Daily Dispatch

Fishing With Lou

Wednesday Words

I’m working on a new song about a hat and this is where the river has taken me thus far.

I went out fishing with my good friend Lou
We did’t catch any fish but it was still a glorious day
I had a sandwich in my pocket, it was chipped beef and spicy mustard
The water was cold and the sun was hot
In the evening, the crickets came out to sing their song 
This mean aggressive bullfrog jumped up and knocked the hat right off my head
(Can you believe that) 
It wouldn’t be a big thing except me and that hat have been some places
It sits up there on the top of my head and fits just right
A good hat is hard to find
A good hat is hard to find

Casual Sports Fan
I enjoy watching televised sporting events. It really doesn’t matter what sport. I’ll watch anything but golf. I’m a sucker for a great story and they always find a way to deliver a great story. Some kid overcame tremendous adversity. A team is rebuilding after an internal scandal. One girl is playing her sister in the finals. I love cheering for an underdog. I can get sucked in quickly.
It’s different when you are watching your home team. If you are emotionally invested, it’s not a casual watch. If your team is winning, it’s a huge dopamine hit. If your team loses, it’s three hours that you can never get back.
Scratch : Old Photographs
Check out the demo version of Old Photographs on YouTube.
This song is almost 25 years old. I think it’s still a solid song and I’m glad it’s getting an update. Maybe someday I will let you hear the original version. It makes me feel good that something this old can find new life. I think the demo arrangement of this song is almost enough. I love it when a song can stand alone with just a guitar. When I start a new song in the studio, I record a simple version like this and then build everything upon the scratch track. It makes the process easier when there is a solid foundation. When I recorded this song for the first time at the age of 19, I didn’t envision recording this new version. When I was 19, I couldn’t even comprehend being 44 years old. I am looking forward to the next version in another 25 years.
Serious Business
The right song at the right moment can provide hope in a hopeless situation. I don’t really understand this alchemy but I know my life has been saved by a song on more than one occasion. I do the work that I do because songs are so powerful. I might throw a song out into the world and it could be the only lifeline available in a bad situation. I could be part of the magic moment that saves a life. This is serious business. I don’t always treat my job with the respect that it deserves. Sometimes, I just sing another song, going through the motions with no respect for the potential magic.
The only thing with stronger magic than a song is a smile. No pressure but it’s serious business. You could be the magic that saves a life today.
Suffering
For all of time, the most fundamental goal of every generation was for their children to have a better life then their parents. My parent’s generation decided that we had to go to college to have a better life. So a lot of us went to college whether we needed it or not.
The school where my wife teaches had two early dismissals this week on account of record-setting heat. While I was at the hardware store, I overheard some old-timers discussing the early dismissals. “I never got out of school on account of heat… This generation is too soft.” These old timers want their children to have a better life and nothing says progress like heatstroke. They will know we love them by the suffering we inflict.
Uncle Boozie with even more on hats
Weeeeell, hey. It’s everybody’s favorite uncle. That’s right. It’s me, Uncle Boozie.
You can tell a lot about a person by the kind of hat that they wear. If they are wearing a policeman’s hat, there is a high probability that they are a police person. If they are wearing one of those fancy nun hats with the wings, they probably won’t go out on a date with you. Trust me. If they are wearing a baseball hat, it doesn’t mean that they are a baseball player but you know for sure that they are the kind of person that sometimes wears a baseball hat. If the hat they are wearing is dirty, you know that they have been through something that made their hat dirty. A hat can really say a lot about a person.
A good hat is hard to find.
Fence Painting
I’ve been painting our fence. It’s a wooden fence and it’s gotten very dry over the last couple of years. It looks great with a fresh coat of oil. I’ve been working for a couple of weeks and I’m not nearly done. This is not due to the size of the fence. It’s because I only do a couple of boards at a time. I squeeze it in when it’s completely convenient, the weather is perfect, and guilty feelings compel me to get out of the hammock. If you are an American male who is roughly my age, it is impossible to paint a fence without thinking about the Karate Kid. My childhood was spent pretending to paint fences because of that movie. “Wax on, wax off.” I also love Mark Twain. For half of the boards, I am the Karate Kid and for the other half, I pretend that I am Tom Sawyer. I keep hoping an unwitting neighbor will come by and pay me for the opportunity to paint my fence. So far that hasn’t happened.
Furniture Polish
I’ve been looking at some other guitars and my old girl knows. She’s not the jealous type but it’s gotta be a blow to the ego. Her frets are worn and it’s hard to keep her in tune for a full three-hour set. We’ve been together for a long time. I was changing strings and I thought maybe she could use a little spit and polish. There is a range of expensive oils on the market that somebody must use. I’ve always just used whatever furniture-grade oil that I find in the cabinet. To be honest, it’s been a while since I gave her a good coating. She looks so shiny and fresh. Although the beeswax has made her very hard to hold onto.
Freestyle Folk
I’ve been writing a lot of short songs lately. Maybe this means that I am communicating more clearly and succinctly. Just like Hemingway, I am getting to the point quickly with no wasted words. That can’t be true.
I needed some verses for my newest song called “Frail Bones.” I played the chord progression over and over and over until some words showed up.
When I was in college, there was a random guy that would show up at all of the best parties and do some freestyle rap. I don’t know if he was good because that’s not really my kind of thing. It was a cool party trick and he never had to buy his own beer.
One of my favorite songwriting tools is freestyle writing. I find a groove, hit record on my voice memo app, and let the words flow. It’s a great way to get a lot of potential ideas in a hurry. I wrote six verses in less than fifteen minutes. Hopefully I can turn it all into one decent verse.
Maybe I need to do more freestyle folk. It could be a great gimmick. I could play a standard folk riff and sing about whatever is happening around me. That could be a cool party trick.
Toaster Pastries
We had the opportunity to go on an unexpected road trip this weekend. We piled into the van and hit the road. It’s the same thing every time. We make it almost ten minutes before the boy asks for a snack. Early morning road trips always include Pop-Tarts. Well, to be honest, they are the generic toaster pastries. This is not a normal breakfast option for us but it makes road trips special. The whole family crinkles their wrappers while I sip my giant thermos full of coffee. With toaster pastry crumbs all over his face, my son asked, “Why does it always have to be brown sugar? Can we have a different flavor next time?” My wife is the only person in the world who can eat a Pop-Tart without losing a single crumb. She simply said, “No, brown sugar is the best.” As sure as the sun rises in the east, road trips will start with brown sugar toaster pastries.