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.