Then: The Hat Trick

I found that they had several Peddler’s Malls in Kentucky shortly after we moved there. In the unbelievable piles of crazy stuff that is being sold in these stores, I found a hat. I was looking for music related things like a Fender hat, but saw one that said, “Ernie Ball” . I remembered that way back in high school I used to buy Ernie Ball strings. I decided to buy the hat. And, as you can guess, when I went out to the bars to listen to the local bands, I wore the hat. When the bands took a break, the musicians would notice the hat and ask if I played. I would gladly reply that I did, but I was only a song writer and never performed on stage. They wanted to know about my songs, so I gave them a card to direct them to my website and my primitive “sketches” of home recorded songs. I thought that this was fun, so I always wore my Ernie Ball hat and brought cards to hand out. I was interested in learning about bands and wanted to talk to performing (gigging) musicians. You see some crazy things at the bars in Louisville late at night. One night, I listened to an old man tell me about his troubles in his neighborhood and with his gangster son. It became an easy word-for-word song I call “Don’t Bring You Troubles to Our House.” I also was handed free “high roller” tickets to see Roger Daltrey of the Who at the Horseshoe Casino! That was a great show and something that I would not have gone to see on my own. It affected the recording of my song “All Fall Down”. One night I saw a band called the Bleeding Hearts from Indianapolis. Their lead singer was Tim Brickley. I was impressed by his versions of the cover songs that they were doing. He didn’t just try to mimic them, he made them “his own”. I told him that I enjoyed what he was doing and gave him my card as usual. He was very friendly and tolerant of the old amateur. He did listen to my songs and liked them. So, when I saw him again on another night, he told me that he was a producer up in Indy and that I should come up and “flesh out” my songs there at his recording studio, Hit City. I am thinking that the “hat trick” was on me. I was now going to have to learn how to record a song and work with a (genius) musician. Yikes!

Then: The Sun Shines Bright On My Old Kentucky Gnome

So, we packed up our stuff to move to Louisville, Kentucky to take care of Liam, while his parents worked. They need a break and "instant" baby sitters at non-work times too. We were glad to help out. Liam is our only grandchild and we love to be with him! The trip was challenging because we had to drive a big U-Haul truck across the U.S. whom we named "Bob". We should have gotten a smaller truck and forced ourselves to get rid of more stuff, so that our things would have to fit into it. But, that is another story. We got to Louisville and moved into a one bedroom apartment. After a full four bedroom house in Oregon, it was tiny! I used the closet for a painting studio and the possibility of doing quiet recording using the little mic from the language program became nearly impossible. I still wrote some songs, but I needed to branch out and meet some other musicians to learn the "business" of music. Louisville had three casinos that became a Mecca for us during our stressful change of location and life. We didn't hit any cash jackpots there, but they did have live bands and performers that you could see for a beer. I also started meeting people in the bars and listening to their stories. I was never a "bar guy"and going to a place like that was new for me. But, my songs were about to change, or should I say, "grow up." The KY gnome was a card I made for my wife Dee. So who did I meet in those bars????

Now: New song

I just finished writing a new song called "Up On The Fence". What a shock? We seem to always be waiting on something or someone in our lives. It is a Rock song that has some new "extra" invented chords and a catchy rhythm in it. I will try to put new "sketches" of songs on this Blog after I get some recording issues solved. I want them "thicker" first.