"Mighty, I hope Derri won't mind me revealing that "Terrible Mystery" is about his divorce from Marlei a couple of years ago."

Steve, I had always wondered if you had ever cried the first time you heard Derri sing something you had written. Now I must wonder if HE has ever cried the first time he sang something you wrote.

You needn't answer - I will simply share that you've both made me cry for various reasons.

"What a beautiful piece of heartache..."-Over The Rhine, Latter Days

Well...it seems Nancy posted something and then retracted it (deleted) that only Mark from Scotland saw.  I think it had to do with a comment I made about saucers never flying in our kitchen.  She reminded me that it was a chair and a teapot!  My recollection is faulty.  Yes, it's all becoming clear in my fuzzy mind.  I modified reality for the sake of poetry, using "saucers flying" to to go with "mystical experience."  That's right. Anyhow, luckily her aim was bad or I surely would not have forgotten!

OK, I need to answer two questions from Paul and Mykel.

First off, Paul -- "Mercy Will Prevail" basically deals with one of the most universal theological dilemmas : How do I believe a loving deity is in control when I see so much suffering and apparent hopelessness all around?

I'm pleased with the imagery in the lyric...but the premise is absolutely common.  The problem remains a genuine "stumbling block" to my faith.

Mykel, thanks for asking about "Never More True" from Speckled Bird.  You got it right, I was talking about the adjustment of moving from the west coast to the south.  Nashville is on the Cumberland River and you may remember that Danielle Boone explored the Cumberland gap (whatever that is).  Someone told me a story about Michael Card routinely walking around his property shooting Rattle Snakes, and that image stuck in my head. I don't think Californian's are Yankees technically, but maybe we are in the same way non Jews are gentiles.  I don't know -- but I felt like a foreigner at that moment.  It was winter of '93; there was a brutal ice storm; I spent countless hours under the house trying to fix the pipes; we were broker than usual.  I played the drum track with a tambourine in one hand (can't remember which hand) and I'm ashamed to admit that I had drunk an entire bottle of peppermint schnapps and could barely stay on my seat.  Derri got mad about the spectacle -- which is rare.  Anyhow, the recording turned out good in spite of my sloppy performance as I recall. (I haven't heard that album in years and have no desire to listen to it any time soon).  Jerry and Sharon Chamberlain sang some nice harmonies.  I was really proud of the line "I'm thinkin' about buying you a hat and a purse."  It's a Ricky and Lucy reference.  In my mind it's right up there with "I always wanted a shirt like Mark wore," referring of course to Mark McCain from "The Rifleman."

Cool. Share The Well was one of the best albums to come out last year, and is Caedmon's best ever.

Thanks, Steve. That makes sense to me now. Not the yankee in Cumberland line..I figured that you were from the North or something. (Not realizing that you were all from California...duh!) Note to all non-Southerners: A "yankee" is anyone from a state not officially in the old Confederacy...even states that were not states at the time. I'm from Missouri, which although Union by legislation, was Confederate by popular opinion, and we are regarded as yankees. (I've have the pleasure to have lived in the Grand states of Georgia, South Carolina, and the awesome North Carolina.)

Now to my comment...it makes sense now the percussion on the song "Never More True". How does one criticize without being critical? Ummm...I can tell that now that you aren't lying about the schnapps. That's all I'll say, and I mean that in the nicest way.

But to you and anyone else who hasn't listened to "Speckled Bird" in a while, I think this one gets undeserved negative feedback from time-to-time. It is to me, in your own words..."Amazing". I always loved the idea of a song singing, "Baby I love your mind".  By any chance is that song referring to the same mind that was a "Terrible Mystery" on the latest masterpiece?

I agree. Speckled Bird is a lot deeper sonically than most are willing to give it credit for. Derri's playing paints a mighty fine landscape. Steve, as always, will get you thinking... and feeling. Listen once, twice, nay three times and more, grasshopper, and you will be rewarded.