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makin’ tracks

Late at night on that lonesome highway Texas, which is about an hour north of Austin. I
Tryin’ to make it out on the road would go down there on the weekends and and I
Wish I’d dressed for colder weather quickly fell in love with the Austin music scene. One
But I didn’t know California gets so cold night when I was watching some local acts perform
it suddenly occurred to me that they looked like they
This old truck’s been runnin’ rough were having so much fun. The next day I went out
Lord, I hope she don’t let me down and bought my first guitar and set about
Wish I had time to stop and rest learning how to play. “Makin’ Tracks” was the first
But I got a show to do in another town song I wrote.

Chorus: I started off wanting to write about what being in the
I don’t know why I do the things I do army was like; dealing with the elements, the
Off with these wild boys when I oughta be with you loneliness and the uncertainty. There was one in-
When the music fades and there’s nothin’ left to do stance in particular where I was broke down with a
I’ll turn right around and start makin’ tracks back to truck in the desert out in California while on a train-
you ing mission in the days after 9-11. Growing up in
Arkansas, California was always spoken of as this
Dreams ain’t made for givin’ up sort of “promised land”. The biggest thing that
But now I’m stranded out in Barstow surprised me about California was that the high
I left that truck sittin’ dead out the highway desert can be so cold at night so I wanted to put
As I remembered how you begged me not to go that idea in the song as well. As I began to write the
lyrics it became apparent to me fairly quickly that the
Chorus: casual listener would not be able to relate to the lyrics
I don’t know why I do the things I do I was writing at an emotional level, so I changed the
Off with these wild boys when I oughta be with you story to be about a struggling country singer on the
When the music fades and there’s nothin’ left to do way to his breakout gig when his truck breaks down.
I’ll turn right around and start makin’ tracks back to I thought I could convey the same emotional impact
you if I told a story that the listener could more easily
relate to.
I guess I’ll head on back to Austin
It’s good to hear you on the phone The first draft of the song turned out a lot like
If you’d send a little money OMCS’s “Wagon Wheel”. I really liked it, though
I’ll be on that next bus back home and I kept tinkering with it. In 2018 I sat down and
rewrote it so it wouldn’t sound like a “Wagon Wheel”
Chorus: clone. I wound up being more pleased with the
I don’t know why I do the things I do revised version. I thought it sounded more like my
Off with these wild boys when I oughta be with you voice and not Bob Dylan or Ketch Secor. I love both
When the music fades and there’s nothin’ left to do of those guy’s music but I wanted to really find my
I’ll turn right around and start makin’ tracks back to own voice as a songwriter that, while it reflected my
you influences, was still uniquely my own.

When the music fades and there’s nothin’ left to do I continued to write songs on and off over the next
I’ll turn right around and start makin’ tracks back to decade or so and was in a couple of bands that never
you really took off. I am not as prolific a songwriter as
some but I only really write when I have something
Follow this link to listen.... that I really want to get off my chest. I have spend the
last few years experimenting with home recording
his was my very first attempt at songwriting from and slowly accumulating gear and skills. Two recent
Tback in 2004. I was in the U.S. Army at Ft. Hood, events really spurred me to a new burst of creativity

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