Andy Irvine: "Erin Go Bragh"

2009 Dent Folk Festival

Kevin Welch: "Long Gone Dream"

Austin, Texas
6/24/09

Tim Buckley: "Once I Was"

with David Friedman and Danny Thompson
London, England
7/10/68

Once I was a soldier
And I fought on foreign sands for you
Once I was a hunter
And I brought home fresh meat for you
Once I was a lover
And I searched behind your eyes for you
And soon there'll be another
To tell you I was just a lie
But sometimes I wonder
Just for a while
Will you ever remember me?

Though you have forgotten
All of our rubbish dreams
I find myself searching
Through the ashes of our ruins
For the days when we smiled
And the hours that ran wild
With the magic of our eyes
And the silence of our words
And sometimes I wonder
Just for a while
Will you ever remember me?

Del McCoury Band: "Blue Side Of Town"

there's a honkytonk where the lights are low
and they play the saddest songs
dark shadows fall like broken dreams
on the lost and lonely ones
and there's heartbreak hotel
yes i know it well
i hang around the blue side of town

Woody Guthrie: "Talking Dustbowl Blues"

Back in Nineteen Twenty-Seven,
I had a little farm and I called that heaven.
The price was up and the rain come down,
And I hauled my crops all into town--
I got the money, bought clothes and groceries,
Fed the kids, and took it easy.

Rain quit and the wind got high,
And a black old dust storm filled the sky.
I swapped my farm for a Ford machine,
And I poured it full of this gas-i-line--
And I started, rocking and a-rolling,
Over the mountains, out towards California.

Way up yonder on a mountain road,
I had a hot motor and a heavy load,
I was going pretty fast, there wasn't even stopping,
A-bouncing up and down, like popcorn popping--
Had a breakdown, sort of a nervous bustdown of some kind,
There was a feller there, a mechanic feller,
Said it was en-gine trouble.

Way up yonder on a mountain curve,
It's way up yonder in the piney wood,
And I give that rolling Ford a shove,
And I was gonna coast as far as I could--
Commence coasting, picking up speed,
Was a hairpin turn, I didn't make it.

Man alive, I'm a-telling you,
The fiddles and the guitars really flew.
That Ford took off like a flying squirrel
And it flew halfway around the world--
Scattered wives and children
All over the side of that mountain.

We got out to the West Coast broke,
So dad-gum hungry I thought I'd croak,
I bummed up a spud or two,
And my wife fixed up a tater stew--
We poured the kids full of it,
Mighty thin stew, though,
You could read a magazine right through it.
Always have figured
That if it'd been just a little bit thinner,
Some of these here politicians
Coulda seen through it.

--Woody Guthrie (1912--1967)

Maire Ni Chathasaigh/Chris Newman

The Gate to Southwell Folk Festival, England
June 5, 2009

Townes van Zandt: "Buckskin Stallion"

Houston, Texas
1988

if i had a buckskin stallion
i'd tame him down and ride away
if i had a golden galleon
i'd sail into the light of day

J.J. Cale: "Magnolia"

Magnolia, you sweet thing
you're driving me mad
I've got to get back to you, babe
you're the best I ever had

A Short History Of Blogging

it begins with one dancer
Sasquatch! Music Festival
May 25, 2009

Christy Moore: "January Man"

the January man he goes around
in woolen coat and boots of leather
the February man still shakes the snow
from off his clothes and blows his hands
the man of March sees the Spring
wonders what the year will bring
and hopes for better weather
through April rain the man goes down
to watch the birds come in to share the summer
the man of May stands very still
to watch the children dance away the day
in June the man inside the man
is young and wants to lend a hand
and smiles at each new color
in July the man in cotton shirt
he sits and thinks on being idle
the August man in thousands take the road
to watch the sun set by the sea
September man is standing near
to saddle up another year
and Autumn is his bridle
the man of new October takes the reins
and early frost is on his shoulder
the poor November man sees fire and mist
and wind and rain and winter air
December man looks through the snow
to let eleven brothers know
they're all a little older

and the January man comes round again
in woolen coat and boots of leather
to take another turn and walk along
the icy road he knows so well
the January man is here
for starting each and every year
along the road forever

Donovan: "Colours"

freedom is a word
i rarely use
without thinking
of the times
when i've been low

Judy Collins/Eric Andersen: "Thirsty Boots"

with Tom Rush and Arlo Guthrie

so take off your thirsty boots
and stay for awhile
your feet are hard and weary
from a dusty mile
and maybe i can make you laugh
and maybe i can try
just looking for the evening
and the morning in your eyes
--eric andersen (from "thirsty boots")

The Brodys: "Corn Whiskey"

yes we'll all sit around the fire
and we'll all get higher and higher
and we'll brag about who's the biggest damn liar
we're drinking corn whiskey tonight

Ramblin' Jack Elliott: "Muleskinner Blues"

The Johnny Cash Show
January 6, 1971
with Norman Blake and Randy Scruggs