Comes with a Custom 24 Page Insert/Booklet with Photos, Lyrics, and Stories behind the Songs!
From Dan:
"When I was little, growing up in Western New York, we’d go on a big road trip every summer. We’d leave in darkness and I’d sit on the front bench seat of Dad’s old Pontiac Catalina, mesmerized by the green glow of the dashboard lights. By morning we’d be in Pennsylvania and tomorrow we’d be crossing into the South. I sat up front because having 3 boys in the back seat was generally a recipe for disaster. Mom would navigate the interstates with her well-worn roadmaps folded just so. Dad would drive with both feet narrating at 70 mph, giving some obscure historical fact, the types of trees we were seeing, and where the long freight trains were headed.
When the reception was clear enough we’d listen to the local AM station, playing the 70’s hit songs by Gordon Lightfoot, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Harry Chapin, and Jim Croce, etc. There was something magical about those drives that made those songs and the stories in them come alive. I wanted to know the people in those stories and see the places in them.
Later, as a Boy Scout, I got my first chance to go ‘West’, to Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. I poured over maps for weeks, entranced by names of seemingly exotic places like: Cheyenne, Denver and Santa Fe. In 1988 I came west again for three months. This time, as an adult, I saw the country through new eyes: Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. One weekend we borrowed a friend’s Nissan 240Z and drove down to Ensenada, Mexico. We then hitchhiked back up the California coast, sleeping on the beach and getting in as much scenery (and trouble) as possible before the summer was over.
Then one night back home in 1989 at a local bar on Water Street, I ran into this guy named ‘Joe’ fresh out of the Army, who said he was moving to Spokane the next day. I bought him a drink to help him celebrate, then he bought me one to help me help him celebrate. Before I knew it, I found myself in the passenger seat of his 1978 primer-grey Pontiac Trans-Am, headed west again, for the third time. Stopping at my best friend’s house in Ohio, I was surprised to find him packed and ready to go. So we just made what room we could, in that little back seat.
The trip went fast and the county’s great river’s passed beneath us: The Mississippi, Missouri, Yellowstone, Snake and Columbia. In that wide open country I searched the FM dial for the songs and stories I remembered from road trips past, and frequently we saw trains, and I wondered where they were headed. We split up in Spokane, and at 4am the two of us headed to Seattle, the ‘Emerald City’, landing there unceremoniously under a blanket of torrential grey rain on December 2nd 1989.
That was 22 years or half a lifetime ago. What I didn’t know then was that once I left home, I could never really go back again. Seeing the country changed me and so did the people I’d met. I wanted to hear their stories and desperately wanted to know what mine was. So I kept searching and kept moving. I spent 2 years in Utah as a Park Ranger at Canyonlands National Park. I drove cross country and back at least twice and slept under the stars as much as I could. I did a lot of late night driving and I’d love finding a local DJ who somehow knew the song I needed to hear. Finally by accident or fate, I found myself in Portland, Oregon, back in the Pacific Northwest.
I didn’t know it then, but all that time searching for who I was and where I was supposed to be, I was right there all the time. I just couldn’t see it yet.
In the studio one afternoon, legendary banjo and slide player Tony Furtado asked me how long I’d been working on this project. I think I answered ‘43 years, 10 months, 6 days and 2 hours’. I was probably only off by an hour or two.
So even though I’ve only just begun my musical journey, the songs and stories on ‘Ash and Bone’ have been with me for a long time. I like to think of my torn road atlas as part souvenir of the journey, and part guide to the future. I like to think that on any night, someone you meet can change your life. And I also like to think maybe you’ll hear one of these songs and feel that it’s as much your story as it is mine.
I’d like to think I haven’t changed that much after all. I still love long drives to shows, festivals and to your homes. I still love finding that song on the radio that somehow the DJ just knew I needed to hear. I still watch for trains and wonder where they’re headed. And I still love songs like the ones I grew up with.
I always fall in love with the stories...
~ Dan
Thanksgiving 2011
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3.75" x 7.5" "What Would Hank and Jesus Do?" White lettering on Black background. Guaranteed to look Super-COOL (!) on your car, guitar case, in your office or on top of some other sticker you don't like. It'll let everyone know you dig 'Hank' AND 'Jesus' so what could be better??? Buy 2 or 20, or 200!!
On some old gas station road maps the narrow, two lane roads in between small towns were colored blue, and thus nicknamed ‘blue highways’. On some of those back roads you’ll find my favorite places, and like me, you’ll probably find it hard to forget the people you’ll meet along the way. Of course, some folks are more memorable than others, like Hank and Jesus...
It’s odd how some night’s of your life feel like a long time (and a lot of miles) ago, others feel like they just happened yesterday, while some were so unbelievable, you’re not even sure if they happened like you remember them anymore. Still, I’m more certain than ever, that anyone you meet, on any given night, can change your whole life. Sometimes all you need is someone to talk to...
A big shout out to Danny Schmidt for his song ‘Accidentally Daisies’ that sparked this one, to Peter Mulvey for insisting this song was my ‘calling card’, and to Lincoln Crockett for his spontaneous spiritual guidance...Thanks Gents...
South of Louisville, Kentucky, on I-65
I pulled into a rest stop, before I pushed on through the night
I met a Deadhead with a backpack, and man, I knew that guy
He asked if you’re headin’ south, I could really use the ride
But I’m only on the interstate, just as far as Bowling Green
Then I’m cuttin’ west towards Memphis, where the blues don’t treat you mean
Chorus
And we drove the blue highways, across Tennessee and back
But I don’t recall, not even once, stoppin’ for gas
He said I know you won’t believe me, but that’s alright
I just wanted someone, to talk with tonight
So I drove and he told stories, but they started sounding weird
Like he’d been to Woodstock, and never came back from there
He said friends of his were Angels, and most of them were Saints
Except this one guy named Judas, who he swore had been framed
Well he believed what he was saying, but me I had my doubts
So I pulled off at a bar, hoping he might clear out
Chorus
And we drove the blue highways, across Tennessee and back
But I don’t recall, not even once, stoppin’ for gas
He said I know you won’t believe me, but that’s alright
I just wanted someone, to talk with tonight
In the parking lot he came clean, said he was Jesus Christ
And I said Yeah, and I’m Hank Williams man, and maybe you should drive
He said Hank was back with Audrey now, and they were doing fine
But you know that not a one of us, get’s out of this world alive
So it’s a 100 miles to Memphis, in the middle of the night
With those high-beams searching, for just a little light
He said life is like this two-lane road, it’s a crooked deal
I said she pulls a little to the left, Jesus! Keep both hands on the wheel!
Chorus
And we drove the blue highways, across Tennessee and back
But I don’t recall, not even once, stoppin’ for gas
He said I know you won’t believe me, but that’s alright
I just wanted someone, to talk with tonight
Coda
He said I know you don’t believe in me, but that’s alright
I just wanted someone, to talk with tonight
Dan Weber is an Award Winning songwriter who's been described as "reminiscent of early John
Prine."
In 2019, Dan was the winner of the prestigious Woody Guthrie songwriting contest and in 2021 he was named a rare 4 time finalist in the legendary Kerrville ‘New Folk’ songwriting competition.
In 2022, he released 'The Way the River Goes', his best work yet. Dan currently lives near Dallas, Texas....more
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