My apologies, I've been blogged down with non-blog responsibilities

     I think this may be the longest I've gone without posting something. You know how it goes when a) actual responsibilities get in the way; and b) motivation comes in an distant second to that comfy recliner, a guitar, a good book, Law and Order, a bag of microwave popcorn and other respites from the working life.

     This is the approach to Richmond, Mo., from Business 10 on a well-lit early morning this week. It's what I saw when I drove here to interview for a job at the Richmond News (then the Richmond Daily News). It was a cold December day (some might say a cold day in hell, but not me) and I parked in front of a collectibles store (go figure), the second building on the right. That was before I figured out what in the heck the newspaper's address -- West North Main -- meant or, in fact, if it was simply word play.

     That's the Farris Theatre on your immediate the right, the city's 100-year-old restored performance hall. Every place needs a pride and joy, and this is Richmond's. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sung there and Cole Younger, the outlaw who rode with the James Gang, once ate dinner with the owner.

     I played music at the Farris early this year and have been booked to play a show there (The Songwriters) as part of the Farris Concert Series in April 2012. It's more than six months away and I've already been mulling over what to play, what to say, which musicians to have with me and what to wear. I got the "wear" part down. I'm thinking of wearing nothing but clothes I've bought at Richmond Salvation Army (not including underwear or socks).  If there's a program maybe it could say "Mr. Knopf's wardrobe provided by the Salvation Army".

     I've made some real finds there, including soft leather cowboy boots, a pristine Earnest Tubb Record Store baseball hat and more than enough Western shirts to clothe a posse. 

     Six months probably wouldn't be long enough to grow a beard like this feller's. I'm posting his photo here because a) I took him walking up the same hill I took the Farris from yesterday and b) that beard is a natural wonder, ZZ Top quality. It would do the Ozarks or Kentuck' proud.

   Over and Out, my little Trey-Boo-Shays.