A Ragged Old Man
Kate is a talented parodist. When the mood strikes her she can make a serious song silly with her word play.
The first verse of “A Ragged Old Man” begins
“ A bearded old bum, he…
Jody's Blog: Mondegreens & Memories
On The Banks Of The Rghhyghhhh / Heart Songs/ Part 2
Orphan Train
I had a problem creating a sequence of the 13 songs we had recorded . “Orphan Train” did not follow any of the other 12 songs well. It just sounded wrong. The solution was to put it first…
Read moreOrigin, Prep, & Process/ Heart Songs/ Part 1
“Heart Songs” was the 5th album we made for Rounder. The preparation, the origin, and the process of making the album was different from what we had done before.
Its origin was in dreams. Bruce “Utah” Phillips had a recurring…
Read moreCowboys, Kings, and Canadians /Repertoire and Recordings/ Stay Awhile/ Part 2
Long Time Traveling
We’ve performed “Long Time Traveling” many times, always with 2 guitars. It’s one of my favorites in our repertoire. For some reason we recorded it with fretless banjo. I liked how it came out at the time…
Read moreI Got Hot Chili Oil Splattered In My Eye/ Repertoire and Recordings/ Stay Awhile/ Part 1
“Stay Awhile” was an expensive recording to make. We went over budget. We had four guest musicians to pay and four more inputs to edit and mix. Editing took longer than usual for another reason. I was wanting my instrumental…
Read moreInto the Woods Screaming / Repertoire and Recordings / Our Town/ Part 2
The Bramble and The Rose
There is plenty of information about the origins of “The Bramble and The Rose” in the liner notes to “Our Town” and the liner notes to “Rasa” which includes a recording we did of the…
Read moreGrammy Losers / Repertoire and Recordings / Our Town/ Part 1
We were going to call our third duet album “In Between Dreams”. That was the title of one of its songs, recently written by Mark Simos, and musically a bit different than what we normally sang. One of Rounder’s staff…
Read more2 Banjos: No Waiting / Repertoire & Recordings/ Blue Lightning/ Part 2
Elkhorn Ridge
Our banjo duets added sparkle to our shows and recordings. When we first started touring we tried traveling with 2 guitars, 2 banjos, a mandolin and a fiddle. It was hard enough in a car. But flying with…
Read moreThe Ongoing Situation/Repertoire and Recordings/ Blue Lightning Part 1
BLUE LIGHTNING
Our second album had more of a bluegrass feel. We were joined on some tracks by Laurie Lewis on upright bass and Pete Wernick on banjo, including 2 banjo duets with Kate. No vocal trios or quartets on…
Read moreA Discovery
My dad was a physics professor. As he got older he got interested in how teaching and learning takes place. One time he told me that while he was in the classroom he was a font of wisdom, able to…
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