(Released June 2019)

Although these songs were inspired by, or inspirations for, our family… there is crossover for those people who value family moments, history, events, and reunions. Musical inspirations from family-related experience are the source of a range of emotions for me… half, represented in humor…. as is my family life.

All these songs are original except the first and last, and the possible codger legacy for me in the middle, if life gets tedious at some point. The first song is in gratitude for the fine musical and humorous heritage from our Irish side, and the last is simply a lovely, haunting fiddle tune I’ve played on many instruments in many situations. All the rest of the songs are a range of emotions in between the ancestors’ humor and a sentimental farewell in the form of a Scottish lament now.

My purpose in producing this album was to capture some family legacy from the 19th to 21st centuries, in story form, with music as a timeless carrier. I am grateful for the legacy and pleased to preserve some of it.

Here are about 1-minute samples of each song.

  1. “Mr. Dunne”  Generations of Irish family history… in the Irish way.

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  2. “Fast Sunday, Slow Blues”  Fasting, from a youth’s perspective. My son, Logan, was the inspiration for this.

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  3. “Spirit at the Lake”  Generations of reunions… in the family way.

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  4. Dad’s Boogie”  A favorite bedtime piano jam, enhanced.

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  5. “Blue Waltz”  My observations on faint raindrops on still water… and more stories from the lake.

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  6. “Boy Scout Blues”  Generic Scouting, in general.

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  7. “In My Heart, Forever”  A father’s hopes for his 3 year-old daughter, and their future relationship… that all came true.

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  8. “Life Gets Teejus, Don’t It”  A curmudgeony codger assesses his “tedious” home life.  I thoroughly enjoyed adding fun musical character to this 1948 song by Carson Robison. It might become me. )

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  9. “Wolf Creek Waltz”  A Pony Express rider seeks the girl of his dreams at Wolf Creek… and she is.  My son, Taylor, was the inspiration and co-writer for this song.

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  10. “Ode to a Fly”  An articulate pioneer’s pest.  Ancestor lyrics circa 1880 by Edward Milo Webb, Jr.

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  11. “Family Blues”  Good-spirited fatherly sarcasm about my young family.

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  12. “Ashokan Farewell”  A family favorite on my instruments, a fitting farewell… and a grateful tip of the hat to the composer, fiddler Jay Ungar.