Song By Song
Against The Grain
Song by Song
One More Chance (Lance Cowan, Sam Gay)
This is one of the first songs I wrote with my good friend, Sam Gay. Sam’s a wonderful songwriter, and together we wrote some of my very favorite songs. Typically, Sam would arrive at my house around 7. We’d laugh and talk and play guitar for a long time before any actual writing began. This song probably didn’t get started until around 10. And we finished it that night. It really leans heavily on our West Coast Country Pop (or whatever you want to call it) influences.
Will Belinda (Lance Cowan, John Tirro)
This is a tragic little love story about an outlaw coming home at the end of a bank robbery. My producer, Jason Stelluto, reminded me about the song at about the same time that John sent me a work tape. Jason loved the idea of letting Dan Dugmore flavor this recording, and Jay Turner, who plays bass on this and the rest of the album, contributed a “Spaghetti Western” feel with his guitar work.
I Can’t Stand The Winter (Lance Cowan)
I once worked as the publicist for Country Star Steve Wariner, and I NEVER told him that I had aspirations to be a writer even though I had a writing deal in town. One afternoon, Steve had to go to his label - Arista - to sign some posters in the PR department. I took him over to the label, and while Steve signed, I stood in the doorway and watched. After I’d been there about 10 minutes, I heard my original demo of this song begin to play in the A&R Director’s office across the hall. “OH DEAR GOD,” I thought to myself. “PLEASE don’t trash my song. Please be nice!” No one knew I’d written it, and I didn’t say anything out loud. The song played through to the end with no comment. “WHEW.” I breathed a sigh of relief. UNTIL - then-Label President Tim Dubois came in to the A&R guy’s office, and my song began again. I started sweating again. I nervously listened, fearing the worst. When the song played through completely, Tim walked out the door, turned to the A&R guy and said “Put it on hold!” I was flying but never mentioned to anyone except my publisher. Steve never knew anything about it. What a great fly-on-the- wall moment for me. And had Diamond Rio actually cut it, who knows where they’d be now!
More or Less (Lance Cowan)
I was listening to one of my favorite songwriters, Jackson Browne, when he turned the mic over to his guitarist, Val McCallum. Val started a song with the line “Who’d have thought.” I turned it off fast and built this song based on that line. It’s a pretty sad little ditty. Todd Smith played a beautiful piano part as the main instrument, added an organ part and arranged a cello part for Cecilia Huerta-Lauf, which she played masterfully (I’m a sucker for cello). Jay Turner aded a little bass line that tightened it up. I’m so proud of the way this came out.
Ragged Edge of Nothing (Lance Cowan, Terry Clayton)
Years ago, I was at my wife’s mother’s home for Thanksgiving. Her Mom was baking furiously for the holiday when my sister-in-law passed through the kitchen and saw a freshly baked pie teetering on the counter edge. “Miss Mary,” she said, “This pie is hanging on the ragged edge of nothing.” I’d never hear the phrase but loved it immediately. I mentioned it to my good friend, Terry Clayton and we wrote this song. It was written as a slow ballad. Pat Flynn suggested picking up the tempo. I loved it immediately. It took Pat, Dan, Vinny, Todd and Jay only a couple of passes to get this one just right!
Old King Coal (Lance Cowan)
Being from Kentucky, I was always fascinated with the lives of coal miners even though that wasn’t part of the culture of Western Kentucky. (We were very proud, though, that Tom Rickman from our county wrote the film, Coal Miner’s Daughter.) I wrote this one afternoon sitting in Percy Warner Park with my twelve string guitar, propped up against a tree and listening to the birds.
Prayer For A Child (Lance Cowan)
I was anxious in the days leading up to the birth of my first son, and honestly, that didn’t change with the arrival of my second. I was never comfortable with small children, and I never knew what kind of dad I would be and certainly didn’t want to fail. I thought a lot about my Dad. I talked to my friends who were already fathers. Everyone told me how my life would change. I wasn’t sure I wanted that, but knew that I had to step up and do my best. As the days neared, my resolve strengthened, and that’s continued to grow even as my sons have now reached adulthood.
Against The Grain (Lance Cowan, Sam Gay)
Another night that Sam came over. My wife baked a pecan pie and made coffee and we started telling one another stories - sometimes old family stories and sometimes completely made up. The best songs came from the blend of fact and fiction. I don’t remember exactly how this began, but I love the story of Captain Philo Jones who longed for the sea, but fear kept him in a Kansas Wheat Field.
Goin’ South (Lance Cowan, David Mallett)
One of my favorite writers on the planet is David Mallett. He is to Maine what Jimmy Buffett is to Florida. He SOUNDS like Maine. For a short time, he lived in Nashville and I had the honor of writing several tunes with him. I’d meet him in the evening and we’d work in his writing room, smoke a couple of cigarettes, maybe have a glass of scotch, and he taught me so much about writing. He’s covered several of the songs we wrote together on his wonderful records, but he’s not gotten to this one yet. So. I beat him to the punch!
Love Anyway (Lance Cowan)
The past decade has been really really difficult. Politics have been crazy, and people have taken positions of enemies. It’s been heartbreaking. People I grew up with as close friends - and even relatives - are taking radical “Us-verses-them” positions. I’ve admittedly gotten caught up in it a time or two and have lost a number of friends. Truth is, we share more in common than we are led to believe. This song pulls loosely from teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr and Sister Teresa. Our common ground is the ability to love one another despite our differences.
So Far, So Good
Song by Song
So Far, So Good (Lance Cowan, David Mallett)
One rainy night when he lived in Nashville, my good friend and Maine legend Dave Mallett spent time talking about how lonely travel can be for a folk musician. But you want so badly for people to hear your songs that you’ll leave family home and drive hundreds of miles to play for strangers, who will, hopefully, become friends.
This Heart of Mine (Lance Cowan)
I once had a routine for writing when I would turn off all the lights in the house except for one on my desk and write as late as it took to finish a song. I lived in a nice little apartment that overlooked the city of Nashville, and one night, this song was born.
Little Johnny Pierce (Lance Cowan, Terry Clayton)
Growing up in the Vietnam era a small town in Kentucky, I had a friend who was pretty creative with his lawnmower. That was the launching pad for this song. Years later, as I flew out of Nashville, I looked out the window and saw that someone had mowed a peace sign in their front lawn.
For You (Lance Cowan, Mark Elliott)
My good friend Mark Elliott and I wrote this laundry list song, and I’m pretty darned happy with this one. The great Dan Dugmore produced this track, then Mark sweetened it up for me. He took on the task – along with mastering the entire project - just weeks before he very sadly passed.
Lost & Found (Lance Cowan, Sam Gay)
This is one of the first songs I wrote with my friend Sam Gay. We wrote five songs together for this project. It’s been on hold for other artists a few times, but still hasn’t been covered yet. There’s still hope.
Currently Red (Lance Cowan)
I knew a journalist several years ago from NYC. I loved her name – Tanya Indiana. Before anyone I knew colored their hair with the bright dyes now so common, Tanya had hair that was bright red. She was a great person and a wonderful character.
The Letter (Lance Cowan, Terry Clayton)
One of my oldest and dearest songwriting buddies, Terry Clayton, worked nights while his wife had a day job. So that left Terry the responsibility of getting his kids off to school and getting the home safely every day. One day as he watched his oldest come up the street with his schoolmates, it occurred to Terry that one day, the kids wouldn’t need him as much. One of my very favorite singers, Julie Lee, takes on the job of singing lead on this track.
A Place For Everything (Lance Cowan, Sam Gay)
My dad was a packrat. Seems he saved everything. Of course, he seemed to know where everything was kept. I’ve fallen into the same pattern of “saving” everything in case I need it later. But, if you call yourself “a collector,” you can’t be accused of hoarding. I’m a collector, thank you.
Blue Highway (Lance Cowan, Sam Gay)
You don’t see a lot of the world when you’re growing up in Calvert City, Kentucky. We lived near a popular tourist destination, though, and saw a bunch of different license plates. Sam Gay came up with the line “I guess I’ve seen most all the 50 states / On vacationing station wagons’ license plates.” Perfect.
Fields Of Freedom (Lance Cowan)
I watched the Alan Arkin film Escape from Sobibor and was very moved by the plight of Jewish prisoners during World War II. I’d just heard John Prine’s new album, German Afternoons. I suppose it’s a tribute to John to admit that I used that phrase in this song.
Sound of My Home (Lance Cowan, Jerry Vandiver)
Jerry Vandiver used to try and get me to acknowledge that I would like his vegetarian chili. Carnivore that I am, I resisted, of course, but at the end of the evening, I had to fess up that Jerry makes some pretty good chili. Plus, we got this song out of the evening, so clearly he was right about everything.
Ben McGhee (Lance Cowan, Sam Gay)
My grandfather’s name was not McGhee, and it was actually my grandmother who played guitar (along with every other instrument known to the acoustic world). But I love that every day the character in this song sang about the things that mattered most to him.