My friend, Peter Holmstedt, is handling everything for me in Europe. Peter has done a wonderful job on my behalf, starting with the first CD. I just received, via email, a couple of new reviews. You can find them here:

http://www.keysandchords.com/page6/cds/page8_files/d365f9d7694e5b9fc6a0e8e055ab1b89-345.html

http://www.rocktimes.de/gesamt/m/keith_miles/beyond_the_headlights.html

I believe (and I could definitely be wrong here) but the keysandchords is in Dutch and Rocktimes is in German. Whatever the language, I appreciate the reviewers taking time to listen and post their thoughts. And, I appreciate the efforts of Peter.

Another wonderful house concert at the home of Mike and Sharon Pigott tonight. Great questions from the guests, and a chance to talk about guitars. I brought out the big baritone guitar to play Allan Fraser’s “Them dance hall girls,” and then a Martin tuned high to play “This road I’m on.” That made for a fairly dramatic tonal difference!

I’m starting to get this house concert thing down. If you might be interested, it works like this — invite a dozen or so friends to your house. I play and talk for about an hour. Hopefully, your friends buy the CD. Looking in the Nashville area right now, but have a tentative trip to Washington, D.C. this fall. Contact me if you might be interested.

“7 cent cigar blues,” is an old piece of whimsy that Jack, Sue and I used to perform when we went around Nashville as The Crows. I hope you agree that the addition of the horn section (brought to life with an arrangement by Jim Hoke)  brings a really carnival feel to the song.

“Memories of you,” comes out of my East Tennessee days, as does “Road I’m on” and “Sweet waters.” Looking around for something with a little bit of western swing, I dusted off “Who’s that girl” and added a verse.

I included two covers on this album – “Samson and Delilah,” which I learned from an old Rev. Gary Davis LP. My version differs from  the straight-blues of Rev. Davis, but I believe we stayed true to the spirit of the song. In addition to a driving beat, provided by drummer Rick Lonow, singers Gale Mayes and Angela Primm add some exciting vocal coloring to the tune.

The second cover is “Them Dance Hall Girls,” written by Allan Fraser, which I heard on an early 1970s album by Fraser and DeBolt. Alan Webb, Dave Smith and I used to perform that song many years ago in coffeehouses and bars in East Tennessee and it has always been a favorite of mine.  I was able to connect with Allan via email, and he has graciously allowed me to post the lyrics to this wonderful song on the site. There have been several covers of “Them Dance Hall Girls,” including one by The Duhks in 2005.