I've only written two Christmas songs.  This is the better one.  It was written shortly before Christmas 1987 and recorded in 1988.  I've been meaning to re-record it, but that's not going to happen now - so this is what you get.  It still makes me feel good when I hear it.

Unreleased Tracks

Time of the Year

Change Town is an uptempo/ambient bash-fest about breaking out of destructive patterns of repetition.

Box Of Lightning

Change Town

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Benediction looks back the the loss of a family member, alternating sections of DADGAD fingerstyle guitar with big beat choruses.  It closes the Freestyle CD; but because it’s linked to a hidden track, I had to go back to the original mix to make a version for posting.  While I was at it, I did a little tidying up - hence the “remaster.”

Freestyle

Benediction (Remaster)

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Janet Curci and I had a live arrangement of The Road from Eden, which was a favorite of hers.  It was fun re-creating the 80’s pop feel and synth figure with two acoustic guitars.  

One notable part of recording ”Eden” was Jim Earp’s lead guitar.  After overdubbing his melodic Strat solo on the middle 8 (actually 9), we decided the outro needed some too.  It was going to be a “play out until fade” type of thing.  But his guitar work fit the song so well and added so much to the track that I just couldn’t fade it.  Instead, I kept it all and extended the rhythm section and keyboard parts beyond the track’s original end point so that there was something to fade.  I think we got away with it!

The Forbidden Anthems

The Road from Eden

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Around 1 AM one night I was putting my guitar away when out popped a little syncopated chord-riff.  I played it into the computer so I’d remember it; it was the verse of “Don’t Borrow Trouble.”  The song ended up with kind of sandwich structure unusual for me - two choruses with a verse in the middle.  In writing the lyrics I remembered a pastor who had warned his congregation: “Don’t ask for trials, because you’ll get them.”  I’ve since found out you also get them if you don’t ask.

Box of Lightning

Don't Borrow Trouble

I find myself in a David-Wilcox-ish mode here.  The Freestyle CD came from the period when I was most connected to the San Diego acoustic scene - and there was much admiration for Mr. Wilcox.  The song makes a virtue of the insecurity/egomania coin we “artistes” all have in our pockets.  As a memorable line from a Stars Wars prequel goes, there’s “always a bigger fish.”  Good to remember.  
Check out the electric piano sound on this tune, which is really an analog synth.  The trombone patch is not bad either, considering its humble origin. The guitar is my D-28.

All Heaven Breaks Loose

An angsty twenty-something psycho-pop ditty recorded in the mid-eighties, but which sounds more like the late 70’s post-punk pub-rock records that inspired it.  “One Two Three” came about while living in Germany.  This recording was made after moving back to SoCal and was included in a cassette release of my first solo music.   It features the debut of my then new Fender Stratocaster.  We also have rhythm guitar doubling here from a Gibson ES-125 played acoustic - and thanks to Tom Petersen for the use of his P-Bass.

One Two Three

The idea for this song came from the Max Frisch novel Stiller (I’m Not Stiller), which portrays - among other things - a particular strain of codependence.  The tune sprang up around a riff, which in turn led to interesting changes.  The minor-jazz atmospheric vibe was enhanced by a synth patch that saw a lot of use in my tunes.  This is a re-make of the original version, which was part of a cassette release back at the dawn of time.  (Harmony vocal by Janet Curci.)

The Way We Love

“This Train” is named after the folksong, but based on the story “The Tunnel” by the Swiss writer and dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt.  I had probably re-read it around the time I was working out the riff.  The descending guitar lines, along with the shaker and Doug Lawrence’s fab harmonica playing, make for a chugging little groove.  A small salt shaker had the right sound and feel.  This track was a step forward in my production technique; but if I had known then what I know now, I could have made it really grab you by the throat.

Secret Career 87-93

This Train

The guitar riff has a hurried, anticipate-the-beat feel which fits the noir-ish fugitive scenario.  Janet Curci sings harmony, and Scott Parrish plays a cool interlocking bass part.

Stranger

Joe Mersch is a guitar player and singer/songwriter.  Active in the San Diego acoustic music scene in the 90's and early 2000's, he has recently concentrated on recording projects for himself and others, including San Diego guitarist Jim Earp.