Get a Clue

My new CD will arrive sometime next week. You can pre-order copies now at ReadingSongs.com! If you order by June 1, you get an introductory price, an option to buy additional copies at half price, AND a free bonus CD. Check it out.

So what is the new CD all about? Well, it's a long story...

"Get a Clue" is the Collaborative Summer Library Program theme this year, so many states will be doing mysteries. Back in September or so I began recording a set of five mystery songs.

That work got interrupted early on, though, when I decided I'd better write some songs about Oklahoma. That's because the summer theme here in Oklahoma will be the upcoming Centennial. I ended up booking some school shows in the Spring before I actually wrote the songs. That's a new one for me. No pressure.

So, after mounds of research and writing and memorizing and performing, I turned back to the recording. I really wanted to provide some mystery songs for the Get a Clue folks, plus put some of my new Oklahoma songs out there, so...

The CD ended up to be more of a double EP - five clue songs and five Oklahoma songs. The Oklahoma songs I consider a work in progress. The recordings are very simple, and there are more songs than I had time to record. Someday maybe I'll put out a full-length CD with fully produced tracks. (Anyone know of any grants for Oklahoma history curriculum?) But for now this will allow my fans to take something of the show home with them.

Anyhow, I worked hard to put as much as I could into the CD in the time I had. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Here's a track by track tour. You might like to open a new window at ReadingSongs.com and listen to samples while you read about each song...

1. If you've ever wondered what it would sound like for me to front the ScribbleMonster band - and really who hasn't? - the opening track will answer that question for you. The arrangement and instruments for "Get a Clue" were done by ScribbleMonster. Very cool!

2. Similarly, the arrangement and instruments for "Can You Guess?" were done by Mr. Billy. You can hear his kids' voices and my daughter's voice on this one as well. Both these opening tracks truly ROCK!!

3. "Hanging Out With Heroes at the Library, Detectives Version" is an old song which I gave a facelift with new drum tracks and some new verses.

4. "Junior Detectives Club" is an old song I dusted off from the last time Oklahoma had a mystery theme. The recording is simple but charming - picture a meeting of the Junior Detectives Club, opening with a theme song. The piano and voices were done by Stillwater's own Rana McCoy and her young voice students.

5. "There's Something Going On at the Library" is another old track with a face lift. I never was happy with the vocal from the original version. Now I am. The instruments are shinier, too.

6. "Boom Town" is an energetic (in more ways than one) kick-off for the Oklahoma half of the CD. This song captures the excitement of the oil boom in 1930s Oklahoma.

7. "Oklahoma Land Rush, 1889" is a fun song to do live. This is a simple vocal/guitar rendition.

8. "Oklahoma Heroes at the Library" - Yep, two versions of the same song on one CD. This is a "live" version with verses about real life Oklahoma heroes.

9. I wrote and recorded "Oklahoma Annie" with my six year old daughter, Evalyn. This was a true collaboration between the two of us, and it's one of my favorites on the CD. It tells the story of a super hero pony named Annie!

10. "Oklahoma Kids, a Kaleidoscope" is my dad's favorite track. I challenged myself to write a song with that title, since it is the theme for Oklahoma's reading program. My friend Mr. Billy calls the style "Monty Dylan."