By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jan 31, 2008 at 10:56 AM

Back in November Capitol Records announced that The Decemberists were forced to cancel not only their Nov. 18 and 19 Milwaukee stops, but also their entire "The Long and Short of It" tour due to "illness."

Nobody's disclosed further details as to which member was sick, or with what, but it clearly wasn't frontman Colin Meloy. The singer, who previously recorded two covers EPs and toured alone, has a new 18-track LP of solo acoustic live material (available April 8 on Kill Rock Stars) and is touring this spring to share it with all of us.

The tour brings Meloy to The Pabst Theater Tuesday, April 22.

If you had a ticket for "The Long & The Short of it," a special pre-sale begins Friday, Feb. 1 at noon. Tickets for the rest of the general public are $20 and go on sale Friday, Feb. 8.

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”