Acoustic Demos 2020-2022

Dressed Like A Clown

I spent too much time hiding from this fear
trying to fake contentment underneath a cracked veneer
Putting on a face to hide the lies I aimed to sell
spinning in the dark aboard a one-horse carousel

Inside a rusty cage all tangled up in doubt
Plotting my escape from all the blame I disavowed
As the devil on my shoulder told me what I didn't need
I let the angel on the other side pack her things and leave

Chorus
But Baby that was then, baby this is now
And I'm not gonna rest until I prove it to you somehow
That man is but a ghost, someone I used to be
The one I sent away when you rescued  me

Bridge
I know I gave you every reason
to question everything I say
But should forgiveness ever come back into season
I hope you'll let it blow my way

Chorus
'Cause Baby that was then, baby this is now
And I'm not gonna rest until I prove it to you somehow
That man is but a ghost, someone I used to be
The one I sent away, when you rescued me
The one I sent away, when you rescued me

When You Rescued Me - Demo

She stared down at the letter as it lay upon the table
and conjured up a vision of him, pen in hand
She picked up the paper, held it close against her face
And tried to breathe in every last scent of the man
who'd been gone so long that she could not recall
the tender of his touch against her skin
though the war raged on, she didn't understand at all
the odds that he would not return again

He said, Dear Lydia, it's Monday as I write to you, it's raining
Smoke is rising from the ashes as the waters kiss this fire 
that's been burning now for days it seems that I cannot remember
the last time that I gazed upon a clear blue sky
But through the muddy haze, my love will never fade
It's as mighty as the moment that I fell
I still keep your picture in a pocket near my heart
thoughts of you are all that keeps me well

She looked beyond the window, out where the fields lie fallow
So many times she stood and watched him work the plow
In his gentle voice, she heard the words that he had written
echoing like ghosts throughout the empty house
where she had kept a lantern burning on a nail outside the door
a beacon there to guide his safe return
It was a constant fear not knowing if the wait would ever end
should the flame within the lantern cease to burn

He said, Dear Lydia, they're talking reinforcements coming in 
God knows we can all use some relief
But, the air smells just like death, will there be any left
pure enough that we could even breathe
A cold wind whistles through the trees, black and charred with this disease
It's hard to manage shelter from the storm
As night falls I will dream of your sweet memory
And wear it like a coat to keep me warm

Dear Lydia, in closing, may this letter find you well
(a distant thud of hooves upon the clay)
never doubt my true devotion and the love I hold for thee
(startled by a nicker at the gate)
The place he'd signed his name, bled like whitewash in the rain
as she let the pages float down to the floor
as the latch began to turn, outside the lantern that still burned
cast light upon the man inside the door

copyright 2020 Joe Middleton (Mr. Saturday Music, BMI)

Dear Lydia - Demo

Me and Sam hangin out back on log down by the railroad track
laying low on a Sunday afternoon
Just kicking it dot to dot, I 'd take out my music box
cause we've been known to sing a tune

A couple of wannabe troubadours, I'd strum some cowboy chords to some old classic country thing
When Sam would finally lift his head it was loud enough to wake the dead
that old boy sure did love to sing

Move it on over
there's a big dog moving in
nothing could be finer than making music with my friend
We'd do never was a horse like the Tennessee stud, and oh black Betty bam a lam
sitting on a log by the railroad track
all was right with me and Sam

Some days we'd sit on the porch and watch the squirrels run back and forth and listen to the hoot owl's monologue 
Sammy didn't say too much but when he got riled he'd start to cuss, and pick a fight with the neighbor's noisy dog

I could always reel him in with the right kind of medicine
a note or two to bring him back around
It wasn't perfect harmony but it was good enough for Sam and me
good enough for me and Sammy Brown

Move it on over
there's a hot dog moving in
nothing could be finer than making music with my friend
We'd do never was a horse like the Tennessee stud, and oh black Betty bam a lam
Lord, I miss those lazy days
when all was right with me and Sam

copyright 2022 Joe Middleton (Mr. Saturday Music, BMI)

Me N Sam (Demo)

This sad old news will be the death of me
if don't quit this damn TV, mm hmm
They're talking 'bout things that I can't change
Pointing fingers and placing the blame, mm hmm

What we need is a brand new song
One that everybody can sing along to, mm hmm
One about looking at the world through the eyes of a child
And think about something that makes you smile

I see blue daffodils growing outside my window
I got blue daffodils right outside my door
My grandmother told me once
whenever you see those daffodils of blue
think of how much I love them, son
but never as much as I love you

We're living in a time when a stroke of a key
from a man in the dark can make you weak, mm hmm
and as quick as you let your reason lapse
you're headed down the same dark crooked path, mm hmm

A battle with a brother is a useless fight
but, a turn of kindness is a ray of light
the strike of a match and a spark of a flame
is a hand in a hand and a ease to the pain

I see blue daffodils growing outside my window
I got blue daffodils right outside my door
My grandmother told me once
whenever you see those daffodils of blue
think of how much I love them, son
but never as much as I love you

copyright 2020 Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music, BMI)

Blue Daffodils (Demo)

The one time I saw her was on a hot august night
It was right after a gig at The Flaming Mug
I was out front smoking a cigarette
Had on that "holy" Steve Earle T-shirt from the Jerusalem tour
I coulda swore she was checking me out.
She said, "a man that'll wear a shirt like that must be some kinda Badass."
I said. "well I don't know about the bad part."
She just smiled and cut me with her eyes.

Her chestnut hair fell on the shoulders of a 5' 2" frame
She was wearing one of those thin linen dresses
all the girls were wearing that summer.
It was white with a flower print, like wildflowers
there was a gold cross around her neck
Some drunk kid walking by said, "you look hot tonight."
She said, "well, yeah it's like a hundred degrees."
"and funny too."
but damn, those brown eyes.

I stood there for an awkward minute that felt more like an eternity
she looked down at her phone
I fumbled for another cigarette
As the lightning bugs danced around the vapor light casting silhouettes on the parking lot
she broke the silence again
"You know, I caught your set tonight. I like that Outlaw folk thing you're going for."
I said, Yeah, all of the cool images were taken.
She just rolled her big brown eyes

She told me her name was Anna, short for Annabelle
I guess you already know mine
she pointed up at the marque.
As if she sensed the question coming, she said, "I'm just waiting for my ride,
I guess he had to work late again."
"Boyfriend?", I asked. "It's complicated", she replied.
I said, "Complicated can be dangerous"
That's when I saw something change in those eyes

Was it regret or was it sadness, that was the question
It was probably none of my business
But it still nagged at my conscience
When I finally found the guts to ask, I heard the sound of a ticking car engine
the headlights blinded me to the face behind the wheel
As she opened the passenger door, I said, "take care, you hear?'
When she turned around, I found the answer I'd been looking for
When I saw the fear in her eyes

I still have that gig, I play it every Friday
Every Friday I scan the crowd
Looking for a face
that missing person flyer I found tacked up at the corner
Is taped in the lid of my guitar case
I put it there for a girl named Anna
so every time I look inside
I see those brown eyes

copyright 2020, Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music, BMI)

Anna (Brown Eyes) Demo

If lonely had a face, I’d be the spittin image
if broken was a man everyone would know my name
if I could win the race on empty, I’d be standing at the finish 
With your number pinned across my chest, and not a thing to kill the pain

So why did you go and start a fire, if you couldn’t stand the heat
left me standing on the wire with me no path of retreat
You broke down my defenses just to pull back on the reins
Is this just a game you’re playing or just your fear of sharing  the chains

If your memory was a dream, I would close my eyes forever 
and paint a pretty picture in my head then I would hang it on the wall
but I don’t sleep too much these days and the color’s started fading 
so why am I still hanging around here waiting for your call

So why did you go and start a fire, if you couldn’t stand the heat
left me standing on the wire with me no path of retreat
You broke down my defenses just to pull back on the reins
Is this just a game you’re playing or just your fear of sharing  the chains

copyright 2021 Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music, BMI)

The Chains - Demo

He stood there on the platform with his suitcase
anxiously he waited for the train
a 14 year old boy was bound for Dixie
to leave behind the cold Chicago rain

600 miles on The City of New Orleans
On The Illinois Central Railroad line
When he stepped into the sticky heat of August
He left his mama's voice a world behind

The workers in the fields tending the cotton
looked like speckles on a mighty sea of white
And he could see it written clear upon their faces
You have to know your place and accept it to survive

Along the mighty Tallahatchie
the water seemed to beckon to a claim
as it rolled on to wherever it was headed
He thought he heard that river call his name

Look away, old days are not forgotten 
Look away, from eyes that fail to see
Listen to the ghosts of Mississippi
That hang like Spanish moss beneath the trees

It was evening when the car rolled into Money
The delta sun was low across the sky
Old crow looked down from a magnolia
And sang a long and mournful warning cry

Unschooled to their ways, he never faltered 
but what he said for sure we'll never know
It's a high price when you bend the laws of Dixie
When you're a colored boy and she is white as snow


Look away, old days are not forgotten 
Look away, from eyes that fail to see
Listen to the ghosts of Mississippi
That hang like Spanish moss beneath the trees

And the debt collectors came without a warning
the smell of hate and whisky filled the room
they'd come to take the boy who did the talking
and drove away beneath a liar's moon

Out along the Tallahatchie 
the rolling water echoing his name
as it rolled on to wherever it was headed
the mighty river settled on a claim

Look away, old days are not forgotten 
Look away, from eyes that fail to see
Listen to the ghosts of Mississippi
That hang like Spanish moss beneath the trees

copyright 2018 Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music BMI)

Ghosts of Mississippi (For Emmett)

Live from South Siders Pub
Waxhaw, NC
Feb 9, 2014

Ian Feathers
Jordan Middleton
Aaron Thorne
Tommy Hill
Hal Q
Josh Burch

D Day

Pedro's

Song written for our buddy Dennis Hardison by Donnie Rivers. Dennis has now joined the band in heaven.

DRJ Projects 2010

Dennis's Song

Doug Thompson set the tone (and topic) last night when he opened up the #OSN with his song (Inspired by Megan Flechaus), 20 Minutes In.  Tune in to Recorded Live In the Carolinas Monday night at 9pm and see what happened afterwards....I can tell you that hilarity and massive talent ensued.

1.   "20 Minutes In" by Doug Thompson

Bad Chapter (Eileen)

"Music has no enemies." -- Hard Working Americans


I Don't Have A Gun/Work For Peace (The Military And The Monetary)

Singer-songwriter Joe Middleton released his first CD, Highway Tremolo, on November 3, 2019 to a packed house at The Evening Muse in Charlotte. Its nine songs were recorded and produced by Eric Lovell at Charlotte’s Blu Bubble Studio. 

 Although rock music was his mainstay for years, he has always identified as a folk singer—a teller of tales through song. Whether you call his music Americana, folk-rock, alt-country, or something else, for Middleton, these are stories that need to be told.

 Middleton continues to hone his ability to tell a better story through words and music. He draws from influences ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Steve Earle to create what he considers to be short-form musical plays. His songs are heavily inspired by the current social climate and a need to remember the bad as well as the good.

Ghosts of Mississippi (For Emmett)

Joe Middleton Music

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