efM Artists Blog

Walt Cronin - California - I Gotta Run (2010) folk, alt.country, folk-rock By Bruce Greenberg - The Promise Live On his third release Walt continues his folk/Americana singing/songwriting. A storyteller like Kris Kristoffersen, this is an album about being on the road and pursuing dreams. Nice job. http://thepromiselive.blogspot.com/ http://www.thegousters.com/ http://waltcronin.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

Hi! I am so excited to announce that Scorpio and Me will be released on September 21, 2010! See Scorpio and Me for a preview! You can learn how Scorpio and Me was made, read the lyrics, meet the musicians, and listen to song clips. I believe you’ll like what you’ll hear! Scorpio and Me can be purchased in many ways: 1. buy CDs from Waterloo Records and Musicmania in Austin, Texas 2. order CDs from CDBaby, Amazon and PayPal 3. download the complete CD or individual songs via iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon and other digital sellers 4. buy it directly from me 

You can also check out my first CD – Anthem. While Anthem is no longer available as a CD, you can download it from many digital delivery sites such as iTunes CDBaby, and Amazon. Please listen to the Anthem song clips; if you hear something you like, consider adding it to your collection. 

I have some favors to ask. 1. If you wish to share all this with someone you think might like it, please do! 2. I want radio stations to play and reviewers to hear my music. If you can recommend stations or reviewers I should contact, I’d appreciate the heads-up. 3. If you can – and wish to - post reviews to sites such as iTunes or CDBaby, and have something to say about Anthem, this will help me share my current and future music with potential fans. Finally, I’d love to see comments in my Guestbook. Thank you again for all your support! Bennett

Still I Sing was originally inspired by a formal complaint I received from a neighbor who accused me of generating "midnight noise" that was apparently disrupting his sleeping patterns. Moreover, he threatened me with legal action if I didn't cease and desist. Considering that my biggest challenge was to isolate everyone else's noise from my recording studio, I found his complaint mildly amusing, if not downright insulting. I had waited 12 years to record an album, and now someone is telling me to be quiet! Naturally, I ignored the complaint and continued recording, even more energized and determined to succeed knowing that at any given moment, I could be shut down. My perseverance to finish this album despite the obstacles coupled with the longing for the days when I could play music freely without fear of repercussion culminated into this song, which was the last song to be recorded for the album. I ultimately chose it as the album’s title track because the lyrics worked for me on multiple levels. First, the song was loosely about the making of the album, so it was relevant. Second, it had been quite a while since the release of my previous album and many were asking if I had given up music. The title delivers a definitive answer. And third, I wrote and recorded the majority of the album’s material in Washington, D.C., a town that reeks of politics. Apparently, some of that political sediment shows up in this song, which is a bit unusual for me to do so overtly. However, some of you were quick to point this out—possibly missing my intended message altogether, but at least I know you were listening to the words. The subtle political content may have been a mere product of my environment, thus making it even more relevant to the making of the album. In short, I think the song successfully captured multiple emotions I was experiencing during that timeframe and was therefore a perfect fit as the album’s title track.

Can’t Say Goodbye is the last track on the Still I Sing album. It was kind of written out of frustration during the recording sessions, which kept me away from home for an extended period. I was only home about once a month during this time, and it was always nice. Really nice. Of course, when things are really nice, it's hard to leave--sometimes even agonizing--and that's essentially what Can't Say Goodbye is about. Speaking of agonizing, although I think it eventually turned out pretty good, this was actually one of my least favorite songs to record—basically because I couldn't consistently play it. I originally wrote it as a guitar tune, which was a bit easier for me. However, right before I started recording it I realized that the album was pretty guitar heavy, and I wanted a better balance between guitar and piano pieces. Besides, someone who claims to be my #1 fan constantly reminds me that I need more piano songs in my repertoire, and I didn’t think I’d be able to stand the consequences if I didn’t add one more. So, I reworked the song into a piano piece, which I ultimately liked better than the original version, but it turned out to be harder for me to play than I intended. Thus, the sessions for this song were among my least favorite. They were more work than fun. The false start at the beginning of the song was one of about 500 failed attempts to record it. Usually, I'd flub the piano about half way through the song and have to start over. As you can imagine, I was getting a little annoyed with myself. I decided to leave the shortest flub on the recorded track as a tribute to my agony during the recording process.

For those of you who are not familiar with the history of the song, I’ll give you a little background. First of all, I don't really know what One Guitar is about. I wrote most of it pretty hastily during a prolonged power outage while a friend was visiting with me. Joking around, I first went to the piano and pounded out a tune, reasoning that if Ray Charles (RIP) could play in complete darkness, so could I. After a while, I gravitated to the guitar to see if Jeff Healy, a great blind guitarist (RIP), had it any rougher. To test myself, I strummed my guitar in the dark and ad libbed a little song. The original lyrics were kind of silly and had a lot to do with playing a guitar in darkness where the audience couldn't find me. It was a fun experience, but I never really expected anything worthwhile to come out of it, besides confirming that both Ray and Jeff are much better at their respective instruments than I am. After a while, I realized I really liked the tune I played that night. I altered the lyrics slightly and reworked the song into what we have today, which eventually became the first of my songs to get significant radio airplay and generate a little royalty income back in the early nineties when indie/alternative rock radio was in its infancy. In retrospect, it’s interesting that this particular song even fit that genre, considering what that genre has evolved into today. However, as of this writing, it remains one of my most popular songs.

Fund raiser Aug. 28th Hillsdale,NY Live music with Bill Hudson, Al Coffey, Work O’ the Weavers http://workotheweavers.com/ Hosed by Guy Nouri of , http://www.dragonfly.com/aboutUs.html We want to thank James Durst of the group, Work O the Weavers and their group for helping us raises some funds on the 28th of Aug. Along with some music, there will be food and a presentation in what we are still doing in the Gulf Coast. Look for updates soon! For more info on The Feel Good Tour please go to: http://www.thefeelgoodtour.org/ Still Pickin’ Bill Hudson

New album out - 'Life, Love And Bad Breath'. A couple of covers, a jazz-folk version of Jackson Browne´s 'These Days' may be the best of ´em. A couple of the ballads people say I do well. Many original songs, some of them quirky, e.g. 'Born To Be Moderately Wild' about a, hm, moderately wild guy who rides a motorscooter, or 'Halitosis Man', a gent who meets the Devil. The latter dies after inhaling. Some of the new songs are here on efolkMusic. Some others on ReverbNation. Here´s a link. http://www.reverbnation.com/janhauenstein Some of the songs sound a bit different now on the finished album. 61 minutes of interesting music for 15 dollars. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/JanHauenstein The new album will be available there, but it may take a little while. Jan janhauenstein@gmx.de

If there are any musicians out there reading this and you are coming through Beacon ,NY (interstate 84) and while you go over the Beacon,Newburgh bridge look over at the harbor of Beacon and you will notice the sloop,The Woody Guthrie. They sail I think 6 days a week around sunset and it's free! If you can find the Beacon railroad station you will see the Beacon Sloop club and it is there the Woody is. Feel free to bring your instruments to play. The boat fits about 15 or so people and I have done this many times. It is a great way to finish the day. http://www.beaconsloop.org/Sloop.html

Jugalbandi are pleased to have been accepted onto the efolkmusic roster and offer our thanks to Chris Frank and all those involved in efolkmusic. We hope the efolkmusic and wider listening communities will enjoy our music. We welcome feedback and hope to keep some good company here at efolkmusic. Thanks again. Jugalbandi

People I am having a hard time not hating I know biblically as Christians and in many other religions we are not suppose to hate. We don’t have to by everyone flowers on their birthday and send them a get well card when they are ill, but we are still directed not to hate them. Here is a list of a few people I am having a hard time not hating. The television exec who took Bosom Buddies off the air many years ago. That was my favorite show at the time and I’ve been devastated ever since. Canary fighters. I read on the internet there are gangs who hold underground canary fights and gamble on their outcome. They throw two vicious canaries in a small cage and force them to fight until one or both don’t feel like fighting anymore and just sit on their perches and whistle. Sick! Yoko Ono. I use to almost hate her but I have come to realize the Beatles would have broken up any way and they still put out great music individually during the post Beatle era. Sorry Yoko. Heather Mills, Paul McCartney’s recent ex-wife. I don’t almost hate all the Beatles ex-wives, it’s just coincidence. Poor Sir Paul who was heart broke after Linda passed away was foolish enough to marry without a pre-nup. Thinking all women were like his sweet wife he paid a heavy price for his innocence. The executives at the asbestos companies who discovered their product killed people but still kept it from the public and went right on manufacturing it. Fred Phelps and members of the Westboro Baptist Church who picket the funerals of our fallen American soldiers. Anyone who burns an American flag in protest. People who have dogs and let them bark outside in the middle of the night for hours with no concern for their neighbors peace and quiet let alone their pet. Adolph Hitler is on my list and I hope on yours. He is responsible for murdering millions of human beings. Some through starvation, gas chambers, medical experiments and other forms of executions. If you think about it he is also responsible for all the war casualties in every country involved in WWII. I would like to think that he was simply an insane man who rose to power, but I believe he had to be a truly evil man, his actions sponsored by Satan himself. There’s no other explanation. Okay, this may have been a poor choice for a column as now I’m sad and depressed. I should have wrote about things I almost love. Well, maybe next week.