December, 2022
A month or two ago a lady requested “Heard it Through the Grapevine.” Well, I have never played that song and it would be absurd for a very old folksinger, performing solo and acoustic, to even attempt it. But, partly because it WOULD be absurd I started to learn it. My son Joey was visiting and heard a bit of me fumbling with it and asked to hear the whole thing. So, at my gig on Christmas Eve, 2022 at the Eugene Holiday Market, I did it. Joey was in the audience and recorded about a minute of it on his phone.
Not too likely I’ll be adding it to my normal set lists, and it may be the first time in my life I’ve been recorded strumming a whole song (no fingerpicking) and using a flat pick at that. But if that lady ever shows up at another one of my gigs, I’m covered
I got a ukulele for Christmas in 2020, learned to play it a bit in 2021, and wrote a few songs using it. The Night We Burned the Barley is probably the best.
During the pandemic, I arranged the old song Got My Mojo Working, changing a few words to make it age-appropriate for me to sing:
During the pandemic, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore seemed like the perfect old song for me to learn:
Wrote The Salt Creek Line in 2021. I played it an an open stage in the Spring of 2022 and a much better musician, a blind blues singer, asked if he could do it. Finally recorded this rough draft on my computer using a click track as a metronome (so I could fool with adding percussion later). Man, it’s been a long time since I tried to play in time to a click track; it’s harder than you’d guess!
Lyrics below for anyone who’d like to learn the song:
Salt Creek Line by Kenn Amdahl
(capo 2, key of E)
I’m breaking my body
And I’m breaking my brain
Trying to break even
On Trainsong Lane
I’m losing money
And I’m wasting time
Been driving too long
On the Salt Creek Line
On the Salt Creek Line
John sang the gospel
On Flatrock Ridge
But his boat went down
By the Singing Bridge
Well I got a little light
Gonna let it shine
Still hear John Singing
On the Salt Creek Line
On the Salt Creek Line
Oh the women smile
They dance in the rain
Then they pick your pockets
On Trainsong Lane
Drive a truck for your money
You buy smoke and wine
But you can’t buy love
On the Salt Creek Line
On the Salt Creek Line
I’ve sung the blues
In Snakebite Bramble
Been the sad fourth line
In Love Triangle
You’ll roll through Hellfire
And The Devil’s Mine
If you miss your exit
On the Salt Creek Line
On the Salt Creek Line
I wrote Speaking Truth to Flowers during the pandemic, after I noticed that crazy homeless guys preaching in the park to an imaginary congregation were a lot like me singing songs in my kitchen to an imaginary audience.