Whiskeytown Roadhouse

A mythical honky-tonk, one part Cheers, one part Brigadoon, shaken with an ornery, old-west attitude: That’s the Whiskeytown Roadhouse.

The Whiskeytown Roadhouse lives in the past and the present. It’s inhabited by ghosts and lost souls, lovers and their sordid stories, and it’s tucked away in a canyon on the rough-and-tumble back roads of old Shasta County.

If this were the 1960s, Whiskeytown Roadhouse would be a Concept Album, with an artsy, vaguely risque, 12-by-12 cover and a litany of liner notes and lyrics on the inside sleeve.  But Craig and I missed the '60s music scene, because we were in elementary school at the time, and being Still Married would have been frowned upon.

So here we are:  2013 and the music world is all download-y and green. Whiskeytown Roadhouse is our Concept Not-An-Album, and we're releasing one song at a time on our Still Married website --  all for free. 

First song is up -- click HERE go to our download page. 

North State Songapalooza

Over on Facebook, the North State Songwriters Group has begun the North State Songapalooza (thanks to local country star Nate Rogers for coming up with the name).

I was inspired to organize our Songapalooza after reading about a songwriting game going on in Texas. This challenge requires members to write a song around a given phrase in a short period of time. Journalist Jon Lewis gave our group their first songwriting assignment: "love's simmering" and we had two weeks to come up with a completed song using the phrase.

For me,  undertaking a songwriting challenge is like offering my muse a triple-shot espresso with a Redbull chaser. I get very caught up in the creative energy and forget to do things like sleep, feed my family and finish zipping my dress  other crucial daily activities.

I worked on one song for ten days and wasn't at all happy with it, but last Monday I unwrapped a bowl my sister gave me and was immediately inspired. I wrote, recorded and rewrote over the next two days and finished "Good Days" this morning.

Good Days

Words and music by Erin Friedman

She bought a bowl because she thought

It would be pretty filled with apricots

Seems like summer’s nothing but a winter dream

She tries to be her own best friend

But she knows where it hurts and then

Sometimes that girl can be so mean

Chorus:

On Good Days she sees

Both forest and the trees

On Good Days she believes

The best is yet to be

A poor excuse

But Lord, it’s true

Good Days are few

And far between   

Her morning prayer’s a plea for grace

Wipes the slate of her mistakes

Heals in the spirit of love’s simmering song

Then the music fades away

As she stumbles through her day

Shouldering the blame for what went wrong

No, it's not in Washington, DC.....

We're celebrating Independence Day with a new song, Where America Lives, and we're giving away free downloads this week -- help yourself!

Where America Lives