Show Some Love for MAMA!
GOOD NEWS! This will be the last time this year I’ll ask you to donate to a charity– and it’s only $5. The Madison Area Music Assn. has opened voting for its annual MAMA Awards, our biggest fundraiser of the year. Voting costs only $5, and ALL the money raised goes toward providing instruments and equipment to kids and musical organizations in need. In today’s environment, that private sector help has never been more critical.
I’ve received a few MAMA Awards in the past, but there is always room on my mantel for more. This year I’m nominated for
— Performer/Singer-Songwriter
— Performer/Folk
— Instrumentalist/Percussion (handpan, cajon, bodhran, etc.)
— Blues Song of the Year– “Roadrunner” (featuring Lance Brown)
Voting is easy:
1) Go to https://themamas.org/, and click on the First Round of Voting link
2) You will be transferred to the registration page (run by my friend Roy Elkins, owner of Broadjam), asked for the $5 donation, then forwarded to the voting page.
3) There are a slew of categories, just go to the ones I’ve mentioned above and vote for the guy whose name rhymes with “Sluggleby”. You’ll also need to select three others in each of those categories to record your vote.
4) When you’re done, hit VIEW SUMMARY/FINALIZE VOTE at the top. If you’re local, I’d urge you to peruse the other categories as well and vote for your favorites– many of who are my friends.
Voting deadline is March 29; but if you’re like me, do it now so you don’t forget. Any confusion, just gimme a holler. If I make the finals in anything, I’ll be asking you for a follow-up vote, but it will be free. Hope you’ll support me– and most importantly– my MAMA!
My Favorite Things: Trump Edition
NEW SONG! I always say, don’t just fight it– write it! I borrowed the Rogers & Hammerstein classic “My Favorite Things”, and swapped out Julie Andrews for Donald Trump. Talk about your worst nightmare! See what you think; lyrics follow.
My Favorite Things: Trump Edition, Lyrics by John Duggleby, music by Rogers & Hammerstein
Throwing up fences and yanking out flowers Russian hotel rooms with warm golden showers Morons who squeal when I dance or I sing These are a few of my favorite things Powder puff questions from nubile Fox News wussies Women who gasp when I grope at their pussies Ardent ass-kissers in MAGA hat bling These are a few of my favorite things
When the libs gripe, when Colbert snipes, when I’m boiling mad I simply post all of my favorite things, then I don’t feel so bad
Racists, misogynists, bullies and haters, Putin and Kim, all those brutal dictators Suckers who send all the cash I can wring These are a few of my favorite things Right-wing podcasters and migrant enslavers, Tech billionaires who kowtow for my favors Crazies who think I’m a Christ or a king These are a few of my favorite things
When the polls dip, when my hair slips, when I think I’m had I just tell Melania my favorite things, then I don’t feel so bad
The Musical Fruit
Bush’s Beans ran a competition with a $15,000 prize for a video jingle with a more kindly treatment of the old rhyme “Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot!” I wrote this and recorded it with my friend and sometimes musical collaborator Codrut Birsan, and my wife Jude Thomas shot this video in his living room as we were joined by his two precious daughters.
We didn’t win, but we sure had fun and Codrut and I are now inspired to try to get a jingle writing business going. Stokely, Van Camp’s, Del Monte, Goya, Campbell’s et al– lend us your ears!
New Song: “Roadrunner”
Inspired by a 2023 month in Tucson and a childhood of Warner Brothers cartoons, “Roadrunner” is an anthropomorphic flight (actually, dash) of covetous fantasy. It is also the last song I recorded with longtime friend, duo partner and producer/recording engineer Dave Hopper, who sadly left us before we could add a final lead guitar part.
Enter Chicagoan Lance Brown, my songwriting guru and absolute guitar shredmeister. Lance added a crunchy blues exclamation to the proceedings, and I can now submit it for your approval. If you like it, you can download it from any major streaming service and earn me a penny. Join me on the refrain: “Beep-Beep!”
Happy May Day!
Here’s a song about a favorite tree in my neighborhood that I wrote during a less joyful time, when we were in the early throes of Covid. Excuse the crappy iPhone video until I get around to recording a proper version.
New song: “Hard Times”!
Well, newly recorded, anyway. It’s inspired by my favorite Stephen Foster song, “Hard Times Come Again No More”. I actually wrote this in 2019, when it seemed things in our country couldn’t get any worse. Then came Covid; so you never can tell. Today, it seems just as relevant. But in the grand tradition of the blues, writing a song about hard times made them sting a bit less to me, and I hope listening to it does the same for you. Here’s a link: https://soundcloud.com/duggleby/hard-times
Thanks to Dave Hopper as always for his engineering skill and infinite patience! If you like it, you can stream it on a couple dozen of the most popular services, and earn me a penny!
Wildfire Smoke– the song!
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when life gives you polluted skies, I say write a song about it. Submitted for your approval: “Wildfire Smoke”. I don’t need to explain the inspiration for this original ditty, but I’d especially like to thank friend and fellow musician Jim McSherry for suggesting I write a song about this; and engineer/producer extraordinaire Dave Hopper for helping it hit the street quicker than a smog blanket from Quebec. Here’s a Soundcloud link so you can be the first in your corner of cyberspace to hear Wildfire Smoke, instead of seeing, smelling and tasting it: https://soundcloud.com/duggleby/wildfire-smoke It is also available on all streaming services that matter. (No CDs any more. I’m already stumbling over too many boxes of unsold merch in my basement).
Wildfire Smoke– get it while it’s hot!
Help Take Me to My MAMA!
I’m a finalist for a 2023 Madison Area Music Association (MAMA) Award for Classical/World/Unique Performer (whew!). It seems that they’ve mashed a few categories together. I guess at my age I’m a classic, my songbook includes a world of variety, and anyone who sometimes performs in a chicken costume can sure be considered unique. So I’m asking you to support me and– most importantly– help underfunded school music programs and interested kids who can’t afford an instrument.
Just go to the Madison Area Music Association’s web site page, themamas.org/vote.php to get started. Just follow the instructions from there. Ultimately you should be on the voting page (with a black background). There a gazillion categories, and you don’t have to go through every one (unless you know these folks, many of whom are very talented friends of mine), but I humbly ask that you vote for:
CLASSICAL/WORLD/UNIQUE PERFORMER: John Duggleby
Voting is free to anyone including the whole Facebook universe, but I hope you’ll answer the opportunity to make a donation to MAMA. As I noted earlier, ALL proceeds go to helping raise money for local music programs and musicians who need it most. Give me a cyber holler if you have any issues. My MAMA thanks you, and so do I!
Rainbow Friday Merch Sale!
Getting into the spirit of things, I’m slashing the price of my three in-print family books and two originals CDs by HALF between now and Christmas. Which means I’m practically giving them away, but I’m grateful for all the support folks have given me over the years, and this is my way of saying thanks. My mercantile includes:
ARTIST IN OVERALLS: THE LIFE OF GRANT WOOD– $4
OTI’S ODYSSEY: A RESCUE DOG’S “TAIL”– $6
DIPPER: HOW LOUIS ARMSTRONG FOUND HIS GROOVE– $6
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER CD (12 SONGS)– $6
CASTAWAY CD (DOUBLE ALBUM! 21 SONGS)– $7.50
Shipping is $5 for the first item, $1 for each additional. Books can be SIGNED as you wish for a special person– including yourself! Order by December 9 for holiday delivery.
If you’re interested (I hope/I hope!), message me to get Johnny Elf working on your order. Love global, buy local!
My MAMA Loves Me!
Recently my song “Sunflowers (For Ukraine) received the Madison Area Music Association’s MAMA Award for 2022 Folk/Alternative Song of the Year. This is southern Wisconsin’s version of the Grammys, and I’m surprised and humbled to be voted for this honor from among the gazillion incredibly talented musicians in this region. If you haven’t heard it, here ’tis: https://soundcloud.com/duggleby/sunflowers-for-ukraine
In the spirit of the Grammys, of course I have thank-yous:
— To the incredibly courageous citizens of Ukraine whose words and actions against all odds inspired my own. This is what freedom looks like, and I hope with all my heart that they will prevail in the end.
— To my Chicago friend and maestro Codrut Birsan, whose beautiful instrumental composition inspired me to shape it into this song. Codrut also recorded me, played all instruments and effects on his keyboard, and even lent his Pavarotti-like tenor to the final refrain.
— To all of you who voted for me and have supported my work over the years. As my mom used to say, “Love ya loads!”
— To MAMA itself for not just bonding our musical community, but for its main mission of helping underfunded school music programs and needy kids wishing to play an instrument. If you haven’t already, consider donating to this worthy cause here: https://themamas.org/donate.php
So come out to hear me live, and I’ll play “Sunflowers” just for you! (okay, and whoever else shows up) And, it’s available on a couple dozen steaming platforms including Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Tik Tok, etc. etc. 
