Hey, welcome to the website today.

I'm gonna hafta update this thing a little later this afternoon again. I had a little bit of a late night last night, and I've got an audition for something this morning. (AHHHHHH!) Yeah... no, it's cool.

Oh, listen... the "outdoor" season might be over in Central Park. Or, maybe not. But, this weekend is the running of the NYC Marathon. So, the whole park is basically shut down... on Saturday to set up for it, and on Sunday for the event. So, it's pretty likely I'm not gonna be able to share an afternoon of music with you guys. And y'know, by the following week we're already into the middle of November. So it's likely it won't be warm enough. But, that means the "indoor" season is just starting. Like, on December 17th. (It's a Saturday night.) We'll be back in Merkin Concert Hall for the annual "Year-End Holiday Concert".

Merkin Hall in December

If you've ever been to one of these, you know what a blast we have. So, start getting your friends together now. Seriously... try to get tickets this week. The gig is only 6 weeks away and there's only 450 seats in Merkin. (We've sold it out several times in the past.) And, the tickets are back down to $20 for all seats. So, the box office to make sure you get the seats you want, okay? Like I said, it's only about 6 weeks away.

Box office: 212-501-3330

Box Office Hours:
Sunday - Thursday: 12-7pm
Fridays: 12-3pm

So... last night!

Well, my good friend,Sue Hannah, and I went down to catch Christine Lavin's CD release concert. (Chris is gonna join us for the VOICES TOGETHER concert in January.) But, her new CD is called "FOLK ZINGER" ...and last night she and a great lineup of her friends and colleagues did a bunch of tunes fron the album.

Very cool.

I'm tellin' you... the CD is worth getting for all the tunes. But, she does a song called One of The Boys and a version of the Beatles All My Lovin' that will take your breath. Chris is also one of the most enthusiastic and generous artists I've ever met. (I hope we get to hang a bit more. She's someone I would like to call "friend".)

Anyway... after her gig, I stuck around for one of my favorite new things... Jim Caruso's "Cast Party". This thing is one of those genine New york City Secrets I'm always talkin' about. Seriously. What a good time. As Jim says... a lot... "Some of the most talented people, the finest singers, and the best songwriters in the world are on that stage... also, other people."

Now, Jim Caruso is just the real thing. He "gets it". But, I got an email from Jim a few days ago, and since it was gonna be Halloween night, at the end of the email he wrote, "So, what are you coming dressed as?" I assumed I would feel out of place if I didn't wear a costume. So, I pulled some stuff out of my closet, borrowed a great cowboy hat from my buddy Dennis and went as a cowboy.

Y'know? I felt honored to be among the 10 people who wore costumes out of the hundreds that were there! Thanks Jim!

But, no... actually it was very cool. Because of the costume idea yesterday afternoon, I decided that I oughta go all the way and write a "cowboy" song... kinda. I always tell people I'm one of the luckiest men alive, just to be living the life I'm living thanks to all of you. Well, I was very lucky again yesterday. It was one of those afternoons where an idea just started writing itself, and all I had to do was be in the room when it wanted to be written. So, I started scribbling and didn't stop until the two minutes before I got on the stage. Bassist, Steve Doyle, who is just an amazing musician and reeealllly nice guy, followed the mess of a chart I handed him, and the song flew.

So, I gotta say... I think we have a keeper.

I'll probably wind up doin' it at Merkin Hall on December 17th.

What else... oh yeah. I got an awful lotta fun email about the little drawing I did... the one I posted over the weekend. (After Dick Cheney's right hand man, "Scooter", got indicted for repeatedly lying to a federal prosecutor.)

Click on picture for full-size image.

So, I was thinkin'. Y'know, I noticed that the "Forum" (message board) has been a little bit dead since the new format arrived. So, if you have a good title or caption for this cartoon, why don't you post it in there. The best one will win a pair of free tickets to the gig at Merkin Concert Hall. (I won't be the judge, though!) Then, maybe I'll do more cartooning in the coming weeks. But, let's just see how this goes. Post your idea in the "Forum" and indicate if it's a title or a caption.

You'll find the contest in the "Politics" section.

One last, and very important thing. The tickets are also on sale for the VOICES TOGETHER concert in January.

As I do every day now, I wanna tell all the newcomers to this site about this concert that we're doing' at Symphony Space here in New York City on January 28th.... what we're doing and why we're doing it. (Click on that logo right there to visit the Voices Website,okay?)

We... my friends and I... a bunch of ordinary people, refuse to ignore the carnage that is ravaging the Iraqi people... today... now... since the U.S. invasion. The ordinary people.. the civilians, especially the children.

We found a remarkable group of people with an organization called LIFE, who have people on the ground in Iraq... really getting desperately needed help those who need it most. And, there is a woman we've found named Elissa Montanti, an otherwise ordinary New York woman, who has made 4 trips into Iraq to get people and bring them here to the States for the medical help they cannot get in that war-torn part of the world. She is an angel... a true hero. We want to help her do the work she has chosen to do in any way we can. Therefore, VOICES TOGETHER Concert.

She has done amazing things already for so many... but, everyday there is much, much more to do.

And... she's goin' again.

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Dalal lost her leg in the fighting . . . . . . . . . . . Dalal sowing off her new leg with Elissa

But, there is soooo much more to do. Please help us... help Elissa... help them.

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You can get tickets for this event right now, today, by going to the Peter Norton SYMPHONY SPACE website.

BUT! We also have a very limited number of VIP tickets available. But, if you want to order those and be invited to the reception after the show, you have to contact the Voices Together Group at:

Get VIP Tickets

The VIP section will get all kinds of goodies, and the artists will all hang out at the reception after the gig.

If you wanna help in another really extraordinary way, you can make a donation, right online, and become one of the "producers" of this concert. Really! You will be a concert producer! It's gonna be a special event that you are really gonna feel great being a part of.

To find out more about the reason for this concert, visit the Global Medical Relief Fund website. Then click here to find out more about LIFE... two great groups of people who are helping the injured civilians in this nightmare fo a war in Iraq.

Thanks for everything.

Hope I see you soon.

Thanks again.