ditch, but back on the road we would some how get. (I may have heard that line somewhere).
I also found success later in life in California. I did not travel there like you did, but I work there virtually for the last four years at Stanford. It took me in and my research and skillset took off in California—could not seem to connect to any one space here in Canada with such. Yet when I hit California, they seen it right away and I have been on that ride since then—growing and connecting to many more folks in the science of climate and reducing GHG emissions through research and global efforts.
I wrote before about the Methane emission project I have been working on at Stanford—while we completed the Landfill global database, the Waste Water Treatment global database and now are finding every large to medium-size factory farming cattle operation across the globe. All are big contributors to GHG emissions, but with AI and computer vision we have been able to work with methane-detecting satellites to find many of these sources of GHG emissions. We are moving next to work with global bankers and finance to connect with countries and local governments and farmers to work on changing the emissions. Some real change is about 500 large methane mitigation projects from landfills, waste water, oil and gas and to less and better cattle operations.
This gets me to my last comment—your new album—Talking to the Trees. First off—I do think your song on Car makers and the quest to change off fossil is the largest change we need for GHG reduction. Combined with methane mitigation—we could see the planet open a window for cooling. It is very possible, and you are bang on with your song about the need for the companies to step it up and transition the fleet! We have China that has done it, so come on big three—let’s do it!
So your album Talking to the Trees is very important: not just for that song, but I know others as well will be quite relevant. I have to share something with you- a very magical moment I think a tree did actually talk to me—at least in its own way. I was taking a drawing course a couple years back—just pencils and sketching. I decided that I would focus on drawing trees. While I was drawing one day, after completing a few drawings of trees, I realized one of the more challenging aspects of drawing a tree is getting the leaves and needles correct. The only real way is to abstract such. I tried several times on this day to abstract the leaves. I finally decided I needed a rest, so I put my sketch pad down and sat back to eat a sandwich—egg salad. So I look down at my page to try and figure out another approach, and boom there on my page the leaves from the tree above me cast down its shadow and showed a way. It was pretty cool—some will call it coincidence—but you have to be sitting there with the trees for them to actually talk with them. I felt connected just like in my youth!
Thanks for the great concert—you were like a young man up there! Great work. Here is a pic of the trees talking to me.
Paul Tulloch
Thanks Paul
Onward!
LOVE
be well
Neil
HENRY DILTZ
I Neil, Daryl and Everyone,
Last Saturday night I took in Hale Milgram and Henry Diltz at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara.
Many tales were told about the new music coming up and what went down in earlier years. Hale was teary-eyed as he had invited folks from all of his past employers, notably Warner Brothers, and expressed a great deal of gratitude for giving him the freedom the part of musical family and share his thoughts, visions and records with those with similar interest.
Second Half:
Most notably, during Henry’s portion of the night, he kept asking how he knew me, as I asked if he would pose for a photo with Christie, my date, code word?—up on the screen he provided photo and video of Gary Burden, your revered friend and art director. I felt a warmth in Henry as he described his partner in visual creation. There were a few pics of you hamming it up at The Ranch as with the Springfield—among his first photos ever—and that was his introduction into being fly-on-the wall, for the family of music.
A good time was had by all, pass it on!
May Peace Prevail on Earth
Peace, Love and Music!
-Mudflow Mike
That sounds good Mike!
Be well
neil
MASSEY HALL
Hi Neil, I have seen you many times but my favourites have been at Massey Hall. How did you like the venue the last couple of times in comparison with the time early in the 70s?
I love Massey Hall all the time, although I still have not played the Hall since it was changed…..
LOVE Neil
Be well
GREENDALE ACOUSTIC VINYL
Neil,
As always, thanks for reading and responding to letters. A few things:
1) I’m excited to hear Talking to the Trees in just a few short weeks!
2) Do you have any update on a Greendale Acoustic vinyl release you alluded to before?
3) Any idea if there will be an update with acoustic instruments in the “Neil’s instruments” section on NYA? I’d love something like on the Heart of Gold film where Larry Cragg showed off a few guitars and highlighted songs you recorded with each!
Thanks!
Yes
LOVE
Be Well
Neil
SLEEPS WITH ANGELS
I love being able to watch “Sleeps With Angels” in the Hearse Theater. That album is so great, and seeing you all create it makes it even better. No matter how many times I listen to those songs, I’m always amazed by that complex, murky masterpiece.
Hey
Thanks for that
LOVE Neil
Be well
NEWS
Hey Neil,
How about the feud that’s broken loose between the felon and Elon?! It’s unbelievable stuff. The fact that a person who seemed to be Donald’s biggest supporter is now agreeing with calls for Trump to be impeached is insane to me. Let alone the calls from Steve Bannon to deport Elon as he’s an “illegal alien.”
I know that it’s highly unlikely that the current Republican led congress will impeach their orange Jesus, but gee I’m feeling that big change is comin’ to the USA and I’ve got a feeling that it might be good in this instance!
By the way, I saw the setlist for your Lakefield College benefit gig and wow it looked good. Also, I’ve also just pre-ordered your new record from the Greedy Hand and I am pumped!
Enjoy your tour and keep safe
Will from down under
Thanks Will
Hope to see u soon
Be well
LOVE Neil
Read the previous letters here!