Dear Friends,

Though life is full of strange surprises and the ways of the world are hard to fathom, some things can be relied upon: the world turns as it has, summer is past and gone and the dark of the year is here.  Of course, it is that same reliable and inexorable turning that brings around the changes of life, and there you have it.  I was at an old friend’s wedding a few months ago, having thoughts along these lines as I attempted to give a toast, and ended up turning into that guy at the wedding who cries a lot while holding up a glass of champagne and saying something almost entirely incoherent.  It just seemed so poignant and beautiful to me that love and friendship that sticks around, that we keep coming back to through the changes of life, is what makes it all worthwhile… though it can be so easy to get carried away with the details of our lives, fall out of touch, lose track of love.  So it seemed to me, as I was standing there at the wedding, looking out at loved ones and feeling the strength of the continuity that brought us all to that place after so many years.

Anyhow, that was a long winded way to come to the point, which is that we are excited for our first trip back to Arcata in nearly 2 years, excited to make music in a place we love full of people we love… and just plain grateful for the opportunity to do so.  It’s a small piece of continuity, perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, but it’s one we are attached to.  We hope to see you there!

Simon, Tashina and Tristan