QuickTime Soundclips

You don't have to wait for these songs to download completely before you listen to them. Just let the bar at the bottom turn dark a little ways ahead and hit the "play" triangle. If your connection isn't dog slow it may keep downloading ahead of the playback, otherwise, well, it might pause occasionally. Take a breath, no big deal...

1. Birthday "High-D" Medley

3/27/99 Relatively hot off the presses. Almost live. Less than a week old as I write. Hastily mixed and compressed to heck, but in living gasping stereo. Rushed to the global media due to current pressing need for this junk we've been doing on the streets for 20 years. This time we were off the streets and celebrating my birthday. Despite what you may have heard, I'm still in my 40's. And, that's me torturing the piano in the back. (update: okay, that was 3 years ago now. I am not still in my 40's.)

2. Memphis Jug Blues (Will Shade)

Barry Chern - vocal & guitar
Mike Sisson - bass

Will Shade, aka Son Brimmer, was the leader of the Memphis Jug Band, who made a great number of very entertaining records from 1927-1936. He died in 1967, just shortly after I started my own jug band. Since by the late '70's I was mostly playing solo and good jug and kazoo players were scarce, I came up with this guitar distillation of the jug band sound. This was recorded off of the radio (yes, through an old receiver) in 1989.

3. True Love Ways (Buddy Holly)

Something a little different, some folk music. The music of my people in my youth. This recording comes from a basement, one of the dank locations where an odd assemblage of misfits met in secret for years for a little recreational "rock & roll."