VOCAL Showcase April 2011

An intimate and attentive crowd gathered at O’Toole’s for the April, 2011 showcase. James Lester opened the show with his fine bluesman-ship. I Like Your Love is an uptempo bluesy number – I’m usually kinda shy, but you have a way of bringing me out of my shell every time you hug me. Circus Blues is a “near-bluegrass” song – something hasn’t been right since the circus came to town – she’s been going out alone and hanging out with the clowns. Now the clown is knocking at our door – should I stay or should I go? Coatesville Blues is a drinking song searching for four-leaf clovers and other things to turn your life around. It only takes a buck and a little luck to get by in this town, but I need the doctor to give me something to take these blues away. Generation Blues is a contrast of life from yesterday and that of today – my dad told me to save for a rainy day, but I pray for a sunny day. There’s plenty of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but Jesus is nowhere to be found. Satisfried is the story of a man with a great wife who has a good job and knows how to cook. She makes me feel like a king on my throne – I’m satisfied, satisfried. Blues Sky Blue was co-written with Steve Yates. This tender love song tells how his woman makes all his blues go away – I love my odds with you, in a formation of two, you turn my blues sky blue. Why I Sing the Blues was in an alternate tuning that sounded really cool. I get so depressed watching the news – everyone’ fighting ‘cause God is on their side. Whatever happened to a positive vibe? The “addiction” song Lame Pony told us I don’t want no woman don’t know right from wrong – she tried to hold me under her ball and chain – the tears came down like pouring rain – I gave her a lot of money, but it was not enough – I’m gonna take off walkin’, the pony’s going lame. James’ next tune was an instrumental called “E Thang”. Drinking Again was a sad tale about a woman walking out on her man – the last time I saw you was when you walked out the door – you don’t love me anymore – I can’t win – here I am drinking again. It’s All About Money says there ain’t a damn thing funny about the sad situation I’m in – my congressman doesn’t care about me, so my campaign contribution is in the mail. Deva (short for deviant?) is about a bad cat that’s always trying to kill things. Why can’t you just get along – why do you have to be jealous of all the other cats? James ended his set with the country-flavored Make My Day. As I watch you pack your bags, I wonder if we could have a last lusty fling. One more roll in the hay sure would make my day!

Matt Manion then took the stage, opening with a couple of numbers reminiscent of the 70’s. Don’t Remember Thinkin’ took him back to when I don’t remember thinking of the hassles we’d been through – in my state of loneliness, things seemed to be brand new. The Crossroads travelled back to the early days of the Crossroads Coffeehouse in the basement of St. James’s Church – the wooden chairs, coffee and cookies, and guitar players. Going to the Crossroads – I wanna play, I wanna sing, just put me down for anything. Nesmith and he grew up together but apart along parallel paths – raised in the country, but off to Richmond you roamed – I’m sure glad I reached you. God’s Rhythm asks God to help me find my rhythm, find my beat, shake this clumsy body, move these wooden feet – I can feel you in the floorboards – let him work things out.

Matt then invited Valerie Rourke onto the stage, and she performed two lovely a cappella numbers. If You Should Go is reminiscent of Patsy Cline – if you should go, I won’t come after you, or try to hurt you – now you have gone, but I’ll never know why you decided to leave, and I only torture myself when I believe you still think of me. Valerie left us with Torn in Two, which tells of one who is undecided on whether to stay or leave – one side of me loves you so, the other hates you because of how you treat me. My friends all say I should leave you, because you will never change – my heart thinks different, so what am I to do?

Matt returned to the stage with two fellow Vocal-onians, John Ellis (guitar) and Norm Roscher (“sin” thesiser). The thoughtful and dreamy Old Rolling Sea was inspired by body surfing (Norm was surfing his keyboard) and told of the power, depth, and age of the sea. You can feel and taste the salt spray just thinking about it! Don’t Need to be Perfect states that I don’t need to be right, macho, or bright, I just need to be me. Man’s Man is a call for a man who’s not afraid to take me by the hand and be a loyal friend to the very end – don’t care if he’s shy, don’t care what people say – if they talk, I don’t give a damn! John Ellis joined in with his smoking electric guitar on this number. Matt ended the set with Sit Down for Standby, an all-too-familiar story about trying to get home on a standby flight. John & Norm joined in again for this tune. We’re all just travelers stuck in the same boat – if I don’t get a flight, I don’t get home.

Submitted by Steve Nuckolls

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March 2011 VOCAL Showcase Review.

VOCAL Showcase March 21, 2011

There was a large crowd initially gathered at O’Toole’s on this warm first full day of Spring night, primed to enjoy this month’s VOCAL Showcase. The line-up had to be altered slightly as one player couldn’t make the event. Filling in for her. was John Ellis, who besides performing, runs the sound board and MC’s the event. though not simultaneously. John opened the night with a couple of his guitar instrumentals which displayed his composing skills and deft finger picking. Both featured elongated musical runs. He then segued into “In My Place” a song about relationships, and ended his short set with “The Stranger” one of his set pieces. After a short intermission, the next performer, Mike Shifflett, took the stage. Mike is new to VOCAL, which always makes for an interesting set, having never seen or heard him play before. Accompanying Mike on guitar was Greg Sullivan. First up was a “Why Do They Call It Love” which Mike sang and beat out the rhythm on his box seat. This was followed by “Heartaches Take Time” more relationship agony, and followed by “Down Home” an uptempo take on country life featuring chicken on sunday and blackberry pie. Mike closed out his set, again, very short, with a cover rendition of “Wichita Lineman”.nicely done, but obviously not an original song. During the break the audience sang Happy Birthday to Reza, Norm Nortledorf’s son-in-law. The featured performer of the evening was Larry Cody, who is a longtime VOCAL member and well regarded songwriter and guitar player. Given lots of time to fill, Larry proceeded through a repertoire of ten songs both old and new. Like some of the previously performed songs, many were relationship oriented. Playing electric guitar and using pre-recorded tracks he kicked off his set with a good old rock and roll type song “I Do It Cause I LIke It’ and moved into “Without a Doubt”. Calling up Doug Patrick to assist on guitar, Larry did rendition of Doug’s song “Full Time Love”, which was well received by the audience. They proeeded to perform two more songs together, “Now I Know” and “Winter’s On The Way”. Gary Shaver then came up to help out on the next three songs, playing sax. HIghlight of that collaboration was “Involuntary Celibacy” a cute novelty song. Going solo for the last two numbers of his set, Larry did one of his newer tunes “What I Thought You Said” about communication problems between partners and then closed out with and oldie “North In November” about a lover’s flight from Louisiana to the northern climes, a very touching and moving piece, that received a rousing response from the dedicated audience members. All in all, an entertaining and diverse night of musical artistry.

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Member Dues Schedule

The VOCAL Board has adopted a uniform dues schedule for all new and current members to follow.  As of this post, the dues are $35 so that is the rate that is used for example in the schedule.

For 2011, anyone who is already a member will follow the new member schedule – use the month that you originally joined as your month for the new member schedule.  On January 1, 2012 the annual dues for 2012 are due in full for every member and then in each subsequent year your due date is January 1.  Regardless of when you joined, your due date is always January 1 of the new year for 2012 forward.

New members in any given year will follow the schedule as outlined below – however to be eligible to peform on the showcase or any other performance opportunity, you must pay the full annual dues amount, currently $35, regardless of the month that you join VOCAL.

January 1st to March 31st ——— $35

April 1st to June 30th  ————- $27

July 1st to September 30th ——– $18

October 1st to December 31st —— $9 (if joining in December, pay the full year’s dues and get 13 months of membership)

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VOCAL Showcase February 2011

-by Matt Manion

Collaboration between VOCAL members was on display February 21, 2011 at February’s VOCAL Showcase at O’Tooles Restaurant. Headliner Steve Nuckolls was joined on stage by fellow VOCAL members John Ellis and Larry Cody. Gary Shaver, who opened the evening, brought up Norman Roscher and friend Alan Cole, and surprised a few songwriters in attendance by performing their songs. Bill Kaffenberger, who was originally scheduled to perform, was unable to make it, but hopefully Bill will join us for a future showcase.

Gary, at his keyboard, opened his set with two of his own love songs. The first contained the refrain “my love is somewhere between her and you”. Gary’s performance caused one member of the audience to comment that Gary sounded like Floyd Cramer, the American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the “Nashville Sound”. Gary followed it with a song about lovers who look back on their affair, the only thing left being “words on a page, yellow with age.”

The wood and brick interior of O’Tooles came alive for the next number when Gary invited Norman Roscher up to the keyboard to perform a rollicking Norman song called “Roamin’ Eye”. Gary blew alto sax as Alan Cole added tenor sax, and Norman sang in his distinctive, rich, gravely voice “…can’t put a leash on them dog-gone roamin’ eyes.”

Gary then announced that he was going to play a composition written by his friend Frank Lucas, who was in the audience. Alan added sax over Gary’s keyboards and showed how lovely and complete just two instruments can sound. Frank seemed pleased at the unexpected surprise.

Falling scales and deft fingerwork highlighted Gary’s next song, which he said sat unfinished for 10 years at the end of his piano bench. Expressing the struggle of human communications, he entoned “we’re just lost at sea, if you won’t talk to me.” And later…”let’s not sink too deep, just believe in me.”

Gary had another surprise up his sleeve. This time he honored Jim Uzel, another VOCAL member in the audience, by performing a Uzel composition. A sad, last song to a once lover, the lyrics tell the story: “…now that our love is gone, all that’s left is a sweet, sweet love song.” The song ends with a beautiful chord change.

Gary dedicated his last song, a Shaver original, to Marg, who was enjoying the music at a nearby table. A heartfelt love song, Gary sang “…and I stand amazed by your love”, and “…I thank you, my darling, for lifting me up”.

John Ellis served as MC for the evening and announced that Steve Nuckolls would be up shortly. After a brief interlude, Gary introduced Steve, who introduced his first song: Simunye.

Steve explained that the inspiration for Simunye came from a trip Steve and his wife Janice took to Africa. They had ridden an hour on horseback to a Zulu village which had no water or electricity. A reunification effort was going on at that time after a civil war, and “Simunye” can be translated as “we are one” or “we are one with this land”. John added guitar to this moving song, and member Larry Cody added harmony from the audience during the chorus.

Next was one of Steve’s newer songs, the genesis of which came this past New Year’s Eve as he was out running. “My Prayer of Thanks” is an expression of appreciation of each day, with the recognition that it could be our last. Steve dedicated his next song, “Grayson Lady”, to Ethel. It was an uptempo song with images of forests and hills.

John added guitar, and Larry plucked the bass, for Steve’s next song, “Making My Getaway”. The three musicians fell right in together and their instruments and vocals blended as if they had just come off the road after a long tour. During “When the Flag’s Half-Mast” that followed, a member of the audience commented “That Larry Cody can keep some time. He’s just got a good ear.”

Next up was “Sunrise” featuring Steve’s high, clear tenor sailing over the guitars. John’s lead was perfect, sounding almost like a banjo. A hopeful, gorgeous, song with lyrics “…you know there’s always a sunrise”.

“There’s something about your love that keeps me on the ground…” sang Steve for his next tune, followed by a song he described as a “true story told second hand”.  One audience member commented that Steve hits those high notes like Dan Fogelberg. Coincidentally, Steve joked from the stage “I think I’ll do one with my high voice.”  Steve ended his set with his “At Home on the Back Roads” and “Living Out This Love” rounding out a great set for the appreciative audience.

A fine evening of original music, made finer by the collaboration between our members and friends. Please join us for the next VOCAL showcase April 21 and watch for our newsletter for details.

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Interesting info

I read this writer’s book awhile back and found his analysis of what is required today to get on radio an interesting take on modern music. How quick to get to the hook etc and other “Tricks” of manipulation. This is a blog entry he sent me. /Glen
THE FUTUREHIT 2010 REPORT
January 7, 2011 – 1:22 am
2010 has finally wrapped up, which means it’s time to analyze the common threads of the biggest hits of the year. At the mid-year point, I looked at the Top 50. This time, I extended the analysis to the Top 100. Collectively, these 100 songs accounted for 187 million downloads and well over $200 million in revenue. These 100 titles also account for approximately 36% of all new music track sales. This means over one in three new music downloads come from these songs. Many elements that have been brewing for the last few years that are detailed in Futurehit.DNA really started to show their ability to bring success this year. Here are some of the shared traits:

THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF SONG INTROS IS 7.58 SECONDS
This is slightly less than the figure we analyzed at the midyear point. But that figure was for the Top 50. This figure is the Top 100. If we compare the Top 50, the intro length actually decreased from 7.76 seconds to 6.46 seconds, a 20% decrease. Furthermore, the Top 25 intro length decreased even more, going from 6.6 seconds to 5 seconds, a 33% decrease. This is just in 6 months! The short intros are really driving the sales. Want even more evidence?

-Of the Top 25 selling songs, only 4 have intros of 10 seconds or longer
-8 of the Top 25 and 14 of the Top 50 songs have NO INTRO WHATSOEVER

What does this mean? Of the top 50 songs, more songs have no intros than songs with intros of 10 seconds or more. Remember, shorter intros have gotten more successful just in the last 6 months.

THE AVERAGE SONG LENGTH IS 3 MINUTES 50 SECONDS
This is slightly longer than the mid-year point, once again pointing to owning listening experiences with longer songs. I would venture to guess that this figure will continue to slowly creep up in the coming years, but not grow dramatically. It’s tough to both shorten the intro and elongate the song credibly. The fact that both are occurring, however, does suggest that this is a trend that will be continuing over the next few years.

BALLADS DO NOT SELL
At the halfway point, only one ballad was in the Top 50 selling songs. At the end of the year, that had changed to none. The highest charting ballad was at #59 (“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry). In fact, only 5 songs in the Top 100 had a BPM of less than 70. A few of those songs are ones I wouldn’t call a ballad (Wacak Flocka Flame’s “No Hands”, anyone?) But that being said, a few titles at 70 BPM or above are borderline ballads (Jay-Z’s “Young Foever”), and then others kinda feel like ballads, though they are faster than a ballad tempo (Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me”). Even though the exact number of Top 100 songs that are ballads can be debated, you’d just be arguing between a small number and a real small number. Bottom line, they don’t sell.
So what tempos are selling?

120-135 BPM – 35%
85-99 BPM – 27%
70-84 BPM – 17%
100-119 BPM – 12%
Less than 70 – 5%
More than 135 BPM – 4%

In my book, I discuss the return of the “walking beat” and discuss how “Staying Alive” personifies that, as seen in the opening of Saturday Night Fever. Well, that song’s BPM (103) neatly matches up with the average BPM of the Top 100 selling songs (103.8). However, as you can see above, there are very few songs in that exact range. Instead, energetic club songs appear to be the strong drivers of sales. I still feel that, as streaming takes over as a primary method of consumption, that slower songs will make a comeback. That is not happening now, and it appears that it won’t be at least thru next year.

FORGET LOVE, JUST LEMME TAKE YOU HOME
The #1 subject matter in the Top 100 selling songs were variations of “I want to take you back to my place so we can have sex” songs, accounting for 21% of the top titles. This is possibly indicative of the times, with dating thru social networking on the rise, easier access to sexual material and sexual connections, as well as a need to find escapist pleasure in trying economic times. While this topic is not new to pop music, it certainly felt like it had a spike this year.
The more traditional subject matter along the same line is the “I love you” song, which was the 2nd most popular at 17%. These songs just edged out the “Out Of Love” songs, which accounted for 16% of the titles. However, the “In Love” songs on average sold 20% more than the “Out Of Love” songs, again suggesting people wanting positive, fun messaging.
A common theme people picked up in pop music is “Partying”. While possibly more prevalent than in recent years, this was only the 3rd most popular subject at 16% of the titles. However, of all the main themes in pop, party tunes on average sold the most (over 2 Million per song). They also tended to be a theme more likely to occur in multiple songs by the same artist (specifically Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas, and Trey Songz). Also, I can confirm that indeed the word “club” is used more often in a party song than the word “party” or “dance”. Though, somehow, two party hits (Far East Movement’s “Like A G6″ and Ke$ha’s “Take It Off) managed to be big hits without mentioning any of those words.

RELEASE MORE SONGS MORE OFTEN
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Releasing more singles more often will yield you better success. 15 months ago, Ke$ha was just being released and nobody was sure who she was. In 2010, she has 5 of the Top 50 selling songs and sold more tracks than any other artist. Why? Because she released that many singles in that timeframe. Katy Perry, Rihanna, B.O.B. and Bruno Mars each have 3 of the Top 50 selling songs (Mr. Mars was on one of the B.O.B. sellers), reflective of the consistent single release pattern. The rapidfire succession of songs keeps the singer in the public consciousness and sales seem to grow of older songs the sooner new ones get in the marketplace.

THE AVERAGE AGE OF A TOP SELLING SINGER IS 27
Yes, you read that right. The press story is that the top pop songs, especially in the digital track realm, is dominated by the real young. This is often emphasized by pointing to Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, and others. The truth is, averaged out across all tracks, the average age is actually 27. The #2 selling song of the year is sung by the 41-year old frontman of Train, Pat Monahan. So how old do you have to be nowadays?

19-24 – 38%
25-34 – 33%
35 and up – 22%
18 and under – 6%

Yes, the prime age as shown here is 19-24 years old, certainly saying the signing of young pop stars is justified. So to be clear, I’m not saying that this is not a key element of success nowadays. I’m just pointing out that, when the image of pop is so young, seeing 55% of the songs recorded by those 25 years old or greater means this is not solely a young persons’ game. Does a person in their early twenties have an advantage? Yes, but when the #1 selling album of the year is by a 38 year old (Eminem) and the #2 selling download is by a 41 year old (Train), experience still counts.
FYI, for those who are astute enough to catch it, the numbers above do indeed add up to 99%. I was unable to verify the age of Neon Trees to include them in the research. However, if the information I found is any indication, this is likely because they are trying to appear younger than they actually are. Their figures would likely just increase the 25-34 year old figure and raise the average age slightly, but it’s unlikely they would lower it.

I may be doing further analysis in the coming weeks, potentially looking at genre specific findings. Do you have anything you’re curious about with the top selling songs of 2010? Leave a comment and I may answer it in the followup report.

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VOCAL SHowcase 1.17.2011

VOCAL Showcase JJanuary 17, 2011.

It was a soggy night in Rivah City, all the cats and kittens were gathered at a southside eatery, O’Toole’s, to dig the sounds of Richard White and Pam McCarthy. No ears were left hungry or unsated.
“Father” White, in semi-hippie garb, began his set with a solo acoustic version of “Amazing Grace” which, did in fact, amaze the assembled masses. Joining him for the rest of the set were Ron, and Gabin, who contributed their groovy brand of drum licks throughout the rest of White’s performance. Next up was “The Smiling Raven,” an instrumental, ably supported by Gabin’s african rhythms. As this was Martin Luther King day, Richard contributed “It’s a Wonderful Life”, a solemn song, that seemed apropos for the occasion. Continuing along through “Wind in the Pines’ and “Into the Bliss”, White sequed into a bluesy mood, firing up a traditional take on the blues with a Louisiana flavored tune bolstered by Ron strumming along on his zydeco necktie (!). The last song in the set, another blues tune “Hell to Pay” filled the room with some rocking licks that amped the audience into a spontaneous round of the claps. The short set (8 songs) was followed by a brief respite in order to allow the next artisté, Pam McCarthy, to set up her gear.

Pam McCarthy is a lady of tall stature with a big voice that probably needs no amplification. However; amped or not, she definitely set the room aglow with her 12 string folk oriented tunes. Much of her material is taken from real life experience and interaction with friends and relatives, citing such influences as her mother and grandmother for song ideas. There is a bittersweet tone to her musing about romance and relationships that connects with the listener, a lot of which can be gleaned by the titles of her songs. From the opening strains of “Not a Tear Left” through “One More Try”, “Finally Gone”, “Over You” to the closer “Let Me Be”. Standout of the evening were “Set You Free” a Julie London type sultry ballad and “Long Time Since You’re Gone” a vey melodic, singable tune.
Overall, some great material which pleased the receptive group of fellow music lovers.

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File Sharing from an indie artist perspective

Thought this article was worth posting, since the issues come up whenever we do the Songwriters and the Internet forums. Some good points in here, especially the points about artists never really making money from record labels in the first place:

XJ: “How do you feel about the fact that some of your fans are downloading your music for free?”

David Byrne: “It’s a mixed bag. Sure, I would love to have compensation for that. But the argument of record companies standing up for artists rights is such a load of hooey. Most artists see nothing from record sales — it’s not an evil conspiracy, it’s just the way the accounting works. That’s the way major record labels are set up, from a purely pragmatic point of view. So as far as the artist goes — who cares? I don’t see much money from record sales anyway, so I don’t really care how people are getting it.”

-Boing Boing, David Byrne launches internet radio station.

Here’s the whole article (there are several sections, you’ll see the links at the bottom of each section)

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November 2010 VOCAL Showcase

VOCAL  Showcase #232  Nov. 15, 2010

Drizzly skies couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm  at O’Toole’s pub, this Monday night, as the assembled crowd was treated to a series of musical performances by three fine musicians.
First up, was VOCAL member Steve Effinger, who kicked off his country/pop set with a song about New Orleans, “Vieu Carré”, then continued on with a couple of tunes about love. “Sing my Song to Jesus”  a P&W tune, was followed by “Full Time With a Part Time Wage” a humorous look at life’s conditions. Accompanying Steve thoughout his set, was Chip Butterworth on the mandolin, which added an extra depth to the material Steve presented.
After a brief intermission, Darryl Ellyson took the over the mike and launched into his set of guitar-driven blues tinged material. There’s no question he delves into the arena of heartbreak and lovelorn sentiment, as evidenced by his opening song “Teardrops” which took the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride. His big voice immediately captured the attention of the crowd as he led them through a couple more bluesy songs. Next up was a new creation “Love Refugees” which detailed the relationship between two spurned lovers who find each other. Closing out his set was “Cause My Heart To Bleed” an upbeat, rousing song that drew the audience in to the performance. Darryl plays his music around many Richmond area venues, so be sure to look for his name in your local listings.
The featured performer of the evening, was the well known composer and pianist Steve Bassett. His one hour set consisted of fifteen songs, many of which came with an anecdote about how it came to be created. “Sing Loud” was the opener and it got the audience immediately involved in Bassett’s jazzy, R&B oriented vocal and playing style. “Election Day” was based on a true story of his experience at a voting site, and had humorous overtones. Inspiration for the next songs came from a mens room graffiti, a request from the Chamber of Commerce to write a song about Richmond and a bumper sticker (“Save The Bay”). “Trust Me” was a gospel tinged tune that was designed not to offend anybody, and “Start with My Heart” was a song written by request to effect a reconciliation among various ethic and racial groups. A plea to “Clean Up Your Own House” was written to make us consider thinking first about our own short-comings before criticizing others. All through the set, Bassett backed himself with prerecorded tracks that enhanced the impact of his material.  No performance would be complete without his, perhaps, most well known song, “Sweet Virginia Breeze” (co-written with Robbin Thompson) and Steve did not disappoint. He closed his set with an upbeat version that had the audience clapping along.
Once again, VOCAL provided the audience with a fine selection of, and a wide variety of music to satisfy all tastes.

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VOCAL Showcase October 2010

VOCAL Showcase Review – October 18, 2010
231st consecutive showcase!

Markiss Blowfish (Mark Branch) and Chuck Kerwath opened the show with a wonderful dose of blues to please the crowd. The two musicians met through VOCAL and have collaborated since then, with Chuck recording Mark’s new CD “Come Along With Me”. Chuck accompanied Mark with a cool “dobro-ish” acoustic slide guitar on their first number “Hard Times”. This song was the 2010 VOCAL Song of the Year (when your bag’s unpacked, nothing to eat, holes in your shoes, paying child support, hard times indeed!) “Betty Lou” followed with Chuck on lead acoustic guitar (she’s from the South – my kind of girl – what am I supposed to do? – she had a glow – with blue eyes). The duo followed with “Tumbleweed Rag”, an instrumental with Mark on harmonica and Chuck tickling the open strings of his guitar. This was a free-spirited number, and I could picture myself traveling down a peaceful country road with this song playing in my ear. The title track “Come Along With Me” was next, which was reminiscent of a B.B. King style – I’ll buy you diamonds and rubies, lunch and dinner with fine wine – meet me down behind the old oak tree. “Messin’ With Her” tells us he couldn’t eat or sleep all week because he’d been messin’ with her – they had been very discreet, found a place to be alone, until he came home… They finished out their set with “Honey-Do Man” with Chuck doing the honors on lead guitar again. Don’t ask me to do all these things – spend all my money, honey – don’t tell me to take my pressure pill or to turn the other cheek.

Russell Lawson then took the stage, joined by Dave Berry on fiddle and guitar. Russell treated us to some fine homespun tunes with topics ranging from prison songs to tunnel collapses (not while tunneling out of prison…). He led off with “Certain Freedom”, a “minor-key prison song” about a murderer on death row dreaming about a certain freedom once his debt is paid. “At the edge of moonlight, out past the razor wire, freedom’s like a river racing quiet through the night, far beyond the walls of tempered steel and stone around the place that murder made my home”. “Whole Lotta Gone” brings us a John Prine-ish tale of a cold-hearted former lover who turned from good to bad – “I thought that I could change you and I got what I deserved”. “Days Gone By” is a somber reflection of a loved one with a troubled life, with hope waiting in the wings, a story many of us can relate to – “get on your knees and lift your voices high, ‘cause there’s a place above where every tear is dried”. Dave swapped his fiddle for the guitar on “Swell”, a story of being overwhelmed by someone’s love, to the point that you’re fearful and cannot comprehend its power “if you would love me just a little, my heart might never touch the ground, but you pour in me like a river, so deep I feel I’m gonna drown”. Yes, you can get too much of a good thing! “Church Hill Tunnel” recounts the story of the collapse of the railroad tunnel that ran to Church Hill in Richmond, where many workers rode the rails to the end of their lives. The tunnel was sealed for safety, but the story is still alive and well. This song won 2nd place in a recent lyric contest in American Songwriter Magazine, quite an honor for Russell! Russell’s wife Katherine joined him on his last “country breakup” number, “Where are Your Tears”. As we’re on the verge of a breakup, where are the tears you said you’d shed if it ever came to this? Was your love really true, or were you faking it all these years? “I could change the wine, but I couldn’t quench your thirst”. Russell and Katherine ended the song with some beautiful a cappella harmony!

The headline performer, Bill Wellons, then took the stage, and was joined by John Ellis on guitar, Larry Cody on bass, and his son, Todd, on drums. “Long, Long Time Ago” recounts the good old days when things were more carefree and innocent (The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Age of Aquarius had not yet arrived). In light of today’s new stories, those good old days do seem like long, long ago. His next solo piano piece was untitled, but I felt I could be listening to a movie score or taking a helicopter ride through a pristine river valley with the feeling it conveyed. “Some Other World” brought out John Ellis on guitar, and the synthetic French horn sounds from Bill’s piano. This is an optimistic story of hope, where it would be great if “everyone cared, no one was angry, no one scared”. “Hurricane” followed with the band of John, Larry, and Todd. This is a colorful blues song about life along the river “my mom gave birth to me in this room, my daddy and granddaddy were born here too”. “Lickety-Split” was an up-tempo instrumental that I thought was reminiscent of the Allman Brothers of my yesteryear. Those familiar tones were pleasant music to my ears! Jack the hound dog was featured in “Doggone Blues”. He chewed up my sweater, peed on the petunias, doesn’t come when I call him, and even bit the FedEx man! Bad dog! John Ellis played some bad-dog electric slide guitar worthy of harmonious hound-howling on this song! John Ellis’ song “Blues # 1” was featured next, with Larry “Stanley Clark” Cody on the driving bass. I detected possibly some AC/DC influences in this song, and perhaps a dash of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”. “The Old Folks” is probably my favorite Bill Wellons song. It openly deals with the effects of war, but it is not an in-your-face protest song nor a lethal “call-to-arms” anthem. It simply tells it like it is, the “old man sitting in the old folks home, his wife got sick, now he’s all alone”. Their son Sam won a lot of medals in Viet Nam, but that damn war took their boy away. The next number, “Better Stay in Tonight”, is an all-too-familiar story about someone who feels like a prisoner within their own house – “lock the deadbolt, draw the drapes, the government just makes this worse”. I’d move out if I could – I hate this neighborhood. The finale was “Dueling No-Banjos”, another hard-driving instrumental featuring John on lead guitar, Larry on bass, and Todd on drums. Bill delivered the organ sounds of some of the early Allman Brothers tunes, and they really rocked the house with their closing number. The crowd called for more, but the group had exhausted their repertoire, so we’ll just have to wait until their next performance to satisfy our appetite!

– Steve Nuckolls

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