Dang but that's a borrrrring title for my newsletter, but hey, I'm a
songwriter, not a journalist so I guess this is it for now.  If any of you can
come up with a better title, let me know.

Welcome!  Some of you are new to this newsletter because you recently signed
my mailing list.   Glad you're all here.

I'm writing to you from the livingroom of a friend's house in Ohio.  It's
Spring here so all the locals are driving around town, windows down, sweating
and wishing they had air conditioning.  Me?  I've got the windows down too but
this desert girl is hanging her head out like a dog, soaking up the warmth.
Maybe I should bark at the cute girls.

Nah.

The tour is going well.  I started in Mississippi at the Gulf Coast Festival
where I met lots of fine women and froze my ass off, not necessarily in that
order.  They tell me it's not usually that cold there.  A special thanks to
Diana Jones (songstress excellente) for loaning me a blanket.  Saved my frozen
butt.

Next, I was off to the midwest for gigs in Illinois and Indiana.  A couple
carloads of women from Mishawaka (that's in Indiana for those of you who are
unenlightened) came to my Chicago gig and made lots of noise, took my picture
and made a general nuisance of themselves which, I guess, is what they do for
fun in Mishawaka.  Seriously, I love lively audience members as long they
aren't burping loudly in the middle of a quiet ballad.  It makes me nervous
when an audience sits quietly with their hands folded in their lap like they
were in school or something.  Anyway, this fun bunch didn't know I'd be in
their hometown the following week.  Instead of getting mad, some of them
simply showed up at that gig too.  A couple said they'd even come to my Goshen
gig in June!  Maybe I should give out frequent flier points or something.

The venues I've performed at so far are a mixture of established places like
Mountain Moving Coffeehouse in Chicago (one of the longest runnnig women's
coffeehouses in the country, if not *the* oldest), Charlotte's Web in Rockford
(a straight folk venue that's always welcomed me), Two Way Street Coffeehouse
in Downers Grove (happening once a week since the 70's -- amazing!) and Canal
Street Tavern in Dayton (a great listening type space that has featured
women's music for several years).  New places for me included the Eclectic
Circle in Mishawaka, Kokomo and Bloomington.  Sandy and Lisa, concert
goddesses from Kokomo jokingly opened our show by welcoming everyone to the
first annual Kokomo Women's Music Festival.  Hey, so what that there was only
one performer (moi)!  They did a terrific job, considering that they'd never
produced an event like that before.  (BTW, I'm always happy to work with first
time producers.)  Merribeth and Linda in Bloomington did a great job too.
They assembled a fine crowd in their beautiful home for me to play to.  (Uh,
there aren't any grammar cops here, are there?)

Smoking was a problem at a couple of my concerts and I apologize for that.  I
know some of you have trouble with a lot of smoke.  I do too.  Sometimes the
only venue I can get booked at is one that allows smoking and while I try work
something out for the non-smokers at each place, sometimes it isn't possible.
I do have fans that smoke but most of them tell me they're happy to smoke
outside during intermission or after the show.  

This must be the food tour.  In Chicago I got mouth-watering chocolate cake,
in Mishawaka it was yummy homemade cheesecake and a bag of pork rinds, and I
left Dayton with a box of locally made dark chocolate.  Now, the chocolate may
not surprise you but many of you are probably wondering about the cheesecake
and pork rinds (not necessarily together!).  You'll just have to see a show to
understand.  Uh, not that I'm hinting at anything.

I've been seeing all the sights too.  I saw Big Ben, the largest bull, er,
steer, in the country (county?  world?  city?) in Kokomo.  Enshrined in the
same place was a big, uh, tree stump.  It's Kokomo dammit and they're proud of
their landmarks.  B^)

I had the pleasure of visiting two women's bookstores: Women and Children
First in Chicago and Crazy Ladies in Cincinnati.  Do what you can to support
independant bookstores like these.

Thanks to everyone who came out to my shows, I appreciate it so much.  Thanks
also to everyone who helped promote the shows by putting up posters, giving me
promotional tips and calling your friends.  It means a lot.

Karen Pernick and Jami Sieber opened for me at my Dayton show.  If you haven't
had a chance to catch Karen in concert, do.  She's a great songwriter --
reminds me a little of Catie Curtis.  Jamie Seiber is an *awesome* cellist who
worked with me on "Never Assume" (you can hear her on "No Damn Factory").
She's also toured with Ferron and she has her own recording "Lush Mechanique."

Later this month, I'll be sharing the stage with other artists including
Rachel Bissex in Rockville, MD and Another Octave, a fab women's chorus, in
CT.

Don't forget about the festivals in May!  I'll be at Campfest and the
Kerrville Folk Festival on Memorial Day weekend.  (What would I do without the
airlines?)  There will be some surprises at Campfest and at Kerrville, I'll be
performing with guitar wizard Dave Nachmanoff.

In the gigs that terrify me department: I'm playing at a straight folk
coffeehouse in Roanoke in a few days.  I wasn't able to reach the gay
community there and I'm not sure the coffeehouse did any advertising to them.
While I play for all sorts of folks, it's always easier if there are a few of
my people there.  Know what I mean?  So, if you know anyone who lives in the
Roanoke area who might like my work, please please call or email them and let
them know I'm coming.  The information is below.

I hope to see some of you at these upcoming shows!

Jamie Anderson's big ol' tour:

5/8, Roanoke, VA, 9 pm, Third Street Coffeehouse, 305 Mountain Ave. SW,
540-774-5342

5/10, Washington, DC, 4 pm, Lammas Women's Books, 1607 17th St., NW,
202-775-8218, lammas@zzapp.org

5/13, Rockville, MD, 8 pm, O'Brien's Barbeque, 387 E. Guide Dr.,
vheyman@dc.net, 301-762-3395, opening for Rachel Bissex

5/14, Columbia, MD, 8 pm, Folkal Point, Coho Grill at Hobbit's Glen Folk Club,
11130 Willow Bottom Dr., 410-531-5350, folkalpt@aol.com

5/15, Brooklyn, NY, Rising Cafe, 186 5th Ave., (between Sackett and DeGraw),
718-789-6340

5/17, Ithaca, NY, 7 pm, Common Grounds, 1230 Danby Rd., 607-273-1505,
meg21@cornell.edu

5/20, New York City, NY, 8pm, Baggot Inn, 82 W. 3rd St., (between Thompson and
Sullivan), 212-477-0622

5/21 -- 23, Oxford, NY, Campfest, Camfest@aol.com, women only please

5/25, Kerrville, TX, Kerrville Folk Festival, 830-257-3600,
festival@kerrville-music.com

5/29, Manchester, CT, 8 pm, Manchester Community College, Alumni Hall, 60
Bidwell Ave., with Another Octave, 203-271-5284

5/30, Hamden, CT, 8 pm, Unitarian Church, 709 Hartford Turnpike, with Another
Octave, 203-271-5284

5/31, Syracuse, NY, 7 pm, Happy Endings Cafe, 317 S. Clinton, 315-475-1853,
jclevela@mailbox.syr.edu

6/5, St. Louis, MO, 8:30 pm, Cummels Cafe, 1215 Washington, 314-231-9627

6/6, Lawrence, KS, 8 pm, West Side Folk/Three Gals, Ecumenical Christian
Ministries Bldg., 1204 Oread (1 blk no of Kansas Union and KU), 785-842-1163,
radiobob@falcon.cc.ukans.edu

6/13, Indianapolis, IN, 8:07 pm, Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, 1400 E.
Hanna Ave., with Indianapolis Women' Chorus

6/14, Goshen, IN, 8 pm, Electric Brew, 219-533-5990, brew.music@juno.com

6/20, Memphis, TN, Pride Festival

7/4, Fairbanks, AK, Alaska Womens Fesival, tracwa@webtv.net

I hope you're all well.  Remember to eat plenty of chocolate and kiss your cat
daily.

-- Jamie Anderson, road enchantress