Album Notes

The genesis of this album is in my childhood years which were spent on a farm about halfway between Marshalltown and Newton Iowa. We often visited both towns for shopping and attending entertainment events. Marshalltown had the courthouse square that inspired the title track. We moved away for good in 1952, or there abouts, and I didn't see the place again until 1969 when I paid a visit. That was when the Dutch Elm disease was killing the trees, some of them almost 100 years old. The second visit mentioned in the song was in 2002 when I took pictures of both courthouses. I wanted to use a picture of the Marshalltown courthouse on the front cover but every one had something wrong with it. The best photo was of the Newton courthouse. This will only matter to someone who lives in, or is from, the area. If I get the chance I will go back and take a good picture of the Marshalltown courthouse but until then the Newton one will have to do.

Many of the songs on this CD deal with growing older. I write about this subject with a lot of humor. That's how I keep from getting depressed. "An Antique Man", "I'd Still Be Young (If I weren't So Old)", "I'm Retired Now", and "Snow on the Roof", are of this type.

Others are just plain nostalgic even though nostalgia isn't what it used to be. The closing verse of "Oh, Take Me Back There" takes on this issue and states my theory as to why nostalgia is so popular.

You will hear my life in the songs on this CD. Most of them are autobiographical, with only a little poetic license. I hope you enjoy them.