Recording Notes: This is my most abitious project to date containing fourteen original, never before released songs. I again worked with Mike O'Neill at Giant Gumball Studios here in Eau Claire as I did on "Open Road" and "Endless Summer Sun." A few aspects of this project made it quite a challenge. Mike is working in Racine, WI (four plus hours from Eau Claire) so our time in the studio was limited to the weekends. We recorded all of the songs but two with a live band (Mike Bonn on piano, Jason Introwitz on drums and Peter Phippen on bass. Mike O'Neill and Mike Schlenker played lead guitar) and I now have a small home studio and just enough knowledge of recording to make me dangerous but I'm learning. In fact two of the songs, Another Place, Another Time and I Can't Wait were recorded in my studio! Mike and I started in October of 2004 and I cut rough guitar and vocal tracks to send to the rest of the band. The band first started recording in November and the finished product is now ready the first part of May 2005! So it took us a while but we really wanted to get it right and I think we did. I hope you all agree that it was worth the wait and again welcome to "The Fun Side of Life."
It's a great battle cry and a way to help out those poor people who seem to be in a perpetual bad mood. And should you find anything on this CD offensive, please refer back to the title of this song and Lighten UP!
I'm a control freak by nature and I often need to remind myself that many things in this world are not in my control and that things don't often go the way I think they should. This might be a good way to cope with that. This song features Mike Schlenker on lead guitar. Wow!
I really like the idea of using music to celebrate life. I think we try sometimes to make music so hip, trendy, tough or sexy. Why not fun?
When I first met my wife Cynthia, she told me she just wanted to be friends. I wrote this song and I was going to try to lure her to a gig and play this song. I thought she would then fall madly in love with me. It didn't quite work out that way. I managed to wear her down before the gig. This could be about any time two people meet, feel an attraction but for some reason can't do anything about it. This is one of two songs that I recorded!
My Grandma Kathryn passed away on March 1, 2005. When I found out, my first thought was that I wish I had spent more time with her. I thought a lot that day about the loved ones in my life and how easy it is for trival things to get in the way of spending precious time with those we love. The song is fictional from the standpoint that it is about loosing a spouse. There is a lot of truth in it too. I don't want it to be a depressing song but more of a wake up call that we never know when it will be someone's time to go and I know I don't want to make the apology that is made in this song!
A friend called me and asked me if I would write a song for a talk she was giving on acceptance. I said yes and then put it off as long as possible. When I finally sat down to write it, this whole song popped into my head like it was handed to me. Thanks Jean for the challenge and the opportunity!
I wrote this after reading some glowing reviews of songs (not mine) in a folk music magazine. I was tempted to call this "The World's Greatest Folk Song." Due to the linguistic creativity of this particular piece, I am guaranteed a place in history as one of the greatest songwriters ever!
They were somehow able to do a study and determine the most common last words heard here in Wisconsin. And right before someone from Wisconsin passes on, the most common last words are....."Hold My Beer....Watch This!" And yes, those are actual cans of Leinie's Original.
I got my first guitar when I turned 12 and we got MTV that same year. I dreamed of becoming an 80's hair band superstar. It was not to be. When VH1 came out with the Behind the Music series I loved watching the ones about the hair bands. They always wrecked the most stuff. All of that came together in this song and I finally got to live out my 80's hair band fantasy. This features Mike O'Neill and Mike Schlenker on lead guitar.
I never know what I'm going to find out there on the road. One night a place actually billed me as a blues act! It made me want to sing the blues....about not being able to sing the blues.
This is about that magical day here in Wisconsin when we know the snow and the cold are gone for a little while and we can enjoy all the wonders of a Wisconsin Summer. That day usually comes for sure in late July and is followed a few days later by the first signs of fall! I'm only slightly kidding. It was 80 last week and today it's 46!
I used to play a lot in the winter up in the UP of Michigan. I met a bunch of great people up there and loved the shows. But I'd often have a lot of down time and it snows a ton up there. When I wrote this, I was stuck in a hotel room thinking of being home and longing for warmer weather. This is the other song that I recorded.
You may recognize the song title from Chasing The Daylight. Musically it's the same but the lyrics have been rewritten. They really needed to be :) I wrote the new lyrics after leaving Duluth on beautiful summer morning headed north up to Ely. The sun had just come up and was shining on the lake and it was so nice. But I had been on the road for a while and while I was thankful to be out there that morning, I wanted to be home to. There must be some kind of balance.
This came to me after seeing Jimmy Buffett at Alpine Valley (again) I was, as I always am, impressed and inpired by the Parrotheads and how on that one day, we all come together to have a great time. That led to the reference to the concert with a tailgate party. The rest of the song describes an attitude and a philosphy that I try to live by.
