Family Fair

(c) 2002
This song is kind of a pastiche. I wrote and recorded the music in layers and was thinking about James Brown, The Police and Los Lobos while I did it. The second half of the song was recorded separately--added after a friend told me the song was too short (I think I overcompensated). The words in the verses come from a poem I scribbled down after my commute by train to my job in downtown Denver. The title of the song comes from a word-a-day calendar. It all seemed to fit together well-- as if by magic, but I don't believe in that crap. Enjoy!

Taradiddle

True

Old Scratch

(c) 2002
This song is a folky instrumental. I played the guitar and kick drum at the same time, then added accordion, mandolin, tenor guitar and snare drum. 

Ten After Four

Angel Faced Lady

(c) 2002
Here's a song I wrote in kind of a Johnny Cash style. For gear heads (and bargain shoppers): the slide guitar part was done with an Ibanez Destroyer I bought for $60 in a pawn shop in Denver, a tiny Silvertone/Danelectro tube amp I bought for $40 in an antique store in CT and an '80's DOD analog delay pedal I bought for $20 from a friend of mine. Recorded on a Tascam Portastudio 4 track cassette machine (like most of what I put on Soundcloud).

Mai - Tai

The Message

(c) 2002
Years ago when we lived in another state, my wife and I drove out to a small city that we heard had some nice restaurants. We got to the downtown area and started following shiny new signs that said "Downtown Dining and Entertaining District." We ended up in an industrial area near the train tracks--no restaurants anywhere. We got back on the highway and ate at a Chilis. This song is about that town.

Keith Jacques