Letter from Over the Rhine

Hello extended musical family,

This newsletter may be unlike any other you have ever received from a band or songwriter. (You know the drill: pour a good beverage and settle in.)

Karin and I are at a crossroads.

In spite of all the beautiful, idyllic sunset photos I post, we have been struggling. It's like we carry around a puzzle in our hearts that can't quite be solved.

In the past when Karin and I have been stuck, we have always received help, advice and surprising resources from you - our extended musical family. One obvious example: When our marriage hit a rough patch years ago, and we decided to cancel a bunch of dates to go home and regroup, the outpouring of warmth and goodwill from many of you was indeed a soft (and meaningful) place to land. We decided to be open and compare notes in real time. Eventually Drunkard's Prayer, our let's-stay-together album, arrived on the scene. (And by God, thanks in no small part to all of you, it's coming out on double vinyl this Christmas.)

When we had no record label, we collaborated directly with you to release more new music. These symbiotic recordings, The Long Surrender, Meet Me At The Edge Of The World and Blood Oranges In The Snow, are among the best of our career.

Someone wise simply said: Maybe the thing that will save you in the end is the thing you've been doing all along. So here we are again.

Four of the most beautiful words in the English language are, Tell me a story.

This is the story of a half-built dream.

Three years ago, Karin and I celebrated 25 years of making music together as Over the Rhine. We knew somewhere deep in our bones and sinews that we weren't done yet.

We had been haunted for years by the idea that maybe someday we could find our own creative home base, a deeply welcoming, musical place, abundant with gentle reminding: life is full of good and healing gifts, meant to be discovered and shared.

After 25 years of traveling without ever taking a year off, maybe our extended musical family was in a place where they (you) would start coming to us. (Not that we'd ever stop touring completely.)

We found that creative home base and named it Nowhere Else. Many of you have been there. I still remember the first time we walked onto the place.

There was the old 1870s farmhouse.

There was the old 1870s barn.

Would you believe there was a natural amphitheatre on the property?

We even had wild edges for a backdrop.

But really, it was all about the barn. When Karin climbed up the rickety ladder into the hayloft, although we were both weary from the road, her eyes lit up. She looked around and said, There is still so much music left to be made.

How do you put a price on that?

We knew right then we were going to try. We weren't going to go to our graves wondering, What if? We decided we would jump off the cliff, and build our wings on the way down. Or as a friend of ours recently said: It's never wrong to try to build something beautiful.

And God have we tried. I can honestly say we have never worked as hard as we have in the last three years. That's a good thing.

This dream is so much bigger than just Karin and I. It is unthinkable without the help of a community. Good news. We have a community.

I still remember like it was yesterday the great anticipation, trepidation and hopefulness as we encircled all of you and made you aware of our burgeoning vision to transform an old barn in the middle of nowhere into a performing arts center.

First, a small group of folks familiar with our music, affectionately referred to as the Founders' Club, loaned us the money to purchase the property and begin.

Then, in May of 2015, we hosted 3 barn-raising concerts on the property. Over 1000 of you came and found us for the barn raising, toured the barn as a work-in-progress, saw Nowhere Else for the first time.

Your outpouring of goodwill and support broke our hearts wide open with love. We recorded the concerts and made them into a double live album.

And now we are going to show you something we've never shared before. A little before and after...

Remember that cute little red barn built in the 1870s from a few paragraphs back? It had to be washed inside from top to bottom, twice, a sort of baptism except much dirtier than usual. Not only was it full of accumulated odds and ends, the second the water hit the old ceiling and walls, manure, grime and the dust of generations oozed from every crack and crevice. More than one person asked me, Linford, do you think that smell will ever go away?

What had we done?

The old cement barn floor - bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and general stomping ground to cows, pigs and horses for who knows how long - had to be jack-hammered and ripped out. It was more concrete than anyone imagined.

Suddenly our cute little red barn wasn't looking so cute anymore.

We didn't share these pictures with a soul. We were afraid folks would think we were out of our minds.

But the hayloft: the heart of the matter. Let's get back to the upstairs room where we envisioned all manner of musical communion.

The old hayloft was spanned with beams approximately waist-high that held the barn together. These beams had to be cut and moved. (Would the barn collapse?) The floor had a large open space where the wagons could drive in below. It all had to be re-engineered and re-configured. Local farmers who heard about our old barn being saved began inviting us to come salvage materials from other old barns that were in disrepair. More than once the carpenters would call with instructions to meet on the back roads of Ohio or Northern Kentucky at 8am sharp.

In almost 30 years of touring and recording, we have never found a room that sounds better than our music loft.

It's like standing inside an old martin guitar.

It sounds miraculous.

We are hoping to make a lot of new music in this space. The walls are marinated with untold stories. Aren't you curious to know what those songs and records would sound like? We certainly are.

We have hundreds of photos like these that we are saving for the (long-awaited) DVD that tells the story of our barn raising. How a new foundation was poured and integrated into the old foundation. How a complete new barn was framed on the outside of the old barn and additions added for bathrooms, a prep kitchen, dressing rooms, emergency exits etc. How all the plumbing and 600 amps of electric and the HVAC was roughed in, and the new roof put on by the Amish. We could go on and on.

(A visiting architect who specializes in barn renovations announced, this barn will be here until the next continental shift.)

Folks, we had ourselves a barn raising. And of course, the barn raising concerts blossomed into Nowhere Else Festival, our annual gathering filled with music, art, earth and sky.

We have hosted a handful of songwriting workshops on the property. We hosted our first Healing Impaired workshop, where 20 folks gathered to learn about post-traumatic growth, share some good food and music, take a few steps forward together. We look forward to much more. Nowhere Else is fertile ground for all of it.

But back to the barn: in spite of our best efforts for three years, we have yet to reach the finish line. Who knew struggle could be so beautiful?

If you would have told us three years ago, that after coming so far, we would still have so far to go at this point to get this project completed, we never would have even tried.

Isn't life like that? If we really knew what we were signing up for, wouldn't we just talk ourselves out of most of the good stuff? When Karin started singing in Over the Rhine at the age of 22, I'm so glad she didn't know at the time it would cost her no less than everything.

Nothing good isn't hard.

But here's the thing: Karin and I wouldn't have survived for 28 years in the music business if we hadn't become intimately acquainted with struggle from time to time.

If we can find the resources, I can promise you we have the grit, the determination, the resilience to see this through. We have a great support team of advisors and seasoned business owners encouraging us to keep going. We are by no means the first entrepreneurial couple to attempt a commercial building project that turned out to be bigger than we imagined.

Yes, it's a bigger dream than we knew, but in these turbulent times, it's a beautiful and much needed one.

So, after wrestling with and considering so many options regarding how best to move forward and address our funding gap, or lying in bed wondering if we should just raise the white flag, and with the clock ticking...

We are simply once again going to ask for your help.

We are hoping to significantly expand our barn Founders' Club to finish this amazing project we've all started. We are going to see if we can complete this project without assuming a small mountain of debt at this stage of our lives. (What a relief that would be, and I have a feeling we'll sleep well once again.)

Yes, if this is going to happen, this is about a shared legacy, the vast consensual affirmation of a community. And this is our life’s work.

If you would like to join us and become a barn founder, we are going to ask for a $10,000 donation to the project. When it comes to our fundraising, we have never asked for help without offering something valuable in return.

In exchange for your donation, we will offer you the following:

-PRIVATE CONCERT AND RETREAT: a 3-night retreat on the farm in our 3-bedroom guesthouse, and a private concert for you and a loved one, or (for the concert portion) up to 50 of your guests. Enjoy a quiet, once-in-a-lifetime concert for two, or gather a larger group for a special anniversary party, family reunion or fundraiser for your favorite charity. (Dates and details negotiable. Please note, if you would prefer to host the private concert at your home, we are happy to discuss.)

Plus:

- TWO VIP PASSES to Nowhere Else Festival (fully-transferrable) FOR 3 YEARS: Memorial Day Weekend 2018, 2019, 2020. Get the best parking, a farm to table picnic and an exclusive concert the night before the festival officially begins, and more (Total face value: $3000)

Plus:

-all founders' names will be permanently listed in the barn with our gratitude

Plus:

-a special gathering for all founders in the barn once work is completed, as part of our grand opening

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If in this great wide world, there are 80 individuals, or couples, or businesses, or arts patrons, or music fans, who are able and willing to join us, WE ARE FUNDED. We will immediately pay down some of the phase one debt and interest and begin our intensive build:

-The barn will be completely climate controlled
-The septic system will be installed that allows 200 people to use the indoor barn facilities
-The elevator will be installed that allows accessibility to the music loft for all
-All fire suppression will be addressed and the entire barn will be 100% up to code
-All interior work in the barn will be finished - bathrooms, commercial kitchen, flooring, lighting, etc.
-We already have a gift that will cover the bar, and we have the plans drawn up (thanks Hoots & Thomas)
-We'll have a driveway, and lighted parking lot for 100 cars
-We'll put on the south-facing deck and porches
-We'll hire a certified project manager to help bring it all home!

And folks, we will have one of the most unique and beautiful music venues in the country.

The barn will serve not only our music, but our community and the region for years to come. We will continue to share some of the greatest artists and writers we have met over the years. We will seek to bring out the magnificence of younger artists and writers. We will continue to invite people who have experienced trauma, who are navigating chronic illness, or who are in recovery to come share this place. We will let Love be the protagonist.

If you would like to be a barn founder, please email overtherhineofficial@gmail.com and write "Barn Founder" in the subject line.

We are happy to answer any additional questions. We are so grateful for your consideration.

This is the story of a half-built dream. But it doesn't have to be.

Join us.

Peace like a river, love like an ocean,

Linford and Karin

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ps Any donation, any amount, is welcome if you would like to help us move forward. We are wide open to your ideas, wisdom, input. overtherhineofficial@gmail.com

And if you would be interested in playing a more significant role in bringing this performing arts center into being as an angel investor, or legacy investor, we have some ideas that we are happy to pass along, and are wide open to hearing yours.