A song based on a poem of the same name written by Michael Blumenthal about the aging process featuring Paul Ragland on keyboards and Mark Poole on percussion.

It happens to birds, it happens to trees
It happens to animals, plants and the sea
It wasn’t supposed to happen to me

It happened to him, it happened to her
It happened to Omar, it happened to Drew
It wasn't supposed to happen to you

It happened to Ford, and Carter too
And Reagan and Clinton, and you know who 
It happens to all those who still want to be

But who would have thought it would happen?
Who would have thought it would happen?
Who would have thought it would happen?
To me

BREAK

It happens to rhinos, and baby roos
It happens to nightingales, and swallows too
You never imagined it'd happen to you.

I knew them all through their formative years
My friends now on crutches in Room 33
I never imagined it'd happen to me

Oh well, that’s the cycle, our own trinity
Youth to old age, with some calm inbetween
It happens to all of us, just let it be

It will happen to you, friends. It’s happening.
It will happen to you, friends. It’s happening.
It will happen to you, friends. It’s happening.
To little old me

It Happens

Join me as I sit down with Paul Marganian for a trip down his musical memory lane. Paul is currently fiddle player with the Elk River Ramblers in Pocahontas Co, WV. He talks about his journey as an electric bass player, engineer, time in India and about some of his recent recording projects. We hear one of his tunes that describes the Laser Antenna Surface Scanning Instrument (LASSI) at the Green Bank Observatory, as well as a close out with a Pink Floyd cover by the Elk River Ramblers.

Musical Lives #20 - Paul Marganian

Join me as I sit down with local singer songwriter Mary Angel Blount to talk about her musical journey that has led her to Morgantown WV. We feature two songs: "Off The Grid" and "Finding the River" from an album that we recorded together with the Morgantown band Second Cousin.

Musical Lives #23 - Mary Angel Blount

Demo version of a Martin Taylor arrangement of this hit made famous by Barbara Streisand in 1965. This song was written by Herbert Martin and Michael Leonard and was written for the Broadway Musical "The Yearling"

Why Did I Choose You?

My try at Pat Martino's arrangement of the Joni Mitchell classic recorded around the one year anniversary of Pat's passing :( You can find a video of the performance here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjdUmHxQ31Y

Both Sides Now

To mark 100 years since Wes Montgomery's birth (March 6, 1923), here's one of his pieces for solo guitar.

Mi Cosa

Join me as I sit down in Steve Frisch's backyard for a conversation and a listen to four of his tunes: "How Else", "Skye McDougall", "Amethyst" and "Stories". We'll learn about Steve's roots, his approach to songwriting and recount some of his experiences along the way. It's a great chat, and the melodies are really different and thought provoking.

Musical Lives #29 - Steve Frisch

Join me as I sit down with Nashville-based singer/songwriter/musician Jeff Miller to discuss his musical journey into the world of looping guitar. Jeff has a lot of great advice for songwriting and performing during the hour. We close out with a tune "Perfect 10" from his upcoming album.

Musical Lives #30 - Jeff Miller

A Christmas classic by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent in 1943 to honor all the service men and women away from their families for the holidays. You can find this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/skJ0CzASttg?feature=shared.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

A quick version of Frank Loesser's standard from 1947!

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Live/studio version of this timeless tune that (unfortunately) still rings true so many years after it first featured in South Pacific in 1949. Featuring Paul Ragland on keyboards and Mark Poole on percussion! If you are wondering who the mystery bass player is, it's Paul's left hand on the nord electro6!

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

Join me as I sit down with Lorimer Burst! Dennis Struhl, Matthieu Fabiene and Arne Grosser were kind enough to take some time to chat with me over Zoom about the band that shares my name! You can find out more about them here:

https://lorimerburst.com

During the show, we listen to two of their tracks - Transition and Vityaz.

Musical Lives #31 - Lorimer Burst

Solo guitar arrangement (from Martin Taylor) of Benny Golson's 1957 tune to memorialize the great jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown who died tragically died on June 26, 1956.

I Remember Clifford

Join me as I chat with West Virginia artist Lady D to talk about her life on stage as a performer and some of her musical memories, including Bill Withers and getting to perform for the Obamas at the White House.

Musical Lives #32 - Lady D

A CD-length selection of our Concert at Wesley United Methodist Church.

An Evening With Paul Ragland and Duncan Lorimer

Join me as I sit down with Steve Halow, a singer songwriter based in southwestern PA. We'll learn about Steve's early years, his approach to writing songs and some of his influences. We feature three of his songs: Before The Light, Dry Spell and A Better View and hear the story behind each.

Musical Lives #33 - Steve Halow

Just a little tune with a simple message about being a friend. Here are the lyrics...

Whenever you're tired 
and weary
I'll be there for you 
Whenever you're cold 
and dreary 
I will see it through with you

You don't have to be 
All by yourself 
Or ever in despair 
You've got a friend 
Right here and
I'm not going anywhere 

Whenever you're sad
and departed 
I'll be there for you 
Whenever you're broken 
hearted 
I will lend an ear to you 

You don't have to be 
All by yourself 
Or ever in despair 
You've got a friend 
Right here and
I'm not going anywhere 

Whenever you're scared
and fearful
I'll be there for you 
Whenever you're lost
and tearful 
I will find the way with you

You don't have to be 
All by yourself 
Or ever in despair 
You've got a friend 
Right here and
I'm not going anywhere

Right Here

A little tune I wrote one cold spring day while stuck in a cabin in West Virginia!

Cabin Fever

After living in WV since 2006, you can't escape this tune! I choose to play it as an instrumental using (probably way too many!) reharmonized chords which change on almost every melody note. The intro was subconsciously borrowed from Waltzing Matilda I think.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

This Rodgers and Hart tune comes from the 1928 musical "Present Arms". My version was inspired by hearing Charlie Byrd play it solo many years ago!

You Took Advantage Of Me

Here's a new spin on one of my favorite Bill Withers tunes! I play guitar and fretless bass in this one and am doing the singing and mouth trumpet solo! Mark Poole provides a great shuffle beat using an echo on the snare drum.

Lovely Day

This track originally appeared on the 1944 movie Holiday Inn. It was supposed to be the big hit from the movie, but was totally eclipsed by "White Christmas"! Still, a great tune. This version features me on upright bass, guitar and vocals. Mark Poole supplies the percussion.

Be Careful, It's My Heart

Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas wrote this tune, but it's usually associated with Nina Simone who had probably the most memorable version. Here's my "open-mic" version!

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

This is a little tune I wrote recently about starting over and taking the plunge in love. For me this happened back in 2000 and this tune is dedicated to my wife! The title is based on a little phrase that we came up with sometime after we started dating :)This is the jazz combo version featuring Mark Poole on drums!

That Someone Is You

This track never made it to any of his 3 studio albums, and was released posthumously. It is one of my all-time favourite ND tunes!

Time Of No Reply (Nick Drake cover)

"Open mic" version of one of my favourite Gershwin tunes, with a definite steal from Jonathan Kreisberg's intro to this tune :)

Summertime

Here's a neat simulation by David Saroff of what an all-sky monitor for Fast Radio Bursts might sound like. The first 30-40 seconds set the scene with background noise from the Parkes telescope. After that, FRBs begin to rain down - about 30 of them during the 5 minute "observation". You can hear different intensities (volumes) and different dispersions (chirp lengths) of the FRBs as they sweep through the frequencies of the radio telescope. Here, the sky frequencies of 1.4 GHz have been converted to audible frequencies for your delectation :) The simulated bursts themselves come from work being carried out by my graduate student Akshaya Rane and represent bursts originating from cosmological distances. Their origin is still unkown!

Fast Radio Bursts

Almost Blue was written by Elvis Costello apparently for Chet Baker. Both Elvis and Chet have great versions of it, and I came about this tune from playing it with some great friends of mine. We even named our band after it, and this version is very close to how we played it at our shows.

Almost Blue

This "Big Band" tune was written by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell in 1940. This version is inspired by a vocal/guitar rendition I heard recently from Fiona Apple.

Don't Get Around Much Anymore

This song was originally written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Khan back in 1930. Nina Simone had perhaps the biggest hit with it in 1958. I updated a couple of the lyrics from her version, and the overall feel of the song is my attempt to capture her pianistic style in her version.

My Baby Just Cares For Me

Join me as I sit down with local blues guitarist Josh Arthurs and talk about his musical roots and influences which have helped him develop into an amazing musician carrying on a time-honored tradition.

Musical Lives #15 - Josh Arthurs

Join me as I sit down to talk to Elkins-based jazz musician Seth Maynard to learn about his musical journey. Seth talks about his early years, time at the Berklee school of Music, highs and lows on stage, experiences in the studio and as a teacher and lots of insights about performance and musicianship. Seth finishes out the hour with a stunning rendition of Beautiful Love.

Musical Lives #17 - Seth Maynard

Join me as I sit down with Soup Camel, aka Roland Hunn, who fronts Soup Camel Music - one of Morgantown's top bands who can be found playing all types of Americana. Soup describes his early years, love of Andrew White guitars and the origins and highlights of his musical journey so far. There are lots of great tips interspersed for budding performers on how to work a crowd and form a great band. Soup finishes with a solo rendition of one of my favorites of all his songs "You Know What I'd Do".

Musical Lives #18 - Soup Camel

Join me as I sit down with PA-based fingerstyle guitarist Bunny Barnes. In this lively hour, we learn about Bunny's beginnings in music, career as a middle-school german teacher, friendship with Doc Watson, her battle against cancer, and her path as an instrumental guitar player inspired and mentored by Tommy Emmanuel. There are lots of tidbits in here for players and listeners alike. Bunny closes out the episode with a beautiful rendition of "It Goes Like It Goes" which is going to feature as the title track on her forthcoming CD.

Musical Lives #19 - Bunny Barnes

Originally from the UK, I play for tips in wild and wonderful West Virginia. Thanks for listening! Check out videos for some of these tunes at my YouTube channel!
https://www.youtube.com/@DuncanLorimer

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