Hello to all you new subscribers who've signed up in the 487 years since I sent out the last one. I've been quiet lately but I've been busy. I'll tell you what I've been up to in a second but first I want to talk a little about Christmas music.

Longtime readers will remember that I have a strict policy about that. You shouldn't have to listen to it too early in the year! Are you with me on this? Of course you are.

I feel strongly about this: No Christmas music before Labor Day.

So this weekend you might hear some Christmas music if you're wandering around downtown Durham in the early afternoons. Because I'm playing some Xmas songs. Not only those. I might throw in a Flag Day tune or something. But you're going to hear Santa's name once or twice.

For example in my heartwarming Xmas favorite Let's Hang Santa Claus. 
 

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So here's where I'll be:

Saturday, 1 p.m.

I'll be playing the Seventh Year Black Light Anniversary "Walk in Depth" and Rag Alley at Phelps Phine Art.

That's a mouthful and I don't really understand it all but it's an art and music show outside artist Julian Phelps' studio at 305 East Chapel Hill St. That's the Durham Arts Place building, which is next door to the Durham Hotel. It's behind the building so go around to the back. The whole thing goes from noon to 5 pm and is unaffiliated with, but adjacent to, the Durham Art Walk Holiday Market.

And as long as we're talking about the Durham Art Walk Holiday Market, guess where I'll be playing on:

Sunday, 1:35 p.m.

I'll be on the North Carolina Songwriters Co-op stage at the Durham Arts Council building at 120 Morris St., on the corner of Morgan.

That one actually IS part of the Durham Art Walk Holiday Market, which I just wanted to mention so I could type it a third time. Stop by. You might hear a Christmas song.

Recording the new EP

That's what I've been up to lately. I've been in the studio making my second record, an EP called True Stories of Time Travel. It'll be out in early 2026. Like my first EP — Us Ugly Guys Got Style, which is still available at Bandcamp! — it will have five songs on it. Unlike Us Ugly Guys Got Style*, it will not have two more songs on it for a total of seven. Just the five.

* Still available at Bandcamp

While the first EP was just me and three other musicians, this time I've had help from a whole bunch of em. More than a dozen from almost that many local bands including Chicken Ranch Road Show, Jimmie Ray Swagger and The Fussy Eaters, Supermutt, The Rattletraps, Paco & The Panhandlers, Charles Latham's Borrowed Band and probably a few others — some of these folks are in more bands than I can keep track of.

Here's Crazy Flyin' Dave, who plays invisible drums.

Here's Mimi Kramer, who sang on What Makes Life Worth It on the last EP*, returning to sing a full-on duet with me. It's like when Barbra Streisand sang with Neil Diamond, if I was as good a singer as Neil and Barbra was as good a singer as Mimi.

* Still available at Bandcamp

Here are some mystery musicians keeping kayfabe. 

And here's me singing Hard to Get Loaded, which I promise will sound better on the record when you'll be able to hear the instruments and the backup singing. 

I finished recording yesterday. Up next is mixing and mastering, then a photoshoot for the cover art and maybe a video or two.

Mark your calendar 

I'll be playing with two of the bands whose members play on the record, Jimmie Ray Swagger & The Fussy Eaters and Chicken Ranch Road Show, on December 6 at The Cave in Chapel Hill. More on that next time.

Thanks for reading, listening and coming on out.

Your friend,

The King Teen

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