Newsletter

Thanks for looking me up, again, in a brand new year! I’m really looking forward to this year, and I hope to get a lot of new things going. And I wish you success in your ventures, as I wish for tenacity in striving to create and maintain some ideas of my own. We’ll do many of the same fun things we did in 2008, and I hope more good will come along. I don’t believe in any recession around my house or my town or section of this state. I hope your economy is thriving and we’ll prosper in the coming months. I hope God blesses our new President with wisdom, strength, honor, and justice, as he leads us through the tough times and great times ahead of us all. We’re still the best country, filled with the best folks who have done more, created more, and given more to the world. All I can do is keep trying to give ya’ll a little distraction and some good music, week to week – but I will try to do it well and make it sound purty! I am grateful for your support and friendships in 2008. I am truly blessed and lucky.

If you want to see much of what went on in 2008, I encourage you to check out my myspace page, which has many photos of travels, festivals, music, food, and friends. Most photos are available to friends with myspace pages, only – join in. It was a wonderful year, chock full of fun, but I think I can attend a few things that we missed! Already lining up events on my calendar for Mardi Gras, St. Pat’s Day, French Quarter Fest, and Jazz Fest. I’ve got friends getting married, private parties to play, new gigs starting up, and I’m booking music for several clubs. Most of those are Spanky’s locations, which have really become a valuable partner in my business life. Check out their new location in Maurepas, near Diversion Canal. They have music on Thursdays and Sundays. Our friend, Laurie Whitney, is managing, along with Skip and Calvin. See Spanky’s Live Music myspace for all the music at all 3 locations.

Jimmy Granier updated my website at the end of last year. I hope to get lots of photos on there, real soon. It’s pretty well maintained with dates and info, and the links page has some cool sites to check out. You can link to my myspace page from the www.kirkholder.com site, also; and I update that on a daily basis, in case the schedule changes too quickly for Jimmy to update my main website. You can view the myspace site without joining or becoming a friend, if you just want to see the schedule and some of the content.

This month, I’m at most of my usual gigs, including the latest one – Churchill’s on Jefferson. I’ll also make a show at the new Spanky’s. One really cool gig is Jan. 9, at the Chase Bank Atrium, downtown Baton Rouge. The event is the Laurel Street Lollapalooza - http://www.artsbr.org. I’ll be playing from 5:30 – 9:30pm. Tickets will get you tons of food and drink from so many Baton Rouge restaurants. There will be more music, besides me, as well. It’s a very fun event. Get tickets on the site above.

Happy Birthday to my Mom, Ginny Holder – she’s out in Phoenix. Love you! More birthday wishes to Matt Doran, keyboardist extraordinaire, and Polly Stafford. Also, Rhett Glindmeyer has a birthday this month - and he’ll be coming to town to join me at Spanky’s Prairieville on Jan. 11! We’ll have a good time on that Sunday night. The following Sunday, Jan. 18, is the night before Martin Luther King’s b-day, and that is always a rockin’ good time at Spanky’s. Most folks are off the next day, so it’s a good party. Not sure who might show up and join me – come find out.

I’ve been pretty consistently showing up on Sundays at Spanky’s. But, I’ll miss a few in the next couple of months. Jan. 25 will see Mike Dampier sitting in there. Feb. 1 is Super Bowl Sunday, so no music that night. Then, I’ll skip Feb. 22, possibly going to New Orleans for some Bacchus Bash fun – Debbie Landry will do the Spanky’s gig that date.

Oh, in cool local bar news: a place near and dear to my heart, The Bulldog, has opened a store in Baton Rouge, in the Southdowns Shopping Center. We went on NYE Eve, and had a blast. You are gonna want to go there, friends. These guys operate good places, with good music on the sound system, good food, and incredible beer selections. Give them time – they will beat the Chimes on beer choices and freshness.

Thanks to those who came over for our NYE dinner and party/LSU game night. We had the best time and it turned out perfect. The food Selena made was awesome. I’m munchin’ on it still. What a fabulous hostess she is! LSU was great, I heard – didn’t watch a single play. Highlights included some fantastic wines, a very brief fireworks display, a jam session with Vince Monistere on mandolin, and Gerard Langlois singing along with myself on gitbox. But, apparently what made the night complete was the fire dance/explosion after I tossed my Christmas tree in our bonfire. Somehow, one pretty high-powered aerial display charge was left in the box, which I threw in the fire. I threw in my Christmas tree and the blaze was amazing. G and I began our dance, ala Kevn Costner in “Dances with Wolves.” Only a few steps in, the explosion began and sent us running. Only I survived…. G took a round and hit the deck hard. All is good – only pride is taken… hehe. Another great NYE!

God bless you in 2009

Thanks,

K