December 01, 2009
       Just as the last colorful leaves swirled to the ground and the dreary countenance of winter was settling in for another long stay, Christmas decorations began appearing everywhere, brightening the nights and days and lifting the spirits of even the most confirmed Scrooges.
       The Writers Night at Tullys Bistro in Hartsville, Tennessee, went very well. The hospitality shown to Jane and me by KK Wilson and her son, Tully, helped make the evening a most memorable one. KK is an old friend and her son, Tully, is a master chef so, needless to say, the food was superb.
       To my surprise some old friends from the music business whom I hadn't seen in years were there . Jerry Foster (who, with his writing partner, Bill Rice, were the hottest and most prolific songwriters of the 1970s) was seated at a table with another song writer friend from earlier times, Glen Tubb.  Foster's friends Ginny and Marty were there, too, and a few days later Jane and I attended a birthday party for Jerry at their house in Nashville.
       Jeanne and Doug flew in from Wisconsin especially for the evening. (They also flew to Michigan for my performance in St. Johns a few weeks ago.) There are pictures taken by them at Tullys Bistro on the Photos page as well as some taken by Ginny.
       I'll be working another Writers Night on January 20th, 2010, at the Bluebird Cafe here in Nashville. There will be four writers on this event: Jimmy Payne (he and I wrote, "Woman, Woman," Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's million seller); also, Glen Tubb and Don Wayne, both extraordinary song writers.
       Jane and I want to wish each one of you the very best Holiday Season ever. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other. --Jim Glaser

October 30, 2009
     The performance in St. Johns, Michigan, last Saturday went very well. It was sponsored by the Clinton County Sheriff's department and folks really turned out in support of that fine organization. Some fans of mine were there, too, including Cynthia, her husband Mike, and Mike's dad and stepmother.  The ones who traveled the greatest distance were Jeanne and her husband who flew in from Wisconsin just for the show!
     A band from Michigan, Center Stage, opened the show and did a great job. They also backed me on my part of the show and I truly appreciate the time and effort they put into learning my material. They're very professional in their approach and work with many of the touring artists who don't carry their own bands. I've included a couple of photos of them on the Photos page.
     I flew into Detroit on Friday, the day before the show, in order to rehearse with the band who live some 250 miles north of Detroit Metro Airport. The farther north I drove the more beautiful the colors were, but a steady rain was falling and I wasn't able to get any really good pictures. After rehearsals were over I drove back south 230 miles to my motel, and it rained all the way. It also rained most of Saturday and didn't let up until I was almost back to the airport in Detroit, Sunday noon.  I rarely get sick, but no sooner had I gotten back home then I came down with something. It wasn't either of the flu's we hear so much about, as I had no fever or any of the other symptoms. It was mostly a bad chest and head cold accompanied by some swelling and pain in my knees, hips and shoulders. I stayed in bed like a good little boy and Jane did a wonderful job of nursing me back to health. She cooked up a huge pot of her wonderful ¾ and magical ¾ vegetable soup, which had me on the road to recovery from the very first bowl. I felt good enough yesterday to jog a very slow 3 miles and today I'm my old self again.
     I'm now rehearsing for the Writer's Night at Tully's Bistro (See Tour Dates) and I'm a nervous wreck about it.  I hope there's an exit near the stage in case I need to make a hasty retreat.
     I'll let you all know how it goes.  Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.  ¾ Jim Glaser

October 9, 2009

October 1, 2009
     Jane and I went to the Seattle area in late August to see our youngest son, Jim II and his family; wife Patty and children Kayla, Alex, Dylan, Amanda, Ashley and J.B., and grandbaby Ellie.  We had a great time as we always do when we're there.  We didn't have the (annual?) sturgeon fishing get together (usually consisting of some combination of the following: our son, Jeff, our daughters, Lynn and Connie, and Jane's sister, Sarah and her husband, Elon, plus occasional guests) down on the Columbia river.  Jane and I don't fish, but our kids truly enjoy it, and the thrill of hooking one of those huge fish stays with you for a long time.  The sturgeon are always released and great care is taken to preserve the health and well-being of the fish, including barbless hooks.  Jim II still drives trucks for USF Reddaway (now owned by Yellow Freight) and has a dedicated run.
     We've had a lot of rain in our part of Tennessee over the past few weeks which caused some severe flooding, especially south of Nashville.  We've been a bit dry for several months, so mostly we were glad to see the rain.  Everything is lush and green again, the way I remember it being back in 1958 when I first moved here from Nebraska.
     Our daughter, Connie, had surgery yesterday to remove pieces of a ruptured disk in her spine that were pinching a nerve and causing intense pain.  She's been plagued with back problems for years and has rarely been pain-free.  But she still keeps her job at St. Thomas Heart Group where she's an Ultrasound and Echo tech.  And on weekends she's on call at the hospital, which can be very demanding at times.
     Daughter, Lynn, went to England for three weeks to visit old friends (she lived there for eleven years) there and in France.  She also spent several days in Greece, lounging on the beach.  Lynn works in television and movie production, doing work for CMT (i.e., Giants (one with Reba McIntyre, one with Hank Williams, Jr., and one with Alan Jackson), the 2009 CMT Awards Show), Hannah Montana -- The Movie, and lots of others.
     Our son, Jeff, still has his store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, The Hemp Store, which keeps him busy.  He has a beautiful home on a nearby mountaintop and maintains a large pond which he keeps stocked with fish.  He allows family members to fish there, but to date, all those caught have been released back into the pond.
     And that's about all of the news I can think of.  I'm in daily rehearsals attempting to get my voice as ready as I can for my performance later this month in St. Johns, Michigan and in Hartsville, Tennessee in November.  If any of you make it to either of these shows, be sure to stop by and say "hello."
     Until next time, take good care of yourselves and of each other.  --Jim Glaser

July 24, 2009
     I'm back from Norway, safe and sound. I left Nashville on Wednesday, July 8th, changed planes in Philadelphia and then flew on to Amsterdam. After a four-hour layover I flew on to Trondheim, Norway. There I boarded a bus provided by our promoter, Bjorn Jens, and made the eight-hour trip to our destination, Sandnessjøen, Norway. Also on this leg of the trip was my old friends, Jimmy Payne (there’s a link to his web site on the bottom of my home page), Bill Holmes (he played bass for the Glaser Brothers for years and also played bass on my album, "Man In The Mirror), and members of the great group, Colt 45. It was twenty-six hours from the time I left Nashville to the time I arrived at our hotel in Sandnessjøen.
     Sandnessjøen is so far north that it’s daylight twenty-four hours a day. I’d never experienced this before, and my brain had trouble figuring out the sleep/wake cycle. But I was able to get enough sleep to perform and also to enjoy the experience of being in that new and exciting place. The hardest part of the trip was the long hours spent cramped up in the tiny seats of the plane during the two trans-Atlantic flights, eight hours each way.
     On Friday, July 10^th, I performed a couple of shows on a small stage on the street not far from the hotel. Jimmy and Bill also performed shows on the street on two different stages. We repeated this again on Saturday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday nights Jimmy and I performed at Botnfestival with Steve Turner, **, **, and **, incredible musicians from Nashville who had also made the trip to Norway for the Festival.
     Monday we were off, then Bjorn and I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at a club in Sandnessjøen and Jimmy and Bill caught the ferry to Brønnøysund where they performed each night. Friday and Saturday, Bjorn and I worked the club in Brønnøysund, Jimmy Payne sang at the club in Sandnessjøen and Bill Holmes went off to one of the islands, the name of which I’ve forgotten.
     Sunday, Bjorn went back at Sandnessjøen and Jimmy and I were driven to Mosjøen, where we caught the train back to Trondheim. Bill Holmes was unable to get back from the island in time to make the train and caught a plane to Trondhiem Monday morning in time for our flight back to the United States.
     Except for the two shows at the Festival, all the rest of the time I performed with just my guitar, as did Jimmy and Bill. This was something I hadn’t done in over thirty years and needless to say, I was very nervous about it. But the people were so receptive and appreciative that I truly enjoyed it. I may even do some solo appearances here, if the opportunity arises.
     Bjorn Jens, a well-known performer himself in Norway and the man responsible for bringing all of us to Norway, took good care of us while we were there. Tommy Cash was also on the festival shows and gave his usual solid performance onstage. He and his wife, Marcie, are truly special people.  The first day we were there the temperature was in the low 60s and, having forgotten to bring a jacket, I was shivering a bit as we all waited backstage.  I'd decided to go out the next day and buy a jacket, but back at the hotel after the show I heard a knock on my door.  When I opened it, there stood Tommy and Marcie, holding out a beautiful, new jacket they had just bought for me at one of the local stores.  What a wonderfully kind, thoughtful, and generous thing for them to do.  Thanks, Tommy and Marcie.
     I took quite a few pictures and I’ll do my best to get a few of them up on the Photos page very soon.
     The people of Norway were warm, friendly, and very receptive to our music. If the opportunity presents itself again, I won’t hesitate to go back.  --Jim Glaser

June 20, 2009
     Jane and I made a quick trip to Omaha for my brother, John's party (see below).  It's the first time the four remaining members of our immediate family have all been together since our father's funeral in 1979.
     Jane and I came back the day after the party (Sunday, June 14th) as our daughter, Connie, was flying in from Los Angeles Monday night.  She was there visiting her daughter, Jessica, when she suffered 3 bulging disks in her spine which caused her such terrible pain that she was hospitalized out there for surgery.  The surgeon was able to ease the pressure from the bulging disks enough that she was able to come home, where she is now recovering.  Needless to say, she is still in a lot of pain and is doing physical therapy in the hopes of helping to correct the problem in her back.  She's had back pain for several years and she's not quite sure what the next few weeks will bring.
     I took some pictures in Omaha and I'll try to add a few to the Photos page in a few days.  I'm still busily rehearsing for the Norway trip and trying to help Jane with some much needed yard work.  We've had a lot of rain and although everything is wonderfully green, the weeds need constant attention.  There seems to really be something going on with the climate change we're hearing about these days; on our trip back from Nebraska, Jane and I drove in rain for 250 miles, most of it very heavy.  In all of my years on the road I've never driven through a storm that lasted for so many miles.
     Until next times, take good care of yourselves and each other.  --Jim Glaser

May 18, 2009
     I finally gave up and gave in to the virus which was holding my computer hostage and bought a new hard drive and started over.  I'm still in the process of loading all of the software, bells and whistles I had grown so used to, but in time I'll get there.  On the positive side, it's just like having a brand, new computer; everything loads so quickly and smoothly, no delays or freeze-ups, unexpected shut-downs or all of the other odd behavior we gradually grow used to putting up with.
     On the negative side, there were still several unanswered emails on that hard drive when it surrendered, messages which are now (and probably forever) prisoners in the data-limbo controlled and patrolled by the Gestapo of the Internet-Ether; those evil/clever devils who create the viruses, the bugs, the rootkits, etc.
     So, if anyone reading this emailed me over the past month or two and didn’t get a response, I apologize.  I still try to answer all of my emails, although I foresee a time in the not-so-distant future when I’ll probably have to let that part of my life go
     I hoped to have some pictures of the Good Friday tornado added to the Photos page but that will have to wait until next time, as I still have some software to bring up to date on this computer which I use for picture editing, sizing, etc.
     Last week, Jane and I went to central Indiana as a surprise for her brother, William, on his 65^th birthday.  Jane’s sister, Sarah, and her husband Elon, also drove up from the Nashville area and William was, indeed, surprised.  Next month Jane and I and Brother Chuck and his wife, Bev, are planning to drive to Omaha, Nebraska, to celebrate my brother John’s 80^th birthday and 50^th anniversary at Creighton University.  We’ll also get to visit with our sister, Eleanor, and her husband, Pat.  He’s on kidney dialysis, which they are finally set up to do at home instead of driving to Grand Island three times a week.
     I’m busy rehearsing for the trip to Norway.  Jane won’t be going with me after all.  It takes 17 hours of flying plus a 6 hour bus ride to get there.  Then there are 5 nights of shows in 5 different towns followed by the long flight home.  Although she feels good these days, we’re afraid that with her pacemaker and all, the trip would be just too strenuous.
     This is a big disappointment for both of us, especially since she missed going with me to Holland in 2006 because of health problems she was having at the time.
     Until next time, take good care of yourselves and each other.  –Jim Glaser

April 23, 2009
     Jane and I want to thank all of you who have emailed asking if we'd suffered any damage from the tornado that went through our hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on April 11th, 2009.  The good news (for us) is that it missed us, but only by a little.
     This was a very strong storm, with winds up to 175 miles an hour, and it stayed on the ground for 23 miles.  The last I heard was that 845 homes were damaged, many of them totally destroyed.  Two people -- a young mother and her 9 week old baby -- lost their lives (the father was seriously injured but survived) and several others were hurt.
     Our daughter Connie's house is about a mile from our house and the tornado went between us.  The swath of destruction begins a half mile from us but only 3 or 4 blocks from where Connie and her son, Cameron, live.  The house where the mother and baby were killed was right on the street that runs from our place to Connie's.
     Our daughter, Lynn, just recently purchased a home in Nashville, but the house where her ex-husband, their two children and his mother live was also narrowly missed.
     One of the streets on my jogging route suffered severe damage, but no loss of life.  Sally, a sweet, senior citizen lady who lives alone and is constantly working in her yard had her home totally destroyed.  She told me she went into a back bedroom when the storm was approaching and was there when the tornado hit.  It took the roof completely off of where she was and deposited it -- upside down -- on the front part of her house.  Sally, who survived with no injuries at all, was left standing in the middle of what had been her bedroom, looking up at the sky as the storm moved on.
     There were so many unselfish acts of kindness by so many people after the storm, doing all they could to help those who had lost so much.  Sally told me that people came and loaded all of her personal belongings that were scattered about or still in the remnants of what had been her home, and stored it all for her.  Other people found an apartment for her and helped her to get settled in.  She'll live there until her house is rebuilt.
     We were without electricity until around 3 or 4 o'clock the next morning.  Connie was without power until sometime Sunday night.  Considering the damage, the folks at the electric company did a wonderful job getting it all repaired.  Lynn drove down from Nashville just as the storm was passing and arrived right afterwards.  As a matter of fact she and I were on the phone as she was driving, me watching the reports on TV and conveying the information to her and she telling me what she was seeing as well as listening to on her radio.  At one point we decided she'd better pull off the Interstate for a few minutes to let the storm pass in front of her.  Not long after that Jane and I lost electrical power.  We discussed where the safest place in our house would be for us to hide and decided on the hall closet.  I stepped outside to look at the clouds and as soon as I opened the door we heard the roar of the tornado.  I looked up and saw debris, hundreds of feet in the air, swirling around in a circular pattern.  I told Jane it was time for us to get into the hall closet.
     We opened the closet door and found it nearly full of things we'd stored there.  We scrunched together and squeezed into closet for the few minutes it took for the storm to pass.
     My computer has been down for more than 3 weeks, the result of a virus or malware or rootkit that finally got me.  I'm working from Jane's computer now, which is a real bother because most of the software I use wasn't loaded on this system.  I always back up my data files so I haven't lost anything but it's still a tremendous inconvenience.
     We have much to be thankful for, I still remember the tornado that destroyed my parents farm buildings back in the 1960s.  Tornadoes were quite rare in Tennessee back when my brothers and I moved here in 1958, most of them were in a corridor which ran from north central Texas up through central Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.  But that's all changed now, more people have been killed by tornadoes in Tennessee in the last 10 years than in any other of the United States.
     I'm going to close for now.  I've much work to do on this web site and I hope to get to it over the next week or so.  Thanks to all of you once more for your concern, your kind thoughts and your prayers.  Take good care of yourselves and of each other.  --Jim Glaser

January 11, 2009

     First thing:  I hope the Holiday Season was most enjoyable for all of you, and I wish you the best for 2009!
     Second thing:  I haven't taken the time to start a new web page for 2009 so I’ll continue to use last year’s page for now.  I’m in the process of learning another protocol to make this web site compatible with some of the other browsers folks are using these days but I haven’t quite gotten there yet.
     Third thing:  I’ve had many emails in response to my last update of from folks who feel I’m suffering from depression associated with having turned 71 years old.  Al, from Nebraska, typified much of what was expressed with these kind words:

“As I read your news page and take note of all your old age comments, I have to wonder if you really know the impact your music has had.  I listen to your solo work from almost 30 years ago on a daily basis, still to this day.  I'm a freight train engineer and get to listen to from 8 to 10 hours of music a day, 4 days a week.   The other 3 days I listen to music at least 6 hours a day.  Believe me when I say, your songs are always included in my playlists.  Several of your songs have been, and always will be, on my list of all-time favorites.  And they never age.  So to read your age comments just blows me away. Your music will never grow old!  Your life's work will be frozen in time, even after you are gone.  As I listen to your music, my mind still pictures the Jim Glaser I watched in the 80's.  As far as I'm concerned, that image will also be frozen in time.”

     Thanks, Al, and thanks, too, to countless other concerned and considerate people who emailed similar sentiments to me.  It means more than I can truly express to know that my music is important to people in some way.  When I was a kid growing up all I ever wanted to do was touch people with my music the way others’ music had touched me.  And although I’ve never achieved all the goals I set for myself, hearing from people who remember me and my music – as well as the music of my Brothers and me – makes the transition I’m now going through much easier.  Thanks to all of you for that.
     Fourth:  I’m going to start devoting more of my time to projects I’ve been putting off for too long now.  I started some short stories a few years ago which I want to dig out and work on, and there’s a couple of song ideas I’d like to finish.  Also, I have many old VHS tapes and musical tape recordings from years past I want to begin converting to digital format before they deteriorate completely.  And some photographs dating back to the late 60’s…well, the list goes on and on.  It’s high time I moved on to this next part of my life.
     Finally:  I’ll still update this page and the rest of my web site as developments merit it.  And I do intend, at this point at least, to put one or two of those stories I mentioned on this site for you folks to peruse if you want.  I’ll continue to answer all of your emails, though my responses may be tardy and at times, brief.  But please continue to write whenever you want.
     Boring Brag:  On January 1, 1979, I went running for the first time ever.  Actually, it was more like a 2-mile jog-walk-shuffle, as it would be several weeks before I could run the whole 2 miles.  Last year I logged 775 miles, and in 2008 I had my best year ever, with 1,101 miles.  My lifetime total is 19,785 miles.  I didn’t run every one of the 10,961 days since I started, of course, but if you divide the number of miles by the number of days, it figures out to an average of about 1.8 miles a day for every day of every year since that New Year’s Day afternoon back in 1979 when I did that first 2 miles.
     End of brag, and end of this News update.  You all take care of yourselves and of each other.  –Jim Glaser