And now for something completely different... Well, friends, I think I may have over-banjo'd myself the past 3 years. It's not abandoned totally or permanently, but since the weather turned I've been feeling the need to turn to something else…

Uploaded just in time for the 2013 peak of the Perseid meteor showers of 2013, which I definitely won't see, as our autumnal "maritime" (i.e. sh**ty) climate is doing its thing. This is my arrangement of a wonderful romantic tune by the inimitable…

When I was about 5 years old, my grandmother gave me a set of those old 78 rpm "records" titled "Songs Many Lands". For some reason this song was always my favorite... to the point I don't even remember anymore what other songs were in that collection…

I was going through my song ideas folder and stumbled across this lyric that I wrote ages ago... so long ago I have no clue what inspired it. Certainly long before I ever thought up my "Banjo-centric" schtick. But this is a tune that needs a banjo…

Sometimes the oddest things inspire a song. This one, about a long-time friend and former bandmate, a consummate musician, who passed away suddenly last year... just leaped out after I read a Facebook post where a couple of mutual friends had…

Here's a traditional American tune I first heard down in the Ozarks when I was maybe 5 years old. Just clawhammer banjo and vocals. The first verse is one I remember. I made up the rest. I was gonna go from coast to coast but I ran out of time…

I had this on Alonetone before but accidentally deleted it. This version has been remixed and mastered with different plugins. A bluesy acoustic tune with a slide guitar and banjo. Wrote the tune a long time ago, forgot it, remembered it when…

The news today reminded me of this old traditional American song. In 5000 years we still haven't figured out how to keep the world from being run by the war mongers instead of the peacemakers. Certainly we have learned nothing since the time when…

After Greg Connor wrote this for me a while back, I kept listening to it every time I was feeling tired of winter, which at this time of year is several times a day. Somehow every time I listened to it, it reminded me of my dad. I know he would…

I'd been following the Euro horsemeat scandal since it broke in the UK some time ago. But the songwriter in me didn't react until Ikea found pony in their Swedish meatballs the other day. Alonetoners - you're hearing it first! ** THE PONY…

A little banjo-centric parody of the old Irving Berlin song, written after more than a week in -20 C. temps in northwest Russia. Brrr. And Merry Christmas.

Just in time for the big 2012 election! *** BANJO WARNING *** Just me and me banjo. Inspired by a story my journalist daughter in Moscow just published. She was too small when we moved to Russia to remember that politicians shaking hands…

Dusted off (so to speak) a bluegrass style oldie (meaning I wrote years and years ago) about the ending of a long drought... dedicated to all my friends, known and unknown, in Colorado and other dry spots that are burnin' up right now. Uploaded…

A NON Banjo-centric song that pokes a bit of fun at the zaniness of the 1980s. This is the G-rated version. There is a PG-13 version with one additional verse which contains some unvarnished language. You can get that version on my site…

This is an old 19h century sea shanty (or chanty) arranged around clawhammer-style banjo, with a bit of Irish whistle, faux bodhrán, and a goofy pseudo-accent to Irish it up a little. Just in time for St. Paddy's Day. Warning: the chorus can…

My "banjo-centric" arrangement of this old minstrel show tune. I recorded it for backing tracks for my live set. I kind of wanted a fiddle solo, but I don't play fiddle. So in the middle there's a little "fiddle synthesizer" - just a couple of…

My arrangement of an American traditional tune with tons of variations on title, lyrics and tune. I went for a little delta feel with some light slide on the guitar, and harmonica along with the banjo... definitely strange but I think it works.

Cover of a 19th century minstrel tune attributed to S.S. Steele, popularize by the late great John Hartford. This is my own arrangement. I use it as a backing track for alive set without the banjo and lead vocal tracks. BTW- that banjo is an…

Uploaded just in time for the American Thanksgiving holiday, this is a kids song that can also be appreciated by the grownup crowd. Written by my brother David who has a real knack for this sort of songwriting. It's our first long-distance…