Greetings everyone from The Raven’s Reels Almanac.
As we have all experienced together, 2019 has not gone even remotely as we expected it might have.
With the announcement of a CRB hiatus, we assuaged our solace with the joy of seeing Circles Around The Sun releasing new material and planning their tours. In fact, it was in Tennessee at The Shed, where we made plans with Neal after the show for The Almanac to do all we could to get the word out. We spoke of show reviews, pictures, setlists and even new artwork… there was such excitement and we stayed in contact making plans for several weeks.
But Neal leaving us was like losing a member of the family. In fact all of us…. We’ve all grown to become family, seeing the same faces at events.. we joined together in dance, and now we have joined together in grief as well.
The Almanac itself has idled and stumbled through the summer along with everyone else, and as we try and find our footing we wanted to bring out some minor announcements.
First and foremost back in July, before we lost Neal, The Almanac had teamed up again with California Soulshine Design to release some more handcrafted mugs. The sad news from Unicorn, California came nearly at the same time as the mugs came from the kiln, and we just didn’t feel it was time to release them for sale.
As we get ready for fall though, we are looking to the future and seeing that Sun begin to rise.. First, CATS will return to the road with Eric Krasno on guitar. We will follow the tour and support them, tracking setlists and pictures and news, just like we committed to Neal that we would. The Green Leaf Rustlers are playing some shows, and all of the guys are doing sit-in’s with lots of other projects.
To get things started back up and rolling with the Almanac, we’re going to release the mugs for sale now, so that you can get them. They’ve sat on the shelf for a while, and they’re ready to be in new homes for the fall season. Hopefully this, along with some very reduced prices on other items in the store, will allow for us to follow the bands through the years as we intended.
In the coming weeks, we will also be doing some giveaways. We’ve got a Raven’s Reels vinyl set to give away, plus some earlier CRB albums and posters including a Betty’s Blends. We will run those giveaways with portions of proceeds going to MusiCares in Neal’s honor. So be on the lookout!!
In the meantime, prior to those giveaways… go grab yourself one of the NINE mugs we have available. Our remaining Almanac shirts are in stock at 50% off, and stickers are marked down up to 80% off. Batiks are still there as well as CRB and Green Leaf Rustler jewelry from Muses Bright Studio. You can check them all out in the store
As for the information on the mugs : Kristy Edmonds is back with a new batch of mugs exclusive to the Raven’s Reels Almanac. Crafted by hand in small batches, she puts a lot of heart and soul into each piece. Her wheel thrown ceramic mugs make everything taste better…. hot chai, coffee, tea, water, wine… Each one is unique with characteristics all it’s own. Standing 4.5” – 5” tall & holding approximately 14 – 16 oz each, they are microwave & dishwasher safe.
