Hey Folks,

First of all, thanks for all your creative and thought provoking song suggestions from the last email. Lots of great ideas and I did notice some fascinating trends - who'd have thought there'd be more than a dozen baby-cloning Raelians on my email list? And what are the odds that more than one person would suggest the song title 'Osamah, #%$* yo' Momma!'? All these suggestions have been very inspiring and I've been busy working on some new tunes; that is, between bouts of shoveling the driveway and steps, clearing a path to the mailbox and clearing off the trampoline.

Meanwhile, I'm a few weeks away from announcing dates for an October UK tour. It ALSO looks like I'll be doing a three week run at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. It's supposed to be a great Festival and I've been wanting to perform there for a while now. I've almost finalized all the arrangements. On the local front, a few New York area gigs will be announced soon. So, stay tuned.

And while we're on the topic of touring, allow me to mention a few ways in which you good folk could help make the August Festival and October tour a big success...

1. Spread the Word. More and more artists, these days, have enlisted the aid of 'street teams' - groups of supporters that volunteer to help promote gigs and CD releases, by distributing flyers/handbills, by email announcements and by old-fashioned word of mouth. Anyone out there willing to volunteer to distribute a bunch of tour flyers, drop me a line.

2. Opt-In Email. Email campaigns are the most cost effective way for an indy artist to promote a tour. If anyone out there has access to valid opt-in email lists of folks that wouldn't mind getting a gig alert email - ie, fellow indy artists, buddy lists, music/arts friendly websites and businesses, ISP's - give me a holler.

3. Be a Sponsor. As on past tours, with all these gigs coming up, I'm always looking out for Tour Sponsors to help promote and advertise the dates. As you may recall, past sponsors have included UKSounds.com, Peartreehouse.com, Brewin Dolphin Securities. If you're a small (or large) business owner interested in supporting independent music while reaching a vast audience of oddballs and misfits... er, I mean, an educated audience of affluent, internet savvy consumers ;-), email me for more info about sponsorship opportunities. You'll be included in email blasts and snailmail campaign, national print ads that reach millions, 5,000+ A3 posters, 150,000+ A5 handbills, complimentary tix and oodles of good karma.

Of course, anyone that's got a creative idea for promoting the upcoming tour dates - one that's, preferably, legal - I'm all ears.

In closing, I'd just like to say a few words in memory of Dolly. Dolly, as most of you know, was a sweet and woolly Scottish lass who earned her place in scientific literature and cultural lore by being the first successful large mammalian clone. To mark Dolly's passing, I offer the following ode, which should be sung to the tune of 'Hello Dolly', used without permission and with dire apologies to the original composers, Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart.

Goodbye, Dolly,
Well, goodbye, Dolly
It's so sad, it’s become such a fad since you were cloned.
All those Raelians, Dolly
They say we’re descended from aliens, Dolly
That may be, but golly gee
They were probably... completely stoned.
They fooled the press, Dolly
They promised a DNA test, Dolly
But they never delivered a valid specimen.
So, just hang loose, fellas
We can always reproduce her, fellas
We’ll bring Dolly back again,
Xeroxed copies, one through ten, and
Dolly'll never go away again.

PS. Have you ordered your New Next CD yet? Why wait? CLICK HERE

This newsletter copyright (c) 2003 Dean Friedman Productions except for the lyrics to Goodbye Dolly which I herewith deny authorship of and relinquish forever into the public domain.