Making ROOTS AND BRANCHES: “The Illustrated Man”

“The Illustrated Man” was written across decades. I think I wrote the lyrics in the late 70s. At the time I tried repeatedly to write the music for it but nothing clicked, so I just set it aside, neatly typed, for nearly 30 years. Finally, in the early-aughts, it came …

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Making ROOTS AND BRANCHES: “Anybody’s Girl”

True crime, outlaws and antiheroes. You can’t get much more American than that. Some of my songs arrive in the form of a first-person narrative by an unexpected character. An outlaw or antihero works for me. I like the grittiness of Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road.” I like a TV series …

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