Strung Out Episode 203: THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART WITH GERALD DOWD. PART TWO.

Gerald Dowd has been described as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago” (Richard Milne, WXRT), playing on over 100 albums, and averaging 150 live dates a year around the world. In recent years, he's been releasing solo albums of original material, starting with his 2012 release, Kingsize EP. In 2014, he was the recipient of an IAP arts grant from Chicago's Dept. Of Cultural Affairs/Special Events (DCASE), which led to his first full-length solo album, Home Now, produced by Grammy-nominated producer Liam Davis, and featuring, among others, Chicago legends Robbie Fulks and Casey McDonough. His most recent album, Father's Day, was engineered/co-produced by Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden, Funeral Bonsai Wedding), and features Robbie Gjersoe (Flatlanders, Jimmie Dale Gilmore), Nora O'Connor (The Decemberists, Neko Case, Iron And Wine) and pedal steel legend Lloyd Maines.  Gerald has also appeared on Switchback's upcoming album Red or Blue and has played on Martin Laurence McCormack's original music as well.   His website is www.GeraldDowd.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Strung Out, the podcast that looks at life through the lens of an artist. Your host is the artist, writer, and musician, Martin Lawrence McCormack. Now here's Marty. All right, well, welcome back to our second half of our podcast with Gerald Dowd. And, um, we're going to jump right in, uh, first of all, talking because, uh, before we start recording.

[00:00:28] One of the things I, I am excited about was that Mark Guarino came out with his book about Chicago. Great book, yeah. When it was, uh, uh, you know, the old barn dance. People don't realize that, uh, Chicago for a long time really, Was the center of the Americana, not even before Americana was named, but the country music universe came up here and this was even before the folk times really took off in Chicago with John Prine and, uh, uh, you know, all those other artists.

[00:01:04] But, um, what happened there was it, it went down to Nashville and it, it, and with it, took all that country music away from Chicago and you ended up with the Grand Ole Opry. But it's, it's wonderful that Guarino, uh, noted that and you were saying that he's noting, noticing that there's a lot more songwriter activity going on and performance.

[00:01:32] Yeah, yeah. A lot of, um, you know, songwriter nights, uh, nights geared towards original songwriters, um, creating new stuff. And so there's, there's a, um, yeah, there's a pretty healthy scene right now in Chicago for that. And, and, uh, and we spoke last week, he's got a piece coming out. Uh, for WBEZ, I think it's this week actually, it's coming out, uh, and just talking about that and about how nice it is to kind of see a, a, a spotlight, uh, shown on, um, local songwriters and people who are doing it, so.

[00:02:04] I'm trying to get him to, to get on this show to talk about it, um, uh, as a, a booster of, uh, uh, Chicago music and such, um. I would like you to play a song, and then, once you're done, I would like to have you talk about your guitar. And then we have to get, get into, uh, what gets you, uh, motivated for writing music, okay?

[00:02:29] Okay. So let's listen to a song by Gerald Dowd. What's this one called? Pull one out of the I'm putting them on the spot, by the way. I could do this. I'm usually a guy that writes a set list, but today I said I'm not gonna do that. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna go with the flow. Without the net. Much like the river over here, yeah.

[00:02:46] Um, so I'll do another one, I guess, from, uh, from my new record. And this is a song About, uh, a great midwestern city. Some people say it's not midwestern, but I would disagree. What? Tulsa, Oklahoma. No, Tulsa isn't midwestern. Some people push back on that, but they're wrong. I'd say, you gotta go with the time zone.

[00:03:07] That's right, exactly. I say everything East, uh, East, uh, East Cozio. That's Ohio, you're kinda, you're pushing the limits on whether that's Midwestern. Right, right. Alright, so, what's it called, Tulsa? It's called Tulsa, yeah. Alright, alright, I think I heard this on the radio, by the way, so, um, this is a great tune.

[00:03:24] Um, alright, let's listen to Gerald Dowd play Tulsa. Morning flight, everything went right Smooth from gate to gate Got to the shore, they let us know That the headline act was laid Not a day 18 and not the worst I've ever seen. Not good enough to help forget where I sun is hanging high and bright, out

[00:03:58] out, shine my Illinois queen. I don't need a dog piss on my shoe to tell me something I already knew.

[00:04:08] Great, but not as great. Would you help me? I'm sinking fast. The oil in my tank ain't gonna last. Can you spot me a board to help me get back to my baby? Now we're eating fancy food off of fancier plates. The owner thinks we're hip. The waitress couldn't do one thing right until she took that tip. Yeah, but that don't make you blue as the day I up and flew.

[00:04:39] It's all set. It's great, but not as great as you.

[00:05:07] You think it's all fun and games. Different faces and other names. The fact of the matter is I'm counting the minutes till I get home. All in all, a pretty good day, so why am I feeling low down? There's a big white moon and soft white sheets. But you're in another town. Yeah, we could make this hotel bed sink.

[00:05:30] Wear it down to its finals. In Tulsa's great, but not as great a without you. I say Tulsa is great. There's no debate. Yeah, it's great, but it's in another stake. Tulsa's great till takes me away from you.

[00:05:52] Yeah. Shaking that Guitar toe taper. That's great. Uh, thanks. Let's, uh, let's jump right into songwriting because I got a lot of questions for you. But before we do that. How long have you had this guitar? Tell the audience about this guitar. Well, first, I'm gonna put out there, I know nothing about guitars.

[00:06:10] Literally, almost literally nothing. Uh, this guitar, I bought this, um, probably Maybe 10, 11 years ago now. I think I got it up at guitar works, Evanston zone. Yeah. Um, shout out to them. Shout out to guitar works. One of the great guitar places anywhere. And, uh, uh, so I got it from them. Um, about five years after that, apparently there was something wrong with the neck of this particular guitar.

[00:06:39] So I got a brand new neck put on five years ago and it made the guitar even nicer. So, uh, yeah, that's, that's about all I can tell you. It's got. It's got a really nice action though on it. I mean, it seems like it's very easy on the neck. Is it? It is, yeah. It's pretty low. Um, you know, uh, I'm not a, uh, poster boy for guitar playing, but, um, but, uh, it feels really comfortable.

[00:07:06] And that's, for me, that's the thing. And it sounds good amplified. It sounds good acoustic. So, uh, I needed something that kind of did both. So, yeah. And, and for, uh, uh, you know, uh, you songwriters out there that are looking for a guitar to play, you really can't go wrong with Taylor. There's different price structures for Taylor's and, um, you know, the, the nice thing about it is, is that, uh, like you said, you could just, you could set up and that thing can carry itself.

[00:07:35] Yeah. You know, it's super consistent all the time. You know, you pull it out, it, it sounds great. Um, so it's the two 14 CI think. Mm-Hmm. , yeah, the two 14. So, Taylor. Taylor, there you go. And, uh, when you play, uh, you know, do you, uh, in your mind, are you drumming along with it or are you, uh, How weird. Because do you consider yourself, I guess.

[00:08:00] primarily a drummer or a guitarist? A drummer for sure. And I feel like, um, I feel like I play the guitar like a drummer. Yeah. You know, I, uh, I like that. Uh, you know, I think of this as sort of the hi hat, you know? And, uh, and so, um, but again, uh, to, uh, go back to Robbie. Folks, um, strumming style after him He just has the, um, if you've ever seen him play, you know, it's just his hand, it just never stops.

[00:08:37] I mean, it, uh, like it's just so solid and so consistent and so fluid. And uh, and so I really, um, paid a lot of attention to the way he played guitar and kind of tried to try to model it. I didn't achieve that, but I tried to get as close as I could. That's, that's really cool. And I think that goes back to a guy like Robbie, uh, all those years.

[00:08:58] Doing that bluegrass. Oh, yeah, where it's just that's bluegrass is like you've got to have that wrist No matter what instrument you're playing And it has to have that consistency That's probably the same thing that, you know, Brian Fitzgerald with, um, picking up the mandolin, uh, with Jethro Burns, I think he, you know, he, he has that, uh, you know, super wrist, something I don't have, uh, but, uh, it's, it's a good thing to emulate.

[00:09:29] It is. It really is. I mean, and to do it, um, To keep it loose, you know, cause you can't, everybody knows, you can't play fast if you're stiff. So you gotta, you know, for the mid tempo stuff, really work on, on, uh, playing loosely, keeping that wrist loose. And then when you start playing faster, then it's just easier to do.

[00:09:45] You don't start to tense up or choke up. With your drum playing, are you a LeBron Helm kind of drummer in the sense that you can sing and drum? Or how do you see, how do you see yourself on stage with your band? I mean, if we were to come see you, Are you fronting with the guitar or are you fronting with the drums?

[00:10:03] I, I, when I, when it's my band I play, uh, don't mention Le Von cause we'll spend the rest of the time on this podcast talking about Le Von. There's my man right here. Let's hold that up again. I want to focus in on that. Why don't we have something in common? I'm in love with the band. Oh, the band is the best.

[00:10:21] Uh, Le Von is my, my hero in many, many ways. Um, and, uh, Yeah, he, uh, I, um, I do feel, well, I have a leave on home tribute band actually called electric dirt. If anybody's interested, we haven't been playing much lately, but I think we're going to start to get out there a little bit more, but we played at Simon's every month for six years and, and we just did anything that leave on touch.

[00:10:46] So that's, you know, the band or Dylan or Neil young or any, Anything that he played on or sang on is a fair game for us. So, um, uh, I do, so in that band, I do play, uh, and lead, sort of lead the band from the drums, but, uh, but when it's my band, I'm playing guitar and, and, uh, and have a band behind me. Well, that's, uh, it's wonderful.

[00:11:06] They play. You, uh, you can carry yourself on a guitar man. You can walk around the, the, the prep board and it's great. Thank you. I, I, I disagree only because you know how you know your own playing and there's things you, there's things you do and you're like, ah, I wish I could do this. And I, I, I, I, I, I learned to play just enough to kind of get through my songs and some nice covers.

[00:11:27] That's kind of, I mean, for me, I, I've always been a bass player and, uh, uh, not true. I, I became a bass player in college. And I, I was playing the guitar and I had to ditch it because my bass player quit. So that's how a lot of bass players are born. I think is, uh, okay. We have some, an instrument for everybody.

[00:11:45] You're, you're left. Okay. But to be a bass player that could sing like a drummer that could sing is, uh, was kind of a novelty. Uh, still is a little bit. Yeah. There's not a lot of them, but there are some for sure. Um, but, uh, I hear a train coming, but we're going to, uh, Let it approach and then, uh, uh, we'll be quiet.

[00:12:06] But, um, uh, while it goes by in deference to its loud noise. Hey, want to show your support of Martin's artist endeavors? Buy me a coffee as an online site that makes supporting Marty easy. In just a few taps, you can make a payment of any amount and no account is needed. You can also decide to become an ongoing supporter.

[00:12:29] Go to martinmccormack. com and click on the words support Martin. Let's help Martin keep it all capital.

[00:12:43] That's, that's great. Uh, we're, we're going to sneak back in with that. Uh, uh, Gerald was just talking about his 15 year old son. Uh, Loving, uh, Levan Helm. I call him Levan Levan. Um, but, uh, the late great, uh, and, uh, yes, I think the band is, uh, one of the quintessential, uh, go to, uh, Things for anybody that's trying to learn good American style, Americana, whatever you want to call it, folk music.

[00:13:17] Um, just what they did along with Dylan. It was magical. It is, yeah. Those records are, uh, especially those first early records are just untouchable. And, um, and again, talk about, uh, you know, I mean, they played rock, there's jazz, there's country, there's blues, there's soul. It's a, it's a, it's a dream, it's a dream genre.

[00:13:41] One of the first groups to really kind of do it effortlessly. Um, you know, that, uh, that, that really, you know, you, you knew them as the band. And, uh, and you're right. I mean, they would go into Louisiana stuff and whatever. Uh, and here you have these Canadians. And one guy from Arkansas, which I always, in the back of my mind when I'm traveling, I always think of, well, how do these guys do this?

[00:14:10] You know, like traveling in their Cadillac with their trailer or whatever. It's great to read about the band, you aspiring songwriters, because they have a lot to tell you about just the amount of dedication you gotta put to the craft. Which brings me to my question about your craft. Let's talk a little bit about songwriting in this section.

[00:14:36] Um, how do you go about it? A lot of different ways. Um, sometimes things just, just pop into my head. Uh, sometimes I'll sit down and say, Okay, write, you know? And then, uh, and then sometimes, um, I don't do a whole lot of co writing, but I have, uh, like that song I played in the last segment, that Skeleton Key, the new song, that song was inspired by a haiku by Jenny Binneman, who you said has been on here.

[00:15:07] And so, um, she's a, she, uh, incredible singer songwriter for anybody who doesn't know. Um, endlessly creative, constantly trying to create stuff, constantly trying to encourage people to create new things. Um, and so, uh, she writes haiku, And then she gives a songwriter, uh, the sort of challenge. It's not that aggressive, but she's, uh, she likes to have songwriters write to her haiku.

[00:15:33] And so that Skeleton Key song was actually inspired by one of her haiku. And, um, and she, uh, and so that's another way, you know, just, um, Yeah, I feel like you can come at songwriting from so many different angles and some, some ways work better than others. Or, or even the same way can work differently depending on, uh, What time of day it is or something.

[00:15:56] I don't know, you know what I mean? Like, uh, like when I was, um, during COVID during lockdown, that father's day in lockdown, um, my wife said, well, we can't really do anything because everything's locked out. We can't go to a movie. And she said, what do you want to do? And I said, well, why don't, you know, like, we'll go for a walk and, uh, with the kids and then we'll come back and maybe I'll just go write for a couple hours.

[00:16:17] That would be nice to just be out. Roman, right? And, uh, and, and, and I wrote the title track for my new record, Father's Day, which, um, came about in, you know, about an hour and a half. And that is a, a first for me that, uh, usually it's a, it's a never ending, grueling slog and constantly parsing, uh, words and phrases and, and a little accord here, there, and, But that one seemed to come really, really quickly and, um, so yeah, I feel like, you know, you can be inspired by anything at any time and sometimes, uh, the writing gods, you know, smile on you and say, okay, we're not going to have this song take forever.

[00:16:57] Conversely, another song on my record took six years to write, so I've kind of got the whole gamut on that record. Right. Well, speaking about that, with a song that takes six years to write, I always like to ask songwriters, uh, how do you Do you, you know, curate all the little bits and pieces of ideas for songs?

[00:17:19] Do you have a notebook? Do you have a computer? Do you just keep it in the noggin? I don't trust my brain to hold that kind of information. So no, I definitely will write it down or, um, sing it into my phone, into a little voice memo thing. Uh, so I've got, you know, on my phone currently back there now, I think I have, I don't know, a hundred and fifty.

[00:17:40] 50 little snippets and some sort of like a, like a full progression of a song. Sometimes I'll just sit down and go, you know, okay, I'm like, let's, uh, I'll write a song in a B today, you know, and just kind of see what happens. I can start moving around the neck and just see if anything kind of kickstarts an idea.

[00:17:58] Um, and then lyrically it's often, you know, just the sort of an offhand remark by, you know, Myself or by someone else. And I'll just kind of, Oh, that's, that sounds good. I'll write that down or type it into my computer, put it up, send myself a, I again, on my phone, I have probably a hundred texts to myself with just a little reminder, like, Hey, this was a, you know, this little phrase or whatever.

[00:18:22] Before we have you play another song, um, do you dedicate a certain amount of time, uh, a day to playing? Or are you one of these guys that walks around? You know, the house with the guitar. What, how do you, how do you discipline yourself? Uh, you know, I'm not great about that, that kind of discipline. I, uh, I try to, I do something every day, at least you just sit down, even just sing a song, whether it's mine or somebody else's and, uh, and just try to stay with the guitar and stay with performing.

[00:18:59] Cause it, you know, it's still. I'm much more comfortable now leading a band than I used to be, but there's still, you know, my memory can Uh, let me down. Sometimes i'll forget a lyric or i'll forget a You know, a chord or something or play the wrong chord. And, and so I really feel like the more I stay in touch with kind of, uh, just doing some kind of playing or some kind of writing, uh, that helps.

[00:19:21] And so, yeah, and again, at least once a day, I'll try to sit down and just, uh, and pull up my voice memo and sing something, like come up with a line, come up with a melody, something, and put it down. And some days I get to do that for more than other days, but, um, but I at least try to do one little thing, um, just to kind of keep the juices cooking.

[00:19:43] Well let's, uh, let's have the audience hear another one of your songs. You got one that you can throw out there? Yeah. Do you have a prompt? Is there any kind of song you want to hear, like a slow song, or a fast song, or? Just, uh, you know, whatever comes to your mind. Uh, well, let's, you know, we heard a fast one with, uh, Tulsa.

[00:20:02] Let's go to, uh, let's go to one of your more, uh, introspective ones. Introspective. Okay. Um, let's see. Uh, okay. Not Cats in the Cradle, but Oh, I wish I wrote that song. I know. How about it? Come on. Harry Chapin. Oh, yeah. I love him. Okay. I'll play. This is the title from my, uh, my previous record. And, uh, this is a song about, uh, About family and about baseball.

[00:20:32] Perfect. A little baseball in there, too, for all you fellow baseball fans. It's called Home Now.

[00:20:58] I shot down the third baseline Runner didn't see the sign Head down, it ducks the tag And the crowd roars

[00:21:18] Hit em high and I'll hit em low I'll follow you wherever you go Never needed my shoulders, I had yours

[00:21:37] Summer never lasts that long So flip the tape and play that one last car song Time and city air are all we've got And all we need

[00:22:03] To spit the water from your lungs Sure feels like fall's begun Dock the boat and let's begin A long drive home

[00:23:02] Once I saw you in a dream, and I don't need anyone to tell me what it means, can you find it in your heart to come back again, cause it's been so long, go on leave

[00:23:30] your shoes by the door. Never wanted to see anyone more. Let me be the first to welcome you home. Home, now.

[00:23:54] Beautiful song. Thank you. Really nice. Thanks. We're going to take a little break here, and when we come back we're going to wrap up this podcast talking to Gerald Dowd about songwriting. And as you can see, he knows how to write a song or two. You're on Strung Out!

[00:24:15] Hello, this is Polly Chase presenting artwork by Martin McCormick. This painting, titled Dude, features a mountain range that holds a special place in Marty's heart. On the canvas, which measures 20 by 24, we see the Tetons rising in the hazy distance of a view from an abandoned dude ranch just outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

[00:24:40] Near Marty's parents old place, the cool blues and violets of the background complement the buttery yellow foreground. These colors pass the viewer's attention back and forth along the horizontal plane, while the decaying Model T sinks into that scrubby landscape from which the majestic peaks punch upward along the vertical plane.

[00:25:06] It's a quiet yet very moving scene. scene, both artistically and emotionally. It pulls the imagination into a human story waiting to be told, one witnessed by rock that is millions of years old. To explore this painting and more of Marty's artwork, go to martinmccormick. com. I learned by Carl and you. Oh, yeah, right.

[00:25:34] How many of these have you done so far? Oh, jeez, I think this is going to be, uh, the 202nd podcast that'll be coming out. Good lord. Yeah, I've done one a week for about four years. Oh, look at the sparrows hanging out at you. Oh, hey, buddy. Yeah, they're Oh, man. I have the battle of the sparrows here. Good. I have these Rens that come in Uhhuh.

[00:25:58] Oh wow. Look at that guy. Yeah. And see he's, he's now taken over that he's knocked, they've knocked the Rens outta here. It's like, yeah, I've given up on him. Turf war. What? Turf war? . But Air War. Yeah. Not turf, but, um, alright, well we're big here and, um, uh, in this remaining section of time here, um, I always like to think that somewhere out there right now with somebody listening to this and.

[00:26:26] I'm saying, you know, this guy is really inspiring me to, to, you know, follow a path, uh, of being a, a musician. First of all, how did you know you're going to be a musician? And how did you make that, uh, commitment to being one? Well, first of all, I hope I don't encourage anyone to become a musician. Because, no, I'm kidding.

[00:26:52] I know. Of course. Um, eh, it's a, it's a tough bracket. It's, it is. It's, it's so, I mean, when I was a kid, um, we all were, you know, we had to take lessons, music lessons, um, I think I started on. violin, and that didn't last. And then I went to piano and that didn't last. And then I got my first drum. I think I started to sort of, um, imply to my parents that I wanted a drum.

[00:27:18] And so I got a snare drum when I was 10 and, uh, and I just kind of fell in love with it. And then, uh, and then from there, yeah, just. Um, started taking lessons and, and, uh, and, and I think when I, I think the first time I knew, oh, that, that might be something I want to do. Uh, my first concert was Billy Joel in 1978 at the Boston Garden.

[00:27:43] And, um, and, uh, and Liberty DeVito, his drummer was just, uh, I couldn't take off him. Wow. Um, he's, he's a real, uh, incredible player, uh, still is and, um, anybody who knows Liberty, if they're watching, I'm dying to meet him. So if anybody can, uh, facilitate that, that'd be great. I just want to shake his hand and say, thank you.

[00:28:03] Um, uh, so then, yeah, that was, I think that was it for me. Um, and then in high school, you know, you kind of, you're doing other stuff and. You kind of dip in and out of seriousness, you know, or dedication. At least I did. I can't say that for everybody. Um, but, uh, but yeah, uh, but it never left. And then, and then, you know, as I got, um, maybe like a sophomore year, I think, was when I said, okay, I'm going to, this is what I want to do.

[00:28:29] And so I started to, to, uh, take steps to do that. And, um, and then, uh, and that was it. And then I went to, went to college for music. That was it. And then I continued it here when I moved to Chicago and, um, and then just, uh, started playing around. So, um, I forget the second part of your question. Well, I'm going to follow it up.

[00:28:51] You kind of, you know, what keeps you going? It's really that commitment that I'd like you to just. kind of expound upon because, you know, all musicians that are independent musicians, you kind of go through those days where you're like, why am I, what am I doing here? You know, what am I, you know, I'm one step away from working at Trader Joe's kind of thing, you know, paper, plastic.

[00:29:17] Um, at least, I think there is that, uh, feeling of, uh, survival, you know, it's a tough craft, uh, you know, we make light of it. Yeah, we make light of it, but it's, it's, it's tough to serve the muse. Um, so how do you keep going? How do you, how do you stay committed? Um, how do you, are you just, you know, tell me, um, you know, uh, I've been lucky enough to play with a lot of people in town, a lot of great.

[00:29:51] And so that, um, that has kept me going for a really long time, you know, it's like, uh, working with, uh, creative people, um, and, uh, and just, you know, I love music and there's times I want to throttle it, you know, but, um, but, uh, but I love it and I always will. I think, um, you know, certainly early on times were a lot tougher.

[00:30:16] Things have gotten significantly easier, you know, 30 plus years into living, um, in a, in a musical environment in a community like Chicago. And, uh, and so, you know, you can, you can. Relax a little bit. Um, but, uh, I don't know, you know, you could have a, my, uh, the ratio of tough gigs to, to good gigs, the, the tough gigs have gotten less, which is great.

[00:30:44] That's always in it, but you know, some of them still come up as for everybody. Um, and, uh, and when there's, you know, when it seems like, ah, that was a really rough, rough gig, you know, like, what am I doing? Am I doing the right thing? Should I be a whatever? Something else. And, uh, but then you have another, you have a, you have a, something great happens, either a gig or a, you stumble on a really nice thing for a song or, or something like this, where you just come and you play your songs outside and have a nice conversation.

[00:31:11] And, uh, and I liken it to golf where, you know, you could hack away for, seven, eight holes, you know, and then you hit one tee off the tee. There's one long straight 200 yard shot and you go, Oh, that felt really good. All right. I'm going to go back out there and then, you know, you hack it up for another, but I feel like, uh, yeah, kind of getting that, um, that one nice long straight shot, uh, can really keep you going, you know, and, and you, and if you're looking for those, you find them more and more, I think.

[00:31:42] Yeah. I, I loved this and, uh, Before you play one last song to finish this off, I want to follow up on that with a question to you. Therefore, how do you define success for Gerald Dowd? Hmm. Uh, I think, you know, kind of what I'm doing. Uh, you know, Playing with great people, playing great music, uh, you know, getting to do some traveling and see the world and, um, and, uh, you know, having a family and, and, uh, and being able to keep doing this.

[00:32:25] I mean, it's a, yeah, I think, um, you know, there's, there's certainly levels of success, but it's, it's all success, you know, it all kind of feels right. And, um, and so, yeah, I think for me to keep feeling successful is to just kind I'm doing what I'm doing, keep writing, and try to keep getting better at that, and keep playing, and try to keep getting better at that, and uh, continuing to play with great people like you and other folks in Chicago and wherever, and being able to pay my mortgage.

[00:32:56] Well, I really appreciate that answer, because I think for aspiring musicians, you know, the Taylor Swift, that end of the genre, or whatever you want to call it, is so important. It's so remote to, to so many real journey men and women out there making it happen. And I think you can make it happen. You can make it happen in this, the 21st century with all these things arrayed against you to some degree.

[00:33:28] Um, but you can make a living. You can. And I think, uh, in particular in Chicago, I think you can do it more easily than in other big cities. I think there's something about the livability of the city. Um, Depending on, you know, where you're living and just, uh, trying to make your way through the business here in Chicago.

[00:33:46] I think it's a lot easier than other places. That's kind of partly why I moved here instead of New York, which is, you know, was four hours away from where I lived. Yeah. Uh, and, uh, but, uh, it just seemed like, uh, you know, you could, um, you could get by here and, uh, and not just get by. You could, you could, Well, I want to thank you for being on this podcast, and we're happy to have you back again.

[00:34:10] Love to. Um, let's, play us out with something. Play us out with something, okay. Yeah, whatever you want to do. So that was introspective, so let's go the other way maybe. Yeah, upbeat. Upbeat, a little upbeat. Okay, so this is a song, um, Again, for my new album, Father's Day. Uh, and, uh, it's about, um, a bad friend.

[00:34:33] Yeah, he's not, not a real supportive guy. Okay. Uh, and not anybody I, I think I have currently in my, on my friend list. But, um, but, uh, this idea just came to me one time and it's called, uh, Just Another Broken Heart. So there's not a real person behind this or? There is not, yeah, there is not a person behind this and I have a few songs like that.

[00:34:53] Interesting. And, uh, just because it's fun to try to write. A character, you know, to create, to create a scenario that maybe you're not familiar with or a character that you don't know. See what you can bring out of that. What's the name of the song? It's called Just Another Broken Heart. Just Another Broken Heart with Cheryl Dowd.

[00:35:12] Just Another Train Going By. Just Another Train Going By. Yeah, it's pretty funny when I do, uh, I always do a welcome to the show for the Mr. Marty Show out here. Um,

[00:35:30] I'm sure my neighbors probably think I'm nuts, you know, because it's the same song every week. I was fiddling around with it for, you know. Oh, like a, like a theme song? Theme song. Yeah, okay. You know, and, uh, which is different from, you know, the podcast, but, uh, but I'll use these songs on the Mr. Marty Show.

[00:35:48] You know, I'll bring it in, but, uh, that I have people contributing from, like, around the world. Yeah. Our baron player Takeshi Horiuchi lives in Japan. He's a mountain climber quite a bit. You know, so I've got all this beautiful happiness in nature, that segment. Then I have a lady down in Australia that recites poetry.

[00:36:12] Oh man. So it's like an online, uh, you know, Uh, uh, artistic co-op right, is kinda the way I, I kind of envision it, you know, I'm not making any money at it or anything like that. It's just kind of been a labor of love. All all this stuff that on for the most part. So it, it's a great thing. I, I'm, uh, I'm terrible at listening to podcasts.

[00:36:31] I don't know why I, ones that I listen to, I hear, but, uh, but yeah, I gotta dig into two, over 200. That's a really impressive Yeah. There's a lot of, lot of crazy stuff on them. Yeah. And you'll hear the whiskey lab, but that's, you know, but that's, uh. I've got to reconstitute Whiskey Lab. Okay, we've got to talk about that too.

[00:36:47] We'll talk about that. You're on the team. You're on the team. I like that. We're all going to have to wear lab coats. That's my only thing I Is that right? Oh, I think if we're going to do a video, I think it would be funnier than now. It's like the Seth MacFarlane thing of, you know, the Irish. When they're all in lab coats and they're like, you know, Oh, we just, you know You know, discovered later than something, you know, transportation.

[00:37:08] Oh, brilliant, great. And then in comes a guy and says, Hey, you know, look at, I just, I just got this stuff. It's called whiskey. And they, they, they try it and they're all beating the crap out of me. Yes. It's like, I love it. Cause it's like, you know, it's just so, so real. Here we are. Just another broken heart.

[00:37:46] I've seen that face before. Like

[00:38:02] it's all brand new. No surprise should it be to you. It happens more than every now and then. Cause you think what you're going through Will leave you forever blue. Give you time. It's just another broken heart. It's just another broken heart. Yeah, it's so familiar now. I'm waiting for you to tell me how You went from loving arms to just a friend.

[00:38:47] Always wear that. Me. I hate to see you. I.

[00:38:59] Cause you think what you're going through Was custom made just for you Well get in line It's just another broken heart

[00:39:17] But when you see her on the street Just fake a smile

[00:39:25] Take that busted heart and throw it on the pile. Cause you

[00:39:52] think what you're going through Is the end of a love that's true You'll be fine Cause it's just another part of you Alright, thank you so much, Gerald Dowd, and thank you guys, and we will catch up with you on the next edition of Strung Out. Bye bye!

[00:40:32] Thank you for listening. For more information about this show or a transcript, visit martinmccormack. com. While there, sign up for our newsletter. See you next time on Strung Out.

[00:40:49] It's oh so wrong, this pain we feel Makes no sense at all A swan song wasn't part of the deal Was no good at all Givin no choice, givin no steps