I perform mostly locally, in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where I make my home. This collection has some of my favorite traditional songs and some very personal original songs. "Traveling Mercies" is about a wild bus ride from Virginia to New York City. I wrote this after putting my son, his guitars, and his Marshall stack on the bus. Most of the characters appearing in this song were on that bus. "Don't You Tear My Mountain Down" is a plea to preserve the beautiful mountains of Appalachia. Ripping the tops off to get at the coal is a sin against the people and the region that the coal companies claim to care about. "Two Horizons" was born out of a relationship between a pessimist and an optimist. "My Better Days Are Gone" was a reaction to every review of Americana records from "bright, young, up-and-coming artists." I love their music, but dislike the idea of age-bias creeping into ageless music. "All the Bodies Beautiful" came in a dream, complete with written notation and lyrics. I hope you enjoy this collection of songs from a musician who is deeply in love with the music and people of America.