Greetings from Camp Lure …

Camp Lure moves on. We’ve purchased some acreage deeper in the wilderness on a remote lake high in the Adirondacks. Moose, bear, bobcat, coyote, and fox abound in the pine woods. Loons and osprey call on the water. Mink, otter, and pine marten roam the shorelines. More wildlife, less people. No jet skis, no cigarette boats here. Just a crackling fire and the chirping of crickets. We’re building a log cabin up here, a rather large one. It’ll make a good headquarters for Camp Lure and a great writer’s lair filled with inspiration and pictures to capture in song. Give me a log cabin with a roaring fire, a big room filled with guitars, a pen and a notebook, and I am in heaven. Music playing and shadows dancing on the wall and maybe someone to love, that is all I ask. It’s not too much, not too little, just enough.

It’s been studio time for me. Skip Drinkwater, producer, and I have been in Brett Kull’s studio laying down tracks and making all kinds of racket, trying to give birth to some new music. A very painful process but as all good parents know, very rewarding in the end. We’re weaving our way up hill, staggering a bit, but we’re getting there. Bring home the bottle and it’s gonna be a good one. Thanks for being patient with me. I want the music to be great for both of us. It will be here soon.

Back on the road, had a great time at “Live at Drew’s” in Ringwood, N.J. Drew was a warm host and we had a lot of fun playing at this unique venue in the mountains of North New Jersey, 45 minutes from New York City and a world away. Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville was a blast as always. We had a sold-out house and rocked it a bit, if I may say so. Can’t wait to get back there again and see all the good people there. Me and guitarist Larry Briodo headed down to Dover, Del., to do a radio show at WVUD with Gary Irving. Gary is a terrific host (a bass player himself) and was really into music in general and seemed to be into ours as well. We played “In the Middle,” “Everybody’s Talkin’,” and a new song called “Silver Lake.” The band joined us later as we took the stage at “Cooldog” concerts in Dover. “Cooldog” was a new experience for me. I loved it, made a bunch of new friends and saw a lot of old friends there as well. I got to sing a duet with my good buddy Nik Everett. He was singing great, as usual. I tried to keep up. I really want to say thanks to everyone there and hope they have us back to play. Tomorrow won’t be too soon.

And now it’s back to my room at the Latham Hotel, 17th and Walnut, Philadelphia, in all its spring glory. Rittenhouse Square at dusk. The lights coming on. The traffic. The throng of uptight, grey flannel yuppies hustling their way to buses and parking lots. Smoking on ledges in cell phone bliss. The abandoned movie theatre “EMPIR STR KES B K” now playing, a long time ago. I stop and pick up some Lucky Jeans and a hair brush. I’m on my way to Godfrey Daniels up in Bethlehem to sing some songs, play some guitar, get together with friends to make music. Then I’m off to Camp Jam in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, by a cedar lake with a full moon shinin’ over the pitch pines. Home of the Jersey Devil. She’s a woman with green eyes and long brown hair. She’s about 6 feet tall, her legs are even longer. She’s dancing in front of a rock band at the Camp Jam in the middle of the Pine Barrens. The middle of nowhere. I can’t even look at her.

The next day I’m in New York City playin’ at Mo Pitkins, lower East Side, Avenue A. Can’t wait to see this place. If anybody shows up, I’ll be good. If nobody’s there, they’ll say I’m not. I just show up and play and hope for the best. Then it’s back to Florida to blow one last kiss to the ocean. The winds of change are blowing too. Soon I’ll be up on the mountain full time. It’ll be summer, with a new view. I’ll send you a picture postcard. Thanks again for being a part of this new music and my journey to new places.

I'll see you on the road.

Love and Peace,

- Robert Hazard

Previous Newsletters:
December 2005
September 2005
April 2005
January 2005
December 2004
Fall 2004
Summer 2004