New mix, March 15, 2021.

--------------------------------------------------------

New production with new tracks, March 8, 2021.
Drums, bass, three (to five) acoustic guitars, electric guitar and vocals.

EVERY DAMN DAY

A: The whole damn world been yelling in my ear
All 2020 what a motherfuckin year
Always with the hate and death and the fear
Oh gimme something get me of here

Every damn day I’m walking the line between
Barefaced fools and bareass lies
The captain’s crazy and the ship’s on fire
While the chaplain says everything’s alright
B: But it ain’t alright where I come from
It ain’t alright
Every poor boy, every orphan son
Knows it ain’t alright where I come from

A: Death culture what we said back then
Ain’t no reason not to call it that again
Glorify the wages, idolize the sin
Then you’re gonna wonder ‘bout the shape you in

I shake my head and I blink my eyes
I tell myself I tell no lies
See the pretty people drop like flies
Heaven must be a fool's paradise
B: It ain't OK where I’m at
No it ain't Ok
You ain’t gotta ask the stars about that
It ain’t OK where I’m at

A: INSTRUMENTAL

B: It ain't OK where I’m at
No it ain't Ok
You ain’t gotta ask the stars about that
It ain’t OK where I’m at

EVERY DAMN DAY (p.2)

A: If you want good luck, you gotta walk clockwise
You told me about the chem trails up in the sky
You showed me where the devil burns sacrifices
Right on the trail by I-95

What brings you here, I know it ain’t my love
Boy it looks like push came to shove
Something ain’t right, something must have gone down
What brings you here to my hallowed ground

B: ‘Cause there ain't no love where you’re comin from
No there ain’t no love
Ya talk about the future,
‘talk about the dawn
But there ain’t no love
where you’re comin from

A: So every damn day I shade my eyes
I try to meditate on paradise
I tell myself I believe no lies
But still I got trouble get to sleep each night

The whole damn world been yelling in my ear
All 2020 what a motherfuckin year
Always with the hate and death and the fear
Oh gimme something get me of here

B: Nothing’s alright back where I belong
No it ain’t alright
Every lost soul, every orphan one
Knows it ain’t alright where I come from

B: No, it ain’t alright (repeat to chord pattern)

Every Damn Day

Newer recording of an older song. New mix, evening January 5, 2022.

IN THE LIGHT OF DAY

I’m coming back to life
Long rough night
Locked in my head all alone
Drive into the morning light
Cat nap will be tight when I get home

Shadows fade
Music plays
For a while nothin’ gets me down
But you don’t come back from where I been
Even though I’ve always been around

Could be worse
It ain't a curse, but
My heart it bursts every day
I hope for new eyes
I hope for no lies
In the light of day

There’s a mood out on the road
Don’t mean nobody good
Maybe stop a while and let it thin
Can’t be around the pain I’m in with
People breathing down my neck again

I’m a father and a son
I know where II come from
The reason why I run for my part
Just so I don’t come undone
I’m always playing dumb in my heart

Could be worse
It ain't a curse, but
I feel more certain every day
Wish for good friends
I hope this fear ends
In the light of day

Shadows swell and
My heart can tell that
Night is on its way
Hold me deep in your
Womb of sleep and don’t let me
Get away

There’s a reason why I run
I know where I come from
That ain’t really tough to see
It’s hard for you to understand
A man who don’t want what he needs

Hey all you fools, well your
Dreams come true
They’re just pictures in the air
Sacred cows, holy vows, come the night disappear

Could be worse
It ain't a curse, but
I shiver every night
‘Don’t like this skin I’m in
Just want the night to end
And bring the morning light

In The Light Of Day (2022)

Uploaded April 29, 2022. Newest mix May 9, 2022.

I WISH I'D KNOWN

Pour that morning coffee and roll that cigarette
Pickin' up the paper see another friend's gone dead
Starin' through the window to the sky
and shake my head
Thinkin' all the things I ought to say I ain't said yet

My eyes are full of memories that
See through me yet
Reveries and enemies
Itineraries of debt
A hobo heart's arrival
Stories of redress
Ghosts of old truth be told until they're laid to rest

I wish I'd known
These blues yesterday   
I would have phoned
I thought I had time to wait
Now you're gone
There's no more chance to take
Words on a stone
I wish I'd known

If I were so divined to know
The hour that you'll depart
I'd tear down every wall
To beat a path into your heart
Lay bare my confession   
Of envy fear and blood
And the fool I was alone with you the first time we made love

I remember you out on the bluff
And the deal we almost struck
But I wouldn't give enough
Words in stone
I wish I'd known (repeat instrumental)   

Pour that morning coffee and roll that cigarette   
The archives of another day receive me as a guest
I walk in this procession but every single step
Reminds me all the things I oughta say I ain't said yet

I wish I'd known
These blues yesterday   
I would have flown
Let nothing in my way
Now you're gone
There's no more chance to take
Words on a stone
I wish I'd known

I Wish I'd Known

Something up-tempo, short and hopefully sweet. Uploaded October 23, 2022. Last updated November 11, 2022.

DIANA

Look at that moon tonight my friend
I'll get the blues alright to no end 
I need a little slack 
It's just like a heart attack 
Whenever her face comes back to me

I've been in a mood tonight I'll say 
I'll have an attitude till Sunday
When my head goes numb 
I just want to hurt someone 
I wanna run away

Oh Diana 
I'm just a man 
Doing anything he can 
To get closer to you

How much of a fool can I be 
We don't even share the same reality
We're in different worlds 
Hobos and runway girls 
That's just a low life fantasy
 
Oh Diana 
I'm just a man 
Doing anything he can 
To get closer to you

I know I'll come around
When her memory's left town
I'll get my feet back on the ground

Look at that moon tonight my friend 
I'll get the blues alright to no end 
Cut me a little slack 
It's like a heart attack 
Whenever her face comes back to me

Oh Diana 
I'm just a man 
Doing anything he can 
To get closer to you

Diana

Version History:
1. Uploaded November 12, 2023
2. Revised November 16, 2023
3. Revised November 17, 2023

ORIONS

That blue October morning
You were falling like a star
Into the eyes of two lovers by the ocean
When they saw their own reflection
You were welcomed as a god
For they knew that they were somebody else then
They'd become somebody else

They saw you as a hero
Climbing in the sky
Just like Orion in the Winter
But how could they really know you
How it felt inside
To be the one to carry the sword
You didn't even know yourself

You can't say you were abandoned
When you run away and hide
All your arrows blunted by delights
It wasn't like one morning
You woke up compromised
That doesn't happen overnight 

Some are born iron
Some are born to sing
Some are born a fire in the rain
Some are born lions
Some are born to dream
But we all get here crying just the same
Crying for our name

The night of the Orions
You looked back on the years ￼
And watched the stars fall into the Delta
Everything inside you 
Finally still and clear
You'd become somebody else
Maybe you're just seeing yourself now

Orions

Just for fun - making the transition to some new gear and checking out some preliminary results with a favorite song of mine - by Jason Isbell, as usual.

Maybe It's Time (Cover)

DESPERATE FOR YOU

If I was lost baby
I’d read your signs
And follow down the dotted lines
If I was a star, baby
I’d put you in my scenes
But I’m always somewhere in between

I need to get breathless every day
‘Tend to get restless every night
‘Don’t expect you understand 
But here you are with a desperate man
Yeah, I’m desperate

If I could pick the locks, baby
I’d show you everything
And ask what you wanted me to bring 
But here on the block, baby
We’re doing so well 
Yeah from all we can tell
We’re lucky as hell

I still need to get breathless every day
I get restless every night
Then I wake up in a scare
Gotta know that you are there
I’m reaching for your hand  
Are we all just tears and sand?
I guess you understand, ‘cause
You’re still here with a desperate man
Yeah, I’m desperate

So one of these days, baby
When we get old
You be my rock, I’ll be your roll

I still need to get breathless every day
I get restless every night
Then I wake up half a scream
Like it wasn’t all a dream
Then I’m reaching for your hand
Is it all just tears and sand?
Yeah I guess you understand 
‘Cause here you are with a desperate man
Yeah, I’m desperate

Desperate For You

Desperate For You (Studio)

Totally live jam track featuring Lena June Redding on vocals, recorded October 4, 2014. Great song by Judee Sill, clumsily here re-interpreted ala Shawn Colvin's version from Cover Girl.

"There's A Rugged Road" (By Judee Sill) - Cover

Kickin' round a classic at the "Overlea Done" jam session of October 4, 2014.

Corrine, Corrina (Traditional)

Just a retake on one of my favorite cover songs "Dirty Old Town", originally by The Pogues. This version is all me just messing around in the studio and the tempo is a little slower than the original.

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
Spring's a girl from the streets at night
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
I smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I'm gonna make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

Dirty Old Town

A very old original I've always wanted to work more on - state of the work at the moment.

RESTLESS SLEEPER

I sat down and wrote this letter
Like I usually wouldn’t do
But this time I thought it better
If I say these things to you
I know you don’t like the drama
Keep it plausibly denied
But every now and then I’m gonna
Let my heart outside

‘Always been a restless sleeper
If there’s anyone around
I know what can dig you in deeper
I don’t look for none in town
I’ve never been a true believer
In anything I’ve found
Still you know how bad I need you
So you barely make a sound

Slipping away, some people say
Pretty soon this will all be gone
So while it’s today
I just want to say “So long, so long.”

It’s hard to talk about the future
When there ain’t much of it there
Remember, we’ll forget what we used to
Take for granted without a care
So while we share this light above us
And the spirit’s in the air
I just want to say, “I love us”
And I’m glad that you are here

Slipping away, some people say
Pretty soon this will all be gone
So while it’s today
I just want to say So long
So long
So long

Restless Sleeper

Studio version.

DEAD MAN’S SHOES

Monday morning, got those morning blues
Fishing around for a dead man’s shoes
You put them to the test put ‘em on the tar
Put ‘em in the dirt I think they’re gonna go far
Big debate about the gain and loss
Either way you’re carryin’ a dead man’s cross

My daddy died I heard somebody said
Now you remember all those things in his head
Tell it to the kids tell it to the men
Standing on the corner with their empty hands
Gone ain’t forgotten that’s all in your head
We don’t disappear we reappear dead

Sneakers hanging on the telephone wire
Books you gotta hide to keep out of the fire
Empty houses empty schools
Don’t want to be a captain on a ship of fools
Turn off the phone you ain’t alone
You’re only free to lose
Wake up tomorrow in a dead man’s shoes

My brother died I heard somebody say
Beautiful dude too soon gone away.
What about his shoes, they have so much tread
What about the Black and what about the Red
Big debate don’t let it go to your head
Either way you owe yourself a dead man’s debt

Sneakers hanging on the telephone wire
Books you gotta hide to keep out of the fire
Empty houses empty schools
Don’t want to be a captain on a ship of fools
Turn off the phone you ain’t alone
You’re only free to lose
Wake up tomorrow in a dead man’s shoes

Mystery
History
Property
Poverty
Misery
Victory
Liberty
You and me
Burning flags and bloody crosses
Either way you're carrying a dead man's losses

Dead Man's Shoes

Dead Man's Shoes (Studio)

MY LAST FOOTSTEPS (STUDIO)
Growing up in Essex, Maryland in the 50's and 60's.

MY LAST FOOTSTEPS

Some folks’ life like a four leaf clover
Seem like they’re lucky all the time
One thing I learned when I think it over is
That life – it ain’t mine
I come up in Essex Maryland
With the Flamingos and the hoods
Dual carb, double barreled Chevies
Dairy Queens and Thunderbirds
Cuban heels and continentals
Joe College preppies daddy’s cash
India ink tattoos so you know who’s who
If you got a hat pin and a match

I want my last footsteps to keep the beat
I want my last footsteps to be deep
I want my last footsteps to be sweet
I want my last footsteps to go in in peace

Johnny Rebs and Southern whiskey
And pedal steel on the box
Greg knocked over the pharmacy again
This time he ran before he got caught
All crumbled up in the back room
Between the cocaine and the barbs
When the cops walked in shook their heads and grinned
And they put him behind bars

Now Billy’s waxing down the Mustang
He's got a handgun in the glove
He’s got his hair back in a Duck’s Ass
And he’s going out with the one he love
He’s gonna pick her up at Gino’s
Her old man won’t have a clue
If he can’t have her nobody will
Let ‘em fish her out of the lagoon
I can’t believe it every morning
When I put my feet back on the earth
But I can hear my last footsteps
And I can tell they’re gettin’ close

I want my last footsteps to walk in truth
I want my last footsteps to get to you
I want my last footsteps to leave a mark
I want my last footsteps to walk in your heart

I want my last footsteps to keep the beat
I want my last footsteps to be deep
I want my last footsteps to be sweet
I want my last footsteps to go in in peace

My Last Footsteps (Studio)

Robert Darlington and I entirely live jamming on my song "The Machine", about, you know, the machine.

THE MACHINE 
VERSE
Today I read the news
Oh man it was nothing but food for the blues 
Nothing left to lose but pain and toomuch memory

It’s all shock and awe
Pretty much the damnedest things you ever saw 
All the way from Gaza to Ferguson to Ukraine

But back here in the dream
It ain’t so bad we watch it on TV
But closing in the distance is the hum
of the machine

CHORUS:
Through the fog and through the night
I feel the heat, I see the light
I see it in your eyes and the fires in the streets
Who'd 'a thought it'd come to this
At razor wire we raise our fists
Before we can kiss, we must resist
The machine

VERSE:
So we mill around the books
Log our complaints and document our looks
It ain't the way, but it's ok 
With the machine
Meanwhile, back at our jobs
We push the buttons and turn the knobs
Look for a chance to through a wrench 
Into the cogs 

They'll say you're chosen ones
But you're just pawns kept comfortably numb
So even in my slumber there's the hum of the machine

CHORUS:
Through the fog and through the night
I feel the heat, I see the light
I see it in your eyes and the fires in the streets
Who'd 'a thought it'd come to this
At razor wire we raise our fists
Before we can kiss, we must resist
The machine
VERSE:

INSTRUMENTAL FOR TWO OF THREE VERSE SECTIONS

They'll come a time history knows
First shall be last and the last shall be first 
Chapter and verse - end of the curse 
Of the machine

CHORUS:
Through the fog and through the night
I feel the heat, I see the light
I see it in your eyes and the fires in the streets
Who'd 'a thought it'd come to this
At razor wire we raise our fists
Before we can kiss, we must resist
The Machine

Who'd 'a thought it'd come to pass
The kings are dead and we raise our glass
Before we kiss, we must resist
The machine



The Machine (December 6, 2014)

RENEGADE HEART

Ain't feeling like myself today
I just wanna blow my mind away
I don't wanna wonder why
I don't wanna be this guy 
I don't wanna have this past 
I don't wanna hear it
I don't wanna play this part 
Living with a renegade heart
 
Renegade heart ain't on my side
Don't bring no peace of mind
Always looking for a place to hide
This renegade heart of mine

Every now and then I think I might
Run the hell away in the dead of night
I could be somebody else
Feel what I haven't felt
Maybe it's a cry for help
Maybe I'm a fire
Looking for a place to start
Living with a renegade heart

Renegade heart ain't got my back
Won't keep me safe at night
Gotta watch out for a sneak attack
From a renegade heart like mine

Everybody's schooled in their rights and the wrongs
One false move and that's all gone
Can't you hear me crying
Living on the borderline
Maybe I'm the other kind
Maybe I'm a wire waiting for a chance to spark
Living with a renegade heart

Renegade heart

Renegade heart

Renegade heart

Renegade Heart

A new recording of an original song from more than a few years ago.

Uploaded July 13, 2024.

RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME

Here’s that little guy again from down around the block
‘Walks these dirty streets all by himself
‘Last time that he passed me by we had a little talk
I asked him “Ain’t there anybody else?”

I said “Watch your back son, they’ll use you up son, just to bring you down
This town’s a world of trouble on your own.”
He said, “I’m OK, I know my way if I want to turn around.
I’m safe when I’m all alone.”

He’s running away from home tonight
It hurts too much to stay and fight
He might go back in the morning light
But he’s running away from home again tonight

I got this friend who was a happy man until the other night
When he waited for his Better to come home
And when she didn’t show he worried so - he cherished her you know
Now it’s lookin’ like that love will turn to stone

She was running away from home that night
Too hard to tell him things weren’t right
So she left him broken in the morning light
She was running away from home again that night

I knew this gal she’d tell you right out loud she don’t belong to anyone
And she left a trail of men she played the fool
But when she settled down it come back around, yeah you know how it’s done
Her good man went and broke her golden rule

He went running away from home one night
Didn’t care enough to make it right
Now nobody’s there in the morning light 
They’re running away from home again tonight

Now I’m old, I been bought and sold so many times it’s thin
A weary soul trying to turn himself around
Yeah I see the light but just tonight it’s a little bright my friend
My feet don’t know this feel of solid ground

So I’m running away from home tonight
I’ll be right here though, it’s alright
Whiskey bottle in the pale moonlight
Running away from home again…
I’m running away alone tonight 
Out of touch right in plain sight
But I’ll be up and running in the morning light

Running away from home again tonight

Running Away From Home 2024

Uploaded August 7, 2024.

Latest edit: 
   added brass; tweaked levels and eq curves, August 10, 2024
   tweaked various levels and eq curves, August 21, 2024

PLAY THE BLUES

Now when you're born down in the holler
A man's got nothing but his name
While I never knew my father
The preacher called me son all the same

My mama raised me to be righteous
But you know my uncle raised me too
Cook the ice cut it twice how to spot a fool
Then he showed me how to play the blues

Maybe when my hands don't shake
Maybe when my head ain't aching 
Maybe when this fever breaks
And all this stuff I've taken
Wears off and leaves me straight
Maybe then for heavens sake
I won't have to play the blues

I took to sleeping near the mission
Round the time my mama turned to shine
Then she dropped dead in the kitchen
Got a batch makes them brothers blind

I'll go and hang out by the meeting
I'll find a lover who won't care
Don't wanna be alone bound to take me home
Cause I got a lot of misery to share

Maybe when my hands don't shake
Maybe when my head ain't aching 
Maybe when this fever breaks 
And all this stuff I'm taking
Wears off and leaves me straight
Maybe then for heavens sake
I won't have to play the blues

They tell me Jesus loves his sinners
I know he's loving me to death
But the devil loves me too
And he helps me play the blues
And he tells me what to do to get ahead

Maybe when my hands don't shake
Maybe when my head ain't aching 
Maybe when this fever breaks
And all this stuff I'm taking
Wears off and leaves me straight
Maybe then for heavens sake
I won't have to play the blues
I won't have to play the blues

Play The Blues

(Uploaded January 13, 2025)

EAST COAST WINTER BLUES

I wake at dawn draw the curtains
Ain't nothing there to shout about
The ghost of Summer knows for certain
Everything's gone south
Don't seem right to still be this rolling stone
Lost so many loves and friends
Sometimes I wish my memories would leave me alone
So I might begin again

All I can say is it's hard to see your way
When all you do is lose
If you don't believe me you've never seen these
East Coast Winter blues

Lone survivor in the ruins
Of an avalanche of time
Sick and tired of these grays and blues
On this Mason-Dixon Line
I've heard the sound of mothers calling names
Seen their fingers sift the earth
Old roads are gone
Not one remains
Calling off the search

The Chesapeake was frozen hard
The day Jimmy took the oath
Country radio in that old car and we're
Stranded in the snow
Old man Jack was second infantry
The air was breath and smoke
He said you young men don't understand
We could die here in the cold

All I can say is you’ll never know your way
Till you help a brother through
If you don’t believe me you’ve never seen these
East Coast Winter Blues

Sometimes I think I'll be alright
Last night I'd swear I heard a whippoorwill
But come the light
Trees are bare
The house is cold and still

All I can say is we'll never know our way
Unless we help each other through
If you don’t believe me you’ve never seen these
East Coast Winter Blues

If you don't believe me wait till you see these
East Coast Winter Blues

East Coast Winter Blues Revisited

'Been experimenting with some new recording techniques again.

Here's Jimmy Cliff's song Sitting Here In Limbo, this version inspired by Garcia and Grisman's take on it, but with a full band treatment.

(Uploaded January 27, 2025)

SITTING HERE IN LIMBO

Sitting here in limbo, like a bird without a song
Sitting here in limbo, but I know it won't be long
Well, they're putting up resistance
But I know my faith will lead me on

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the tide to flow
Sitting here in limbo, knowing that I have to go
Well, they're putting up resistance
But I know my faith will lead me on

I don't know what life will show me
But I know what I've seen
I can't see where life will lead me
But I know where I've been
Tried my hand at love and friendship
But all that is passed and gone
This boy is moving on

Sitting here in limbo, waiting for the dice to roll
Sitting here in limbo, got some time to search my soul
Well, they're putting up resistance
But I know my faith will lead me on

I don't know what life will show me
But I know what I've seen
I can't see where life will lead me
But I know where I've been
Tried my hand at love and friendship
But all that is passed and gone
This boy is moving on

Sitting here in limbo, waiting for the dice to roll
Sitting here in limbo, got some time to search my soul
Well, they're putting up resistance
But I know my faith will lead me on
Well, they're putting up resistance
But I know my faith will lead me on

Sitting Here In Limbo (Solo Cover)

A new version of my song "Here" to accompany a video.

HERE

VERSE
Sittin’ here trying just to do my best
Watching the storm fronts blow up in the West
They’re heading this way, but they ain’t here yet
Another round now, place your bets over

CHORUS
Here
Where the neighborhood is heading South
Over here
Where the words are having trouble in my mouth

VERSE:
Who you figure gets hit this time?
Hope it ain’t yours and
I hope it ain’t mine
The rancor builds and the anchors squeal
Smoke of sacrifices in the distant hills

CHORUS
Here
You can sell out your shell for cash any time
Here
Where I’ll be yours or you will be mine

VERSE:
You know I never thought it would get this far (here)
I should be dead from dope or beat up in a bar, (dear)
But here we are just wearing out from it all
Money’s getting’ tight, and it’s comin’ on Fall

CHORUS
Here
Walkin’ distance to convenience stores
Here
Clinic and dispensary are right next door

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE

BRIDGE:
Lookin’ at the jigsaw of what remains
Scrubbing the memory and changing the names
One thing I’ll say about most everyone I see
I feel closer to them than they feel to me

CHORUS
Here
Homeless houses where you can’t pay the rent
Here
Where the younger ones just got up and went

Here
Watch the dealers in the empty lot
Here
My car was in the shop there till the thing burned out

Here (Video Soundtrack)

A troubling song for these troubled times.

PARALLEL LIVES

Ain’t it amazin’ all the people I meet online
But people I see out on the street
Won’t look me in the eye
You tell me we’ve seen better days
As we watch it all slip away
I know it ain’t no lie
It’s like we’re livin’ in parallel lives

Every night it gets a little bit darker inside
I rock myself knock myself out
And I wake up terrified
I read all your thought balloons
Comin’ from the other room’s WiFi
Talking to ourselves in parallel lines

Every day we go our separate ways
And then we wonder why
Everybody got mean and distant inside
Ain’t it great in these United States now
You hear it far and wide
Everybody’s livin’
In the Great Divide

Now why don’t you tell me where we’re goin’ from here
Are we livin’ too well are we goin’ to hell
Before we just disappear
One thing that’s clear to me as
These algorithims of destiny unwind
It’s like we’re living in parallel times

Every day we go our separate ways
And then we wonder how
Everybody got a chip on their shoulder somehow
Ain’t it great in these United States now
You hear it far and wide
Everybody’s livin’
In the Great Divide

Ain’t it amazin’ all the people I meet online
But people I meet out in the street
Won’t look me in the eye
You tell me we’ve seen better days
As we watch it all slip away
I know that ain’t no lie
It’s like we’re livin’ in parallel lives

Parallel Lives (Video Mix)

New mix as of February 19, 2025. BMI.

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcmhbmI9L58

SPRING IN BALTIMORE

Forsythia, dogwood
Spring in Baltimore
Theyre comin back for more
Another year

The elephant's baby
Is showing at the zoo
Birds red black and blue
Sing in my ear

They stand in line
At the corner shrines
For Spring in Baltimore

Cherry and Magnolia
Blossom at my door
Who could ask for more
When the weathers good

Chalk lines fault lines
Its sketchy in the street
Hopscotch and defeat
My neighborhood

Basketball
Spraypaint walls
Idle hands implore
The pub crawls
Gunpowder Falls
Spring in Baltimore

The life we have together
Is all I want to see
Thats all I want the world to be
But somethings really wrong out there
Its cold and sad and mean
People living on their knees

Still its hard to see the stuff
You do to get your kicks
Shaking hands and dirty tricks
Everyone is broken
Down deep inside I guess,
Cause theyre always out there gettin it fixed

I'd have to say Vancouver
Is looking pretty smart
Sometimes I think my heart
Might lead me there

Lets talk about it later
Sometime after June
That Chesapeake full moon
Soon will disappear

Its all on fire
Under the wire
Just like it was before
One more dance
One last chance for
Spring in Baltimore

Spring In Baltimore (Video Version)

New song - THIS TIME, simple solo version. For Judy.

THIS TIME 

The Ides of March turned cold again
With a heavy frost and a steady wind
Been out here walking on thin ice my friend
But I don't need a place to hide
This time

I reach way down into my past
Feel around for the stuff that lasts
Found these scars and photographs 
Some love I lost
And plans I had

I made it through, but I don't know how
Many more were taken down
I’m keeping’ my hand on this gospel plow
Raise something up from this shallow ground
This time

You can try to hide your loneliness 
You won't be fooling no one here 
A boy left alone in a wilderness
Makes for a man who wants to disappear

The Bible says don’t you do no harm
The Buddha taught can’t you just stay calm
My daddy told me son I'm just a man
My lover whispers take my hand
This time

This time is a wheel of fire
This time is a forge
I’m keeping my ear on that gospel choir
This time's a train I'm gonna get on board
This time

This Time (Solo)

Time is precious, don't let it pass you by.

THIS TIME

The Ides of March turned cold again
With a heavy frost and a steady wind
Been out here walking on thin ice my friend
But I don't need a place to hide
This time
 
I reach way down into my past
Feel around for the stuff that lasts
Found these scars and photographs 
Some love I lost
And plans I had

I made it through, but I don't know how
Many more were taken down
I’m keeping’ my hand on this gospel plow
Raise something up from this shallow ground
This time
 
You can try to hide your loneliness 
You won't be fooling no one here 
You say your life has been a wilderness
Well that'll make a man want to disappear

The Bible says don’t you do no harm
The Buddha taught can’t you just stay calm
My daddy told me son I'm just a man
My lover whispers take my hand
This time
 
This time is a wheel of fire
This time is a forge
I’m keeping my ear on that gospel choir
This time's a train I'm gonna get on board
This time

This Time

(Uploaded new file December 28, 2025 )

SUPERMOON (BMI)

Silver lights my room
It's another super moon 
Oh dream that shakes me wide awake 
Won't you tell me something new
It's been dark in here so long 
Tell me what's gone wrong
I used to say I'd know my way but 
Now those days are gone 

Everything we were together
Ripped from the sky and rent apart
We lay on beds of straw and feathers
And it’s tearing up my heart 

I’m looking for some way out
Calling out for help
But everybody just walks
around talking to themselves
They got their pictures in the air
But there ain’t nobody there
The glory days and passion plays
Are all you'll gonna hear about

Tell me how your arrows 
Will be fashioned into cloth 
Talk to me of sparrows
You have sheltered from the frost 

Deliver us from here
Take us to somewhere
More like home Supermoon

 We wanted to be free 
We thought that we were brave
Do we still believe
Is there something left to save

Oh silver super moon
That lights the avenues  
Won't you stay and guide my way  and tell me something true 
Lift us from the ground 
Help us to be found
Let compromise fall from our eyes Turn this thing around

Maybe every man must wander 
Maybe every star must fall 
Maybe every boat goes under
Until everyone is lost

Deliver us from here
Take us to somewhere
More like home Supermoon

Supermoon

(Uploaded December 22, 2025   BMI)

ASKING THE WIND

I’m just asking the wind 
Will I ever see you again 
Before the last bells on Marluth
chime
Or I forget I've lost my mind 

I used to say no regrets 
Didn’t know how bad it could get
 But time’ll turn the world around on a man
 So I’m asking the wind

Is your heart still that blue harbor
Refuge to a stowaway 
Or has it shallowed
Has it narrowed and 
Forever turned me away

 Those days left you troubled and confused
But you knew I'd always tell you the truth
You belonged to him and I belong with you
Nothing else that I could do

It’s been a while now I guess 
You've put all those monsters to rest
But you know I've seen more than my share of them
So I'm just asking the wind  

Is your heart still that blue harbor
Refuge to a stowaway 
Or has it shallowed
Has it narrowed and 
Forever turned me away

I’m just asking the sky 
Where love goes when it dies 
And could you take me along for the ride
Could you let me step Inside

And see every way that I’ve failed 
Friends lovers and betrayals
If I could well I’d make amends
Just asking the wind
I'm just asking the wind

Asking The Wind

Recorded live as all get out at Witcraft Manor, November 28th, 2015. A wonderful and recent song from one of the masters.

Hank49 - Guitar and main vocals
Robert Darlington - Guitar and other vocals
Brian Chaney - Guitar
Dakini Dukani - Percussion

Almost Like The Blues Cover (Leonard Cohen)

Still another raucously troublesome version of "TROUBLE" (BMI), this time with a bass to aggravate the situation :-) Again this is a rough, warts and all version, just another stage of development, this time from the "HIGH STRUNG" jam session of March 5, 2016.

Michael Redding: Main vocals and Electric Guitar

TROUBLE

CHORUS:
All this world is just trouble
Every single day’s another dance with the devil
Everybody on the street, nobody on the level
It’s a world of trouble we’re in

VERSE:
Mary Lou well she know what to do
When it comes to gettin' her own way
She go under cover, never had a lover
Or a friend that she wouldn't betray

She’s gonna get her next man any way she can
That ain't a ring, it's a noose
A man she ain't left, if he ain't dead yet
Someday she’ll cut the poor boy loose

CHORUS:
Yeah that girl is just trouble
She'll break a happy home, you be standin' in the rubble
Yeah that girl is just trouble
Yeah, what a world of trouble we're in

VERSE:
Brave new world you can take a whirl
On anything your head desires
Out on the block there’s a party never stops
If you want to set your life on fire

Crack me, Smack me, Molly or Jack me
Any old way that you choose
Now I ain’t no angel but if you ain’t careful
You gonna end up on the news

CHORUS:
Now all that stuff is just trouble
You gonna wake up in the alley or the jail, seeing double
Now all that stuff is just trouble
‘Be a world of trouble you’re in

VERSE:
Now Uncle Sam he's got another plan
Pointed straight at you
He wants some more men that he can spend
But he ain’t gonna walk in your shoes

He’s got his lines in the sand and if you don’t understand
He’s got the bloody white man blues
You’re the currency friend, and it ain’t gonna end
Until we stand up and refuse

CHORUS:
Now Uncle Sam is just trouble
He don’t give a damn ‘cause he’s livin’ in his bubble
Yeah, that old man is just trouble
What a world of trouble we’re in

CHORUS:
All this world is just trouble
Every single day’s another deal with the devil
Everybody on the street, Nobody on the level
It’s a world of trouble we’re in

Robert Darlinton: Main leads Electric Guitar
John Seay: Bass
Brian Chaney: Acoustic Guitar
Dakini: Percussion

Trouble (High Strung Jam)

Fresh off the spindle, captured live, treated and released this evening of December 10, 2016.

Myself, Robert Darlington and Dakini imitating with some of the best intended flattery possible the great John Prine's song, so seasonally timely this time of year.

Christmas In Prison.

Christmas In Prison (All Ears Jam)

The great Jimmy Reed classic, redone still again, this time with saxophone at the OVERLEA GLEE CLUB Jam Session, May 27, 2017.

Robert Darlington: Electric guitar and vocals
Michael Redding: Acoustic guitar
Geoffrey Welchman: Bass
Dakini Keene: Percussion
Stephen Simcoe: Saxophone

Little Rain (OVERLEA GLEE CLUB Jam Session)

UMBILICAL HERNIA
 
VERSE1:
Put your belly in a bag
So you don’t have to sag
Or the pain will surely nag
‘Cause gravity’s a drag

If you have an umbilical hernia
Something will always be hurtin’
Put your belly in a bag

VERSE2:
Put your belly in a sack
So you don’t get out of whack
You’ll be taking up the slack
It might even help your back

So if you have an umbilical hernia
Advice I’ve learned for ya -
Put your belly in a sack

BRIDGE:
You might be thinkin’ this will fix itself
It ain’t gonna happen, no way captain
You need professional help

VERSE3:
Take your belly to a surgeon
For that thing that is emerging
With a tendency to burgeon
The matter’s gettin' urgent

So if you have an umbilical hernia
There’s always something burnin’ ya
Take it to the surgeon

BRIDGE:
You might be thinkin’ it’ll be alright
You think you’re strong, but something’s wrong
When Inny goes to Outy overnight

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE:

VERSE3:
Put your belly in a belt
Until you can get some help
‘Cause the deal has been dealt
And it’ll help reduce the welt

If you have an umbilical hernia
Your inside’s trying to get out
Put your belly in a belt.
Put your belly in a bag.
Put your belly in a sack.
Take your belly to a surgeon.

Umbilical Hernia

A Steve Earle Cover, with apologies but reverence.

Recorded live as could possibly be mustered, November 25, 2017 at our WISHBONES jam, 2 days after Thanksgiving.

Michael Redding: Acoustic guitar and main vocals
Robert Darlington: Acoustic guitar and second vocals
Geoffery Welchman: Bass and second vocals
Dakini Keene: Percussion
Brian Chaney: Acoustic guitar and second vocals

I Still Carry You Around (Wishbones Session)

From the "Human Errors" session at Witcraft, February 10, 2018 - 'first jam since the broken ankle 3.5 weeks ago.

Eleven tracks on this one, and at least nine passed the first listen. It was, in it's own Wiccan way, a religious experience for these broken bones.

This is track number nine, the gospel traditional "Swing Low Sweet Chariot".

Robert Darlington: Main vocals and Dulcimer
Michael Redding: Resonator slide and lower harmonies
Geoffrey Welchman: Bass
Dakini Keene: Percussion
Brian Chaney: Acoustic Guitar

"Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, what do I see,
Coming for to carry me home.

A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, what do I see,
Coming for to carry me home.

A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Human Errors Session)

I've worked at the same place, as a tech placed in various echelons along the way, for 50 years, and I've I finally settled into an attitude of head-shaking compliance. 

OK, if that's what you want to keep sending me checks for, I'll just keep shaking my head in sad disbelief, and get me by until retirement, hopefully by my next birthday.

And, yes, there are references to actual people, some living, some dead, the rest half dead. But I ain't sayin' who's who.

Michael Redding: Main vocals and rhythm guitar
Robert Darlington: Acoustic guitar
Geoffrey Welchman: Bass
Dakini Keene: Percussion
Brian Chaney: Acoustic Guitar

Shaking My Head

VERSE 1:
I wake up in the morning and I sit on the bed
Look out the window, pat the dog on the head
Feeling only half dead, so I guess I’m OK

Gotta get going, gotta get out the lead
Rather be doin’ something else instead
But I gotta show up on the job today

VERSE 2:
One red eye and I’m hittin’ the deck
I play a little hound dog, I play a little dead
I play a little fool, ‘cause that’s what they expect

I meet a lot of people in the course of my day
Most of them are people I met yesterday
I never have to wonder what these people will say

CHORUS 1:
Well there’s Big Wayne insane
Don’t ever let him
Get you in the corner, cause then you know he’s gonna
Run his big fat rat trap homicidal bullcrap
In and out your ear till the cows come home

To the cubicle farm and pull the alarm
Let’s you get away
Shakin’ your head but there’s nothing you can say

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE

CHORUS 2:
Crying Annie
Somebody’s granny,
She don’t think that’s right
Might stooge, no cool, catholic high school
But otherwise alright

But she’s always coughing and a sneezin’ too
It’s gonna get in my hair
‘Cause on the cubicle farm there always something in the air

VERSE 3:
There I’m a sittin’ in the cubicle farm
Mind my own business, do nobody harm
Waitin’ for a buzz or a light on the phone

I pay my union dues every check
I sing a little blues, under my breath
You can bet, y’all
I’m just shaking my head

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE

CHORUS 3:
There’s Big Wig’s bad tricks
Signing up some nit wits
Paid to put the hammer down
Gonna be a bad scene selling out your home team
To another town

But that’s the way that it goes, everyone knows
It’s getting’ long in the tooth
But on the cubicle farm, you can’t tell ‘em the truth

VERSE 4:
I wake up in the morning and I sit on the bed
Look out the window, pat the dog on the head
Feeling only half dead, so I guess I’m OK

I pay my union dues every check
I sing a little blues, under my breath
You can bet
I’m just shaking my head

Shakin My Head (Pots And Pans Session)

This song is a favorite from a long time ago and one I've not thought of in a long time. A whole lot of people covered it, including the Pogues and Rod Stewart. "Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949.

This is our first ensemble swipe at it.

Michael Redding: Acoustic guitar and main vocals
Robert Darlington: Electric guitar and vocals
Unindicted Co-conspirator: Bass and vocals
Dakini Keene: Percussion
Brian Chaney: Acoustic guitar and vocals

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
Spring's a girl from the streets at night
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
I smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I'm going to make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town

Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949

hank49

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