I am very sorry to hear about Brook.

Maybe he needed a better PR firm? Perhaps he should have considered late night info-mercials? Excellent concept!

Very Pretty story telling. I've been to Deadwood. What a place to spend eternity.

Excellent!

Another very clever one!

This one is one of my favourites of your tracks. The chorus is especially poignant.

I love this! The music is really driving!

You performed this so well. A very interesting story, perfectly done. Good luck, "Emily". Yeah, nice chord!

I love the way you have made this true story into a song. Straight to the point lyrics with tremendous backing vocals. It's a very strong and determined sounding track.

Oh JM, it is very loud! Come on, don't be like that, you can think of something.

Wow, JM! Grrreat harmonies, and a master class in lyrics.

nice job... its a snapshot in a snapshot.

So in 1951 you lived in the desert just around the corner from where I grew up , except I wasn't there until 1953 at the ripe and smelly age of 1.I think I was considering buying a house out in the same patch of desert you grew up in. Your Dad might of known a Bob Dollins, he worked at Northrop for a short while . What year did you depart?

These songs with the choir are cool. Are these friends , sounds like you got a regular choir doing back up

Small world indeed. In 1953 I was 1 and we lived on the base. In old pics the housing were those Quansot Huts. Hell, if you lived out there at 8 years no wonder you got that dreamy like recollection. It be like living on the Moon, had barren can it get, and the bright sun beating down cooking that desert, sonic booms rattleing windows. I know, I don't know when they stop doing it but I remember as far back as 1964 of our classrooms windows rattling and that 's in Palmdale. They test artilliary as well out at EAB. Fortunately I was only 1 year old back then and i was shielded from the sun by my moma's breast and taken out there before I could develope a memory.Funny thing in early '54 my folks moved just off the south end of 15th. I still live close to it. There is no hope for Peace on Earth as long as militaries stand armed and ready.

You captured the mood! Good integration of song voice and guitar. It was warm & tender despite the hard cold reality the song spoke of. Imaginitive lyrics that mixed well with the sweet simplicity of the music.

Another Palmdale resident. The horny toads you don't see to much anymore but he tumbleweeds and the wind are still here so kite flying is still around. Hey ,you forgot the rattlesnakes. I don't remember it being so dreamy though. Your song is different and somewhat interesting but I wouldn't vote for it to be the official Palmdale song. I arrived in Palmdale in 1953, maybe that's what it is.

Nice percussion. Strong message!

Most excellent lyrics! I admire those who will stand up and be counted! Great song!

LOL as they say

Bruce Balmer I like the parallel sixths in the backing vocals.

Tim Tandy Hickory Stix has always captivated me. Dang, I gotta start getting out to open mics again. Might even get the chance to sing that high harmony on the "oohs!"

Rose Jeffus - I agree. (with Lane. "I declare this album your #1 compilation."

Watermelon Wind is a good one too. Really inspiring images Lazarus Knight

Yes, it is obvious to anyone who actually listens to follow the story. The killer line ... the picture that finishes breaking what's left of the listener's heart is "but Jimmy bought the yearbook, and he hold it now and then". Lazarus Knight

brush up on "Lest night I said goodbye to Rose" I know that's not exactly the title, but I think many people would like that song like I do. Lazareth Knight

Oh Jimmy rings of a certain kind of pain that you've captured perfectly. Lazarath Knight.

Lane Beauvais By the power invested in me, I declare this album your #1 compilation.

I was talking about the Wight Hotel, directly across the street from The White Elephant. The things you mention were going on when The Beer Garden 1st took over that rat hole between the Elephant and the steak house.

Tim Tandy This one really grabs me, Jim. I enjoy the "play like" aspect of the Stockyards District today, but I KNOW what was real and what wasn't. When I grew up in East Fort Worth in the 50's thru the 70's, the Stockyards were a working affair. Everyone downwind got the dust and rancid odors that were a mixture of cattle manure, blood and guts, and rendered fat. Get up close, and you added in the panicked sounds of cattle going up the ramps to slaughter. The buildings along E and W Exchange were mostly delapidated flop-houses, and I recall there were usually destitute men in soiled undershirts leaning out the upstairs windows smoking cigarettes and taking it all in. When the slaughterhouses shut down and the development folks took over, they neatly "packed up" the ambience of the historical "Hell's Half Acre" - gambling halls, saloons, cheap hotels, bordello's and the site of gunfights such as the famous Luke Short/Jim Courtright affair - which had been razed in the 60's and replaced with the Water Gardens and Convention Center as an act of "urban renewal", and "relocated" them to the Stockyards. I really don't object to all of it, but just wish they were a bit more open about what's shit and what's Shinola, ya know? All the tourists crowd E Exhange at the appointed hour and hoot and holler and excitedly REAL Wild West every day when the "cattle drive" occurs. Oh, well, as Bruce Willis' character in "Die Hard" liked to say, "Yippi-ki-yay, MF!"

Sad, and that was 11 years ago. How does it feel now ... like more of the same? It seems to me like your not just accepted but held in high esteem at the places where I've seen you perform. Lazarus Knight

Terry Rasor I remember those daze Michael, y’all were awesome and I’m glad and proud to have known you all and have you at my Raz On The Braz festival so many years ago! Love ya my friend!

Roland Brown Sorry to hear about Barbara. Texas Water was as good as you say. I’m thinking about adding “I’ll Be Glad to Let You Love Me” to our band’s set list.

Joe Brunelle - I like this, Jim

Lazarus Knight That's a really good song. It resonates with truth.

Tim Tandy Brilliantly haunting! Like a character in a Hank Williams song, you're telling a poignant, sad story, but NOT seeking pity.

"Wow, beautiful." Ken McIntyre

I like that a lot. Its a fresh perspective. Lazareth Knight

Gwyn -Verrrrry nice! PS: I listened to the "shorts" you sent me while sitting in the car waiting for Greg to pick up some groceries. I think you have invented a new artform with these shorts: Haiku Songs! I really loved them. I laughed a lot, and that's a compliment!

Laurie Callinan ...beautiful heartbreaking song.