Hot Dog Bun

Well we had another food breakthrough with Liam getting him initiated to boyhood. Last night Mary Ellen and Liam were having hot dogs with Liam having his cut up on the plate and Mary Ellen eating hers in a bun. So Liam looks up and says “What is that?” Mary replied “a hot dog bun.” His next question was, “Well what is it for?” I told him it was like bread for a sandwich so you can eat the hot dog with your fingers, and he really seemed to like that idea. Then he wanted a bite of his mother’s hot dog with the bun and proclaimed "this is good."

After a few more bites of his mother's hot dog he decided that he liked it so much that he wanted one of his own. This was of course as he was just about finished with the one he had on his plate, and Mary and I never thought he would finish it but we gave it to him anyway. Well, the boy inhaled the whole thing and told us that he never wanted a hot dog again unless it came with a bun. So now once we get rid of the warm milk when he first wakes up in the morning I think we can graduate him to full fledged boy.

Folk Music Review: Levon Helm

Continuing my journey through folk music I come to a man many of you probably heard in his earlier years with The Band, Levon Helm. The Band had such hits as “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Dixie Down,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” and more. A think a lot of Southern Rock, which is what you would categories The Band as, has some roots in folk music just without all of the strings.

In 2007 Levon Helm released a new solo album called dirt farmer that has a very strong folk base to it. In an interview I saw on Amazon.Com I believe he talked a little bit about the album and how a lot of these songs were sung as a child on the farm. With great string guitar playing and Levon’s rough voice this album really seems to take you back in time. The melodies and blending of instruments with the back ground vocals gives one a sense of sitting out in a field late at night with your buddies drinking beer. I also love Levon’s story telling in his songs you really do feel like you know these people and are going through their trials and tribulations with them.

My favorite song on this album is called “Train Robbery” and I guess my drawl to it is again history. I love railroad songs and this is a railroad song about Jesse James’ gang robbing the train. Some other good tunes on this one are “Calvary,” “Anna Lee,” and “The Blind Child.”

In my next installment I will continue my tour of folk music with a modern, up and coming string band out of Tennessee.

Levon Helm's Official Site:
http://www.levonhelm.com

Folk Music Review: 2nd South Carolina String Band

Call me a throwback, un-hip, un-cool, etc. but I really enjoy good old fashion folk music. While I’m not an officisianado on folk music I thought it would be fun to at least give my layman’s perspective on some of the folk bands I listen to. I’ll break this out into four blogs so each band will get their own segment and not make this too terribly long.

I’m going to start this series with probably the least known of the bands the 2nd South Carolina String Band. They are a Civil War reenactment group that performs music from the period as authentically as possible. Since I am a big history buff especially when it comes to the American Civil War I really enjoy this group and listen to it quite a bit. I currently only have one of their albums “Hard Road” that has a good balance of both Union and Confederate favorites. The last time that Greg and I went to Gettysburg back in September of 2007 we would sit around the campfire at night, drinking beer and listen to this music which really added to the atmosphere.

Battle Cry of Freedom is an excellent rendition that still will get your heart pumping for the Union with its strong banjo and the other strings that really brings the chorus to life. Then you add the patriotic lyrics on top of that and you get a great song. They also do a rousing version of When Johnny Comes Marching Home that will get you pumping your fist in unison with the music. For all you rebels out there the band does a superb job with the Bonnie Blue Flag. Then you also get a lot of the old school folk standards such as; Buffalo Gals, Oh! Susanna, Ring de Banjo and more.

2nd South Carolina String Band Official Web Page:
http://www.civilwarband.com/