1   SICK OF YOU                

      A song for those who put themselves before country, and those unwilling or unable to see or know 

      the difference. 

 

 2   IT'S NOT TOO LATE

      Life doesn’t always allow our abilities and passions develop when or how we want them to,

      but it’s never too late to seize the moment.

 

 3   CHIEF WACHICKANOKA

      In September 1959, mom and dad took us to see the late Gary Ferry, a

      Cherokee Indian who played Chief Wachickanoka (”Little Blue Feather”).

      As part of a charitable promotion for the Sister Kinney Fund, radio station

      WDGY sponsored the chief’s 14-day stint in an oversized, underground

      coffin with two dozen poisonous snakes. The self-proclaimed “King 

      of the Snakes” vowed to not leave his “grave” until 50,000 people had

      viewed him and contributed to the fund. It was the type of curious little event 

      that could only have happened in middle America in the 1950s. While

      doing the research for these notes, I discovered that a guy named Terry

      Holmes cut a rockabilly original,“Wa-Chic-Ka-Noka,” for Cherry Records in
      1959. Apologies to the American Indian community for leaning too heavily on any stereotypes or

      depictions of its cultural heritage in the Fifties and in general, having too much fun with this.

 

 4.  DAWDLING IN D

      An instrumental that starts like an old western and takes on added flavors as it ambles 

      along.

 

  5   THE SHADES OF DEATH

                                                This song is tied in spirit to a curiously named road in Warren County, N.J.,

                                                called the “Shades of Death.” Legend has it that back in the day, this short

                                                stretch of road was a place where highwaymen and bandits would wait in the

                                                shadows for their victims. If captured, local townsfolk would hang the scoundrels                                                       from the trees along the edge of the road. Now a famous spot for ghost hunters,

       the legend is fueled by reported sightings of shadowy figures and corpses in the trees. 

 

  6   BITCH, BITCH, BITCH

       A tongue-in-check commentary on those who seem prewired to complain incessantly: “I’ve 

       known some great bitchers in my time. With some it’s a passion, with others, an art.” 

       — Molly Ivins

    

  7   WITHOUT HER IT JUST ISN'T ME (MARTHA'S WALTZ)

       When you find someone special in your life, you’ll know it and you best show it.

 

  8   AGITATED AIR 

       Another one of my semi-jazzy (or as best as I can fake it) riffs concocted on the bass.

 

  9   LOVE IS JUST A MYSTERY 

       It has always been a curiosity to me when intimate relationships vanish in an instant

       when expectations aren't met for myriad reasons. 

        

10   GOODBYE ROXANNE

       This is my fourth stab at trying to capture the spirit of this fictional character, Roxanne, who is nothing like
       anyone I've ever met. She might just as easily be the subject for a bluegrass song, but then it would

       ultimately end in not just leaving but shooting Roxanne for her evil and treacherous ways!

 

11   A LITTLE TO THE LEFT, A LITTLE TO THE RIGHT

       I saw a quote once that suggested that it doesn’t matter how much planning we do. One 

       tiny miscalculation or moment of distraction can bring about a whole different outcome.

 

12   WHEN A SHOUT BECOMES A WHISPER

       The title for this song dawned decades ago in response to political correctness masking 

       underlying bigotry. These same whispers today are being drowned out by the shouts of a 

       white supremacist counter-culture in and out of police uniform, emboldened and   

       encouraged by like-minded and corrupt opportunists in power. Time will tell if those 

       angered and offended by these so-called “patriotic” displays bring about meaningful, 

       long-lasting changes or just lip service and token gestures like the removal of offensive 

       Confederate statues. If history is any indication, don’t hold your breath.