Doug Spears

Doug Spears returns in fine homespun musical form with first new album in 15 years

Review of Blacktop Road - Bao Le-Huu, The Orlando Weekly (August 11, 2026)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and isn’t having too much trouble getting back in the groove in the New Year. Everybody wants to be in Florida in January. Record snow fall and freezing temperatures around the country makes that even more so this year. But, though there’s been no snow, it hasn’t been exactly balmy here in the Sunshine State either. More hard freezes than usual are not doing the citrus and ornamental plant industries any good. My tangerines in the back yard have done just fine, but then they get a lot of protection from the big oaks towering overhead and the lake nearby.

My music year is off to a fast start with a very eventful January. First, the final tallies on the Folk DJ Radio Chart came out and “Welcome Home” finished as a top 40 album for 2010 based on worldwide airplay. Maggie Ferguson at WXOU in Auburn Hills, MI picked it as her Best Regional Album of the Year, Lilli Kuzma at WDCB in Glen Ellyn, IL picked it as a top 10 favorite and Al Kniola of WVPE in South Bend, IN rated it in their top 30 albums of the year. I am, to say the least, thrilled! January has been BUSY!! Ten shows here in Florida in January is a record pace for me. House concerts have been the bedrock of the packed calendar and four of those shows (yep, four) were “virgin” house concert presenters. This put me in front of a lot of new faces and introduced them not only to my music and the rich Florida Folk music scene, but also introduced them to house concerts, the very best way to hear and appreciate original acoustic music. Thanks to Gina Killgore, Barbara Sheen Todd, Alona Smith and Pat Feeley who hosted great shows in their homes and enjoyed their introduction to the world of house concerts.

Special thanks go to Pete Gallagher and Randy Wynne of WMNF in Tampa. Both welcomed me on their radio shows to promote my packed schedule in the Tampa Bay area. Pete and Pat Barmore host the Florida Folk Nights on Tuesday and Thursday every week in St. Pete Beach and Bradenton and they were kind enough to make me the featured act at both events while I was in the area. And, another great supporter, Shelley Eckert, booked me in at Sacred Lands in St. Petersburg and the Pinellas County Folk Festival at the Heritage Village in Largo during my Bay area run.

A real highlight was a wonderful house concert hosted by Barbara Sheen Todd at her home in west St. Petersburg. Barbara’s first house concert effort, her home on the water makes a beautiful setting. Barbara is a long time supporter of the Florida Folk scene and was the initial VP of the Will McLean Foundation. We had a full house of around 45 and Barbara marshaled a considerable corp of assistants from her friends and fellow Rotarians to prepare an elaborate spread of food and refreshment. It was a real treat and I hope to be able to share some video soon from that event. Thanks so much Barbara for a fantastic evening!

Everyone in the Tampa Bay area should know about, get tuned into and support The Hideaway Café on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. John and Nicole Kelly have a very special room there and the line up of acoustic music they have booked (as many as 6 nights a week) is awesome. As it started out (and remains) a recording studio, the sound is absolutely stellar with John hovering over the knobs and faders with the care that only a dedicated professional sound engineer can give. Friday the 28th we recorded a live show there in front of a standing room only crowd. The Winterlings opened the show for me at a little before 8 pm and really got the crowd warmed up.

In addition to the recording being done by John I was also shooting video from two stationary cameras. It would have been better if I had actually turned them on. I thought I did, really! But, you have to punch “record” twice, not just once like I did. So when I looked at them on about the third song I was disappointed to see no red lights shining. The second set, however, did get videoed and it included a very special treat. My friend Gove Scrivenor (who has recorded with the Carter Family, Doc Watson, Emmilou Harris, John Prine and so many more and toured with Jimmy Buffett and Delbert McClinton) came to the show and did a short three song set to get the second half of the night underway. Gove, of course, was fantastic and you can look forward to seeing him at the Hideaway for a full show soon. Stay tuned for news of a potential Live CD release (if the recording works out as planned)! Get on the Hideaway Café’s mailing list, check out their website and go support this great listening room in St. Pete. Ellis Paul will be there in February – get your tickets now as he will sell out quickly.

Alice Schaeffer hosted me in her Music4Me&You series down in Ft. Myers on Saturday January 29th. Alice has hosted several Florida favorites, including Garrison Doles, Roy Schneider and Annie Wenz, as well as “foreign acts” like Stevie Coyle, Walter Strauss and more. The set up there is great and Alice has cultivated a loyal group that trusts her musical tastes. I was able to fit in a surprise guest there as well. My Nashville friend, David Llewelyn and his Swedish sweetheart and music star in her home country, Ida Kristin, were spending some time in the warmth of Naples and drove up for the show. I got them to do three tunes at the beginning of the second set to introduce themselves to Alice and her audience – they were great! It was a very fun evening with an enthusiastic crowd and I was treated to what Alice tells me was a very rare standing ovation at the close of the show. I’m looking forward to returning for more shows down in the far southwest of Florida.

This month I head out to the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis. I’ll leave on Friday, February 11th and play at the Mockingbird Café in Tallahassee that evening. Saturday I’ll stop in Cullman, AL at Berkley Bob’s for my fourth show there. Then Sunday I’ll be outside of Nashville in Whites Creek in the Treetop House Concerts series. Check my Facebook events page or my website for more details. Folk Alliance will be busy this year as well. I overbooked my showcases and ended up with eight. But they’re spread over four days so it won’t be too bad. Memphis promises to be cold this year so I’ll start hitting the EmergenC early and taking my woolies. Here’s my showcase schedule for those of you who will be at the conference:

Wed 12:40AM Rm 1922 - Access Presents The Timothy Hay Loft

Thu 10:30PM Rm 1710 - LilFest II

Thu 12:00AM Rm 1723 - National Media/Americana Rhythm

Fri 3:00PM Rm 1827 - Cynthia's Music/Ceili Productions

Fri 11:10PM Rm 1914 - Access Film-Music

Fri 12:10AM Rm 1929 - Texas Sugarbaby

Fri 1:15AM Rm 1927 - ListeningRoomNetwork (ConcertsInYourHome)

Sat 11:00PM Rm 1806 - Soona Songs

I’ll be back in Florida throughout March with the Will McLean Festival and a few other shows including Central Florida Folk’s “Last Sunday Concert” (formerly the Leu Gardens Series until the city trimmed its budget).

Then in April I head to the Midwest for shows in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin. Hope it has warmed up some by then! You can always keep track of me on my calendar which appears on all of my websites and social network pages.

Drop me a note to let me know how you’re doing and I hope to see you at a show soon. Remember, the world needs more house concert hosts, even for very small weeknight shows. Take a look at this video (click the secure link to connect) from my friends at ListeningRoomNetwork.com / ConcertsInYourHome.com. It tells you how simple and easy it is to enjoy great acoustic music with good friends in the comfort of your own home. Try it, you’ll like it!

All the Best,

Doug

Well, I’m sitting here in my “music room” with a cup of coffee gazing out at the sun glinting off of the fog over the lake through the cypress trees and Spanish moss and thinking about another year, another decade really, that has come and gone. Benjamin Franklin said “Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” With that in mind I look back at 2010. January 1, 2010 was the official release date for “Welcome Home,” which I say with some pride is my best CD to date. It rose to the top of the Folk Radio Charts worldwide and it appears it will end the year in the top 50 albums of 2010 in that genre based on international radio play. It received critical acclaim as an album and certain songs (“Yellow Butter Moon”, “A Mother’s Tears”, etc.) got particular attention. However, I was particularly pleased that every single track on the album got repeated radio play somewhere in the world. Most times it seems a few songs are the standouts and some never see the light of day. It’s especially gratifying that all of these songs caught someone’s attention on some level. During the course of the year I played 96 shows and that counts festival appearances as only one show even though I may have played multiple days for multiple sets. Those performances took place in 11 different states (FL, AR, GA, SC, NC, WV, VA, AL, TN, MS and TX). Looking ahead, 2011 will include shows in all of those states again, plus appearances already booked in 9 others (KY, CO, NE, WI, IL, IN, OH, MI and LA). And, who knows what else might find its way onto the calendar! Some of those shows were particularly special, like the show in April opening for The Claire Lynch Band and being invited back on stage during the show to perform “This Old House” with Claire and “the boys.” I returned to Suwannee Springfest after too many years away. At Will McLean I was joined for separate sets by the Gatorbone Band (in the form of Lis and Lon Williamson and Tim Higgins) and The Roadside Revue. In a Nashville house concert I was joined by 3Penny Acre and David Glasser for a lightning version of “Yellow Butter Moon.” I was backed by Brian Kalinec in my set at HP Hops House in Houston. I returned to Kerrville, the songwriter’s Mecca. All in all the road was good to me this year. I certainly met a lot of wonderful people and was treated to kind hospitality wherever I went. I “blew a flat in Baton Rouge and had to change the tire, in the parking lot of a Big Lots discount store” (sorry Kris, couldn’t resist). Also, as I was coming over the mountains from Va. into Tn. and on to NC I realized I had steel belts protruding through the inside of a front tire – not good when you’re towing a 6,500 pound trailer behind you on winding mountain roads. But, without mishap I got it replaced with a “used” tire in brand new condition for, get this, $18 in Burnsville, NC. Gas prices weren’t great, but they were lower than they are going into 2011. I wrote a lot new tunes in 2010, a few of which have made it onto my regular set lists – “When the Hummingbirds Return,” “I Wish,” “These Rocks” to name a couple. In 2011 Judy and I will celebrate 27 years of wedded bliss (ok, ok, it wasn’t all bliss, particularly not for her!). We’ve lost people we love, but we’ve also gained some along the way – certainly our grandkids, Chase, Hunter and Kendall. My daughter Jessi, son-in-law Derek and Kendall have been living with us for nearly six months now as they try to buy a house in this foreclosure / short sale market. It has been among the finest times of my life getting to watch Kendall grow day in and day out and share their lives with them. Chase and Hunter joined Judy and I for part of my SE tour this year traveling with us in the camper from Nashville to WV and into VA where I dropped them all at the airport in Richmond to fly home. They can’t wait for the next one! I’m so blessed to be surrounded by good friends and family, get to follow my heart playing my music for any who will listen and to get to share that deepest part of me with all of you. The sun has pretty much burned the fog off the lake now and the last sip of coffee in my cup is cold. Time to get to the chores of the day, watch some college bowl games on TV and prepare to start again with a fresh new chapter tomorrow – 2011. “Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” ~Hal Borland. God Bless you all and I look forward to seeing each and every one of you somewhere along the trail this year.

Notes from the Road - Day 2 - Saturday, July 24, 2010 Man is it hot! When I first started this annual SE tour part of the reason was to get out of Florida's heat and up into higher country. However, I'm rethinking the timing here. Not only is booking more difficult in the summer here (a lot of the established series shut down in the SE for the summer), but this year in particular the weather forecast for everywhere I'm going is hot and more hot.

I headed out of Bainbridge around noon after making some stops at the grocery store, etc., things I didn't have time for on Friday. I wound through backroads Georgia north and west towards Alabama. Watching my external temperature guage I twice noted it rise above 100 degrees. The fields, the ones that weren't being irrigated, literally shimmered in the heat of the sun. Each day some rain has been forecast, but so far I've seen neither a cloud nor a drop. Just as well, it would turn to steam immediately and make things even worse. Nevertheless, in the cool A/C in the car I enjoyed the drive west to Auburn.

I actually lived in Auburn the first couple of years of my life. My Dad went to Veterinary school here when I was a toddler. We lived in a trailer park somewhere in Auburn and I had a sturdy tri-cycle that did it's best to maim me. It broken my left ankle and nearly cut off my left pinky finger in separate incidents. This is the first time I recall coming back through here since then.

Using my trusty Navigatrix I found an inexpensive campground just a couple of miles from where I was to perform. Easy in, easy out - just like I like it. I crossed into the central time zone so I picked up an hour. I'll lose it again tomorrow heading north. I had time to relax a bit, eat an early supper and then change into clothes suitable for my evening performance.

The Gnu's Room is a nice find. I found it by snooping on Roy Schneider's calendar for places he's played out this way. A very eclectic place, The Gnu's Room is a bookstore dealing largely in used books, some collector's items, and serves a large variety of exotic coffees. Just before showtime the staff cleared the front reading area and set up chairs for the guests. Tina, my host and owner of the shop, had warned me that the crowd would be light in the summer - shows are much better attended when the college is in full session. However, we had a nice comfortable crowd at 7 pm and more trickled in as I got into my first set.

I was flattered that some had taken time to check out my websites and had specific song requests. A fellow songwriter (a Kerrville winner and touring performer who lives in Auburn) Dave Potts came out for the show - always nice to get support from others in the biz. Interestingly, a young lady in the audience (also named Tina) perked up when she learned I was from Leesburg, FL - her father was born and raised there. Such a small world. Due to the requests, my selected material varied a bit from the set lists I had prepared. However, I'm always happy to give folks what they want to hear - requests are always welcome. I continue to be pleased with the very warm reception my newer material is receiving. When the Hummingbirds Return, Cresent City Lament and I Wish were all hits with the crowd. In the small room a sound system was unnecessary, something I prefer when its possible. Every possible inch of every wall, hallway, nook and cranny of the bookstore is stuffed with racks, stacks and shelves of books, so it made the room very acoustic friendly in that there was no bounce or echo like you might get in an empty room with a hardwood floor. At the same time, that lack of natural "reverb" makes you work harder to keep the guitar perfectly in tune and carry notes longer vocally to compensate. It was a wonderful evening and a very enjoyable show. CDs have, again, made their way to new homes. I'll look forward to coming back to the Gnu's Room on future tours trough the area.

The downside of picking up an hour was that when I finished playing at 9 pm it felt like 10 pm and I was definitely getting a little droopy. Fortunately my rolling home away from home was only a couple of miles away. I stopped only to fill up the truck for tomorrow's drive and then got right back to stretch out, have a little nip o' whiskey and drift away. I'll have a couple of days off now, but tomorrow I'll roll north towards Chattanooga where I'll be "based" for the next week. Hopefully I can find someplace where the temp gets down to the low 90's!