Our First Christmas Card

And that Christmas card sent us to our instruments that haven't picked up since we got home last Friday, and to the archive of Christmas material that we've amassed over the years. We call these songs "the gifts that keep on giving" because, after having been away from them for eleven months, they feel new and fresh. The songs have come back quickly, a good thing since we've got a couple of nights coming up at The Front Porch in Charlottesville, Virginia that will focus on this material.

We can't say enough about The Front Porch. It's a roots-music school dedicated to educating and helping young and old alike experience the marvels of traditional music and dance, not just by putting on concerts but, more importantly, by offering hands on instrumental and vocal instruction by professionals for all levels. These schools have a powerful impact, not only in their local communities, but also on the national music scene. Where would John Prine be without the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago? We've seen it first hand. In New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Denver and innumerable other cities, organizations like The Front Porch have enriched countless numbers of peoples' lives, and some of those folks have gone on to make big names for themselves. Charlottesville is lucky to have The Front Porch and we're looking forward to being there for the second time.

Bumper Sticker Of The Month: Santa Claus has the right idea, visit people only once a year.

Many of you know that we were with Garrison Keillor last week when the news hit of his being fired by Minnesota Public Radio because of allegations of "inappropriate behavior" by a woman who worked with him. The resulting media storm was mind boggling intense. In less than 24 hours five gigs were cancelled, we'd put Garrison on a plane for home and we were driving back to Virginia. In looking back it all makes sense. No good would have resulted from him being on stage. But we got to do one show, in South Orange, NJ, before the tempest descended on us, and it was killer, the kind of show you can only do with someone you're familiar with and trust implicitly. We all were looking forward to the rest of the tour. We've known Garrison since the fall of 1975 and we can't recall one time that he has lied to us. We don't think he lied to us or to his public this time. We think he is being painted with the same brush as Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer, amongst others, and we consider this extremely unfair. He has always been supportive of us. And we'll be supportive of him now. It was sad beyond words to watch as, within a day, his good name and life's work came crashing down around him.

We've been approached by several national media outlets and have responded to none of them. For the foreseeable future these will be our only words on the subject. We owe them to you because of your loyalty and friendship over the years.

So we'll look forward to some more Christmas cards. And we'll look forward to the concerts on Dec 15 and 16 in Charlottesville and then the Hank Williams Tribute shows. These will include our long time friends Cathy Fink and Marcie Marxer, Mark Shatz and the incredible Robbie Fulks. We'll ring in the New Year with friends back home. Wishing you all the best of this season.

Your pals,  Robin and Linda

FOR BOOKINGS: Trish Galfano, trish@myriadartists.com, 919.967.8655 ROBIN AND LINDA'S WEBSITE: www.robinandlinda.com  FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/robinandlindawilliams TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Aredoubleyew_____