Song Spotlight: Sister Cocaine

A few years ago I was playing a show with Chris Downing at Clarkson University. A girl came up between songs and asked me to guess her name. What? I said I didn't know, and she said "Crystal Cocaine". Of course, I made her prove it, and she showed me her ID. Sure enough, that's her name (spelled a little differently, but still).

Some time after that, I found myself in an online songwriting competition called Nur Ein. The song title Sister Cocaine came up, and having only five days to write and record a song, I penned a fanciful story of the difficulties that such a name might present. The version of the song on the Onward To Yesterday CD is a slightly reworked (and remastered) version of that original demo.


Sister Cocaine

I knew a girl named Crystal Cocaine back in school
And I remember thinking her name was pretty cool
But twenty years of jokes and jeers had left her offended
And she thought that getting married was a good way to end it

She wasn't very choosy when she found a fiancee
He left her for a floozy who was built like Beyonce
Another year alone and she had finally decided
Her name was all she owned and she was foolish to hide it

But with a name like Crystal Cocaine
She aimed to live a life of humiliation and pain
No matter what she did or what she'd say
All that they'd remember was her name

She told her priest her sorrow was as deep as the ocean
He suggested that she follow a life of devotion
A better way was waiting there for Crystal to grab it
'Cause maybe all she needed was to take up a habit

So she hid away her beauty like a pearl in an oyster
And she did her sacred duty with the girls in the cloister
Soon it came time for her to do her missionary service
Even though the Reverend Mother was admittedly nervous

'Cause with a name like Sister Cocaine
She aimed to bring the nunnery nothing but shame
She could save a hundred sould but at the end of the day
All that they would ever remember was her name
No matter what she did or what she'd say
All that they'd remember was her name

(instr.)

'Cause with a name like Sister Cocaine
She aimed to bring the congregation nothing but shame
No matter what she did or what she'd say
All that they'd remember was her name

This song (and all the others on Onward To Yesterday) can be heard on the mp3 page on this site.

Summer Tour.

And away we go! I've left the day job behind for the next eight weeks, and I'm playing at least 5 shows a week for the summer. Tonight is a No Limitz show at the Totem Pole Campground. Tomorrow is the first of the beach bar shows at The Margate in Laconia. Check the Shows page for the full schedule. See you on the road!

Tony's tonight.

I'm playing at Tony's in Thornton tonight! The show starts at 6:30pm. The internet connection up there is kind of spotty, but I'm going to try to webcast the show. Check the Video page for the live stream, hopefully starting sometime around 6.

Today was my last day at the day job for eight weeks. I'm going to be a working musician for the summer and that's it. Maybe someday I'll be able to pull it off year-round. :)

Live at The Country Cow.

I'm playing a show at The Country Cow in Campton NH tonight at 7pm. The show will be watchable online (provided the internet there is cooperating). Visit the 'video' page for the live stream.

I've got shows through the weekend, and with luck I'll be able to webcast those as well.

Song Spotlight: Elegy For Industry

Track 3 on Onward To Yesterday is a pretty straight-forward treatment of a Song Fight title. It started as an attempt to write something I could perform solo with a loop pedal, and build up parts as the song went along. This album arrangement doesn't do that, and I haven't really worked out the live strategy yet either. Oh well.

I have some ideas for a low-budget video for this song. Gotta get on that.


Elegy For Industry

Chorus: Come down to the city with me
We'll poke around in what used to be
We'll go sailing on the blacktop sea
To the bones of the industry
We'll get drunk and we can break a few things
Don't you worry 'bout the trouble it brings
Nobody cares about you or me
Or what's left of the industry

They came in back in '73
All smiles and opportunity
And promises they knew they would not keep
We knew it too but we were in too deep
We swallowed hard and we closed our eyes
Any port's home in a storm this size
We let them build on a hnadful of lies
So what I got to show you shouldn't be a surprise but...

Chorus

They took the hopes and the dreams of this town
They drove them right straight into the ground
And once the benefit couldn't be found
You knew that they wouldn't be sticking around
They slithered off like a well-fed snake
When there was no more money to make
And who am I to say it was a mistake
Because maybe we all need something to break

Chorus


This song (and all the others on the new album) can be heard on the mp3 page of this site.

Song Spotlight: Just To Be Difficult

This song was also inspired by a title challenge at Song Fight (www.songfight.org). When composing, I was of a mind to try and leave space in the arrangement, and to be more deliberate about how the instruments did their jobs together. The result is this workmanlike, sardonic number.


Just To Be Difficult

You got the medicine
But you don't want to take it
You just can't live with something someone was right about
You're learning to depend
On all the things you hated
Can't stop until you made it something to fight about

It makes no sense to me
That you'd go looking for it
Should just ignore it but you've got to be difficult
Why do you choose to be
So full of pain and malice
Contention uber alles - just to be difficult

You got what you want
You got your proud position
You got your fool to listen to you while you prattle about
All the things you don't
Believe you got to live with
Well it's another thing I think I can live without

(chorus) (solo) (Chorus)


This song, like all the others from Onward To Yesterday, can be heard on the mp3 page on this web site.

Bike Week 2010 schedule.

Here's my updated schedule for Bike Week 2010. This is probably the final schedule, as I don't really have room to take on any more work.

Thursday, June 10 - Weirs Beach Lobster Pound, Weirs Beach NH. My first time at this venue. It's a weather-dependent show, as I'll be out on the deck from 7-10pm.

Friday, June 11 - Shooter's Tavern and Pizzaria, Belmont NH. No Limitz is doing the classic rock thing at 8:30pm.

Saturday, June 12 - Stix Entertainment Center, Meredith NH. A classic rock gig with No Limitz. In a bowling alley! Badass.



Sunday, June 13 - Sunset Grill, Campton NH. I'm hosting open mic night, so come out and play! It starts at 7pm.

Monday, June 14 - Laconia Harley-Davidson, Meredith NH. Another show with No Limitz, starting at 6pm.



Thursday, June 17 - The Country Cow, Campton NH. I've played a Bike Week show at the Cow for the last couple years, and it's always a good time up there.



Friday, June 18 - The Red Blazer, Concord NH. A solo show down in the big city.



Saturday, June 19 - The Black Cat, Laconia NH. When No Limitz plays the Black Cat, it's usually a pretty rowdy time. This gig should be especially so.

Sunday, June 20 - Sunset Grill, Campton NH. Another open mic night (7pm start).


Then I get a few days off, and it's right back into it on Thursday night. :)