A Sense of Place

Years ago I read words by Wendell Berry to the effect of of:
We can't really know WHO we are unless or until we know WHERE we are.

He seemed to be referring to the power of specific geographic location to influence how we function — how we develop as a community, what we eat, what we wear, the inspiration for poetry and music— based on the soil, the climate, the species present and a multitude of other factors outlined by the natural world.  Similarly, Michigan nature writer Stephanie Mills advises us, "Know thyself—and thy wildflowers!"  Good advice.

In the three years I've been working on this CD, I struggled to find a title, until I remembered the power of Place. It is a thread that runs through the songs from the first tune advocating for choosing Love, Peace, Compassion, and a Smile instead of the opposite, or you'll be on a "Detour Road."

One track on the project moves me deeply each time I hear it.  It is sung by the phenomenal late Keith Palmer, (1957-1996) who sang this as a demo for me in 1992. He later recorded for Epic Records.
(See and hear more about Keith here:http://www.mkoc.com/hidden/KeithPalmer/keith.htm)

 I always felt like the song was not quite finished until his family gave me permission to include it with new added lyrics which we wove into the old recording.   This song, now with a new name, "Only One" finally feels right.  Rob Matson, The World's Best Sound Engineer, in my book, did skilled job of weaving new harmonies and depth into a beautiful old recording.  I hope that I can keep a bit of the legacy of Keith's beautiful voice alive by including it on this project. Profound thanks to his family for allowing me to share it with you.

(samples of all the songs at CDBaby Earth Mama  and up on my website soon)
Please check back soon for more insider stories of A Sense of Place. I'll feature some of the other players, inspiration for the songs, humor in the studio, etc.  Please feel free to ask questions and leave comments.

Coming next:  Why a Christmas song for the bonus track?
Who is Edgar Fawcett?  What harmonica player is making his recording debut on this CD?

Food Groups and Musical Variety

June Raspberries

YUM! Mixed variety of raspberries

I've been listening to a big variety of music lately.
It started me thinking about how important a variety of music might be to make sure to get a balanced diet of the arts.

Seriously, I can only listen to a few songs of certain kinds of music (Bluegrass, Hard Rock, serious Jazz) before I NEED to hear something else.  Then I go back to my standard courses of salad, favorite cheese, chicken, garden veggies kind of music.


But it is really good for me to try a little kimchee, chili rellenos, Thai tea and others that I don't have much of in my diet.  Pizza is a nice change, but I wouldn't want to eat it every day.  Same with music.

I got a package in the mail recently of a new children's CD called Gratitude Attitude    They included one my songs "Only Take What You Need" which I wrote and recorded a few (quite a few) years back on Around the World with Earth Mama.  It is a Dixieland Jazz song that is another version of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle concept.  I still love to sing it in concert and get folks, young and old to sing along.  And I was tickled pink that several reviews of Gratitude Attitude mentioned my song as one of their family favorites.

But I may never write or record another DixieLand tune.  It's not really at the core of what I do, so I really enjoyed the variety of doing it once.

There is a world of tasty music out there!! What do you listen to when you want to hear something different?