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A Man of Many Gifts

19 December 2005

Another year of teaching at the Old Town School is behind me, and this last session brought more gifts from students than ever before. Throughout the session, I was surprised to receive a retro Beatles button, an autographed Arlo Guthrie cap, a piece of ukulele sheet music from 1933, a Harmony Guitars brochure from 1966, a loaf of vegan fruit and nut bread, a squirt gun to keep unruly classes under control, and a guitar pick that says "I f***in' rock." As you can see, each gift showed a true insight into my personality. Thanks, students!

My Mother Is Reading a Book

6 December 2005

I just finished recording a version of Art Paul Schlosser's song "My Mother Is Reading a Book" for his upcoming tribute album, A Tribute to Myself. I've known Art Paul since around 1997 when I lived in Madison, WI and this was always my favorite of his songs, so this was a really special opportunity! A couple of my fellow teachers at the Old Town School added slide guitar and harmony vocals to give it the sweet country flavor I was looking for. I'll post again when the CD is available.

Memphis shakedown

8 November 2005

As I've learned more about the history of rock and blues music, I've been amazed by how much of those genres came out of one city: Memphis, Tennesse. It's just a day's drive south of Chicago, and I finally gave into its magnetic attraction and took a three-day trip last month. Tracking down the gravesites of obscure blues musicians was surprisingly fun! Here's a snapshot of me at the grave of Furry Lewis, playing "Casey Jones" back to my favorite interpreter of that song:

Now shipping!

13 February 2005

After some unusual manufacturing delays, I'm now shipping copies of my new rock album, Rolywholyover. If you've already placed an order, you'll receive it within a few days. If you haven't, please try the sample tracks on the Albums page, and order a copy if you like what you hear.

Kudos to everyone who helped put this album together, including Grayson Elliott Taylor, Ed Tinley, James Wilson, Dan Fulkerson, Josh Gormley, and Steve Foote. It turned out great, and I'm so excited to share it with all of you!

Now we're cooking

9 January 2005

Artist and designer Brandy Agerbeck, who has illustrated various flyers and demo packages for me over the years as well as my lovely lyrics book, has gathered almost 200 of her friends' recipes and created a cookbook. And she's donating all the profits to America's Second Harvest. Buy one now and flip right to the desserts section where you can find my vegan chocolate cake recipe!

New year, new site

2 January 2005

The old "Planet Arlo" design served me well for a long time, but my first New Year's resolution for 2005 was to finally bring arlotone.com into this millenium. Steve Foote of graphite|studio provided the great new design you're seeing now, and my own Contemplate software provided the templating system that will make the site easier than ever to maintain. I hope you like it as much as I do!