ABOUT
Singer/songwriter dedicated to original music. Jazz influenced piano, folk/rock acoustic fingerpicking, Sonny Landreth style electric slide, hard rock/jazz influenced drumming, Lead vocal/harmony
- Screen name:
- mike1415971
- Member since:
- Nov 15 2019
- Active over 1 month ago
- Level of commitment:
- Moderately Committed
- Years playing music:
- 50
- Gigs played:
- 50 to 100
- Tend to practice:
- 2-3 times per week
Influences
Doc Watson Chris Whitley Sonny Landreth Joe Morello John Bonham Ginger Baker Jethro Tull Led Zeppelin Bill Evans Chet Atkins
Instrument experience:
- Acoustic Guitar:
- Advanced
- Drums:
- Advanced
- Dobro:
- Advanced
- Vocalist:
- Moderate
- Vocalist - Baritone:
- Moderate
- Rhythm Guitar:
- Moderate
- Other Percussion:
- Moderate
- Keyboard:
- Intermediate
- Piano:
- Intermediate
- Electronic Music:
- Intermediate
EQUIPMENT
Pro level
MUSIC
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The Ancients
The AncientsThe Ancients He said they’d been by here long ago I don’t believe it, I can hear them breath I’ve seen their footprints all over The artifacts and the arrowheads Their campfires are warm I hear them on the open plain calling I can feel their light caress as they go slipping by In the shadows of the family trees and the bloodlines The origin and the embryo and the gentle moan of love’s embrace I hear them, I feel them near I see them, they’re all around me Far ahead and far behind Locked in the ritual dance To the primitive pulse of the primal urge The fertile egg and the scattered sperm Handed down in the holy words and war cries The ancient beat of a distant time Beats anew in the child’s breast All the gods and the goddesses Have mated and merged and given birth To newer gods so many gods and Every one the one and only one Time and time and time again it goes on If I have my father’s eyes Who's were they before him? I hear them, I feel them near I see them, they’re all around me It mystifies me It fills me up It terrifies me It draws me on and on I hear them,I feel them near I see them, they’re all around me I hear them, I feel them near I see them, they’re all around
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One Heat
One HeatOne Heat Lie still in a quiet room soft bosom rise and fall Lie still to the wind unveiling all One heat two hearts Two flames One heat Unlace the evening let fall the folds Release the heat I know you hold One heat two hearts Two flames One heat I want heat Bring heat My my my heat One heat
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Round Here
Round HereRound Here Many winds blow through my windows Many colors paint my skies And a sound like thunder That I’ve come to recognize What it is and what it might be Play together in a game If things were different They’d still be the same Round here there’s a heartbeat It might be yours or it might be mine Either way somebody’s heart’s beating overtime Foreign words without their meaning Alluring as they flow You may not understand But your heart already knows Round here there’s a heartbeat It might be yours or it might be mine Either way somebody’s heart’s beating overtime
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Market Day
Market DayMarket Day Cupboards are empty My bins are bare So I’m gonna be off to market I will buy there: Half pints of happiness Arm-fulls of hugs Weigh out some wonder and a big loaf of love Six packs of cheerfulness Gallons of grace Two pounds of friendship I’ll empty this place Cartloads of laughter Bags full of grace I’ve got coupons For kindness Wisdom and praise It’s market day Four cups of wishes Throw in some smiles There’s a special on kisses A sale down the aisles It’s market day Ring up my purchase I’ve cleared off the shelves But these bags aren’t heavy They’ll carry themselves It’s market day
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Signs Of Life
Signs Of LifeSigns of Life Beyond the edge of my remarkable existence I see the worlds whirling by And I wonder just what it is moving them That draws me on the way it do Looking for signs of life I feel the way the planets pull upon my senses The way they seem to sing to me Oh I know there are elements of danger But it only works to woo Looking for signs of life It may be with a star chart, a long lens and a flash of light Or a soft brush, a deep look, a quick breath, so near From the quietest whisper, the soft and fervent prayer To the wild, wild, wild call Spinning and turning, whirring and whirling away In arcs and curves, the endless ebb and flow Do you read me? (Over) Come in Do you read me? (Over)
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Where The Fair Ones Run
Where The Fair Ones RunWhere the Fair Ones Run Using my imagination I can picture it in my mind It’s a painting in a gallery of a summer mountainside long gone There are houses in the valley, bits of silver light in blues and green And the faces of the workers in the fields are all aglow so radiantly Where the fair ones run the air is clear and bright And everyone’s bathed in golden light I try not to dwell upon it though I very often find I do All our dreams are much more vivid if we make ourselves believe they’re true Where the fair ones run the air is clear and bright And everyone’s bathed in golden light I know it’s not that way at all But sometimes I find I’m where the fair ones run
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Hearts So Wide
Hearts So WideHearts So Wide Heart so wide, I feel my way toward you Skin so thin, I stop, I turn, I back away Heart so wide Skin so thin If I smile today I’m hat in hand tomorrow It’s so hard to hide In the skin I find me in It’s what you want But what you do drives it away Hearts so wide, Skin so thin Hearts so wide It beats against my insides Skin so thin It hardly holds me in Hearts so wide, Skin so thin
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No Never Not I
No Never Not IApologies for horrible sound, home recording circa 1990.
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Feel Not Deny
Feel Not DenyFrom home-made album "Feel not Deny" circa 1990. Recorded on a Tascam ministudio 4 track cassette. All instruments played by moi. Feel Not Deny Some come but turn away Longing to stay To feel not deny Some come like live wires Hot sparks and full of fire Feel not deny Living afraid to dream To hurt, to love aloud It’s not real, just lifelike Feel not deny Feel not deny
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Her Distant Mysteries
Her Distant MysteriesFrom home-made album "Feel Not Deny" circa 1990. Recorded on Tascam 4 track ministudio cassette deck. Roland D-70, S-50 and S-550. Her Distant Mysteries Wrapped around the beam She can feel it rumbling So far below and She likes that feeling Welling up within Down in the engine room (Pounding and pushing and churning away) The thunder continues to rumble through the night While she dreams her distant mysteries (Drifting through layers of pleasure and yearning) Writhing with the waves She can feel the current carrying her And she likes that feeling Welling up within Down in the engine room (Pounding and pushing and churning away) The thunder continues to rumble through the night While she dreams her distant mysteries (Drifting through layers of pleasure and yearning)
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El Nieto
El Nieto
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If I Could Cry
If I Could CryWritten 15 years ago. I have no problem crying now that I'm an old man. If I Could Cry Momma been bit by a fever, can’t stop her gotta let her run I’m inclined to believe her, that girl gotta have her fun Nobody gonna relieve her, nobody but her number one No, I aint gonna grieve her, mmm, mmm buddy, don’t need no gun But if I could cry, why I wouldn’t have this hole in my belly If I could find where I left my tears If I could fly, why I wouldn’t care if my knees turned to jelly If I could fly away from here If I could cry, If I could cry Well, somebody done hooked me up to a slow drip of poison My bubblin’ blood is a percolatin’ mess of corrosion I can’t do nothin’, I can’t do nothin’ but feel bad No room in the itty bitty bed, forty little toes, aint none of them mine Sandman comin’ to claim her, good bye, buddy, better luck next time Your knight in shinnin’ armor, he need a bit o’ polishin’ tonight This prince aint never gonna charm her, not when she aint anywhere in sight But if I could cry, why I wouldn’t have this hole in my belly If I could find where I left my tears If I could fly, why I wouldn’t care if my knees turned to jelly If I could fly away from here If I could cry, If I could cry Well, somebody done hooked me up to a slow drip of poison My bubblin’ blood is a percolatin’ mess of corrosion I can’t do nothin’, I can’t do nothin’ but feel bad
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Junior's In The Ditch
Junior's In The DitchTrue story. Grampa Glen's farm in Huron County, Michigan. These are very old songs...it's about the country, so I did this as a "country version" of what was originally a barn-burner of a folk song. Love you, grampa. JUNIOR’S IN THE DITCH AGAIN Junior didn’t skate, he lived on thin ice I’d say he broke through more than once or twice He never did seem to learn just where that line was drawn Till he’d already crossed it and gone From job to job in trouble he kicked around His older brother tryin’ to get him to settle down So he told my grampa the only way to keep him from harm Was if he’d put him to work here on the farm But when Junior was in trouble back then He shared his misfortune with anyone he called his friend Grampa said he’d give it a try, though gramma didn’t like the looks of the guy She said “stayin’ outta trouble for him is only wishful thinkin’” His brother said “you leave it to me, I take responsibility” Though nothin’ was said about the little matter of his drinkin’ Now there were miles of straight open highway Plenty of room for a country boy to roam But the only curve in the county Was on the only road comin’ home And in an inebriated state Junior liked his roads and his whiskey straight After work on a Saturday night runnin’ bar to bar till the mornin’ light But he never navigated that curve quite right Our Sunday mornin’ ritual was gettin’ out a tractor and a chain to pull Junior outta that ditch again Junior's in the ditch again Junior is in need of a friend He kept them wheels rock steady straight But the road went around the bend Now I was awful young and I did not understand Just what whiskey could do to a man So I thought it quite the thing back then to hear that Junior had put it in the ditch again Junior's in the ditch again Junior is in need of a friend He kept them wheels rock steady straight But the road went around the bend That old car had a mind of it’s own, Couldn’t miss a ditch on the way back home With Junior dumpin’ the clutch and bangin’ the gears Up the creek without a paddle or a boat That battered old car just would not float Deep water in the ditch ‘most any time of year This went on for just a little too long, Junior saw it was time to be movin’ on But his departure had just one hitch; Drivin’ off the farm he put it right back in the ditch Junior's in the ditch again Junior is in need of a friend He kept them wheels rock steady straight But the road went around the bend His propensity for ditches had all us kids in stitches But gramma told us “you beware” She didn’t like the bloody yarns he told to us behind the barn She was horrified by the way that man could swear (and rightly so) ‘Cause in an inebriated state Junior liked his roads and his whiskey straight I don’t know where he is today, but judgin’ from the quantities he put away Only two possibilities come to mind One he’s dead and cold and in the ground, the only other way he’d still be around Is if he’s takin’ it one day at a time Junior's in the ditch again Junior is in need of a friend He kept them wheels rock steady straight But the road went around the bend
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Eighteen
EighteenEighteen All I want from you is to call me on the phone And tell me you’re alright and I’ll leave you alone It doesn’t seem too cruel, what I’m askin’ you to do But I know it is to you ‘cause you’re eighteen So you go runnin’ out the door To the wild world you wanna see You’re not a child anymore ‘Cause you’re eighteen All you want from me is for me to let you be, Go to bed and don’t worry, you don’t mean to be mean But you can find your way and there’s nothin’ I can say That’ll make you wanna stay ‘cause you’re eighteen So you go runnin’ out the door To the wild world you wanna see You’re not a child anymore ‘Cause you’re eighteen If you only knew how proud I am of you There’s nothin’ you can’t do, so go on, chase your dreams You are who you are, my bright and shining star Because your ma and pa were once eighteen So you go runnin’ out the door To the wild world you wanna see You’re not a child anymore ‘Cause you’re eighteen
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Daddy Can I Drive
Daddy Can I DriveFirst half of first three verses is nearly verbatim from each of my three daughters. Daddy, Can I Drive the Car “Daddy, can I drive the car, I wanna drive the car I know how, it’s not so hard, hard to drive the car You just grab the wheel, turn up the radio, Fiddle with the lever and step on the gas and go.” Hmmm....Well, alright, I guess it’s time, time to learn to drive Everybody gets a turn, a turn to learn to drive But first you buckle up, turn down the radio Look both ways then easy, eaSY, EASY! Take it nice and slow My little one has grown Someday soon you’ll be on your own Whether you stay near or you go far Darlin’ take care where ever you are When you drive the car “Dad, I hate this stupid car, stupid, stupid car All my friends have newer cars, their parents bought them cars But this car smells bad, it smokes, Dad It shudders and sputters and putters, Dad, I hate this car” Hmmm....Where’d you learn to drive so fast, this I don’t allow “Daddy dear, why do you ask, you know you taught me how ‘Cause you drive fast, Dad, don’t like to get passed, Dad It’s a blast, Dad, to drive fast, and Daddy, you taught me how!” My little one has grown Someday soon you’ll be on your own Whether you stay near or you go far Darlin’ take care where ever you are When you drive the car “Sorry, Dad, I crashed the car, Dad I crashed the car The stupid rain came down too hard, it made me crash the car But don’t get bent, Dad, about a few dents, Dad That’s why they call them accidents, Dad” Hmmm.....Sorry that I got so mad when you crashed the car Honey, I know you feel bad, forget about the car We can always buy a new one, but can’t buy a new you, hon I’d bust in two if I’d lose you, ‘cause honey, I love you My little one has grown Someday soon you’ll be on your own Whether you stay near or you go far Darlin’ take care where ever you are When you drive the car
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I Drive A Mercedes Benz
I Drive A Mercedes BenzDemo Quality Folks! I Drive a Mercedes Hey, I saw your car in the getaway Just what kinda car is that anyway? Oh I drive a Mercedes...Benz Sounds pretty good, now, doesn’t it? Let me tell ‘bout that piece of ... I gotta rattle in my catalytic converter it’s murder on my ears it sounds like I’m draggin’ ‘round chains My headlights are so dim the bright lights of cars behind me cast my shadow on the road in front of me But I drive a Mercedes...Benz I blow through oil like you wouldn’t believe I leave drips on the driveway and pretty blue clouds on the highway My broken air conditioning doesn’t cool anything it costs more to fix it than the whole damn car is worth And it’s hot as Hades... in my Mercedes...Benz I burn high grade gas and low grade oil I leave a blue, blue cloud behind me when I roll I smell burnin’ oil I smell burnin’ oil I smell burnin’ oil It’s my Mercedes... Benz Cranking over won’t start Step on the gas I slow down, let off the gas I speed up tires won’t hold air pulls to one side Automatic transmission I’m always aggravated by the overated Complicated fabricated lubricatin’ struggle buggy I call mine Exactly what that one wiper wipes is real unclear to me I see nothin’ but a slimey grime Trans won’t shift n’ it runs like shit I know I Shouldn’t talk about it like that but I’m ‘bout to lose my mind... Did I mention ladies, I drive a Mercedes I depend’s on my Benz and hell if it don’t get me there
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Family Man
Family ManDemo quality recordings here, folks. They are what they is. FAMILY MAN I could-a been a hard-drivin’ tough-talkin rough-ridin fist-fightin’ self-centered son of a gun Just pleasin’ myself, never anyone else, havin’ fun lookin’ out for number one But I’d have never heard my children sing Or seen ‘em runnin’ through the flowers in the spring Growing up before my eyes Now they come and gather all around me, settin’ grandbabies on my knee Sayin’ they love me and surprise, I’m a Family Man I must admit I had a little fit thinkin’ about how I’d miss out But that doubt just melted on out when my little ones began to gather about ‘Cause I’d have never heard my children sing Or seen ‘em runnin’ through the flowers in the spring Growing up before my eyes Now they come and gather all around me, settin’ grandbabies on my knee Sayin’ they love me and surprise, I’m a Family Man No, not every would-be gunslingin’ cowboy’s life unfolds accordin’ to plan But a guy couldn’t do much better than to turn out to be a good family man ‘Cause I’d have never heard my children sing Or seen ‘em runnin’ through the flowers in the spring Growing up before my eyes Now they come and gather all around me, settin’ grandbabies on my knee Sayin’ they love me and surprise, I’m a Family Man
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The World To Me
The World To MeReal world heroes all around us, fighting everyday battles. The World to Me I've seen whiskey beat my Daddy down, bring him to his knees I watched him battle back and beat that disease, I see him standing just as tall as you please, That may not seem like all that much to you, but it means the world to me I've seen my momma raise us kids up all alone Give us what we needed with what little that she owned She cried, but we never knew it 'till we'd grown That may not seem like all that much to you, but it means the world to me I've seen my little girl fight to find her way Through the darkness into the light of day She cried out what she could not say That may not seem like all that much to you, but it means the world to me I've seen whiskey beat my brothers down, bring them to their knees I watched them battle back and beat that disease I see them standing just as tall as you please That may not seem like all that much to you, but it means the world to me
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When She Looks At Me That Way
When She Looks At Me That WayWhen She Looks at Me That Way When she looks at me that way My heart skips like a child at play The sun breaks out into a thousand rays When she looks at me that way And when I hear her laugh like that I’m a purrin’ pussy cat I want to curl up and warm her lap When I hear her laugh like that If she were free to ride with me Then she would see what she means to me But even I can see it may never be, And I’m not free to tell her that I want her and I love her When she looks at me that way And when I watch her walk away I want to roll her in the hay ‘Cause she wiggles in the most delightful way When I watch her walk away If she were free to ride with me Then she would see what she means to me But even I can see it may never be, And I’m not free to tell her that I love her and I want her When she looks at me that way So while my heart breaks, I live without her While my heart aches to tell her That I love her, and I want her When she looks at me that way If she were free to ride with me Then she would see what she means to me But even I can see it may never be, And I’m not free to tell her that I love her and I want her When she looks at me that way
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Siren Song
Siren SongLiving room recording, 1982
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Superior Shores
Superior Shores1974 Guild D35 overdubbed using an Akai GX slap-back feature. Poor man's echo/sustain. Early '82 in the living room
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West Of Nowhere
West Of NowhereWest of Nowhere Guess it wouldn’t really matter if I didn’t care Watch your dust settle right into thin air Hopin’ someone will come and save you from yourself When I say you I mean me and everyone else I wanna be that strong and silent man, I wanna be the old couple walkin’ hand in hand But in this hard and broken land I’m still lookin for a trail of bootprints in the sand West of nowhere, where I am Mind me revin’ my motor like I’m on the move Find me pushin’ my plow back down that same old groove Savin’ that last little bit of love in reserve Hopin’ to find the kind I think I deserve I wanna be that strong and silent man, I wanna be the old couple walkin’ hand in hand But in this hard and broken land I’m still lookin for a trail of bootprints in the sand West of nowhere, where I am Everybody wanna be loved for who they are Celebrated for the song within their heart When you try to get to know someone else You end up findin’ out more about yourself I wanna be that strong and silent man, I wanna be the old couple walkin’ hand in hand But in this hard and broken land I’m still lookin for a trail of bootprints in the sand West of nowhere, where I am
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Alcohol, Testosterone and Gasoline
Alcohol, Testosterone and GasolineRecorded at Dockside Studios, Maurice, Louisiana. Hall Hanes harp and harmony. Alcohol, Testosterone and Gasoline 6/30/06 Bent my bumper, dent in my door Bangin’ on the gear shift lever so hard I’m as like to pull the thing right out' the floor Just another moron playin’ James Dean Runnin’ on alcohol, testosterone and gasoline Now I am so far gone I don’t know just how close I came To combusting in a ball of flame And I am mad as in crazy, me n’ my rumblin’ machine Runnin’ on alcohol, testosterone and gasoline Always been a good boy, just so’s I could be bad, By my wreckage I reckon how much fun I’ve had Heavy on the throttle since I’s thirteen Runnin’ on alcohol, testosterone and gasoline Now I am so far gone I don’t know just how close I came To combusting in a ball of flame And I am mad as in crazy, me n’ my rumblin’ machine Runnin’ on alcohol, testosterone and gasoline I have a hunger for that thing Lord, I love to hear that heavenly choir when the bed springs sing Don’cha hear the rumble of my machine Runnin’ on alcohol, testosterone and gasoline Now I am so far gone I don’t know just how close I came To combusting in a ball of flame And I am mad as in crazy, me n’ my rumblin’ machine Runnin’ on alcohol, testosterone and gasoline
