Album Notes

Romance of the Open Road! Romance of the Rails! And Remembrance of Times Gone By. That's Wisconsin singer-songwriter folksinger Jim Anger's "Headin' Out!"

The album includes fourteen songs: ten Jim Anger originals, three covers of Utah Bruce Phillips railroading songs, and one by Jim's poet friend Dan Curtin, which, along with one of Jim's songs, is a tribute to Woody Guthrie.

The album opens with Jim's favorite concert opener, his Open Road song, "On My Way." The album moves toward its conclusion with Jim's "Songs On The Road."

Utah Bruce Phillips has been a major influence on Jim Anger's music. Jim loves railroading songs, and several are found on the album---including Jim's originals: "Long-gone Days," "Hey There, Freight Train!," and the title song, an instrumental, "Headin' Out." Utah Phillips was the mentor of Wisconsin folksinger Skip Jones, and Skip became Jim's friend, mentor, and producer of all of his CDs. Naturally, there are some Phillips train songs included on the album: "Daddy, What's A Train?," "Starlight On The Rails," and "I Remember Lovin' You."

But Jim demonstrates some variety in his songwriting, heard in his nostalgic songs, "Whispers In The Wind," "The Girl Was No Fool," and "Friends Along The Way." Jim was a teen and young adult during the '60's, and "Since The '60's" tells of the wild winds of change in those turbulent times.

Growing up in the '60's, Jim listened to Kingston Trio tunes, among others, their portrayal of "The Reuben James" and "This Land Is Your Land." That's where Jim learned about Woody Guthrie. While, in a sense, much of the album has the feel of Woody's songs, Jim's song, "Woody Guthrie's Songs," and Dan Curtin's "Woody Guthrie," are a tribute to the man and his music.

Jim Anger shares his music at Wisconsin and Upper Michigan coffeehouses, local theaters, schools, public libraries, health care centers and retirement facilities, and folk music festivals. To ensure some variety in his sound, Jim uses both six-string and 12-string guitars, a tenor banjo, a strum stick, an echo harp, and several harmonicas. On his albums and often in concerts, Jim includes other musical friends. That's why Jim Anger and Friends is often seen on his CD covers!

Along with "Headin' Out," Jim has three other CDs out: an all train songs album, "The Train's A-Comin'," (No surprise there!), a joint album of both traditional and contemporary folk music with his brother Mike Anger and son-in-law Tim Herrick, "Then & Now & Again," and a family-children's album, "Rainbow In The Sky." Although all of Jim Anger's music is family-friendly, "Rainbow" is specifically an album of music for children of all ages! And in a group of performers, Jim is the one most likely to be doing songs such as "Daddy, What's A Train?," "Frog Went A-Courtin,'" "She'll Be Comin' 'Round The Mountain," or the Woody Guthrie classic, "This Land Is Your Land." He is a member of the Green Apple Folk Music Society (Green Bay-Appleton, WI) and The Children's Music Network.

One of Jim's songs, "The Snow Throw Song," a parody of David Mallet's "Garden Song," was printed in the Winter 2003 issue of Sing Out Magazine, and several of his songs have been heard on the Wisconsin Public Radio program, "Simply Folk."

Besides being a singer-songwriter, Jim Anger is a reading and writing educator. He has taught language arts and reading in Wisconsin public schools for many years. Whenever appropriate, Jim incorporates the use of music and song lyrics into his teaching strategies and techniques. He recently presented on that topic, the use of song lyrics in reading instruction, at a University of Wisconsin Oshkosh reading convention.