The Legend of Codfish Hollow

Howdy y’all. You’ve reached Time & Temperature.

Most nights before the 97’s launch into our song “Barrier Reef,” Ken will say a few words, share a little story or make a pithy observation in his charming if not always intelligible east Texas drawl. The other night we found ourselves in rural eastern Iowa performing in a barn for 500 people. Ken told the folks that when you’ve been in a touring band for over a third of a century, you’ve pretty much seen and done it all, but that we hadn’t been prepared for Codfish Hollow. He was right. I’m here to tell you folks that barn is downright magical.

When touring musicians talk about “The Book of Lies,” we refer to the old printed itineraries our Tour Managers used to hand out at the start of a run, called that because the information would often be incorrect by the time the gig rolled around. The modern equivalent exists solely as a digital interface and thus gets updated frequently—The Book of Lies, Now With Fewer Lies! Musicians still regard the info with a fair amount of skepticism. If nothing else, TBOL, aka MasterTour if we are being true to the app-branding of its modern iteration, always provides ample fodder for bellyaching and fear-mongering. Two sets at a dairy farm?!? No bus access at the big music festival?!? Two opening acts?!?

Of course the appearance in TBOL of an upcoming performance in a barn in rural eastern Iowa bearing the unlikely moniker Codfish Hollow was greeted with bafflement. WE DID NOT KNOW! NOW WE DO. Tiff and Shawn have been hosting bands and audiences in the 70+ year-old barn for 17 years and counting. Tons of big-name acts have played there for improbably large audiences, given the remoteness of the location. Codfish Hollow is more than just a barn with a nearby campground though, it’s a destination, an oasis and a Mecca of sorts. You feel it as you step off the tour bus and take in the grazing cattle, the endless corn and the barn itself, the rounded shape of which lends a surrealist element to the landscape… this place is special.

Of course it starts with the people. Tiff and Shawn lovingly curate and host the experience for the bands and the audience. From Tiff’s pozole pork stew at breakfast to Shawn’s teary-eyed gratitude for the 97’s impromptu cover of REM’s “Driver 8” inspired by the vanity plate on the ancient Suburban they’d provided for band use throughout the compound. These are people who do it for love, not money. These are people who make the music business still the best business despite the business of it, if you know what I mean.

We played a little longer than we might normally on a weeknight gig, but everyone stayed. Lots of young folks and first-timers in the audience, but they were right there with us. By the time we got to “Barrier Reef” and Ken acknowledged the singularity and specialness of the experience, I was grateful he’d found a way to put it into words, however muddied by the east Texas creek water of his accent. As he said so eloquently that night, “Man, there ain’t no fucking place like this.”

For your listening pleasure here’s an exclusive recording of the Old 97’s doing “Driver 8” at Codfish Hollow 6/24/26. (Recorded by our sound engineer David Wilson. Thanks David!)

Long live Codfish Hollow.

The Old 97’s can’t wait to come back!

yrs,

Rhett

PS (Here’s a link to the stream of our full show.)

PPS (Here’s a link to the 97’s in Todos Santos a decade ago playing “Driver 8” with Mike Mills, Peter Buck and Patterson Hood.)

PPS (Below the paywall, subscribers will find some bonus (embarrassing?) content involving how Ken and I spent our afternoon in the barn’s giant dressing room.)