Wind and Water (feat mandolin by Erin Wolf) 
        
You’ll feel it in the wind and water
The changing of the signs
When this old world is tired of spinning spinning all the time
The seasons stop believing
The trees no longer shout
You cant remember what this thing called life is all about


Your kids might call you crazy
But you’ve seen far more than they
You love to rock and smoke a pipe 
Say ‘well back in my day’
They just roll their eyes but still they ask a song to sing 
coz deep down in their souls they love to hear your mandolin

Its not about religion
Its not about the rules
Its not about how hard you play but tell the truth
Its far from what where were headed here
In chasing fools old gold
Its in the depths of longing
For the Dreams of long ago

Weve gotta get back to the time
of true community
break down the walls and fences that hold back the you and me
the earth is groaning in its bones for long lost souls like we
to open up corroded hearts and run towards the sea

wind&water wk 6

"Kent Aitken Also Saved My Life" (#437, 210216)

It was dawn but also midnight
And somehow also 3am
I was moments from my last rites
Until I saw a man named Kent

It was Paris and Nova Scotia
And at the same time Annecy
He was sort of like a human Visa
Everywhere you want to be

So where's the conflict where's the drama
Where's the problem you may ask
You see I'd come across a deadly llama
That nearly ended my sorry ass

Why was he angry this crazy mammal
What was his problem his urgent strife
Turns out the llama had just been rankled
By Nik Newark's drum and fife

The creature charged me with nostrils flaring
I saw my life flash before my eyes
The lights were blinding the music blaring
I thought I just might die tonight

But then around the corner racin'
Came a man with a plan
The one and only Kent Q. Aitken
A banjolele in his hand

He lulled the llama by strummin' gently
Into a state so calm and soothed
And it got sweeter and downright friendly
Instead of freaked out by their tunes

So while I was once saved by the music
From Nik Newark's drum and fife
There came a night when in the confusion
Kent Aitken also saved my life

Week 07 - Kent Aitken Also Saved My Life (210216)

WEEK 7
Nik Newark DRUM N FIFE 
CAPO 2
Am
We all recall that moment back in time
when Nik Newark saved our lives
well hold your horses for a moment shut the gate
the songs of nik are rising up again 

his poetry it warms the coldest heart
his falsetto brings you to tears and tears you apart
he ll write an epic song just for you
                           G
on drum 'n' fife mouth trumpet or kazoo

** there’s more to life than drum 'n' fife that’s true
         G
but relentlessly he chases down each perfect tune
Am
whatever genre tempo theme pursued
                                            G
what cannot Nik Newark do

some things in life hit hard and take their toll
we need the art that serves and calms the soul
on these days oh so much more than we've ever known
no one can live by bread alone

his poetry it warms the coldest heart
his falsetto brings you to tears and tears you apart
on drum and fife on triangle and spoon
he ll write an epic song for you

NNDNF SAW 7 - 19:2:21, 8.33 am

"What Else You Got" (#438, 210218)

 * Co-written with Dan Rivers * 

Packed it all up in a rental van
Guitar a girl and a half assed plan
Heard that it's a 10 year town
Better start makin' the rounds

Fifty cold calls 'til they let me in
Tiny office and a guy named Slim
Thought my first song had a pretty good shot
Then he said, "what else ya' got"

I got mouths to feed I got bills to pay
A dog and a wife and an H.O.A.
I got high blood pressure one bad knee
And a Volvo leakin' antifreeze
To top it all off one verse and Slim said stop 
What else you got 

Hot take from my Uber driver
What I needed was a great co-writer
Said he was Tim McGraw's third cousin
Hell he'd written almost a dozen

We wrote a track just right for Garth
Got as far as the driveway guards
Sang it through the intercom
A voice came back, "what else you got"

I got outta' state plates and two flat tires
And a radio tuned with needle nose pliers
I got bootleg cable and uh, Obamacare
And holes in all my underwear
Dann Huff told me son you're really good, NOT
What else ya' got

I got to thinkin' how hard could it be
To start a publishin' company
Get the writers all lined up around the block
Just so I can tell 'em what else ya' got

I got smoker's cough I got whiskey shits
And a mother in law that just won't quit
I got plumber's crack I got athlete's foot
And I'm still a long way from Brentwood
There goes the mansion, the Rolex and the yacht
What else ya' got

Look out Music Row I'm comin' in hot
What else ya' got

Week 08a - What Else You Got (210218)

"Run Down" (#439, 210219)

 * Words by Jerry Frohlich, music by James Tristan Redding * 

Another town another show
Didn't seem that long ago
A one night stand and off I go

Run down I hit the road again

Haunted by the highway sound
I close my eyes the lights go down

Echos distant in my mind
The days are long and the nights are longer
As I stare out the darkened window

Run down I hit the road hit again

I feel the eyes of all the fans
They all watch me as I stand
On stage again

And as we drive away
I feel so empty
But left them wanting more

Run down I hit the road again
The band, my friends

Run down I hit the road again
Yeah rock the night away

Run down I hit the road again
Another town another show

Run down I hit the road again

Week 08b - Run Down (210219)

Where the Buses don't Run

Song A Week 2021, week 8 the theme was "Change, please".
Please excuse me, if I ended up sounding a bit political again, but these were the words that came to me when faced with those two words.

The ice is melting, the white bear's escaping to town
The waters rising, soon the old coast is nowhere to be found
Wildfires are raging, raging out of control
"This isn't global warming, just something cyclical", we're being told
And Mother Earth is crying out; 
"Change, please change your ways before it's too late.
Change, please change your ways. This wasn't meant to be my fate" 

Storms - devastating, lives and possessions destroyed
The crust is crumbling, as we're greedily fracking for more oil
while Mother Earth is pleading;
"Change, please change your ways before it's too late.
Change, please change your ways. This wasn't meant to be my fate"

This after all is our home, that I,m talking about
If the roof is leaking, foundation breaking, you'd want to fix it, right?!

And Mother Earth keeps crying out;
"Change, please change your ways before it's too late.
Change, please change your ways. This wasn't meant to be my fate"

Song and image Copyright © Claes Akerblom

Change, Please (demo)

"(You Could Turn Back But) Why Would You Want To" (#442, 210226)

 * co-written with Rob Lannan * 

Morning air smells like your perfume
Layin' sleepless in my bedroom
Day is fadin' to a full moon
Feels like a perfect time to lose you

From Hawaii to the bayou
We ain't shinin' like the stars do
Spark is burnin' out between me and you
Gone as midnight in the afternoon

Won't forget these moments with you
But what's been done baby we can't undo
Open up the goodbye door and walk on through
You could turn back but why would you want to

Drew my smile on like a cartoon
We can't change who we turn into
Engine all but runnin' on fumes
Close as hand grenades and horseshoes

Won't forget these moments with you
But what's been done baby we can't undo
Open up the goodbye door and walk through
You could turn back but why would you want to

We gave up there's no shame
Can't light a candle in the pourin' rain
I'm just gonna' say it I think we always knew
Someone had to walk away it might as well be you

[ image credit: "freepik", which I assume is just a ... pik? That is free? See link below, or I mean, don't, w/e ]

www.freepik.com/free-photo/close-up-candle-rain_2231309.htm

Week 09 - (You Could Turn Back But) Why Would You Want To (210226)

On every corner
On every street
It’s where they eat and pray and wait
And where they sleep

In rags in bunches 
Cardboard boxes
They lie in wait beneath the pain 
Of a life discarded

And we’re just people
We walk on by
Our children asking questions
With tears filling their eyes
 What going on here ma 
cant we try to make it change

change
please please
change

In every playground
In every school
The innocent unsuspecting one 
is called a fool

The weight of terror
The sting of lies
Each word that hits a broken shell
Who’s lost the will for life

And we’re just people
We walk on by
Our children asking questions
With tears in their eyes
 What going on here dad can we try to make it change

And in the darkness
Beneath the glow
Of neon skies and bad mens lies
Of pain she’d never knowm

Her dream a vapor
A faded hope
There’s nowhere here to run
There’s no safe place to go

And were the people
Won’t even try
To answer all the questions
That fall from our children’s eyes

What’s going on here
Can’t we make a change
Please can’t we can’t we try

change please - week 8 2021 SAW

Photo from https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-jbapq/download under CC0 https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/.

You Could Turn Back, But Why Would You Want To - Song a Week 2021, Week 9

I wrote this when I was living in London England about my mood at the time. 
Recorded with producer Mark Keefner in LA years later.
The late Jimmy Griffin from the group Bread was a big fan of this song!

ROOM TO BREATHE

SOMEBODY'S BABY

Nashville songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Godin Guitars Official Artist and Founder of www.songaweek.org.

His catalog of 500+ titles includes collaborations with hit writers Mark Narmore, Elliott Park, Steve Dean, and Pete & Pat Luboff, among others internationally from England to Australia.

Redding's music has landed cuts by numerous recording artists including Dan Whitehouse, Emma Gale, and David Easterling.

Week 08b - Run Down (210219)

JamesTristanRedding