American Troubadour
Bobby's Moonlight Lounge: (June 2012) At one of the clubs I play in, if there a no customers there at 12pm, I quit one hour early. Several times, the evening was very quiet and just as I'm packing up, a bunch of people come in so unpack and set up and play another hour. This song was inspired by that exact type of event, so I went home the next day and wrote a song about it. I had the Grandpa angle already from another song that wasn't finished, so I took that and wrote around it. I got to pay tribute to my favorite country songs "El Paso, Working Man Blues, Wildwood Flower" THINGS TO KNOW: After the death of George Jones in 2013, I changed the name of one song to "The Race Is One". Also in the 1970's, I played in a club called the "Moonlight Lounge" and I just felt "Bobby" was a cool addition!
Don't Blame It On Me: (October 2012) (Duet with Jolina Carl) I told Jolina Carl at the German Country Music Convention in September 2012, I was going to write us a duet song. I had an idea floating in my head about a couple getting married on a drunken weekend in Mexico, with theme centered around the bridge not remembering anything about the wedding! We HAD to have Mexican Trumpets on this song.. THINGS TO KNOW: Those are REAL Mexican's in the background!! I stole the word "Amada's Gals" from Blackie Ferrel's Sonora's Death Row!
Lady At The Bar (August 2013) Playing one of regulars gigs one slow night, there as a lady at the bar drinking whiskey, almost the entire night. This is very unusual in Germany. First, women don't sit a bar in Germany and certainly not drinking whiskey. It was such a slow night, I began singing the song, making up possible lyrics from the stage! Just a good old country theme! Is this a "drinking song"!!
Pretty Girls (June 2002) (Duet with Doug Adkins) Originally recorded for my Daddy Was A Factory Man CD in 2005 Actually this song was my first release to radio. My former female boss was always quick to note that I liked to look at Pretty Girls. When we moved to a new apartment, I had already been packing and moving for a week. One afternoon, my wife had to go out to do some shopping and I took this chance to sneak in some guitar picking! In her two hour absence the song came to me!! THINGS TO KNOW: My daughter is a Redhead and my wife warned me that I better write something nice about redheads! This song is just to much fun to solo, so I invited my good friend Doug Adkins to join me!
Maybe Tomorrow (April 2014) (Duet with Danah Heiser) The song was born on the Hofner Stage at the Country Music Messe in Bergheim Germany on the 5th of April 2014. Danah and I had discussed earlier in the afternoon about me writing us a duet for my next CD. We were setting on the stage just doing some harmony when my bud Doug Adkins came up and I told him I was going to write a song. Doug asked me a question and my answer was "Maybe Tomorrow" and Doug said, there's your song title...I responded with "well, its gonna be about the heart"..and Doug came up with the first line... THINGS TO KNOW: .Danah was the lead singer and songwriter for the band Rebel Bunch!
Starbucks Song (May 2013) Every CD I've made there is one protest song, so here it is. The one thing that bugs me in life is hype. Hype about how you're "nobody" if you don't participate in this or that...I've never had a Starbucks Coffee in my life (that I know of) but all the hype around this mocha or that latte...its all just hype. I lived for 3 1/2 years in Naples Italy, so I'm well acquainted with how a good espresso or cappuccino supposed to taste. Quality stuff, not hype..Coffee joints and their patrons who think they're getting the best, have no idea what the original stuff tastes like. But I do credit Starbucks for their original idea or really "GREAT" bean coffee. which is the same thing most Central Europeans have already drank for 100 years. THINGS TO KNOW Of course, its all in jest, but you still won't find me in a Starbucks!
The House I Call Home (July 2012) Another song written on the road. Al tribute to my father, who by the age of 32 with 4 kids built the house I grew up in and my mother still lives. My father had cut timber and working in a sawmill right after WWII in North Carolina. He returned to his hometown in Virginia in 1952 and start working 2nd shift in a textile factory. Shortly after, he bought and began to run a small sawmill in the mornings from 7am. til 12pm. Come home, wash up, eat dinner and catch his ride to the factory at 2pm. THINGS TO KNOW: I was just thinking of the sad day that I will not be able to walk freely into my childhood home. Whether its owned by another family member or a stranger, it will never be the same again. I'm one of the lucky ones that can still do that 56 years after we moved in, I can still call it home
The Runaway (July 2009) This song floated around in my head for a long time. I had a hard time figuring which way I wanted to go with it. There's even a dark version which had the Runaway killing her "unknown" father!! The song got bumped off of Crooked Road and Ruby's Cafe, so I'm happy it gets its chance now! THINGS TO KNOW..I was in the Navy for 24 years!
That Girl Who Sang Johnny Cash: (November 2007). (Duet with Marty Wolfe and special guest Steffi Glasser) During the finale stage show at the Country Music Messe (Fanfair) in Nürnberg Germany in 2007, the song, I think, was Hey Porter and my bud Mandy Strobel sang the first verse and I was all poised to jump up to the mike for the next verse, but to our great surprise a young lady named Steffi Glässer stepped up and wailed out the verse….we all just stood there in shock!! I got to emailing Steffi back and forth to find out she was a big Cash fan. When I started writing the song, everything that kept coming out was a title to a Johnny Cash song, so after a little bit I decided to make the whole song based on titles of songs Johnny Cash recorded…there’s 28 of them….if you missed one, go back and listen a little closer!! THINGS TO KNOW: My duet partner Marty Wolfe is the only guy I know in Germany that knows MORE about Cash than I do. He used to hang out with the Tennessee Three when Cash came to Germany and he’s a personal friend of Bob Wooten. Thanks Steffi and Marty!
THAT OLD TRACTOR (2005 & 2014) This BONUS TRACK is a home studio recordings of a co-write with the late Norm Cheney. Norm has had a very interesting life with his travels and work. He's a great lover of music and a deep thinker. We met online as part of a Tom Russell fan group. One day he posted a poem, so I took it and put music to it and sent him a demo. So we began a collaboration that now is around 25 songs. I've still got about another 25 to finish! This was always one of our favorites. We did a little update of the last verse for this album. THINGS TO KNOW..I finally got to meet Norm in Greensboro NC in 2010. He passed away a few month after he CD was released, but he did get to hear the final version and see his song on a my CD.
TROUBADOUR (September 2013 PC Eging) I wanted a powerful song to close out the CD. This is another road song, Pullman City Western Town, where the street singer would stand outside my window and start his show. He makes his living as street singer during the summer and during the winter months he does about the same on Cruise ships. I took it from there. THINGS TO KNOW..Dan McCoy wrote two songs for George Strait's #7 album. Dan's a great songwriter and singer along with being a fantastic guitar player. We met in 1998 and has made a great impact on me and my music!!
Which Mr. Cash (March 2012) Along with having one protest song on every CD, there's also one Cash song. Which in the case of this song, it could be both. What drove me to write a song was one particular advertisement for a "Johnny Cash Tribute Show" by some young actor/singer who was going to tell the Cash Story in his show..my first thought is...okay you saw the Movie, the Hurt Video, you went out a bought his greatest hits and now you a freaking expert!!! I proudly tell folks, I've been playing Cash music for 48 years. Some of the first songs I learned was Cash (see Boom Chicka Boom from Ruby's Cafe). I've read every book I can find about Cash...I read them just to see if I can learn anything new. Secondly, every year there is more Cash Tribute shows popping up, with band who have been playing Cash music for six months...RIGHT! THINGS TO KNOW.. Cash and Traditional Country Music is very personal to me!!
Your Honky Tonk Angel (March 2012) (Duet with Gitty) This song was written originally as a "Girl Song"..Fellow "Singer of the Year" Gitty Bauersfeld mentioned she needed a duet for an upcoming project, so I re-wrote the lyrics to work as Man-Woman song. I love shuffles and I love Honky-Tonk and I was able to incorporate both into this song! This song has already been released on Obermain's "Das schonest Country Duett" CD in 2013. THINGS TO KNOW: I remember a line from a song about a couple going out to party and agreeing to take off their wedding rings!!
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