One of the neat things about traveling all across the country is meeting all sorts of interesting and unique people. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting piano technician Peter Estep in Hillsborough, NC. In his workshop, he also had a vintage nickelodeon which he rescued from a severe lack of maintenance and resurrected back to working condition. This is a video of his demonstration.

Meanwhile, the second tour of the new year concludes tomorrow:

​Thursday, 23 March 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Henrico County Public Library - Glen Allen, 10501 Staples Mill Rd, Glen Allen, VA
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.

I wanted to make a BEATLES MINUTE that could address both structure and harmony in the same song as a way to preview my next two books, BEATLESTUDY, volume 1: Structural Analysis of Beatles Music and BEATLESTUDY volume 2: Harmonic Analysis of Beatles Music. And so I had to find a single song that used both components in complementary ways. While there are a number of Beatles songs that use harmony to reinforce structure, perhaps none are so striking in their handling of these parameters than 'Martha My Dear'.

Meanwhile, I return to Virginia tomorrow for another round of "Band of the Sixties":

Wednesday, 22 March 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Henrico County Public Library - Fairfield, 1001 N Laburnum Ave, Richmond, VA
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.

​Anybody with a valid email address may register for the newsletter on my website: http://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/newsletter-sign-up.html. Just be sure to type the “prove you are human” part. (I get a lot of spam, so any submissions that skip that step are deleted.)

​Newsletter subscription is the best way to stay in touch. The emails are sent from my personal Gmail account, which allows recipients to respond easily and efficiently. This permits me to maintain a monthly dialog with Beatles fans across the globe.
​
Plus, they feature adorable puppy pictures. In honor of my pooch, Abbey (as in Road), I started including a photo of her in each newsletter beginning in 2016. Here's April's:

Meanwhile, the current tour continues tomorrow:

​Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
South Regional Library, 4505 S. Alston Ave, Durham, NC
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.

I'm pleased and proud to announce that I will be speaking at the University of Michigan in June 2017 as part of their conference "Summit of Creativity: A Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

I'll be debuting a new presentation titled "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!: The Beatles' Most Under-Appreciated Song" on Sunday, June 4. 

Details of the conference can be found on the UMich website:
http://www.music.umich.edu/performances_events/sgt-pepper-symposium/

And a PDF of the program may be downloaded here:
http://www.music.umich.edu/performances_events/sgt-pepper-symposium/schedule.pdf

Meanwhile, I'll present twice tomorrow - first on origami, then on the entire Sgt. Pepper album (including "Mr. Kite"):

​​Saturday, 18 March 2017, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Elkin Public Library 111 N Front St, Elkin, NC
Origami for Beginners
Learn the basics of the Japanese art of paper folding through this one-time, two-hour interactive course using a new system of origami notation invented by the instructor. A variety of styles and qualities of paper will be provided, but feel free to bring your own materials as well. For a free preview, visit the instructor's origami blog at www.AaronKrerowicz.com. 


Saturday, 18 March 2017, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
Elkin Public Library 111 N Front St, Elkin, NC
The Beatles' Alter Ego, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Since its release in 1967, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has often been regarded as the single greatest rock album ever made, and one of the first rock concept albums. This 90-minute multimedia presentation observes and discusses the landmark album track by track, citing musical and historical precedents, and illustrating the development of the songs through excerpts from interviews with the band members and clips of discarded takes.

I made two new BEATLES MINUTE videos, the first of which analyzes "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"...

One of the most successful speaking engagements from last year's tour from Indiana to  Florida and back was at the Kanawha County Library in Charleston, WV on 10 February 2016. After delivering "The Beatles: Band of the Sixties", the Beatles tribute band Rubber Soul performed. And things went so well last year that it's all happening again this year. Tomorrow I return to Charleston, having delivered 162 more presentations in 24 states, published a new book, and created a series of original Beatles drawings in the intervening 13 months.

Tuesday, 14 March 2017, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Kanawha County Main Library, 123 Capitol St, Charleston, WV
The Influence of Bob Dylan on The Beatles
With his folksy guitar playing and philosophical lyrics, no other contemporary influenced the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney more than Bob Dylan. This 60-minute multimedia presentation will trace the compositional maturation of the Beatles, showing how they developed from teenybopper pop stars into the foremost musical artists of their era by illustrating in detail Dylan's influence.

Throughout my two years of giving Beatles lectures full time, I've been fortunate to have been featured in many great articles on websites and in print. As I kick off the next leg of my tour this week, I'd like to give a particular shout-out to Adam Forrest of BeatlesNews.com. His excellent site features a comprehensive events section for the Beatles community, and he's been kind enough to dedicate a page to my presentation schedule!

Adam has also published several other articles on my books and events in the past year, including:

• Jude Southerland Kessler and myself at Ouachita Parish Library
• The release of Days in the Life: A Father and Son on a Beatles Tour
• Intro to my 2016 tour

And, be sure to check out the new calendar page with all of my presentations here. If you'd like to receive this information plus other updates via email, please register for my newsletter.

My next gig, as detailed below, is coming up tomorrow.

​Monday, 13 March 2017, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
St Albans Library, 602 4th St, St Albans, WV
They're Gonna Put Me In The Movies: The Beatles on Film
In addition to achieving tremendous success with their records, The Beatles also achieved great success with their movies – and the band's history can be understood quite clearly through the progression of their films. This 60-minute multimedia program will discuss A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965), Magical Mystery Tour (1967), Yellow Submarine (1968), and Let it Be (1970) with the purpose of tracing the band's artistic evolution through observation and analysis of their films.

​I hope to see many of you at an event in the near future!

The second tour of 2017 begins tomorrow:

​Saturday, 11 March 2017, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Granville Public Library, 217 E. Broadway, Granville, OH
The Beatles' Alter Ego, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Since its release in 1967, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has often been regarded as the single greatest rock album ever made, and one of the first rock concept albums. This 90-minute multimedia presentation observes and discusses the landmark album track by track, citing musical and historical precedents, and illustrating the development of the songs through excerpts from interviews with the band members and clips of discarded takes.

It'll be the first of 10 speaking engagements in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina over the next two weeks:

Monday, 13 March 2017, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
St Albans Library, 602 4th St, St Albans, WV
They're Gonna Put Me In The Movies: The Beatles on Film
In addition to achieving tremendous success with their records, The Beatles also achieved great success with their movies – and the band's history can be understood quite clearly through the progression of their films. This 60-minute multimedia program will discuss A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965), Magical Mystery Tour (1967), Yellow Submarine (1968), and Let it Be (1970) with the purpose of tracing the band's artistic evolution through observation and analysis of their films.
​
Tuesday, 14 March 2017, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Kanawha County Main Library, 123 Capitol St, Charleston, WV
The Influence of Bob Dylan on The Beatles
With his folksy guitar playing and philosophical lyrics, no other contemporary influenced the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney more than Bob Dylan. This 60-minute multimedia presentation will trace the compositional maturation of the Beatles, showing how they developed from teenybopper pop stars into the foremost musical artists of their era by illustrating in detail Dylan's influence.

Wednesday, 15 March 2017, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Blacksburg Library, 200 Miller St, Blacksburg, VA
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.
​
Thursday, 16 March 2017, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Mount Airy Public Library,  145 Rockford St, Mt Airy, NC
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven movies.

​Saturday, 18 March 2017, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Elkin Public Library 111 N Front St, Elkin, NC
Origami for Beginners
Learn the basics of the Japanese art of paper folding through this one-time, two-hour interactive course using a new system of origami notation invented by the instructor. A variety of styles and qualities of paper will be provided, but feel free to bring your own materials as well. For a free preview, visit the instructor's origami blog at www.AaronKrerowicz.com. 

Saturday, 18 March 2017, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
Elkin Public Library 111 N Front St, Elkin, NC
The Beatles' Alter Ego, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Since its release in 1967, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has often been regarded as the single greatest rock album ever made, and one of the first rock concept albums. This 90-minute multimedia presentation observes and discusses the landmark album track by track, citing musical and historical precedents, and illustrating the development of the songs through excerpts from interviews with the band members and clips of discarded takes.
​
Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
South Regional Library, 4505 S. Alston Ave, Durham, NC
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.
​
Wednesday, 22 March 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Henrico County Public Library - Fairfield, 1001 N Laburnum Ave, Richmond, VA
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.
​
Thursday, 23 March 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Henrico County Public Library - Glen Allen, 10501 Staples Mill Rd, Glen Allen, VA
The Beatles: Band of the Sixties
Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.