I had the honor of being at a good friend’s [redacted]th birthday party recently, and I can’t remember if I was asked to bring guitars (I think I was?) or if I just brought them for fun anyway. But I brought ’em, so there they were.

Turned out another one of their* close friends (they had quite a few) was the only person they had actually slated to play music. Either his playing was prearranged, or he was just an ad-hoc performer with an actual repertoire (as opposed to someone who just bum-rushes the stage any time he sees an opening for a bass player…)

Point is, it came down to him on a guitar and me on a bass. And of course I’d only met the guy on stage, so we didn’t have time to do any prearranged practicing or planning (hahahaha like that ever happens) so I just basically followed his lead, as I usually do when I meet people on stage.**

His repertoire was basically the Grateful Dead, and Johnny Cash. I’ve been playing jazz and hip-hop for the last twenty years. We made it work.

One of my abiding memories of that jam was when he was talking to me about the next song we were going to play, and he was describing it like “… and it’s another Johnny Cash song. It’s a country song, basically,” to which I replied: “Not any more.”

(I’m sure I got Johnny to roll over in his grave, but I’m even more certain he did it to the beat.)

All the above was to say: I just realized what my next song will be. It will be a cover of what’s basically a country song+. The song totally doesn’t need to be covered – it was done right the first time – except it’s also a message I want for the children, and I’m afraid it’s a bit unacceptable to younger ones in its current form, so that’s the only reason I’m redoing the song.

And Jamie, I will heed well the first rule of recording a cover song.

Update: Done!

* I’m not being intentionally gender-coy here; the birthday party was for one half of a couple, but I actually only met them, or had ever seen them, as a couple: so “they” are more or less the way I know them.

** Which happens more often than it has any right to, and I’m grateful every time.

+ Not any more.