Over The Rhine Turns Twenty + New Video For "Desperate For Love"

*clicking on the picture above will take you to OtR's online ticket page, in many cases ordering directly from them will save you the TicketBastard (tm) fees.

Over The Rhine Turns Twenty
Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 6:11AM
If fans bump into husband and wife Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler shopping for china, its not to mark their wedding anniversary.

The pair is actually preparing to celebrate their twentieth year together as Over The Rhine.

The duo will mark the occasion with a five part tour, the first leg of which kicks off November 7 at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., and will hit Athens, Ga.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Madison, Wis.

The second run of shows covers the West Coast, launching with a pair of shows November 29-30 at The Triple Door in Seattle and moving on to Portland, Ore., Klamath Falls, Ore.; San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Part three of the anniversary trek will see Over The Rhine playing shows in Louisville, KY. on December 11 and Chicago on December 12.

The journey will culminate with a trio of shows in Cincinnati. A December 19 show at the Taft Theatre will cover music from the band's first decade, with a December 20 show at the same venue featuring tunes from the second.

Finally, Bergquist and Detweiler will throw an afternoon soiree at the city's St. Elizabeth's Cathedral December 21, featuring wine, festive food, conversation and a special acoustic performance.

And how does the couple feel about two decades as Over The Rhine? A little overwhelmed.

"Almost 20 years, it's just sort of hard to take in," Detweiler said on the band's web site. "There are days when we feel utterly blessed and charmed."

"That this labor of love could continue for 20 years, that our audiences still continue to grow, that this music continues to get spread around by people who are often in the process of becoming life-long friends - it all smacks of the miraculous."

and
over the rhine has completed a very cool animated video for "desperate for love" from their lastest studio release, "the trumpet child." click on the link below and give it a peek.

Over the Rhine - Upcoming Tour Plans & 20th Anniversary "Reunion" Plans

as anyone who know me and has read this blog often knows that over the rhine is my favorite band and i also feel lucky to consider them my friends. this year they are celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band.

over the rhine has gone through many changes over the years, the original foursome; karin bergquist, linford detweiler, brian kelley and ric hordenski formed in 1989. in the fall/winter of 1996, ric left the band and brian followed soon after, karin and linford continued on with the name over the rhine.

after ric and brian's departure karin and linford performed as over the rhine using several different configurations; as a duo, tro including jack henderson and as full band with with several different bass players and drummers and terri templeton on backing vocals.

the taft show this year will feature the first reunion of the original foursome in 13 years (btw, this is a reunion, they are not reuniting permanently) along with several other variations with former and current members of the band. friday night will consist of music from the first 10 years, saturday night will feature the second 10 years.

below is a letter from linford to their fans filling them in on the details. enjoy, his letters a really a fun read...

Greetings dear listeners,

This first day of September feels like a new beginning. Here we are hunkered down on our little farm in Southern Ohio. What will happen next?

Some of you no doubt heard that we cancelled our recent trip to Colorado because of a health setback. We missed you. But there’s no place as welcome as home when it comes to recovery, and we continue to learn about the importance of rest, and slowing down, and recognizing the need for a break. Maybe we’re still waiting for our souls to completely catch up with our bodies. Sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us.

Yes, The Trumpet Child=2 0chapter is winding down. It’s been a full year with thousands of miles covered, hundreds of interviews given, and so many memorable evenings of music with all of you who we continue to think of as our extended musical family. Some highlights that come immediately to mind: our recent appearance at The Newport Folk Festival. (Standing side stage and watching Levon Helm sing and play The Weight is something we’ll never forget.) Playing to amazing outdoor crowds at some beautiful summer sheds this summer was a whole lot of fun for us. (We hope the trend continues!) And we had a fantastic time leading another songwriting workshop this past August in Santa Fe with 16 people who taught us so much. (We listened to songs, but we talked about life.) We could go on.

Yes, now we’re out here under a familiar Ohio sky, a few familiar trees. Many of the hundreds of birds that nest here on the farm are getting ready to fly South. Elroy and I watched in disbelief as a few dozen cedar waxwings flew down on both sides of the path all around us yesterday and began eating ink berries. The male indigo buntings are starting to fade, their blue a little less miraculous everyday. We’re still picking plenty of late-coming ripe tomatoes out of the garden, both yellow and red. (I’m still convinced that cupping a hand beneath a plump, vine-ripened tomato in summer is a par ticular pleasure that the church must have forgotten to forbid.) But the golden rod is yellowing, and will soon announce in earnest that ready or not, fall is coming. You can hear it out here in the night orchestras of insects: Sing like your life depends on it, it won’t last forever.

One significant mile marker which makes our own heads spin is the impending 20th Anniversary of Over the Rhine. We recorded our first demos in the Spring of 1989. Those songs eventually became the record, Till We Have Faces, and now almost 20 years later, it’s just sort of hard to take it all in. There are days when we feel utterly blessed, charmed. That this labor of love could continue for 20 years, that our audience still continues to grow, that this music continues to get spread around hand to hand by people who are often in the process of becoming life long friends – it all smacks of the miraculous.

But then there are days when we feel like we’re auditioning for a starring role in the book of Ecclesiastes. Did any of it matter at all? Did we accomplish anything even remotely unique, or worthwhile, or useful? We know the work did matter to us and to others. We know the music at times played a life-giving role in some of our stories. We know some folks listened to the songs during their last few days on earth. But some days are a drawn veil: we just can’t seem to access the meaning in any of it.

I know it’s a cliché, and this paragraph will be wasted on the young, but now, looking back from this vantage point, 20 years seems like a snap of the fingers, gone. I’m sure this has something to do with the fact that we buried my father this Spring. But there are days now when we pan back on a chapter that’s ending, and the overwhelming feeling is, We had so little time. The years vanished. Take care what you hang a life on.

So we hope to live in the present. There’s a goldfinch sitting on her new nest on the other side of the locust grove even though summertime is running out. There’s a thick, cream-colored mug of fresh coffee on the desk. We’re still here. There’s still time. I’ll bet good money the September moon will rise with her full-lipped face and drench us in her sacred light.

When we least expect it, in our hearts we’ll come to find, a tiny, insubstantial spark of hope.

So what kind of beautiful ruckus will we make in the next 20 years? How will that look? How should we join in, play our small part in the everywhere, always going on song? Good questions. We’ll have to find out. But first we’re going to have a little fun.

Join us if you dare.

***

Over the Rhine in Concert (Please see OvertheRhine.com for details. All concerts below will feature full band performances.)

OCTOBER
October 11, Elk Creek Vineyards, Owenton, KY. Pour me a glass of wine, talk deep into the night, who knows what we’ll find… Join Over the Rhine at a fabulous winery during the prettiest month of the year for an outdoor concert under October skies. It’s a short drive from Cincinnati, and we’d love to make this an annual tradition. Don’t miss this very special evening – a first for us. (Yes, we’ll think of this as the unofficial kick-off of our 20th Anniversary festivities. We’ll lift a glass of something good together.)

NOVEMBER
November 7, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC
November 8, Melting Point, Athens, GA
November 9, Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC (We thought we’d check in again on our friends in the Southeast before the year got completely away.)

November 15, Majestic Theatre, Madison, WI (Lookin’ forward to returning to this lovely, historic venue…)

WEST COAST CHRISTMAS TOUR
November 29, The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
November 30, The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
December 1, Aladdin Theatre, Portland, OR
December 2, Ross Ragland Theater, Klamath Falls, OR
December 4, The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
December 6, The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA (We promised we’d head West and find all y’all this December…)

MIDWEST CHRISTMAS DATES
December 12 - Louisville / Bomhard Theatre (Friday) [*revised/corrected]
December 13 - Chicago / Double Door (Saturday) [*revised/corrected]

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF HEARTACHE: A Special 20th Anniversary Holiday Celebration of the Music of Over the Rhine:

December 19, The Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH: An evening with Over the Rhine. featuring music from decade one.

December 20, The Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH: An evening with Over the Rhine, featuring music from decade two.

Here’s the skinny folks. The first night, we are going to delve deeply into the early recordings which include Till We Have Faces, Patience, Eve, Good Dog Bad Dog, and our first Christmas record, The Darkest Night of the Year. We will enlist the help of various musicians and guests for this first evening, but are very excited to announce that Ric Hordinski and Brian Kelley will be joining us to revisit many of the early songs which launched our career.

The second night will focus on songs from the last ten years, drawn from the recordings Films For Radio, OHIO, Drunkard’s Prayer, The Trumpet Child, and our most recent Christmas record, Snow Angels . Again, look for various guests and key contributors to Over the Rhine’s recordings as the night unfolds.

Sound like a party? Yes it does. (Discounted tix for those attending both nights are available at OvertheRhine.com.)

And we will bring the year to a close once again at St. Elizabeth’s in Norwood, Ohio, with our Sunday Soiree, on December 21st at 3pm. God willing, we’ll bask in the afterglow of a two night stand, another amazing year, share some wine and refreshments, and conjure up some acoustic music in this ragged, sacred old cathedral. More info and tickets will be made available soon at OvertheRhine.com.

We’ve got some other 20th Celebration plans up our sleeves for 2009, including Cayamo Cruise in February of 2009 with Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, John Hiatt, Buddy Miller and others.

And we’re working on our first round of deluxe Over the Rhine songbooks. Finally.

Well, we hope you can share the above with us. It’s no fun at all without you. Thanks again for being part of this ongoi ng adventure.

All the good stuff your way,

Linford and Karin

Over the Rhine announces "Special 20th Anniversary Celebration!" & Christmas tour dates

cincinnati based "over the rhine" has announced their annual christmas tour plans culminating with a two date, 20th anniversary celebration @ the taft theatre in cincinnati. looks like it's going to be a fun run of shows...

Sat, 2008-11-29 Seattle, WA - Triple Door
Sun, 2008-11-30 Seattle, WA - Triple Door !
Mon, 2008-12-01 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
Tue, 2008-12-02 Klamath Falls, OR - Ross Ragland Theater - On Sale Now!
Thu, 2008-12-04 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
Sat, 2008-12-06 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
Fri, 2008-12-12 Louisville, KY - Bomhard Theater - On Sale Now!
Sat, 2008-12-13 Chicago, IL - Double Door
Fri, 2008-12-19 Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theater
Special 20th Anniversary Celebration!
Sat, 2008-12-20 Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theater
Special 20th Anniversary Celebration!
Sun, 2008-12-21 Norwood (Cincinnati), OH - St. Elizabeth's

obviously, of special note are the first ever west coast christmas tour dates and the two "special 20th anniversary celebration!" dates @ the taft on 12-19 & 20, which should be a very special weekend.

as far as ticket info, only the ross ragland theater and bomhard theater tickets are on sale now and more info will be released in the near future. stay tuned for more info.

Over the Rhine - Live From Nowhere (Volume 3)

every year during late november and early december, over the rhine does a series of dates throughout the northeast and midwest that have become known by their fans as the christmas tour. the tour culminates a week or two before christmas at cincinnati's beautiful "taft theatre." for the past couple of years they have followed the taft show (on saturday night) with a sunday late afternoon/early evening informal and intimate gathering of music, friendship, wine and cheese by candlelight at a beautiful yet tired, worn and previously abandoned church in their old neighborhood of norwood. recently the church, st. elizabeth's (aka: st. e's) has been reclaimed, rejuvinated and in is in the process of restoration by many of karin and linford's friends from the neighborhood, it's new life seems to be serving and suiting both it and the community well.

the "taft weekend" has become the big event of the year for OtR and their fans with people travelling in from all over the country and the world (seriously) for these shows. along with the music there are group dinners, late night drinks and early morning breakfasts and coffee. over the years it has become a great gathering of friends and like minded people who really enjoy sharing their time, interests, stories and their lives together. it is really an amazing, inspiring and life affirming couple of days.

three years ago, OtR had the idea of capturing some of the more special moments from these shows, at times mixing in a couple of previously unreleased studio gems and putting out limited edition, "fan" only series titled "live from nowhere" (named after their ohio farm, "nowhere farm"). volume one sold out quickly and has become very rare, with copies on e-bay auctions fetching in the $75-100 range. volume two is getting hard to track down but a limited number are still available... if you look hard enough. and after several unavoidable delays and a setback due to the unexpected passing of linford's father, volume three started hitting mailboxes today.

the players on volume three are the current touring band; karin bergquist (vocals, guitar, piano), linford detweiler (piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, vocals), jake bradley (upright bass, electric bass, lead guitar), mickey grimm (drumkit)and violinist, paul patterson (from the cincinnati symphony orchestra) guesting on a couple of tracks. the setlist, this time culled exclusively from live shows, was mixed & produced by david "too damn juicy" foreman. dave is a master behind the soundboard and always maxes out OtR's sound, regardless of the venue and these mixes come directly from his 4 track masters and his production on this disc is simply amazing.
track listing
1. Motherless Child
2. Angel Band
3. Hush Now (with Fantasia Cadenza)
4. Trouble
5. Nothing Is Innocent
6. I'm On A Roll
7. Don't Wait For Tom
8. Drunkard's Prayer
9. Who'm I Kiddin' But Me
10. Northpole Man
11. Snow Angel
12. Latter Days

'nuff said.

do yourself a favor...

live from nowhere - volume three can be ordered directly from the band @: overtherhine.com - featured products

and volume one and volume two are also available directly from the band via download @ overtherhine.com - downloads

on a personal note, i am proud to have been fortunate enough to have my photographs featured in each of the live from nowhere releases. it's very rewarding to have your work used by artists that you respect both personally and professionally. here are the pics from this year.