Quasi-Errand Into the Quasi-Wilderness

Armed with child-friendly insect-repellent wipes, ample fizzy water, manageable stacks of moldy vinyl, a portable turntable, an impressive array of grilled meats, and small-batch bourbon, a quorum of the northeast chapter of the Driftwood Singers family met in bucolic Pound Ridge, New York, for what has now become our semi-annual errand into the semi-wilderness, a quasi-utopian shindig involving naked toddlers caked in mud, the strumming of acoustic guitars, DNA replication, and wild-eyed speculation about ill-informed land buys in the Northeast Kingdom. Needless to say, we pondered the genius of artists like Robert Palmer, J.Geils, Freddy Fender, Fleetwood Mac, Karl Blau and Thin Lizzy.

I had promised to share a few tracks from a cache of John Anderson records that I’d purchased back in the winter in a lucky strike at a Goodwill in Middletown. Here’s one. Early in his career, Anderson had a baby face, but his voice was oak-aged, double-smoked and love-damaged. All American.

There’s always more.

“Arms of a Fool” - John Anderson