John Stewart used to say that it was ‘all about the music’. Everything else was superfluous. I was fortunate enough to work with John  over the last ten years of his life. As others have said about him “He wrote the soundtrack to our lives”.

In this journal I’m planning to post pictures and songs that mean something to me. Some will be John’s music and others will be a wide range of artists that have drawn me into their talent.

This first posting includes a song that I recorded on September 12, 2000, at Fibber’s  in York, England.

Here’s the story. Kris and I were to meet John at the railroad station in York. He and Sparkle (of Sparkle on the Monkey Train fame) were taking the train up from the south. I was standing on the platform when a bigger than life figure wearing a cowboy hat and a guitar over his shoulder stepped off the train. It was John Stewart and he knew it. He was at home wherever he was. After leaving the train station we took a taxi ( and you have to imagine John, Sparkle, Kris and me along with their luggage and guitar in one small cab. It looked like  the clown car at the circus when we unloaded)  to John’s hotel. As Kris and I were walking back to our hotel we were directly behind a rather bedraggled looking fellow who seemed to be going to the same place we were headed. It tuned out to be Rod Geddes, a great fan of John’s and the Vicar, at that time, on the Isle of Man.

The gig that night was at Fibber’s. An incredibly hot place with a closet for a dressing room.

I have a 2 disc set of the show from that night. This was the third song that John did. California Bloodlines.John Stewart-California Bloodlines