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Memory Story

by Rescue Box

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    6
    releases

    Get all 6 Rescue Box releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mostly Good, Every Valley a River, Dreamland, Memory Story, Effigy Mounds, and Golden Boy. , and , .

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1.
The Letter 04:34
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I read some letters I wrote Oh… Ten Million Years ago First I put em down When the mail came around Hand written On line-less paper If I had a time machine I would … Figure it out All about that sacred dream That finds us in the stream Early morning green All bound together Early morning green Early morning green Yea I talked about me driving Drawing what I could from What was there Celebrating friendship Sleeping with our baby I’d say Baby, maybe baby, Im ok I can stand alone On a winters night In my head, under the stars I have friends who will forgive my sins And letters from where I’ve been I have work I have song But The sun is behind me now In my face If I turn around But I keep looking The unturned stone I’m not alone I’m not alone I’m not alone Self sufficient Admittedly confused I Say a prayer By the side of the road It’s kind of beautiful Lost and found The things I found so youthful Coming back around I read some letters I wrote Oh…45 years ago Celebrating friendships And sleeping with our baby I’d say baby, baby, Im ok
2.
Tell me a Story 05:09
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We take all of our goodness And pack it all away These days of judgement Them seem Like they will never go away Telling that story With some wisdom I guess I’m running on empty But I could have less I will drink, drink, drink to your Melody When your not around And I can’t see Tell me a story Well what is time worth You never get it back It drifts like a melody Just a few words that last Tell me a story Something from the past I will drink, drink, drink to your Melody Alone in a room Just for me Tell me a story Tell me a something that you never ever told anyone before Tell me a story Something from the past Some things you remember For the rest of your life You never forget No you never forget….My friend The summer has ended The days are getting short The skies have never been more beautiful My Friend I’m Looking around Birds fly through the air Winter is upon us Take shelter my dear I saw you smiling at the kitchen sink You survived You’re still alive I saw you thinking about the future You survived Your still alive The summer has ended The days are getting short The skies have never been more beautiful My Friend You survived Tell me a story Tell me a story that you never ever told anyone before Tell me a story Something from the past
3.
Ode to Precious Things 05:42
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Well you know that storm you said was coming finally came Yeah I was slipping and sliding Through the rain And somewhere far away that whistle blew It said come on home boy We got work to do Well I know that feeling Checking out Leaves are turning and the Days are short Too much of something rushes in And I disappear again Well it won’t be the last time That I feel this way I heard the news You’ve gone away I’ll follow the sun To some promise land Where everything and nothing Go hand in hand And I’ll take to the road And Ill never look back I’ll hitch my fate to strangers Just a few precious things In a small gunny sack Don’t know where I'm going But I get in the car Headed west I drive all night Painted desert you look the best You look the best After the sun went down I saw you by the fire I had something to say So I lit a candle For everything that’s gone away I’ll fall in love With the loneliness of missing a friend Drifting over the landscape You keep flying Well I spent the morning hours Waiting for that storm that I knew would come I know that feeling checking out I know that feeling rushing in You know that storm you said was coming Finally came Yeah I was slipping and sliding Through the rain And somewhere far away that whistle blew It said come on home boy We’ve got other things to do Won’t be the last time I feel this way When I heard the news You’ve gone away I said I would follow the sun To some promised land Where everything and nothing Go hand in hand And would I take to the road And I would never look back I would hitch my fate to strangers Just a few precious things In a small Small gunny sack
4.
The thoughts that You've Become 04:22
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The Light on your face Is different today Attending to a Dream And That is changing Gratitude I see Is not exactly free Some questions Will remain Unanswered I get confused About how old we are But just around the corner Has reeled us in I think that it was sunny I think…….a New day I see the ocean, I see the sun I see the thoughts, The thoughts that you’ve become Your look is like the silence But sound is the same When I started to talk Pretty quickly, the tears came. Your house by the bay Has been consumed by the grass I stood out front and listened Listened for the past I still remember the reasons But I forgot what I had to say I just showed up with flowers On your dying Day I can see sitting Outside in the rain I will see you in the shadows Along the way I see the ocean, I see the sun I see the thoughts, The thoughts that you’ve become
5.
Dreamland 05:50
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I’m not surprised That it’s you that showed up I saw you in the desert Many years ago A saw you from a satellite I saw the compromise Saw you in a dream Going down the road We burned all the wood that we collected We got good at chopping And weathering storms It took me over a year It took me forever To walk without you Without you again I forgot that feeling Of walking out in the light alone The place I call home We burned all the wood that we collected We got good at chopping And weathering storms It time to make sure we’re together You should know who I am And what I will do Oh..the secret that you carry I know how important it can be it runs through you And every time I see it Oh I’m wondering how To get you to dream land It was with your hands That I came around Made the most of what I found But darling I could have done better You brought me In from the cold What ever you search for Where-ever you Roam I can be the wind Just grazing your skin What ever you search for Where-ever you Roam I can be the wind Just grazing your skin We burned all the wood that we collected We got real good at chopping And weathering storms
6.
King Of the Neighborhood /Jeff Armstrong 04:51
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He haunts the park at dawn each day McDonalds coffee and an eggMcmuff Waiting for the sunrise At the shelter on the bluff above the Mississippi River On to the Y – routine the same Greetings to all and a story to tell About the sunrise bout the eagles bout everything Yellow pants and yellow jacket Bumblebee on a bike He’s the King Ya The King The King of the Neighborhood Later to Hubbles for a couple of beers And the denizens of downtown Yellow pants yellow jacket He’s a bumblebee on a bike Home up the hill on wobbly legs Waiting wife and supper The six o’clock news And it’s off to bed Another dawn to remember Yellow pants and yellow jacket Bumblebee on a bike He’s the King Ya the King The King of the Neighborhood Well he haunts the park at dawn each day Home up the hill on wobbly legs He’s a bumblebee on a bike He’s the, he’s the king of the neighborhood. Yellow pants and yellow jacket Bumblebee on a bike He’s the King Ya the King The King of the Neighborhood
7.
Tall Grass and Flowers 05:00
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Sometimes I imagine I take a long train ride Heading to a country church With a graveyard beside. I'm looking through the tall grass For stones of my own. I see my father taking off his hat Heâs standing there all alone. We came on the train from nowhere No past to leave behind. We slept with our clothes on, We slept with our clothes on And drank in the summer rain. I didnât know my grandparents, Didnât ride in their car, Didnât sit on their knee. I wonder where they came from What brought them to their destiny. I want to know Some things that just canât be known. My crystal ball was broken. No starry sky, Just flesh and bone. We came on the train from nowhere No past to leave behind, We slept with our clothes on, Yea we slept with our clothes on And drank in the summer rain. Sometimes I imagine It all goes well, Sometimes imagine I've got nothing to tell. Im standing in the middle of a graveyard I hear you call my name. There's a road along a river, And I know that road like the back of my hand, And the river running through me, Making its way to the promised land. We came on the train from nowhere No past to leave behind, We slept with our clothes on, Yea we slept with our clothes on And drank in the summer rain.
8.
French-Cut Kisses 06:34
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I don’t pursue things  Things pursue me I think what I think  I see what I see 
It was the bottom of the barrel I saw it on TV  It was the bottom of the barrel  For all the world to see The back of the hand  Comes quick these days The writing is on the wall  Believe it or not I can read that scroll 
French cut kisses Mismatched dishes I here you are worried about me My Friend A fever is burning In cities far away Whipping posts and southern ghosts On The boulevard today 
I read the words  They go on forever Hateful people yapping their jaw Think they’re clever The barbecue is ready  What leg  do you stand on The clouds are moving in  The storm will soon begin You’re going to get wet Yea you’re going to get wet Dont know where you’re going Don’t know where you’ve been 
When I was a kid, I was a kid When I did I did what I did When I fucked it up I hit the road I begged I borrowed  And I sold I won’t let it get me down  I am not a clown I don’t prescribe  To the ordinary dive There were those French cut kisses Mismatched dishes I here you are worried about me My Friend Turn that radio on It plays your favorite song It took some time for all to see   The fatal flaw, but finally It’s your call 
Overcast this morning  Neighbors blue roof  Ice coffee from yesterday  On the TV John Wilkes Booth Past present and future We got from Cradle to the grave When I was a child  The sky was burning  blue Some prayed for rain,Tornadoes came And they swept up the likes of  me and you I grabbed your legs  A nylon with a run Those were not your legs You weren’t the only one Nothings far away When it happened in the past Run that engine lean You got to make it last Make it last Make it last I remember those French cut kisses Those mismatched dishes I here you are worried about me My Friend French cut kisses Mismatched dishes I hear you worried about me My Friend
9.
God Lives in a Tent 04:27
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Remember how we drank when we first met Remember how we kissed with no regret Remember how we cried when we thought about the past Remember what we thought Will this thing last Friends from the past Are creeping into my dreams And the girl on the hill She’s taking off her jeans God live in a tent Just outside of town Every night he has a camp fire Everybody gathers round David and Goliath Came knocking on my back door Said everybody lookin for us Could we just sleep on your floor Well I didn’t hesitate Cause Id been there before Come on in I said And I closed the door Friends from the past Are creeping into my dreams And the girl on the hill Well she’s taking off her jeans God live in a tent Just outside of town Every night he has a camp fire Everybody gathers round now Everybody gathers round Empty Theres a train track That follows the river Theres a bridge That only partially remains Got a vision in my head Of a sweet young girl Got a vision in my head That remains the same Friends from the past Are creeping into my dreams And the girl on the hill She’s taking off her jeans God live in a tent Just outside of town Every night he has a camp fire Everybody gathers round
10.
Orchard (Family) Jeff Armstrong 03:44
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When our girls were born We planted a tree Now they’re all gone ya They’re scattered likes leaves the trees are still here And so are we We planted an orchard On Orchard Street The leaves are all falling Except on the apple tree The leaves are all falling The leaves are all falling Ah the folks who settled this land I think they’d be proud of our orchard I couldn't be prouder from what it has grown Makes me cry when I see Makes me cry when I see When our girls were born We planted a tree Now they’re all gone ya They’re scattered likes leaves the trees are still here And so are we We planted an orchard On Orchard Street When the kids were long grown And scattered likes leaves the trees are still here And so are we Well we planted an orchard On Orchard Street Ya we planted an orchard We planted an orchard On Orchard Street Ya we planted an orchard The folks who settled this land I think they’d be proud of the orchard we made The folks who settled this land I think they’d be proud of the orchard we made I couldn't be prouder I couldn't be prouder
11.
Something Different on my Face 04:25
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Sitting in the same seat in Starbucks That I sat in in January It was much colder then, everything was frozen. And the sun was much farther behind Yeah I was thinking about how you always changed the sheets Thinking of you driving east in a dress And how the everything is carried by the wind And how the wind is us So much greener now Everything has blossomed A rush of cold air surrounds the oyster bar near the paddock Lots of skinny legs in shorts I take a couple pictures of the plane There's something different on my face The sun's now on the horizon. And a tail wind will carry me west and I I race the sun 240 miles from Chicago Running 15 minutes early Over the great lakes 
An island shaped like an elephant Engines powering down One large stack from a factory Makes a small mark on the atmosphere And the clouds, oh the clouds Clouds fall off to the south While putting on my scented oil I spill it Now I am sure the rest of the plane knows my story too They know my desire they know my place They know they know just how I undressed her Yeah, just how I undressed her Engines off ....we float Dropping slowly back to earth The only straight lines below are made by us In our desire to get to where we are going Giving us away I laugh just a little Yeah I laugh just a little My ears pop There something different on my face There something different on my face There something different on my face And a tailwind carries me west 

12.
Daily Pray the Rosary/Jeff Armstrong 05:00
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13.
Ghost Man 03:57
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Changing of the guards I have no new tricks Survival of the fittest And it goes like this I was a young man Really a boy My heart On my sleeve And off in the distance I could see The sun shining endlessly Far away from here A boy rides home at dark A swimming pool sits empty A dog begins to bark I am a ghost that you can see With my thoughts and curiosity If that’s the case I’ll make this plea It’s not my choice it’s just loyalty Far away from here A fire burns so bright Just a candle in the wind On a balmy summer night I am the ghost man Yeah, yeah, yeah I am the old plan I am the ghost man I have a new plan The light is shining man I’m going to let it go I am the ghost man Yeah, yeah, yeah I am the old man Yeah, yeah, yeah I am the ghost man I have a new plan The light is shining man I’m going to let it go
14.
Barber/Jeff Armstrong 03:55
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Well My barber Fought in Viet Nam Jumped out of Helicopters So it seems Doesn't look it now Doesn't look it now Doesn't look it now Couldn’t tell Doesn’t look it now Doesn’t look it now He's a tough guy - Not so much me He's a tough guy - not so much me Cutting hair for 30 years Same shop same chair Like a relic From the past Full of downtown chitchat He's a tough guy He's a tough guy He's a tough guy not so much me He's a tough guy He's a tough guy He's a tough guy not so much me He told me he was dying When I found out the same Yea He told me that he was dying When I found out the same Well My barber Fought in Viet Nam Jumped out of Helicopters So it seems Doesn't look it now Doesn't look it now He told me he was dying When I found out the same He’s a tough guy Yea He told me he was dying When I found out the same He’s a tough guy Not so much me Cutting hair for 30 years Same shop same chair Like a relic from the past Full of downtown chitchat Oh yea Chitchat Chitchat Chitchat While my hair drifts away Chitchat Chitchat from the past While my hair drifts away A barber Fought in Viet Nam Jumped out of Helicopters So it seems He told me he was dying When I found out the same He’s a tough guy Not so much me
15.
Golden Boy 05:29
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I am truly saddened to hear what you’ve gone through I am hoping for the best I'll be thinking of you Looking back I can see how things can happen so fast It’s a mystery to me You said I was the Golden Boy Different than the others You would say Not a black sheep Not a fish out of water Just a boy so far from home I don’t remember What the fuck I was doing But everybody said That’s ok Is that ok Is that ok That’s ok Years ago I saw a train Headed for the western plains Passed me so quick that day I dreamed about forgotten ways I dreamed about those who came before I peeled those apples to the core I thought about 1 2 3 4 The crops are in the field and the cows are back I filled up my old gunnysack I took a picture on that day No idea what to say I saw the road that stretched out ahead I left a note pinned on my bed It said I don’t know you well But that’s all right cause I can tell You lived a life unknown to me Your pictures have a mystery And your letters in that hidden box The ones you wrote to Goldilocks Before the drought Before the pills Before you forgot Those battle hills I was there when you erased All was gone without a trace I came upon the golden boy He was not like the others You would say Not a black sheep Not a fish out of water Just a stranger heading home
16.
Hamilton Web/Jeff Armstrong 05:03
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Many years ago I worked a shift Down at Hamilton Web, Down at Hamilton Web An old weaver’s mill long past its day Tucked away in a smugglers cove It Was Somewhere between Wickford and Bonnet Shores Oh yes it was Long ago along the East coast Eastern shores I would make that weekly trip To the airport 40 miles It was a suicide run Kawasaki 5-0-0 How fast I was going Heaven only knows Trading a box of narrow weave For a package of dreams Burger and beer at Tommy’s And a bit of overtime I was the stockman And I learned every job on the floor The canteen truck and a egg Mcmuff, A little banter with Canteen Joe A side bet or two on the Celts or the Sox”s Every week I delivered the box Yea I worked a shift Down at Hamilton Web Every night I locked the place up Wandering the empty second floor Abandoned looms and dying light The smell of wood and oil That’s for sure Stirred up by the ghosts of East Coast weavers Filling the room with distant shadows Of the folks that came and went and came again, before Many years ago I worked a shift Down at Hamilton Web, Down at Hamilton Web, Many years ago I worked a shift Down at Hamilton Web, Down at Hamilton Web,
17.
Raking Leaves 04:36
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Watching the sun come up finger in the wind circumstances change Common ground doesn’t feel the same With the morning comes the sun With the sun comes the day with the day comes the wind And I drift away A tangle of wires Battery's dead Coffees cold Spirit of lead Comes in the morning Stays all day I wish this bird would fly Yah My best interest little did I know how many ways the wind will blow I shake my confidence And it shakes me Some people never seem to change A tangle of wires Battery's dead Coffees cold Spirit of lead Comes in the morning Stays all day I wish this bird would fly He sleeps in the bushes outside of the ymca He thought he had a job but those people moved away seven months since he was down here last Thought about joining the Navy One for the money and two for the road I'm taking chances before I get too old before I get too old before I get too old before I get too old Out raking leaves Down on my knees I was a boy Out raking leaves Down on my knees I was a boy Out raking leaves Down on my knees I was a boy Out raking leaves Down on my knees I was a boy
18.
Longest Day of the Year 04:56
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My mother said I would wander 
Look away and I would flee
 She gave up pinned a note on my shirt 
It said please don’t feed me 
My cousin said I was the golden boy
 Never felt that way
 More like the black sheep 
A role I would
 Continue to play Walk in the park 
When you go to the city
 Reach out with your heart 
Not the long hand pity
 Take time with your thoughts
 As they tend to build up 
And Don’t quench your thirst
 From the half empty cup
 Sitting on a dock
 And I’m Counting my days
 One way or another
 Past present and future 
It’s all in this water Who’s going to paint the town
 Tell me when the sun goes down
 Most days are forgotten
 Most lives are unknown Walk in the park
 When you go to the city 
Reach out with your heart
 Not the long hand pity 
Take time with your thoughts
 As they tend to build up
 And Don’t quench your thirst
 From the half empty cup
 Longest day of the year
 Sounds like a whisper
 Longest day of the year
 Thought I had missed her
19.
Wishing Well 04:24
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The autopsy took two weeks The grieving about the same I was not the only one Calling out your name Very little Is known About this man we knew so well And those final hours Standing Around the Wishing-well I built a big fire in the backyard To turn the darkness to light Love lost and it can’t be found I’m going back To sacred ground It rained for seven days but I was not in town I was in the desert chasing the sun around. The landscape that takes my fear away The sun will rise on another day The sun will wind you up The wind will hunt you down I slept out on second Mesa The ghosts were all in town I'm trying to remember When I was a kid Did the sun set in my back yard I think it did Floods from somewhere are coming Pass through us and be on their way And somewhere else you will be thinking Of higher ground and your deluge days Picture the fate of a nation Caught speeding like drunks on there way Like a river that joins other waters Destined for the ocean some day Wipe the slate clean And sharpen your knife Tools of the trade The American life Every tear tells the story That no words can say In the blink of an eye You can loose your way The raising of glasses To the giving up hope Welcome my friend To the slippery slope
20.
Effigy Mounds/Jeff Armstrong 04:48
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Stars are falling Filling the boat Time to row for shore Time to row for shore The light is dimming Its time to go Time to row for shore I was talking to a friend the other night He didn't have long to live And asked him when he knew it was time And this is what he said -- Well I went to a spiritual place today The bears were already sleeping Winter was near and the stars had all fallen The stars are falling Filling the boat Time to row for the shore Time to row for the shore The light is dimming And its time to go Time to row for the shore row for the shore Cause I was talking to a friend the other night He didn't have long to live Asked him when he knew it was time And this is what he said — He said the stars are falling And they’re Filling up my boat Time to row for the shore Time to row for the shore Time to row for the shore The light is dimming Its time to go The stars are falling Filling up my boat Well I went to a spiritual place today The bears were already sleeping Winter was near and the stars had all fallen Time to row for the shore Time to row for the shore Time to row for Time to row for the shore
21.
Little Pills 04:52
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Well you take your little pills And you look at the sun And you tell me all about it My friend Well you don’t know what to say About the way your liven You can’t see behind you My friend Looking out over the bay Just one of those days Cant live without you Well you can’t see What’s around the bend Not the same as it used to be my friend The end Have a few drinks Turn out the lights tell me all about it My friend Cant live without you Looking out over the bay Just one of those days Cant live without you Well things got better And then they got worse And then They got better again Ya ya ya Medication is easy to find The days go by blink blink Im blind I can’t live without you Looking out over the bay Just one of those days Cant live without you Well you take your little pills And you look at the sun And you tell me all about it My friend Cant live without you you’ve got a friend in me That’s what you say Sit right down Escape the day Your thoughts Drift away Looking out over the bay Just one of those days Cant live without you Ahhhh Ahhh Cant live without you Ahhhh Ahhh Cant live without you Have a few drinks Turn out the lights tell me all about it My friend The end Well you can’t see What’s around the bend Not the same as it used to be my friend The end Looking out over the bay Just one of those days Cant live without you
22.
Hospital Stay/Jeff Armstrong, read by Tim McFate 04:26
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23.
Crumbling Beauty (Acoustic) 05:15
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The yellow umbrella makes good use of the sun It was the middle of the day I closed my eyes to remember I light a candle When I get out of bed I thought it would help And it does What ever happened to you Where will your roads ever take me to again Wide open in the sun with a moon hanging low A stranger on every corner Someone you might know A cold drink when you needed it A bed to lay on down And a flag on the Fourth of July What ever happened to you Where will your roads ever take me to again A place to wander Yeah, to get lost in You could see yourself when you looked Can I look again, can I just pretend Make heaven where hell has stepped in I could see for miles And miles were there to see I could go anywhere I could find my way I had faith that you had dreams That your river ran deep And your river ran clean Is there a fire I can gather round A beach I can wonder Go from town to town We put aside the beauty We put aside the dream We pass like ships in the night What ever happened to you Where will your roads ever take me to again The yellow umbrella Made good use of the sun It was a sunny day I closed my eyes, closed my eyes To remember The songs we sang The land that we loved And all those stars above So far from where we came The songs we sang The land we loved And all those stars above So far from where we came The songs we sang The land we loved And all those stars above So far from where we came The songs we sang The land we loved And all those stars above So far from where we came

about

21 Songs plus a reading of a story by Jeff Armstrong, written and recorded over the past year during the Covid 19 pandemic. Selected songs are co-written with Jeff Armstrong.

The true philanthropic, McFate, is an obvious talent of O’ Wilder’s Art as Life and vice versa, every motion is a joy, his existence itself on earth is a wonder, a living canvas,
Jeff Armstrong

credits

released March 15, 2021

Artwork (graffiti and photo) by Elijah McFate

These songs are resplendent with moods and emotions that plumb depths and scale heights of human existence. They are intimate and personal, yet part of their appeal is your ability to touch on the universal when singing about the particular. Gawd, in one place the lyrics fit me so well that I asked myself, did he write this song about me?

Tim obviously spent a lot of time nurturing these soundtracks. They are filled with textures and licks and backing vocals and effects that augment the deceptively simple narratives. The result delivers rich and complex listening experiences that are emotional, intellectual, intriguing and fun.

Tim keeps challenging himself to be creative and the results are rewarding. I’ve really enjoyed listening to these songs multiple times - and plan to listen to them more in the months and years ahead.

Warren Smith

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Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

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Rescue Box Providence, Rhode Island

For me music has been a constant companion for as long as I can remember. That companionship has not always been comforting. For all the years that I couldn't or wouldn't put the work in I still followed along and wanted to join in.

The process fills so many voids.It is the conversation with myself that I find so necessary. The loners log in a way. ... more

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