Jerry D. got his start in music at church. The church he attended wouldn't allow ANY instruments to be used in the worship service (not even piano), so, the only music was voice.. a-cappella. Jerry sang in the church and High School choir. He earned a full vocal music scholarship to E.N.M.U. and it was there that he discovered, heaven forgive him, ROCK & ROLL!!! Needless to say, Jerry D. was converted! The very first dance he attended was an acid-rock group replete with loud guitars, long hair and crazy light show. With inspiration to start his own group, he went on to perform at many teen dances, National Guard Armory 'concerts' and tours through the mid-west. As the voice of the band, there came many 'discussions' with the lead guitarists over content, duration of the solos and being told he 'didn't know anything about music' and 'you're just a singer..', Jerry decided it was time to learn how to play an instrument. The first attempts brought out the alarming fact that 'this is going to take a while'. The Fender Jazz Master he was handed by a fellow bandmate was very foreign indeed! Exclaiming he was too old to learn how to play guitar (pushing thirty..), his friend told him, 'No you're not, you have the rest of your life!'. Well, Jerry has spent 'the rest of his life' playing guitar and writing songs. He hasn't tried to become the 'be all, end all, guitar player', but rather has used the guitar as a partner in combining his rhymes and stories with the sound of music. 'Hard Scrabble Cafe' is one of those combinations. It isn't meant to be a showcase or arena to show off amazing guitar acrobatics or mind altering lyrics, but simply anecdotes he has read or been told and amalgamated into these tunes. Here is what Jerry D. has to say of these songs. In My Dream; The story comes from an evening, when I was a young man, I met a beautiful young girl. Everything was perfect, her face,her hair, the springtime night, but, it ended and now she is gone and the memory only returns, 'In My Dream'. Reigning On Me; This is just a fun play on words, comparing love won and lost to the weather, kings, castles and the power of love coming down that is 'Reigning On Me'. Diana; This is about a middle aged lady who searched for shorter ways to different locations in Maine, driving a Mercedes. Her dad had told her, 'You save enough distance, you'll save time!''. The locals compared her to the goddess Diana driving the moon across the sky. She had actually driven her 'Go-Devil' through not only space, but time warps as well! A very big tip of the hat to a well known author, Stephen King, for this story of a gal called Diana. Doc; There is a story in New Mexico about a fellow named 'Doc' Noss who purportedly found lots of gold, 'laid out like cord wood' at Victorio Peak. A fellow by the name of Chandler had written a book entitled 'Hundred Tons Of Gold' tracing the how's and why's of this gold and all the play- ers envolved. Information was taken from area accounts and records gleaned from the govern- ment by way of the Freedom Of Information Act. I simply put this in a chronological order of events/stories and made a fireside gold tale as it might have been told by 'Doc'. Senorita; Now here is a love tale about the 'gringo' who falls for the mexican beauty in the cantina and her mexican boyfriend shows up, and in a jealous rage, shoots the beauty dead. The gringo in turn strangles the mexican then is out on the run, north of El Paso, mourning his lost/ never consummated love to his Senorita. Going Back To Texas; An amazing tale told to me by a keyboard man that had a very young wife. They had a duo act, went to one of the gambling towns in Nevada, started to enjoy some success, then the young wife decided she was the star and no longer needed his keyboard talents in 'Her Act'! He stopped in and began to recount all the misfortunes he had encountered, so he was Going Back To Texas! Finish Line; This is my idea of a man looking back on his life, recounting all the ups and downs we ALL have, saying it's all good and hoping for the best for his kids,(and himself), in the future. The real theme of the song was to create an analogy of life to a cross country auto race. The idea being the end of his life was the act of crossing The Finish Line. Lonley Outside; One day in a parking lot, I saw a really pretty (and likely wealthy) woman. She seemed to be crying and I couldn't help but wonder what the problem was. I began to conjure up all kinds of events that might have taken place. Was she pained by the loss of a loved one? Did she just lose her $10,000 dollar wedding ring? Or might she have lost her love, or left her love, only to find the cold hard fact that it is Lonley Outside?

Tracklist:

In My Dream
Reigning on Me
Diana
Doc
Senorita
Going Back to Texas
Finish Line
Lonely Outside

UPC: 634479081385
Label: Cd Baby
Release Date: 2.8.05
Format: CD

Jerry Skinner - Hard Scrabble Cafe (CD)