The fact that we're 17 years into the 21st century is hard for us to fathom. As the ball in Times Square was descending on New Year's Eve our thoughts went back to when we were young adults, just starting out together, and how we used to look to the changing of the millennium as a futuristic impossibility. Back then we were just getting used to having to use seat belts. And here we all are, a couple of years away from having driverless cars.

Our holiday season was fun. In early December we went out into our pasture and dug up two white pines we'd planted several years ago that were getting crowded out by neighboring trees. We put them in pots, brought them to the house, put one on the back porch and one inside and decorated them. They were perfect. They spruced up our house and made us laugh every time we saw them.

On Christmas night we had dinner for eight with old and solid friends, all of whom we've known for over 35 years. We cooked a 20 pound turkey and have been eating on it ever since. Then, a couple of days later we went and, for the 20th year in a row, sang Hank Williams songs with a fun group of other performers. Those shows are always a highlight of the year. We returned home for the annual New Year's Eve party at some good friends' home where we ate, drank and played music the whole nightlong. Yesterday, we were invited to a private showing of the latest Star Wars epic, "Rogue 1" and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun sitting in a small theater with friends, an excellent way to begin the New Year.

Now we're shifting gears. We took the decorations off the Christmas trees this morning and will plant them some place where they're needed later this week. We hate to see them go but, as soon as we finish this missive, we have to start getting ready for our gigs this weekend. We're looking forward to returning to Asheville, NC and the Altamont Theater and then crossing the mountains and heading to Fincastle, VA and the annual benefit for the Botetourt County Food Pantry, a worthy outreach program of St. Mark's Episcopal Church which provides services for thousands of people each year. These are fun gigs and we're hoping we'll see some of you.

Bumper Sticker Of The Month: My clock must be hungry. It keeps going back four seconds.

Finally, this time of year we always think of Hank Williams and Townes Van Zandt as they both died on January 1. But we're also thinking of three other musical mentors that we lost in 2016, Steve Young, Guy Clark and Ralph Stanley. We met them all and did shows with them and their music enriched our lives. Their creativity came from somewhere deep, distinctive and individualized and they dedicated themselves to artistic excellence. We strive every day to meet the standards they helped us set for ourselves.

Happy New Year! Here's to a 2017 filled with good health and lots of time for family, friends and music.

Your pals,
Robin and Linda

FOR BOOKINGS: Trish Galfano, trish@myriadartists.com, 919.967.8655

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