Monday night solo show report

( Long show report. Summary: Improvements are certainly possible, but all in all it went pretty well. )

On political songs

There are two songs that I consider political on the set list for Thursday. This is partly because every song I know how to play is on the set list for Thursday, but also because of the way I feel about a lot of things that have been going on in recent years.

My relationship to political songs is somewhat uneasy. There are political songs that I recognize as being really good songs but for the most part I can't see myself singing them. This is, I think, related to my general philosophy regarding my political thinking: I think it's important to me, but I don't understand why anyone else would possibly care what I think. I just don't think I'm all that insightful. (Paul Geremia comes to mind as someone I think is pretty great who occasionally writes political songs.)

So the songs I pick in this genre typically raise issues that I think are important, but how exactly they apply to today's situation is pretty much up to you to decide.

In this particular case this is all just as well, since by Thursday the political situation may change somewhat drastically one way or another.

The two songs are:

( Jimmy Roger's 'The World's All In A Tangle' )

The other has a more overt message: ( Bessie Smith's 'Poor Man's Blues' )

I might as well admit that I once tried to write a political protest song, but it ended up turning into something kind of different.

Here's a recording I made in April of the Jimmy Rogers song mentioned above.

Election day game

Everyone respond with your own ironic, cynical, jaded bumper sticker about voting! C'mon, it'll be fun! In an ironic, cynical, and jaded sort of way!

You can use the following template if you want (be sure to check off the 'Don't auto-format' button if you do, though, and use the 'Preview' option until you've got it looking just right) or something of your own devising.

<table border="1" align="center">
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#993333">
<td>
<big><b style="color: #DFF">I'M AN UNDECIDED REGISTERED VOTER</b></big>
</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<td>
<small><b>AND</b></small>
</td>
</tr>
<tr align="center" bgcolor="#333399">
<td>
<big><big><big><b style="color: #FFD">I MIGHT VOTE</b></big></big></big>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

which gives you:

I'M AN UNDECIDED REGISTERED VOTER

AND

I MIGHT VOTE

There you have it.

( other examples )