Album Notes

I've always been a huge fan of albums that begin with ballads. I like it when an artist soothes you from the start, rather than try to pummel some hooky hit into your brain. "A Thousand Times Yes" begins with "Call It By Name," which stylistically feels almost like an old sea shanty, with ocean waves and cawing gulls caressing the backdrop while the singer sings of an alienated love.

The album kicks into gear with the jazz-rock swing of "I Do Not Know Him." The funk/folk kick of "A Mans Man" squarely serves the listener with notice of my "orientation," and while this album is not meant to be a treatise on alternative lifestyles, it also doesn't shy away from gender specific pronouns. "Pygmallion" serves up the sweetest sounding 12-string you ever heard with an undeniably engaging country/rock beat while the lyrics are obtuse enough to send Dr. Freud back to the drawing board. "A Beautiful Love" is a small gem of songwriting, that any persipacious performer could mold into a hit in any style and features the deft accordion of Robert Tott. "To The Future" is where Folk meets Hip Hop and has a hell of a lot of fun along the way. "Undertow" strips down the sound and anyone looking for a watermark of my guitar talents will doubtless be impressed with the jazz phrasings here. Time to dance? Try to resist "A Man After My Own Heart..." Uh Oh, Now you have a hangover? Try to remember "A Sordid Affair!"

"The Unknown Soldiers" addresses the tragedy of the AIDS crisis with lyrics that suggest Leonard Cohen meets William Blake. "New Standards" will joyously lift you out of that mood. The 12-string comes back hotter than ever on both "Meantime" and "Rivermountain Man," 2 Folk/Jazz workouts of unsurpassable beauty, if you'll excuse me for waxing hyperbolic. "Yes" combines complex poetic imagery with a lovely, almost classical solo guitar. Thanks for taking the ride with me! My photography, which graces the cover, hearkens back to my mining days in Nevada and somehow lyrically expresses the moods of this album.......take a look.