1 December 1997

This news page was pretty much dormant in 1997 because I was too busy with my "real life" to work on it, but to make a long story short:

• We had some great gigs, notably at the Spring Gulch and Philadelphia Folk Festivals and the Cherry Tree Music Co-op.
• Amy and Ashley were asked to join Broadside at the beginning of May.
• I took several weeks off this summer and drove around the United States. While I was away, the rest of the band rehearsed new material to spring on me (all unsuspecting... well, not quite) when I got back.
• I got back from my trip just in time to rehearse for the Philly Folk Festival. Then we started working hard on adding my parts to the new tunes and Amy and Ashley to the older stuff. Our first gigs as a 5-piece were in September, at the Philadelphia Ceilidh Group's Irish Festival and at the LionFish.
• We attended the Northeast Regional conference of the North American Folk Alliance in November, had a great time, played an informal showcase which was well received, and met Einstein's Little Homunculus.
• We began the process of producing a new demo recording.

Tom Rhoads