Beer run, apartheid, host monster

Fun song of the month;
Todd Snider's "beer run": http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2022436230
( "B double E, double R -U-N Beerrun.")
A fun song, definitely got some Townes influence. If you don't know this talented songwriter check out this and other of his songs.

"Copenhagen" by Robert Earle Keen is a classic in the same genre. An ode to chewin' tobacco.

My 100 house concert tour continues this month with a show at Dave and Joanna's house here in Durham, NC, the third one they've hosted and a rich tradition of music and connection. The coolest "green room" I've ever experienced is at Dave and Joanna's, where I hung out in the replica of Thoreau's cabin that they built in their backyard prior to the gig.

Art Champagne and I are playing a double header that day, with West Fest in the afternoon, and the House show at night.

Joining us at West Fest is talented South African singer-songwriter Roger Lucey. Roger had a promising musical career squelched by censorship under apartheid, because of his criticism of government policy and practice through his songs. The security officer assigned to monitor him later became a fan and has been writing a book about the experience.

A brief excerpt here: "In June I attended a show at His Majesty's Theatre of a 'new personality 'on the South African music scene, Roger Lucey & his band, the 'Zub Zub Marauders' who were making waves not only among the young white 'university set liberals' but also in Security Branch Head Office! A 'set' of Roger's music (from the banned "The Road Is Much Longer") and him airing his views about the S.A. political scene had been monitored during transmission to the Voice of America and I was accordingly assigned to identify him and "see what could be done about stopping this filth".
I attended all of Rogers shows, secretly recorded his mainly haunting, beautifully plaintiff ballads in which he inter alia referred toSteve Biko's death, State oppression and other 'unacceptable' issues. I dutifully transcribed the words and forwarded the whole lot to S.B. Head Office. They were incensed with the lyrics..."

It's an honor to share the stage with Roger for a few tunes. Art and I will back him up on a couple of his, and he'll sing Sunnyside of Life and Orphan with us.

My new website is under construction, I went with a new host. It was a toss up between 2 companies, so I chose Host Monster, on the merits of their name. I am a little disappointed that they only have a picture of a pretty blonde woman on their log in page. Maybe they're still working on a good monster image. Or maybe SHE is a monster in a pretty blonde woman's body. Like a Stepford wife.

I hope to have dancing bears and a dog and pony show on the new site to keep all of my visitors enthralled.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see there: www.markcool.org.

Don't forget to tell your friends and co-workers about the music.
FREE downloads here: http://www.markcool.org/index.php/music/