Happy Frozen St. Patrick’s Day

 New song release, News  Comments Off
Mar 172013
 

"Today upon Saint Paddy’s Day it may be warming globally.
But this much we can safely say, it’s feckin’ freezin locally!"

Minus 18 Celsius as Saint Paddy’s dawns just north of Saint Pete. That’s just crazy. And so is this song:

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Lyrics and Back-story »

A Cultural and Linguistic Note
The word "feck" occurs frequently in this song. In fact, the chorus is mostly just that. I’ve been informed that this is a common expression in Ireland and not considered particularly offensive… certainly not as offensive as the variant spelled with the word "u" is considered in the USA, or at least some places in the USA.

Have a look at this video. Apart from being hilarious, you will notice that this respectable looking, mostly middle-aged to senior audience (not sure if British or Irish) are laughing like hyenas and not being offended at all. Using the word in this song was certainly not intended to offend anyone, except for whoever ordered this feckin’ deep freeze for Saint Paddy’s Day.

If for some reason you feel that "feck" is somehow offensive…

  • a) don’t have a look at that video and –
  • b) don’t listen to this feckin’ song!

And a right Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to ye!

Irish snowman
song qr code image
 

Image based on work by Michael Pohl posted on stock.exchng

4 Ways to Help YOUR Candidate Win

 New song release, Polemic Pontification  Comments Off
Oct 132012
 

Cartoon of politician kissing protesting babyIt’s that time again… mud-slinging, flag-waving, plank-hammering, and squandering mountains of money that could be more productively spent almost any other way. Yes, it’s time to elect the President of the United States!

As the final days of the insane almost 2-year circus and media feeding frenzy wind down, no matter which side of the Looney-toons aisle you park your butt on, you certainly want your favored candidate to walk off with The Big One. Well, here’s how you can help your candidate!

Remind them about the basics of campaigning. Right about now it’s easy for them to get distracted by things that don’t really matter… like the serious issues confronting the nation and the world. Hogwash! Here’s the way to win:

“If you want to get elected to a high political office, you gotta shake the menfolks' hands, and you gotta kiss the womenfolks' babies.”

Listen to "Kiss the Womenfolks' Babies"

4 Ways to Help YOUR Candidate Win!

  1. Download the MP3 send it to your favorite candidate as a little “Banjo-centric” reminder!
  2. Send your favorite candidate a link where he/she can listen and learn!
  3. Share a link to this post on Facebook, Google+ or wherever you virtually socialize!
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  4. Get your narrow butt to the polls on election day and VOTE!
    (If you don’t vote you have no right to bitch about the lousy job they’re doing!)

 

Rain Vibes for Colorado: “Rain’s Coming”

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Jul 102012
 

Rain's Coming Song ArtThere for a while it was looking tense for some of my friends based in Colorado. I’m worthless as a dancer, so a few steps of the the ol’ rain dance was outta the question – I’d probably just cause more fires!

Then one of my friends on Facebook posted a link to an album project that’s going to raise some funds for Colorado folks who lost everything in the fires. That reminded me of a song I wrote sometime back in the 1980s. I was living in Indiana. There was a long dry spell, and one morning it ended. You can read the full back story over on the song page.

HAVE A LISTEN NOW:

So I went into the ol’ All Natural Studio and finished up the song as quickly as I could. The resulting bluegrass style tune is better than I’d hoped given how much time I had to spend. I submitted the tune to the Rain Dance page on Facebook and hope it will help them do some good.

Colorado isn’t the only place that could use a few rain vibes right now. So why don’t you hop over to the songs page, snag yourself a download, give it some plays and think rainy thoughts for them as need it! Oh yeah… and share it with folks you know and ask them to do likewise!

Experiece Russian White Nights with “Neva Nights”

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Jun 062011
 

St. Petersburg White NightsIt’s June. The month we live for up here near 60 degrees north latitude. The long cold dark has given way to the fleeting warmth and 24-hour light of the famous White Nights.

This is a very special White Nights season for me… my 15th as a resident of Tsar Peter’s fortress town. To celebrate, here’s a song that could well be the first ever written for banjo about the St. Petersburg White Nights… I call it NEVA NIGHTS.

LISTEN NOW:

The Neva Nights Story

This tune has been thru several incarnations. My cats have heard them all and like this one best (and they have superb taste). It began with a short chromatic banjo lick (which pops up in the interludes) and the 2 main chords of the verses. I had these for probably 25 years but it was only after moving to St. Petersburg in 1996 that it all fell into the first incarnation of this tune… maybe 6 years later… which attempted to be progressive Bluegrass. And failed. I let it percolate a few years more.

The present version began to gel back in late 2009 when I started working out a concept for a live set with just singing and low-tuned banjo. I recorded the banjo and vocal and maybe should have stopped there. The rest is pretty much ear candy and fooling around in my studio when I should have been sleeping. But I have tried to capture something of my impressions “summer in the city” that’s been my home for 15 years this month (something I could never remotely have imagined no so very long ago). Continue reading »