"I'd like to thank the Academy and all the little people that helped me along the way......." Needless to say we are all very excited about the Oscar nomination. I have done the Grammy thing before but never the Oscars. That big green monkey has been very good to us. It is unknown at this time whether or not we will actually be performing at the awards but look for us to do a few TV appearances in the meantime.

I have managed to stay extremely busy this month without much Counting Crow action. Glider has been doing a few very satisfying gigs with our new bass player Yoshi. However, for the most part, I have been in the studio recording with some different folks.

One of the sessions I am particularly fond of is a solo record from the singer of the Bay Area band HighWater Rising. The songs were great and the group of musicians they put together for this record kicked some serious butt, it was very inspiring. We will have a few songs from this record up on the site in February. I urge all of you to check it out becuase it is well worth a listen.

At the moment I am in Nashville, Tennessee, reunited with my pal Millard Powers (we played together with Ben Folds). We are doing a week of concerts with Amy Grant, who is a great singer and a truly wonderful person. I did a few TV performances with her and KebMo back in October and she asked me to come out and play a few shows......How could I refuse?

I hope some of you have seen a few of the tennis matches from the Australian Open. That is a great tournament and there is some amazing tennis being played. I wish I was there. I guess that I'm not as excited about the football playoffs this year because once again, my beloved Raiders didn't make it. However, I still don't miss a game.

Wish us luck at the Oscars and see you soon,

Jim

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