I recorded this years ago and I'd forgotten all about it until my neighbor, Donald, gave me an enthusiastic account of his tour of the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee. Apparently the tour guide repeatedly made reference to a River of Jack, which really piqued Donald's interest. Although he was fascinated by the history of the distillery and

I recorded this years ago and I'd forgotten all about it until my neighbor, Donald, gave me an enthusiastic account of his tour of the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee. Apparently the tour guide repeatedly made reference to a River of Jack, which really piqued Donald's interest. Although he was fascinated by the history of the distillery and the production methods of his drink of choice--and after trying several samples, the words of the tour guide gradually became a blur for Donald.. He just kept thinking to himself ..and possibly asking out loud, "where is this River of Jack?" His account reminded me of this tune. Donald and his wife Liz are about the best neighbors you could have. They're always looking out for you and you can always count on them in times of need. This recording was initially kind of an experiment to see if I could successfully play and record slide on my only guitar at the time. My verdict was almost,

This song is based on my son Meharo’s view of the politics of our household. I am frequently presented with hand drawn tabloid newspaper headlines and bombarded by questions from “Manley Johnson” of the “The Kitchen Defender.” It is quite relentless. The basic gist of it is: The President of the Bettison household is President Patrick, of the

This song is based on my son Meharo’s view of the politics of our household. I am frequently presented with hand drawn tabloid newspaper headlines and bombarded by questions from “Manley Johnson” of the “The Kitchen Defender.” It is quite relentless. The basic gist of it is: The President of the Bettison household is President Patrick, of the Peace and Love Party. Reggie (the passive aggressive dog), as the leader of the Raid Party, desperately wants to become president of the house. Although Reggie is publicly quite happy go lucky, when in the backyard he would display episodes of ferocity toward passersby. Reggie was often taunted by Orange Cat who would casually preen himself on the other side of the backyard gate. Reggie would be enraged by Orange Cats audacity. Orange Cat, unimpressed or fooled by Reggie’s antics and aware of Reggie’s lust for power, authors an expose entitled Demonic: The Life and Crimes of Reginald Prance Chompy-face Then one day a missing poster appears at the front door of the Bettison household: Missing. Orange Cat. If seen please call 727..etc. Reggie is a suspect. Manley Johnson is a journalist for the conservative pro Raid Party tabloid - The Kitchen Defender. Though Manley presents himself as a man’s man, he is terrified of large Florida cockroaches which he calls “Megs.” Manley campaigns hard for Reggie’s presidential aspirations. He accuses President Patrick of being a puppet of cockroaches, or Megs, as he calls them. He wants Nic Cage as VP (he ate a cockroach in Vampire’s Kiss) and Alex Jones as Minister of Defense. He believes in the Raid Party policy: Raid should be used on megs if they enter the house, and Raid should be routinely sprayed around the house as a precautionary measure. Manley Johnson and The Kitchen Defender repeatedly criticize President Patrick’s Meg deportation, live and let live policy as not strong enough. The President is accused of collusion with the Megs. The Kitchen Defender always presents President Patrick’s friendly smile as an evil grin. Manley Johnson claims President Patrick is receiving instructions and communicating with megs during bathroom visits. He claims the President is lowered down via the bathtub to the crawl space under the house, and that he communicates with the Megs using a secret microphone he has installed in his penis. Manley routinely calls for President Patrick to show us the microphone. He leads protests outside the bathroom door, “Let Us In, Let Us In!!! Why won’t you let us in,” he will say. “If there is no microphone, why won’t you let us see?” “Show us the microphone.” Manley Johnson makes repeated offers to inspect the President’s microphone in a private, intimate setting.

This tune features my good friend Andy Hamill on Acoustic Bass. Both Andy and I were lucky enough to work with and be mentored by Bobby Wishart. Always brimming with enthusiasm, he was an amazing teacher and musician with a quirky sense of humor. One of the many wacky things I remember him doing was sending record albums he wanted to himself,

This tune features my good friend Andy Hamill on Acoustic Bass. Both Andy and I were lucky enough to work with and be mentored by Bobby Wishart. Always brimming with enthusiasm, he was an amazing teacher and musician with a quirky sense of humor. One of the many wacky things I remember him doing was sending record albums he wanted to himself, periodically. He would address them "To Bobby, from a friend," in his un-mistakeable hand writing and send them off, all just to make his wife have a chuckle when they arrived in the mail. I could never express in words how much I appreciated all the things Bobby taught me, not that he would be interested in those kind of accolades. So I decided to dedicate a tune to him instead and have Andy Hamill play on it too, We're going to mail it to him anonymously. and address it "To Bobby from a Friend" using samples of his unique hand writing that we have...and photoshop. He will probably be on to us in a flash.