I don't know about you, but the passing of 2025 came as a bit of relief to me. Did good things happen last year? Yes. Were there also a loooooooot of challenges? Yes again. Some were artistic, some were personal. I won't bore you with the details, it's all part of the human experience.
So on to 2026!
Big things I'm excited about in 2026:
The main one is there's a new record coming. Yes I've released a lot of singles, but it will be great to have a clear set of songs all packaged together. Don't worry, there will be a few new tunes in there for ya. I don't have a hard release date yet, but the record and artwork are all done and I'll be sending things to production here in January. When you work on a budget it takes a long time to get a new record together- it's been 5 years since my last full release, so I'm pretty excited for this to see the light of day. Look for a cover art reveal when we have a release date.
In addition, there will be a run of vinyl for this album, so an actual RECORD! It will be a very small run, so look for announcements when we're ready to presale- they won't last long.
The next thing I'm excited for is a whole lot more full band shows. We did a few in the second half of 2025, and we really dug going full rock-n-roll. I love playing as a trio, and John, Derek and I have worked that out really well, but there's no substitute for full rock band mode. So we'll be doing that more here in Colorado- including TOMORROW night in Lyons.
That's right, I'm kicking off 2026 with a hometown show at the legendary Oskar Blues, home of the famous beer (Dale's Pale Ale was originally canned in the shed out back) and a lot of sweat soaked nights of great music. If you are in NoCo we'd love to see you at this classic venue. Aaand, our drummer tomorrow night is Brian McRae, who has played drums and engineered all my recorded music. I don't get to play with Brian too often (he's a very in-demand guy) so this is a really fun night for us.
I'll also be working on a few new merch ideas this year. I already have plans, but if there is something special you'd like to see, send me a note or leave a comment. We will have some special release items to go with the new record.
Other Random Thoughts
I will also be very excited to see more snow. Will that happen? No one knows. But I'm hopeful. These 60 degree days are unsettling in mid-winter. Also, shout out to the patrollers on strike in my old stomping grounds of Telluride. You deserve more than you're asking for and waaaay more than you're gonna get. That guy is an ass. He was in the 90's and he is now. Hang tough.
Stay tuned for release updates, merch deals, roadtrip posts and other strange ramblings. Remember, if you don't want the algorithm filtering what you see, make sure you're subscribed to the email list!
In the meantime, hope to see ya out there- JS