Tom Rush has been a part of my musical world since I was first introduced to “No Regrets” when I was in high school, and then I explored ”Panama Limited” and other acoustic blues clues to his beginnings after I saw him in concert at the Celebrity Theater back in 1971.      The kid that introduced me to this man’s music was Rick Rogers.  Rick was a slow talking, longhaired, guitar toting hippie wannabe, with a gentle soul and easy laugh, who said to me in passing, “you should listen to Tom Rush, you’d like him”.   How he knew I don’t know.   But he was right.  I did.   If you are out there somewhere, Rick, I owe you!

The 3 singers and songwriters at the top of the pyramid for me for years were Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Rush and John Stewart.   I was fixated on their music and to this day, I own every piece of vinyl any of them have ever released, and in some cases, extra copies because I wore them out.   Mark Knopfler has joined this elite club in my later years.     John Stewart died last January and Gordon’s prime has passed.   These were sad events for me.   Used to be I would look forward to each of their next albums with baited breath.  In Tom’s case, I would have joined Tut inside the pyramid if I held my breath that long.   

After Merrimac County in 1972, there was Ladies Love Outlaws in 1974, which was, I think, a stab at a Nashville commercial chart hitter…..but I always felt it was over produced and Tom’s excellence got lost in it.   ”No Regrets“, one of his signature songs, was much better when it was first released on the Circle Game album juxtaposed with “Rockport Sunday“, his eloquent solo guitar companion piece.   (Footnote, it seems to me that when it was released on Classic Rush on Elektra, they reversed the order…..Rockport was first, No Regrets second, and on the Classic Rush album, the opposite occurred.  Tom, no doubt tinkering?)

Anyway, after his last Columbia release, there were a couple of recordings in the early 80′s that I unearthed in the Folk section of now defunct Tower Records and Ebay.   Also, a New Years special I taped off of PBS in 1980, but nothing else until the Very Best of Tom Rush  which is quite a nice compilation of the Prestige, Elektra and Columbia years.  A new one, “River Song“, appeared at the very end and knocked my socks clean off.    (It has become my wife’s and my courtin’ song)    It was like an old friend coming home.   But that was all she (or he, in this case) wrote.

Not that Tom wasn’t busy doing this or that, but musically, I lost him.   Until the Internet.   (Thanks Al?) 

One fine day, I found him and his website (circa 2000 and loose change?)    I was sitting around playing www dot fill in name here dot com and there he was.   On a lark, I emailed him and asked him the equivalent of “whassup” and when might he be coming to Phoenix.    Amazingly, he emailed back.   And said, he didn’t know.   But if someone was interested, let them know to contact him.   Cool, I thought.   Who do I know?   Big fat hairy nobody.  

But I was on his mailing list and over the ensuing years, found his humorous live collection Trolling for Owls and I got hold of a 6 song cassette “work in progress” that he released in limited supply and I then wore out.  (One day it unraveled and became ‘one’ with my previous car’s cassette player for eternity.)     But that is where I first heard “All A Man Can Do” .     Which now makes its appearance on the brand new , What I Know, Tom’s first major studio album in all those intervening years, and which was just released this week. 

Tom doesn’t write much.   When he does, he gives birth to monster songs…..like “No Regrets” or the “River Song“.    He is a very literate fellow and usually goes deep when he writes.   The cheerful exceptions to the rule are found here in What I Know …….his latest songs are far less introspective and far more joyful.   And unself-conscious.   Listen to ”Silly Little Diddle” and “What I Know”, and the concert opener “Hot Tonight” and ”One Good Man“   “River Song” makes a reprise appearance here with a different arrangement……(and again, like “No Regrets” back in 1974, he got “River Song” right the first time in 1999.  But its such a great song, it lives well here.  I just like the crescendo bridge in the first version and the way he delivers the hook line towards the end of the song.  But what do I know? 

Tom’s amazing ear and talent for interpretation of other artists’ material is legendary.  For the uninitiated, Tom recorded James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell, long before the world knew anything about them.   And his song selections over his career have been delightful.   This album is no exception.    It sneaks up on you.    You hear it the first two times and are pleased.   You hear it again, and something gets in underneath you, and then you start to hear the whole thing.   Not with your ears so much as your spirit.   The phrasing, both guitar and vocal are classic Tom Rush.   (Which is why he is so good as a solo act, he communicates intricate things with voice and strings).    He makes ”Drift Away”, the Dobie Gray standard sound like a Tom Rush song.  As familiar as it is, you hear it differently.   The more you listen to it, the more distinctive it becomes.   And its the sparest arrangement on the album (just guitar and cello).   

The fine accompaniment on this album manages to avoid overproduction.   I was tickled to find Rush veterans Trevor Veitch and Robin Batteau making appearances on the album, and the other assembled musicians are all top notch.  He jokes about the sax and steel together on “What An Old Lover Knows but the instruments work just fine.   “Lonely”  the Mishka Frith reggae classic is amazing…..I didn’t know I knew the song until several listenings.   Tom’s interpretations are that distinctive and this is a truly wonderful rendition.   When I hear “You’re Not Here With Me”, I feel the same things in my spirit that I felt when I heard “Wind on the Water” from his Merrimac County album.   On this album, Tom found me.   Got right through the crust and right in my spirit.   That’s what he always did, with his songs or those he interprets, and its quite amazing that he can still do it.   Because we have all changed.   Or have we?   

You are in for a treat if you are a longtime fan like me, because this is an outstanding album.   If you are new to Tom Rush…I envy you.   You have years of music to discover.    But listen to this a dozen times or so first…..don’t miss any of the nuances.    Its worth sipping slowly.       In this season of being confronted with life’s impermanence and the inevitable fading of hopes and dreams, it is quite extraordinary to have this gift appear, as though no time has passed at all.   In ”Too Many Memories” (with Emmylou Harris doing harmony vocals), the writer defines growing old as replacing hope with regret.   

What I Know …..is that we can thank Tom Rush for putting that notion on hold for awhile.

I am foraying into uncharted territory here.   Being an amateur historian, in addition to the many other interests in which I am not proficient,  I feel compelled to try and at least add a little historical perspective.   Frankly, I am angry.   Everytime I turn on the radio or open a newspaper, I am either greeted with a story about A-Rod’s steroid use (which frankly is not front page news) or another overwrought description of our economic problems.   ‘Recession’ isn’t good enough.   ‘Downturn’ is unromantic.   No.  We have to throw words around like Catastrophe.   Crisis.    Disaster.    Good for ratings and apparently pretty good for powergrabbers in Washington.

An unnamed political operative in a major political party recently was quoted as having said “you never want a good crisis to go to waste”.    A pox on his mansion!    That mentality is precisely what should give us all pause to question what we are being spoon fed.   The media and politicians are like Chicken Little, except I note, they are Chicken Little with a Big Agenda.   Lets face facts.    The Great Depression was a crisis.   The Tsunami that killed an estimated 250,000 after Christmas in 2004 was a catastrophe.    Michael Jackson’s life is a disaster.   (Ok, not a disaster, just painful to watch)   But the point is, we need some perspective.   To run around ascribing our present difficulties as catastrophic does great disservice to those of us who are trying to get through life as best they can in difficult times.     Some parts of the country are having severe unemployment, while others are wondering what the fuss is about.     Many of us in the middle have seen our incomes decline, our houses lose value, and we are having to do with a bit less, or a lot less.   

Unemployment is at 7.6% and climbing, but lets remember that most economists consider “full employment” (those that want to work) at about 4% unemployment or 96% employed.   Today in our “crisis”….92.4% of Americans are working.    Huh?   Where’s that in the headlines?     That fact does not make it easier for those unemployed, but it does put the problem in a different perspective.     More perspective?   Unemployment during the Depression was at 25% and more.   When Mr Carter was President in 1980, unemployment was over 14%, interest rates and inflation were racing for 20%.   Since then we have weathered two more recessions and an S&L collapse, not to mention the 1987 Stock market crash, and a couple of wars.      Here’s some more perspective.    Hurrican Katrina displaced a city and killed 1,100 people.     The Tsunami of 2004 killed 250,000 and displaced half a continent.   Does anyone really want to make that comparison?   

In our personal lives, some of us got divorces, some got sick and recovered, some lost family members.    Life comes with adversity.   It is not advertised to be different, and our expectations should not be falsely encumbered with visions of sugarplums dancing on our 401K’s.   In the words of a wise philosopher, $#%@ happens.

And now, we are warned that we are facing an imminent economic catastrophe.   Are we really?    Aren’t Americans capable of reaching out to one another in hard times?    Isn’t that what we do?     Doesn’t history teach us that we can recover from whatever life throws at us?    That, in the words of Dr King, we shall overcome?    Do you realize that we endured a Civil War that killed 2% of our population, the Great Depression and 2 World Wars (and countless bad Presidents) in the span of one lifetime?    Do any of our present troubles come even CLOSE?     And if they did, how does panic help?

When did we become so susceptible to fear…..when did we lose our confidence in ourselves and in a power greater than ourselves?   

Life has hardships and ups and downs.   We have all been caught in troubles, whether financial, emotional, or physical.    And we will again.    Whom does it profit to display us at our worst?  To portray us as though we are incapable of rising above our circumstances?      If we can be convinced that we are powerless and that we should fear the future instead of looking forward with hope and faith, then we are ripe for tyranny.

Be careful whom you believe.   Evaluate what you are being told you must give up in order to persevere.    We will get through this together, and sometimes separately, because that is what we have always done.   Encourage one another and tell them not to believe the words they hear coming out of the mouths of those who believe you don’t have what it takes.    Who would bully you with fear tactics and crisis mongering.  Don’t drink that Koolaid and don’t let the government or the media tell you otherwise and fleece you in the name of “not letting a good crisis go to waste”.

And the next time you see Chicken Little, introduce him to the Colonel.

Courtesy of my brother in law, Paul Fricke, I have become a fan of a wild-haired, beanpole of a Texas gospel music phenomenon named David Crowder.   2 years ago or so, when visiting family in Madison, Paul started playing me some of Crowder’s material.   At first, I sort of didn’t get it.  I mean, the music wasn’t bad, but I am old.  So I figured I was missing the appeal of what I thought were various repeating versions of “E” chords.   Lyrics were good but I wasn’t sparked.    You gotta see this guy to believe him, he really does look like a wild eyed crazie in some of his photos.   Over time, I started to find myself humming melody lines and wondering where they were coming from.   Or a lyrical snippet was sneaking around in my brain.   And I realized there was more than E chords to DC.   

I ended up looking forward to seeing him when I found out (courtesy of lovely wife Sandi) that he was coming to town.   We got floor tickets which were GA and required us to stand outside for about an hour before being seated, but then we were just a few rows back and center stage, so I knew at least we were going to be able to discern him from the rest of the band by more than just altitude.    After some pretty good “openers” (three as I recall), Crowder’s band came out.   And lit the whole place up!   Big time!   From the opening to the encore, from some pretty fine drumwork from Bwack and electric violin from Mike Hogan, and the rest of the players giving it all up for about 90 minutes, it was outstanding.   Lots of creativity, rock and even some bluegrass.  Memorable was the bandmember who made a contraption from the Guitar from Guitar Hero and put it in Crowder’s hands for a rollicking and fun treatment of one song.   What a riot!   He knows how to shake the house and the spirit was as sweet as it was superb.   I have the Remedy CD which includes the DVD and I highly recommend it if you are looking for an amazing collection of live and recorded gospel music.

But don’t miss him when he comes back to town!    Great stuff!   G’head….try and keep your feets from moving!

(Martin, Blog Usurper here).

I rented Ghost Town, a comedy with Rick Gervais.   I have to say, this movie is FUNNY.  We really enjoyed it.  The only thing bad I have to say about it was that it could have been done without some of the language.  I didn’t expect some of the blue words and wouldn’t ordinarily have had my kids see a movie with them.

However, much to my chagrin, my kids are getting older, and probably won’t wilt.  Although I hope NOT to hear that my son has used any of these questionable phrases at school!

The main character was brilliantly and hilariously portrayed – he had us all laughing out loud for several scenes.

I have to give this one 4 of 5 stars, but don’t show it in front of little kids, because of the unfortunate slight use of bad language (including the F-bomb).

I am amazed at how inefficient I have become.  I thought I was a pretty good multi tasker.  Pre-computer, I kept a legal pad on a clipboard nearby and had a system whereby I put a small date on the bottom of each page and wrote notes of things on the days I needed to accomplish.   I would draw a line through the item when it was completed, and add more items as they occurred to me.   Usually after a phone call, or an idea, or after I noticed something, I would make the note and then I would resume my process of piling through the list of things.   This note had a name and phone number and a one or two word instruction.   My desk had paperwork sorted…..sort of vertically fanned downward from top to bottom.   These were pending and working items.   A living breathing system of piles and notes, and I could easily see what I had accomplished and what was waiting for me.   It was a good system.  

Then computers came to save us from paper.   HA!   Email, text messaging, Twitter, cellphone, homephone, extra email addresses, Facebook, MySpace, My GOD!   Suddenly the excrement has hit the oscillator!   I don’t know what happened, but my desk regularly looks like a bomb hit it.   There are sticky notes with phone numbers I don’t recognize and encrypted notes that the CIA would not be able to disentangle.   Flyers, folders, business cards, receipts, notes.   I am looking at a scrap of paper at this writing that has a phone number, the words 3 kids, and the number 246.   Can someone help?  

I didn’t used to be like this.   But the problem is too much incoming.   Too many sources to review, catalog, disseminate, order and it changes constantly.   Email alone is a source of endless distraction.   I get up in the morning and I sit down to “check email”……next thing I know I am heading off in three different directions at once, responding, making notes, thinking and I find that an hour has passed and I am still sitting in my………well…….you get the idea (don’t bother with the picture).    And my desk gets worse.   Fortunately, its all ‘contained’…….I don’t delete email unless its spam and I know that everything that I need is “somewhere”………either on my desk, or in my email.   That is some small comfort.   It is the only thing that keeps me from complete madness.   I know that I can lasso the thing if I spend about 26 uninterrupted hours putting everything in order, deleting the unneeded emails so that I can find more easily what I need, and making another promise to myself that nothing gets written down on a scrap of paper without leaving clues to decode it later.   I know I can do this, because every 2-3 weeks, I do it and return my world back to some kind of order.    Then sigh.  And begin again.

But I miss my legal pad.

Martin here (blog usurper), in celebration of my kids’ stellar grades (3 kids, all A’s save 2 B+’s) this semester, we took the kids out to dinner and then to see Bedtime Stories.  

We all enjoyed this movie.   It was definitely kid-friendly but pleasant to watch for adults as well.  (Keri Russell has to be the epitome of wholesome looking.)  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an awesome movie, but offers a nice distraction.   The kids in the movie were super cute, and the plot was pretty clever.  Although I’m not a huge Adam Sandler fan, I thought he did a good job, as did his co-star Keri Russell.  There were a lot of other familiar faces in various roles and the music took me back to high school with Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing heavily featured.  (I’d forgotten how clear and crisp he could sing.)  The sound and lyrics was well-suited to the movie.

If you’ve got kids and are looking for something pleasant and benign to take them to, go see this light-hearted and fun movie. 3 1/2 stars.

A few show notes and thoughts…….we just finished the Christmas Show on the AZ MUSIC CAFÉ this afternoon and I went home whooped.   Yes, a little Christmas sick bug and my brother’s Christmas party the night before may have made a contribution.   But mostly, it was the sheer energy that gets crammed into that studio each Sunday, and particularly THIS one.   After the show’s final minutes, we had about 2 minutes to get out of the studio and make way for the next program and found ourselves deposited into the lobby for the obligatory Saturday Night Live end of show photo shot.   It was like getting washed up on shore by a monster wave. 

The show was like a two hour whirlwind.   Any one of our guests could easily have done an hour or more on their own.   But to concentrate all 5 of them and squeeze them into 2 hours…..is sort of like trying to cram a lightning bolt into a test tube.  (No burlap sack allusions)

The recipe for a potent Christmas brew?  First we have Mary Hoffman’s effervescence in her songwriting and vocal offerings, and the sheer positive flow of eager energy juxtaposed against Darin Mahoney’s absolutely bottomless pit of depth conveyed through the unique fingerings and stylings of his instrumental creations.   Then add Chris Frazer’s sheer reach (he is like a multi armed Doc Ock with his AZ OPEN MIC chores, his Songwriter Challenges, his weekly hosting gig, his own considerable songwriting talents (and then he teaches music to kids?), he is exhausting to just think about.    Add in Chava Cannon’s amazing story(ies) and her gift of lassoing heart tugging emotions and wrapping us up in them, which she does regularly.   And finally the flying fingers of flamenco (a)ficionado Chris Burton Jácome, were barely contained in the final segment as he 12/8 timed his way through Little Drummer Boy and played Jacob’s Ladder with his guitar bass strings in order to simulate the drum.   Man! 

Maybe it was the sugar and eggnog high.   But I don’t think so.   The room was positively electric.   I am ready for a nap.  

Hope you enjoyed the show and if you missed it, do yourself a favor and grab it on the podcast when it comes up midweek.   You will have something to treasure.   You won’t be tired afterwards, you didn’t have to channel and direct all that wonderful talent and energy. 

You just get to enjoy it!

Martin here, blog usurper.   (I am tired of waiting for Erich to craft his latest post.)

I’ve made a discovery about my assimilation/appreciation of music.  Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing all at one and not end up appreciating it.  (I’m sure it applies to stuff other than music, too!)

For example, on Black Friday I went out and braved the traffic to see if I could pick up a wireless network antenna (“needed” it to play some CNC type games with my boy), and ended up at Circuit City, a store that is being closed down.  Consequently, they had everything marked down … including all of their CD’s.

I began greedily picking up CD’s until my wonderful spouse finally began to get impatient.  I ended up with about 15 CD’s.  They were a real bargain (an average of $8 or less).

I find now, that it has been a couple weeks and I haven’t gotten around to listen to many of them (other than a cursory first pass), let alone develop that new music “bond”.  You know the one, when you get a new “album” (as Erich calls them still), and listen to it over and over again.  You get so that you know what order the music is, and are discombobulated when the tracks are played out of order.  At this point in the “relationship” you know all the lyrics by heart.

Well, it’s hard to get there, when you have 15 new CD’s to listen through.   I’ve come to the conclusion that I really shouldn’t buy more than one or two at a time.  I’ve “discovered” CD’s I purchased in lots, that never got a fair shake in the queue, and years later I realized that they were actually pretty good.  In some ways, it was better for my appreciation of the music when I couldn’t afford the occasional splurge, buying multiple new CD’s.

The CD I have started imprinting with is the new Los Lonely Boys: Forgiven.  It is the first CD I have by this band.  I’ve heard snatches of things here and there, including the Salvador cover of Heaven.  Boy is this CD good!  If I didn’t get any other music from my outing, this one was worth the trip.

The band incorporates a lot of things I REALLY like into their music.  Sometimes it’s like listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, while other tracks almost sound like the Ventures, the Beatles, or John Elefante.   Good stuff.  I have listened to this CD at least 10 times now, but still haven’t got it quite imprinted.  I don’t know all the lyrics to every song, or the track order quite yet.

I’m making a vow not to buy anything else until I spend some time with the others, though.  I am really spoiled.

Every Thanksgiving, my wife Sandi puts on the calendar a Turkey.   A construction paper turkey.   With construction paper feathers.    All month, this Turkey looks at us and occasionally, I look back at it.    I think this was an idea from her sister.   I don’t know.   But like I said, this turkey has cut out feathers attached to it.   Each one is written on by a different family member.   One from her, one from each of her folks and one from her son, her brother, her sister, and even me.  (I got grafted on the bird in 2006).     And on each feather each person made a list of things that they are thankful for.    It went up on our wall about the time the stock market went south.    (See photo attached)

We are hammered every day by the media on how “bad” the economy is.  (If I hear the word “crisis” one more time………I am going to GIVE them one!!)    Fact is its getting tough for many.   We have good friends that are unemployed and fearful for what tomorrow will bring.   We have family members worried about what is going to happen next year with their jobs.   My wife and I are commission only earners who are dependent on a strong housing market and strong business climate’s advertising revenues for our livelihood.   People’s 401K’s are dropping like drunks after a Greek wedding.    And so it goes.

But as I look at the construction paper Turkey on my calendar and I read the blessings, I don’t see “a strong economy” listed.   I don’t see “my savings account” on the list.   And “my humongous 401K retirement fund” is nowhere to be found …..(literally J) 

But I what I do see are friends, family and God repeated over and over again on every feather.   

And interestingly enough, no matter who is President, what the state of the economy is in, or which CEO is surfing in Aruba with his (our) bailout money, these are things that do not change:  God, Family and Friends remain constant.  I am reminded in challenging times especially, just how important and how much a blessing they are to us.  Because of them, I will always have much to be thankful for.   I don’t know how long the present hardships will continue…..my crystal ball is broken, and I can’t read tea leaves.   

But I can read turkey feathers.  

Thank you for being on them.  From our house to yours, please have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Like a lot of folks, music has always been a big deal for me, well maybe not always …

I think the AZ Music Café show host (Weird Uncle Erich as my kids affectionately refer to him … at my instigation, of course) had a lot to do with developing my love for music.  Mind you, this was long before there was an AZ Music Café.  It’s funny the little snatches of memory that we preserve from childhood.  I have a distinct memory of camping with some family friends, it must have been one of the very last trips we went on, (the folks were rapidly losing interest in camping by the time I came around), and E.P. (family name for your host), playing a cassette of The Ventures.  I was probably 5 years old.  I still remember E.P. making funny mouth movements (and some vocal renditions) of that wacky guitar sound.  ”Wowwww, Wow! WooooWwww.”

Flash forward maybe a year, I guess I might have been 6 or 7, and E.P. took me to see “Let it Be”.   For months I wished I could grow a beard like Paul McCartney had.  I think I walked around for almost as long singing the chorus, and driving my folks nuts.

Then E.P. moved on to a new group called Chicago.  He tried to convince me at one point that they were the Beatles, but I wasn’t having it.  By then I could tell the difference.  At the time I didn’t like ‘em, except for Saturday in the Park.  Color My World didn’t do it for me then.  By the time I was a teen-ager, I really did like them.   Although they were old even by then, but I still got to see them perform twice.  I loved 25 or 6 to 4 and I thought Peter Cetera was pretty neat.

But, that was later.  Erich still had more to indoctrinate me with.  Due to the VAST difference in our ages, (he’s a LOT older than I am), we never had a problem getting along, even when I was little.  He was always pretty nice to me.  Consequently, I rapidly became his biggest fan when he started playing the guitar and singing.

It was Erich that introduced me to Gordon Lightfoot.  I heard him sing Alberta Bound, Sundown, Carefree Highway, and If You Could Read My Mind, long before I heard the originals.  But, it was enough to make me a lifelong Lightfoot fan.  Similarly, I remember Erich playing Buffet’s Margaritaville sitting in my parents kitchen.  I remember being disappointed that Jimmy Bufffet didn’t sound as good as E.P.

It was Erich that took me to my first concert.  We saw Gordon Lightfoot at Gammage Auditorium.

Over the years, I’ve picked up my own tastes and preferences for music, but E.P has always managed to introduce me to new things.  Some I didn’t like at first, like Procal Harum.

Because of him I discovered Ricky Skaggs, Michael Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, and Mark Knopfler.  

(I was immensely satisfied to introduce him to Los Straightjackets a few years back.)

I remember what fun we had going to hear him play at the coffee shop down the road and how disappointed I was when it closed (nothing to do with his playing).  I think he thought I was just being nice.  In reality, I just didn’t want to miss one of my favorite performers!  Gotta hear about those rats in the rafters.

He gets grief from my wife and me when ever he does a show without performing a song.  And so, I hope that he can make the AZ Music Café into something of a success, if only so I can keep catching him on the radio.  He’s STILL introducing me to new music – every week from 3-5.

Thanks E.P.