A gift from the coffee lady

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I got the sweetest note from Jen, the proprietor of the Dark Star Coffee Company – one of my favorite vendors at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, where I played two festivals this summer:

I grew up on folk music & feel that I learned more American history from music than school. When I listen to your lyrics, I feel like a kid again. You are the folk singer of the Deadheads. You tell stories and keep it alive for our children. Thank you story teller. – Jen ‘The Coffee Girl’

Now, I struggle daily to establish a musical identity for myself that’s separate from my identity as the Grateful Dead radio guy, but it is an undeniable fact that much of my original music arises from and talks about my Grateful Dead experience and my music-festival experience. There are songs that deal directly with my adventures on the road (e.g. “River and Drown“); there are songs that deal directly with the Deadhead experience (e.g. “Who Killed Uncle John?”); and there are songs that deal obliquely with my experiences in the belly of the beast (I’m not telling). Jen’s kind note is a very satyisfying acknowledgement of my success at telling that story.

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