I don't know about you but I think 2024's been a hell of a year. A great year. A year we'll look back on fondly. 

That's because I'm comparing it to 2025.

I'm playing my last show of the year Friday — unless something unexpected comes up in the last few weeks. I'm not going to turn down a show just because of this paragraph but it's probably my last show of the year so if you're anywhere near Carrboro I'd love it if you'd come on out.

When I first got to Durham last year and started looking around at the music scene I quickly discovered Jimmie Ray Swagger and the Fussy Eaters. They're the band that most reminds me of my old band The Smokejumpers and, beyond that, the music scene in the Bay Area in the '90s. They have a cockeyed punked up take on country music while ours was on rockabilly, but we'd have fit well on bills together.

I figured The King Teen and Jimmie Ray would also fit together and I let him know that over social media and the good news is Jimmie Ray seems to feel the same way. I walked up on him on the street at the Carrboro Music Festival a few months ago and he said "You're The King Teen." And later he invited me to open for his band at the Speakeasy on December 6, and now here we are. That's tomorrow night.

This is a December show and if you know me* you know that means Christmas music. I believe I've made it clear nobody should have to listen to Christmas music before the Fourth of July, but by the time we get to December it's Rudolph bar the door.

* Me: The Most Christmas Lovin Jewboy Since Irving Berlin™

I have been known to play entire sets of Christmas music. Here's The Smokejumpers during our Christmas show at 924 Gilman in Berkeley in the late '90s. The Queen Teen passed out candy while dressed as Sexy Ms. Santa. 

Click the pic for a song off The Smokejumpers EP "Livin' La Xmas Loca"

You can beg all you want I won't be doing 45 minutes of xmas music Friday, but I will be playing at least two Christmas songs, and if I can get a third one I just made up memorized in time, I'll do that too. 

I open the show at 9. There's no cover, so come on out, have a drink or five, play some pool and enjoy the show.

Song of the Newsletter: Overtime

As much as I liked Jimmie Ray Swagger and the Fussy Eaters when I found them online, I don't think any of their videos quite capture how entertaining they are in person. But that's too high a bar to hold anyone to so the SOTN is Overtime, from a 2020 show at the Cat's Cradle. They're masked up — it makes me a little nostalgic for when people wore masks — so it's a little short on faces but it's long on professionally made video and sound. 

You can watch the whole set but only the opening song is an official Song of the Newsletter.

Thanks for reading and listening and watching and coming on out.

Your friend,

The King Teen

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