Bailout Blues

I've been working on this song for a couple of weeks. These are trying times we are living through and it's mind blowing to watch our government throwing huge amounts of money at the banks that are foreclosing on people's homes while abandoning the working class that creates the foundation of our economy. A house without a foundation cannot stand no matter how much money you pile up on the roof...

Bailout Blues
Lost Hills

Johnny works construction
When there's work to be had.
He fell behind on his child support,
Now he's a dead beat dad.
They took away his license,
Now he ain't supposed to drive.
Now how's gonna do
What he has to do to survive?

Now he's driving in to Oildale
To pick up his son.
He gets pulled over for a burned out tail light
And his troubles really bugun
Now he's staring at the pavement
As the tow truck hauls his pick-up away.
Johnny needs a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today....

Johnny needs a job
That will pay a living wage.
So he can pay his bills on time
And hold his head up straight.
It ain't his fault no one's buying houses these days.
Johnny needs a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today...

Johnny's ex-wife, Susan,
Has been waitress for years.
Now she's working two jobs,
But they've both cut back her hours.
Both her ex-husbands are out of work
And about out of time.
She's got two beautuful kids
That need more than what she can provide.

Now she's waitin' on Johnny
To come pick up little Joe.
She doesn't know that he's standing
There alone by the side of the road.
And Joe keeps asking,
"How come my Daddy's so late?"
Susan needs a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today....

Susan needs a bailout
in the worst kind of way,
Maybe she should change her name
To A.I.G.
If she had an office on Wall Street
The government would rush to her aid.
Susan needs a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today...

Susan's parents, Bob and Helen,
Have worked hard all their lives.
Well, they never got rich,
But they've done all right.
They were thinking about retiring early,
But that's not to be.
Because everything they've worked for
Has up and blown away.

They had some money with an invester
That turned out to be a fraud.
Bob's pension disappeared
When his company went belly up.
Now they're looking through the want ads
For anything that pays minimum wage.
Bob and Helen need a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today....

Bob and Helen need a bailout
Because they've worked hard all their lives.
They shouldn't have to be flippin' burgers
Or standing in a wellfare line.
And the president's on the radio
Saying, "Everything's gonna be okay!"
Bob and Helen need a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today...

Now Johnny's picking up cans by the roadside
Just to get himself a beer
And Susan's getting letters from the landlord
By certified mail.
Bob and Helen are selling their furniture
Just to help out Sue.
And little Joe's left wondering
What happened to the world he once knew.

America needs a bailout,
But it ain't comin' today.
Ain't no check in the mail,
Ain't no help on the way.
Seven Hundred Billion
To the crooks that put us in this place.
And the president's on the TV
Saying, "Everything's gonna be okay!"

America needs a bailout--
But it ain't comin' today...

Hell, I could use one, Brother--
And I need it today.

Be sure to pause the Soundclick Player before playing the video.

Treehuggers Ball

A great time was had by all at the Treehuggers Ball. It's a green expo and music festival put on by the Canyonlands Conservation Fund and the Orange Hills Task Force of the Sierra Club to raise money to protect the last open space in Orange County from developement.

I was invited to play by my friend Karl, who is a nephew of Woody Guthrie, so of course I played some Woody Guthrie songs. It was held in still wild Baker Canyon, and there were exhibits, demonstrations, arts and crafts, a deep pit barbecue dinner, speakers, and about eight hours of music under the stars. There was a Bluegrass band, a Jazz Trio, a Blues-Rock band, a funky folk singer, and the headliners were Cubensis, a popular and inspiring So-Cal Grateful Dead tribute band.

I was the opening act, so there wasn't a big audience, but I played my originals and some dust bowl ballads for the exhibitors and the arriving treehuggers and I got a good response and met a lot of great people. It was really a special event, and I take my hat off to Chay, Karl, Dennis, Ed, Leslie and all the hard working people who made it possible. I was invited to play again next year, and I'm already looking forward to it.....

http://www.treehuggersball.org/

The video is my version of Woody Guthrie's I Ain't Got No Home. You need to pause the Soundclick player in the upper right hand corner before starting the video.

Upcoming Shows

I have a couple of shows coming up...

September 20th

Fund Raiser for R.E.V.A. Cooperative Spay And Neuter Mobile Clinic.

@ Kern Valley Senior Center

6409 Isabella Bilvd

Lake Isabella, CA 93240

4 to 8 PM

$20.00 Donation includes a great dinner and entertainment by local artists.

_________________________

September 21st

Pagan Pride Harvest Festival

Stramler Park

3805 Chester Avenue

Bakersfield, CA 93301

11 to 4 :00 PM

This is going to be a very cool outdoor event with a lot of good things going on.

Kern County Pagan Pride

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September 27th and 28th:

Turkey Vulture Festival

Kern River Preserve

18747 HWY 78, weldon CA 93283

I'll playing originals and folk songs from 10 to 11:30 Saturday and Sunday, opening for Out Of The Blue. It's always beautiful out here this time of year, and it's always a good time.

______________________________

October 12th:

I'll be returning to Linnaea's Cafe in San Luis Obispo.

7 to 9 PM.

1110 Garden Street

San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Linnaea's has been called "the ultimate coffee house" for good reson.

____________________________

October 23rd:

I'll be returning to Mama Hillybeans in Tehachapi.

This is going to be cool-- A slow Tursday night in the coolest place with the best sound system around.

peace!

Highway 58

Highway 58

by Lost Hills

Out in this country all men are Kings

And all the women can drink you under the table.

If you can find one...

The cattle own these hills one roamed ny antelope.

Those fleet and curious beasts were consumed

By the skillets of the Boomers in the valley.

~

Those gold camps and oil towns have vanished too,

Blown away by the winds that never sleep.

But the cattle remain...

Trudging to ancient water troughs,

Propelled by genes that go back to Spain, Africa,

And probably back to the dinosaurs.

~

They once said that all roads lead to Rome,

As if a road was like a river that flows to the sea.

But a road is not a river.

All roads lead to other roads, other trails, other visions,

Other memories...

And to lonely graves, scoured clean by the wind.

~

The coyote jogs down the middle of the road,

Tongue lolling in the morning breeze.

He is a friend of mine. He follows me down all these old roads.

He is more than just a trickster.

He is the totem of the lost and lonely;

The faithful companion of all us weary wanderers...

~

Another windblown cowtown.

Two churches, two bars and a grammar school.

Two paths to redemption, two paths to oblivion,

And one road out of here.

The Rodeo Queen found her own way out.

Married a rock star...

Partied with Belushi on the night he OD'd.

Yeah Baby, let the good times roll,

And there's a horse ranch in the divorce settlement.

Arabians...

~

Out on Huerhuero Creek they made the hippies' last stand

And their poetry still hangs in the breeze.

A well worn trail led up to the garden in the box canyon.

The Marijuanero tending his crop with a shotgun and a water can.

Drawing down on a deer at the salt lick with an old .32 Winchester.

Playing Grateful Dead and Hank Williams to the stoned sunset on a cheap guitar.

If that ain't country...

~

The coyotes hunted peacocks and sang their songs with new colors.

Beauregard running deer from here to Templeton,

Puzzling the coyote with his long drawn swamp dog calls.

When he wore himself out he would sit by the side of the road

Waiting for a kindly neighbor's pick-up truck.

Goddam hitch-hiking dawg....

~

The rivers here run dry,

But the whiskey and the gin will always flow free...

Anna pours her own grave from a rocking chair.

Cowboy Bob crashing through fences in the night,

Sleeping it off on a mattress in the tractor shed.

Gospel music flying through the too bright rays of Sunday morning.

Now where's that truck?

~

The cowboys wear their spurs to bed.

They know their days are numbered,

Counted in cigarettes, beers, cups of coffee and gallons of gasoline.

The indians are not remembered by name.

The places where they camped

Occupied by abandoned diners and watering holes for cattle.

They all became cowboys in the end,

The skulls of their ancestors grinning under glass

In small town museums closed for lack of funding...

~

And then the breeze shifts,

We crest the ridge,

And I behold the waves of the endless sea.

For that is where the road leads on this morning.

At least in my own mind...

And the coyote waits on a hill for my return.

.

The Moon Of The Wild Rose

In the lost universe, the lives of the people followed the seasons.

There was the Moon of making fat,

The Moon of the blooming lillies,

The Moon of the dying grass,

The Moon of the falling leaves,

The Moon of drifting snow,

The Moon of popping trees,

The Moon of strong cold,

The Moon of the buffalo calves,

The Moon when the geese lay eggs,

And the Moon of the Wild Rose...

Put Them Ghosts To Sleep

I live with ghosts. For the most part in relative harmony. But that comes with age...

This is a song I wrote for my Uncle John. I was working on it when he passed away, and finished it that evening. His passing represented the passing of an era for me. The bear traps and branding irons hanging on the walls of his barn were tools that he had actually used. There was harness and saddles and cowboy gear and mining equipment in there that were museum quality, but watch out for them old boxes of dynamite...

His hunter's eyes were always scanning the hillsides for movement. The wrinkles were from squinting against the sun, and from laughter. There was always an old dog around, and a couple of horses, even if he didn't ride them anymore...

We never did go on that last hunting trip. Sometimes promises get broken. I have that old 30/30 now, but I haven't decided if I'm ever going to use it . There are still a few of the old timers left around here, but there era has passed and they know it.

And the ghosts-- well, they need their sleep...

More Video from the Turkey Vulture Festival

Juanita (Circles In The Sand)
Here's another song I played at the Turkey Vulture Festival. One of my older songs about the roaming the hills of California. Yes, Sagebrush can draw circles in the sand-- when the wind pushes the branches from different directions. The branch could not scribe a complete circle without snapping, but it can draw a portion of one. When the wind switches directions, it can draw another portion as the first one is being erased. So a complete circle can only appear when the wind changes directions many times in a short period. (Natural Science 101) So it's a rare and cherished event when you find one.

I've found a couple, but I ain't tellin' where....

Some more video of the Vulture Fest, by Erin, here:

Circles

Keep exploring, my friends. That's how you find things....