New concert series!
I'm gearing up for a new concert series this year to benefit a great organization, Animal's Best Friend, a local non profit which generates funds to offset costs of spay and neuter surgeries. This organization has been around for years and is well run, though suffering slightly from the dip in the economy. So check out my shows tab for a list of concerts coming your way! Admission will simply be a free will donation to ABF!
March Song
Last year my daughter Emily entered the Miss Gobles pageant... Marianne and I had mixed feelings about this, but in learning more about pageants these days and the community service that's involved we agreed it would be a good thing, though I still hated the thought of winners and losers with this sort of thing. Well, she did it, and presented herself well. She didn't win, though I thought she should have! After the contest, I had to drive to Menards to get some stuff, and, unable to let the flow of thoughts go, sat in the parking lot and wrote this song...here's a snip!
Crown of Gold
The pageant went all evening
As we watched the judge decide
And we held our breaths together
as the last queen walked behind
Then she placed that plastic crown upon
another daughter's head
and I saw a little tear well up
But you bravely smiled instead
Well I don't know about all the rest
But I'd never put you second best
Cause I've seen the light inside your soul
and it's brighter...than any crown of gold
Crown of Gold
The pageant went all evening
As we watched the judge decide
And we held our breaths together
as the last queen walked behind
Then she placed that plastic crown upon
another daughter's head
and I saw a little tear well up
But you bravely smiled instead
Well I don't know about all the rest
But I'd never put you second best
Cause I've seen the light inside your soul
and it's brighter...than any crown of gold
January song
this month I wrote a song about palm reading! Had an interesting experience a few years ago, when we attended an Irish festival and happened to walk by a woman reading palms. It was a surreal experience to say the least. Which bears the question...can anyone, palm reader, fortune teller, etc...really predict our fates? Here's a sample...
Lets' being here at the center of your lifeline
A river running through the palm of your hand
It's a journey full of laughter and tragedy
I think you'll be here a long long time...
Lets' being here at the center of your lifeline
A river running through the palm of your hand
It's a journey full of laughter and tragedy
I think you'll be here a long long time...
December Song
This December I decided to write about something from my long lost past...my '67 Camaro I owned back in high school. Yep, I was a gear head back then, grease under my nails, rust in my ears, smelling like bondo and gas. It was a different time for sure back in the early 80's. Old cars were cheap and plenty of them, easy to work on, and really fast!
But that's not really what the song is all about. It's more of a coming of age story from the perspective of an insecure skinny teen who longs to be everything his car is; strong, confident, graceful and beautiful. Here is an excerpt...
I was seventeen, shy and lean, dirty jeans, pimples on my forehead
She was a fine lady made of Detroit steel, racing wheels gleaming in the night
In the hallways the pretty girls would look through me as if I wasn't there
But slip inside her, turn the key, shift in D and they'd all stop and stare
In my midnight blue Camaro...
Next month, I'm working on a song about an experience I had a few years ago having to do with a palm reading...yes a palm reading...stay tuned!
But that's not really what the song is all about. It's more of a coming of age story from the perspective of an insecure skinny teen who longs to be everything his car is; strong, confident, graceful and beautiful. Here is an excerpt...
I was seventeen, shy and lean, dirty jeans, pimples on my forehead
She was a fine lady made of Detroit steel, racing wheels gleaming in the night
In the hallways the pretty girls would look through me as if I wasn't there
But slip inside her, turn the key, shift in D and they'd all stop and stare
In my midnight blue Camaro...
Next month, I'm working on a song about an experience I had a few years ago having to do with a palm reading...yes a palm reading...stay tuned!
Lamb's Retreat 2011
For ten years now I've been taking an annual hike up to Lamb's Retreat in Harbor Springs MI, just north of Petosky. Thursday through sunday, it's 4 days of music bliss with a purpose. Purpose? Yes, there is jamming until early morning, concerts, open mics, laughing, beer...but also an assignment...to write a song in 48 hours! And the tricky part is, no one has a clue as to what the assignment will be until friday morning, when we all gather in the lodge as a group and John D. Lamb, director of the retreat, reads us our assignment aloud to the rest of the group. From there the race is on, so to speak. Did I remember the part about PERFORMING the song for the group sunday morning?? Yup.
This year there was a theme about places we are from, and my song in a nutshell became about this little town of Gobles where I live, population 867 or so. I decided to come at the song with the view of a father walking his daughter down the sidewalk in a stroller, and he's reflecting on what he thinks she will experience growing up there, which then becomes a reflection of his experiences in that same town.
I am still polishing up some of the lyrics and will post them soon. But I'm always amazed that everyone...really...writes a song and plays it sunday morning for everyone to hear. And the creativity of some of these songwriters...I've been moved to tears and fallen out of my chair laughing. It's affirming to see something seemingly so impossible come true every year. I come home an exhasted emotional wreck, and can't wait for next year.
This year there was a theme about places we are from, and my song in a nutshell became about this little town of Gobles where I live, population 867 or so. I decided to come at the song with the view of a father walking his daughter down the sidewalk in a stroller, and he's reflecting on what he thinks she will experience growing up there, which then becomes a reflection of his experiences in that same town.
I am still polishing up some of the lyrics and will post them soon. But I'm always amazed that everyone...really...writes a song and plays it sunday morning for everyone to hear. And the creativity of some of these songwriters...I've been moved to tears and fallen out of my chair laughing. It's affirming to see something seemingly so impossible come true every year. I come home an exhasted emotional wreck, and can't wait for next year.