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There are 11 tunes on this new disc, and they're all kinda different. Some
are bluegrass tunes sporting banjo and mandolin, some are guitar pop, others
are jazzy, a few are country and some are a mix of all of the above.
Lyrically, many of these have to do with pulling things together after
devistation, but there are lots of laughs and sunny moments awaiting you as
well. This one comes with six pages of lyrics, pictures and liner notes. Below
are some sound clips and lyrical summaries.
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1. These Days - A
twanger with lots of telecaster and B3 organ. This one's a co-write
with Will Smith, and has an interesting sound; instead of
drums we just beat the back of an acoustic guitar and threw
some reverb on it. You don't notice the difference unless you pay
close attention, but the smaller percussion sounds left more room
for the guitars than with a drum set, and it's nice to be able to
hear all the instruments so clearly. Lyrically this one's about
being down and out and finally fighting your way out of it; kind of
a theme for the whole CD, really.
2. The Hand I
Hold - Inspired by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Twangs nicely
with its prominent banjo and mandolin. There's a nice split solo
that's half mando and half telecaster, and big harmonies throughout
with friends Abe and Bethany Okie singing on the choruses.
3. Can't We
All Play Together -- Ben Folds inspired piano by Bruce Gilbert and a
really great, swing-rock groove between Jake Reeves on drums and
yours truly on bass. All these combine to define the sound of
this semi-inappropriate and funny tune about a Ménage à
trois gone awry.
4. Song For Mister Salmon -- A
dark rock tune about Suzie Salmon's father from Alice Sebold's The
Lovely Bones. Music co-written with Chris Brock and some nice guitar
production on this one.
5. Telescope - This is a cover of an
Elvis Costello/Amiee Mann tune. I adopted it for coffeehouse shows a
long time ago and finally got around to recording it with a full
band. Production on this one was a lot of work because it's such a
long song with so many complicated ups and downs, but that all made
for a lot of really neat sounds on here -- spacey and tremolo
guitars, Wurlizer, B3, some male choir type backing vocals and tons
of telecaster.
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6. Lost
- A really personal and intimate lyric describes the losses of three
people I cared deeply about, with some neat percussion sounds,
fretless bass and nice guitar work.
7. As Hard As We Try -- A very
lyrically dark tune about a child who drowns in his neighbor's
swimming pool. The lyrics try to get inside the father's head as he
deals with all his guilt over the matter, which really involves the
father trying to get inside his son's head while the drowning
happened. Interesting production on this one; sorta Pink Floyd
sounding in the beginning with lots of B3 and Telecaster later on.
Despite the dark subject matter, this one's quite sing-songy and
catchy.
8. River Of
Stone - This is a jazzy ballad co-written with Kristen Justice,
about being stuck in the mud and having to quit things that just
aren't working. Tom Wolf plays some brilliant harmonica on this one,
and it has some really nice backing vocals that'll take you back to
bands like 10cc and ELO.
9. My Cousin
Margaret - A fun country tune about rompin' around with
Cousin Margaret at Christmas time in Atlanta.
10. Pancakes - More twang, this time with
mandolin, pedal steel, and some nice harmonica playing by Tom Wolf.
This is a break-up song about breakfast food, with a twist.
11. Can't Stand Up -- A
light-hearted and really lyrically sweet song co-written with my old
music Partner, Laura Tyler, about being bowled over by a new
significant other. Duck played some really nice banjo on this tune
and there's lots of ear candy from most every instrument.
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