Hello, December.
This month will be our first without a gig since May, which gives me a chance to reflect back on our past year. In total, beginning with two livestreaming shows in February and April and then with real live performances after the post-lockdown opening of New York’s clubs in June, King Dutch played 17 gigs in 2021. And that’s not including a month of busking in February.
Here some things I remember:
Caleb and I started out the year as a duo. We ordered stickers, busked through the snow all around the city, played a livestream show for Boog City, did 24 straight hours of writing and recording, and performed a rooftop livestream concert in April.
In May, we released a single, “I See.”
In June, we played the re-opening of Our Wicked Lady in Brooklyn with Karabas Barabas and the Planes, featuring Dmitri the Rampaging Romanian on drums.
Then in July, we added Aaron “The Terminator” Takiff as our new drummer. The Terminator took us to a packed and very sweaty college gig in Oneonta and added cajon percussion to our acoustic shows and hooked us up with some sweet tees. (By the way, they make great presents for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Rozhdestvo - email us at kingdutchny@gmail.com to order yours today.)
In the late summer and fall we played the Grunge and Growlers acoustic mini-tour. We reconnected with friends and family at places like Freddy’s in Brooklyn and Bad Seed in Highland.
And to close out our 2021 performance calendar, we reunited with old friends Violent in Black and our new fourth member Cyril Casapao to rock the Times Square Connolly’s Klub at the end of November.
So what’s next? We’re kicking off 2022 with a New Year’s Day show at Arlene’s Grocery on the Lower East Side. We’re recording videos and mastering tracks for upcoming single releases. We’re planning general world domination.
What are your plans for 2022? Drop us a line to let us know, and be on the lookout for new music very soon.
And remember: whatever you do in 2022, don’t stay safe.