Happy New Year! We emerge blinking into a brand new year that really, really sounds futuristic to those of us who came of age in the last MILLENNIUM. For those of you who don't get it... well... you were born too late to appreciate the wonder of the FUTURE!

Or maybe you just, ironically, see 2020 clearer than the rest of us.

Now where's my damned monotoe*?

This month we've got plans for Maryland and Delaware and I'm kicking off a brand new open mic in Silver Spring... this YEAR we've got plans for the west coast and many states betwixt coasts left and right : NC, TN, TX, NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT, NE, MO, IL, IN, OH, PA... and whatever else gets in our way!

In addition, forgive me about the order that's about to happen. I know that we are entities trapped in a singular arbitrary temporal direction: the past flows through the now and on into the future. As such it would absolutely make sense for me to put the "upComing and inComing" in chronological order, and dear reader, you know I usually do... but the LAST gig of the month is the BEST gig of the month and as such I'm gonna tell you RIGHT AFTER the little header... and damn the consequences to the timeline!!!

1/25 – One World Coffeehouse (rHKR).
Owen Brown Interfaith Center | 7246 Cradlerock Way
Columbia, MD 21045 | 7pm | $15 adv

This one's a big deal! Joined by Rowan Corbett - it's just rare we play a venue where you can LISTEN! I mean - we play a lot of places where we MAKE ourselves heard, but I'm really excited to play where the music's a feature - not a bug.

Fri 1/10 – Black Eyed Suzie’s (rH).
119 S Main St, Bel Air, MD 21014 | 5pm
Heather and I went to check this place out a little while ago – our old friend Josiah of Tears of Mars was running their open mic and we had such a great time we figured we’d come back and try out a full evening. Great menu, a sassy waitress and rob and Heather to boot? Sounds like a delicious evening.

New Year's Eve was a blast, or as a friend described it, "litty".

Not only did we get to play our little hearts out, not only did we get to play with our old friend Lea, NOT ONLY was it a beautiful night - but Carpe Diem Arts put us up for the night out on the Bay and so it was a big ilySleepover to boot. 

I must admit I'm still a bit mazed from it all. I've got to gather my wits (and strings) to play tonight in Frederick (broke one on "Glom of Nit" for New Year's...) so I'm listening to a lot of Bolt Thrower to get my head on straight. 

I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve, a bright and optimistic New Year's Day - and that we see you soon.

-rob
ilyAIMY
www.ilyaimy.com

* In 1911 Richard Lucas stated to the Royal College of Surgeons of England that by 2020 the human race would lose its "useless outer toes". Unfortunately for his predictive powers, and for those of us who hate cleaning betwixt the damned things this hath not come to pass. My theory is that the Toe Clipper Industrial Complex, which feels that it has the monopoly on the perfect design of toe clippers and never wants to be stirred from their traditions, was alarmed by Lucas' foresight and set about a massive conspiracy to undermine our species' evolution through the introduction of toe-specific fashions. It's the only way to explain the popularity of toe rings and those freaky foot gloves.