AMERICANA WANDERING

Songs written and recorded 2020 - 2021.
using Reaper.

All instruments played by Frank Ruck.














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ABOUT THE SONGS

1. Kentucky Ridge
A bluegrass/gypsy jazz mash-up. I took the melody of the
gypsy jazz tune "Joseph Joseph" and wrote the words to Kentucky Ridge.
I added a chorus to complete the song.
Joseph Joseph was originally a traditional Klezmer tune so a third genre
is represented here.
The song mentions the town of Hazard, Kentucky. Hazard is a coal
mining town that has had its ups and downs for years.

2. Cheatin'
A good subject for a song.

3. Dueling Django
Another Bluegrass/Gypsy Jazz blend.
A take on "Dueling Banjos" from the 1970's

4. The Fields of New Jersey
An Irish balad telling the story of my grandparents' meeting
and their life together.

5. New Banjo Reel-Saint Anne's Reel
Written as I learned to play 5-string banjo.
Saint Anne's Reel is a traditional Irish reel.

6. Easy Friday Evening
An updated version of a song I wrote in the 1980's.
I sang the original version at my wedding.

7. Commitment Dread
Written after I had a dream about going to a great jam session.
We jammed on a song with a long stretch of A minor
and an odd high note in the chorus.

8. Summer Shadow
I originally wrote the chorus in the 1980's.
I sing it to myself each September as the Summer ends.

9. Alien Vacation Spot
Margaritaville for space aliens. They’re here.

10. Pentangle
An homage to the 1960’s group Pentangle.

11. Ten O'clock Bus
Ellen left on a Ten O'clock bus to New York to visit her parents.
This is what I thought of as she left.
Originally written as a vehicle for a mandolin solo on a 1936 vintage
resonator mandolin I had just received.

12. Joshua Slocum's Song
Written from the point of view of Joshua Slocum, ship captain and writer
who at the end of the 1800s was the first to sail alone around the world.