The Songs
These are some short song explanations I wrote and recorded for use on Podcasts and Radio. The audio versions are available upon request.
T.A. Vern’s
T.A. Vern’s is my take on the classic Blues trope of God vs the Devil. Well in my case it’s Jesus and the Devil in a bar fight but not necessarily against each other. I set this confrontation in my favorite Calgary Dive Bar “Vern’s”, that place has my musical home away from home for the last 18 years and this song is my way of paying tribute.
Ghosts of Old Kilbride
Ghosts of Old Kilbride is the most personal song on the album. I wrote it after my uncle passed away. It’s about dealing with loss, but not in the healthiest way. Kilbride was the small community where I grew up, it’s the kind of place where the cows vastly out number the people. This song is my tribute to all the people we’ve lost from there over the years.
Psychedelic Super Freak
Psychedelic Super Freak was inspired in equal parts by a Fuzz guitar pedal I bought and the traditional Celtic song “Peter Street”. It tells the story of Hapless guy who is taken advantage of by young Hippie lady. I shot a trippy Psychedelic video for this track. Keeping with the spirt of my self-produced album, I shot and edited the video myself.
Whiskey Sam
Whiskey Sam is a story about an old bootlegger who lives in the woods and makes the best Whiskey. In his adventures He loses his arm in a fight with a rather thirsty Bear and gets the law men that are after him so drunk they forget to arrest him. The song was inspired by the stories my father told me about a whiskey still my grandfather had hidden deep in the woods. I often went looking for it but I never found it.
El Rey
El Rey, the king is a story about a bandit that roved the border between Texas and Mexico near Matamoros. It’s my take on those classic spaghetti western. Is our protagonist a good guy or is he as evil as the federally say is the truth somewhere in between. It’s about how legends get twisted with time. I wrote this song after hearing about passing of Dusty Hill from ZZ Top. I guess it got me thinking about Texas and in turn westerns and Banditos.
High Noon
High Noon is essentially a ballad about a gunfighter being tracked down by a posse. It was oddly inspired by a film critic saying that the horror film “Hellraiser” is just a Mob movie with the characters switch from mobsters to demons. I thought why not try that with music. So I took a hip hop song specifically Ice T’s “6 in the morning” changed the setting from 80’s LA to the old west and that were I got High Noon. It’s my Bluesy western tribute to 80’s Rap, there is even a Bestie Boys reference hidden in there.
Eat the Rich Blues
This world seems to be hell bent on pitting us against each other. Whether you’re left or right we keep finding new reasons to fight with each, when in actual fat we are just poor working stiffs that are trying to find a way to make it through the week. I know your angry, Well I’m angry too. Looks like we got the Eat the Rich Blues.
Hereafter
Did you ever hear of song writers or artists getting fully formed musical Ideas that seem to pop into their head seemingly out of the either? Well “Hereafter” is that song for me. The lyrics for the chorus and melody just seemed to pop into my head while I was just sitting on the couch. I just had to fill in the rest of it. It’s about living your life today because you don’t know where you go when you die.
It’s A Sin
This song is a tribute to my band mates in the band Gales of Avalon. It’s about being on the road with a band and trials and tribulations that follow. All the stories in the song are true only the names have been changed to protect the guilty, because ain't none of us innocent.
Old Barn Blues
Old Barn Blues is my instrumental tribute to where I learned to play guitar. In 1990 the old barn next to our house was empty. The farm had failed, and the animals were long gone but the barn that had stood on that spot for (at that time) almost a 100 years was still there. It was the perfect place to play guitar. I could turn my amp up as loud as I wanted not to bother anybody. The song is a little country a little bluesy and even a bit funky. I played it for my Father and asked what I should call it. He said, “It sounds like the old barn to me”.
A Simple Plan
Ever been told, you weren’t good enough, or you just didn’t belong. Has any ever made you feel small or weak. Well, this song is about that and how to fix it. You see it’s really a simple plan.
