Feral thoughts:
I have added a few of my songs to the fcat lineup -- written over the years that I'd thought I'd give some explanation for:
Battle Of Franklin : My family toured a civil war battle ground south of Nashville on a recent visit and had this guide at the Carter plantation near Franklin, TN that rocked our existence. Rob, our guide, yelled at us for two hours, cried, and, quite frankly, had us in the palm of his hand for the entire tour. (My oldest rolled her eyes six or seven times so you know it was pretty good). It is a moving story and Rob made it so we felt like the farmers waking on that November 30 morning, finding General Scofield and 23,000 Federal (Union) soldiers at their door, taking the hillside and farm for diggin in --so to hold off the appoaching 22,000 Confederate troops led by General Hood in the valley below. Then we morphed into that day in the life of the Confederate soldier, then into that day in the life of a Federal soldier. We put our fingers in the musketball holes in the farmhouse and out buildings, saw the blood stained floors of the farmhouse where the surgeons worked on wounded, and heard all the gory details of this 1 day battle in which nearly 10,000 lost their lives. Rob was incredible.....
A Good Waltz: In 8th grade we had to dance as a part of our Physical Education experience. It was a terrifying walk to the gym, knowing you had to find a partner to learn a new, weird dance with, and I was not very confident (especially with girls) in those years at all. I remember the gym and the smell and the sounds very clearly --faces have blurred and the actual events of the day are unclear but this song is my reflection of that day in the small, strange gym in the Wellsburg, IA school building so long ago. I remember standing at the wall of the gym just freaklng out inside as the teacher explained the dance--wondering how I was going to survive this--totally frozen in my tracks. One of my classmates grabbed my hand and said --lets dance --we headed out to the floor... and I am forever thankful.
Pair Of Dimes: About all those things that change the way you think forever -- the death of a good friend, finding true love, having kids, and events like Katrina and 9/11. Its kind of an "if I only knew then what I know now" thing.....
If I'da Had You: I don't write too many love songs but this is one that came to me as I watched an afternoon of the movie channel and I realized that in each movie I watched --a western, a neanderthal caveman movie, a Start Trek movie, and one of the many takes of King Arthur -- a love story flowed through from one to the next....working love through the past to the future. (For LeaAnn).
Never Learned to Swim: This is a metaphoric look at love, dreams, and the rhythm of life.
Triple Keith: We've only gotten to play this out a couple times, but this is a song I wrote about the "Red Green" kind of guy who made the bar for barn. You can give this guy an idea and he can fabricate it. Builds houses and furniture, helps us maintain our homes and autos, and generally helps us out when in a bind. Educator extraordinaire. When I work on guitars he'll make the parts I can't find --incredible. One of his saying's when diggin into a project is, "wonder what would the Egyptians would do?"
dr
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Feral is as feral does........................Forrest Gump
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There is not a better backdrop for the feralcats than the old wood of the east end of the barn. I saw a concert of Tom Petty years ago and the stage was set up as if his living room studio(?) complete with Native American rugs, designs, and tapestries... buffalo head.... artifacts...it was pretty cool in its presentation.....but the Feralcat Wall of Barn is my favorite. -dr
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Feralcats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. - Garrison Keillor
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Suggestions for proper feralcat event behavior:
Remember our motto--everybody wants to be a feralcat!
To get the most out of our time together, Feralcat shows are a participatory endeavor for all--we expect dancing, stomping of feet, clapping, howling, yowling, and singing along ....feralcats don't need to sing pretty -- feralcats just need to be loud --- let yourself be heard. Let your feral side out.....
Feral Dancing is allowed--if you can dance like Mike--Oh my God, bring it on....
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Let us be feral, and wise, and our own, today. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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The house cat knows the rules, but the feralcat knows the exceptions. --Oliver Wendall Holmes
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Donkeyhole Studio, down on the farm, deserves mention....the fcats spend a lot of time there...it has a lot of names ...the burritohole, the granary, the D-hole, the catbox.......these enjoyable hours pass like the wind. We certainly enjoy when our friends stop by to play a little too....we have had some very good extensive jams with the likes of Sam Thompson, TJ Tweedy, Paul Tweed, Carroll Schaal, the good Dr. Kish, and even a couple of neighbors who stumbled upon us -- we like how music makes our feral world go round.
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A feralcat meow is like aloha - it can mean anything. - Hank Ketchum*****************************************************************************************************************
"Way down deep we are all motivated by the same urges, feralcats have the courage to live by them."
- Jim Davis******************************************************************************************************************
"One feralcat show just leads to another." - Ernest Hemingway*******************************************************************************************************************
"There is no snooze button on a feralcat who wants a beer." - Triple Keith*******************************************************************************************************************
The leaves have been swirling on the farm..... The studio has been warm and inviting. We've been working on new material....we put a couple more Drive by Truckers covers into the setlist, some cool Old 97's tunes, a couple classic Neil Young songs added, and we've written a couple recently that are begging to be added to the list.....
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Fall and Winter .... time to get out and rock!
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