Creative country/folk music both humorous and sad with an old fashioned country flavor.

23 MP3 Songs in this album (74:12) !
Related styles: COUNTRY: Traditional Country, FOLK: Modern Folk

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Details:
CRYING DYING FISHING AND DOGS

My daughterâs name is Christy Jean. When she was very young she had some troubles with nightmares. I was learning guitar and I wrote âSleep My Childâ and âTime To Go To Bed Christy Jeanâ as lullabies to give her comforting thoughts before she went to sleep. I was trying to give her more pleasant dreams. It seemed to work. These songs are a few years old as Christy Jean is now a married adult and she is my favorite fishing and singing buddy. I wanted to record those songs for her and posterity. I have two sons Mark and Ken. In the original âTime to Go To Bed Christy Jeanâ there was a line that said tell âMark and Ken good nightâ. To make the song more universal I have changed that to âTell Barbie and Ken Good Nightâ. Obviously a reference to her Barbie dolls and Barbieâs boy friend Ken. This does leave Mark out of the song and I hope that he forgives me for dropping his name from the song.

The âPrisonerâs Letter To Godâ was also written many years ago and every once in awhile I re-write and polish it. It seems to be time to record it.

All the rest of the songs were written in the past two-three years and I just needed to record them because that kind of puts an end to their haunting my brain.

I am very well aware that this CD has no central theme and is a just a collection of songs with way too many ballads. I love ballads and they are what I love to write. All the advice that I get from professionals is to not write ballads, as they never sell. âSeventyâ percent of the songs that are written are slow ballads and only âsevenâ percent of the songs played on radio and in clubs are slow ballads. So, you are doomed before you start. I guess I never listened too well. I do have some fans that say they love my slow ballads and that encourages me. My daughter Christy sings with me occasionally and when we get together to sing for ourselves we end up singing ballads and sad songs. When we sing in a club or at a party we, like everybody else, are forced into singing 90 percent up-tempo tunes.

I do get questions about my home life. I write a lot of stuff about crying and dying and breaking up and feeling blue. I wanted to tell the world that I just celebrated my 44th wedding anniversary. I consider myself a pretty happy guy and I am not greatly disappointed with my life. I do write sad songs because I believe that âOur sweetest songs tell of saddest thoughtsâ. Needless to say, things that happen in my life and the lives of family and friends have influenced me. But, I need you to know these songs are fiction. I pick an emotion or feeling that passes by and I create a song. Sometimes I create a song because I heard or came up with a hook line. The song âTwo To Two Fifteenâ was born in a deer stand at about that time of day. I often take pencil and paper with me when hunting to write down song ideas. The deer stand is a great place to write songs. It is nice and peaceful in the woods and sometimes, unfortunately, there are hours that there are no deer walking by to distract you.

Iâve been advised to come up with a description of my music. Well, I guess I would say it is definitely simple old classic country style with heavy folk influence. Because I am a senior citizen it sometimes has themes that are from the unique perspective of an elder. Songs like âBeyond Our Wishing Starâ, âHolding Hands While Cryingâ âI Thought You Would Love Meâ, âHeavenâs Angelsâ and âJesus Hold Me Gentlyâ all have themes that younger songwriters, perhaps, have not worried about yet.

Making a CD of all your own songs is a not as easy as it may seem. It is frightening, frustrating and fun.