Christmas is done - New Years almost here - we're packing up the whole family and heading for a week in the Bay area of California. I've got a couple of musical things on the itinerary.

One is a service I'm leading at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto next Sunday morning - January 4. Normally I wouldn't write in about a service, but this project is near and dear to me, and it's almost entirely musical. It's called The Gathering, and it's my attempt to combine spoken reflections with songs and instrumentals to bridge the gap between the folk music side of my life and my alter-ego, the Unitarian Universalist minister. I've been working on this for ten years (some of you have heard my song, "May This Fire Warm You Well," which was originally written for the project) and am taking the opportunity of a sabbatical to finish and refine it. This is only the second time I've brought this out - some of the songs are so new even my wife hasn't heard them yet.

The other thing I'll be doing, hopefully, is a radio interview at KVMR up in Nevada City, Utah Phillips's hometown. We're in the very final stages of producing the new Utah Phillips tribute double CD, Singing Through the Hard Times, and KVMR will be the first radio station to play any of the music. If I'm able I'll send in more information as it comes in in a separate thread.

I know there are some Mudcatters in the Bay area. We'll be there from December 31 until January 7. I'm not sure what the schedule will be, but I hope to see you!

Dan