On May 2 of this year, my 51st birthday, I released my current record and launched (did I say 'launched?') a music career. A few CDs were mailed-out to some radio stations. Some folks bought some. I started booking gigs. And now, today, eight months later, I'm kinda raising my head and taking a bit of a look-around.
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The music business is in a flux. The economy sucks. And I'm starting a music career at an age when most successful musicians are struggling to make a second or third comeback. I'm sorta late to the party. Though I don't wanna be Brittney Spears, I am looking for a larger audience than the one in Sopchoppy. There's stuff I wanna get said. And heard. And that's pretty much what's at the bottom of all this. That, and this personal thirst for songs I don't think I'm ever gonna hear…unless I write them my-damn-self.
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I write everyday. Song is always in my head. Impetuous and immutable. Sometimes people say to me things like: "Man, why don't you write something a little hap-pi-er, maybe." But I write down what scrolls across my cerebral screen. That's the only honest way I know to do it. I've tried chasing stuff down, inventing songs, creating songs, and when I do, when I finally get it, it rings all-wore-out to me---the same damn song other people have been writing over and over and over. And that don't do nothing for me. I'd just as soon work at WalMart.
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When I was a teenager I was at a farm house out in ....Gadsden.. ..County.... one night. The house of a friend of my friend, Jimmy Roche. I don't remember whose house it was but I know he was a writer of some sort, and I've never forgotten what the guy had written on the wall of the living room of the house with a big, back thick-nosed, felt marker:
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"Jesus, Lord, this ain't play writing no longer."
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And I think that's where I am today with this songwriting stuff of mine.
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Three years ago this week, on a small island in the Caribbean, I was explaining to a fuzzy-nut Nicaraguan cop that I had warned the owner of those three hogs I had just shot that if I ever saw them in my cassava patch again I was going to kill them. Today...well: I'm after other hogs. It's a lot bigger cassava patch. The stakes are higher. And…I've got a different weapon. ....
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But the game is the same for me. An every bit as serious.
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I want to thank the radio stations that are playing songs from my record:....
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WFIT Melbourne, Florida KPFT Houston, Texas WSJF St. Augustine, FL KYOU San Francisco, WGWG North and S.Carolina, WHUS Storrs Connecticut KYOU San Francisco, WRFN Nashville WSLR Sarasota, Florida WGWG 88. 3fm North & South Carolina WFJO Folkston GA, WHUS Storrs Connecticut, WHJX Jacksonville, Florida KTRU Houston, Texas WFMT Chicago, Illinois WWOZ New Orleans, Louisiana WUFT Gainesville, Florida KEOS College Station, Texas WOYS Apalachicola, Florida KRCB Rohnert Park, California WNCW Spindale, North Carolina WZNZ Jacksonville, Florida CMR Nashville, Tennessee KTHX Reno, Nevada WMNF Tampa, Fl WUMV Boston, Mass WFMT Chicago, Illinois WLRN Miami, FL WYEP Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania WUFW Pensacola, FL WSCA Portsmouth, NH KZMU Moab, UtahTerneuzen FM Netherlands Moozikoo Radio Nashville, TN Roots and Rhythm, Denmark Radio Golden Flash, Holland Azilia Web Radio Rootstime, Belgium Radio Six International Carolina Tawa 88. 5 New Zealand GoldRush 1440 New Zealand Country Music 24 Germany Moozikoo Radio Nashville, TN Radio Rucphen FM Holland KABEL 105.0 Holland Tiger FM Denmark ....
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I want to thank the venues, hosts, presenters and festivals that have invited me to play since the record came out:....
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Gamble Rogers Festival in St. Augustine, Hookwreck Henry's in Panacea Fl, Last Concert Café in Houston TX, Woodlands BBQ in Blowing Rock NC, Funky Oyster Shack in Carabelle Fl, Green Living Centre in Tallahassee, Fish Bonz in Thomasville GA, The Warehouse in Tallahassee, Donna Mavity House Concert in Thomasville GA, The Carabelle Harbor Festival in Carabelle Fl, The Commodore in Nashville TN, Bird's in Tallahassee, European St. Café in Jacksonville Fl, Y Trinity in St, Augustine Fl, The Canyons in Blowing Rock NC, The American Legion Hall in Tallahassee, Acoustic Café in Bristol TN, The Ka Tiki in St. Pete Fl, Studio 32 in Rockledge Fl, Barnies Coffee Shop in Bradenton Fl, Appalachian St. University in Boone NC, The Paradise in Tallahassee, Christmas in Sopchoppy Festival, Live on WSLR in Sarasota, Backwoods Pizza in Sopchoppy Fl, Gram Parsons Guitar Pull in Waycross GA, Withalachoochee Folk Jam in Inglis Fl, The Swamp Stomp in Tallahassee, Whistle Stop Café in St. Petersburg Fl, Sweetwater Organic Farm in Tampa, Marie Horn's in Sarasota, Woodstork Music Festival in Panacea Fl, The Rendevous in St. Augustine, The Plaza in Thomasville GA, Luna Star Café in Miami, Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, Fresh Aroma Coffee Bar in Deerfield Beach Fl, The Wallflower Art Gallery in Miami, The Gatorbone Stage in Keystone Heights Fl,, Barberville Folk Festival in Barberville Fl, Deland Music Festival in Deland FlLive on WMNF in Tampa, Live on KTRU in Houston, Live on KPFT in Houston.
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A special thanks to Cathy Sherman, Brad Fitzgerald, Melissa Cherry, Donna Mavity, Lis and Lon Williamson....