Lyrically really strong. The chorus especially is spot on.  Somehow, I think every song about Wichita that I ever heard is awesome.

This is my favorite of y'all's collaborations, James & David. Absolutely crushed it - heartbreaking, yet sweet at the same time. And James, your delivery is spectacular on this one. Excellent work, gents.

Crushed it, JTR and David. Love this one real hard.

Y'all nailed it on this one. Pretty much perfect, I think! No good at reading minds, but I can read between the lines. Very nice!

Your vocal delivery is so raw and vulnerable. Great collab!

beautifully written song! Excellent performance James. As an aside, if you're ever feeling down, look at the Wichita State college mascot design.

Sounds like a hit song to me, guys! Just so smooth, as if you had written and rewritten it for weeks. The chord changes in the bridge threw me for a loop in a really good way, BTW.

Nice work guys - I'm loving everything about this one: lyrics, vocals, guitar - it even has nice pauses

Wow. You guys have outdone yourselves with this one. Devastatingly good.

My father bought my mother a beautiful ring in the early 1980's.
It is very much like a famous Royal engagement ring of the times.
My mothers ring was well loved in a long and happy marriage. I don't think the other ring was so lucky.

The Ring

by Kent Aitken and David & Laurie Easterling © March 11, 2021 Charlottetown, Canada, and Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Mars was rising as the sun went down
I sat waiting waiting for the sound
Of your piano through the walls every night 
And I pick my guitar by candlelight 

At first I hated these thin apartment walls
And the noise echoing down the halls
Slamming doors, lovers’ quarrels, footsteps, and doorbell rings
at 8:08 sweet piano strings

Play me a song
And I’ll play along
All I want to do 
Is accompany you
Play me a song
And I’ll play along
All I want you to do 
Is play me another song

It gets me through my toughest times
When you stopped, mid-song, at 9:09
I was scared I’d never hear you again
A blue songbird with a broken wing 

Sun rises and sets but your silence remains
Toughest of times lead to darkest of days
Learned your songs, got them wrong, my old guitar, with worn-out strings
When I played at 8:08 I heard you sing

Play me a song
And I’ll sing along
All I want to do 
Is accompany you
Play me a song
And I’ll sing along
In time and in tune   

Play me another song

Play Me A Song (w/ David and Laurie Easterling) - Song a Week 2021, Week 10

"You Can Have Wichita" (#447, 210322)

 * co-written with David Easterling * 

Half a million people in this town
Why’s it feel so lonely when the lights go down
Hard as I’m tryin’ I’m no good at readin’ minds
But I can read between the lines

Just like every place before
Same old mistakes but this ain’t in Kansas anymore
A last decision in between these city limits
Just outside that door

You can have Wichita guess I’ll keep on lookin’
Gave it all I got to make it work until I couldn’t
Somehow the dirt here seems to hold your memory
You can have Wichita and it’s all Wichita to me

I won’t pretend to understand
The time I spent building castles in the sand
Everywhere it brought me everything it taught me
Well it made me who I am

You can have Wichita guess I’ll keep on lookin’
Gave it all I got to make it work until I couldn’t
Somehow the dirt here seems to hold your memory
You can have Wichita and it’s all Wichita to me

You can have the clovers that rise up when it rains
Tall grass in the back yard those long hot summer days
You can have the porch swing made for autumn evenings
Lonely as the willow tree season after season

Week 12 - You Can Have Wichita (210322)

"Cracking Paint And Rusted Hinges" (#449, 210328)

Cracking paint and rusted hinges
Are all that stand today
In between two wooden bridges
The heartbeat slipped away

Used to hear the sound of laughter
Children playing in the sun
Seems like no one thought it mattered
What their hometown would become

And I can't say I got a reason
Reason why I stuck around
Lots of times I feel like leavin'
But my feet won't walk me out

Only sound here is the engine
The only footprints left are mine
Cracking paint and rusted hinges
And that's the bottom line

Week 13 - Cracking Paint And Rusted Hinges (210328)

Copyright Erin Wolf 2021
featuring guitar & worn-out voice

Week 13 Prompt: Cracking paint

sitting on the kitchen floor
staring at the wall
i see the cracking paint
as it chips and falls

hear these creaking floorboards
under my feet
this old house is falling down
but it ain't yet beat

oh oh oh
oh woah oh

see the breaks
in the window panes
letting in the drafts
just the same

hearing the leaking faucet run
just a pain no fun
i know that this could seem like a tale
a metaphor of a kind for you and me

oh oh oh
oh woah oh

if this old house could tell a story
or two
this house would tell the story
of me and you

of how we laughed, loved,
and cried
but also tell the story of
how our love died

This Old House

capo 4
G
He’s kind he’s Kent and we’re
Perfectly content 
C                                  G
to celebrate all that he brings

     D                                 Em                    C
To keep us connected as songs are perfected 
                                                        D/F#
and let’s face it that voice when he sings. 

G
It’s country 
       C
It’s warm
      EM             D/F#
It’s emotional brawn
             EM                    D
Banjolele or guitar he strums
      EM             D/F#             G                 C
We’re simply delighted and we cannot fight it 
        EM             D/F#         G
We join in all the tunes as one. 

He’s Full of grace
Its written on his face
Every time there is a glitch
He gently reminds us and kindly will guide us
“Try to mute or unmute flick the  switch”

he’s country 
he’s warm
his emotional brawn
Banjolele or guitar he strums
 We’re simply delighted and we cannot fight it 
We join in all the tunes as one. 


em                    D/.F#
and lets not forget
the sweetest of all pets
C                 D/F#
corgi of THIS TEAM
C                    D/F#
  KIwi    KIWI AGREES

thank you kent (week 14)

GIRL AT THE BUS STOP (FIONA NI AINNIN & NIKI S)

 4 bars intro  

F                                              C
I could have been that girl at the bus stop
Laughing for a moment in the rain
Soaked to the skin umbrella falling all apart
black mascara cheeks a messy stain

F                                                C
You could have been my lonely boy at the pub
Waiting for the barman as I stare
glued to the lava flowing from the tv screen
Never seem to notice that Im there

C                                Em
We seem to be, strangers on a zig zag
Souls free like sparrows in the sky
We seem to be, strangers on a zig zag
I just want RISE AND  fly AWAY

C                                E
with you away with you (la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
                       C                   E
 away with you away with you (la la la la la la la la laaaaa)

WE COULD HAVE BEEN THAT COUPLE IN THE CAFÉ
Trying to sing each others favorite tune
We could have grown old sitting in the sunshine
Staring at the birds all afternoon
 
C                                Em
We seem to be, strangers on a zig zag
Souls free like sparrows in the sky
We seem to be, strangers on a zig zag
I just want RISE AND  fly AWAY

       C               E
with you away with you (la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
away with you away with you (la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
with you away with you(la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
 away with you away with you(la la la la la la la la laaaaa)

C                                E
We seem to be, strangers on a zig zag
Souls free like sparrows in the sky
We seem to be, strangers on a zig zag
I just want RISE AND  fly AWAY

    C               E
with you away with you(la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
away with you away with you(la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
with you away with you(la la la la la la la la laaaaa)
 away with you away with you(la la la la la la la la laaaaa)


F                                                  c
I could have been that girl at the bus stop

Girl At The Bus Stop (co-write with Fiona Ní Ainnín)

006 and a ½
by Erin Wolf, Laurie and David Easterling, © 5/14/2021, Little Chute, WI and Oak Ridge, TN

Week 19 Prompt: 006

I got demoted
Halfway down a rank
It’s not my fault
In fact it kinda stank

But I caught the villain
Caught him in the act
Knocked him down, cashed him out back 
How ‘bout dat

I don’t think it’s funny
But they all got a laugh
And now they call me
Double Oh Six and a half
A Secret Agent bumbling through 
Solving crimes without a clue
Suave debonaire genius 
Playin’ a fool

Evil James thought
He had me good
Tied me to the train tracks
Sportin’ a black hood

Bragging ‘bout his b-a-d deeds
His dirty plans and all his greed
But then I sneezed 
and broke my bonds

I don’t think it’s funny
But they all got a laugh
And now they call me
Double Oh Six and a half
A Secret Agent bumbling through 
Solving crimes without a clue
Suave debonaire genius 
Playin’ a fool

So evil James sez it’s ‘cause of me
He’s quittin’ his ol’ pirate ways
And he’s gonna be a hit songwriter startin’ today
[International Man of Mystery]
[At the International House of Pancakes]

Well ya know it’s funny
How I got the last laugh
And now have they call me
Double Oh Six and a half … and a half
A Secret Agent bumbling through 
Solving crimes without a clue
Suave debonaire genius 
Playin’ a fool

006 and a 1/2 (with the David & Laurie Easterling)

Just American without tears

"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)

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

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 12 - You Can Have Wichita (210322)

JamesTristanRedding

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