I imagine this some day being used by callow, sweet hopefuls for auditions.  Maybe for their local band.  Or maybe for THE VOICE (#TeamKelly).  

It was a joy to include some Hammond organic sweetness from my dear friend Ryan O'Malley (veteran of Sweet Mama Gumbo) on "Good Road".  We began tracking it on my birthday 2019, and what a present!  And I thought I was emulating this British guy in the guitar solo, but once I listened back it was clearly a subconscious tribute to a whole different American guy.  Such are the vagaries of E major pentatonic.  

This took a bit of working to get written (in two bursts, 3 years apart), but the sentiment was always clear.  It truly has a been a twisty backroad getting where I am -- I tried shiny whimsical escapism, drunken buckeye microphone-swinging, bourbon-bottling up, and exploding. There's been light and shade, sometimes all at once. In the end, the only path that has ever worked for me is that of kindness - and it sure was a good one to find.

 LYRICS

 

Woke up lost 

Turned 3 lefts blind 

I found a hard road 

But a good road to find 

Trying to get free 

Leave my worries behind 

Sounds like a good road, 

But too ill-defined. 

 

If I ever want to get out 

And outrun the unkind 

I'll need a good road, 

and that's a hard road to find. 

 

First cup of coffee 

To gather my mind 

Can't do any brewing 

Without hitting the grind 

Embittered & battered, 

Like a hollowed-out rind. 

Might not even matter, 

But I sure wouldn't mind... 

 

...if I could get free and get out 

And outwit the outshined, 

But I'll need a good road, 

And that's a hard road to find. 

 

Broke down and shocked, 

Strut's misaligned 

Flat-tired and rocked, 

Card is declined 

Sickly & stranded 

Tarred and unpined, 

Uneven-handed, 

Wrists in a bind. 

 

But at last I can see my next step 

On the path: TO BE KIND. 

And up ahead it's a good road. 

… 

It was a hard road to find, 

But it's such a good road. 

 

written by Dolph Chaney 18-31 Dec 2015 & 7-9 Dec 2018 
©2018 Dolph Chaney (BMI). All rights reserved. 

Ryan O'Malley: Hammond organ. 

Jim LeFager: Drums. 

Dolph Chaney: Acoustic and electric guitars, bass, voice.