If you are in the area, come hear us tonight at Applebee’s on Merritt Island. We start at 6 PM and will go at least until 10. But who knows, it could go longer — much longer! Happy New Year!

So the year is coming to a close. When we play at Applebee’s on Merritt Island tomorrow night, we’ll close out our first official year as Sound Traveler. Applebee’s will be a new venue for us, but one of many that we’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy this past year. We didn’t really get started until early summer, but we’ve been working steadily since. Sound Traveler has had at least 50 performances this year. Thanks to all the venues that have been willing to give us a chance to share ourselves musically. I am going to list the venues that we’ve played, and I invite you to visit them. They are all wonderful people — and I mean that. Acoustic Coffeehouse Johnson City, TN www.acousticcoffeehouse.net Very eclectic range of music. Jim Benelisha hosts acts from as far away as Russia! [...]

Ellie Hjemmet’s husband Mike sometimes says, “You can make an electric guitar sound like anything but a guitar.” And as a life-long acoustic guitar player, I know exactly what he means. Something about the attack, the resonance, the feel of a good acoustic guitar is very different from that of an electric guitar. Not that I don’t like electric guitars, not that I don’t think that Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana are guitar geniuses. But an electric guitar is a different instrument with a different sound. Over Christmas, Patty added a xylophone to the collection of instruments that she will use for performances of Sound Traveler. She adds this to the trumpet, bass, concertina, kick drum, doumbek, maraca, and tambourine that she already plays. All of which we combine with the guitar, harmonica, and mandolin that I provide to make [...]

You should have been there — or not! Just imagine 25 people, ranging in age from about 10 to tottering, accompanied by a guitar, two trumpets, sleigh bells and even a clanging school bell, singing a highly varied collection of Christmas songs. Although quality was not first priority, enthusiasm and spirit more than compensated, aided at least in part by alcoholic refreshment that helped to loosen any reluctant vocal chords. The audience consisted of people in our little community who were either unable or not inclined to spend a mild winter’s evening trying to make music while walking from building to building. The overall effect might have been best summed up by my wife Patty who succinctly observed, “Now that was somethin’.” In reality, it was something — and something special. No, the music was nothing to write home about [...]

I got a CD a day or two ago that has blown me away. From the title, to the cover, to the voices, to the instrumentation, to the overall impact it is a top-notch example of what Christmas music can be when given the right treatment by the right artists. The CD in question is Running with the Shepherds by the group Bloodroot. Many who read this web log will know the artists personally as Ellie Hjemmet and Rhodyjane Meadows. I was privileged to collaborate with Ellie for quite a while in the group Bob and Ellie, but we were never able to produce something of this consistent quality. Running with the Shepherds is a prime expression of the latent promise always present in these talented performers. They are lucky to have found this means of expression. One of the [...]

When you see a crowd walking down a busy city sidewalk, or a group waiting for a bus, or drivers impatiently staring at a crimson traffic light in a busy intersection, you see all kinds of people — adults mostly — many with tired eyes, some with grizzled chins, and most with expressionless faces. The world seems old and worn out. But on Christmas day it’s not that way. I think everyone at some time from Christmas eve ‘till Christmas evening returns to the land of their youth — at least for a while. Do you? So many Christmas songs involve children — one child always figures prominently, but others have their roles as well. One that captures me is a little musician in a fairly recent Christmas creation, “The Little Drummer Boy”: Come they told me, pa rum pum [...]

How does it work? Is it the lyric? The melody? The rhythm? What makes music have such power? As a person who writes songs, I have often wondered about this. What’s your definition of great music? When I was in college I taught a little music class at a children’s center after school. It was in a poor section of town, and the kids were all classified as underprivileged. My job basically consisted of coming in for an hour in the afternoon and teaching my students some folk songs. I played the songs on my guitar and we sang together. The fact that they were all African-American and I’m about as white as a sheet of notebook paper made matters interesting to begin with. I remember one little girl who came in one day and announced that she had written [...]

Did you ever have a time when words just weren’t enough? I don’t know why, but when I was a kid I sang a lot. Still do. I remember watching old musicals on television and seeing people running down the street singing. That didn’t seem weird to me; that seemed cool. When I got a little older and started noticing that girls had a certain effect on me, in that I couldn’t think or speak clearly when around them, I could still sing. Oh, I would often be alone singing to myself –maybe at high volumes while in the shower or when I was pushing a lawnmower. But I found that through singing I was able to reach something deeper and more complete. When I learned to play guitar at ten-years-old, I discovered a whole new level of emotional expression [...]

Do you ever wonder what it was really like when Joseph found that Mary, his fourteen-year-old prospective bride was already “with child”? So many questions we could ask with so many possible answers. What do you think? This past Sunday Sound Traveler was honored to share in the Sunday service at Faith Lutheran Church on Merritt Island. The congregation at Faith is wonderful. The sanctuary is beautiful. The minister is intelligent and spiritual, and the music is conducted as a real ministry. Karen Frahm, the music director, gave us the opportunity to sing an offertory song and four communion songs. During the offertory we sang an original song of ours called “Love from a Manger.” I felt a little thrill as I saw the words projected on a large screen as I voiced them. For those of you who haven’t [...]

I remember the first time I heard Iron Butterfly explode with their opening riff to “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The year was 1968, and I thought that here was a group to change the landscape of music. Later there was the majestic sound of A-Ha singing “Take On Me,” then the soulful rendition of “Walkin’ in Memphis” by Marc Cohn and the foot-stompin’ energy of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” by Rednex. The list goes on and on. Popular music is littered with groups who had one big hit before disappearing into the mist of passing time. Whatever happened to so many “can’t-miss” acts that came and went so quickly? Is there a one-hit wonder that still sings in your memory? A number of years ago Tom Hanks wrote, directed, and produced a great little movie called That Thing You Do. It’s the story of a [...]