A unique album of original music from a talented and versatile songwriter who shifts effortlessly from rock to folk to R&B to country to blues and even jazz.

14 MP3 Songs in this album (41:51) !
Related styles: Rock: Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Blues: Rockin' Blues, Mood: Quirky

People who are interested in Neil Young should consider this download.


Details:
Eclectic Circus is a collection of songs from unfinished and unreleased projects, started and stopped over a period of 20 years. It spans rock, blues, jazz, R&B, country and folk.

Notes On The Songs:

1. Death is a Slow Train is from a project I call âA History of My Bluesâ. The Grim Reaperâs been here the whole time. Each day heâs one step closer.

2. A Long Way Down to Paradise is from an as yet un-named, mood project Iâve been working on. Think Tombstone, a hot desert wind, sand in your boots, grit in your eye, face to face with a rattlesnake.

3. Full Time Fool wrote itself in my sleep. It was loosely based on the dayâs events, as dreams so often are. I wrote it down the moment I woke up. The only thing that I did was change the key from Bb major. I must have been dreaming in saxophone.

4. Whoâs That Boy is for and about my grandson, Sasha. I picture him wearing his CGBG T-shirt, holding a microphone to his face and dancing around the living room. âLetâs jamâ, he shouts. I quickly reach for my guitar. âYou can be anything you want to be--you can touch the stars.â

5. Galaxie 500 is inspired by events from my youth, growing up in northern Alberta. My friendâs dad had a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500. He was away from home working on the oil rigs 3 weeks out of every month, which gave us lots of opportunities to liberate the Galaxie 500 and take it joyriding down the gravel backroads, blowing through the courtesy intersections at 90 m.p.h. Itâs a wonder I made it through the 60âs alive.

6. Razor evolved from something that was even darker into a song about cutting.

7. After A Time is from a project I call âHaikuâ. Technically the songs do not meet the definition
of the poetic form. But they all contain a single thought and come and go in the space of a
minute or so.

8. Walkinâ Blues is from a project I call âWhite Boy Bluesâ. The shoe fits.

9. Unwelcome Guest is the only cover tune on the album. I heard it one morning performed by singer-songwriter Tariq on the CBC radio show, North by Northwest. I sometimes think of it as a happy song about depression. Although that is not quite correct, I find inspiration in the message, âIâm not giving up yetâ.

10. Queen Size Mama is an homage to Big Beautiful Women. A little bit cheeky, it started off with a looseness and feel to it that made me think ârhythm and bluesâ. So I added some horns to seal the deal.

11. Your Mommyâs a Ghoul is from a project tentatively entitled âSubversive Songs for Second Gradersâ. Iâm not too sure how their parents will take it.

12. My Father My Friend was written in the mid 90s with my friend Peter McLean. He recorded a beautiful demo featuring his strong, pure voice and solo fingerstyle guitar. I like it so much I thought Iâd try the same arrangement, but it was not meant to be. In the end I threw everything at this song and then let it settle out. The result is an eclectic mix of dobro, fiddle, strings, piano, acoustic and electric guitars, bass and drums.

13. Poem For Larry is a tone poem I wrote for friend, Larry Baptist. Larry is a tenor sax player and is responsible for setting me straight on the rightful place of the tenor sax as the horn of choice.

14. Wall Street Meltdown was written after the crash in 2008 and still rings true today. In fact, I think the big one is yet to come.