31 March 1999

Hello again,

I've set the timer for five minutes. The days are full beyond measure. Spring.

Thanks again to all of you who sent words regarding our future. I will respond
at length soon. It was heartening to find out just how much this curious
adventure means to all of us. It's certainly a story without an ending. We
make it up as we go, each day a page of paper.

This Spring, as we keep the lines of communication open with those who have
expressed a desire to sign Over the Rhine, we are going to continue recording
and playing some scattered dates. Nobody knows exactly what will happen when
we all get together at these whimsically earnest musical shindigs, and I
suppose that is why we all keep coming back. Here are a few confirmed dates
that I know of so far.

*Brady's Cafe     Kent, Ohio      Friday, April 23        330.673.6060
                  Tickets $8 in advance. $10 day of show

*Bogarts          Cincinnati, Ohio        Friday, April 30        513.218.8400
                  Tickets $12 in advance. $14 day of show.
                  Available through Ticketmaster, Friday, April 2.

 (Saturday morning Rhinelanders are welcome to get Brunch at Kaldi's 
Coffeehouse  and Bookstore at 1204 Main Street. They open at 10am. Karin and 
I are going to wander down for coffee and hellos at about 11am. We'd like to 
give Kaldi's an idea of how many to expect, so please e-mail Stacie ASAP at 
OTRhine@aol.com if you plan to be there.)

*Schubas          Chicago, IL     Saturday, June 5.
                  Two shows: 7:00pm ALL ages, 10:00pm (approx) 21 & over

                  Tickets $10 in advance. $12 day of show.
  (Available thru Schubas Website www.schubas.com or 773.525.2508.)

*Peabody's Down Under   Cleveland, OH           Sunday, June 6
                  Tickets $8 in advance, $10 day of show.

*The Ark          Ann Arbor, MI   Friday, June 18.
                  Tickets $10 in advance, $12 day of show.


It was good seeing your faces in Dayton and Nashville. I think of a good song
as something that lives and breathes. I think of musicians that I have shared
the stage with as people who know how to dress up a song in endearing
clothing. But playing as a trio without a rhythm section is almost more about
undressing a song: it's a little embarrassing but flirtatious and at times a
means of falling all over again. But we'll be inviting a few more people back
on stage in the near future, believe me.

Finally, if you saw the X-Files this past Sunday, you might have chuckled when
somebody walked on and said, "My name is Detweiler." But you surely must have
raised an eyebrow when Fox Mulder went looking for someone named Karin
Berquist who was unusually fond of dogs.  We were certainly in shock. We knew
that this was the second episode written by a friend of ours, Jeff Bell, but
we had no idea he was capable of this kind of tomfoolery.

To make a long story shorter, Karin has been obsessed for quite a number of
years with the X-files, not to mention David Duchovny. When we sat and talked
to Jeff last Fall outside Royce Hall at UCLA after opening for the Junkies,
Karin jokingly pleaded for an opportunity to die in Mulder's arms with
something exploding out of her chest. Well, it didn't quite happen just like
that, but much of the episode was filled with inside jokes about this "Karin
Berquist" who was "enamored of" Fox Mulder, obsessed with dogs et cetera. The
original script did have the character "Karin Berquist" die in Fox's arms, but
the scene didn't make the final cut. Instead, the Detweiler character took a
stake through the heart after pushing Karin by the throat  through a second
story window, but that's neither here nor there. (Jeff Bell wrote and directed
the video "Happy With Myself" for us and in the space of a few days helped put
together the "Serpents and Gloves" interviews and so forth, back in 1994 after
we recorded "Eve".)

Stacie said quite a few people had e-mailed saying, what is up?! That's pretty
much all I know. Jeff Bell did plant the seed for naming our fourth record
Good Dog Bad Dog, because he flew his Weimaraner, Zoe,  from California to
Cincinnati for the video shoot. He carried two pictures of her in his wallet.
One was "Good Dog", the other, "Bad Dog." Karin loves Zoe, as she does all
dogs. You can figure the rest out. (There are a couple of hints at this in the
episode as well.)

The timer went off a long time ago, but more soon. I do want to try to send
more words your way this year. I hope this is a good thing.

Peace,
Linford for Over the Rhine