Home again, for little while.

I made it home from my Europe/UK tour tired but excited about going back over in April for another long run. It was wonderful to see all the folks that come to the shows, and have the chance to experience so many great cultures and countries in such a short time. Italy, Denmark, Holland, England and Norway, in three weeks time. So many diverse experiences!  It went so well I am going back, for a month or so in the spring. My two big memories?  1---I Played the maximum security psychiatric prison chapel in Trondheim, Norway that houses the most dangerous criminals in the Country. Some of them were there, and I will never forget it. The staff at the place is doing God's work, I gotta tell you, they moved me. Not an easy job, and they do it with grace. 2--- I went out on the town in London for the premier of the Led Zeppelin movie, walked the red carpet and got to meet some rock Royals, Robert Plant and Julian Lennon. WAY cool night! So I am home now, and life is just as amazing here in Nashville. Guess who loves John Prine as much as I do? Bonnie played the last show of a 75 city tour here at The Ryman, and we all got together for dinner to celebrate the sold out shows and major success of her new record. John and Bonnie go back nearly 40 years....so much love there, and mutual respect. It was an honour to join them for an evening of reminiscing. Nashville, what a great city to hang my hat.

Got to meet the great legendary Duane Eddy when Whispering Bob Harris brought him over for dinner, along with his shiny new CMA Award that he was presented with the night before. Finally, a CMA Award at my house! Congrats Bob, well deserved! I was the grateful cook, who had the most fantastic night of all...Duane and Bob and Beth, I will cook for ya'll anytime!

Last night my pal Ralph Murphy called and asked me to come to dinner, and pick up our friend the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement and his lovely partner Aileen. Jack's resume reads like the history of great American Music. He produced Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Pride, and on and on....PLUS, he is a ballroom dancer. Cowboy, we love you!

Right now when I am at home I'm busy working on a series of short stories, hoping to write enough of them to be able to put out a book of shorts soon. That means getting up before the sun comes up, making a strong pot of coffee, and playing with words for 4 hours every morning. It's a challenge, it's a joy, and it's a journey. I have two done, and about 10 started. Slow going, but getting there. Love the Fall, love the work, love my friends, love my life. I hit the road on Tuesday, headed south, more adventures to come. Thanks for joining me n the journey!

Tin Can Caravan Rolls Down Route 66

I’ve been rolling down US Route 66 with Fred Eaglesmith’s Traveling Steam Roadshow. This tour is his concoction, he calls in the Tin Can Caravan. 50 fans, some in a bus, some in their cars…all following us down America’s weirdest highway, Route 66. We’re playing  little  towns along the way, and a few big towns too. Pulled into Needles, CA today and it was HOT HOT HOT, they say this is the hottest town in America. It was dang hot in Fred’s un-air conditioned converted old school bus, I can tell you that. He runs it on vegetable oil, and it gets the job done. But in the desert, in the heat, it ain’t for sissies.

Tonight at the Elks Club, in Needles, Fred closed the show solo, playing Me and Esther. One of my favorite songs….I am having an adult sized adventure on this tour. Loving it!

Success, Family, Heart, Courage

The Foundling, my last CD, was not commercially successful. It left me reeling, wondering what success means when it comes to creativity. Art and commerce are almost always at odds, and I am being taught, again, that in spite of the trappings of Nashville, the music BUSINESS town where I live (sales charts, radio charts, soundscan, the fame game, the industry sales magazines that focus on money, money. more money and then there’s … money) success is all a matter of interpretation. Did the work connect? Did the work help to heal the person who created it? Did the work bring truth and beauty into the world?  Was the work useful to other people in their life journey?  Will the work endure the test of time? These are the true measures of success in art. Any other measuring stick is a false one. The following video deeply moves me. My friends Catie and Liz are courageous, which to me means they walked through fear and did what needed to be done anyway. They did the right thing by their children. They truly love their children, and they put them first. They took them to find their original families in Guatemala, so that they could live in the light of truth for the rest of their lives. These are not easy stories; adoption stories are NEVER easy stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o326WoMcju4&feature=plcp

That’s why I wrote the Foundling, try to and make sense of my own confused messed up story. I am deeply humbled that the songs of The Foundling were part of the reason that Catie and Liz's kids now know their birth families. The not knowing has primal, lifelong, ramifications. That I was able  be of service to the spirits of these two beautiful children and this beautiful family is humbling, and makes my understanding of success clearer. The Foundling succeeded on levels that are not commercial, on levels that are far more important than money.

Here's a beautiful thing I learned from Catie and Liz's story. The human heart is built for expansion , it is DESIGNED to open. Hearts can and do hold many family's. My story is not blessed with a warm hearted re-union with my mother. But the failure there is not in the human heart.

Also, the heart has a knowing, it has information that mind does not have.  When your mind does not know what your heart knows, the results are often mental illness, addiction, depression, anxiety, attachment disorders, and a laundry list of other diagnosis that adoptees often suffer from. Knowing is better, even if it hurts.

In the end, this is what I was looking for when I wrote The Foundling.

I found what I needed to find on my vision quest of The Foundling. This is success. A deep and true success.

I need to spend less time in Nashville, and more time in the real world. They told me that sooner or later music city would screw up your head. I'm getting mine put back on by people like the ones in the video above.

Catie and Liz, Celia and Lucy, I love y'all. What a beautiful, true, loving family.

Music I'm Enjoying

It's a great time for music. There's an abundance of creativity in the air, a boom in innovation and imagination, and great new ways to reach people globally that are a series of firsts in history for musicians and songwriters. You tube and the Internet have changed everything. The old gatekeepers no longer have a monopoly on who is allowed into the arena, old radio is dead or dying, old media the same, and the world wide web is wide open and ripe with possibilities. There's no more gate to keep! No one is in charge. It's a free for all. And really, that’s a good thing. Because so many artists could not shape themselves into the pretzel that old media demanded before allowing entrance, they were shut out Today, the game has changed. It's becoming easier for the cream to rise to the top. It's a vastly different world then it was when I entered the music business in 2000, and it's an exciting time. Sure, it's hard to get heard because there's so much happening now, (it's like trying to drink from an open fire hydrant there's so much out there now), but what a good problem to have! It's a great time to be alive, and to be an artist and a fan of original music.

Here's a few of the people I've been enjoying, a few artists I'd like to share with you l because I love them, enjoy their work, and believe they have something valuable to offer. Let me know what you think, it's would be great to hear from you.

CW Stoneking

We played a show with him on BBC Radio Scotland as part of the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. He's amazing, check him out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mclo3kYr9Y

Fred Eaglesmith

My friend, my hero, my mentor, my favorite songwriter. 'Nuff said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWMu2BE_z6A

Gretchen Peters

An absolutely gifted and amazing artist, with a fantastic new CD out now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUyOFlF9K1E

Lori McKenna

What a great song, what a great songwriter, what a great CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM5BkV-qEJU

Ruthie Foster

New CD just out, Let It Burn. She's a true BAD ASS!!!  She's got it, and then some.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxP4o-fLkFY

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings

Seven years in the making, and finally, here it is. The Harrow and The Harvest. A new record from one of the most amazing duo's that have ever walked the earth. They are truly timeless, operating outside of time as I know it. They are time travelers, and we are lucky to be able to see perform live in our time. If they are playing near you, you gotta go see them. It never ceases to amaze me how good they are live. Truly, truly great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37u3_659fXk