Seasons greetings, loyal fans, friends, family, and internet stalkers,
On behalf of Ben, Jeremy, and Jordan, we wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season! Now that we’ve played our last show of the year (and, yikes, decade!) I can look back at 2009 and say it was truly a remarkable year for Jo Henley. At the start of this year our last record, Sad Songs and Alcohol, was sitting nicely among the national Americana chart’s (AMAs) Top 100. We played close to 100 shows, embarked on tours that took us as far south as Atlanta and twice as far west as California, and recorded a soon-to-be-released new album, Inside Out, that we just know you’re gonna LOVE. We lost some awesome bandmates this year, but we also gained one terrific one in Jeremy, and have been having a total blasterific time performing, albeit temporarily, as a drumless pseudo-bluegrass quartet, one that can move from a weepy country waltz one second to a jammed out funk groove the next, and everything in between. It’s truly been a lot of fun (though fear not, we will have a drummer back in the fold by the time our 2010 shows roll around).
I could go on and on, but I’ll resist. Quickly, just two more items…
Our fundraising efforts for our new album are still underway. So far we have raised 45% of our goal of $5000, which is far better than I had hoped by this time. We are humbled by your support thus far and feel very fortunate for everyone who has so graciously contributed to our campaign. But we still have a ways to go and still could use all the help we can get. To find out how you can help Jo Henley is a very big way, go here.
Speaking of the new album, our very first CD release party for Inside Out is scheduled for Friday, February 5 at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY. Caffe Lena is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious folk/roots music venues, and it’s always an honor to take the same stage that so many other legends have over the years. For this show, to celebrate the release of the new album, we are planning a two-set show, with the first set all acoustic and the second set electric. We also will have a couple of very special guests joining us, too, so you won’t want to miss this one! Caffe Lena is an intimate setting with limited seating. We expect this show to sell out, so please reserve your seats now by going here.
Last but not least, it is very easy this time of year to forget that while the rest of us enjoy the warmth of family, food, presents, and festive cheer, there are a whole lot of folks out there less fortunate than us. I encourage you to help out in any way you can. It doesn’t have to be anything big, either. Whatever you can do. Drop a buck or two in Salvation Army box, give some extra canned goods to a local food drive, etc. There are so many ways to give, and I urge you all to do so. I promise you will feel a whole lot better afterward.
Till next time, candy canes and ho ho ho,
Andy & JH
