Dave's Lyrics

and stories about the songs

I'm working on this still, but thought I'd tell you musicians tuning in what was used in the CD recording. All songs were recorded on a simple little Fostex MR-8, using a Shure M58, sometimes directly into the MR-8; sometimes through a Kustom KPM8420 mixer.

Now, what you were really curious about: the instruments! In no particular order, the guitars I used were my old cannon - a 1971 Martin D-28, my sweet little 1959 Martin 0-18, main gigging guitar -a 1999 Martin SP000-16R and a couple licks on my '73 Strat.

Bottom was added mostly with my '71 Fender Musicmaster bass, but a new Rogue fretless slipped in toward the end. New recordings will be using a Tacoma fretless Thunderchief!

The new kid on the block was a Kentucky KM750 (poor man's Sam Bush model), joined by my 1987 D60 Dobro.

I'll be adding more as time permits, but in the meantime, here are my lyrics to the title song for my new CD,

"Echoes of a Cannon".

The echoes of a cannon ringing in his ears

Brad was coming home moving through a wall of tears.

The war had left him wounded, hurting deep within.

The mountains called him home just to make him whole again.

And the mountain music thundered like a battlefield that night,

The doghouse bass it rumbled and the banjo kept it bright.

But that Martin guitar made the whole thing take his pain away,

And the echoes of that cannon rang when Brad began to play.

Music was the thing he turned to when the times got rough.

The battleground of love, he learned, was sometimes mighty tough.

Lilly shot a cannonball straight through his heart that night.

Brad wandered to his guitar, withdrawing from the fight.

And the mountain music thundered like a battlefield once more,

The doghouse bass it rumbled and the singer stomped the floor.

But that Martin guitar made the whole thing fall right into place,

And the echoes of that cannon rang when Brad picked up the pace.

The marriage canon echoed strong within her heart.

She knew that it would be so wrong for them to fall apart.

Lilly heard the music and knew she’d find him there.

Whatever harm she’d done to Brad was not beyond repair.

And the mountain music thundered deep within a heart so sore.

The doghouse bass it rumbled loud as Lilly hit the door.

And that Martin guitar sounded from the man she knew she loved,

And the echoes of that canon rang when Brad smiled from above.

And the mountain music thundered deep within two hearts that night.

The doghouse bass it rumbled and the banjo kept it bright.

But his Martin guitar made the whole thing take her breath away,

And the echoes of that cannon rang when Brad began to play.

This song began as a song about a civil war veteran returning from battle, but obviously changed along the way.... I hope you didn't mind my liberties with Pachelbel's theme.

    Want to see the lyrics to what I think is the best ballad I've ever written? Please visit "Empathy".