Better Late Than Never– The Album
My performing career began at age five when I crooned “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” for a nickel in an Iowa supper club. But what really spun my compass was The Beatles’ American invasion shortly after I turned 12. I dreamed of writing songs for an album (in those vinyl days) of my own. Dreams can […]
Raging With the Grannies
Why I love Madison, Reason #862: This past Saturday I was part of Make Music Madison, a day-long free Summer Solstice celebration in which about 250 musicians of all stripes played at outdoor venues (weather permitting) across the city– ranging from backyards to the lobby of our airport. I was stationed at the downtown Madison Library, where […]
History Repeating Itself
There’s nothing profound I can add to the ceremonies and sentiments that will abound on Memorial Day today. We will honor our service folks who have died serving our country, and that’s the way it should be. It’s impossible to place a calculation on that level of sacrifice. The best I can offer is a […]
Shilling for a Cause
Though it may surprise you who read my blog, I’m a big advocate of literacy. As a writer, I owe my living to peoples’ being able to read, it’s that simple. Even in the Madison area, which places itself among Cheeseland’s intelligentsia, there are a surprising number of folks who have trouble reading. I learned […]
Everybody’s Irish
… At least today. I’m actually part Scottish, but I’ve developed a Guinness-strength musical connection to the Emerald Isle. St. Paddy’s is one of my two biggest performing seasons (the other is Christmas), and this year I’m in the midst of morphing into Paddy O’Chair for a record 10 performances. It’s a marathon of toe […]
The Day the Music Lived
Don McLean’s “American Pie” pronounced Buddy Holly’s sudden 1959 death as “The day the music died.” Perhaps so, but nobody my age will forget 50 years ago today when it came roaring back to life with the Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. We kids and our families were still reeling from another unforgettable event, President Kennedy’s assassination […]
Bye Bye Phil
Phil Everly and his brother Don were a testament to the power of two. They are forever enshrined among us who have ever tried to sing in harmony, and everyone else who listens to the countless bands they influenced. The Everlys’ few years of fame beginning in 1957 was before my musical time. But they […]
Do Good, Get Stuff
I have what I call a “10% Solution”: I donate 10% of my earnings from musical performances and author programs to charity. I typically try some new causes each year; and while many seem extremely worthwhile, others seem to exert their greatest energy trying to get more money from me. I recently ran across The Hunger Site […]
My Main Squeeze
As you undoubtedly know if you’ve turned on your computer or TV (or less likely, picked up an actual newspaper), today is the first anniversary of the Newtown Massacre that killed 27 people (including the murderer’s mother), most of them elementary school kids. There is little I can say to elaborate on this monumental tragedy. Newtown […]
More Triangle!
This weekend I sat in with Piper Road, a legendary bluegrass/swing band I’ve joined occasionally for many years. These guys are so transcendent on strings that I stick to percussion, banging and scratching rhythms in the background to whatever they’re playing. So it was to the band’s great surprise– and nobody more than myself– that […]