HELLO AND HAPPY SEPTEMBER!
Kasey Rausch here. Welcome to the first of my new **hopefully** monthly greetings with information about the music I’ll be a part of coming up in the near future and other happenings. This will include gigs for The Country Duo (Marco Pascolini and me), The Naughty Pines (our five piece classic country band) and the new getup, Kasey & The Pines, where some of the members of The Naughty Pines join me to focus on my original tunes. I really enjoy collaborating with people for special occasions so you might also hear about playing with my Deer Heart Sisters-in-Song Kristin Hamilton, Kelly Hunt & Lucy Gray, and once in a blue moon my real life sister by blood and choice, Kim Rausch. And who knows who else? I’ve been known to pick a song or two with lots of good folks and my aim is to be better about letting the good folks on the receiving end (you!) know about it all. So thanks for signing up and being a part of this full circle of music!
I’ll start with a bit of news and follow it up with a bullet point list of gigs for the month. Here goes!
First, maybe you’re thinking, “Kasey who?” I know. Me, too. Pretty much daily. :) Many of you signed up on a paper email list years ago and I never added you to the digital list that I wasn’t ever using anyway. Welcome! But feel free to unsubscribe. I get it. For real! Couple that with the fact that I mostly quit gigging back in 2019 due to burnout. I’ve been doing this for a long time and much of that was out of balance. Add to it an incredibly stressful handful of years and this mama needed a break and a reset. I’m so glad that I listened to my guts because when the lockdown of 2020 happened, I was already set up with work outside of the music industry. I was one of the lucky musicians who didn’t lose my financial livelihood. With that break came a lot of perspective on myself and life. I learned that music is not the only thing that defines me. It’s something I do, and yes, it’s a big part of me, but it’s not all of me. I am capable of many things. I’m grateful I explored.
All that is to say that due to this break and exploration, I fell in love with music again! You know the ol’ saying, if you love something let it go... It worked. And I have finally claimed my stake as a songwriter. I went back to basics by taking a songwriting class with a woman who’s work I’ve admired for many years, Anne Sibley. In the fall of 2021, I began writing feverishly. I now have over 30 songs (new and old) that I am working on recording, slowly, here in my hometown of Kansas City with engineer and producer Brendan Mooreland (Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys). The fellas in the Kasey & The Pines are the core group recording with me for most of the songs, with special guests along the way. We’ve released one single so far that features Kelly Hunt & Kristin Hamilton on vocals. You can listen to and purchase “She Said Goodbye” on this website as well as on all of the streaming platforms.
The last bit of news to share is that while the KC recording project is intended to catalog my songs for my kids and family (and have a heck of a good time in the process of recording), releasing each song one-by-one as digital singles (and maybe pressing a vinyl record at some point, maybe), I’m so excited to say that The Country Duo is heading down to Gulf Shores, Alabama mid-October to make another record! Our first two recordings were made at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, TN with head engineer Curry Weber. We also recorded with Curry two other times, once in Louisiana (unreleased recordings) and again in Memphis’s oldest bar, Earnestine & Hazels (hear “Louise” HERE). This time, we’re meeting Curry for a few days of living and recording on location in an ol’ lagoon home that’s been in his family for many years, as well as a nearby civil war battery. That’s right. We’re gonna bust up all those war vibes and add our own energy with some beautiful music. What a cool opportunity to literally raise the vibration!
If you’ve read this far, thank you! There is so much more I could chat about, but that would definitely end up in the TL;DR category.
The following are gigs coming up for September, and a couple of notable October dates. I will say September is a bit light. I’m just getting back in the swing of remembering to book more than three months out. Back in June, I was just in the beginning stages of gigging again and I wasn’t sure how I wanted to continue. Now I know. I have fallen in love with music again, and I’m working very consciously on finding the balance to avoid another burn out. But you can bet if I do start feeling that need for a break, I’ll recognize it far sooner than the last couple of times and I’ll be kind to myself, honor what I need, and be reminded that I am loved and supported by some amazing people. Thank you for being one of them.
>>DONATE TO THE RECORDING FUND HERE to support the Gulf Shores recording --OR-- SIGN UP FOR PATREON HERE to support the Kansas City recording<<
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
You can find all of these dates and more on the "Shows" tab of this website. You can also find the Facebook Events HERE.
I’ll sign off here and hope to see you around the block. Cheers!
--Kasey
Wed. Sept. 7th, 6-8pm - Kasey solo at Rochester Brewing & Roasting Co., KCMO - Free
Tues. Sept. 13th, 7-10pm - The Naughty Pines at The Ship, KCMO - Free
Sept 14th -18th - Campground pickin at the 50th Annual Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, KS
Sun. Sept. 25th, 10am - Kasey calls in as a guest on River Trade Radio on 90.1FM KKFI - KKFI.org
Wed. Sept 28th - Private day gig. Consider us for your event!
Wed. Sept. 28th, 8-10pm - The Country Duo at Chartreuse Saloon, KCMO - Free
Sat. Oct. 15, 7-8:30pm - Kasey solo at Concerts in the Historic Courthouse Series - Warrensburg, MO. This will be a lovely rare event, completely acoustic and lit with only mirrors and candles.
Oct. 16-23 - The Country Duo makes a record in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Donate to the journey HERE. THANK YOU!
Sat. Oct. 29, 2-3pm - The Country Duo at The Kansas City Museum. Marco and Kasey unplug and play completely acoustic in the beautiful marble room of the Kansas City Museum. Marco will put down the electric baritone guitar, push the pedal steel aside, and pick up a dobro and an acoustic guitar. Please join us for this very special show! Tickets on sale soon.
The Naughty Pines photo by Carlo Pascolini