Finally, if you’re in the Kansas City area, there’s a live show coming up which I think is going to be outstanding: The Knitters with Dead Rock West, Tuesday December 4 at Davey’s Uptown. One of the bands I play with opened for Dead Rock West a few months ago, and they were great. Their album Honey & Salt has barely left my car stereo since then—it’s a mixture of twang, punk, and chimey guitar pop that’s utterly addictive.

And that’s just the opening act. The Knitters are a legend, a country/folk/rockabilly side project of X members John Doe, Exene Cervenka, and DJ Bonebrake (one of my all-time fave drummers), with Dave Alvin of The Blasters and Johnny Ray Bartel of The Red Devils. It looks like there are only a few dates on this tour, so if you live in Milwaukee, St. Louis, KC, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Tucson, or one of the three California towns they’re playing, I can’t recommend this show enough.