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Song Stories: On Yer Own 

Slightly forgotten in the hubbub of the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars", was my brief thoughts on the last of its songs, track #10, On Yer Own.

This is a song I barely remember writing. I came partially awake one night, in the dead of winter, with (apparently) a story to tell, and I felt my way to the bathroom (the only room in the house with JUST A LITTLE bit of light) and scrawled this lyric sheet into the nearest notebook. Went back to bed, went back to sleep, and woke in the morning with no…

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Thank Youse 

This was initially posted on Facebook

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD. 

“Through Private Wars” hits the streets (or at least the internet) tomorrow, and I’d like to take a moment, in the final inhale before the grand exhale, to recognize the people who helped it come to be. For all that this record does right, thank them; for all that it does wrong, blame me. 

David Andersen was, I think, the first musician I met after moving to the Hudson Valley, and also my first new friend up here. He answered an ad I placed…

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Song Stories: Two Lanes 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #9, Two Lanes.

This is my current favorite song to finish shows with, though it continues my unstoppable impulse to end songs on the IV chord, which tends to leave people unsure if it's actually over. If you've noticed my overuse of ellipticals, it stands to reason that my songwriting tends to trail off mid-thought, just like my…

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Song Stories: Guy Fawkes Day 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #8, Guy Fawkes Day.

I’m a ruminator in temperament: I prefer baseball and football to basketball or hockey because there’s time to savor, to stew, to ponder, to consider. The narrative unfolds, play by play, moment by moment, a slow river of developments emptying into the sea of “what actually happened.” As a writer, while I…

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Song Stories: Twelve 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #7, Twelve.

The oldest song on the record by far, I scribbled this lyric before I could legally drink, and have changed only a couple words in the interim. It’s undergone several re-arrangements, though, most recently built off of a groove suggested by Daniel in an attempt to “Tallahassee it up a little.” He was right to do so……

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Song Stories: Eight-State Arms 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #6, Eight-State Arms.

I love touring. Very little gives me more pleasure than waking up somewhere unusual, knowing that all I have to do today is travel from one town to the next, and then play a show. It's a vast improvement over going to your day job (unless you really, really like your day job; I sadly don't). I haven’t been…

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Song Stories: Moon Over My Shoulder 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #5, the last song to be picked for the record, Moon Over My Shoulder.

I’ve played a lot of gigs. Between my original bands, my cover bands, my solo shows, I’ve been in a lot of rooms, hollered a lot of songs. Sometimes those rooms are full of your friends and fans. Sometimes those rooms contain the bartender and the sound guy…

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Song Stories: Planetstruck 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #4, Planetstruck.

There was an article in The New Yorker in maybe 2012 or 2013 about death certificates, and what they could or couldn’t tell us about public health, and their history; one paragraph listed seventeenth century causes of death, including “Cut of the Stone, or King’s Evil, or Planet-struck, or Rising of the Lights…

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Song Stories: Strange the Way 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #3, Strange the Way.

A few years ago, I left a woman I genuinely respected and cared about (and still do) to be with a woman I went on to marry. This was, undoubtedly, the right decision for me. I did, however, fail to communicate this in any real way, and hence caused a great deal more pain and suffering and drama than was…

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Song Stories: I'm Afraid Of My Heart 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, track #2, I'm Afraid Of My Heart.
 

The first song I wrote after moving to the Hudson Valley, after over a year of writer’s block. The thing with writer’s block, at least for me, is that the longer it lasts, the more convinced I am that maybe I’m just out of songs, that I’ve sung all I had to sing. This is a terrifying thought. 

My…

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Song Stories: Motionsick 

Leading up to the June 2 release of "Through Private Wars" (available for pre-order now), I'll be posting brief thoughts on each of its songs over the next few weeks. Today, the lead-off track, Motionsick.

In my early 20s, I suddenly developed motion sickness. Any trip longer than half an hour, I’d feel nauseous and uncomfortable for most of it. Never was a problem when I was younger… I found that dramamine helped, but about 20 minutes after taking it, I HAD to sleep for ten minutes or all hell would break…

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