专辑简介

I'm a Southern guy who's lived in New York a lot, so my songwriting influences are Southern roots music and the lyric agility of American Songbook stylists like Johnny Mercer. I started to come into my own in Chapel Hill in the 1970's, along with my musician and singer friends on Blue Heaven, so this album is a combination of deep artistic friendships of many decades and new songs given a tremendous boost by savvy, but also very youthful, playing and singing. Over the years I've had some adventures collaborating on original Americana scores for theatre projects, including Broadway's Tony-nominated (Best Musical) Pump Boys And Dinettes, and King Mackerel & The Blues Are Running: Songs And Stories of the Carolina Coast, which Bland Simpson, Don Dixon and I are still performing 30 years on, often as a fundraiser for the environment and the arts. I enjoy sharing the stage and there's a lot of that on this record, with friends who are at the top of their game and understand naturally what these Southern songs are all about. I'm grateful to be in the mix, feeling good and doing what I do, and as Johnny Mercer said, "Spread Joy to the Maximum!" That's what this record's all about.