Posts by John Duggleby:
Sweet Hemptation
As part of a national movement– and now, congressional bill– to legalize growing industrial hemp (not to be confused with pot) in the U.S., Milwaukee recently held a Hempfest to showcase the many uses of the versatile product, which was once raised legally in our country, as it is in at least 30 others. As part of the observance, Hempfest Milwaukee sponsored a socio-political songwriting contest, and I won first prize out of about 40 entries for my song, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” Inspired by a bumper sticker I saw, the song is my answer to those who claim to know God’s will and use it as a rationale for their personal agendas. It is my first win in a songwriting contest; so if I’m a believer in anything, it’s the power of music!
A Singing Chicken? You Bet Your Tail Feathers!
Let it never be said that, as a performer, I’m inflexible. I’m still pliable enough to wiggle into a chicken costume (ask me sometime how I got it), and by Foghorn Leghorn, I’m doing it in a new musical program. “Boogie in the Barnyard” celebrates country life and animalia from around the world, with songs […]
Bye-Bye Boogie-Woogie Bugle Babe
One of the giants of recorded music, Patty Andrews, passed this week. “Who is Patty Andrews?” you might ask if you’re anywhere younger than my parents. Patty was the lead singer and last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, a trio of youngsters who blew out of Minneapolis like a hurricane and dominated the pop […]
Silent Morning
It’s a white Christmas morning on my little cul-de-sac behind the Cheddar Curtain, thanks to a blizzard five days ago that registered as the second-highest 24-hour snowdump in Madison history. I’m flushing out the cobwebs with coffee after attending an old-fashioned midnight service with all the celebratory trimmings with my neighbors at their cathedral-like church. […]
Bright Saturday
Does it strike anyone else as curious that the gluttonous shopping orgy we call Black Friday has the same label used over the years to describe: One of the worst financial days in U.S. history A windstorm on the Scottish coast that killed 189 fishermen A women’s suffrage event where over 200 females were assaulted by English police A day […]
The Greatest Generation
This time of year, around Veteran’s Day, I perform my “Sentimental Journey’ show of World War II era music a lot at senior venues. Many in the audience are veterans of military service, but all are journeymen (and women) from one of the toughest roads life has ever thrown in our nation’s path. These are people […]
Playing for the 47 Percent
Dear Mitt, I normally try to keep politics off my web blog, figuring that most people get overstuffed from several other places. But I just had to respond to your concern about the 47 percent of “takers” in our country that threaten “makers” like you and those rich folks you addressed. You’re absolutely right, these […]
Still Fab After All These Years
Almost 49 years after their iconic American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, there is still nothing like the Beatles. But the next best thing is a tribute to the Fab Four, such as the BeatleFest I played in Spring Green, Wisconsin on Labor Day. My role in the seven-hour Liverpoolooza was small—I sang five […]
Welcome, Sophia and Kerry!
I’d like to welcome two more new people to my ever-growing list from international commercial real estate leader Jones Lang LaSalle, my largest client for the past several years. One is Sophia Stewart, who has engaged me to write a paper involving data center real estate decision making. The other is Kerry Perez, who has tapped […]
Eat Your Heart Out, American Idol!
I recently participated in perhaps the only type of talent exhibition not splashed all over reality TV. It was for residents and staff of St. Mary’s Care Center, where as John the Drummer Guy I’ve led a senior drumming circle called the “Beat Generation” for many months. We play different rhythms, some of which we invent on the spot, […]