New Song: “Take a Knee”
This song is one of the quickest I’ve ever written. Probably because, unfortunately, current events have provided me plenty of inspiration and material. I’ve expanded the grief and outrage of George Floyd’s murder to injustices facing all Americans, everywhere. I’ll let it speak for itself:
RIP Big Al Byla, Piper Road Spring Band
I first saw Big Al Byla onstage at Bill Monroe’s Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in about 1974. I last saw him less than a couple of weeks ago at his “straw house” as Billy Kangaroo and I watched his beloved Lithuanian national basketball team which had miraculously made it to the semifinals of the […]
Remembering M-M-Mel
RIP M-M-Mel Tillis. One of the most unlikely entertainers I’ve ever met, Mel turned his chronic stutter into an asset as he played it for laughs. He was a big deal in the 1970s, when I inadvertently found a home for some of my earliest freelance work writing about country musicians. I met him much […]
Happy Howl-oween!
My beloved Otis was the Kanine Kostume King; and though he has been gone for a couple of years, his spirit happily haunts us today– definitely a friendly ghost! As for me, recently playing a Halloween party edition of the DeForest Farmers Market, I showed up as—guess who? (one kid said George Washington) […]
Wild Colorado
Just got back from a journey to Colorado and in the words of Willie Nelson, “Sometimes it’s heaven, sometimes, it’s hell, and sometimes I don’t even know.” Heaven: Autumn in Rocky Mountain National Park, punctuated by not only golden aspens, but hundreds of rutting, trumpeting elk. (maybe Trump should check it out) Hell: The sick […]
Merry Happy Everything!
Christmas Past: My holiday card from 14 years ago featuring Otis, whom I had just adopted from a rescue group. He’s now gone but lives on in Yuletide spirit today and the other 364. Christmas Presents: Having our house filled with all of our three kids/spouses and our six newly-hatted grandchildren. Life is […]
Mission Accomplished: Oti’s Odyssey: A Rescue Dog’s “Tail” Will Be Published!
Thanks so much (and a huge “AROOO!!” from Otis beyond the Rainbow Bridge) to everyone who pledged to my Kickstarter campaign to publish my book Oti’s Odyssey: A Rescue Dog’s “Tail” . Because of overwhelming response and generosity, I can include more pages in the book, and print it in a larger format than I’d originally […]
No Fooling: I’ve Launched a Dog Book on Kickstarter!
Today may be April Fool’s Day, but I kid you not: I just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund my new book, Oti’s Odyssey: A Rescue Dog’s “Tail.” Otis along with his littermates and parents was abused neglected and left for dead—then dramatically rescued, fostered and adopted to my family to become a therapy dog, […]
Lordy MAMA, I need your vote!
Nominations for the 2015 Madison Area Music Awards—affectionately known as the MAMAS—are out, and yours truly has received nominations for eight songs from my 2014 album Better Late Than Never, in six categories. I’m going for the gold (or whatever color their awards are) in the folk, country, pop, alternative, world and unique categories, and […]
I’m Galapogized
My wife Jude and I just returned from a 19-day odyssey to Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands (as they’re known, though technically speaking, they’re an archipelago). No words– even mine– can do justice to the jaw-dropping array of creatures we saw– as often as not, within arm’s length. It is a Herculean (Darwinian?) task even […]