Hi!

This is the 36th edition of the Rowan & Friends newsletter.

CDs

After much wrangling, CD copies of Go On! Roll That Old Boulder Away now exist.

These come in a cardboard sleeve, with a lyrics insert (the text is really small - sorry!).

This is an initial edition of 50 and I have numbered each of them. So they’re bound to become a collectors item.

You can order one from Bandcamp, or get one at one of our coming shows.

SHOWS

Which are as follows:

• 30/09/2026 Manchester Café Blah supporting The Hobknobs w/ Tinfoil Underwear

• 04/10/2026 Leeds Mabgate Bleach supporting Pavement/Silver Jews Bandeoke w/ the Fool

• 17/10/2026 Leeds Wharf Chambers supporting The Nature Kids

• 28/10/2026 York Golden Ball (halloween variety night)

• 03/11/2026 York Fulford Arms supporting Tracey Nelson

• 15/01/2027 Leeds Hyde Park Book Club supporting Kiran Leonard

• 10/02/2027 Manchester Gullivers supporting Champion Trees

I must stress again that some of these are not announced, but this is my newsletter, and what I say goes.

However, more of them are announced than last week - so that’s something, huh?

WEEN NIGHT

Long time followers of Rowan & Friends will know that at last two members of the band (Ollie and myself) are massive Ween fans.

And for the last two years we’ve took part in the premium Yorkshire Ween night, at the Fulford Arms.

Well… we are doing it again, but this time in Manchester too!

Manchester will be Friday the 30th of October at Withington Public Hall, and York will be Saturday the 31st of October at the Fulford Arms.

You can get tickets for the York night here, and tickets for the Manchester night will be available soon.

Last year we learned 35 Ween songs, and we are hoping to top it this year.

So - since we’re on the subject

RECOMMENDATIONS - WEEN SPECIAL

GETTING INTO WEEN - so Ween is a band that Gene & Dean Ween started in highschool. They’re kind of a joke band but also not - it’s very serious stuff. They are more influential to culture than you might expect - their album The Mollusk was one of the main inspirations for Spongebob.

LISTENING TO THE WHOLE OF THE POD - I think Ween are a pretty inaccessible band. And this is their most inacessible album - so what a great place to start!

The only way I can describe this album to the uninitiated is that it sounds like being really ill. Which Deen and Gene Ween both were when they made it! They both got Glandular Fever! (As documented on Mononucleosis)

WATCHING DEAN WEEN’S GUITAR MOVES - I am a fan of Dan Sweeney’s guitar moves series in general, but Deen Ween’s episode is particularly good. You not only realise how good of a guitarist Deen Ween is, you also realise that, yes, it is possible to smell a video.

LISTENING TO GENE WEEN’S SOLO ALBUM - This often gets forgotten by Ween fans (I am making a massive generalisation here) but this album (done under the moniker “Aaron Freeman”) has song’s up there with the best of Ween. Including the brilliant I Couldn’t Play My Guitar Like A Man

GUEST RECOMMENDER : OLLIE HOWLAND

This week we have a guest recommender: Ollie. He’s the bassist in Rowan & Friends, and the bassist in Ween Night. So here are some of his Ween-based recommendations.

LISTENING TO THE POD AND PURE GUAVA TOGETHER - ‘I like to think of the pod and pure guava as companion albums - I like to listen to them both one after another if I’m on a long walk.’ - Ollie

LISTENING TO SHINOLA - ‘Shinola has some gems on it like “I Fell In Love Today” or “Someday”.’ - O

NOT LISTENING TO LA CUCARACHA AS MUCH - ‘All of the albums are great in their own way, but I must saw La Cucaracha is probably the least interesting’ - O

TWO LESSER KNOWN WEEN TRACKS - ‘“Springtheme” from Pure Guava and “Stroker Ace” from White Pepper are worth checking out for a couple of maybe lesser-known ween tracks.’ - O

That’s

it. Hopefully see you at one of our upcoming gigs or at Ween night!

Best wishes,

Rowan.