i have amassed a giant collection of audio clips over the past years on the road --- some from artists, some from visionaries... some from the holy, some from the profane... some obvious, some hidden
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ive been on a quest of sorts to find folk that have found something worth sharing - it aint easy to define exactly what it is i'm hunting .... but i always recognize it when i see it.
its when someone found that spark and can't keep it in----
when someone found truth beyond words----
when someone's art feels like yr discovering new worlds
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i am fortunate to have spent so much time on the road over these last 8 years, and to have run in circles where my probability to run into these folks is higher than most----
my friend got me into taking pics on film, like i did when i was a kid----
they look more like memories
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"pray ye the lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest"
i reckon thats what is going on here---
i wandered this land, laboring and captured these photographs and field recordings ... so here is the harvest====
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freely given, freely receive
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——ralph vaugh hears a sound of a going in the mulberry trees —- i had only heard of ralph vaughn.... a feller told me about him at paradise garden about a year ago... i ended up one day in north georgia with time (a rare occurence.. not the north georgia part //// the time part)... i had asked around the day prior in chattanooga if anybody knew him....even the the most hip at cherry street had never... i figured it must not be much to find... i set out to rising fawn on lookout mtn... no address... just scanning the roadside.... till i came upon a temple..... a temple made with by hand. i knew i found it immediately... the spirit was there.... (i know it when i sense it) i pulled off the road and went poking around... i called out Mr Vaughn by name.... hoping he'd come see what kinda jackass would show up to his home unannounced..... i walked around studying the art scattered around the grounds..... finally a truck came down the gravel road adjoining the property.... the driver said ralph was hoeing the fields... i drove myself back to the fields and found ralph..... within minutes i heard account of miracle after miracle.... we went back to his roadside temple.... we sat and talked about art and god for hours.... ralph vaugh hears a sound of a going in the mulberry trees —- and that sound let him know it was time to move in god---- i left convinced it was indeed time to do so.... here is a photo i took - rising fawn, georgia summer 2025
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kyle was on the road
playing folk sawngs...
he was coming through alabama on the rare night that i was actually home....
the club he was playing dont have the best reputation around town anymore--- the folks that would dig kyle's tunes generally don't go there anymore. i went. because he was there.
there were 7 other people there.....
kyle sang just like he was playing the saenger....
he crashed at my place after the gig...
we woke up the next morning...
i cooked up some yard eggs and beans
we talked about what it is to be a folk singer...
tried to figure what the hell we are chasing anyway....
we fished...
we recorded this song
and i grabbed this photo of him fishing from my canoe....
" Kyle Keller is that kind of folk artist that is actually worthy of the name.
He is a communicator, a story teller, and a prophet of sorts.
He approaches songs in the same way as every good folk and blues singer of old, with a message.
Kyle has a voice that reminds me of the great Townes Van Zandt… not in its tone, but in the way that it fits his material. Kyle has developed a style around his voice. That is not easy to do. "
this is what i wrote about kyle several years ago...
its still true
- miller's creek, al -- spring 2025
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i went to the alabama sacred harp convention in the summer of 22... it was an all day event, held at a square dancing hall outside birmingham..
these people carry an old art form forward... i grew up knowing about this kinda music from childhood.. my great grandparents had taught the sacred harp in rural alabama... my aunt gave me their song books...
the songs sound ancient--- like remnants from another time, and faith for that matter... i doubt many of the folks that created this art form would even be able to comprehend, much less fall in line with what passes as religion in our day---
its also a forward music... they sound like marches to me...
the fellowship was sweet in that crowd--- i could tell that most of them folk were old friends.. probably many related.
marching ever toward zion...
and here is a photo from a local flea market i snapped a couple days later
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i called my friend matt and asked if he could help me meet joe... my friend matt told me joe would like to meet me... matt was in austria... i was coming up from mobile... joe is the visionary artist of bIrmingham... matt got us together from europe...as much as i detest this dystopian age... look at the wonders. matt told me... "it was impossible to drive by and not notice Joe's work"... he was right... every inch of everything that joe touches becomes art.... there is art built on top of other art... joe walked me around and gave me the grand tour of his place, decades in the making... he told me stories of how and why he created 1000s of pieces... his place borders a black cemetery.... he communed for a while with their ghosts... he speaks to them regularly... he even had a special bench that he built under a covering that had been tuned for one to do just that.... he sat me down there... he had another bench under a covering with scripture all around about healing... this place he built for healing... he sat me down there -------- his back porch overlooks the cemetery... joe got out his drum.... this is a picture i took of him that day --- birmingham, al - summer 2025
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rambler kane rambled into mobile with kyle...
i had never met him till he rolled into my yard...
i could immediately tell we were kindred hearts..
he crashed that night in my music room...
the next morning we fellowshipped...
we got the same heros.
same hopes.
same dreams.
probably a bit outdated...
but i reckon we are too stupid to give a damn...
anyway the road is a teacher-
a meditative advisor-
a counsellor-
a philospher-
a bridge builder------
so why not...
ramble on brother kane..
here was a morning capture and a picture i took....
miller's creek, al - spring 2025