The Singing Weatherman
It’s almost time for the autumnal equinox — that moment when the Sun’s rays are directly over the equator, and all locations on Earth experience (approximately) equal numbers of daylight and nighttime hours. In fact, the term equinox comes has Latin roots, “equi” meaning equal and “nox” meaning night. Not only does Fall mean cooler […]
Another summer tour is in the books. I finished my “Song Cycles with Stormin’ Bob Swanson” summer tour in early July with a mini-tour in North Mississippi — playing three libraries (Como, Hernando and Olive Branch) over the course of two days. Of course, a mini-tour with some travel means one thing to my boys […]
I like to think that most of the songs I write, if not eventually classified as “classics,” can at least be considered timeless because they mainly deal with weather and space topics that will likely still be around when I’m too old to sing them anymore. But I do have a few with definite expiration […]
What could be better on Father’s Day than to post a video of the first live public performance of our family band, Henry & The Dynamite? While the video features two of my sons, Nate (drums) and Henry (lead vocals & keyboard), I also want to thank my eldest son, Daniel, for drawing our band […]
When I’m not playing music, I’m teaching. When I’m not teaching, I’m learning. In reality, I’m often doing all three things at the same time. The bottom line is that, being a professional educator, I probably spend more time than the average bear thinking about how people learn new things. If you’re like me (and […]
I’m surprised I’ve not blogged about this before, but today is the 9th anniversary of the EF-3 tornado that rolled through our neighborhood when my family was living in Tupelo, MS. My family was lucky that day. We rode the storm out in the basement garage of a neighbor (the Rhea family) along with several […]
Last winter, if you recall, I built a backyard shed during my holiday break. My plan this winter has been to take care of another honey-do project that has been hanging over my head since last summer — my wife and I have wanted to paint the exterior of our house. Unfortunately, a bout with […]
Asking a songwriter to name a favorite song they have written can often be like asking them to name a favorite lung. Not so in my case. While I am very proud of a lot of my songs, “How Hot Is It?” has always been my favorite. It could be because I remember its origin […]
In my childhood, when I was going to attend a birthday party or spend a night at a friend’s house, my mother would remind me that, “Good guests get invited back.” As I continue to plan for this summer’s tour, I’m always thrilled when I get a request from a library I’ve been to in […]
As friends and fans know, I generally play music as a “one-man band.” You may also know that I’ve been getting my boys involved in music-making, and we’ve formed a little family band called “Henry and The Dynamite.” But this is not actually my first band experience . . . . During my holiday break, […]