2023 was a good year but it’s long gone, and Jan and I look forward to the next three months. The calendar’s full – it looks like a race to my 70th birthday. I’m also marking 50 years in “show business”!

It’s Martin Luther King Day and I’m up before sunrise. We fly to London tomorrow, so maybe I’m pre-adjusting to the time change. Then again, I’m old. I used to stay up ‘til four - now I wake up at five. A couple inches of new snow fell in the night and it looks so peaceful out the window. My hope for the new year: less war in ’24.

Jan and I play eight duo shows in England on the 18th through the 26th. Shows are selling out, so check the listing on the tour page, come see us. We hit Glasgow for a reenactment of “The Crossing” on the 30th with wonderful help from John Doyle, Mike McGoldrick, John McCusker, and Dirk Powell. It’s 25 years since I made that record. Haven’t touched those songs for a good while but they’re coming back pretty easily… I think. Reading my old W.B.Yeats book of Irish folk tales and getting in the mood.

After Glasgow it’s a break on the coast of west Kerry, then a few shows in Ballincollig (the White Horse) and Ennis (Glor) on February 8 and 9 with a couple more ringers named Steve Cooney and Dermot Byrne. We might even set up some recording gear and push a red button.

We fly home, do laundry, and then fly to Colorado (Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins) and Washington state (Wintergrass) for shows with Mike Bub, Shad Cobb, and Cory Walker.

New songs are piling up. Jan and I wrote a couple together, and I also collaborated with Dave Ferguson, Will Oldham, and Jackson Emmer. Jan and I wrote 15 with the venerable Tom Paxton by Zoom as well. We need to cook them up in the studio sometime later this year. Don’t want ‘em to spoil. My favorite might be one about a lonesome armadillo.

I’ve curated the lineup for a “Mountain Stage” taping in Charleston WV on March 10th with more old friends: Karen Casey, Sarah Jarosz, Dirk and Amelia Powell, and The Tin Men (check out their newest “Hit It”).

Washboard Chaz gets a few days off from the Tin Men to join us in Nashville for a 70th birthday party at the Station. March 12 also features Larry Atamanuik, , Mike Bub, and Shad Cobb along with Jan and myself. East Tennessee bard Ed Snodderly opens the show (his newest “Chimney Smoke" is a real gem). March 13th starts with piper Eamon Dilllon and cellist Nathaniel Smith joining Shad, Jan and me for some jigs and reels. Cory Walker joins for some bluegrass on the second set, along with a surprise guest. We’ll be selling advance ticket to that one, so watch this page for details in the coming weeks.

After all this, we’ll dust ourselves off and head to a warm and quiet place for my actual birthday. Hope to see you out there somewhere on the trail. Don’t be a stranger!