When the snows come to northern Arizona, there is less shock and insult than when they come to, say, Montana, where one hardly feels one has gotten a fair share of the long-awaited summer months one deserves. Instead, the snow in Prescott, Arizona, falls in thick, soft flakes, and the courtyard square is decorated to an extent that would make Jesus blush; there are countless parades and events celebrating celebration. Then the snow usually disappears completely in the next 72 hours or so. That’s really the way to do it. Everyone gets drunk on festivities (and hot toddies) and sunshine, yet no one has to be bitter about commuting with chains and a shovel.

Although these perfect Arizona winter conditions gently remind us of our not-so-gentle winter ahead in Montana, we can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for the glorious summer and fall we had this year. So before we pack our summer things away, we wanted to stroll down memory lane, in the only modern marketing way we know how: a blog with more pictures than words.

Enjoy.

Alaska in June: 12 shows in 13 days, thanks to the boys at Monolith Agency. We’ve got complete and never-ending love for that state and we can’t wait to return in 2012.

Then we went back to Arizona for a hot second, just in time for some desert blooms and a fabulous Great Gatsby party. When it comes to costume parties, our lovely Prescott friends are willing, nay, eager to impress.

Try the strudel. It's delicious.

Then it was back to Montana, where we rented a U.S. Forest Service Cabin for 6 days. No electricity, heat, or plumbing. Good for songwriting, reading, drinking, and the honing of mountain-man skills. Maybe if you’re already in the mountains they’re just called man skills.

You can't violate a health code that doesn't exist.

We recorded our next album at Peach Street Studios in Bozeman with Emmy-winning engineer, Jeremiah Slovarp. The stars aligned: the Dirty Dozen Brass Band happened to be coming through town and we got E.T., Roger, and Greg on the album! Then we found ourselves in beautiful Bigfork, Montana, singing at Jack Hanna’s house and partying with Wayne Newton. These things just won’t happen if we stay home every night.

We finally got to beautiful Colorado and did a quick tour through Boulder, Nederland, and Denver. The highlight was the loving crowd that came to see us at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret in downtown Denver. That room blew our minds; it even had hand-made chandeliers.

In Whitefish, Montana, we mixed our album at SnowGhost with Brett Allen. We were tempted to touch a bunch of his knobs. He told us not to. Afterward, we sent the mixes to Airshow, in Boulder, to be mastered by David Glasser. It will be officially released in March, but we’ll let you know all about that later. These pics are of the beautiful SnowGhost Studios.

We got to see lots of our family (even the arrival of another little niece, three days after my birthday!). We spent my birthday in the best bar in Montana: the Sip ‘N Dip. This is where Piano Pat (around 76 yrs. old) still plays 4 days a week and live mermaids swim behind the bar. I’ll spare my family’s privacy, but those mermaids had it comin’.

We had a photo shoot for our upcoming album with Rhea and Robert Hawkins of Be A Deer, but those photos will be revealed in due time, my precious.

Then we went to northern California and spent Halloween with some friendly freaks…

Come to think of it, Thanksgiving wasn’t much different:

Well, we only have about 5 days left in Prescott (just enough to fit in another costume party before we go!). We have one more show with Jonathan Best on piano and Carlos B. Jones on drums (Saturday, Dec. 10th at The Raven Cafe), then a mid-day holiday party at Granite Creek Vineyards in Chino Valley (12:30-3:30pm, Sunday, Dec. 11th), then we’re off to Montana for two months of COLD. And hot springs. And hot toddies. And sunshine. Doesn’t sound so bad, after all.

We hope to see you there.