Joanie asked if I’d play a song at her daughter Natasha’s baby-warming party.  That sounds weird.  It was actually a 3-month birthday, I think.

Anyway, I decided I shouldn’t just play any old song, I should write one for Natasha.  And now, for her second birthday, I finally got around to recording it.  

Recording music for kids is the best.  You can put whatever you want in there.  Banjo?  Sure!  Whistling?  Definitely!  Sasquatch growl?  Do you even have to ask?  I wanted to put a gong at the end, but Aric wasn’t around and I couldn’t figure out how to use his soft-synth-sampler-deluxe.  Maybe next time.  Until then, here’s “Natasha”:

Natasha - 2:54

Thanks to Renee for the whistling.  I’m a lousy whistler.
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A few weeks ago I went on an annual trip to Michigan with some old friends from high school.  Each year it offers all of us a chance to get together and act like idiots.  There is usually at least one trip to the Walmart in town where various shenanigan utensils are purchesed: bb guns, screen printing supplies, watermelons+Crisco, or in the case of last year, a model rocket kit.  After immediately losing the two actual model rockets, we began looking around for other things to strap rocket engines to.

Behold the launch and recovery of the RacketRocket:

Every couple of years Trevor recommends music to me. It’s not often, but he has an amazing track record. When we were sophomores in college, he introduced me to John Prine (and, by proxy, Iris DeMent.) Prine has gone on to become my favorite performer. A few years later he suggested I listen to Chuck Brodsky. Now I own all his albums.

Yesterday Trevor asked if I had been listening to M. Ward. I hadn’t. Trevor’s three for three. It’s nice to have a friend like that.

Here are two M. Ward songs for all of you:

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I was at a loss for what sort of artwork to put on the CD itself so I decided, as I often do, to let my friends do the work for me. I sent an e-mail to a select few asking them to draw a doodle a for me in exchange for a free CD. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough room to give credit to these fine artists in the CD packaging itself, but the Internet has no word limit so I will give credit here.

A. Joe Beshenkovsky says, “It’s a plant! In a pot! I tried some other things but my artistic skills have withered away like so much old skin.” Joe and I worked together at the TV station at Columbia University. I think it looks quite nice.

B. Gordon Wright is as classy as the top hats he draws. He’s also a heck of a singer. If all goes according to plan, you can see Gordon play at the upcoming CD release show for this bad boy. In the meantime, visit his website.

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