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.
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.
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