One of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine, announced today in an email to fans, that it is postponing all remaining tour dates for this year, indefinitely. This was disappointing, as I'd hoped to catch a show in Nashville or Atlanta on their Christmas tour. The disappointment was alleviated and replaced by an increased respect for Karin and Linford when I read why they were postponing the tour:

There are two trees in our lives (we do choose our record covers carefully): one is our music and one is our marriage. Sometimes we water one or the other, hopefully both.

We've poured our hearts and our souls into our music this year, and we've seen that tree bear a lot of fruit and flourish. But we've increasingly realized that there has been very little room left over for anything else including our relationship and marriage. As difficult a decision as it is, we've decided we must go home to do some much needed caretaking and work to preserve this part of our lives.

We really love what we do, but we're not willing to sacrifice our relationship and marriage on the altar of a career.

This choice to prioritize their marriage over their music -- their career -- is honorable, and my prayer for them is that God will bring the healing and refreshment to their relationship that they are seeking. And until they get back on the tour bus, I'll keep enjoying my copies of Ohio and Films for Radio.

Posted by JohnH at October 28, 2003 06:17 PM | TrackBack