Made my first seven CD sales today, thanks to several members of the Tuesday Uke Group (TUG). After spending most of the morning signing, packing, and shipping a bunch of free copies to family, it was nice to actually make a little money for my efforts.

Thank you TUG members: Nancy, Gary, Betsy, Margaret, Jack, and Kevin (who bought two).

Here are the highlights of David Harbaugh's gracious song-by-song review of my first album:

Don’t Dallas My Austin
Definitive coffee-tonk with wry lyrics and the authentic live-music feel of Austin itself.

Folsom Prison Blues
Eerily evokes a Johnny Cash with even more tortuous remorse than in the original. A fresh take, but with a twist.

Grandma’s Star
A feel good song, more down home than a commercial for Blue Bell ice cream without being too sentimental.

All Hat and No Cattle
Follows a great tradition in American popular music, the drugstore cowboy, with John’s genius for clever rhyme.

That Kind of Song
A real departure, both poignant and breezy. Avoids the trap most meta-songs fall into; this one actually works.

Hot Pepper Tamale
This muy bueno track is a spicy mix of sound true to John’s Tex-Mex roots [that] knows how to fiesta.

Waitin’ at the Station
What do you get when you cross a 12-bar blues with a thesaurus? A very amusing song.

The Blue Boat
A work of art inspired by a work of art. The shortest cut on the album, performed on the cuatro and beautifully rendered.

Eulogy
An elegant song with heartfelt upwelling of the spirit, it is autobiography as poetry. A benediction of survival, triumph, and hope.

The Happy Christmas Song
This hip and tongue-in-cheek carol has holiday classic written all over it. (Editor's note: David Harbaugh co-wrote this one.)

New Year
With only 12-string guitar and cello, John’s arrangement of Terry Kufner’s beautiful song is a tribute to friendship that does not diminish with the passage of time.

Today I completed the project that I started almost six months ago: my first album. Right now, it's the most beautiful thing in the world! 

Thanks to the musicians: Carlos Rumbaut, Chip Dolan, David Ortiz, Jimmy Joe Natoli, John Traphagan, Mollie Fischer, Paul Teneyuque, and my son Will. Thanks to Tommy Byrd for his skillful engineering and mentoring through the whole process, and to Jerry Tubb for mastering the final product. Special thanks to Betsy Williamson who designed the artwork.

The songs:

1. Don't Dallas My Austin
2. Folsom Prison Blues (minor key arrangement)
3. Grandma's Star
4. All Hat and No Cattle
5.That Kind of Song
6. Hot Pepper Tamale
7. Waitin' at the Station
8. The Blue Boat
9. Eulogy
10. The Happy Christmas Song
11. New Year

David Patrick Dunn hosted the festivities last night (I'm pinch-hitting for him on the 31st). It was a great night for music. Special thanks to Diana Bordelon for the photos of me (especially the one of only my feet).

This open mic night marked the first time I'd played both my 12-string and my cuatro since undergoing hand surgery last month. The finger was still a little sore by the end of the night, but definitely improving.

Will and I enjoyed Brian Mullin's performance this evening at the Salt Lick in Round Rock, TX. Brian even performed my favorite song of his, "I'm in Love with the Lady Who Drinks at Manhattan at Three."

Brian's original music and his arrangements of cover songs remind me a little of James Taylor. He matches clever lyrics with an acoustic jazz sound that both engages the audience and puts them at ease.

Paul's regularly scheduled OMN at Sunset Bar & Grill may be over. Last night, the bar had more staff on hand than it did paying customers, and the owner pulled the plug on the open mic.

Although the owner didn't say it was the last one, we suspect that is the case.

At least I got to perform with Brian (center), Paul (left) and Carlos (right), but nobody was there to take a pic of me on stage with them. [Insert frowny face here]

I took my son Will to the Austin Ukulele Society meeting tonight. We learned to play Bruce Springsteen's "Dancin' in the Dark," and we got to hear some great uke players during the "open mic" part of the evening.

Special thanks to Mardi Wareham for bringing two spare ukes for Will and me. I thought it would be better if Will saw me making the same chord shapes, so I borrowed one of Mardi's tenor ukes, but by the end of the evening, my finger hurt so much from playing on the tiny fretboard, that I switched back to my cuatro.

For Will, a trombone player, the whole idea of playing chords is a little strange. Of course, the idea of playing in the treble clef is weird to him, too.

Was invited to perform at Bad Girlz of Texas in Canyon Lake today. My hand still isn't healed enough for the 12-string, but my cuatro did okay.

Of course, having Jack Pledge playing lead licks improves any song! I only played one original, "Hot Pepper Tamale," and then followed with an odd assortment of cover tunes ranging from Hank Williams to Rocky Horror Picture Show.

David Patrick Dunn (a.k.a. "Buster Gut-Bucket") is on the washtub bass, and Boomer (sorry, I don't remember your last name) is blowing the blues harp.

Had a great time (as usual) at the Wyatt's annual Crawfest. This year, David Harbaugh was able to attend for a few hours, and we even managed to sneak inside for a quick rehearsal that turned into a mini-performance for a small group of guests.