Homegrown Radio 9/24/10

Happy Friday, everybody.  It’s the last Friday of the month, & so Scotty Houston’s last go-round on Homegrown Radio, which is sad—but some good news: we get a twofer today, as Scotty supplied two songs for his finale!  Let’s see what Mr Houston has to say about “Loveless Lake” & “Million Tiny Dollars.”

My first week on Homegrown was kind of a cheater since the recording was already a few months old. I had set myself a goal of getting four new ones to you, so this week is a twofer to catch me up.  Since this series is all about home recording it goes without saying that everything I've been sharing is a little rough, and these are no exception.

Loveless Lake has been sitting around for a couple years as just the chorus in a more or less finished state, but nothing I've tried has really has worked for the verses.  This is the latest attempt.  The Mighty Lynch-Pins are set for a re-gathering to play at the annual Murder Ballads Bash at the Starry Plough in Berkeley for Halloween, and time permitting I may persuade the band to tackle this one. 

The title is a take off on the sad places in old songs like Heartbreak Hotel and Lonesome Town. There's a little reference inserted after the bridge, kind of a cheat to grab the entirety of a story line from another song and insert it. Or at least to give you a chuckle.

Million Tiny Dollars has been facing my DEL key and it almost lost the battle before I sent it to you.  It's an attempt at a topical pop song, not usually a good idea, but one worth trying at least... shared here solely for the fun of the lap steel solo. 

Thanks you John for hosting me on your Friday morning drive-time slot and to everyone who took a few minutes to give a listen or to comment and say hello.  RFB is one of the coziest corners of the internet and it was fun dropping some content your way.

Time to get the four track off the kitchen table now...

Well, don’t take it too far off the table, Scotty!  By the way, I’m very excited to announce that next month’s Homegrown Radio artist will be singer-songwriter Joel Murach.  Joel was a member of one of my all-time favorite Bay Area bands, Paddlefoot, & he’s since gone on play in the  bands 86 & the Slow Rollers, as well issue three solo albums (working on a fourth!).  He’s a fine songwriter & a fine musician, so I’m looking forward to his stint on Robert Frost’s Banjo.  But speaking of “fine songwriters & a fine musicians,” here’s Scotty Houston!