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The best song I ever wrote my wife 

You have to understand, I’ve been at this for thirty years. Writing songs for my wife, I mean. I started before we were married.

There are probably 20 of them at this point. She liked them, usually. Occasionally she didn’t, and that was the worst.

One day she told me, “Those aren’t songs about me. They’re songs about your feelings.”

That was a hard one. I struggled with it. Then, last Thanksgiving, I decided to take the challenge.

I had the week off, and I spent a lot of it working on a real song about her. I didn’t stop after I’d written one. No patting myself on the back this time.

Each time I asked myself, “Is it good enough?”

The first one was fun, and the second one sweet. The third was kind of funny. But none of them had what it took, in my opinion.

So I tried again.

This is the last one I wrote, maybe the last one I’ll ever write, because she cried when I played it for her.

It's So Hard To Be Loved 

This was another song I co-wrote with Bradley Cole Smith. Like Pros and Cons, this tune started out as a 45 second instrumental clip meant for a Jimmy Carter Documentary. I took it, glued it onto itself several times, and wrote a song on it.

 

I tend to write first and ask questions later. If my words don’t make sense to me now, they usually mean a lot to me in a couple of years. So what does it mean that it’s “Hard to be loved?”

 

Carson McCullers wrote in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe that most of us would rather love than be loved. As someone who has loved much more than he has been loved (in a romantic way, I mean) I understand this sentiment at too deep a level. This song may have come from that place of longing.

 

It’s an attempt to suggest that maybe it’s not such a bad thing to receive love, even if it’s hard to do so. That puts a sweeter spin on my song than the McCullers book. It’s a very special unrequited love song.

 

https://youtu.be/vMGjfnMEmo4

Schoolhouse Rock Sung by The J. Geils Band 

 
YOUTUBE.COM
"Do the Math" performed by Adam Cole with the Willow Band live at Waller's Coffeeshop
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 

Dress Rehearsal Video is Now Available! 

The video of the Dress Rehearsal for the Adam Cole Singalong is now available. We did the Dress Rehearsal as a show in front of a live audience and, barring a few mistakes, it’s a very satisfying watch. One nice feature is that we were able to use a real piano!

Watch the dress rehearsal:

Watch the final show here:

 

 

We Done Rehearsed! And We Dressed Too! 

Last night was the dress rehearsal for our show.

The Adam Cole singalong is a dream of mine. In the wake of my three singalong shows, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, I thought it was time to do a concert of my own music with the Willow Band. This was a scary decision to make.

My own music, on the line, for people to love or hate, to show up for or to skip. Plenty of opportunities for band members to screw them up. Even more opportunities for ME to screw up!

But once I put out the call and the band said, “Yes!” “Yes!” it wasn’t just yes. It was HELL, YES. Suddenly I really wanted to do this. And that’s what it’s about.

The support of your friends. You work hard for them, they work hard for you, everybody has a good time. And if you’re lucky, you get a video.

This is the beginning of a song I wrote for my granddaughter, Effy. I wrote her a song, and it wasn’t very good. So I wrote her another song, and it wasn’t very good either.

So I wrote her a third song, and it’s pretty good.

Clip from last night’s rehearsal for our show at Waller’s Coffeehouse, 240 Dekalb Industrial Way, Decatur, GA, 30033. Doors open at 7 PM, and Beverly Knight opens. Would you believe me if I said a splendid time is guaranteed for all?

Concert of my songs 

Here we go.

On Saturday, April 25 I'll be doing something I've never done before: Lead a band in a concert of my songs. The concert is at 8 PM at Wallers Coffeehouse, doors open at 7, and admission is on a donations basis with all donations going to pay the band (not me). Can't come on the 25th? We're doing an open dress rehearsal in the Sanctuary of First Christian Church of Decatur at 7 PM on Sunday, April 19. We'd like to see you there!

Fourth Rick Saylor Memorial Concert with the Merry Gentlemen of Jazz 

After a brief summer hiatus, The Merry Gentlemen of Jazz present the fourth in our series of concerts honoring Rick Saylor, jazz musician and impresario extraordinaire, in the glorious acoustics of the Sanctuary of First Christian Church of Decatur on Thursday, January 29 at 8 PM. This event is free and open to the public, and we'd love to see you there!

https://acole.net/event/6400424/748897885/rick-saylor-memorial-jazz-concert-series-featuring-the-merry-gentlemen-of-jazz