

Lover’s Prayer
Words by Will Dockery & Sandy Madaris, Music by Gene Wolfolk & Henry Conley
I need a lover’s Prayer
Coming straight through the air
Stalking restless and scared
I need a lover’s prayer
Still frozen on the avenue
I look around and see you
Water flows... DooDooDoo
I need a lover’s prayer
Between the eyes from the air
Stalking and scared
I need a lover’s prayer
Stranded on the avenue
Look around and I see you
“Because I see your face
Everywhere
As I walk down life’s Highways
Lookin for you”
Water flows...
I want to float you
LaLaLaLaLa...
DooDooDoo...
Lover’s Prayer
Words by Will Dockery & Sandy Madaris, Music by Gene Wolfolk & Henry Conley
I need a lover’s Prayer
Coming straight through the air
Stalking restless and scared
I need a lover’s prayer
Still frozen on the avenue
I look around and see you
Water flows... DooDooDoo
I need a lover’s prayer
Between the eyes from the air
Stalking and scared
I need a lover’s prayer
Stranded on the avenue
Look around and I see you
“Because I see your face
Everywhere
As I walk down life’s Highways
Lookin for you”
Water flows...
I want to float you
LaLaLaLaLa...
DooDooDoo...
Backyard Blues
It was a hot and balmy Saturday night. The intermittent rain only pushed the humidity level off the charts. I had heard good things about Backyard Blues. Something was happening at a grassroots level. After all, I received my invite courtesy of Will Dockery, Columbus’ poet laureate and Ralph Frank, our own drummer/sign painter/folk artist extraordinaire.
Thomas Gottshall purchased the old “coin op” laundry and accompanying garage-style building on Sixth Street and First Avenue. He has been renovating and restoring the old building in hopes of turning it into a music and arts complex. Floor plans have been created featuring performance space, meeting rooms and a recording studio. The building is made of brick and features a wooden-arched roof.
The large main room has a small stage on one end and has surprisingly good acoustics, thanks to the arched ceiling. The crowd was sparse but very enthusiastic and consisted mostly of musicians, artists and residents of the historic district. Most occupied the church pews inside, brought their own lawn chairs (and favorite beverages) or stood in the open air. The music, much like the weather, was steaming hot.
After several acoustic performers, the Shadowville All-stars took the stage. This band of rock n’ roll renegades are fronted by Will Dockery who has long needed a launch pad for his eclectic, imagery-laden, neo-beatific poems. Chain-smoking, spontaneously gesturing towards make-believe objects and addressing imaginary characters, Dockery sang with a gravel-throated limp to a rolling, bluesy romp in the swamp. Sounding like a cross between Tom Waits, Lou Reed and the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction, Dockery and crew chugged through their myriad of originals about pool halls, bridges, tragedies, lost love and relationships.
The music of the All-stars was gritty and down-to-earth: a solid backbeat encircled by the meandering bass lines of Sam Singer and two blues-infused electric guitars (one tremolo-heavy surf-induced). The band was joined on stage by Henry Parker for a long, bombastic version of Sweet Jane by the Velvet Underground.
I was glad to hear this crew of upstarts carving out musical sketches of Smith-station, the Dillingham Street Bridge and other Columbus-inspired landmarks. I hope to see a lot more of the Shadowville All-stars. They kicked out the jams. Check out their space at http://www.myspace.com/shadowvilleallstars.
Next up were the vocal harmonies of Kat and Renee, both of whom have wonderful voices. Their blues and country-inspired tunes paved the way for Columbus’ best kept secret – The Muff-tones.
The Muff-tones are made up of three very talented brothers, Jim, Jack and John. Their aural soundscapes drift across the plain of bluegrass, folk and sweeping instrumental originals. The Muff-tones play both acoustic and electric instruments naturally or through various effects, sounding at once intensely original and vaguely familiar.
The band started their set in a traditional formation – guitar, banjo and electric bass. The sound was also traditional, very much like standard bluegrass. Jim then switched his banjo for a dobro and then replaced that with a mandolin. The trio swooped and sweltered through some speedy newgrass, ragtime and instrumental folk ballads. Titles included “Road to Recovery,” “Running from Nothing,” “Bleach” and “Square Dance.” “Searching” was described by Jim as something “Barry White would play if he grew up in Kentucky.” Each piece told a story.
Slowly the effects were added. Jack played his acoustic guitar through a synth pedal, making the instrument sound like keyboard washes. Jim then pulled out an old Ibanez electric head-banger guitar and played it through an assortment of effects. This all added to an interstellar sound that brought the listener from the coalmines of Kentucky to a psychedelic galaxy far, far away.
The Muff-tones ended their set with a very dexterous groove full of rich, acoustic textures and synchronistic rhythms showcasing these front porch symphonies. The band seems to be tightening up its sound and line-up. This band is worth catching around town.
The final act at Backyard Blues was Eddie Jones. Jones sat on stage like a professional blues player and belted out “I Got a Woman” by Ray Charles and jammed with a young bass player and Jim from the Muff-tones on some blues in E.
He was then joined on stage by Eileen d’Esterno, a local sculptor and painter who began singing the blues in a sultry and sexy voice. Whether it was her verses or the swaying of her hips in front of the still seated Jones, the performance was cut short by Jones’ significant other who ruches on stage only to yank the cable from the guitar, silencing the room and leaving d’Esterno to ask: “What happened? Did the cops come?”
The cops should have come. I haven’t had more fun of recent, and best of all, the event was free. All performers gave of their time and talent, and some really good folks supported the event with sound, lights and spirit. Gotshall said he would host more of these events, so keep your ears open for good things to come from Backyard Blues.
Indian Summer
It’s getting late,
The birds have flown
There’s a hint of
winter in the air
and the crops have all
been grown
The sun sinks low, behind
the ridge
All I can say is that it’s
been a privilege
The seeds of change ride
on the wind
Casting longer shadows
that further bend the limb
As we go on, we learn to
pick
the fruits of our labor
while we cheat the mad
man’s trick
Indian Summer, Seasons
shift
The last leaf has fallen,
the harvest has been sewn
and so the hangman’s
found no rope today
hey ey hey...
In God we trust, In love
we live
In the end we find we get
back all that we give
With an open heart, with
an open mind
We discover it’s the
truth for all mankind
It’s getting late,
as father time
approaches like a reaper
and we make the final
climb
and with open arms, we let
him in
knowing when the race is
run, it’s back to dust again, yeah
Another Indian summer...
The Cowboy drifts.. Mmmm
drift on...
Words by: Sandy
Madaris
Randy Thorn proposed CD
Title
OLD STANDARDS
A Hymn From Way Back Home
Amazing Grace
Because He Lives
Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain
I Can Almost See The Lights Of Home
I Saw The Light
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms
Learning To Lean
Precious Memories
So Much To Thank Him For
That’s The Man I’m Lookin’ For
The King Of Glory
The Lighthouse
The Old Country Church
The Old Ship Of Zion
Time Has Made A Change In Me
What A Day That Will Be
When He Beckons Me Home
Where Would I Be Without Jesus
Zion’s Hill
Kingside Recordings
Open Poetry Reading with Featured Poet Justin Blackburn
Bring a poem to read during the open poetry reading! Our featured poet is Justin Blackburn.
Justin Blackburn is the author of two books, Gifted Disabilities and It's Hard To Get There When You Are Already There. Currently is writing a book called Enjoy The Irresistible Present, he hopes it will help continue to raise the vibration of the human beings upon planet earth. Justin Blackburn believes we live in a perfect world, where you rule your own universe. He is an Intuitive spiritual counselor at Kimah Healing Arts Center. This is an encore performance for Justin who featured for us last year and was a big hit!!
When
Jun 4, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Where
Columbus Public Library (auditorium) 3000 Macon Rd Columbus, Georgia
For more information
Contact: Ron Self
Phone: 706 221-4370
Justin Blackburn
Twenty Dollars
Just letting you know
The other day
When I hurt your feelings
By inferring you were balding
It had nothing to do with you really
It was my own insecurities
See for a moment there
I thought my girlfriend liked you better than me
I became very scared and jealous
I criticized you to make myself feel better
And to make my girlfriend think you were ugly
You are not ugly,
You are not even balding,
There is nothing wrong with thin hair.
Along with the note
I have left you twenty dollars
Go buy yourself a nice big breakfast
Or a Beatles album
It is the least I can do.
Ashes to Justice
Sundown about a week ago,
I took a rest.
I burned the winter bullets
at her request.
She reached out and touched him
through her void.
And when his heart burst
his dream was destroyed.
Ashes to justice
they spread in the dust... us.
Spirits in the air
and the voice is there.
She fled to the underground
as clear as dawn.
All the fragments were strewn
they could not be found.
They were of pictures
stained on the glass.
The smell of summer
rising up from the grass.
What he can do
is what he don't want to do.
Look into her chemicals
and the cobalt eyes.
His head fell suddenly
against the ground.
The glass on the canvas
made a crinkling sound.
Ashes to dust... us
is looking for justice.
Spirit in the air
going who knows where.
-Will Dockery