“Wolf mother where you been? You look so worn and so thin.
Wolf mother you’re a taker, death maker, hear you sing, ya ya.
Wolf mother at the door, you don’t smile anymore.
You’re a drifter, a shape shifter, see you run, ya ya.”
Feb 142012
Somebody That I Used To Know: Walk off the Earth (Gotye – Cover) Wonderful work. A single guitar and five voices becomes a crisp work of art. Very nice. The song speaks volumes about leaving the past behind too.
Don’t miss this last-minute show. Dana is big-league good and you will have a great time! He’s worked with Pete Seeger, and luminaries such as Dr. Jane Goodall; Dana and Dr. Goodall’s recent release, Circle the World, is a beautiful mix of Jane Goodall telling stories of chimpanzees and working for peace and environmental justice and Dana’s inspiring ballads.
Dana is best known for his dynamic performances and outrageous hit songs “Cows With Guns,” “RV” and “Ride The Lawn.” A global radio and web hit, “Cows With Guns” was #1 for the year on Dr. Demento, #2 on the Australian Country charts, #1 in Seattle and spent six months on the Irish Top 40.
Dana’s music style includes a bit of everything; his biggest radio hit, “Cows With Guns,” receives crossover radio play on country, rock, alternative, community, college and oldies radio stations worldwide. He has eight releases to date, including his latest, Three Legged Coyote, released in November 2009. He has shared the stage with many notable performers including Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Pete Sears of Jefferson Starship, Stephen Stills, River Phoenix, Nickel Creek, Country Joe McDonald, Utah Phillips and John Trudell.
“Every movement has its minstrel. The unions had Woody Guthrie. The peace movement had Phil Ochs. The environmental movement has Dana Lyons.”
-Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Dana Lyons in concert, Thursday, August 18
Potluck 5 p.m.
(Please bring a covered dish and your favorite beverage. No desserts please.)
Showtime 7 p.m.
Suggested artist donation: $15
To reserve seats in advance, please make a check payable to Dana Lyons and mail to:
7245 Lapwai Lane Darby, MT 59829
Questions/Directions: Contact 349-2943 or jay@jaytoups.com
Thanks for supporting acoustic music in the south valley. It’s appreciated!
Red House Records Recording Artist Carrie Elkin will make her first appearance at Lapwai Lane Shredders Club.
Potluck 5 p.m.
(Please bring a covered dish and your favorite beverage. No desserts please.)
Showtime 7 p.m.
Artist donation: $15
To reserve seats in advance, please make check payable to Carrie Elkin and mail to:
7245 Lapwai Lane Darby, MT 59829
Thanks for supporting professional acoustic music in the South valley.
Directions/Questions: jay@jaytoups.com | 406 349-2943
Ben Carroll’s soulful, powerful voice lives somewhere at the crossroads of Stevie Wonder and James Taylor–he’s captivating, distinctive, mesmerizing. With the help of his accomplished acoustic guitar playing, Carroll moves his audiences with his plaintive songwriting, written from the heart and with a thoughtful, sometimes keen eye, while exploring the endless themes of love, of a search for a place and meaning in the world.
As the son of Grammy-winning Starland Vocal Band members (“Afternoon Delight”, 1976), Carroll enjoyed a rich musical exposure in his childhood, chiefly in the veins of harmony-laden folk and pop of the 70s, and the R&B/Soul/Roots sounds of the deep south. These influences have been naturally integrated into his music, lustrously evoked by his poetic delivery and his voice of startling honesty and beauty.
“Real thing…Yes he is. I’ve seen this handsome and charismatic New Yorker perform with just an acoustic guitar, and he killed. Possessing a clear, sweet voice and a satchel full of catchy folk-pop songs about life and love…It’s a throwback sound, kinda early Nilsson, but more upbeat.”
- Dusty Wright
Ben Carroll in concert, Friday, March 25 at Lapwai Lane Shredders Club
Potluck 5 p.m.
(Please bring a covered dish and your favorite beverage. No desserts please.)
Showtime 7 p.m.
Artist donation: $15
To reserve seats in advance, please make check payable to Ben Carroll and mail to:
7245 Lapwai Lane Darby, MT 59829
Thanks for supporting professional acoustic music in the South valley.
Directions/Questions: jay@jaytoups.com | 406 349-2943
Lapwai Lane Shredders Club is an ongoing house concert series at the home of Jay Toups and Tamera Rackham. All donations go to the artists. We are volunteers in a great cause.
Fingerstyle guitar virtuoso and composer Chris Proctor will make his second appearance at Lapwai Lane Shredders Club on Sunday, February 27. His 30 year long career as a touring performer finds him at the pinnacle of the international guitar community, as a guitar wizard’s wizard, and it is a rare treat to hear a guitar player so lyrical, yet so technically flawless.
Also appearing will be Reanaleia Behling, a marvelously talented improvisational vocalist!
Sunday, February 27
Potluck 5 p.m. (Bring a delicious covered dish and your favorite beverage. No desserts please.)
Showtime 7 p.m.
Artist donation: $15 Advance, $20 Door
To reserve seats, make check payable to Chris Proctor and mail to:
7245 Lapwai Lane
Darby, MT 59829
Directions/Questions: jay@jaytoups.com | 406 349-2943
Storyhill is a powerful singer-songwriting duo that brings infectious melodies, smart story songs and heartbreaking harmonies together in a perfect package. Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson began performing together as teenagers while living in Bozeman, Montana. That was over 20 years ago, and the rest is music history! Fresh from their first appearance on A Prairie Home Companion, Storyhill will make its first appearance at Lapwai Lane Shredders Club for a special holiday house concert.
Storyhill has recently released “Shade of the Trees” which hit the #1 spot on the Amazon folk charts. Come see this amazing duo and pick up your copy. They also make great Christmas gifts! (No, not Chris and Johnny, their recordings…:-)
“It is difficult to describe the feeling I get when listening to your music. Like feeling full; but in my heart, not my stomach. Thank you.” – Claire, comment on Storyhill web siteStoryhill: A House Concert for the Holidays
Sunday, December 12
Potluck 5 p.m. (Bring a delicious covered dish and your favorite beverage. No desserts please.)
Showtime 7 p.m.
Artist donation: $20 Advance only (45 people)
To reserve seats, make check payable to Storyhill and mail to:
7245 Lapwai Lane
Darby, MT 59829
Directions/Questions: jay@jaytoups.com | 406 349-2943
More information about Storyhill | Listen to Storyhill’s recent performance on A Prairie Home Companion
Oct 262009
*Other People’s Shit
Jay’s Analogous Hierarchy Of Social Shit™ (1st Wipe) (2nd Pass)
- Chicken Shit
- Bull Shit
- Elephant Shit
- Ape Shit
Want to be a social animal, adroitly ascending the proverbial ladder or at least stay put, and hone your natural sensitivity for all kinds of social interactions, occasionally going “deep”, while adeptly keeping even the shallowest friendships and contacts with other acquaintances sunny side up? Me too.
I really need to develop a better nose for detecting the type of shit I’m hearing, or reading. My online and offline social life could well depend on it.
So world, behold what I believe are the 3 4 fundamental political, rhetorical and social interactive devices of our time. It seems much of what dribbles in spurts and gushes from the minds, fingers and mouths of people online and off is classifiable into distinkt, readily detectable buckets of crap. Very much like the odoriferous emanations which flow regularly (and oh so abundantly) from the backsides of the aforementioned animals.
Sure there’s good stuff to be had in almost all the categories. That’s the whole point of human interaction isn’t it? Richness and loamy variety to please the intellectual appetite, not too cheesy or too volatile. But sometimes, what comes from other people needs to be carefully examined and managed before you digest it. So take a deep breath and read on!
Aug 292009
A great acoustic cover of Billy Jean by Michael Jackson, who would have been 51 today.
This show has been postponed due to a prior date cancellation!
Cliff Eberhardt
Cliff Eberhardt knew by age seven that he was going to be a singer and songwriter. Growing up in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, he and his brothers sang together and their parents played instruments. His dad introduced him to the guitar and he quickly taught himself to play.
At fifteen, Cliff and his brother Geoff began touring as an acoustic duo, playing the Eastern club circuit until Cliff turned twenty-one and moved to Carbondale, Illinois. There he found space to develop his own voice within a vibrant and supportive music scene that included Shawn Colvin. After a couple of years there and a short stay in Colorado, Cliff moved to New York in 1978.
Because the clubs were great (the Bitter End, the Speakeasy, Kenny’s Castaway, Folk City) and the company amazing (John Gorka, Suzanne Vega, Lucy Kaplansky, Julie Gold, Steve Forbert, Christine Lavin, and Shawn Colvin), New York was an ideal musician’s boot camp. Though he put in long hours as a taxi driver, Cliff worked steadily on his music throughout the 80’s, doing solo gigs and studio work, and playing guitar on the road with Richie Havens, Melanie and others. Singing advertising jingles for products like Coke, Miller Beer and Chevrolet (“The Heartbeat of America” campaign) allowed him to devote more time to his songwriting.
Jul 292009
Ray Bonneville penned a wonderful song about New Orleans and he performed it live in Folk Alley studios, check it out!
Jul 222009
Jeff Hickey, a wonderfully humorous and witty man, father and gifted musician, who along with Harvey Reid, founded the Third Hand Capo Co. in 1979, died on June 14, two weeks after a single car accident.
I’d known Jeff since the late 80s, when he was the National Sales Manager for Larrivee’ Guitars. He’d roll through Salt Lake City paying visits to the acoustic music stores in a big RV stuffed with guitars, and he knew how to sell em and play em.
Jeff knew how to have a good time, and I learned a lot from his merry prankster ways. We met up at Telluride Bluegrass Festival several times back in the early 90s. He was the presenter of a sweet Larrivee’ Jumbo I won in a fingerstyle guitar competition at the festival in 1990, and I’d been in touch a few times since. Last time we spoke in 2005 or so he was working on his “debut” recording, Loose Ends.
In Harvey Reid’s words:
“Since he has left behind a family with no income, I would like to lead an effort to encourage all those who loved him or enjoyed his company to express their condolences in a way that is consistent with Jeff’s lifelong love of music and participation in the underground “indie” music economy. Rather than sending something like flowers…
In addition to being an industrious and creative guy and a devoted father, Jeff was also a fine musician. To help his family, we are encouraging people to buy a copy of Jeff’s marvelous and award-winning CD “Loose Ends” while they last. He left behind a couple boxes of them, and buying a CD is a great way to remember this fine man and to help his family in their time of need. The CD’s are real, replicated, full-color, shrink-wrapped CD’s, of just Jeff singing with his guitar. Up-close and personal, and brilliantly done...
For more information about ordering a copy of Loose Ends, visit Jeff’s page.
I ordered mine this morning, and I’m sure it’s wonderful. Jeff was a strong fingerstyle player, he had excellent taste and tone, a good voice, and he always had a ton of tunes at his fingertips.
Ah Jeff, I’ll miss you. But I’m glad you left something of your musical self behind to be savored by the people who knew and admired you.
Loose Ends, indeed. You always had a way with words.
Happy Trails, old pal. Please let us earthlings know about any cool celestial capos you come across.
Jul 052009
The son of a friend and neighbor passed away yesterday from MRSA. Jesse Dylan Baird, a.k.a. Diggs Dynamite, died in a Los Angeles hospital after struggling with this deadly superbug for a couple of weeks. A lifelong musician, singer, songwriter, drummer and guitarist, Jesse was working on a new CD project. I worked with him on a few technical issues related to the project briefly last summer when he was visiting his parents here in Darby.
Here’s a sample of Jesse’s music. It was fascinating to hear some of his brand of rough and tumble music, almost like he was from another planet where being “larger than life” was a matter of survival. Jesse was a hip guy who lived large and will be missed by a lot of people, me included.
Apr 222009
Come to my house for a very special concert on Friday night.
Last night I spent at least an hour swapping messages with a new friend on Facebook who happens to be the daughter of an interesting woman who lives nearby. I mentioned an upcoming concert featuring an internationally known fingerstyle guitar player at the absolute top of his game. And that she and her mother would be most welcome to attend. (This is outer Montana, very rural; every seat is a great seat, and every seat with a paying person in it counts. Which is why I work hard to sell the events. They wouldn’t happen otherwise.)
The artist in question is a music industry legend who fills concert halls and listening rooms and music festivals and who delights and thrills his audiences with every thumb-busting performance he gives. All over the world. This artist could easily win a place on a list of the top guitar players who have ever lived. At least among followers of fingerstyle guitar.
No kidding. This artist is easily a world-class performer, composer and musician, by any credible measure. One Google search would provide all the artist credibility needed to validate a decision to see the artist. But we’re not talking about what is credible here.
My new Facebook friend’s incredible ensuing interrogatory was predictable for someone who was looking—first and foremost—for a way out of “having to” attend a concert with an artist she did not yet know. She wasn’t interested in what she could learn about the artist by simply showing up, putting her butt in a seat and digesting every juicy moment of the show with the artist less than 8 feet away.
My Facebook pal wanted to know more about the artist: did he sing? Or does he “just” strum?
Apr 142009
People generally like to change, but only because they want to: lose weight, quit smoking, find or lose God, make or save more money, get sober, or even get drunk. But sometimes people are confronted with change because they have no other choice. Since this involuntary change taints America’s manifest destiny to do as we damn well please, it will take a while before we realize those uncontrollable changes are often the changes we need to make most.
We’ve thoroughly exhausted the cherished capitalist premise that more is better: we built bigger houses for all our stuff but they became too big to heat; we bought cars that could ferry a soccer team (or just a soccer mom) but were too big to park and too expensive to own; we thought we were embracing a simpler life by squeezing in a day in the garden between working and shopping and even an extra job to pay for it all.
No more.
I’ve done my share of propping up the American status quo. So have you. Admit it, we’re all culpable for the bubbles and the busts that have stolen the soul of our country. Not just the other guy or other party. No amount Tea Partying is going to fix the mess.
Now that America is bleeding like a stuck pig, you’re probably doing less propping up of the status quo in lockstep with everybody else because you can no longer afford to. That’s why Detroit is in the shitter. Ditto every other business you can think of. Why? Because you have to reign your purchasing in, not because you want to, most likely.
So finding yourself having to do much more with far less, what’re you going to do? Change your lifestyle and purchasing habits, only more than what you’re doing already.
I’m as guilty as the next person who lives in the industrial world when it comes to consuming stuff as my birthright. But I’m not so caught up in personal psychodrama (maintaining the status quo) that I don’t feel the need to rebel against this dangerous, bleeding beast called consumerism, wherever it rears its ugly and stubborn head. And I see it in the lives of people who call themselves environmentally aware, responsible adults. Uh huh.
You can rebel. And then you can rebel some more. But first you have to let go of some of your stuff, both mental and physical. It isn’t easy getting over yourself and your stuff. I’m slashing my consumer footprint. I seldom drive my car, which I bought new in 1989. I’ve worked from home for 11 years, eat little meat, drink water from a creek, wear extra layers instead of reaching for the thermostat, and while I’m at it, tend a compost heap and a garden (with my wife and partner Tamera) and chop wood to burn in a high-tech soapstone stove. Oh yeah, we don’t watch TV either. So pin a medal on my chest, right?
Years ago I made a decision to live more like people did 100 years ago and still do in developing countries because it’s far more sustainable and affordable. I ride a bike for recreation, or ski, hike, raft or kayak. Human-powered recreation is one way to pummel the status quo because when you do something physical it’s always in the moment. So we moved to the mountains next to a real river with fewer than 10 people per square mile. The simple life only makes sense in a simple place. If you’re in the middle of the urban milieu, good luck cutting through your own crap that keeps you there.
While we choose to live differently, some people I know and love (though not necessarily respect their rec choices) choose to race cars, motorcycles, ATVs, etc. Some have 50-inch flat panel televisions in every room and leave their computers on all the time. Or stay stuck in places that cost an arm and a leg, clinging to their personal traditions and lack of inertia to make real changes.
Seems whatever some people do personally to conserve is lost in a mad rush to entertainment by fossil-fueled lifestyles and diversions that are so deeply ingrained it is astonishing.
“It’s overconsumption, not population growth, that is the fundamental problem: By almost any measure, a small portion of the world’s people – those in the affluent, developed world – use up most of the Earth’s resources and produce most of its greenhouse gas emissions.”
Here’s an interesting article that explains why (y)our precious American-style consumerism is more dangerous than overpopulation.
Here’s another brief but interesting article about “economic survivalism.”
Apr 012009
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Jay Toups today announced the cancellation of his upcoming fall 2009 tour of small clubs across England, Italy, Germany and Poland. Citing the the economic downturn, and the heavy environmental, economic and personal overhead of flying and driving just to make people’s tails wag, Toups was paradoxically upbeat with his explanation.
“I regret that I won’t be connecting live with my European fans anytime soon,” said Toups. “Perhaps when clean, green time travel technology matures, I’ll try again. But till then I’ll try to make it up to listeners online with free original guitar music, new songs, videos, and for other pickers, improving my free CAGED guitar lesson with video.
“I like touring and playing live shows just as much as the next act, said Toups. “But it’s expensive and a big pain in the ass to travel for hours and hours just to bask in the spotlight of some noisy club or tavern full of people drinking and expecting me to be their sonic wallpaper for an hour or two. I’d rather stay home and let whoever in the world wants have a listen. Or even a cool gig. Online fans are also true fans, and I think many struggling artists aren’t paying close attention to their internet audiences.”
Staying put and making a difference. It’s what Toups has been doing since 1998. “For me,” he quipped, “it’s all about staying home. It’s the only way to play the music game and win.”
Feb 032009
Thanks for visiting. I spend most of my time out the West Fork so I may never have the privilege of meeting you. That is, unless you attend a house concert or help with your online marketing. Or we meet by chance at one of my favorite local haunts. The chef there, Michael Campbell, is a real life saver.
You may be wondering what our motivation to invite the Ravalli Republic to cover our concerts is: Why do my wife Tamera Rackham and I present touring acoustic musicians in our home on a regular basis? Simple: It’s great fun to stage these small events, and our friends (whether old or new, young or ancient) love the shows!
And on a practical note, knowing we’ll soon have a house full of guests, it’s a great motivator to clean up our house from top to bottom. 
Jan 282009
Scot Ray and Bill Barrett
“Cross-cultural free folk genre bandits”
“Cross-cultural free folk genre bandits”
Gutpuppet is an LA-based acoustic duo, with Scot Ray on 6, 12, & 22 string slide guitars and slide banjo, along with the mind-bending chromatic harmonica playing of Bill Barrett.
Gutpuppet swings the sonic trapeze between Delta Blues, North Indian raga, Bluegrass, and Gypsy imbued transmutations. Watch the video or check out some glowing CDBaby Reviews here. Then come see the show if you’re in the area. If not, check back after the show for streaming audio of the entire shindig.
Dec 202008
Recording and Producing Music: Lots of Work But It Lasts Forever
Paul Boruff is a talented and diverse musician who lives the life of the road warrior musician to the hilt. I produced his Blue Jay (mp3 file) CD back in 1993. Check out his web site and tell him hello for me.
If you would like to listen to some of my earliest work as a music producer and sideman, listen to Paul Boruff’s CD “Blue Jay” for free on CD Baby. After 16 years it’s still nice piece of work for a bedroom studio project. Paul has sold lots of this disc from the stage at his performances.
Paul wrote, sang and performed all the songs live and we spent many hours getting all the parts dubbed in, then mixing and mastering everything over a sucky ADAT recorder that used SVHS video tape (long dead as a medium) for storage. Besides producing the disc, I played guitars and some percussion, and there are a bunch of great people on it too, Matt Flinner most notably, along with Steve Wesson on bass and Anthony Perry on drums, and a fiddler whose name escapes me at the moment.
Visit Paul’s site: http://www.paulboruff.com
Nov 032008
Stream all songs
Stream all instrumentals
Leave a comment | Read comments
We all have an opus or two in us. All one needs to do is drag, push or pull it out. That’s the hard part—the cutting off one’s ear part. The art part.
At any rate, here’s mine. The tracks are not available as a CD, it’s an online music offering that is always evolving. All of the tunes are being arranged and re-recorded for the an upcoming CD release, release date unknown. It’ll be ready when I’m happy with it. Which means all the scratch/work tracks are free! Click to hear the tunes (broadband stream) or download the individual mp3 files (dialup).
About the Songs
Planet Turning Brown (4.5MB)
Here’s the alternate “rock” version: Planet Turning Brown 2 (4.5MB)
Here are two arrangements of a an environmental song I’m really liking so far. We’ll see which treatment ends up on the project. I’d love your input if you have any to offer (even if you do shop at Wal Mart).
All My Life * (3.4MB)
Written by Pat Donohue, the guitarist in the Prarie Home Companion orchestra, Guy’s All Star Shoe Band. One of the world’s greatest fingerstyle players, he has written some beautiful ballads.
Stationary * (6MB)
September 15, 2006: Written by the fabulously wonderful singer-songwriter Susan Werner. Well, my sister doesn’t like it because she’s a Susan Werner fan already. She’s heard the original. But hey it was a challenge and I learned a lot trying to put it all together.
All God’s Critters * (6MB)
September 14, 2006: All God’s Critters was written by one of folk music’s true living legends, Bill Staines. He happens to play a right handed acoustic guitar upside down better than anyone. And he yodels great too. Thanks for this great song and so many more, Bill.
Woodstock * (4.8MB)
July 18, 2006: Joni Mitchell’s Anthem for My Generation, Redux. It sounds somehow more authentic in a minor key given how climate and geopolitical events are unfolding in our sad world – courtesy of this generation’s failure to honor or heed the laws of nature, and mostly, our failure to deliver on our cherished “acid test” promises to love each other unconditionally and reach for the deepest possible understanding of life, no matter where it leads, including a cleaner better world at peace. All instruments played by me, one take only.
Big Easy Town (4.6MB)
July 3, 2006: Nice Nawlins feel to this song. Some of the words have changed since this early take, as well as the arrangement, but toe well. Hope you like it enough to go spend some tourist dollars in the French Quarter because it may not be around as long as we would all like to think. I played the guitar, banjo, bass and drums..and of course I’m the writer of the song. I look forward to recording it with real live musicians for the upcoming CD release.
Where’s My Money? (2.8MB)
July 3, 2006: Early look at this song in a scratch phase, with Mike Henderson on bass. Sorry I’m not more of a drummer…
NEW: live performance: streaming video at Google Video
It Hurts Me Too (2.8MB)
July 3, 2006: By the great, late blues heavyweight, Elmore James. One take only, with Mike Henderson on bass.
Lefty’s Knife (2MB)
A completely different arrangement and lyric of Singers Working Nights. Sort of a Texas songwriter story treatment…
Dark Force (4MB)
The American Dream; remember that? Murdered by Demolican Republicrats.
Singers Working Nights (1.7MB)
Folk rap about the eerie life of a working musician. A throw down to the inattentive audience. Yes, it happens. Enjoy.
Hurricane Wind (4.7MB) & 2 (4.5MB)
A song in progress about Hurricane Katrina, and dedicated to my late mother, who predictably refused to evacuate, even though her home was less than a half mile from the beach. It was a wild ride.
Whatever you’ve seen, heard or read about Katrina’s destruction, it was worse. Obliteration is a far better descriptor. I was in Gulfport visiting with my mother and sister before, during and after the storm, if that makes any difference. It was a profoundly sad, moving experience (no pun intended) and with damage that will be felt for decades in the Deep South. We were lucky to survive and since I’m back in Montana and not facing the awful truth down there, I’ve felt the need to at least write a song about listening to the weatherman when the next big blow happens!
Smoke and Mirrors (4MB)
A true-to-life jazz lamentation of love won and lost.
Unreal Love (3MB)
A song in progress for my lovely wife, best friend and partner, Tamera. I love you is such a rich cliche, especially when you really feel it. I owe her way more than a song, but token gestures are always nice too. (Note: a couple fret buzzes, sorry. We’ll fix it in the mix, NOT.)
In Outer Montana (7MB) In Outer Montana Alternate version (5.65MB)
(September, 2004) A song in progress that sums up life so far in outer Montana…indeed one of the last best places in America. Now in two distinct flavors. And no, I didn’t hurt myself with the chainsaw.
I’m My Own Grandpa (3.5 MB)
Written by Moe Jaffe and Dwight Latham, 1947. I learned this song (actually quite a few songs) from Hardin Davis, a well known folky and musical godfather in Utah.
You Don’t Know Me (3.5 MB)
Written by Eddie Arnold. One of the greatest love songs…
The Ace (6MB)
Written by the Red Clay Ramblers and performed by notsolonesome me, direct to hard disk in mp3 format. Enjoy or cringe… This song captures the way we all doubtless felt and acted as young folk back when hormones were raging, the best girls were “hard to get” and brains were scarcer than money. I learned this song from Hardin Davis, a former employer and great singer-guitar player at Acoustic Music in Salt Lake City.
Kind Hearted Woman (6.5MB)
Robert Johnson’s timeless blues is deceptively difficult to play and sing. After all, I am white, live in a house that’s paid for, and nobody’s trying to poison me that I know of. But it’s fun to dig deep for the falsettos and keep the guitar churning at the same time.
Christmas in the Trenches (6MB)
Written by the one and only John McCutcheon, who I had the pleasure of presenting in concert a couple of times. Based on a true story, as timeless as war is senseless.
Howl at the Moon (5MB)
A bleak tome indeed, Howl at the Moon was written in a couple of days and recorded in my studio (Nowhere Studios) in 1993. This song was #7 in “Folk Utah” a compilation of songs done by local songwriters, also produced by me. It is out of print, but I do have a few dozen or so copies left if you want to purchase one. You might not like this tune because it doesn’t make one’s tail wag…which was and continues to be the intent. Thanks to the great Steve Wesson for the eerie-good fretless bass.
The rest of the recording is better music really…but that didn’t stop one Salt Lake City music critic, William Athey, from selecting Howl at the Moon as the best song on the album. The lyrics contain some vivid images about slaughtering and merchandising anything “with eyes” in the age of hyperglut, and because I love everybody, being a run of the mill American hypocrite (who me?) who likes…”the taste while dining upwind from the smell.”
Where Do The Children Play * (3MB)
A cover of Cat Stevens that I’ve always loved.
A Showman’s Life * (2.8MB)
Jesse Winchester is a brilliant, if painfully shy, songwriter and performer. I opened a show for him way back in 1992 or so in Jackson, Mississippi, and he blew the room away when he did this song.
About the Tunes
Little Martha (4.2MB)
Duane Allman and Dicky Betts wrote and performed this acoustic instrumental as a duo nearly 35 years back now. This is a hard tune to play solo! For keener ears, there is a small digital edit toward the end of the piece…
Vignettes: a series of short instrumentals in “Orkney” tuning (CGDGCD):
A Reason To Smile (3MB)
Silly As Love Can Be (2.5MB)
Spanish Fly (2.5MB)
Rubato Morning (2.5MB)
Spanish Fork (3MB)
Guitar and Didgeredoo Improvisations by Jay Toups and Aaron Lebowitz
If Pigs Could Fly
Requiem for a Place
Funky Kangaroo
Sneaky Pete
TEOTWAWKI
On Broadway Short version (2MB)
Written by Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, first performed by the Drifters, and later popularized by George Benson. Here’s a rough, short cut of an instrumental arrangement I’ve been working on.
Radio Blur (5.2MB)
Now here’s something you don’t hear everyday: a new recording of an original composition performed in reverse using computer-aided wizardry, along with the original ‘forward’ recording of the guitar piece to compare it to. (The regular acoustic guitar recording is the 2nd stream.) It is the same tune as First and Second Impressions, listed below, but recorded in reverse and then edited a bit to bring out the feel. It makes an interesting loop when repeated. Even my discerning wife likes it. :-p
First and Second Impressions (5.6MB)
Soft, gentle and full of extraneous notes and noise…a new age evocation made up on the spot.
Recording Notes
As you may notice, some of the files have background hums and pops, and others have timing issues, mainly because I’m not a time robot. It isn’t perfect but it is pure me in the musical buffedness! And hearing the tunes as they take shape is not something that happens everyday. So it’s a unique opportunity for you to hear the progression of the tunes from early drafts to finished works. (That is if you purchase the upcoming CD.)
If you enjoy the music, please leave a comment. And if you’re really a psycho-philanthropist looking for good causes, please feel free to make a generous gesture of support for my future musical endeavors.
Files should automatically stream (play) in your brower’s embedded player or computer’s media player, provided you have it configured, and the bandwidth (or patience) to receive multi-megabyte files. You can also save files to your desktop and listen to them later (Best way to hear mp3 files for dialup users.)
Stay tuned to Clear Cut Music, where everything’s muddy because we make it that way.
©2008 All commercial rights reserved. Other copyrighted songs listed and credited with an asterisk are the property of their respective holders.
May 282008
“Front porch, kitchen, back yard, drunk and sober, young and old, coast-to-coast folk music, a world in which I discovered that I don’t need power, wealth, or fame. I need friends. And that’s what I found and still find.
You folkies out there! Comrades! We’ve created together a whole small world of song, story, travel, love and food, face to face, in every corner of the land, mutually supportive and happening at a sub-industrial level, below the level of media notice. Hooray for us! Who needs the “entertainment” industry? Who needs mass media? Small is beautiful!
To hell with the mainstream. It’s polluted. What purifies the mainstream? The little tributaries up in the wilderness where the pure water flows. Better to be lost in the tributaries known to a few than mired in the mainstream, consumed with self-love and the absurdity of greed.
Please. Don’t give our world up. It needs to grow, yes — but subtly, out, through, under, quietly, like water eroding stone, subversive, alive, happy.”
By U. Utah Phillips, 2000
Harvey Reid is a successful independent musician who manages his own career. He’s a fabulous fingerstyle guitar player and songwriter with around 20 CDs to his credit and a busy tour schedule. An he was the first person I ever encountered who talked about personal slime trails as a way of describing all the trash and garbage generated by we humans (and by extension our respective businesses and institutions) as we go about our lives.
Slime trails are like farts. They’re only tolerable if they are yours or from someone you love very very much. But in the case of personal slime trails, the problem is that we all lead material-rich lives that create a huge amount of solid waste, along with huge amounts of air pollution ala CO2, particulates like soot, heavy metals like cadmium, lead, and arsenic. Do you drive a car? How many lights can you see burning from where you are seated?
Oct 292006
Paul Stowe put on a wonderful 2 hour show, featuring a bunch of songs from Matching Ties‘ new recording, Across The Sea. (Click for audio stream of samples from the new recording.) Even though he played solo he filled the room with excellent guitar accompaniment and a bunch of new songs, many of which he wrote. It’s gratifying to see an old friend continue to grow as an artist, and he’ll be back at some point in the future for another show, for sure.
Sep 302006
Munich-based acoustic musicians Paul Stowe and Trevor Morriss, aka Matching Ties, are celebrating their 20th year of musicmaking with a new web site. Yes, I built it. Check out the streaming audio.
Paul Stowe will be making a very rare stateside solo appearance at our house concert series on Friday, October 27th. Click for information.
Sep 282006
All God’s Critters, written by the great Bill Staines. Hot (94 F.) performance at the 2006 College Park Reunion.
Sep 082006
“Where’s My Money?” performance at the 2006 College Park Reunion. It was way hot that day, 94 F.!
Update 9/2007: My “bro” Jeff paid me the money!
Sep 072006
Being a guitar-toting traveler who appreciates those who like guitar players enough to say so right on their chest, I spotted Rebecca’s shirt and asked her for a pic. She was gracious enough to consent and her friend took the pic. I hesitated to ask her for maybe 15 seconds since I haven’t been a boy in a few decades, but hey, she really was asking for it.
Thanks, Rebecca!
Aug 132006
Excellent show last night from Zach Parrish. This was Tamera’s annual Home Brew Beer party and Zach was playing the night before in Sun Valley and was gracious to drive the additional 200 miles to play for our crowd before jetting off to England for a bunch of shows in the blues clubs. We locals then jumped in for a jam session that went for another two hours. It was really fun and I got to play the drums for the whole thing.
May 202006
Liz Carlisle: House Concert at Lapwai Lane
Local music is always great music. Last night, Liz Carlisle put on a great show for a full house, and local songwriter TJ Sonner did a great job opening the show with a handful of original songs, despite massive amounts of rain and a noisy thunderstorm that moved in just as the show got underway. Everybody left happy after hearing and seeing two young (both 22) Montana singers who have bright futures ahead of them.
Liz Carlisle
Liz Carlisle
Liz Carlisle
May 072006
Paul Boruff’s second appearance on April 30th at our house concert series drew 25 people. He’s the real deal: a road-warrior folk musician who makes a living solely on his ability to entertain people in any type of musical setting, from bars to concerts and festivals. He’s a great singer and guitar player, with a ton of great material covering just about every style there is!
Visit his website at www.paulboruff.com.
Feb 222006
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A teenage guitarist got so carried away while bouncing up and down on his bed mimicking a rock star that he flew out of a third floor window to his death, a Singapore newspaper reported Wednesday.The Straits Times said Li Xiao Meng, a 16-year-old from China who was studying at Singapore’s Hua Business School, was a keen musician who liked to jump up and down while playing his guitar in his hostel room.
“But on November 17 he took things a bit too far,” the newspaper said, reporting on a coroner’s court findings.
Ruling death by misadventure, the court said evidence “points to the deceased unintentionally falling out of the window to his death when he was hyped up with exhilaration, jumping up and down on the bed placed against an open window while mimicking a rock guitarist.”
Normally the windows were locked, the newspaper said, but students sometimes forced them open so they could smoke, something prohibited by the hostel.
Jan 302006
Zach Parrish is an up and coming blues guy you probably have never heard of. He’s from Salt Lake City, now living in Austin, Texas. He’s a former fingerstyle guitar student of mine with a great voice, some tasty licks, and a rich stage presence. I lost track of him over the last 8 or 9 years, and just reconnected with him through Mike Henderson, another Salt Lake musician and recent transplant to the Bitterroot valley in Montana. Mike’s day gig is graphics design, and Zach is currently finishing up his degree studies. He wants to be a teacher when he grows up. Hell, I think he ought to be a full-time bluesman!
Both of these guys are really good musicians with a lot of music on their web sites. Check em out when you have time!
Hamilton Performing Arts Center, January 14, 2006
The Hot Club of San Francisco quintet performs a lively style of acoustic stringed instrument music known as Gypsy Jazz, popularized in the 1930s by Django Reinhardt. I found the quintet’s performance to be at times a little too understated, yet always elegant and charming, with lots of gorgeous notes and arpeggios…coming mainly from the lead guitarist and the violinist. The two ‘rhythm guitar’ players were the pack mules of the show, laying down the trademark ‘chop-chop-chop’ rhythms to support the two soloists.
The group opened with a couple of tunes by Django and then accompanied several short black and white films from the early 1900s, many of which featured innovative animation techniques that have since become common in the film industry. A contemporary of Charlie Chaplin, Charles Powell was the writer/director/actor in several of the short films.
Good stuff, and kudos to HPAC for bringing HCSF to town. Peter Ostroushko is coming up, and I highly recommend taking in his show. Peter is the former musical director of A Prarie Home Companion, a great violinist and mandolinist, and a lively stage presence. He’ll be appearing with Arkady Yushin, classical guitarist, Friday, April 7th.
For more information about the Hot Club of San Francisco, visit their web site.
The Hamilton Performing Arts Center, located in Hamilton High School, is bringing some top performance talent to the Bitterroot again this year. The next concert, featuring the Hot Club of San Francisco, is Saturday, January 14th, 2006 at 8:00 p.m. For those of us who have yet to experience it, Hot Club music is gypsy-jazz all string innovative arrangements celebrating the music of Django Reinhart and Stephan Grappelli. The Hot Club of San Francisco website is www.hcsf.com.
Upcoming artists are Patrick Street on March 4th and Peter Ostroushko on April 7th.
If you would like to support performance art right here in the ‘root you can reach the Hamilton Performing Arts Center office at 375-6074.
Thanks to Charlie Mabbott for submitting this great info.
Bring your instrument to The Wholographic Human for an informal song swap and jam session to be held on the last Friday of every month in 2006. The space will hold 10-15 people and their instruments.
6 p.m. Friday, January 27: hosted by Jay Toups
6 p.m. Friday, February 24: hosted by TBD
6 p.m. Friday, March 31: hosted by Charlie Mabbott
Here’s a sincere, (end-of-year, glad-it’s-here) thanks to regular visitors for making the Whirled Home Journal a site to check for rightonlefoverthecounterrevolutionary spin, music, and videos. I’m enjoying the non-stop recording and writing, and pounding on this blog for the benefit of readers and listeners other than myself, and hopefully you are too.
Look for more useless ranting, essays, revelry, videos and music in two thousand and freaking already six!
Dec 042005
Dark Force (War For Oil)
Jay Toups
©2005 All rights reserved.
The American Dream, remember that?
Broken by Demolicans and Republicrats
Funding the charade wearin’ Pork Pie hats
While we fill our tanks, keep Wal Mart packed
It’s their job to dine at the trough
Send the poor and willing to redefine Iraq
Confusing our capital with blood-stained cash
We’re all shooting cows here and that’s a fact.
Funny about us, we’re good folk too
Hooked on rivers of rich black brew
Buildin’ pipelines for peace, clubs out of hate
And every barrel we pump seals someone else’s fate.
The unofficial story’s ugly but far more true
This war has a dark force called me and you
Like politicians we back and all the shit we buy
Do you ever stop and ask yourself, why, why, why, why.
You don’t shoot the bullets, you don’t make the guns
Who funds the insanity are the deadliest ones
You could fight back just say no when you can,
Let your heart drive you, keep your dollars in your hand.
Turn off some lights, throw another blanket on the bed
Put some socks on, keep a cooler head
We’ll all be fine and you’ll stay fed
Livin warm and cheap and not a Yankee pig instead.
Freedom of speech, remember that?
Muzzled by indifference but liberty is intact
What’s happening to us is out beyond sad
If you think I shouldn’t go there that’s just too bad.
Killing the messenger won’t kill the truth
Imprisoning soldiers who’ve seen enough to refuse
Dying for two dollar gas that should be ten
This is a dream world we’re livin’ in.
The American way, remember that?
Lost by Demolicans, Republicrats
Leading the charge wearin’ Pork Pie hats
While we fill our tanks, eat hot dogs and take long naps.
Trust the experts to end the world
All you people with God and flag unfurled
Birth, death and taxes count on that
And war for oil to keep you quiet and fat.
If you can hear this, you’re close enough to ask
What the creator gave you, are you giving anything back?
Could you make a difference, perhaps you can
Wake up, smell the coffee, and finally make a stand.
Dec 012005
I’ve been reading chapters from Pete Townshend’s “The Boy Who Heard Music” as he publishes them on his blog. Very interesting, pseudo-autobiographical novella from a musician who needs no introduction.
There’s also an excellent mp3 of a new song of Pete’s that is worth a listen. If he sounds a bit like Tom Waits, it’s probably because the novella’s protagonist, Gabriele, sounds like that.
Sep 232005
Hurricane Wind (Blowin’ Sideways)
Jay Toups
A song/poem in progress about both Hurricane Camille (August 17, 1969) and Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005) in Gulfport, Mississippi. I was visiting Gulfport for my 30th high school class reunion when Katrina struck and lived there with my family during Camille.
August 29, two thousand and five
Only the cautious and lucky survive
The Gulf swept in block after block
All the way to the railroad never really stopped
Most folks left but a lotta people stayed
Wound up drowned or attic bound prayin’
Katrina made Camille look like trailer trash
Her hurricane party was a big time bash
Katrina dressed to kill, her eye had sin
Pushing water where it had never been
30 feet high up to ten miles in
You just wouldn’t believe the destruction
Twelve hour blow, a hundred fifty strong
A million people homeless when the day was long
Four hours from the east, eight from the south
Katrina blew the deep right out of the south
Hurricane wind, hurricane spin
Weatherman says leave you should listen to him
Most people lived but a thousand people died
And everything still livin kinda shriveled and cried
Nothing to do but go back to work
Pick up what’s left and rebuild till it hurts
Hurricane wind, hurricane spin
Next time you’ll know from how bad it’s been
Hurricane when? Hurricane spin:
Weatherman says go y’all listen to him
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) – Tax defaulters in southern India are being forced to face the music after city authorities hired drummers to play non-stop outside their homes until they pay up.
After many residents ignored repeated demands to settle overdue property taxes. authorities in a city in Andhra Pradesh state have sent 20 groups of drummers to play outside offenders’ houses for the past week.
“They put up a spectacle outside the houses of defaulters, draw them out and explain their dues to them and the need to clear it at the earliest,” said T.S.R. Anjaneyulu, municipal commissioner of Rajahmundry city.
“They don’t stop until people agree to clear the dues.”
The city, owed a total of 50 million rupees ($1.15 million), had been at its wits’ end after sops like waiving interest and penalties had failed to recover the arrears.
The new method seems to be working, though. One week of incessant drumming has cleared 18 percent of the backlog.
Cool. Maybe drummers in the US can find work with their local government revenue offices…
Sep 202004
Jun 092004
If you’re a Bitterrooter, mark your calendar for another kickin’ Lapwai Lane House Concert, Sunday September 19th at 7 p.m. with T.R. Ritchie, a journeyman songwriter and performer who resides in Moab, Utah. He’s even got Montana background, as he spent lots of time working here in the summers cutting and brushing trails in the backcountry.
“TR” puts on a great show; he tells stories about the songs, and these are songs that ‘stick to your ribs’ so come hungry for a good time! Admission (donation) is $10 per person.
Visit TR’s site for some background and music samples.
