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Next Show:
Friday, 9/29 - Fergie's Pub - John Train returns to Fergie's every Friday through 11/17.

John Train's Cowboy Dreams LP is out now
Cowboy Dreams is now available at these fine record stores:  

Long in the Tooth (Center City)
Main Street Music (Manayunk)
Hideaway Music (Chestnut Hill)
Collingswood Music (Collingswood, NJ)


Or order directly from our Bandcamp site

What we did on our summer vacation...
John Train was back in the studio last month recording a version of Terry Clarke's "American Lipstick" with Shannon McGill Vasile at Gradwell House with John Anthony at the helm.

Jon
Shannon
John Anthony and Slo-mo
Mike Frank
Bill
Drums in the big room

What a blast...
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us during our winter run at Fergie's Pub.  We wanted to thank Dan DeLuca, John Vettese at WXPN, Seán Timmons and Daniel Drago (25 O’Clock) for the great press to help kick it off; our host and guest comic Fergus Carey and Fergie’s staff; John Anthony and Gradwell House Recording Studio for helping us deliver a cool record; special guests Shannon McGill Vasile, Mitchell Tabas, Hoagy Wing and Rosie McNamara Jones; Jon Jolles for the wonderful flyers; and, of course, the Train Army for its unwavering support. 

Dan Reed and Jim McGuin have spun a few cuts from the "Cowboy Dreams" LP on 88.5 WXPN. How about ringing 'em up and requesting some John Train?

Our next show will be at the Collingswood Mayfair on Saturday, 5/27.  Time/place TBD so stay tuned for details.  

And, listen, you gotta come to this Donuts’ "Pleasure of Seconds" show at Kung Fu on Saturday, 4/22.  One Night Only!  We’ll play cuts from Rockpile’s "Seconds of Pleasure" LP paired with our answer songs, the Pleasure of Seconds.  Get it?  Advance tickets are strongly recommended. Our pals Ken open!
https://kungfunecktie.com/event/the-donuts-ken/kung-fu-necktie/philadelphia-pennsylvania/

Thanks to Robert Griffith for this vid clip of us playing Butch Hancock's "Boxcars" and check out Fergie grooving along.

Do Cowboy Dreams Come True?
Read Dan DeLuca's story in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Photo
s by Joe Lamberti and Steven M. Walk courtesy of the Inquirer.
Read
here.

Photo by Joe Lamberti - Courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer
John Train at Fergie's Pub 1-13-2023 - Photo by Steven M. Walk courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer
John Train and Fergus Carey - Photo by Steven M. Walk courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer
Jodi and Kira - Photo by Joe Lamberti - Courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Jon's on CRAIC! 
Jon Houlon was on CRAIC RADIO with Sean Timmons on 1/12 where topics touched on the history of John Train, horses, Fergie's, James Joyce and more. Listen below or 
here.

Check out CRAIC Radio every Thursday at 5pm on WPPM FM 106.5 FM or stream it at Phillycam.org PhillyCAM offers diverse public access television and radio serving the Philadelphia area. 

 

John Train's The Key Studio Session is online!
Many thanks to WXPN's John John Vettese for having us on to kick off the 2023. We played 5 songs from our Cowboy Dreams LP, including the title track. Check out The Key Session with John Train 

A few words from Jon...

About 15 years ago, my wife Jodi got interested in horseback riding and in a relatively short period of time became a damn good rider. I found myself hanging around barns quite a bit and often walking alongside the horses during rides in the Wissahickon. Maybe at some point, I’ll take up riding myself, but given my responsibilities running an international multimedia corporation such as John Train LLC, for now, I am satisfied in my role as “Squire Jon” as I have come to be known among Jodi’s fellow riders. I personally call myself a Hot Walker!

We started at Monastery which is just down the street from our home in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. Monastery is a beautiful place – built in 1747! – with great access to Forbidden Drive. Jodi joined the Saddle Club over there and rode a horse named Madison. She eventually began share boarding a horse called Twister with whom I enjoyed hundreds of walks in the park.Twister was eventually moved down to Belmont Stables by his owner Misty Godfrey – who runsBelmont -- so we moved over there with him. Belmont was my first experience among the blackcowboys of Philadelphia and I am very grateful to have gotten to know characters such as Al, Lenny, and Preacher. We also met Erin Brown – who is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy – at Belmont. Erin’s foal Dream became the subject of a song as did Erin herself, first among many great “Concrete Cowgirls” in Philadelphia. I am amazed at how the riders at Belmont (and Fletcher Street for that matter) ride in these most urbanof environs. Fearless. And, yes, Jodi’s friend Fausto really did give his horse Marengo a beer asthey stood outside the Dell listening to R & B. When Twister sadly passed on Christmas day a few years back, we moved to Chestnut Hill Stables where Jodi share boarded Mr. Blues Amigo, a wonderful old gentleman who I never tired of hugging. We eventually got our own quarter horse – the amazing Kira – and are now in a private barn in Andorra. What a journey!

Last summer when legendary Philadelphia sound engineer John Anthony invited John Train to do some recording at Gradwell House in Haddon Heights, NJ, I decided to pull all of my horse related material together and call the collection Cowboy Dreams. The title track was actually written by Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout if you can believe that! We also essay Jonathan Richman’s Since She Started to Ride and David Halley’s Further. I had a couple western sounding instrumentals that seemed to fit in as did Mark Tucker’s honkytonk rave-up Cuttin’ Down on Cuttin’ Up. Finally, I penned one just for the sessions called Blood Horses which was inspired by John Jeremiah Sullivan’s book of the same name. It’s about horses but also about lineage in general as is the whole album.

Giddy up!

Jon Houlon, July 2022

WORDS FROM JON

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