Announcing the Moxy Früvous

"SAVE THE RUBLE!"

TOUR

* Fall-Winter 98-99

Quillsters, Quillsters! Great events are at hand, little Quillsters, great movements are afoot, tremendous, misshapen things are aspleen. In the pages of this Quill you will perhaps read of flowers blooming in the desert, of a man who turned his wife into a wood hutch, perhaps even of the reappearance of the Kraken. But rest assured, this Quill will at the very least provide you with all the blood-spattered details of all the comings and goings of a certain fin de siècle band known nominally as Früvous. Nothing but a quick run-down of tour dates, you say? Yes, but *never* so intriguingly presented! So for those of you with nothing better to do, read on!

Before we proceed even an inch further, we feel that it is incumbent upon us to state that the word 'love' does so very little to convey the degree to which we "love" you, the fan (if you are, indeed, a fan). We "love" the fact that you come out to our shows, we "love" singing autographs for you afterward and we "love" it when you shout out songs in the middle of our set. In short, we "love" you, and when we see an ocean of faces in front of us, the first words that spring to mind are, "Surfs up!" (The words "Hang ten!" also come up, but in an entirely different context). As the poet said, "love" is in the air.

We've had a smashing spring/summer season of touring in support of our new "Live Noise" album. From cool club dates to amazing festivals like the Summerfolk in Owen Sound, the Folk Fest in Ottawa, Harbourfest in Oswego, and the WXPN Singer-Songwriter Festival in Philadelphia, to in-store performances and radio shows we've happily rocked parts of North America with our folk for the folks. A feature on the American NPR show 'All Things Considered' was another highlight for the summer, during which we harassed a polite public radio woman for almost an hour. And a great big article on us in the great big Washington Post proved to many people that we exist. To all those who came out we offer a trembling, constitutional spoonful of semolina, with buttermilk chaser.

In the fall, we begin busily growing beards for our upcoming country-rock album, "Big, Scraggily Beards." Oops! Wrong folder again. Note to self: "Re-organize Filing Cabinet". Okay, where were we?.........right. In the fall, Früvous will be up and running on thighs like tree trunks as we head into an autumn of sweet music and faltering transmissions. Early September has us in the studio demo-ing brand new tunes for the next album. That done, we'll head into our Western Swing: it's been too long since sagebrush and sawdust graced the tiny hairs that line our nostrils, called 'cilia'. We begin our trip out west with a stop at Winnipeg's fabulous West End Cultural Centre, known also as "The Cultch" (or "Lenny's" to the true insider). Then a string of shows across the beautiful Canadian West takes us all the way to Vancouver, down to San Francisco, then up to Colorado for a few shows with our companions in crime, The Nields. The Nields will then be our special guests in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Champaign before we bid them farewell in a mushy good-bye ceremony that includes a pre-arranged pie fight. At that point in the tour, we'll take a deep breat and face up to what the remainder of the tour holds for us: more touring. There will be some fine venues in the Cincinnati area (a WNKU show), the Harro East in Rochester, Irving Plaza in NYC, and the Paradise in Boston. These venues and the people in them will thrill to the sound of Moxy Früvous' sweet harmonies and the sight of Moxy Früvous' outdated polyester shirts.

Früvous fans still solvent after the recent collapse of the world economy will be excited to hear that we have astounding new merchandise available - the Früvous Hockey Jersey. A bona fide hockey jersey is something most people assume is seen only on 'real' hockey players, and although you can now buyy a Früvous Hockey Jersey, it won't make you a 'real' hockey player. Of impeccable quality, this jersey would be considered fashionable even in the genres of hip-hop and trip-hop. Don't be caught in a fashion pickle - let Früvous take care of your fashion needs today!

We have already, with out far-seeing eyes and our far-reaching date books, begun planning a weekend of magic and wonderment for the third week of February. From the 18th to the 21st of that chilly month, Früvous will perform FOUR NIGHTS (!) at a club called the Rivoli in our hometown of Toronto to coincide with the Second Annual Frühead Convention (or 'FrüCon II'), a fan-driven and band-attended event that drew many of the faithful last year (it's inaugural year). There's sure to be lots of new material in the set for those four shows, as the band will likely be in 'I-guess-it's-time-to-make-another-record' mode. Contact the website or our management office for more details about FrüCon II - we understand they're planning ice-fishing and truffle-hunting this year, although that's just hearsay (actually it's not true at all, but it goes to show you what *could* happen). Also, the final of those four shows (Sunday Feb 21) will be the Fifth Annual 'Früvous and Friends for Choice', with proceeds once again going to organizations involved in the pro-choice movement. This is the one show of they year where you (and we) get to do an affirmative deed for a cause that is important to us - come on out! All this info is posted on our ever-lovin' website, www.fruvous.com, so take a gander at that puppy every so often.

Unfortunately, we hear the heavy jackboots of our handlers approaching, which means that soon we will be thrust back inside that small mahogany box sadly mislabeled 'Frugus' by a clumsy hand with a decorative wood-burning kit. These blights on dignity must be endured. Til then, gentle Quillster, til then.