Yes, our bouncing baby CD will be delivered sometime in the next 2 weeks! The proud parents are anxiously awaiting his arrival. Our CD release party will be at Carolina BBQ in beautiful downtown Newland, NC on Thursday, June 23, from 6:00-9:00 PM. And just in case the Carolina BBQ name sounds familiar to you, there’s a reason: it’s the place where we met playing at an open mic 6 summers ago, it’s where Sound Traveler’s first official gig took place, and it’s the catering service we hired for our wedding reception! For our Florida friends: we’ll have another CD release party sometime in August or September. For our friends in other places: the CD will be available for purchase at I-Tunes, Amazon.com, CD Baby, etc. It’s all very exciting! Details to follow…

When I was younger, I was not really a “Southern Rock” kind of guy. Southern Rock bands seemed like good old country boys who somehow came into possession of powerful PA equipment. The result was loud and in your face, but my face was turned. I guess I should have known that I was off base when songs like “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Give me Three Steps,” and “Fire on the Mountain” crept into my consciousness. Still, I felt I was a little too refined for the whole scene. It wasn’t until many years later that I seriously listened to some of the Southern Rock tunes and became really impressed. One of the most memorable groups was the Allman Brothers Band, and one of their great songs that you can still hear on classic rock radio stations is “Ramblin’ Man.” Even [...]

I am not a shopper. If it were up to me, I would have a selected menu of items delivered to my home periodically and be done with it. The delivery would include basic food, cleaning supplies, and even clothes. Oh, I can shop, and I am a frugal shopper, but it is a chore that I don’t enjoy. There is, however, an exception. Like a moth to a flame, I am attracted to pawn shops and flea markets. Now let me be clear, in my opinion most of what I see in pawn shops and flea markets is just junk. I spend only a matter of moments breezing past slightly oily-smelling tools, used clothes (used for what, I don’t know), and trinkets that people bought for reasons I can never fathom. Then there are the musical instruments, and each [...]

Rocket Man She packed my bags last night pre-flight Zero hour nine a.m. And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then I miss the earth so much I miss my wife It’s lonely out in space On such a timeless flight And I think it’s gonna be a long long time Till touch down brings me round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I’m a rocket man Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids In fact it’s cold as hell And there’s no one there to raise them if you did And all this science I don’t understand It’s just my job five days a week A rocket man, a rocket man And I think [...]

Everyone loved it – especially the love bugs! The day, Mother’s Day on the Indian River Queen, could be no more perfect – clear skies, very gentle breeze, and the promise of smooth sailing as far as the eye could see. And the gleaming paddle-wheel river boat was simply charming, proudly poised with a cozy yet elegant dining room and two upper decks, each easily allowing a 360 degree view of the expansive Indian River Estuary. Only one compromising feature confronted us upon arrival – countless love bugs had descended, completely enveloping this otherwise regal gem of the waters. I quickly looked around for Moses because obviously one of the ten plagues of Egypt had suddenly made its unexpected, untimely and unwelcome appearance. Penny, the self-proclaimed “boat lady,” sprang into action. And her crew, always at the ready, scurried to [...]

“My mama had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.” (from Forrest Gump) My mother…what a woman! She’ll be 89 this summer, but it seems like she’s been a force of nature forever. At five years old she was the eldest daughter of a widowed mother. In her twenties she was the young bride of a dapper Navy man in World War II, and by the end of the war she was the mother of a bouncing baby boy. Then over the next 18 years she gave that little boy five brothers and sisters, all raised under the auspices of the Holy Catholic Church and her own unwavering hand. Together with her husband, Jep, she provided a safe, secure, and nurturing environment from which we were allowed to become what we would be. In 2001 I sat [...]

Sound Traveler has a double-header on Mother’s Day. We will be playing a morning service at the Center for Spiritual Living in Rockledge, and later we will be providing music on the Indian River Queen — an old-style paddle wheeler. For those in the Melbourne area, we will be doing a free concert in the Brevard Art Museum in Eau Gallie on Friday the 6th. Come on out and share in the fun! To respond, click on the title, scroll down and share.

I went to sleep last night before I knew that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I had gone to sleep before I realized that one man’s death was to cause such rejoicing. Instead I dreamed about whether there would ever be a world where international disputes would be settled by something other than killing – if there ever would be a day when people would finally resort to something other than bloodshed to solve our biggest problems. I swear that I dreamed about that. Songs have led men into battle. My great great great grandfather, John Michael Doyle, was a drummer with the 51st Ohio Infantry in the Civil War, tapping out a cadence as men marched into battle. The first song I ever played on the piano was “The Marine’s Hymn.” Still, like so many in my generation, [...]