Thanks Neil

When Nic and I first started collaborating we both perceived this wild ride of creativity we had somehow jumped onto. Lyrics started dropping out of the sky for me and I would send them to Nic and he would make a demo. Fucking unreal what was going on for us.

Of course songs get to be your babies... some of them are ugly but you love them, every one. Tom Powers had a couple of interview clips this morning in recognition of Neil Young's birthday. (CBC tribute page) Neil basically said he creates his songs for himself and it's just a coincidence other people like them and he is commercially successful.
Slide and Yown are like that except we're not sure if people like the songs we write and we have no commercial bit. Fortunately, we have day jobs hahahaha.

I can attribute my harp start to Neil and I think Nic would agree the most covered songs in his rotation were Neil's. The two us basically jammed on Neil for a couple decades before writing. So we have lots to thank him for. For me, Heart of Gold with a G harp was played over and over and over until I nailed it. That got me going until I discovered Sonny Boy and really stated digging the blues. I know Nic looks for the Neil sound on electric and badly wants guitar like old black; a Les Paul with a Bigsby.

Thanks Neil was sparked by a quote of Neil's that Nic sent me one day. I penned the lyric, Nic did his thing and a song demo was born. We've sharpened it up with a few in-person jams, switched up the guitar with a capo, added harp, but yet to record.

" the one constant is not to let yourself get distracted when a song is trying to find you. Once your have an idea with music, nothing else matters but that idea. Your responsibility to the muse is to follow it.... There's nothing more important..." Neil Young

Thanks Neil

The song river's waters

So many to be found

Nothing else matters

Make music from sound

Never get distracted

When ideas come around

To muse so attracted

Something so profound

Something in my head

Something in my ear

Something that I read,

A song you now hear

No rust not asleep

Took a fork in the road

to Albuquerque

Your heart of gold

Only one, in G key

My new harp to hold

You playing with me

And a joint that I rolled

Something in my head

Something in my ear

Something that I read,

A song you now hear

There's a white boat's wave

Every album made us rave

On a river up north

Up north Ontario

Left the small town to go

Chains broken, doors unlocked

To free worlds rocked

Something came unblocked

Something in my head

Something in my ear

Something that I read,

A song you now hear

It was magic at Massey

The day I turned 50

started out playing alone

in T.O. that you roamed

So glad you came back

And a shredded old black

The best I ever heard

Between the lines of words

Something in my head

Something in my ear

Something that I read,

A song you now hear