Welcome friends!

Thanks for stopping by! If you’re visiting this page, I’ve directed you here so that you can hear two recordings that will NOT appear on my forthcoming CD, The Basement Tapes, which is a collection of early songs and recordings. Most of the songs in the collection—though not all—were written while I was at Haverford; most of the recordings were made a few years later when I was living in New York. (At that point I had better recording equipment and much more experience as a performer and recording artist.)

The first song, The Early Morning Ovaltine Blues, was very popular while I was in college. (In case you’re not familiar with it, Ovaltine—still available—is a “vitamin-enriched” chocolate powder you add to milk.) A few of you who were around back then may know that some friends of mine at Bryn Mawr actually baked me a cake decorated to look like a bottle of Ovaltine! Among my relatives, requests for me to play the Ovaltine Blues became so frequent that I finally refused to play it any more.

Sadly, the song hasn’t held up well with the passage of time, and thus did not make the cut for the Basement Tapes CD. But for those of you who remember it, here’s the demo I recorded a few years later!

The Early Morning Ovaltine Blues

 

The second song, Friend, Lover and Sympathy, was written during my freshman year at Haverford after I was shamed into learning to fingerpick by my friend and fellow singer-songwriter, Matt Allan. This recording was made sitting around in my dormitory at Haverford that year. Matt is playing second guitar and singing harmony. Fellow musicians Neal Warres and Sue Nicesinger are also on the recording (Neal on violin, Sue on flute). The electric bass part was added later, possibly by Matt. The sound isn’t perfect—the recording required some digital tinkering to get it this clean and clear. Nevertheless, it’s a sweet performance. Enjoy!

Friend, Lover and Sympathy

The songs/recordings that did make the cut are being released one per month as I write this; they are then moved to the “free downloads” page. (See the menu at the top of this page!) By late 2018 all of the Basement Tapes tracks should have been published on this website; at that point I’ll release the physical CD. Once the CD is available, I’ll just leave one or two of the most popular tracks on the downloads page. Then it’s on to the next album of new material! I hope you’ll check out some of those recordings, too!!