Right, remember I said I was an "amateur" musician (friend Mike uses the term "minstrel.")

You can go directly to the links to MP3 files below, or you may take a minute for me to tell you how I got here.

My roommate at the University of Montana in 1964 played in a band.  Way cool.  Chicks are supposed to be attracted to guys in bands, so I decided I wanted to learn to play guitar.

Fast forward five years.  I was taking a European discharge from the Army.  I had a year to travel Europe and still catch my military plane ride back to Montana.

By then I had a twelve-string guitar, a German-made Framus.  Upon discharge from the Army, I hitch-hiked to Paris with my guitar.  I bought a Japanese motorcycle from a Texan in Paris.  I strapped my guitar on the back of the motorcycle and proceeded to put 20,000 miles on that motorcycle from Scandinavia to North Africa over the course of a year.  Right, there are lots of interesting stories to tell about that journey.

With very little savings from the Army, I had to earn just a bit of money along the way to put gas in the motorcycle and feed myself.  So, I took to performing traditional American folk music in little bars and restaurants along the way, for very small change.  Hey, it didn't take much.

The very good news was that Europeans had no clue what American folk music was supposed to be or sound like.  I especially liked songs about the developing American West, such as John Henry, Drill Ye Terriers Drill and others - some I'd learned in grade school.  Kind Europeans liked those songs enough they kept gas in my motorcycle.

So, I guess it's fair to say that I did a year-long musical tour of Europe, although that would be stretching the point a bit.

Here are some sample songs, done with marginal recording equipment (one microphone, one track, no filters, no mixing, unedited, only me, straight into the computer).  BTW, these were not done with the Framus 12-string I packed around Europe, but with an Ovation 12-string I acquired from friend Eric.

Sample songs (MP3 files, all):

Sixteen Tons (Tennessee Ernie Ford)

Ain't She Sweet (Traditional)

Always On My Mind (Various Artists)

Easy Wind (Grateful Dead)

El Matador (Kingston Trio)

Five Foot Two (Traditional)

Scotch and Soda (Kingston Trio)

Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)

Summertime (Various Artists)

Wabash Cannonball (Various Artists)