After residing in various and distinct music communities around the planet from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Austin, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, I now live in Far West Texas, by Big Bend National Park, where I position myself for most of the year. During the summer, when temperatures can get close to 120 degrees, I am persuaded to migrate with my music. I have a catalog of over 200  keepers, but only a tiny percentage has been recorded, which is the impetus for building an off-grid hand built studio in the middle of the desert. It is part of the mission to do this without incurring any financial or ecological debt. 

 

But mostly it is about the Music. And the incentive to trek around the country is share the music with new listeners. 

 

While some of the songs are environmentally themed, most are about life and its nuances. Some are light and quirky, such as "The Story of the Giant" , which is the giant's version of what happened in the Jack and the Beanstalk, or "Bulaweyo", which is about the time I lost my favorite hat in Bulaweyo, Zimbabwe. Others are bold and heavy, such as "The Voice of Johnny Cash", which is written from the point of few of a prisoner in Folsom Prison who's last hurrah was a Johnny Cash concert. Or "Dayjob", which is a song about working behind a computer in a 40 hour a week job during the one sunny day of the winter in Portland, Oregon. And others are comedic, such as "The Dollar Store Bible", which is a song about how a $4.99 bible from the dollar store saves my life one day, but not in the way that you might think. 

 

I do my best to demonstrate that touring doesn't have to have a heavy environmental footprint. With a guitar and a backpack, and gas prices hovering near $4 a gallon, I have completed several national tours by train instead of automobile. I have also toured in a van powered by Natural Gas. And my usual road dog, Ruby the Red Volvo, can be found with a rideshare passenger or two and also a solar panel on the roof to harvest energy to power an on board refrigerator and other helpful utilities of frugality. 

 

I encourage you to meet me at the shows by taking mass transit, carpooling, walking, or by bicycle if possible. But no Hummer drivers will be turned away. 

 

I look forward to sharing my musical journey wiith you.