The Bards of Balance

Track of the Day

2010-01-27T06:48:00.002-05:00

Our Power and Dough song received a Track of the Day award from garageband.com

Me and Dan Fogelberg

2009-12-22T13:27:00.003-05:00

The review that RadioIndy gave for The Bards of Balance likened our acoustic sound to Dan Fogelberg. As it turns out, Dan and I have a history, may he rest in peace.

I was just leaving Pagosa Springs on the Connecticut Continental Divide Expedition (Divide in '85!). Our group learned of where Fogelberg lived when a front band picked some of us hitching into town for supplies. During the snow laden stretch coming into Pagosa Springs, through the San Juan mountains, we entertained ourselves with the wild thought of getting Dan Fogelberg to play for us at one of our resupply stops in Pie Town, New Mexico.

Fogelberg has many songs that stir the soul. In particular, his "Along the Road" speaks to the heart of every long-distance backpacker. It was no surprise to us that he lived near the Continental Divide on a secluded ranch.

I hiked up his long driveway to the manager's house and told the manager why I was there. She was intrigued and paged Fogelberg on the intercom. Alas, Dan was more annoyed than intrigued. He drove his pick-up down and "escorted" me off the property by driving behind me as I left.

Oh well, can't win them all. There are a few of his songs that I love to play, namely "Along the Road," "Longer" (beat that for a love song!), and "The Gambler." Someday I'll have to learn "The Leader of the Band," a song that used to bring tears to my eyes.

The Bards of Balance - Political Folk Music Roots

2009-11-27T13:44:00.001-05:00

As you look back on your life, some "coincidences" seem to reoccur, defining your life in more ways than you would expect upon first "coincidence." In my case I have a Grammy Certificate for providing background vocals on a Pete Seeger CD, though I doubt he remembers me, and he certainly would not remember when we first met.

That would be at the South Appalachia Folk Life center in Pipestem, West Virginia, back in 1984. I was there for a conference of long-distance backpackers and remember vividly Pete Seeger walking around the Pipestem campus with banjo strapped to his back. His songs spoke mainly of social justice, with a little folk charm thrown in. As a backpacker I felt a certain identity with such a traveling musician persona.

My next encounter was attending a Pete Seeger concert in Bailey Auditorium, at Cornell University. I went to Cornell for umpteen years but attended only three Bailey performances that I can remember, and one was a talk by Stephen Jay Gould. The fact that Pete Seeger should have been one of those very few now strikes me as serendipitous.

Then came the recording of his CD, "Pete," in the mid-nineties. I was part of a vocal group called Gaudeamus. Our director, Paul Halley was also part of the Paul Winter Consort. Paul Winter compiled and recorded a collection of Pete's works related to the environment. Since his voice was not as strong as it used to be, Gaudeamus was called in for vocal support. The CD went on to receive a Grammy.

Finally, Gaudeamus performed with Pete Seeger at the Clearwater Revival concert, not long after the recording of the CD. All along I kept the image in my head of the traveling musician with the banjo strapped to his back, and fancied myself being that person someday.

After writing a book called Systems out of Balance I started a band called The Bards of Balance that performs original music based on the themes of the book. Our first album just came out for digital release, called Restoring Balance. This collection of bard song blends acoustic rock with political folk music to entertain, inform and inspire audiences towards restoring social balance. Our sound is more like Dispatch than Pete Seeger, but the message we deliver is similar.

We plan to start a tour next summer that will focus on the Northeast. After that the plan is to walk across country, performing at local communities along the way. The image of Pete Seeger will be with me as I travel.