through Lone Star Music by clicking here . Info on the free download coming SOON!

On Thursday, March 11th, I’ll be turning thirty.

It’s really not that big of a deal. It would be if this were Medieval Britain: turning thirty would mean that I was about ready to kick the bucket. Thanks to the advancement of sanitation, medicine, education, and overall personal cleanliness, however, this is no longer the case.

It also means that I’ve successfully managed to avoid that weird “27″ thing that got Hendrix and Joplin and Morrison… but those guys were all already famous, so I had a feeling it wouldn’t really apply to me.

Oh, yeah, and that whole die at the age of 29 in the back of a caddy thing that Hank Williams pulled off… I managed to skip out on that one, too. Again, he had that famous thing going on, but he also had that drink a bottle of whiskey a day thing going on, too… that was an easy one to miss.

Mind you, I’m not trying to put myself in the same category as these people, I’m just looking at numbers here. Numbers and music.

Thirty really isn’t anything other than an age with a zero at the end of it. Those are supposed to be “milestone” ages. To me, after 21, the next milestone age is 35, when I can run for President.

Which I will not be doing.

I just like knowing that I could.

In the end, I guess I did fall prey to the whole milestone thing, and so a couple of months ago I decided I’d do something special for it.

It’s more for you than it is for me, though.

My friends over at Lone Star Music will be helping me out with this, and I’m pretty excited about it.

Starting some time on March 11th, you’ll be able to download my first ever live acoustic album, Alone, But Not Lonely for free. You punch in your email address, and BOOM, you’ve got a live album. It’ll be as easy as that.

We’re also printing up 300 limited edition albums, with artwork hand made entirely by my personal Artist-in-Residence, Holly. That’s the cover up there. It’s a print. We’re hand making all of them, individually numbering them as the come out (so that means if you get #78, it really was the 78th one we did), and signing them. They’ll be available through Lone Star Music, and with me on the road. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. No more will be made. The download will still be available, though.

And the recording?

I think it’s a pretty excellent one. 6 new songs, 6 old songs, and a bunch of the stories behind them. This is a pretty fair representation of what you’d get if you came to an acoustic show of mine, I think. And that’s why I wanted to do this– it doesn’t cost you anything to pick it up, and if you like what you hear, I’d really love to see you at a show. I know people are busy… I know times are tight… I know some people just don’t go out of their way to see new artists, or pick up new records. I’m trying to eliminate all of that for you. I don’t want you to have an excuse to NOT check out my stuff… I want this to be as easy as possible for you. If you like what you hear, come see me at a show, pick up a copy of my last studio record, An Audio Guide To Cross Country Travel, tell a friend where they can download the album….

And if you don’t dig what you hear, at least it didn’t cost you anything.

I think that’s fair.

So, at thirty, I give you… me.

In true Artist-As-An-Egomaniac form, perhaps.

But really, I’m just trying to be nice.

The track listing:

Cincinnati

AM Radio

St. Abilene

Tending Bar By The Tracks At Midnight In Tupelo, Mississippi

The Last Waltz

Caroline

We’ve All Got Our Marks To Make

A Picture of You

Rolling Around In The Bed

Room # 27

A Cold Goodnight

Vapor Trails

I’ll pass along the info once we’re ready to roll on the 11th.

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

That may not sound very newsworthy to those of you who don’t call this area home– Texas? Dry? No way!

Here in New Braunfels, we rely on the graces of mother nature to support a large chunk of our economy. As the rivers flow, so flow the tourist dollars. Many of my friends run river-based businesses, so the heavy rainfall that has been present here over the last few months has been a blessing from the skies. While the precipitation has been needed, it’s still a little hard to clear the fog of morning from the brain when you wake up to a constant drizzle falling from the grey clouds overhead.

If mother nature hasn’t been much help in getting my blood pumping lately, at least the things going on around here have.

The recording of my acoustic show last Friday went really well. I’ve decided that I’m going to shoot for a release date of March 11th for the download and the limited edition CD. The fine folks over at Lone Star Music are going to be helping me with this, and I’m grateful that they’re just as excited about it as I am.

March 11th is a Thursday. I don’t know why indie artists feel a need to be beholden to the mysterious and age old tradition of Tuesday releases. That’s what the majors do, and we are not majors, thankfully. We’re independent. We get to do things on our own terms, and on our own dimes… so it only makes sense to me that we should try something a little different.

March 11th is also my 30th birthday, and it feels right that I should put out an album that reflects what so many of you have seen from me over these last 5-plus years that I’ve spent muddled in this, the music business, on that particular day. The download will be free– a little “thank you” from me to you, the people that have helped me to reach this somewhat remarkable, somewhat depressing (let’s be honest, letting go of your 20′s isn’t exactly high on anyone’s list of things to do) milestone. I’ll keep you posted as we march through the litany of things one must accomplish before a brand new baby of a record can be released unto the wild.

After all, you have to make sure it’s able to fend for itself out there in the great unknown. It’s just the responsible thing to do.

I guess the years can pass you by like mile markers along the highway. Before I know it, I’ll probably be passing one with a big, bright “40″ on it. I still feel like I’m 18, though, so I guess that’s all that really matters.

I’ve settled on a title for the album: Alone, But Not Lonely

It’s a good collection of songs from my past as well as from my future– I played 5 new songs in the set and I’m expecting to include all of them on the release.

Now, I just need to go over the tapes and see where we stand. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

There are a ton of dates on the calendar, so keep an eye out for me as I traverse the dusty, windswept roads of the Great American Southwest.

They’re more muddy than dusty, I guess, but I was going for imagery there, so please indulge me.

Over the next couple of months I’ll be playing all over Texas (as usual) as well as in New Mexico, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It’s a good thing I like to travel. Come out and say hello.

After all, if it wasn’t for you, there’d be no me.

If you’d like to help Rodney Hayden and I fill some dates on our tour out West in June/July for our newest leg of the now famous New American Voices tour, or if you’re interested in a House Concert (my favorite type of show!), feel free to shoot me an email by clicking here

I hope all is well with each and every one of you.