This is my favorite photo of Pete and Maura Kennedy (www.kennedysmusic.com). I took it at the 2004 Summer Acoustic Music Week. They have been wonderful and inspiring teachers. For a full resolution (2.2Meg) version of the photo, click here.

This page contains some of the newest songs that I have written and roughly recorded. 

Bhopal--Shadows of Death (Will be on the Evening News CD)This song began in the Penny Nichols songwriting class at Week 2 SAMW 2007. It was inspired by a wrought iron sculpture of two figures holding hands and their shadows on the ground. It was made to raise money for the survivors of the Union Carbide Bhopal, India disaster.

This was directly inspired by a dream. So, thank you to The Kennedys for helping me mine my dreams for song material. The band is courtesy of "Band in a Box".

Old Wooden Chair (Will be on the Evening News CD)This song is an homage to the old wooden chair that disassembled beneath me at breakfast at SAMW in August, and of course, to SAMW and all my friends I've met there.

This song goes out with a thank-you to The Kennedys. They helped me dream and this song's title, chord progression, and song style (bluegrass) came to me in a dream on 8/21/07. This rough recording is performed by my friends at "Band in a Box", except for the vocal and mandolin.

I'm calling this a co-write with Bob Franke (www.bobfranke.com) and Pete and Maura Kennedy (www.kennedysmusic.com) because it takes some lyrics and thoughts from The Kennedy's song "Stand", and sets it to the tune of Bob Franke's "Thanksgiving Eve". It's a tribute to Pete and Maura, Bob, Dick Pleasants, Bennett and Lorraine Hammond, all the SAMW instructors, students, and my music friends. The recording is from Week 2 of SAMW 2007. 

 This is very rough. It is inspired by a Harriet Tubman quote. I'm posting it here as part of the SongADay2007 challenge.

This was written for MF Daisy (www.SalonSunday.com) on the occasion of the final Salon Sunday. MF has had a significant impact on my music the last few years.

 This was written for Bill Andruchow's retirement party, It really captures his style. We will miss him.

Another Knock on the Door (Will be on the Evening News CD)Hopefully this song needs no explanation. It was inspired by a story on NPR.

The following songs were inspired, or finished up, during a song-writing class with Pete and Maura Kennedy:

I have yet to pull off a lucid dream. But at least I got this song from the process of attempting to dream lucidly.

Co-write with Maura Kennedy. This was inspired by a dream that Maura Kennedy had. Then I came up with a lot of the song during a directed meditation that Maura led. The phrase “resisting a cough” came from Maura’s dream.

This was such a powerful title that it took two tries to come up with a song that had a hope of living up to the title.

Inspired by a story Chris Pahud told me about his daughter Emily and how she was sewing to put herself through college.

Here's a song from last summer: 

 New "studio" version, recorded March 2007.

(Recorded at the August 2006 Summer Acoustic Music Week with "two Johns"...John Kirk and Jack Murray.) 

And some titles of songs that are in progress, or not recorded yet:

• Alistar
• Avian Flu
• Unnatural Blonde
• Woke Up This Morning
• Where Are The Gentle Voices of Islam?