I’ve received an email from the folks here about a listener interested in purchasing my song, “She’s Trouble”. For those of you who’d like to buy my cds or individual songs online, I have five cds available via the folks at CD Baby. You can hear two minute clips of the songs on each of these recordings via the following link.

http://cdbaby.com/all/reggiemiles

Two of these five are only available as cds, “Stray Dog Blues”, my first solo recording and “51 Highway Blues”, a revisitation of many of the same songs, ten years later. Each of these recordings represent my interpretations of early blues.

Each of my latest three cds of all original songs, released in the Spring of 2008, “Handsful O’ Blues”, “These Old Shoes” and “War Mongerin’ Man”, are also available as cds from CD Baby but in addition, they are available at digital outlets on the web like, Apple iTunes, Napster, Amazon, Tradebit, MusicIsHere, GroupieTunes, BuyMusic, Verizon, eMusic, Rhapsody, Lala, rVibe, Didiom, Ruckus, Pocketgroup, AudioLunchbox, PayPlay, GreatIndieMusic, Amie Street, and Inprodicon. At any of these digital outlets, you can buy individual songs from any of these three recordings or digitally purchase these recordings complete.

So, for those of you out there that would like a single cut like, “She’s Trouble”, you can check it out on my “Handsful O’ Blues” cd at iTunes at the following link.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=279091646

Likewise, “These Old Shoes”, is also available as a single cut at iTunes.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=279091616

Or, look for these at any of the previously mentioned outlets.

Enjoy!

Reg

Last Friday, while busking at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, I was introduced to a film crew who were in need of music to accompany their latest project. They were shooting a commercial to raise voter awareness to a proposition that will be placed before the voting public this year. Such exposure is hard to come by, here in the upper left corner. So, I agreed to help by offering to play my bottleneck slide version of an old blues song, “51 Highway Blues”, with my homemade “Nobro” guitar and my version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” with my musical saw.

Afterward, as the crew continued to capture some additional shots in the area, I continued busking. I played my latest, “Wall Street Bail Out Blues”. The crew enjoyed it so much that they offered to film it for me and post what they captured on YouTube.

As soon as their commercial project was finished, which was supposed to be today, they said that they’d work on getting the video of my song posted and contact me with a link. Now, keep in mind that the song had only been played a half dozen times before this film crew captured it. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see how it turned out and thrilled that it will soon be featured online. I’ll post the link as soon as I receive it.

Wall Street Bail Out Blues by Reggie Miles © 2008

Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout The economic downturn Who’s getting’ bailed out And who’s gonna get burned

Wall Street millionaire Vultures comin’ home to roost Want more corporate welfare And their golden parachutes

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bear Stearns and AIG A blank check is all they lack For their next spending spree

Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout The stock market crashin’ down Who’s gonna get a handout And who they’re gonna let drown

Fat cats with hats in hand Swimmin’ in toxic debt A little help is all they ask And, 700 billion should cover it

They’re cryin’ help me Main Street Our market shares are fallin’ fast You may be losin’ your house next week But we’re about to lose our ass

Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout The 2008 recession Who’s lost everything And who’s gonna take possession

They want cash to make it right To fuel their speculation Free from any oversight And any regulation

We all know who the real losers are You can see them very clear You won’t have to look so far Just check out any mirror

Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout The credit crunch crisis Who’s down for the count And who’s gonna survive this

Welcome to the plutocracy Government by and for the rich Who made this mess for all to see Thank George that son of a bitch

Will the greedy kings of Wall Street Run out of credit this time Or will they keep panhandlin’ Main Street Hey buddy can you spare a dime

Everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout Our financial situation I guess it don’t apply to me In my present occupation

When you ain’t got nothin’ There’s nothin’ left to lose That’s why I’m sittin’ here singin’ These Wall Street bail out blues

A big hug and smooch to all of you who voted my song “She’s Trouble” to the #3 spot in last month’s Blues contest. I vow to pledge my undying love and devotion to you. I will father your children.

I’ll wash your car, fix your truck, Unstick anything you have that’s stuck, Even if it’s caked with guck and muck.

I’ll dig your ditch, pick your fruits, Wash your clothes, and shine your boots.

I’ll cut your grass, pull your weeds. Chop your wood and plant your seeds I’ll do whatever meets your needs.

I’ll clean your house, cook your meals, Haul your water and plow your fields And I’ll do it all in six inch heels.

I’ll paint your walls, sweep your floors I’ll take your calls, open all your doors

I will sing your favorite song I’ll table dance all night long Wearin’ nothin’ but a thong

That’s how much I love you.

Reggie Miles

I’m still recovering from three nonstop days and evenings with too little sleep and too little voice left after sharing of my stories and songs on the grounds of the Seattle Center.

My musical saw workshop was allotted a much more accommodating location this year, in the Lopez Room. It was another capacity audience of folks all wanting to learn the secrets of this most unusual folk art, the art of flexing razor sharp spring steel betwixt your knees and walking away with all your appendages still intact.

With my workshop ‘cut’ short, I didn’t have time to include the question and answer period. Instead, I launched right into the Hands On, or if things don’t go well, the Hands “Off” part of my presentation. This year I also offered all of the attendees the next best thing to the Q&A part, a free copy of my new publication, How To Play A Saw In 5 Minutes Or Less.

Everyone was eager to get a copy of my How-To booklet. In it, I organized seven pages of tips and instruction, everything that I ususally present during my workshops. Unfortunately, due to my underestimating the overwhelming attendance to this year’s event, I didn’t have enough to go around. About 100 folks showed up.

It was great to once again see such enthusiasm and interest in saw playing. The age range was quite wide. Kids that looked as though they were perhaps in elementary school were there, accompanied by parents, all the way up to folks old enough to be grandparents. Previous students came by to show me their progress from last year’s workshop. A couple of folks even wanted private lessons.

My stage set was equally well attended completely encompassing the entire area around the Alki Court Stage. Most of the rest of my time at Folklife this year was spent either sawing along with friends during their sets or trying to coax my voice into functioning well enough to spend some time busking on the grounds with my handtool and my homemade Nobro resophonic. I also had several scheduled sets at the acoustic stage in the Alki Room.

I want to thank all of those who caught my performances and my workshop this year.

If I don’t see ya in the future, I’ll saw ya in the pasture.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Reg vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Where do I start? To all of those who voted, to all who took the time to judge, to all the 13,000 + who took the time to listen to my song These Old Shoes in the last few days and to all those who have listened to all of the rest of my songs, to those who have found my music worth marking as a favorite, and to all those who thought that the idea of this site was a worthwhile endeavor to build and make available for all of us, to all of those who support it with their funds, to those who have put up with my endless inquiries and questions about it, and especially to all of you, who just like me dream and endlessly reach for the stars, a big ol’ hug, a sloppy kiss and my deepest thanks.

Reggie Miles

“Handsful O’ Blues”, contains 11 of my new blues and novelty songs. “War Mongerin’ Man” has 13 of my socially relevant messages. “These Old Shoes”, is an even dozen of my sweeter and sillier songs.

There’s lots more in the works, including my first music video. “These Old Shoes”, will be the subject of the video. The creative efforts of Jon Meyer will be responsible for the production. This project will eventually be included in the cd project of the same title.

Thanks for listening, Reg