Small town life is great but not without its faults.

Small Town Ohio 89

In the forty minutes I spent staring at the nonmoving train I had lots of time to think of all the train songs I have loved... and what a crock they were.  There were no songs that described the situation I was in, until now.

Norfolk Southern

I few years back, thanks to my brother I had the privilege of meeting one of my heroes, Guy Clark.  My brother is a craftsmen, a welder, who takes great pride in his work.  He is also, an artist, combining his welding talent with artistry in creating belt buckles.  To my knowledge, he has never sold a buckle.  He makes them for friends and family, and people who inspire him. 
 I have two of his buckles.  The one I'm wearing right now is a piece of stainless steel containing pebbles from the stream I was married next to.  The other is made of farrier nails that he found on our great grandfathers work bench.  Both of them have great meaning too me.
A few years back he made a buckle for Guy Clark.  It contained items, from his songs, that my brother had connected with.  In Johnson City Tennessee, my brother had the opportunity to present and share his craftsmanship with Guy.  I was fortunate to be there to witness.  
Since then there have been many other Buckles.  Tim Easton, Todd Snider, Steve Poltz, Martin Koop, and John Prine are just some of the names I know who have each received this gift.  I started writing this song seeking to honor my brother, Guy Clark, and the experience we had at the blue plum festival.  With the passing of Guy this morning, I pulled it off the shelf and started working on it again.  I'm not sure that its finished, but here is a start.  Thank You guy for all you gave to the world and the inspiration you gave me.

A Job Worth Doing

Jason Ott's Album

Sometimes Love Ain't Enough

Down the Line

There is a lot of mixed emotion as my military retirement draws nearer.  This song came out of that

One Day and a Wakeup

When I started writing this, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a children's book or a song. I still can envision the main characters as a pudgy little red rocket with glasses squaring off with an orange cat with black stripes and a funny hairdo. Alias, my skills as an illustrator have forced it to be a song. I'm not sure if writing this has eased my mind about the situation or just made it seem all the more crazy. Hope you get something from it

Ballad of Rocket Man and Honky Cat

Wrote this song while activated in support of Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.  One night while me and a buddy were sitting on top of am isu90 he said something about sitting on an isu.  Then stated we should write a song about... so we did.

Jason Ott

ISU Love Song

Gasolina

A trifecta of ideas and thoughts had to come into play for me to write my first Christmas Song. First off, while I was activated I had one of my Porter friends show me the video that AMC put out as their theme song. I don't know for a fact, but I'm pretty sure whoever wrote the song had not spent a day in the military in their life. If they had, the song that they came out with did not reflect my experiences with AMC which made me think, I should write my own. 
As I stated earlier, this was a trifecta had would not have went any further without a little more. Weeks later I was talked to another guy who had also been a part of AMC. At this point, for those of you not in the Air Force, AMC refers to Air Mobility Command. The conversation we were having was about some of the other, less official titles such as, Alcoholics Moving Cargo or Another Missed Christmas. 
A few days later was Thanksgiving. We grilled at work and had a good feast with better people. We all said something we were thankful for and turned on the football game and took a nap. It made me reflect on other holidays I had spent in uniform. Thanksgiving is often times the hardest because it comes first and the holiday homesickness suddenly is upon you. This time, I knew I would be home for Christmas, but I knew I could capture what it means to be in AMC a little better then the video that was put out. So if you have read this far and have ever found yourself in uniform on Christmas, I really hope you enjoy this song and can find something you can relate too. I still can't look at a candy cane the same. Merry Christmas all

Another Missed Christmas

Black Birds

Song I wrote reflecting on the experience of those early British indentured servants in a strange land.

Aint no Gold in Virginia

Just some originals recorded sitting in my brown chair via the computer or phone.  Nothing fancy but I enjoy it.

Jason Ott

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