TOUR PREP & ALBUM UPDATE

A busy time at The Tree! Plus, links & more links!

Things are cookin’ around Puzzle Tree HQ.

BENEFIT GIGS IN SEATTLE

Elaine Summers and I will hit the stage tonight (4/24/25) at The Crocodile in Seattle for the annual SMASH Benefit. (SMASH stands for Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare.) Tickets and info here.

I’ll play one number solo acoustic, then Elaine will step into the spotlight and take the lead on a song backed by Fleetwood Mac tribute band Wild Rumours and Mark Pickerel on drums. We trekked over to the big city on Tuesday for band practice.

After our first run through, all I could do was give two enthusiastic thumbs up. We played with the tempo a bit. And added some padding to the outro, but other than that, they had it dialed from note one. Felt great to rock with a band for a change. And it’s always fun to tackle cover songs—and they don’t get any better than Fleetwood Mac.

Speaking of covers, we’ll pay tribute to Mr. Soul—AKA Uncle Neil—at The Moore Theater on May 9 for Dreaming in Analog, an evening to honor beloved music journalist Charles R. Cross. Check out the stellar lineup here.

TOUR PREP (GEAR DORKING)

I’ve been getting my road rig together in anticipation of the upcoming West Coast tour. My old Pendulum SPS-1 acoustic guitar preamp and EQ is beginning to show its age. Boy, has it treated me well over the years. I always get comments on how great my guitar sounds. But it has become unreliable, and they are no longer in business, so I can’t send it back to the factory for repair.

As fate would have it, my new pal Patrick Porter from Wild Rumours hipped me to Grace Design’s Felix 2. I looked into it and asked around some trusted players I know, and decided it was the right tool for the job. I pulled the trigger yesterday. I’m looking forward to taking it for a spin.

I’m also planning out a new pedal board. Gonna keep it simple. There are a couple of spots up for grabs, but for now, here’s what I’m using:

Grace Design Felix 2
Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter
Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo
Radial Twin City ABY
Bradshaw custom power supply

If you are in Portland, Los Angeles or Ojai, I hope you can make it out. Check out Bandsintown for details and to find out when I’ll be in your neck of the woods. (We’ve got an East Coast tour in the works for September.)

ALBUM UPDATE

There is a lot happening on the Fade Away Blue front. (Regular readers of Love Songs Etc know that that’s the title of my forthcoming LP.)

The video for “You Called Me Kid” is almost complete. Thanks to everyone who submitted their photos! Director John Jeffcoat has really created a special piece of work with this one. I can’t wait to share it.

The LP jackets are being printed as we speak. The lacquers have been cut. Plating is complete, and test pressings should arrive on my doorstep any day. Designer Grant Prettyman at Belhum just buttoned up the CD artwork yesterday. John Jeffcoat captured some super cool images for the front, back and inside covers using some funky lenses. I could not be happier with how the artwork turned out.

I had been putting off getting publicity photos done while I waited for the weather to warm up. Well, it’s been real nice around here lately, so Rick Dahms and I made some pictures last week with the help of our trusty assistant Ryan St. James. I love Rick’s work. And he knocked it out of the park. Thanks to the fine folks at Minglement for allowing us to use your groovy space for one of our locations. And thanks to Mother Nature for the beautiful sky during our beach shoot.

I will announce the dates of the three singles and the street date for the album very soon. Stay tuned for that. Until then…

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete