Songs
The Muse Beckons
I've been writing songs my whole life. Even as a little kid I could hear music in my head, and made up lyrics to go along with it. I was enormously influenced by the singer-songwriter boom of the sixties and seventies, from Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the Greenwich Village folkie scene to Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and the Laurel Canyon scene, to the psychedelic free verse of the San Francisco Sound, I was captivated by the intricate relationship of text to melody, meter, tempo, and harmonic moods. One songwriter in particular, David Wilcox, stands out as a pivotal influence.
Over the decades, I've learned and played innumerable covers across all genres of popular music, and they have in turn influenced my songwriting. I spent years covering the American Standard Songbook, studying the Vaudeville traditions that informed it, with a minor in Bossa Nova and Latin jazz. In recent years, I've been fascinated by the great Texas songwriting Renaissance from Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Nancy Griffith and Guy Clark to James McMurtry, Lyle Lovett, and Robert Earl Keen. As well as some icons of American Song too compelling to ignore, such as Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and John Prine. From my early adolescence to the present day I've been a devoted fan of the Grateful Dead.
Most of my originals are works of fiction. If I've learned anything about songwriting from singing James McMurtry songs, it's this: to write a generational novel in three choruses and a bridge, you gotta make a lotta shit up, and then you gotta leave a lotta shit out. It's not typical storytelling; the audient has to participate and engage the imagination to fabricate the connective narrative tissue animating the imagist poetry that makes for a catchy hook. That's where the music comes in, creating a comfortable and inviting harmonic rhythm bed to examine the human condition, with all its features and flaws. It makes it more of a conversation than a concert.
These are songs I've written, and those that have reached me with an emotional payload that compelled me to add them to my book.
Cover Tune Samples
Lights Of Cheyenne James McMurtry
Copper Canteen James McMurtry
Dynamite In The Distance David Wilcox
The Waffle House David Wilcox
Mission In The Rain Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter
You’re A Big Girl Now Bob Dylan
Storm Warning Bonnie Raitt
I Can't Make You Love Me Bonnie Raitt
T-Bone Steak And Spanish Wine Tom Russell
Turn Off The News Lukas Nelson and The Promise of the Real
Harlan Darrell Scott
Easy Money Ricki Lee Jones
That’s How I Got To Memphis Tom T. Hall
Blue Roses David Gans
Moe George Wurzbach
If We Make It Through December Merle Haggard
Maybe You'll Be There Rube Bloom, Johnny Gallop
I Am No Exception To The Rule Charlie Wood
Bristlecone Pine Hugh Prestwood
Pass It Along Scott Cook
Random Access Repertoire
Western - Americana, Texas, OG C&W
Hurricane Party James McMurtry
Levelland James McMurtry
If It Don't Bleed James McMurtry
Bird Song Garcia/Hunter
Desperadoes Waiting For A Train Guy Clark
Black Diamond Strings Guy Clark
Stuff That Works Guy Clark
It Ain’t Over Yet Rodney McDowell
Gulf Coast Highway Nanci Griffith
A Hard Life Nancy Griffith
Sweet Revenge John Prine
Egg and Daugher Nite John Prine
Memphis Midnight Lyle Lovett
Family Reserve Lyle Lovett
Dreamsicle Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Death Wish Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
I Walk A Crooked Road Darrell Scott
Lake Charles Lucinda Williams
West Memphis Lucinda Williams
Here Comes That Rainbow Again Kris Kristofferson
Keep Your Heart Young Brandi Carlile
If I Could Only Fly Blaze Foley
Deep River Blues Doc Watson
Carolina In The Pines Michael Martin Murphey
The Road Goes On Forever Robert Earl Keene
Helping Me Get Over You Travis Tritt/Lari White
That’s What They Said About The Buffalo Michael Peterson
How The River Feels Diamond Rio
Folk and Singer-Songwriter
Love Has No Pride Bonnie Raitt
Just Like That Bonnie Raitt
Just Enough Empties Scott Cook
Say Can You See Scott Cook
Pacing The Cage Bruce Cockburn
If I Had A Rocket Launcher Bruce Cockburn
Song From Platte River Brewer & Shipley
Seems Like A Long Time Brewer & Shipley
Trilogy Loggins and Messina
Watching The River Run Loggins and Messina
Lost My Driving Wheel Tom Rush
Child’s Song Tom Rush
Memphis Janis Ian
Caledonia Dougie McLean
Blow 'Em Away Chuck Brodsky
Shanty Jonathan Edwards
Nothing But The Whole Wide World Jakob Dylan
Down To Eugene Jim Page/David Gans
Song For Ireland Phil Colclough
That's What Makes You Strong Jesse Winchester
Privateering Mark Knopfler
The Well Ace of Cups
David Wilcox
Privilege David Wilcox
Guitar Shopping David Wilcox
All The Roots Grow Deeper David Wilcox
The Farthest Shore David Wilcox
Show The Way David Wilcox
Eye Of The Hurricane David Wilcox
East Asheville Hardware David Wilcox
Slipping Through My Fist David Wilcox
My Old Addiction David Wilcox
Bob Dylan
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Bob Dylan
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts Bob Dylan
Mississippi Bob Dylan
Simple Twist Of Fate Bob Dylan
I Shall Be Released Bob Dylan
Jackson Browne
Before The Deluge Jackson Browne
Rock Me On The Water Jackson Browne
A Little Soon To Say Jackson Browne
For Everyman Jackson Browne
Popular Favorites
Moon Over Bourbon Street Sting
Fragile Sting
Mandolin Wind Rod Stewart
For Real Tom Petty
Pretzel Logic Steely Dan
A Song For You Leon Russell
Long And Winding Road Beatles
In My Life Beatles
Across The Universe Beatles
A Little Bit of Everything Dawes
Who Do You Think You're Talking To Dawes
More Love The Chicks
My Sisters And My Brothers Charles Johnson
American Standard Songbook/Latin Jazz
The Moon's A Harsh Mistress Jimmy Webb
MacArthur Park Jimmy Webb
Georgia On My Mind Hoagy Carmichael
September Of My Years Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn
I Could Have Told You Jimmy Van Heusen/Carl Sigman
Moonlight Becomes You Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke
They Say It's Wonderful Irving Berlin
Do You Know What It Means Eddie De Lange / Louis Alter
I Love The Way You're Breaking My Heart Alter/Drake
Girl From Ipanema Joao Gilberto
Rosa Morena Dorival Caymii
Tú, Mi Delirio César Portillo de la Luz
The Most Fun Herbal Time of the Year (Holiday Parody)