I'm standing out on the front porch this morning. Waiting for my grandson to get on the school bus... And I'm struck by how beautiful a spring morning it is. Even though the sun is not up, the birds are singing as if their lives depended upon it. There is…
The trip out onto the front porch first thing this morning was really chilly... It was 45° outside. The photo above is taken from the back porch just before the second bus run... 2 weeks ago. This would have been what it looked like at the first bus run. A…
Every once in awhile you hear a song that stops you in your tracks. This song does it every time I hear it... every damn time! I'm not sure when Rodney Crowell first entered my awareness. I mean he has been bouncing around in there for decades... Hell he's been…
I have an old playlist playing today... It's bringing up plenty of old memories... https://youtu.be/AaZD_r3zXGk?si=h1MB_whdjrp6kosl https://youtu.be/BPTOY8FrvNw?si=-O1GXSs0KAQTtMY- https://youtu.be/PTUkE3hj8i8?si=n1ScCZCJMTjSKcaG And the music keeps playing...
Monday, March 4th While I was standing on the front porch waiting for the second bus.. I noticed the predominance of the color green. Just a week or so ago, gray was the predominant color of my front yard. So I guess you could say spring snuck up on me.…
Saturday, December 23rd It's another overcast morning. The temperature is 64° on the 3rd day of winter. The prognosticators are calling for rain today and tomorrow. Last night before bed I was scrolling through the YouTube's and saw a video that had been in my suggested queue for a few…
Saturday, December 9th Music on a Saturday Morning https://youtu.be/95xfVmz4uy0?si=pzN_Nb_OxviUYfoS https://youtu.be/s_5rjM10Chs?si=Lk65SdJwUKzS4Pey https://youtu.be/Bpi4kkfdUkw?si=eYLJ6K4gnua3nc7f
Monday August 14th It's another warm and humid morning on the porches. At least the fan provides a bit of wind chill as I sit on the front porch watching for the buses. But all in all, there isn't much chill in the air in my neck of the woods...…
Friday July 7th Weather Muses - The overcast this morning is complete. You can almost make out where the sun is on the horizon.. almost. As far as temperatures and humidity and dew points go .. it is all pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Speaking of yesterday, we had…
Monday June 12th It was very hazy as the sun came up this morning. Though not uncomfortable, the temperature and humidity cause anticipation and dread for the afternoons to come. As I watch my backyard, I see flashes of bright red against a dark green background. And the vividness of…
Tuesday June 6th Space City Weather keeps warning that these cool mornings will come to an end here shortly. And I'm sure they're right, because the humidity is rising. But as long as the dew points hang below 70°, I think I'll be happy. Once again it's mostly quiet out.…
Tuesday May 30th It's a beautiful day to begin our summer vacation on.. The temperature is 70°, the dew point is 68°. It's very still out.. there is a bit of a haze in the air. It's also very quiet this morning. I am not hearing much in the way…
Thursday April 20th According to the weather prognosticators, there's a chance of rough weather this evening and overnight. But the morning is starting out warm and a bit humid. The temperature is already 73°. At the moment the winds are calm. Since I need to run into Houston this morning…
Thursday April 13th The progression of the seasons is well advanced and I've missed most of it due to the continued overcast we've had. The Sun, on its annual progression to the north, has now reached the point where the back porch will be touched less and less to fall…
Sunday April 9th I hope this Easter Sunday finds everyone happy. Colored eggs and Easter bunnies or much more appreciated when all of the grandkids were actually little kids. But absolutely everyone still enjoys Easter candy. As strange as it may seem.. before bed last night I could actually see…
Friday April 7th It's a cool 59° this morning with a light rain falling. There's a steady breeze blowing out of the north at 10 mph. The breeze is just hard enough to make the tree limbs sigh as a move back and forth. Once again, we are facing a…
Sunday March 12th The temperature is 71°. Humidity is at 89%. Daylight savings time is in effect... Again. So, I guess I should change my clocks... The only ones that really matter most are the alarm clocks in the bedroom... And yes we still use digital alarm clocks. I would…
Sunday February 26th It's another overcast morning in the backyard. For some reason, even with the temperature at 71°, it feels cooler out this morning. I really don't understand it... The humidity is at 90%. But I guess I will be happy for small favors. The day is mostly going…
Sunday February 12th Cold Morning... It's 37° this morning on the back porch. And as the sun comes up it's quite bright. But I won't be spending much time out here ... I'm heading back in to my cup of coffee. It's Sunday morning and I don't have any plans.…
Thursday February 2nd It's another of these long dreary days. It's 41° and there's a light misty rain falling. It's the same light Misty rain that was falling last night before bedtime. According to the guys at Space City Weather, this week will be the last of our coolish winter…
Thursday, January 12th It's just a bit warm at 67° this morning. Yesterday, our high was pushing 80° again. Especially on the back porch in the sun... It might have even risen into the mid '80s there. But the prognosticators are promising a cool down. And if the north wind…
Monday Well, the big day is over... Peace and quietude has descended over this house once again. Listening to music in my big easy chair... I don't have much to say this morning so I'll leave you with what I'm listening to right now... https://youtu.be/S_E5Nw5lnrw
Saturday, Christmas Eve Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year,,, Christmas in the Wild, Gary Boyd I am not an artist. But I wanted to paint something for the holidays... So I did. I guess I should sign it, but I'm really…
Thursday The Last Man StandingLast Man Standing - by GC Myers Last Man Standing - by GC Myers image used by permission of artist. I was watching YouTube the other evening... There was a documentary on Austin City Limits that I really enjoyed... Austin City Limits: A Song for You…
friday It's a wet and stormy looking Friday... Puddles stand on the drive. And even though it's the warmest morning of the week... There's a chill in the air, a certain seasonal portent. With the grandkids off to school I'm just sitting and reading a bit with my music playing…
sunday A Sunday afternoon on the playlist... You never know what's coming up next unless you look... And there's weeks worth of music in the que...
It's Wordless Wednesday https://youtu.be/0C-dNgypA5M
It's Tuesday https://youtu.be/riQWKn0rXr8 I find myself enjoying my musical journey more and more. Shannon McNally showed up in my rotation the other day. I only have one of her songs in my library and I didn't recall hearing it before... But something in her voice grabbed me and made me…
It's Monday This time it's for real Linda... I was off to the doctor earlier today... Nothing wrong, just a regular follow-up. When I got back I was wandering around the internets... Somehow I stumbled upon a site called Cover Lay Down. They seem to have had their last post…
Sunday No images... Not many words... Just a video of a singer-songwriter I've never heard before that caught my ear playing from my music library... https://youtu.be/Shr47LVcA5I She is a favorite of my eldest daughter. Evidently I was given a couple of CDs back in the day and I ripped them…
Saturday Jeep in field - 2007 Walkin' the dogs - 2010 Another walk in the woods - 2010 Watching the construction around the corner I was struck when this song by the Eagles came up in my que... The photos above are all of the woods and fields that no…
Saturday Night Music https://youtu.be/uqheSQjmBhA The Winamp machine has hit the randomness of some really good blues guitar tonight... It's been probably two decades since I first discovered Matt Thorpe. I still enjoy listening to him make a guitar scream... During early 1999 Matt then persued a solo career spanning 8…
Saturday Friday night music led me to a group I fell in love with way back in the early 2000's,.. It was the Greencards. Here's the song that got me going last night... https://youtu.be/mvCdUQW7cgE Every time I here Carol Young's voice I recognize it. I first heard their sound on…
Friday Baby it's cold outside... At least for the Texas Gulf Coast it's cold. Morning temperature at 8:30 a.m. was 27°. At least we don't seem to have ice or sleet or even snow. As usual, at any hint of weather... The school district here shut the schools down today.…
Friday Night Music https://youtu.be/SuapCENFM2U Ok... I was just letting YouTube pick the music on the TV in my living room... And this one was just really, really fun. And come on... Mary Chapin Carpenter! Saturday night and the moon is out I wanna head on over to the Twist and…
Tuesday https://youtu.be/M8wuTlvw-5E On this morning of a more moderate temperature, clouds are again part of the day's equation. Before dawn the full-ish moon was backlighting a generous scattering of cotton ball like clouds. The really nice thing about the clouds... they temper the over bright light flooding in thru the…
Sunday https://youtu.be/YMlda_aPA1g Eliza Carthy I'm spending a lot of time in my music library these days. As songs process through the que I find myself wondering where I acquired them... Even what path led me to the artist... When I heard one of Eliza Carthy's songs start playing her voice…
Saturday https://youtu.be/CvglW3KNSsQ Years ago... Actually it was more like three decades ago... When I first moved from the warehouse floor into the front offices, I had an old stereo I brought in from the house to my office. I kept it playing all day long on the Houston Public Radio…
Friday https://youtu.be/7GSQKo-HTKU This morning dawned clear and cool... again. The day is sunny and destined to rise into the mid 70's. Just another ride on the rollercoaster that is SE Texas weather. Tomorrow's high is forecast to be 60 degrees at 5am... From there on the prognosticators are foretelling of…
Saturday https://youtu.be/CSGocrLas_8 It's another warm August day in SE Texas. No clouds in the sky, no rain in the forecast. And being a Saturday, the normal running around is required. Grocery stores, Post Office, and assorted other stops as required. Here's a video from a singer I discovered quite awhile…
Nanci Griffith, a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter who kept one foot in folk and the other in country and was blessed with a soaring voice equally at home in both genres, died on Friday. She was 68.Nanci Griffith, Singer Who Blended Folk and Country, Dies at 68, New York Times…
Thursday I had to walk the garbage bin out to the road this morning. It was quite warm and humid... To be expected this time of year. Makes me realize how spoiled we were for the last month with the overcast and the rain keeping the high temperatures just a…
Well it's not too warm yet this morning, 78°... Though it is fairly humid, we've already had showers move through the area and water stands on the driveway. According to the morning prognosticators foretelling there is still above 50% chance of rain today into this afternoon. There's almost the same…
It's loud out this morning. Mostly the sound of chickens raising a fuss. It's also very bright out. Sunshine like this makes it hard to sleep in even with the blinds down. It's really mild out, temperature wise... Already 63℉ and it's not forecast to go up all that much…
Talk about a blast from the past that is oh so relevant today... https://youtu.be/80_39eAx3z8 [Verse 1]There's something happening hereBut what it is ain't exactly clearThere's a man with a gun over thereA-telling me, I got to beware [Chorus]I think it's time we stopChildren, what's that sound?Everybody look what's going down…
https://youtu.be/TKUWvF8lcKI My father could use a little mercy now The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground His work is almost over it won't be long, he won't be around I love my father, he could use some mercy now My brother could use a little…
https://youtu.be/GZfj2Ir3GgQ Thank-you NPR. Kacey Musgraves - Merry Go 'Round is one great song. I heard this on the All Songs Considered Podcast I downloaded this morning...Damn, this girl can write...And sing. I will be following what should be a big musical career. Just Saying...Give it a listen. Later: Of course, my…
This is what I see every time I look up from the keyboard for the past couple of weeks. It's almost enough to have me singing along with the "Boss"... Listen to more Bruce Springsteen at Wolfgang's Vault.
Thanks to John Scalzi for the lead.
One of my favorite music spots on the web is Wolfgang's Vault. I get weekly emails from them as they release new concerts from the archives. Today they sent out a link to this concert from 1972. After listening to the music as I read email and scanned the news…
I just stumbled across this from Lyle's Facebook page...I have to say, the quality of the recordings are mind blowing...If you like Lyle's music, you'll love these...Have a listen. Pantry Natural Forces The Interview
Every time I hear this lady sing I wonder where I was all her life...Have a listen. I am...Again
The entire (well mostly anyway) reason for our jaunt up the road to the middle of the country wasn't to see the famous Arch. It wasn't to celebrate history. It wasn't even to find a cooler climate, though, that seemed to happen on the one day that mattered. The reason for the trip was to visit the special facility the citizens of St. Louis had built for the simple pleasure of watching the summertime antics of a flock of red birds. Cardinals of the subspecies Americanis baseballus St. Louis.
Love it. Robin Sloan has previously discussed this type of "production as performance" video on Snarkmarket but Pomplamoose has started using the term "VideoSong": ~ via Pomplamoose covers Lady Gaga's Telephone. So began one of Jason's blog posts today...And now it's over an hour later and I have done nothing…
This morning I spent some time with some friends, old and new, via YouTube... First it was my buddy, Fred First's Slideshow presentation of the images in his second book as I sipped my first cup of coffee...It went like this... What We Hold in Our Hands: images from the…
My neighbors across the street have been makin' music for a few years now. For a while my youngest son played bass with them on some of their local gigs. These days they seem to be reahing a bit higher...And I for one, am very impressed with this video they…
From Facebook... Priscilla Ahn's brand new performance of 'The Boobs Song', recorded live in London! There is something about this young lady's voice that just grabs me. I could listen to her sing any time at all... Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.
It's hard to believe the impact one man's songs can have on a nation and a world...Thanks for living a life that can be an example to us all... Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago Where have all…
I seem to enjoy finding blogs written by authors. One of the latest I've wandered across is by Fiona Robyn. She posted an article yesterday that popped up via my feed reader today. The title of the piece was How To Slow Down. I found this section in particular spoke…
I heard this on my NPR podcast...I hope you like it...
Widely regarded as America's greatest living songwriter, Bob Dylan has written and recorded some of the most influential and acclaimed music of the past century. With countless studio albums, compilations and live discs to his name in his nearly 50-year career, Dylan continues to produce new music that's as vital…
I ran across this looking for a musician referenced on Americana Roots Radio yesterday. I tried it in the sidebar but it didn't work too well...So I'll post it here. There are some really good artists in the play list, so have a listen... Texas Back Porch Station 5428 at…
First things first --- Happy Birthday Sherry. I know you never read these muses...but hell, I'll still say it here. The best present I ever got... Now to the subject of this muse...Heat. It's hot here, it's hot across the south, it's hot on the Blue Ridges of North Carolina…
Here is a "new" artist to watch. Not many singers can use their voice as another instrument. Expect to see more of her in the coming years... 2020 Update you can follow Priscilla Ahn here... https://www.instagram.com/p/CIoGP2FjfEm/
Way back when, in the final season of the West Wing there was an episode with the title "The Presidential Voice". The premise was that Congressman Santos didn't have the "Presidential Voice" and they were trying to teach it to him. Long story short...You don't teach the "Presidential Voice", it…
Like many of his fans I discovered Utah Phillips late in his life. My daughter, a fan of Ani DiFranco, introduced me to him a few years back... U. Utah Phillips, 73; Folk Singer Championed the Working Class - washingtonpost.com U. Utah Phillips, 73, a Grammy-nominated folk singer, rabble-rouser and…
Heading south on I45, middle of the night, looking to catch the sun rising on Galveston Island. This is the sound that blasted out of the 8-track in the VW Bus we used to haul ourselves and our boards south that summer almost 40 years ago...three or four buddies with…
The weekend weather was trying...Thunder boomers rolling through on Friday night. Rain off and on all day on Saturday as we were chained to the house waiting for a furniture delivery. More rain and thunder on Sunday before the front finally pushed through. This morning we had temperature more in…
And the party never ends... Robert Earl Keen is a hell of a story spinner and a pretty good songwriter. Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town She had a reputation as a girl who'd been around Down Main Street after midnight with a brand new pack…
YES! Magazine Exclusive Interview :: Pete Seeger “I remember Pete Seeger from when I was a child and this story-telling, banjo-picking singer would come on his sloop, the Clearwater, to the neglected little parks that lined the Hudson River not far from my home. His presence brought people together to…
On the first day of spring I don't know whether to welcome spring or to welcome it back after our preview of summer over the weekend...This morning is starting out at 47° with the prognosticators pushing for the low 70's by afternoon. Now that is what I call spring. "What…
After three days of enjoying blue skies and shorts and t-shirt weather, it's back to the office cubicle. Low light levels and mood music as I spend the day working in virtual 3d worlds. Ever since the first of the year the workload has spiked. So that by the days…
I have a question for ya...Why is it that real restaurant coffee cups hold the heat so much better than the coffee cups you get everywhere else? Ever since we came back from vacation with a couple of Blue Ridge Restaurant coffee cups from Floyd Virginia both Sherry and I…
These first days back at work are taking a lot out of me. My posting is slip sliding away, and I don't like missing a post after getting the habit pretty much ingrained. Today in my web wandering I stumbled across a reference on Appalachian Treks to the everybodyfields a…
Todays number is 32...The effects of swallowing the sun are beginning to manifest themselves. The gravel in my voice has become a whisper this week (along with the voice itself), and my energy level has fallen to a new low. Almost done... I was running through my Reader today and…
I heard Megan Hickey on Americana Roots Review a couple of weeks ago. I liked her sound so much I bought the CD - Wire Waltz, her band is called The Last Town Chorus. John Scalzi posted this video on Whatever last week. The gist of his comment seems to…
Garrison tells us that... Tonight is Midsummer Night's Eve, also called St. John's Eve. St. John is the patron saint of beekeepers. It's a time when the hives are full of honey. The full moon that occurs this month was called the Mead Moon, because honey was fermented to make…
My morning email brought me message from Amazon.com about a new release from Adrian Young. It seems if I enjoy Alison Krause (which I do) then Amazon thinks I’ll enjoy Adrienne’s music also…I guess their code works pretty well, cause she sound real nice… Adrienne Young From the chorus of…
This was in the newsfeed from the Houston Chronicle today. In the new spirit of media disclosure, I should tell you that I own several Dixie Chicks CDs. But I'm not writing this as an adoring bluegrass fan. I'm writing this as a shame and empathy researcher. That was how Brene'…
