It's been a long wait for good news from the Slim Dunlap camp, as the songwriter, guitarist, former Replacement, and all-around kind soul has struggled to recover from a stroke he suffered last month. But this past week, the Slim Dunlap Fan Club received some uplifting news: Dunlap was moved out of the ICU and onto a regular floor of HCMC, and he has started breathing on his own -- both signs that he is moving in the right direction.

Dunlap's family is reporting that he awakens a few times a day and is able to make eye contact and communicate nonverbally with those around him, but they are still waiting for him to completely awaken in the weeks following a pair of emergency surgeries he underwent following the stroke. Perhaps the best news of all is that a neorologist has told they family they expect Dunlap to be "as cognitively sharp as ever" once he is fully alert.

Meanwhile, friends and fans continue to rally behind the Dunlap family, including Jim Walsh, who has organized a massive hootenanny in honor of the ailing axeman on St. Patrick's Day. For those unfamiliar, the Mad Ripple Hootenanny is a recurring event organized by Walsh that invites singer-songwriters to perform round-robin style, and the "Hoot for Slim" will include performances by Ashleigh Still, Martin Devaney, Jennifer Markey, Frank Randall, Gini Dodds, Nick Leet, Stook!, Curtiss A, Dan Israel, Joe Fahey, Katy Vernon, Ben Glaros, John Swardson, Ken Goldman, Pete Christensen, John Soshnik, Cooker John, and more.

It all takes place at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall next Saturday, March 17.