Category: my music & performances

My last job was teaching guitar, mostly to kids. There was this magic cul-de-sac full of wonderful kids where I worked with almost every kid on the block, nine students on one street. The neighborhood called The Overlook, so they were Overlookers.

We’d frequently write songs using the old I-write-a-line you-write-a-line method. That’s how Beginner’s Mind was written, me and Kyle, Ian, or Abby, picking some chords, making up a progression, taking turns writing lines.

Eight-year-old Ian and I wrote some crazy songs. Check out the sci-fi thriller Flea-Bee about getting sucked into the TV and landing in a future where men look like cockroaches or flea-bees. Or the redneck narrative of Hillbilly,

I’m a hillbilly
No really?
Yes silly!
I’m a hillbilly

I recorded these songs in 2006, as an album of the best songs written with students, but have never released it till now. I just discovered Bandcamp and the simplicity and ease of the interface for showing off music inspired me to dust off the old .wav files and share.

The other inspiration is Family Time Rocks!, the kids band I’m in with Sara Hickman and Gray Parsons, where these songs have new ears. Thanks to Susan Sermoneta for the cover photo.