Album Notes

Featuring David Phillips on pedal steel, Doug Adams on fiddle, Mike Wolf on guitar, Les James on Drums, and Rob Douglas & Greg Reeves on bass. I wrote the songs, sang, played guitar, and produced the record. Joe Goldring recorded it at Pigshead studio in San Francisco. Toby Burditt took the cover photo.

Released in 2002, "Songs That Make The Jukebox Play" is my second record. It differs from my first record "Sings Heart Songs" in a few ways. As I played gigs to support "Heart Songs", I got a lot of audience requests for more upbeat, danceable tunes. I obliged by working up the set of songs that eventually became "Songs That Make The Jukebox Play". While there are some weepers here (notably the minor-key "Give Up On Me"), the emphasis is more on toe-tappers like "You Used To Live It Up" and "A Good Night Tonight". There is also an unabashed love song in "Hard Times Are Gone", and "Promises Promises" is a tight shuffle-waltz in the Johnny Bush vein. This record is also more crisply recorded than the first, as Joe and I decided not to go for the deliberately retro sound that we used on "Heart Songs".