On The Road,

continued from page 2 of how best to produce the song to tell the story correctly. There was also the question; does the song have a strong enough public appeal to warrant the time and money to record it? That is a difficult question to answer, even now. Nevertheless, the song and story would not let us go. We believed in the tune, and were not willing to let it drift away, so we said, ‘YES - let’s do it!’”

We recorded a rough draft and started playing with production. A year later, after much touring, we were able to get back to it. We brought in other instrumentation, such as mandolin, and mandocello (bowed upright). We spent studio time and dollars, musician time and dollars, and none of it spoke to the song. The playing was excellent, but it did not relate to the story. So, back to regrouping and listening. The song needed less, not more. It is a story song, not a look-at-me-playing song. I sent the song to a friend in Nashville, Michael Webb, and asked him to listen to the lyrics to see if they spoke to him on accordion. What he sent back was magic; the voice of the wind in the sails. (Thanks, Michael)

With the completed song - acoustic guitar, bass, two vocals and accordion, we started dreaming

continued from page 8 know the first thing about how to make it work. He also owned the only hotel and most of the beachfront houses and if I wanted to meet him, well, she could make that happen. In my imagination, I think she could make just about anything happen. She never remarried because her one great love could not be followed up so she was happy to have her memories and she relived them in her morning walks. I asked her if she ever got lonely, and she gave a hoarse laugh as she threw her head back and her hands out to her side (still had a cigarette parked in that right hand) and said, how could she get lonely in a place like this, and I believed her. up promotion and release dates; but we also need a video! What could be better than footage from the ship itself? During our second Fan Cruise on the Victory Chimes, we were able to capture some killer live footage, and we obtained great archived images. We had a video editor we were using in Argentina. (Don’t ask.) Well it started off ok, but then he disappeared, gone, radio silence. (Don’t say it…) After regrouping, we were introduced to another videographer/editor, who nailed it. He got the vibe we were after, and helped tell the story of the ship. And finally, we were ready to release ‘Timber She’s Hauled’ – single, and video - May 12th, 2023, just a few years later.

I was sad to realize we had finished our beer and needed to get to our next destination where we would be meeting up with our friends. I asked her if she would be there later that evening and she said, “honey, if the lights are on in this place, I’ll be here.” Sadly, we didn’t get back before we left but I like what we talked about and am pretty sure I got about a dozen songs out of her storytelling.

Now you know my dirty little secret! I love to find out someone’s story and to do that, I have to get them talking. Rick, my long suffering husband, loves to watch me go to work on someone. We’ve got it figured out and he just sits back and enjoys the show. Until next time, stay aware, stay very aware.

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