This is my best-received live song so far, and the most danceable. If you listen closely to the lyrics, you will find a critique of modern society and lifestyles, all done to a techno beat.

All The Same

This song is loosely based on the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Jim Nerstheimer plays organ.

Enkidu

I've had this song for many years. It was originally composed in the basement of a friend, and there was an inflatable chair nearby. The lyrics are a criticism of the ephemeral nature of modern society.

Inflatable Barbie Chair

The working title for this song was Alan Parsons. I went into the songwriting attempting to make something like his work. I don't know how successful I was, but it sure was fun to mess around with new sounds. All non-vocal tracks were played with the guitar.

Tucson

This song is one of the first I wrote. It's also been played live most frequently as it is very easy to play. I love the "dayglo jumpsuit" line. It's profoundly silly.

I Don't Mind

This is my attempt at progressive rock. It is also the first song I ever recorded. Five themes are introduced, and each one gets their due throughout the song. I almost named it Ritornello, because that's the musical term for what I did with the themes.

Progress

This is my attempt at doing something in the techno/rap genre. My intention going into the songwriting was to meld the styles of Kraftwerk with Rage Against the Machine. In the spirit of Rage, the lyrics are protest in nature and no samples or loops were used in the production. Of all the songs I've recorded, this has the most tracks (20!) and was also one of the fastest to produce. I wrote and recorded the music all in one day, wrote the lyrics, and performed it that night.

Technorati

This is about as country as my sound gets. It's a 12-bar blues song, tight, with guitar solos and accompaniment by bass, spoon, and shaker. I wrote and performed all parts.

When You Coming Home?

This is the opening of an 80 minute jam with Jim Nerstheimer in the sanctuary at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in DeKalb, IL. As I re-listen to this track, it reminds me of something that would be background music in a movie or video documentary about technology. Imagine people sitting at a bank of computers, their faces lit up by the moving pixels on a screen. Then imagine close-ups of bees working in a field of poppies, their legs furiously rubbing, coalescing pollen into little yellow globs.

Pointillism

This riff sounds like a rip-off of the Phantom of the Opera. 

Apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber

A third riff from 80 minutes of recording on May 18, 2011 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in DeKalb.

Say what?

You better not touch that sandwich, dripping with bacon grease and eggy goodness. Bertha will get mad at you and never invite you to her pool parties again.

Bertha's Sandwich

This is good music to study to or go to the beach or do a spoken word poetry to. We were wrapping up an 80-minute long jam and got stuck on this three chord riff that departs to other, strange places. Somehow, it works.

Shamwow

This song is an old one in my repertoire I'm finally recording. Love the last verse: "Skin flake genetic/ scratching dust to dust/ breathe in each other/ filter cilia lung/ mites in the eyebrow/ culture intestinal walls/ part of the system/ as we slowly dissolve."

So Da** Tired

I teach high school English in Leland, IL. It didn't take long for the students to find my music on Soundcloud. Two seniors asked if they could collaborate with me on a song. I said I would if they could name the 19th century French poet I quote in one of my songs, "All the Same." It took a couple of weeks but one of them figured out it was Arthur Rimbaud. I rap the opening verse and chorus. I also came up with the music for the verse and chorus using loops and effects in BandLab. The students (Orca and Mystic) rap over the next two verses and choruses. I'm thankful to the "young bloods" for encouraging me to write songs again and hope it inspired their creativity as well.

See What You Got

I have been writing songs since 2003. My style is eclectic, ranging from Techno to country grooves, with a strong emphasis on lyrical mastery. Enjoy and spread the word.

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