"a descent into the realm of psychic novelty where destiny and despair coalesce".  Wonderful description and an equally wonderful performance, JT.

great variation of an amazing story and ballad..really exceptional narrative and history as well..lots of powerful invisible dichotomies/conflicts in life

You really did justice to this iconic folk gem JT! It’s different enough to be your beautiful version but doesn’t lose a lick from what Townes originated. Super rendering, love your picking, powerful vocal, and the live feel of this recording.

hey JT. great song, great singing, i love it

Your Mix 4

### **Poncho & Lefty** - The Existential Outlaw Tango

Dive into the $eattle underworld with "Poncho & Lefty," a sidewalk busker’s narrative dripping with raw, unfiltered Americana. JTSunrise channels the spectral essence of Townes Van Zandt, a man ensnared in the mortality of his own existence. This track is a descent into the realm of psychic novelty where destiny and despair coalesce.

### Townes Van Zandt: The Shadow Poet

In the fragmented dreamscape of America, Townes Van Zandt emerges as a spectral figure, a troubadour wandering the wastelands of his own mind. Born into privilege, but shackled by the spectral weight of his demons, Van Zandt’s life is a mosaic of brilliance and catastrophe. His music, a cathartic exorcism of his soul, is a testament to the eternal struggle between light and shadow.

"Poncho & Lefty" is the epitome of this dichotomy. First recorded in 1972, the song weaves a tale of two outlaws, bound by fate and shattered by betrayal. The narrative, steeped in myth and reality, is a melancholic reflection of Van Zandt’s own journey through the desolate corridors of existence. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard later immortalized the track, but its dark heart remains rooted in Van Zandt’s tortured genius.

### The Subterranean Odyssey

With JTSunrise at the helm, "Poncho & Lefty" becomes an auditory hallucination, a journey through the liminal spaces where morality dissolves into the guitar ether. Picture Poncho, the charismatic ghost, and Lefty, the betrayer, navigating a labyrinth of dust and shadows. Their story, a kaleidoscope of existential angst, mirrors the fractured reality of our own lives.

Let the spectral echoes of "Poncho & Lefty" transport you to a dimension where the lines between hero and villain blur into oblivion. 🌅🎸

[Verse 1]

C
Living on the road my friend
G
Was gonna keep you free and clean
F
Now you wear your skin like iron
     C                   G
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
F
You weren't your mama's only boy
        C               F
But her favorite one it seems
Am                        F        G
She began to cry when you said goodbye
    F              Am
And sank into your dreams


[Verse 2]
C
Pancho was a bandit boys
G
His horse was fast as polished steel
F
Wore his gun outside his pants
   C                      G
For all the honest world to feel
F
Pancho met his match you know
       C               F
On the deserts down in Mexico
Am                        F        G
Nobody heard his dying words
    F              Am
That's the way it goes


[Chorus]

F
All the federales say
C                       F
They could have had him any day
Am                F     G
They only let him hang around
       F             Am
Out of kindness I suppose


[Verse 3]
C
Lefty he can't sing the blues
G
All night long like he used to
F
The dust that Pancho bit down south
 C            G
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
F
The day they laid poor Pancho low
C                F
Lefty split for Ohio
Am                F        G
Where he got the bread to go
      F               Am
There ain't nobody knows


[Chorus]

F
All the federales say
C                       F
They could have had him any day
Am                F     G
They only let him slip away
       F             Am
Out of kindness I suppose


[Verse 4]
C
The poets tell how Pancho fell
G
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
  F
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
   C           G
So the story ends we're told
F
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
        C                F
But save a few for Lefty too
Am                   F      G
He just did what he had to do
   F              Am
Now he's growing old


[Chorus]

F
A few old gray federales say
C                       F
They could have had him any day
Am                F     G
They only let him go so long
       F             Am
Out of kindness I suppose

Poncho & Lefty

Pour tous les amis du monde § For all friends in the world.
  English translation after the French text
-------------------------------------------
L’amitié c’est nous,  autour d’un feu d’camp,  
Beuglant des chansons, on s’marait tout l’temps. 
Les guitares jouaient et nos voix s'envolaient
Souvenirs gravés de ces temps enchantés

 L'amitié, c'est nous, le monde à   refaire
Des blagues, des disputes, des rêves à l’envers
Au petit matin, les bouteilles vidées
Gueules enfarinées , les rêves sont envolés 

Tant q’on sera là, et quoi qu’il arrive         
Continuons not’route, libre  à la dérive.
 nos cœurs de gamins, nos âmes vagabondes, 
illumine le monde

L’amitié c’est nous avec ou sans enfants
Le boulot, la famille on s’voit moins souvent 
Dans  nos cœurs aimant, sont toujours vivant 
Nos  rires d’antan,  et nos vingt printemps 

L'amitié  c’est nous, avec des cheveux blancs
Une  histoire qui dure, à faire mentir le temps
Nos belles aventures , ont fait     nos destins,
Rires aux coins des yeux, témoins de nos chemins.                         

Tant q’on sera là, et quoi qu’il arrive         
Continuons not’route, libre  à la dérive.
Nos cœurs de gamins, nos âmes vagabondes, 
Illumine le monde

----------------- AUTO TRANSLATE 
Friendship is us, around a campfire,
Bellowing songs, we were always laughing.
The guitars were playing and our voices were soaring
Engraved memories of these enchanted times

Friendship is us, the world to be remade
Jokes, arguments, upside down dreams
In the early morning, the emptied bottles
Floury faces, dreams are gone

As long as we're here, and whatever happens
Let's continue our journey, free to drift.
our childish hearts, our wandering souls,
light up the world

Friendship is us with or without children
Work, family we see each other less often
In our loving hearts, are still alive
Our laughter of yesteryear, and our twenty springs

Friendship is us, with white hair
A story that lasts, to make time lie
Our beautiful adventures have made our destinies,
Laughter in the corners of our eyes, witnesses of our paths.

As long as we're here, and whatever happens
Let's continue our journey, free to drift.
Our childish hearts, our wandering souls,
Light up the world

_---_

photo  Photo de Min An: https://www.pexels.com/fr-fr/photo/silhouette-de-personnes-au-coucher-du-soleil-853168/

Amitié

about getting it wrong.... a Will Russell track from the album Ghost.

Trapped Within You

Trapped within You

Music: Little Man & Janne Hennie
Lyrics & Vocals: Janne Hennie
Instruments & Mix: Little Man

Lyrics:

Sometimes I ask to much of myself
It's like I'm not doing enough
Are those around me satisfied?
Maybe I'm to black in my mind..

Chorus:

If I do the best I can
What more can I do?
And if that's not good enough
I have nothing more to offer you..

Want to please those I love
They all need something from me
Not sure if I'm doing enough
But I don't want them to see

Chorus

I get a little tired sometimes
Need to hide and catch my breath
But I'm not hiding for a long time
My loved ones are on my mind..

Chorus

I can always try to improve
I still have so much to learn
But if I ask too much of myself
I go to black, brigdes will burn

Oh, If I do the best I can
What more can I do?
And if that's not good enough
I have nothing more to offer you..

The Best I Can

The Safety Dance re worked by Cookie Jay.

The Safety Dance

A song for us all

@rick-4-1 on Drums
@phil-mcwalter on The Other Stuff

Do You Know What I Mean

D' Ya Know What I Mean? - [revisited]

Riviera

Here's a fun rockin' cover I've had sitting around for awhile. I'm playing everything, singing (sorry), and I cut the drum loops together. BTW...that bass line is really fun to play!

Radio Free Europe (REM Cover)

Spirits Are Dancing (2025) Remastered

Winter Embrace

Writing on the Wall

Often I hear music, and have an intuitive positive response; I then try to figure out why. I enjoy seeing how things are constructed, and the choices that were made.

Send Some Love (Doyle Bramhall II cover)

this is another track , written, played and recorded while Netta was visiting from Norway….cheers for having a listen and your support👍

Who Can Say

Remind me of that song again
The one that has the saddest end
you know it too, you sang it to me
Long ago

Got me thinking about that time.
When I was yours and I had mine
Now we just live somewhere in the past
mmmm

Whatever happened to those days?
Nothing ever stays the same
Could it be the one that got away?
Who can say?

I could plan for days and days
There must be a thousand ways
That I could try and make you see
That you belong here with me

I dont really worry now
tomorrow made up it’s mind
And today feels like an only friend
and yesterday left us behind
again

Who Can Say

Track # 13 from my 2014 release "Christmas Is Here"

Mike's Website Store

When Rudolph's Ready to Dance

Autant de mots et si peu de doute...

Merci à Serge Gainsbourg et son Requiem, à qui j'ai emprunté le riff rythmique en fin de chanson

Mastering by Audio Colors

Sans Moi




Rocky Balboa,  Néo, Zorro
Conan, Rambo et Han Solo 


Tous ces héros qui sont immortels
Et moi
Tous ces braves gens tellement méritants
Et moi 
Autant de mots et si peu de doute 
Sans moi


Ellen Ripley, Clarice Starling
Josey Wales, Bond James 


Tous ces héros qui sont immortels
Et moi
Tous ces braves gens tellement méritants
Et moi 
Autant de mots et si peu de doute 
Sans moi


Dirty Harry, John Mc Lane
Rick Dickard, Martin Riggs


Tous ces héros qui sont immortels
Et moi
Tous ces braves gens tellement méritants
Et moi 
Autant de mots et si peu de doute 
Sans moi

Sans moi

⚡ Synthwave energy unleashed! ⚡ Shock the Algorithm returns with a brand NEW album — Ultraviolet Cosmos.
https://shockthealgorithm.bandcamp.com/album/ultraviolet-cosmos

🌌 Available NOW on Bandcamp — grab your digital copy today and step into the neon! 🌌

@JTSunrise was born in Chicago, IL (the City of Blues) in 1968. JT grew up on a rural horse farm at Cuba Township near Fox River Grove, along the C&NW tracks, about an hour by train outside the city. Summer nights before the internet were for sleeping outside and watching stars, singing and playing guitar to his girlfriends, and hitching trains from his backyard. Anywhere JT went, he had his acoustic guitar slung around his back. JT also learned bass and banjo, and started a folk band in high school, playing house parties and school concerts and busking the commuter train station in Barrington, IL.

His teenage years took him around the world and to Tempe, AZ in 1987, (age 19) where he lived in the same building (and jammed often) with Spiral Stairs, a seminal guitarist who would later form the band Pavement. JT played acoustic sets at the legendary Sun Club. During this time, Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms (JT’s record store clerk friend) did his sound.

Seattle Music Era

Arriving in Seattle in 1992 with his Tempe barista girlfriend PJ (now wife), JT immersed himself in a city alive with music innovation. This was to become known as a time when Seattle bands reshaped the musical landscape. Amidst the scene, JTSunrise carved a niche and performed shows, blending busking music with the amplified Seattle sound, his Tempe-styled lyrical command, and the soul of Chicago street blues.

His performances became the background of Seattle’s music venues, from the intimate setting of **Art Bar** to the historic **OK Hotel**, where grunge legends made history. He captivated audiences at **Sit & Spin**, a venue combining a laundromat with a bar and live music, and found a true home at the **Lake Union Pub**, a legendary punk dive bar that embraced him as their own. Each chord, each lyric, carried the weight of personal experience.

Musical Influences and Style

JTSunrise draws from icons like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Billy Bragg, alongside bands he admired in Tempe such as Gin Blossoms and Dead Hot Workshop. The bands at the Sun Club and Long Wongs in Tempe, AZ shaped his sound and approach. These influences, coupled with the music scene in 1990s Seattle (including Elise Sauer, Obe-Wan Kenobe, and everyone to ever perform at the Lake Union Pub), molded his blend of folk, punk, country blues, and acoustic pop.

Signature Songs and Contributions

Among his many contributions to the musical landscape, a few songs stand out:
- **"Saint James Infirmary"**: A haunting rendition of the classic ballad.
- **"Biscuit Roller Blues"**: A soulful, gritty track that showcases blues roots.
- **"Kevin Song"**: A heartfelt, melodic piece that resonates deeply with listeners.
- **"Cure For Pain"**: A Morphine song that explores themes of struggle and redemption.
- **"Mama Tried"**: A tribute to Merle Haggard, blending acoustic blues with heartfelt emotion.
- **"O Danny Boy"**: A timeless ballad, rendered with sincerity and grace.
- **"Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain"**: A fusion of folk and rock.

Prolific Output

JTSunrise has a substantial discography on SoundCloud, with over 200 tracks available. This includes a mix of original songs, raw covers, and collaborations with other artists. His music spans genres like folk, bluegrass and country blues, cowboy country, and 90s acoustic rock, reflecting his diverse influences.

Commitment to Seattle’s Artistic Community

JTSunrise’s influence extends beyond music. His commitment to authentic Seattle art is evident in his participation and support of local artists and musicians. As of 2024 he remains a licensed Pike Place Market busker, a role that allows him to share handmade music directly with the community any time, creating intimate, memorable experiences for locals and visitors.

Thanks everyone for support! 

Find other Art  and Videos by #JTSUNRISE: IG, YouTube, X, TikTok, BlueSky interweb media @JTSunriseMusic
www.linkedin.com/in/jtsunrise-music-1528072b0

Poncho & Lefty

JTSunrise

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