So my music prep of late has looked a lot like building shelves. When we moved in a hurry, I filled the garage with stuff I want to keep or at least sort through before I got rid of it, and now I’m sorting stuff into bins and building shelves…
Here’s an observation about helping people who aren’t really interested in helping themselves from a perennial gardener, though the implications go WAY beyond what you can do with plants. At our old home, I had several hardy and attractive varieties of hosta and day lilies that needed thinned on occasion.…
After a whole string of concerts, festivals, etc. last summer and fall, I’ve been pretty much focusing on getting my home studio set up so I can record more of my music better. What’s the use of calling yourself a songwriter, if only about ten of your songs are available…
The 2018 Dayton Porchfest is history now. If you haven’t heard of a “porchfest,” people in a neighborhood open their front porches or side yards to local musicians who play on a staggered schedule around the neighborhood. In Dayton, so far the porchfests have been in St. Anne’s Hill, a…
As a Christian, I believe that celebrating Christmas is a valid way to express my faith. I’ve actually run into people who disagreed with that, even people who have attacked my family because of it. But that tends to encourage me to put up more lights, to write more articles…
I wrote this song with a children’s chorus in mind, at a time I was helping with a stage production of Dickens’ Christmas Carol, and my sister Tess Hoffman was writing a children’s opera based on the story. So the themes are largely the themes of Christmas Carol – Christmas…
I just received an Oscar Schmidt 6-string banjo I don’t really need in trade for another banjo I no longer needed,but which a friend really wanted. So I thought I’d review it for Amazon. While there, I noticed the following lone negative review: ——————————— Oscar Schmidt did a HORRIBLE job…
Here’s an early musical Christmas card. It’s about trains and Christmas and nostalgia and winter and regret and stars and stuff. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plgd9qEui-I
A friend just asked if I had any “Rambling Songs.” I wrote most of this one about 1970, back when every Folk and Country singer had a song about rambling. Then I added the third verse and made a demo for a project about 2003. But when my friend asked…
Just posted a new old song on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/paul-race-933212658/ “Heart of the Heartland” was written for my Folk-based play “If the Creek Don’t Rise.” I posted it on Soundcloud because I had submitted it for review to a Nashville songwriter with a number of hits and they preferred having the…
