On Christmas Day 2023, my family found itself chilling in our hotel room in Chicago, feeling exceptionally fortunate to have each other and our health and love. We decided to forgo the major present giving, with all that accompanies choosing gifts people will like, and just have ourselves an experience for Christmas. And I think we'd all agree that it was a fantastic choice.
We saw the Art Institute of Chicago (5 hours there), the Frank Lloyd Wright house and studio, the University of Chicago campus, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Chicago Architecture Center.
We ate Chicago hot dogs at the Billy Goat Tavern, shared a burger at Gordon Ramsay Burger, drunk coffee at the enormous Starbuck's Reserve, and been entertained/abused by the dancing waitstaff at Ed Debevic's.
We walked around Millennium Park twice (the Bean is closed, unfortunately) and the Magnificent Mile and the Riverwalk. The weather was chilly, which Chicago thinks of as 'balmy', but there was only a little rain and no snow. Wins all around.
And we came back to Durham today to usher in the new year at home, being pretty low-keyed folks, ultimately.
So much coming up in 2024:
--I start work on a new record of my own, starting in mid-January. Don Dixon will be producing; the great rhythm section of Robert Sledge and Rob Ladd will be on board, as will multi-instrumentalist Mark Simonsen. I will keep you apprised about the progress here and on Instagram.
--in February, I get to play lead guitar again with my pals in the Paranoid Style in Athens, opening for the Drive-By Truckers' HeAthens Homecoming show. Their new album, The Interrogator, will be released on Bar None Records on February 2.
--April brings a reunion of Little Diesel at Gas Hill Drinking Room in Winston-Salem that coincides with the 50th reunion of the RJ Reynolds High School Class of 1974, of which four band members were a part.
--the publication of the Continental Drifters biography White Noise and Lightning, written by Sean Kelly, will happen this fall, along with, hopefully, a few Drifters gigs with the Vermilion-era lineup. There's going to be a tribute CD coming out, as well as a best-of the R&T album tracks.
--I'll be making plans to start doing house concerts again later this year too. I'd love to get out to the Pacific Northwest, as I've not done much gigging there and I don't want to miss an opportunity to play for folks in that part of the world.
But today, I'll just say thanks to the big wide world in which I get to live, and the smaller but equally impressive world of my family. And especially to my beloved wife Sarah as we encroach on our 21st anniversary as a married couple. The best gift ever.
And thanks to YOU for continuing to be interested in what I'm up to; I'll try to make some good things for you to enjoy in 2024!
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(P.S. I lived in Chicago for two years, lived close enough to easily visit for 10, and the itinerary you followed with your family is very close to what I'd recommend. Good on you for being an intelligent tourist. Glad you had fun!)