“…You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?” Although I wouldn’t ask the question in exactly the same way Clint Eastwood did in the 1971 flick Dirty Harry, the broad question is always relevant. Sound Traveler has recently begun performing a song by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat called “Lucky.” Since the song was released only a few years ago and was recently featured on the television show “Glee,” we feel like we’re cutting edge when we sing it. It’s a simple song musically, with two voices and an acoustic guitar telling the story. There isn’t even an instrumental break in the song. But the topic, two people feeling blessed and grateful, works for a lot of people. Lucky Songwriters: Caillat, Colbie Marie; Fagen, Timothy James; Mraz, Jason Thomas; (2008) Do you hear [...]

We all remember where we were and how we felt when we saw the Twin Towers collapse in New York. Some of us are old enough to remember exactly the moment we heard of John Kennedy’s assassination. And, in between, many of us remember the first moment we realized that the Challenger Shuttle had gone down. I feel a unique pain even now as I think about it. Space used to be a different place. It presented us with challenge and promise. A young president had looked at the moon and said that we would go there, regardless of the difficulty. On the television we could hear a very American James T. Kirk intoning “To boldly go where no man has gone before….” We looked up to the sky with wonder and optimism. And the United States had a national [...]

It was almost our first “date” together, and the band was playing their hearts out. Some friends who had known Patty and her family for a long time leaned over and asked me, “So do you dance?” I answered, “That’s why I learned to play music, so I wouldn’t have to dance.” “Well, if you’re going to date her, that’ll change.” I wasn’t so sure about that, but here I am a few years later — a married man and a card-carrying contra dancer. To be honest, Patty didn’t make me take up the activity. But it didn’t take me long to realize that dancing (especially contra dancing) wasn’t just something Patty did; it also revealed something about who she was. A contra dance isn’t like the dances I went to as a young man. At a good contra dance, [...]

I am so lucky to live in a family that shares so many things with each other. We are flung to the far corners of civilization, it seems, but we are all connected by way of the World Wide Web. We celebrate good times together, and we support each other in difficult times as well. Also, from time to time, one of us finds something particularly amusing or profound and passes that on to the rest of us. Just last week my brother in Texas sent a list of amusing anecdotes offered by grandparents. They were all funny, but this one caught my sense of the brilliantly absurd: A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather’s word processor. She told him she was writing a story. “What’s it about?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I can’t [...]

When I was a kid in grade school, I met a guy named Eddie. You may know him by Ed, Jay, or J. Edward, but it’s the same guy regardless of what you call him. Music was a common bond for us, right from the start. While many kids our age wanted to be great rock soloists, Eddie wanted to sing harmony. When we’d listen to the soaring solos of Paul McCartney or Frankie Valli, Eddie was listening to The Beatles or The Four Seasons – almost the same thing the rest of us were doing, but not quite. He would even buy Lettermen albums (remember The Lettermen? remember albums?) because they were the greatest harmony singers around. What was it about harmony that got to him? After he and I started singing together, it all began to make sense [...]

I am currently writing a song about a white Cadillac limousine. It’s a nonsensical little tune that makes me smile. It’s not like anything I’ve written before, but at the same time it bears a connection to every other tune I’ve ever conceived. This is not a new thing – making up songs. I’ve been doing it almost as long as I can remember. By the time I was ten years old, I could play the guitar just a little, and I actually began writing songs down. Off the top of my head, I recall one I wrote just after returning from a summer 4-H camp. I had seen a young girl at a dance, and I had hoped for an instant romance. I hadn’t really thought about what that might involve, but I had enough inspiration for a song: [...]

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (from the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.) I too have a dream. My dream is that all people everywhere will realize that we share a common essence, that our emotions are shared emotions, and that the One God who beckons us is the same God. I dream that one day our spirits will sing together in perfect harmony, a harmony that draws from the richness of our different backgrounds to produce the most glorious song – one that is now only imagined by the Divine. – Bob Tatum

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…” (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare) As a performing musician, I am always impressed by people who don’t play but who really appreciate music. And I have met many – even those who were listening to me! I have always accepted that my ability to play music is a gift, but I also recognize that people who really appreciate music have a gift of their own – a gift that they share with me every time they sit down and listen to something I perform. I’d like to share just five of the things I’ve observed about them: 1. Live music appreciators take opportunities to hear live music, and they listen to it. I know a number of people who are familiar with many musical artists. They know details about what they play, how [...]

When was the last time you felt music weave through your soul and lift your heart? For me, it happened yesterday. The weather loomed gray and forbidding; darkening clouds hovered, punctuated by flashes of distant lightning. A group of mourners gathered around a casket suspended above a freshly dug grave. And the graveside service began. This setting didn’t seem quite appropriate for the deceased, Mrs. Phyllis Rohlwing, who had been such a vibrant, talented, and loving lady who was finally taken as she approached her 90th birthday. Would the service of the celebration of such a life end in darkness, rain, and gloom? Then came the first clear notes sounded by Patty’s silver trumpet, followed by voices singing the following: You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, Who abide in His shadow for life, Say to the Lord, [...]

Thomas Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.” This comes from an illustrious inventor, reportedly a workaholic, who seldom slept for more than four hours a night. And while I might quibble with the relative percentages, the point is a good one. Genius, along with its potential fruits, is hard work. Many times I have felt the fluttering butterfly of inspiration land in the soft recesses of my cerebrum. It’s a pleasurable feeling, and I recognize it as something of worth. Often I just let an idea flicker in my mind while I watch in bemusement. Sometimes I have the foresight to write the idea down, hoping to get back to it later. More often, however, I postpone any action until a later time when I think I’ll have the leisure to flesh the idea out in more [...]