Idaho Boy: What's The Latest?

Okay kids, here it is: A minute-and-a-half clip from the soon-to-be-world-famous South Lake Union Trolley (S.L.U.T.) song.
Just click on the "Listen to My Music" link and enjoy!

I wrote a song about the South Lake Union Trolley that has been getting local coverage on KOMO radio and KING TV. My 3-song EP CD with the song on it is available for $2 at Kapow Coffee 1165 Harrison St. in Seattle, the same place that sells the world famous "Ride the S.L.U.T." T-shirts.

I'll post a minute-and-a-half version of the song here on my web site in the next few days.

Here's my blog about my first ride on the SLUT during opening day ceremonies, Wednesday, Dec. 12th:

All speculation aside, you only have to ride one of the damn things to see what a boondoggle this thing is.

I wrote that "South Lake Union Trolley" song, so Jerry and Don from Kapow Coffee invited me and my friend Bill to "Ride the S.L.U.T." with them. We boarded about 12:45 PM at the Westlake hub, about the third or fourth trolley car to take off on this inaugural day. It was jammed because of the opening day celebrations, so we packed on like good sardines and we were off--for about five seconds. We had to wait for the traffic light, then we proceeded at a leisurely pace to the next traffic light, then the next, etc. Sometime in the first five minutes of the ride, Bill and I sang an acapella version of "The South Lake Union Trolley", since our arms were pinned to our sides and we couldn't reach our guitars. By 1:17 PM (not AM, thank God), we were down at the Fairview terminal, the other end of the line. Over half an hour to go 1.3 miles! I believe that works out to, oh let me see, two miles an hour! Not many people were getting on or off the first couple of stops, largely because we were jammed in there and couldn't get to the doors. By the time we got to Fairview Ave, about half the people had gotten off ("Gotten off on the SLUT!", Jerry declared) deciding they didn't want to use their entire lunch hour for a full loop trip.

Will this improve once opening day inertia wears off? Well, if the trolley gets less packed, as I predict it surely will, especially after Dec. 31st when it is no longer free, it might go faster. But if it isn't packed with people, they won't make the estimated 1000 riders a day that is necessary to reach their goal of $500,000 a year in rider fares. This princely sum will cover 25% of the estimated $2,000,000 a year operating costs. They hope to raise another $500,000 a year in fund raising from private sources, leaving Metro, the people who run the buses, to cover the other $1,000,000 a year.

Do the math, ride the thing to see if you want to pay $1.50 per ride to go at a snail's pace on its limited route, and then ask yourself why a city would think that a transit option that costs $40,000,000 per mile to build and is a money loser for the rest of eternity is a good idea.

Ride the S.L.U.T., but be sure you have a long lunch hour!

Come see us at one of our upcoming gigs before President Bush declares martial law and establishes a nationwide curfew (remember you heard that vicious rumor here first)

An objective opinion, at last. The review of my CD, Idaho Boy, was included in the April edition of The Victory Music Review. Click on the "Press/Reviews" link and read all about!

March, dubbed March Madness by basketball fans, truly did seem mad. The craziness of the Bush Administration seemed endless; the ill-advised "troop surge" doing nothing but raising body counts; the career-busting vendetta of the Justice Department revealing the all-encompassing power of Lee Atwater disciple Karl Rove (see http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040107B.shtml ); and the confrontation with Iran becoming more and more inevitable.

Musically, for me it was a month to turn inward and absorb the music of others, ranging from the pop-folk of local band THE Other Band on March 10th, to the fiddling virtuosity of Martin Hayes, Alasdair Fraser and Bruce Molsky on March 30th. But now I am ready to turn outward and perform at multiple venues in the month of April. The electric sound of our Rockabilly/Rhythm and Blues band, Raw Cheeze, will be filling the High Dive in Fremont on Monday, April 16th. Thursday April 26th and Friday April 27th I have back-to-back acoustic gigs as Idaho Boy (accompanied by the talented Mary Grider) at two local coffeehouses. Ken-Bob sez, "Check out the Upcoming Gigs section!"

Does the Bush administration really have any idea what kind of Armageddon scenario they are potentially creating with all this blustering about Iran? If they fire cruise missiles into Iran as part of their "preemptory" doctrine, the same doctrine that got us into Iraq, a sequence of events could be launched with unimaginably gruesome consequences. There has been a lot of talk by Cheney, you know, the REAL president, of using nukes as "bunker busters" for the more "hardened", i.e. buried, targets. Iran has said they WILL retaliate against American targets in the area if attacked. And guess what, the Bushies are going to provide them with a couple of really juicy targets right there in the Persian Gulf, the Carrier Strike Groups for the USS John C. Stennis and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. They officially deny reports a second aircraft carrier group is going to join the Eisenhower's group in the Gulf, but the Navy Newstand, in a report dated Feb. 1st, said the Stennis had entered the 7th Fleet's Area of Operation (AOR) after leaving from Bremerton, Washington. The eastern edge of the 7th Fleet's AOR is the International Date Line, so if they keep sailing west they should be in the vicinity of the Eisenhower any day now. Why TWO aircraft carrier strike groups? Globalsecurity.org reports that with two groups you are "able to conduct air operations over a continuous 24-hour cycle". Check it out yourself at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm . Bombing 24/7, oh boy!

Look for the Stennis or the Eisenhower to become latter-day versions of the USS Maddox and the USS Turner, the ships that were "attacked" in the Gulf of Tonkin. Each of those modern-day aircraft carrier groups has 6000 sailors. Any significant loss of life among those sailors will be good enough reason for launching an all-out attack against Iran, and Russia and China will have to come to Iran's rescue because they are strong allies. Get the picture?

Saturday the 10th was an enjoyable day of music, playing along with groups of musicians for worthy causes. Early in the day I played along with what is informally known as the Sauna Lizards Band, dubbed the Sauna Lizards Lonely Hearts Club Band for Valentines Day, in their quarterly benefit for Seattle's Evans Pool. Lots of fun and I met the Scot Lee Trio, a jazzy sub group within the Lizards. Check out their music at www.broadjam.com/ . Our Blues group, Raw Cheeze, might try a double gig with them sometime...

Saturday night I was among seven other musicians backing up Tom Rawson at his CD Catch and Release party that was a benefit for Seattle Fellowship of Reconciliation. We packed the place and I hope Tom sold a lot of CDs and T-shirts. A guy like that deserves our support.

Let's look at the recent lies put forth by the criminals who comprise the Executive branch of our federal government.

According to an article in the Seattle Times today, a US attorney for the western region of Washington, John McKay, was asked in December to resign by January "due to performance reasons". This despite the review seven months ago by the Justice Department's Evaluation and Review Staff (EARS) which stated, "McKay is an effective, well-regarded and capable leader of the [U.S. attorney's office] and the District's law enforcement community." Despite the fact the U.S. Navy last month gave McKay its Distinguished Public Service Award, its highest civilian honor. When asked in Senate hearings if this was part of a purge of six US attorneys so they could be replaced with political loyalists, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty denied the assertion. But the Justice Department would not even confirm he was asked to step down. Lies, lies, lies.

Another helicopter was shot down yesterday in Iraq the New York Times reports today. The military denies it was shot down and claims it was "mechanical failure". This despite the fact they only recently had to cop to the fact that four previous copters involved in "crashes" had actually been shot down, not malfunctioned as they originally claimed. Do they think we won't find out? Do they think it will look better if they deny it at first and then later have to rescind their story when the evidence of eyewitnesses becomes too great?

And the lies also extend even to our own State Supreme Court. They overturned a law allowing gay marriage last July, saying, in a a contrived and poorly worded majority opinion, that the purpose of marriage was procreation. An article in the Feb. 6th Seattle Times describes a group of gay-marriage supporters, the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance, who are gathering signatures for an initiative that would limit marriage in Washington to couples willing and able to have children and also dissolve the union of those who remain childless three years after marrying. The group hopes the Supremes would declare the initiative, I-957, unconstitutional and be forced to confront their decision in the gay-marriage case. Does the State Supreme Court think it can have it both ways? Does it think we can't see that it opposes gay-marriage just because it doesn't like it, the same way interracial marriage was once banned? Why do they even bother to lie?

Viola, the woman for whom we sang on Sunday, passed away today at about 8 this morning. Her devoted son Myles, who had left the room briefly, came back to find that she was not breathing, and that her eyes were open wide and gazing upward. He said, "Her soul was already moving around the room. I embraced her body and offered thanks for her life and commended her soul to God. Her free spirit was flying around the room with glee. The sun broke through the morning mist."

What a weekend of music! Saturday night my wife, Susan, and I finally saw Alice Stuart with her full blues band at the Highway 99 Blues Club. She is truly the Queen of the Blues, in this town or any other. Like the late Ray Charles, she makes every song her own.

Sunday was a long day as we drove to Camano Island to sing, along with a dozen or so other singers, at the deathbed of Viola, who will soon pass from this world. We gathered in a circle around her bed and sang from the Sacred Harp, a hymn book originally published in 1844. It is sung four-part acapella and has very spooky harmonies. If you want to know more about that kind of music, check out www.fasola.org. Viola's soul seeks another home, a brighter world on high.

Then we went to a concert at the Richard Hugo house that was the CD Release party of THE Other Band, friends of ours and fine musicians. They played for over two hours and put on quite a lively show. Check them out at www.theotherband.org.

Another Disgrace of the Union speech, another con job (or in this case, a neo-con job). Once more Bush pays lip service to improving the environment and Medicare, and cutting government welfare to the oil companies and his other rich pals and once more we will see little or no action from the White House on any of this.

Yesterday the Veep Cheney made it quite clear what the real agenda would be, and made it quite clear what he thought of anyone, including Congress, questioning his imperial authority. Referring to the toothless resolution the Senate is bickering about, Cheney told Wolf Blitzer of CNN, "It won't stop us, and it would be, I think, detrimental from the standpoint of the troops." Ah, yes, the troops, those seemingly tireless men and women bearing the burden of this administration's stupidity. They are now being held for ransom so we will continue to approve war money, much of which will personally enrich Cheney, Wolfowitz and other members of the military-industrial cartel for whom this war is truly being fought. And the more troops, "the surge", the more money they will need to support them. What an amazing machine to transfer wealth from the middle-class tax payer to the wealthy!

During questioning, Blitzer quoted some Congressional Republicans as saying Cheney's credibility on statements about the progress of the war had been damaged by this administration's "blunders and failures." Cheney responded, "Wolf, Wolf, I simply don't accept the premise of your question. I just think it's hogwash...We would simply validate the terrorists' strategy that says the Americans will not stay to complete the task, [that] we don't have the stomach for the fight. That's the biggest threat." Ah, yes, the terrorist bogey-man. An old sleight-of-hand trick, hold up the scary puppet of the evil bearded terrorist in your right hand while you pick our pockets with the left

We are witnessing the descendents of the Great Migration--the movement of Puritans that populated the Northeast in the 1600's and became this country's wealthy ruling class--live out the last days of their oligarchical rule of this country in rapacious style and luxury. Within a generation there will be a sea change as women, African-Americans and Hispanics finally wrest control from the wealthy white men who have ruled since the Constitutional Congress.

On the music/website front, I've made some changes to the layout to answer the question, "What is this Alt-Cowboy Singer thing, Ken?" Just click on "Alt-Cowboy?" to find out.

Also, I will be playing a little guitar and helping Tom Rawson out with his CD Release Party on Feb. 10th, along with a cast of thousands. You can be part of the fun just by being there. Check his website, www.tomrawson.com.

And on the national/political front, I became so upset at Bush and Cheney's defiant attitude in announcing 21,500 more battle-weary troops will be assigned to Baghdad, that I did the only thing a singer/songwriter could do: I wrote a song, a rant, an unfriendly portrayal of a psycho President descending into historical oblivion and dragging us with him. It's called "The Cowboy". It's a country-rap song and the words are:

The cowboy is happy, the cowboy is sad
He’s ridin’ the edge of stark, raving mad
No one will listen to his ramblin’ words
He’s a boy among men and a fly among birds
He’s cranky, he’s fragile, he needs some rest
He worries about being second-best
He walks alone and his mind is bent
And some people call him Mr. President

And the cowboy’s heels click loudly
In an asphalt jungle land
He’s a long, cool, tall, dark hombre
A real Marlboro Man
And he carries a shiny Angel of Death in his hand
In his hand

He swaggered a bit when he walked into town
He tried to turn the whole world upside down
He’s nearly accomplished his crazy plan
He’s vowed to keep fightin’ to the very last man
This cowboy is cruel, this cowboy is mean
He’ll break you in half and run away from the scene
He’s feisty, he’s sneaky, he’s drunk with power
And the White House is his ivory tower

The rich will get richer and the poor will die
The sun will burn hotter in an angry sky
A gallon of gas will soon cost your life
We’re headed for trouble and social strife
And all the while the cowboy whistles and sings
And talks about honor, he’s the neo-con plaything
When will we get wise and remove this blight?
He’s pissing on us and the Bill of Rights
When will we get wise and remove this blight?
Get him out of DC, Get him out of my sight!


I'll be making a quick and dirty recording of it and posting it soon.

The tireless people working at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) blog have acquired a wonderful photo of Bush and Abramoff together at a December 2003 campaign fundraiser. They posted it at 5:08 PM on January 8th. This would be the same Jack Abramoff that the President has denied ever meeting. Check out their blog at http://blog.citizensforethics.org . They are also suing to remove a May 17, 2006 agreement between the Secret Service and the White House to make entry/exit records to the White House the property of the President and therefore classifiable as top secret (like so many other things this adminsitration has to hide). What a fine group of patriots the CREW crew are!

I liked the photo of Jack and George so much--they're practically holding hands--I've posted it under my Photos link, take a look!

Eight very lucky people are alive today thanks to plucky volunteers who, stopped by an avalanche in a 11,000 mountain pass in Colorado, had the wherewithal to find the buried cars and dig them out. In a time when heroism is in short supply, it is nice to see average people acting like heroes.

The West can kill you a hundred ways. The deserts can bake you and the mountains can crush you; it's a wonder so many people made it out here 160 years ago.

Cindy Sheehan, peace activist and major-league attention-getter, has announced a so-called "peace surge" to protest the so-called "troop surge" soon to be announced by the president. She also was among hecklers attending the House Democrats' press conference announcing their legislative agenda, chanting, "We escalate, investigate, troops home now." Well, good on her.
Someone has got to do the dirty work down in the trenches before the current administration destroys the country, by God anyway.*

*"By God anyway" is a common thing to say in Idaho, as in "We gotta get those potatoes in the ground, by God anyway!"

Another new year, another list of promises I probably won't keep. Here's one I'd like to keep. During St. Francis of Assisi's short, very odd life he is credited with creating a prayer, the middle of which goes like this:
"Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted--to understand, than to be understood--to love, than to be loved."
Seems like a worthy goal to me. Not bad for a guy who walked around naked, lived in a cave and ate bugs, huh?

I guess this is why almost three thousand U.S. troops, hundreds of the "coalition of the willing", and more than 50,000 Iraqis (confirmed by Iraq Body Count, a bare minimum by my reckoning) had to die.....So what is a cowboy singer to do amidst all this? Keep writing songs that point out the hypocrisy of war in general and the insanity of this one in particular, I guess (check the words to Hard Rain under the Listen To My Songs link). Keep putting music out there in the world so people can feel connected again. And keep my chin up.

Here's hoping for a better year, next year.

Somehow, in the midst of playing my guitar and/or bass, and singing in all manner of different bands, I've finally managed to set up my own website. Welcome, pull up a hay bale and sit a spell.

Thanks for stoppin' by and havin' a look-see!