Some Hearts - 2010

Hope Lives Some Hearts Long Line of Love This Shirt Balloon Man Don't Laugh At Me Jesus at Sunrise John The Revelator I Can Only Imagine A Grandma Blanket Penny Girl Hudson Lady Your Daughter and Your Sons Mountain Love Song Follow Your Dream The Water is Wide

1-Hope Lives (Frank Jaklitsch)  Based on a sermon series by Pastor Rick Colquhoun from the Vineyard Community Church in Cohoes, a small group discussion within the church,and on a book by Amber Van Schooneveld. A very life changing book on the impact of poverty. Highly recommended. The Fighting 86’s gave a solid backing to my tune.

2-Some Hearts (Marshall Crenshaw) From his fine CD “Good Evening”. A very positive song about true love. This song rang true as soon as I started to sing it. Evan gave this track the swing I wanted with his bass playing. Bobby placed some key guitar lines within the fabric of the track. Steve H. really gave a great bottom sound with his percussion.

3- Long Line of Love (Michael Martin Murphy) Found on an old mixed cassette of Michael’s songs after an hour phone conversation with my brother Rick J. He is a HUGE Michael fan. The song is actually over 20 years old. Still sounds very fresh. Brothers have a way of talking about the darndest things! Thanks Rick.

4-This Shirt (Mary Chapin Carpenter) Quite the tune. My version comes from Garnet Rogers version on his great CD “Summer Lightning”. The imagery in this song is stunning. And the chording is just lovely. Garnet’s playing has had a huge impact on my playing style.

5-Balloon Man (Richard Shindell) The reason this CD was made. I fell in love with this song when Michael Eck interviewed Richard on a radio show. Its simplicity of melody makes the powerful story even more so. Nobody writes songs like Richard. From his wonderful CD “Not Far Now”. Dedicated to the Richard D.Tenenini Foundation, and all the “balloon” children they support. Kelly is very committed to serving the mentally ill, and I am proud to be a part of her organization.

6-Don’t Laugh at Me (Allen Shamblin) One of best songs I have recorded in my 13 record career. Due to a gig, I was late to a Tommy Sands concert at College of St.Rose. When I got there, both my wife Eileen and our friends from Ireland, the Mahar’s, looked at me and said “You have to learn a song we just heard”. They were so right. I so identify being the little boy with glasses, the one they call the geek. Let’s try and treat our kids with respect each and every day. I was very lucky to find my passions for serving the disabled and my guitar the same year.

7-Jesus at Sunrise (Frank Jaklitsch) Instrumental which I play a lot at home warming up my fingers. The title comes from a picture I saw in a Hawaiian magazine of Haleakala, an old volcano on Maui. You can’t look at a sunrise and not see the hand of God. The DADGAD tuning really came into sharp focus with this tune.

8-John the Revelator (traditional) An amazing track with the Fighting 86’s. Brian, Mark and Steve really went to town. When I first started going to the Vineyard, Rick was speaking on the book of Revelation. I wanted to find a song to match what I was hearing. Enter my long time friend Tom C. who got me a version from Gov’t Mule. His song knowledge is pretty extensive and has found me tons of songs over the years.

9-I Can Only Imagine (Mercy Me) When I was visiting family in Kenner, New Orleans Katherine’s husband Stan asked that I listen to a Youtube clip of one of his favorite songs. I had never heard it before. I was stunned at how powerful the song hit me. So Stan gets the credit for showing me the tune. Bill did a good job on percussion.The Henriques family are among my finest blessings. Our families are intertwined forever!

10-A Grandma Blanket (Frank Jaklitsch) We were staying with Mike and Yvonne in Wells, NY when we went to a second hand store. In the corner sat this beautiful afghan blanket. It looked so out of place amid the other stuff there . I wanted to buy it…Eileen did not! Somewhere during the night in consulting with John Powers (Irish whiskey) I asked the Mahar’s to pick it up for me, I would pay for it, and hope Eileen wouldn’t know. They got caught delivering it to my house; I fessed up, but told Eileen there was a song in that blanket. While Eileen was at the gym a few days later, I went out behind  Stuyvesant Plaza to a bench area and wrote this song, imagining how on earth something so beautiful could ever be discarded. I was pretty proud of the final result.

PS. The blanket is in my trunk in case of an emergency. It is well protected.

11-Penny Girl (Frank Jaklitsch) A love song to my dog Penny. She is a black pug and was adopted at age 5, two years ago after our first dog Lita, also a pug, passed on. I wanted a joyous melody, imagining Tom Petty meeting the Byrds. Rock on, Penny Girl!

Dedicated to Dr.Wolfe and all the staff at Shaker Vet. You will never find more caring people. And a plug to adopt an animal. There are so many Penny’s out there, so consider giving a home to a dog or cat who has never really had one.

12-Hudson Lady (Luka Bloom) Found on Luka’s first CD (Riverside), I used it during the 2009 annual memorial on 9/11 for my cousin Erwin. Got a powerful reaction, and I hoped it would wind up somewhere. Quite a statement to the love, the heartache, and the joy of being an immigrant passing through and living near the Hudson Lady, the Statue of Liberty. Mark really got into the guts of the song with his fiddle.

13-Your Daughters and your Sons (Tommy Sands) From the same concert as Don’t Laugh At Me. It was a last minute encore. I was this close to never hearing this tune. Big thanks to Mike and Yvonne Mahar, dear friends who know the value of good songs and deep friendships. They took the cover photo of Eileen and I in County Clare, Ireland for our 25^th wedding anniversary.

14-Mountain Love Song (Jay Larrin) A 25 year old Hawaiian love song from a brilliant writer, transplanted from Tennessee. He went to school there, and never left. The title song from his second album. Sadly, Jay no longer makes records, but performs occasionally in Hawaii. For Eileen, as the lyrics of this song say much about my love for her.

15-Follow your Dreams (Jimmy Messina) An old Poco song, which John Sullivan (Sully) recited the lyrics at his retirement party (the night of the Tommy Sands show. So that magical night yielded 3 of this albums 16 songs!!!) A very positive message and a sheer joy to sing.

16-The Water is Wide (traditional) When I got the songs together to do this CD, this was always the album closer, and Keith evolved into the player who would put the CD to bed. His whistle playing is excellent on this track. For Sully, who has been a real blessing in my life in 2009. His poetry and attitude for life is very good for me. To a long and lasting friendship, pal.

Thanks for listening and supporting my work. All our charity work relies on all of us to work together. It has been a wonderful ride, and hopefully many years to go.

Hope lives, if we let God in!