[ From Butch Ross ] Coming back to two of my favorite places.

[News, info and tourdates for Butch Ross]

Saturday, September 24 - 7pm
*Folkside Coffeehouse*
Columbus Mennonite Church,
35 Oakland Park Avenue,
Columbus Ohio 43214.

Sunday, September 25 - 6pm
*Leo Coffeehouse*
2301 Indian Mound Ave.,
Norwood, OH
Also doing a songwriting workshop "How to Lie, Cheat and Steal"

Let me tell you a story...

In 2005 I had just gotten copies of my first CD, the moonshiners atlas.
Actually it had been recorded a year before but because of crazy production
events it took a year to come out. The beginning of an alarming trend of
taking forever to release releases--a trend that still continues to this
day. It was a week before finals in my first semester of grad school and I
decided in the middle of all that to book a short tour up to Columbus, Ohio
and back. I played three places: the Air Devil’s Inn in Louisville, the
Folkside coffeehouse in Columbus, and Leo coffeehouse in Cincinnati.

Louisville was an inauspicious start, it was raining that night and John
Prine was playing in town. It's tough for any folk singer to compete
against John Prine and doubly so when you're that close to Paradise,
Kentucky. Still, Holly McCormack – who was at the time acting as my
personal John the Baptist – came and managed to bring a couple of folks:
Janey Robertson and Tucker Thomas, who would go on to become dear friends.
The other two people in the bar were the bartender--who was a female
bodybuilder--and a really drunk guy who was already drunk when I walked in.
At the end of my set he stumbled to the front of the stage and asked how
much my CDs were.

"$15" I said,

He replied "I only have 11"

“That’s fine,” I said, “I’ll take $11”

He handed me a $5, a $1 and a receipt.


I said "dude, this is a piece of paper!”

He said "No. No. That's a receipt from a lottery ticket. Take that to any
convenience store and they'll give you five dollars.”

And that my friends is the power of music. Somehow through all that haze my
music got to him and he gave me perhaps the only lucky break he’d had in
years.

No, I never got the $5 and no, I still don’t have that receipt.

Then it was onto Columbus Ohio where I played the Folkside coffeehouse and
received my first ever standing ovation at that gig. Then the next day I
drove down to Cincinnati to play at the Leo coffeehouse, which was then and
this beautiful, moldering old Catholic Church on the campus of the
university of Cincinnati. And got a second standing ovation.

Then I came back and took a week of grad school finals, all the while
thinking “why am I doing this?”

So, while the Air Devil’s Inn in Louisville is long gone. As are Tucker and
Janey unfortunately (Molly’s doing great). I’ll be playing the Folkside
coffeehouse in Columbus, Saturday. Followed by the Leo on Sunday. Now I’ve
played both places many times since that weekend in 2005. But I haven’t
done them back to back since then. And while I neither expect nor NEED a
standing ovation. There is this…

As I'm sure is the same with you, the pandemic has forced me to reevaluate
everything that I do. I mean I get to do what I love for a living and I
haven't managed to do that for over 17 years. But one has to ask, "How long
can I keep this up?" So what I've been doing is I've been saying yes to
anything that comes my way. And then evaluating the experience and asking
myself if I want to do it again. Both the Leo and the Folkside coffee
houses have very warm and dear places in my heart. It's highly unlikely
that this is the last time I'll play either one of these places. On the
other hand, there is nothing so constant as change. So if you were near one
of these places or have friends near one of these places should definitely
come check out the shows. Because while they may not be the last time I
ever play these places, I will be approaching them as if it was.

Those shows again.

Saturday, September 24 - 7pm
*Folkside Coffeehouse*
Columbus Mennonite Church,
35 Oakland Park Avenue,
Columbus Ohio 43214.

Sunday, September 25 - 6pm
*Leo Coffeehouse*
2301 Indian Mound Ave.,
Norwood, OH
workshop at 4:30 Songwriting: how to Lie, Cheat and Steal"

C-ya out there.

--Br
www.butchross.com

"Now I know what a dulcimer is supposed to sound like" —Jake Shimabukuro