Michael Acoustic

[Verse 1]
Here come Johnny singing oldies, goldies
"Be-Bop-A-Lula," baby, "What'd I Say"
Here come Johnny singing "I Got a Woman"
Down in the tunnels, tryna make it pay

[Pre-Chorus]
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh, yeah, the boy can play
Dedication, devotion
He turnin' all the night-time into the day

[Chorus]
He do the song about the sweet loving woman
He do the song about the knife
Then he do the walk, do the walk of life
Yeah, he do the walk of life
Woo-hoo

[Verse 2]
Here come Johnny gonna tell you the story
Hand me down, my walking shoes
Here come Johnny with the power and the glory
Backbeat, the talking blues

A Song To Play:

4/4 common time, Key of EMajor, a very brisk 176 BPM. A true 3 chord wonder using only the “Tonic” E Major root chord and the Subdominant A major IV chord, and the Dominant V chord (played as the extension B7 chord). Note the “Circle of Fifths” below, find the EMajor “slice” and then note the “A” to the left denoting the Major 4th and the B to the right, and denoting the Major 5th. That indicates those two chords are diatonic - meaning they belong in the key.

From Genius: Link: Walk Of Life

Ed. Note there are really only two verses in the song, Verses 1 and 2, with verse one repeated, and the Pre-Choruses also repeat, with the Intro and Outro mostly the same. If you’re Mark Knopfler, you can get away with that every time, mostly because the guitar riffs are so stunning the lyrics just sort of add flavor… (IMHO only, your mileage may vary…)

[Intro]
Woo-hoo
Woo-hoo

[Pre-Chorus]
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh, yeah, the boy can play
Dedication, devotion
He turning all the night-time into the day

[Chorus]
He do the song about the sweet loving woman
He do the song about the knife
And he do the walk, he do the walk of life
Yeah, he do the walk of life
Woo-hoo-hoo

[Verse 1]
Here come Johnny singing oldies, goldies
"Be-Bop-A-Lula," baby, "What'd I Say"
Here come Johnny singing "I Got a Woman"
Down in the tunnels, tryna make it pay

[Pre-Chorus]
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh, yeah, the boy can play
The dedication, devotion
He turning all the night-time into the day

[Chorus]
And after all the violence and double-talk
There's just a song in all the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, yeah, you do the walk of life
Mmm, they do the walk of life

[Outro]
Woo-hoo
Woo-hoo-hoo
Woo-hoo-hoo
Woo-hoo
Woo-hoo-hoo
Yeah, he do the walk of life

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

This Substack is free, I receive no compensation of any kind from companies or products I mention (except when you click on one of the links above for my song - then I might make 0.003 cents - yes 3/1000ths of a cent… just sayin…). Some linked or quoted material may be copyrighted by others, and I credit them. I rely on the “Fair Use” doctrine for educational purposes (Link: Fair Use). *I do not use AI for any of the text that’s found here, things I embed or link to (such as some images) might…

-Michael Acoustic

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Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This week’s (lazy) cats:

… guess I woke her up

(note the handily placed guitar - never far from my reach, even if it’s just to play chords - gotta keep those callouses ready for sudden inspiration…)

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 22 May 2026 11:03:28 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Last week’s rando lyric: “Listen To The Wind Blow” is from the song “The Chain”, written (credited to all of them…) and performed by Fleetwood Mac on the Rumours album. It was recorded at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles and Record Plant Recording Studios in either New York or Los Angeles (Ed. most likely in LA - it went out of business in 2024 and had studios in both cities for portions of its existence). It was released in February of 1977 as Track 1 on Side 2 of Rumours. It also appears on the compendium album “25 Years: The Chain”.

Produced by Produced by Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut & Fleetwood Mac

From: Wikipedia Link: Rumours - interesting stuff in here…

From YouTube: Rumours

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Some Stuff:

Ed. That first picture (the guy in the helmet) was always captioned as “Sleep well tonight, your Air Force is on alert!”… always made me laugh! Yes, I served, but not as aircrew…)

A Song To Play:

[Chorus: Lindsey Buckingham, Both, Stevie Nicks]
And if you don't love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin'
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
And if you don't love me now
(You don't love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin' (Still hear you saying)
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
And if you don't love me now
(You don't love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin' (Still hear you saying)
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)

[Instrumental Bridge]

[Outro: Both, Lindsey Buckingham]
Chain keep us together
Run in the shadow
Chain keep us together
Runnin' in the shadow
Chain keep us together
Runnin' in the shadow
Chain keep us together
Run in the shadow
Chain keep us together
Run in the shadow
Chain

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

Despite thinking Kageneko had been found at a local shelter from the picture the shelter put on their website, I now believe she’s a lookalike. It may be her, but original Kage was definitely a semi-feral street cat. I’m keeping the name Kageneko (Japanese for “midnight cat”) because she’s a close match in so many ways. This little kitty is close in age and weight, but she’s very sweet and obviously grateful for a loving home. She, unlike Kage #1, is very loving, loves to be petted and curl up in my lap and purrs like a freight train. She was neutered and chipped at the shelter, which original Kage wasn’t. So I still don’t know for absolutely certain, but the complete change in personality is probably more than could be expected. If Kage is still out there somewhere, I hope she’s safe and with someone who loves her…

This week’s cats:

Kageneko

Mika, however, remains somewhat unconvinced..

…

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 15 May 2026 11:01:25 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

This week I’m featuring “A Song To Play” that may be a repeat from some previous post, but I don’t remember and in any event seemed appropriate…

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

So, the hits just keep coming…

Our little black cat, Kageneko, has disappeared. I believe she escaped when Mika came in from the back deck and Kage took the opportunity to run free. She was about 2 years old, and the vet said she was not neutered/spayed and had had a previous litter, so she may be doing what fertile cats do. I am hoping for her return but it’s been a over a week and I’m reluctantly facing reality. Mika and I miss her…

Thanks to for the bat repellent suggestion - I actually found a bottle of the peppermint spray I had from years past bat issues and the little monster seems to have relocated!

Thanks, as always to Dave The Scholarship Coach, and to our new followers who were recommended by Dave!

Some Stuff:

A Song To Play:

4/4 common time, at 130 BPM it’s a bit quick, originally in the Key of Cminor, I’ve transposed it here with the capo on the 3rd fret to the Key of Am to make it a bit more playable for new/intermediate guitarists. You can leave the capo off if you would like, it just won’t be in the original key, so if you play along with the video it will sound odd. On the other hand if the Am Key is a good fit for your voice, it’ll all work out. Mostly though just…

…Have Fun!

From Genius:

“The group that specialized in ‘50s throwback type music, but with '80s lyrics, reached #3 on the Billboard charts in 1982, singing a “cool” song with deeper meaning, should one search for them.”

Lyrics:

[Intro]
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh

Black and orange stray cat sittin' on a fence
Ain't got enough dough to pay the rent
I'm flat broke but I don't care
I strut right by with my tail in the air

Stray cat strut, I'm a ladies' cat
I'm a feline Casanova (Hey, man, that's that)
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

(Meow) Yeah, don't cross my path!

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge]
I don't bother chasing mice around (Oh no!)
I slink down the alley lookin' for a fight
Howlin' to the moonlight on a hot summer night

Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry
"Wild stray cat, you're a real gone guy"
I wish I could be as carefree and wild
But I got cat class and I got cat style

[Instrumental Break]

[Bridge]
I don't bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley lookin' for a fight
Howlin' to the moonlight on a hot summer night

Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry
"Wild stray cat, you're a real gone guy"
I wish I could be as carefree and wild
But I got cat class and I got cat style

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

Come home, Kage….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

An UNUSUAL Thursday Michael Acoustic Links Post!

Michael — Wed, 06 May 2026 20:37:22 GMT

First - the last month has been a bit of a challenge, with doctors and dentists and a bat, OH MY!

So, I’m fine, was caught in the crossfire a bit between a couple of providers regarding a prescription, nothing more serious than that. The issue was a prescription med, one of which was probably effective for other folks, but not for me! The brouhaha (one of my favorite words!) resulted a painful side effect causing my knees and shoulders to ache excruciatingly. Got that eventually resolved, with pretty much only minor warfare….

Much better news, a cracked molar, resulting in a crown. My dentist and staff are so good - no pain, just slightly uncomfortable anesthetic injections, but that was minor. Probably saved the tooth and I immediately got used to it.

The final excuse is an odd one. A bat likes to roost in an upper corner of the roof over a back deck on my house. Persistent little bugger that I wouldn’t mind at all because they keep the mosquito/bug population down, but the downside is he or she likes to poop all night while it’s roosting up there and so my deck became its personal latrine. I bought a “bat house” off Amazon and I’m putting that up today, along with using some peppermint spray (apparently it’s like bat kryptonite or something) that they hate. Hoping for an equitable outcome for both me and the bat. We’ll see.

The scene of the crime….that’s about 15 feet up there….the little black spots are bat poop - can’t pressure wash cuz it’s stucco

As always - I’m thankful to Dave, The Scholarship Coast for sending so many new followers and subscribers to our page! Take a look at his page (at the link) for tips on maximizing your financial education resources.

Some Links To Click On:

Ed. I don’t think I’ve posted any of these before, but maybe…

From Carvin Audio:

Fills To Cover Audience Areas _ This might be one I’ve posted before, but good information if you play live and you need to improve sound…

Point Source Or Line Array - Yeah, I didn’t know either - might come in handy if you’re planning (or playing) a gig…

Guitar Tone 101 - Some stuff in here that maybe helpful for all levels of playing, but beginners especially…

From Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Inexpensive Guitar Improvements - I have a couple of beginner level Yamahas and a Martin that I just practice on - good info in here

From CD Baby

More Money! - How to get the most for your bank account…

A Release Day Checklist - Always something to do on these days…

From American Songwriter Magazine

Why The Zombies Are Called That... - Yeah, I didn’t know either…

George Jones and The Rolling Stones - Interesting slice of music history

Steve Earle Interview - With my favorite writer from American Songwriter, Dean Fields - he does a lot of these - worth a subscription IMHO

From Speed Songwriting:

How To Write A Song Bridge - Yeah, a pitch to buy a course, but some good information

Basic Chord Progressions - Good stuff here

Memorable Melodes - You want them, here’s how to write them

Song Title Games - These are really clever - try them!

Thank You To All Of Our Subscribers and Followers!!

A Brief Interlude With Mika and Kage, The Cats:

Ed. Some sort of high level secret executive cat meeting to discuss the human’s failings, I suppose….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:02:37 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Ed. A shorter than usual post this week - we’ve had a brief taste of spring weather here in The Upper Left Corner and I’m taking somewhat exhaustive advantage of it….

Last week’s rando lyric: “The hard way every time” is from the song “The Hard Way Every Time”, written and performed by Jim Croce. It was recorded at The Hit Factory in New York and released in December of 1973 as Track 11 on the album “I Got A Name”.

Produced by Produced by Terry Cashman, Tommy West

From: Wikipedia Link: I Got A Name (Album)

From YouTube:

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

A Song To Play:

One of Mr. Croce’s lesser known songs - great, somewhat mournful lyrics and a challenging guitar part. Probably intermediate level with a lot of barre chords - but give it a try!

4/4 common time, a very quick 125 Beats Per Minute, Key of EMajor. Lots of barre chords, can be a bit of a challenge at the very quick pace of 125 BPM. Mr. Croce is credited as rhythm guitarist on this song, with the lead guitar credited to Maury Muehlheisen, lead guitarist for Mr. Croce. Sadly, Mr. Muehlheisen perished in the 1973 plane crash which also took the life of Mr. Croce.

The fingerpicked lead guitar part by Mr. Muelheisen is masterful, if you can fingerpick at a fairly quick pace, this is a great one to practice with. Start slow and build to the quick tempo.

Also, while Mr. Muelheisen didn’t have the vocal presence and range of Mr. Croce, he was an exceptional guitarist. Check out this album: Gingerbread (Album)

From Chordify Link: The Hard Way Every Time

From Genius: Link: The Hard Way Every Time

Yeah, I've had my share of broken dreams
And more than a couple of falls
And in chasin' what I thought were moonbeams
I have run into a couple of walls
But in looking back at the places I've been
The changes that I've left behind
I just look at myself to find
I've learned the hard way every time

'Cause I've had my share of good intentions
And I've made my share of mistakes
And I've learned at times it's best to bend
'Cause if you don't well those are the breaks
Should have listened to all the things I was told
But I was young and too proud at the time
Now I look at myself to find
I learn the hard way ev'ry time

But in looking back at the lessons I've learned
And the mountains I wanted to climb
I just look at myself to find
I've learned the hard way ev'ry time

'Cause I've had my share of broken dreams
And more than a couple of falls
And in chasin' what I thought were moonbeams
I have run into a couple of walls
But in looking back at the faces I've been
I would sure be the first one to say
When I look at myself today
Wouldn'ta done it any other way

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This week’s cats:

I think Mika does stuff like this just to start shit with Kage….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

A Michael Acoustic "Music Theory For Guitarists" (RE)Post!

Michael — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:01:49 GMT

I’m thankful to Dave, The Scholarship Coast for sending so many new followers and subscribers to our page! Take a look at his page (at the link) for tips on maximizing your financial educational resources.

I think it’s important to revisit the basics of what we do as guitar playing musicians to understand the concepts that underlie the “why” of music theory. It’s not just a conceptual abstraction. Music theory is the “language” of music. Understanding that language is critical to understanding other musicians - instrumentalists and vocalists - when we play music with them.

Although, it’s not just that. I really do enjoy thinking through the theoretical aspects of music as it applies to the guitar especially and often (OK, sometimes…) even find it helpful. Your mileage may vary…

I’ll try to keep the explanations easier to understand with some charts - everyone learns differently and I need a combination of written explanations accompanied by pictures or charts that are illustrative of the writing.

The section just below is truly the most basic of almost everything we do with “Western” music:

Everything starts with a note. In Western music, there are 12 notes. 7 are “natural notes”: C, D, E, F, G, A and B. The other five notes that are found in western (meaning Europe and the Americas) music are notes that have two names. C# is also Db, D# is also Eb, F# is also Gb, G# is also Ab and A# is also Bb. These notes are different than Natural notes because they have two names, where the Naturals only have one each.

One way to conceptualize this is to refer to the keys on a piano keyboard. “Natural” notes are the white keys. The black keys are called “Accidentals”. The reasoning goes like this: The white keys are the “naturals”: A,B,C, D, E, F, and G. The black keys are named for their relationship to the two white keys they fall between. By convention, we start with the note C in octaves, which includes one set of all the notes in a given scale, with the first note repeated at the end.

This is the “C” octave:

It starts with the note that is the name of the octave, in this case, “C” and proceeds alphabetically to the next instance of “C”. C as a note is just another note, the C scale is unique among the other scales in that is has no “accidentals” - that is, no sharps and no flats - and that’s why it’s at the tippy-top of the beast below: the dreaded “Circle of Fifths”.

The white keys in the diagram are the natural notes. The black keys are the accidentals. If you start with the “C” on the left end of the diagram and you go to the right, the black key is “C#”, read “C sharp”. If you start with the “D” and go to the left, the black key is “Db”, read “D flat”. There are some customary names - the C#/Db is almost always referred to as C# instead of Db. The black key between D and E is almost always referred to as Eb. Between F and G is referred to as F#, between G and A is Ab, between A and B is Bb. Why? Dunno, just is. Maybe there is a reason steeped in history, or not…

Now, we need to talk about “the beat” - which is the “pulse” of music and how we discovered having drummers and bassists around wasn’t the curse we thought it might be. And how they were actually pretty handy to have around, despite the ever escalating bar tab…

So, yeah, I have fun poking the drummer and bassist bears. Who do they make fun of? Well, me, more or less. Nobody wants to piss off the lead guitarist or the talented vocalist. That leaves me, a slightly talented rhythm guitarist and even less talented vocalist. But, in somebody’s words (I think Chevy Chase or John Belushi in some National Lampoon based movie, but I can’t remember which one now), “we never let it hold us back”… If you remember, let me know in the comments…

So today we’re moving on to confront a musical “beast”. I talked about this previously and it was (I think) one of the least “liked” posts of my Substack journey. Gotta be done though…

Yes, friends, it’s “The Circle Of Fifths”…..

This thing can be confusing, even intimidating. You can tame it though, by learning how to use it.

Note the top of the circle has the Treble clef symbol with no “#” or “b” symbols associated with it. Below that the pie sliced shape has the word “Major” and the capital letter “C” in the triangle below that. Then continuing down, the phrases “0 sharps” and “0 flats”, the word “Minor” and the abbreviation “Am” are contained within the pie slice for “C”. We can read that using the word “Major”. It refers to all of the clef symbols and letters in the outer circle. They’re all Major Keys. The “C” at the very top of that triangle means the Key of C. Remember, Keys contain and are distinguished by chords, rather than the single notes that distinguish scales. So the outer ring of letters are Major Keys, and the Key of C Major is unique in that it’s the only Key that consists of chords that have no sharps or flats in their root. The inner ring of chords are the Relative Minor Keys. All of the other Keys are representative of the other 11 notes of the Western music scale, (12 notes total, 7 naturals and 5 accidentals) and are denoted by the root note of the Key and the Key signature as shown by the number of sharps or flats in the signature. The sorta exception is F#/Gb, which are the same notes, therefore the same Key, just one notated in flats, one in sharps. You could do that with the other ones, such as Bb is also A#, but it’s one of those “convention” things - we just call that Key Bb. Just cuz.

Remember, Notes can be sharp or flat or neither and form Scales, but only Chords can be Major, minor or Diminished and form Keys. The root note of a chord can be sharp or flat, but the third of a chord determines whether the chord is Major or minor by being natural or flat.

Let’s break that down. The C scale is C, D, E, F, G, A, B - the seven “natural” notes. The formula for a Major Key is Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor and (technically) Diminished. Then you start over. So the chords in the Key of CMajor are C Major, Dminor, Eminor, FMajor, GMajor, Aminor, and Bdiminished (technically).

I say “technically” Bdiminished, because no one (except piano players) wants to play Diminished chords, so just play the minor, in this key a Bminor. Technically, purist correct? Nope, but no one except probably your guitar instructor will notice you’re sorta cheating, and they probably won’t even care. Diminished chords are also known as the Leading Tone in some instances because the resolution from the 7 to the root note in earlier centuries was thought to best resolve musical tension. Today we use the IV and the V, the Perfect Fourth and Perfect Fifth to resolve the tension to the root, and the 7th, diminished or the more accessible minor, is only rarely used (But: there are a number of popular songs by great songwriters who do use the 7 chord, but almost always as a minor chord rather than a diminished chord).

Is the Circle of Fifths useful? I think so. you may see an odd Key signature, like 4 sharps and think, “Oh, yeah, EMajor”. Aaaaand the first chord is C#m. WTF? Yeah, not in Kansas anymore, Toto (see what I did there?) and now a whole bunch of weird is coming at you, cuz that’s likely the Key of C#minor. More melancholy, downbeat? Yeah, to Western music attuned ears. In other parts of the world, not so much, maybe. We are “trained” to hear Major keys as happ(ier), minor keys as sad(der) in what we call “the West” - Europe and North America in particular, but our popular music trains us, just like Japanese anime trains us (well, me anyway - kind of an anime addict - don’t judge…) to view things through a cultural lens.

You can track the chords in Major and minor keys in the first chart below. The chords in the left hand chart are major, right side is minor. The diminished chords are denoted by the “ ° ” symbol - not sure what that’s called other than the “degrees symbol”. Again, most everyone just plays the minor chord instead of the diminished version, but if you’re the adventurous sort, check out the Diminished chord chart below, and the chord fingering chart below that even. Be sure to have fun with that…

Extra Credit: Discmakers Guide to the Circle of Fifths - Helpful alternate take on how to use the Circle of Fifths. Probably more professional, too.

Sometimes visual representations help:

Hope you had a bit of fun and maybe learned something a bit useful today. I’d like to keep doing this occasionally if it works out, but I’ll leave that to you, Gentle Reader…

Thank You To All Of Our Subscribers and Followers!!

A Brief Interlude With Mika and Kage, The Cats:

She wants Mika to play with her sooooo bad she does these goofy tactics to get Mika’s attention….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:01:48 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Back on track with a song to play and sing along with from one of my most admired, but tragic, figures in music history!!

Last week’s rando lyric: “And we got the sky to talk about” is from the song “To Live Is To Fly”, written and performed by Townes Van Zandt. It was recorded over five nights in July of 1973 at “The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe”, described as an “intimate venue” in Houston, Texas (Note: the original venue closed in 1979; a venue under the same name later opened in Galveston, Texas). It was released in May of 1977 as Track 10 on Disc 1 of the double disc album “Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas” which consisted of the songs performed there in 1973. The album was released by several labels, including Tomato (original release), Rhino, Charly, CoraZong, Fat Possum

Produced by Produced by Earl Willis

From: Wikipedia Link: To Live Is To Fly (Song)

From Wikipedia Link: Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas (Album)

From: Genius Link: Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas (Album)

ibid:

From YouTube:

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Some Stuff

A Song To Play:

4/4 common time, a slow 79 Beats Per Minute, Key of DMajor. Fun song to play, slow enough to practice finger picking if you can. Interesting note: the title only appears as a lyric twice, both times proceeded by the word “Well,”. With only 3 chords, it’s kind of a typical TVZ song - uncomplicated, sort of starts out as maybe a love song, but turns out to be more of Mr. Van Zandt’s outlook. Very cool, very much a reflection of Mr. Van Zandt’s philosophy of life in general I think. Certainly easy enough for all levels of a guitarist’s abilities, this is a good one to sing while you play.

From Chordify Link:To Live Is To Fly

[Chorus]
Well to live is to fly
All low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes

[Verse 3]
It's goodbye to all my friends
It's time to go again
Think of all the poetry
And the pickin' down the line

I'll miss the system here
The bottom's low and the treble's clear
But it don't pay to think too much
On things you leave behind

[Chorus]
Well I may be gone
But it won’t be long
I’ll be a-bringin’ back the melody
And the rhythm that I find

[Verse 4]
We all got holes to fill
And them holes are all that’s real
And some fall on you like a storm
Sometimes you dig your own

The choice is yours to make
And time is yours to take
Some dive into the sea
Some toil upon the stone

[Chorus]
Well to live’s to fly
All low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes
Well shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This week’s cats:

Nothing demonstrates peaceful coexistence more than sharing a cat treat….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

A Nonpareil Michael Acoustic "Links" Post!

Michael — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 11:02:14 GMT

Today, I’m proud to present a *knot of links to articles and posts that I’ve received from various folks and publications I follow that may be valuable to my readers.

Also, some of these links may be repeats…..sorry, but not really that sorry….

*“Nonpareil” means a “model of excellence or perfection of a kind” - I’m thinkin’ that’s about right…

Hat tip to “GoryJory’s $10 Words” at Vocabulary.com

**A group of toads is a “knot”

A compendium of names for groups of animals (or links…):

From The Editor:

Not as many links as I usually come across - only a few today…

A bit of a somber week - so I’ll just thank all of my subscribers and followers - once again this week, the most have come from, Dave The Scholarship Coach - give his Substack a follow, you won’t be sorry! - Thanks, Dave!

Some Links To Click On:

From Carvin Audio:

Amping Acoustic Guitars - Kind of a “Hmm, let’s see what happens if…” sort of a deal…

Keep Your Stage Organized - Guess mom was right about some stuff, huh?

Bass Tone 101 - Bet you thought this was a community college course offering….

Choosing A Vocal Mic - A bit more important than that Cuisinart on Amazon….

From CD Baby

Tax Tips For Musicians - Good timing, I was beginning to hear footsteps…

From Speed Songwriting:

Catchy Chorus Hacks - Hacked and catchy! Best of both worlds

Thank You To All Of Our Subscribers and Followers!!

Okonomiyaki

A Slice of Daily Life With Mikeneko, and Kageneko, The Cats:

Ed. Always making sure the treats division is equitable….freakin’ cats….smh…

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:03:36 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

ED: I needed to get out of my own head with some of my recent posts of songs I liked a lot or played a lot or whatever. Something different today, a purely instrumental song, featuring an acoustic guitar part that isn’t really the focus.

Last week’s rando lyric isn’t there because today we’re doing something different!

We’ll be featuring the purely instrumental song “Bryter Layter” written and performed by Nick Drake . It was recorded in 1970 at the Sound Techniques studio in London and released in March of 1971 as Track 1 on Side 2 of the album “Bryter Layter” by Nick Drake on the Island Records label.

Note the Wikipedia article discusses Bryter Layter as written and recorded by Mr. Drake for a BBC broadcast, later it was recorded for the album.

Produced by Joe Boyd

From: Wikipedia Link: Bryter Layter

From: Genius Link: (Album) Bryter Layter

Ed. Both sources provide interesting discussions about the musicians who backed on the Bryter Layter instrumental only track as well as others who contributed to the entire album…

Ed. I believe (without searching through several years of Michael Acoustic archives) that I’ve featured Mr. Drake before, but I don’t recall the song or when.

From Wikipedia: (Ed. a sad but too often repeated story…):

“Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridge. His debut album, Five Leaves Left, was released in 1969, and was followed by two more albums, Bryter Layter (1971) and Pink Moon (1972). While Drake did not reach a wide audience during his brief lifetime, his music found acclaim and he gradually received wider recognition following his death.

Drake suffered from depression and was reluctant to perform in front of live audiences. Upon completion of Pink Moon, he withdrew from both performance and recording, retreating to his parents’ home in rural Warwickshire. On 25 November 1974, Drake was found dead at the age of 26 due to an overdose of antidepressants.

Drake’s music remained available through the mid-1970s, but the 1979 release of the retrospective collection Fruit Tree allowed his back catalogue to be reassessed. Drake has come to be credited as an influence on numerous artists. The first Drake biography in English appeared in 1997; it was followed by the documentary films A Stranger Among Us in 1999 and A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake in 2000.”

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Some Stuff

A Song To Play:

I chose this song for this week because it does something we do perhaps maybe more often than we do ordinarily. At home or wherever you practice, you may be playing songs and simultaneously singing lyrics to some song you want to learn or master. When we play with a group at a jam session for instance, it’s more often us playing while someone else sings. One way to prepare for that is to practice instrumental only songs. If everyone pretty much is on the beat, you’ll sound great. If you’re supporting a vocalist you kinda have to adjust to their tempo and phrasing - which may be very different from what you had learned on your own or with only other instrumentalists. So it’s good to devote a little practice time to an instrumental only song, where you’re concentrating on the timing and beat of the music, but without a vocalist to adjust to. Your mileage may vary.

4/4 common time, a pretty quick 120 BPM, original appears to be Key of Fminor (with a non-diatonic Gminor, would just be a G chord diatonically in the Fminor key), chord diagrams below this chart:

From Chordify Link: Bryter Layter

Original chords (no capo):

Capo on 3:

Through the magical capo device, if you capo on 3 it’s still in the more or less key of Fminor and you’re playing what will sound like the same original chordal tones, but using more familiar chord shapes (D, C, Em and F). I know this capo business can be difficult to grasp at times. It effectively “shortens” the strings (here at the 3rd fret) which causes the tones to require different chord shapes than the originals, but still the same tones. Players of other instruments will look at you oddly because unless they’re piano players they mostly don’t play chordal music on one instrument. Other instruments (woodwinds, brass winds, strings) play single notes at a time and achieve chordal music when playing with others who can play the other notes of a chord. Guitars and pianos are capable of playing multiple notes at once (or so closely together they sound like multiple notes).

What if you left the capo off and just played the notes in the score just above (the “capo on 3” version)? Well, the notes would not be the same and it would sound different than the intervals in the original, but it would still be recognizable as this song, because it is the same song, only in a different key - here, the Key of DMajor. Which might fit your voice better than Fminor anyway. Or not.

I know we have a lot of new followers/subscribers (thanks again to Dave The Scholarship Coach) and some of this may sound like gibberish, but in the coming weeks I’ll reprise some of my music theory posts that may help make sense of this!

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

In memoriam of the crew members of this aircraft lost over Iraq this past week

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings”

High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr. Link: High Flight

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 11:02:49 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

ED: I needed to get out of my own head with some of my recent posts of songs I liked a lot or played a lot or whatever. As far as I recall, I’ve never featured Zach Bryan or this song before, so….

Last week’s rando lyric: “I will give some worn down excuse” is from the song “Let You Down” written and performed by Zach Bryan. It was released in November of 2020 as Track 1 on the EP “Quiet, Heavy Dreams” by Zach Bryan. The usual suspects disagree on the label with one stating “self released” and another citing his later labels, Warner Records and his own label Belting Bronco Records…whatever….

Produced by Eddie Spear (who was also the recording engineer).

From: Wikipedia Link: (Song) Ed. redirects to this discography link: Zach Bryan Discography

From: Genius Link: (Album) Quiet, Heavy Dreams

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

A Song To Play:

4/4 common time, a very fast 167 BPM (yeah, you don’t have to play it that fast just because he does……), Key of GMajor - really a beginner level song, 3 chords in GMajor - it’s mostly for the lyrics - but that’s understandable - he was self-producing an EP, early in his career - probably just wanted to get some songs out there. Great - and it’s a great song and fun to play, even if a little on the beginner side.

From Chordify Link: Let You Down

…have fun!

From Genius Link: Let You Down

[Verse 1]
I will give some worn down excuse
'Bout my misguided judgements of substance abuse
I know that you'll stay out of pure sympathy
There ain't no use in lovin' a let-down like me

[Chorus]
I'll let you down, darlin', down, babe, just like I did before
You'll just keep on slammin' closed hollow unlocked doors
I'll let you down, darlin', down, babe, just like times before
You'll just keep on crawlin' back and beggin' me for more

[Verse 2]
I will leave you broken and in ruins
Call you when the work's through just to find out what you're doin'
So I can let you down for the hundredth last time
'Cause lettin' down's a pick-me-up for me and my boys' kind

[Chorus]
I'll let you down, darlin', down, babe, just like I did before
You'll just keep on slammin' closed hollow unlocked doors
I'll let you down, darlin', down, babe, just like times before
You'll just keep on crawlin' back and beggin' me for more

[Verse 3]
And I know that you know that you make my spine shiver
But my past lives inside me and it’s branched out from my liver
When I am not the evil that you make me out to be
I will let you down and that’s a damn guarantee

[Chorus]
I’ll let you down, darlin’, down, babe, just like I did before
You’ll just keep on slammin’ closed hollow unlocked doors
I’ll let you down, darlin’, down, babe, just like times before
You’ll just keep on crawlin’ back and beggin’ me for more

[Outro]
I will give some worn down excuse
‘Bout my misguided judgements of substance abuse

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

Ed.: I know this week’s post is a bit on the light side - struggling, like many in the Upper Left Corner I suppose, with a sort of sneezing, chills kind of a cold that just hangs on. Seems to ease up a bit in the afternoon, but that’s just teasing apparently. Meh.

This Week’s Conversation With Mikeneko and Kageneko:

Ed. Mika likes to pin her ears back and growl, but Kage seems to regard her as an older sister to bother as much as possible…

It is fun to watch them play fight, less enjoyable to listen to after awhile….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 12:03:12 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Whole lotta George This week…

Although George Harrison's birth certificate lists his birthday as 25th February, some sources claim he was actually born on 24th February shortly before midnight…

“If you said happy birthday to George, on the 24th, he would say, "It’s not my birthday", but if you said it on the 25th, he would say, "you missed it" - Various sources….

Last week’s rando lyric: “What I know I can do” is from the song “What Is Life” written and performed by George Harrison. It was released in 1970 as Track 1 on Side 2 of the triple disc album “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison on the Apple Records label. Released as a single in February 1971.

Produced by David Zonshine, Phil Spector & George Harrison

From :Wikipedia Link: What Is Life (Song)

From: Wikipedia Link: All Things Must Pass (Album)

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Some Stuff:

You can’t help but like all of The Beatles, but if I had to pick one (and fortunately I don’t) George Harrison would stand out for me…

A Song To Play:

4/4 common time, a brisk 130 BPM, Key of E - lots of repetition - I think (without knowing of course) Mr. Harrison wanted a bit more focus on the lyrics with a big, but repetitious, instrumental track behind those lyrics. Still, very cool and so many great artists contributed to the songs on the album. Most of all…

From Chordify Link: What Is Life

…have fun!

From Genius Link: What Is Life

[Verse 1]
What I feel, I can't say
But my love is there for you anytime of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed

[Chorus]
Tell me, what is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?

[Verse 2]
What I know, I can do
If I give my love now to everyone like you
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed

[Chorus]
Tell me, what is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?
Tell me, what is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?

[Verse 1]
What I feel, I can’t say
But my love is there for you anytime of day
But if it’s not love that you need
Then I’ll try my best to make everything succeed

[Chorus]
Tell me, what is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?
Oh, tell me, what is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?

[Outro]
What is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?
Oh tell me, what is my life without your love?
Tell me, who am I without you by my side?

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This Week’s Conversation With Mikeneko and Kageneko:

Ed. The evening stare down. Sometimes it ends well. Other times, not so much…..

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

A Concupiscent* Michael Acoustic "Links" Post!

Michael — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 12:01:54 GMT

Today, I’m proud to present a **labor of links to articles and posts that I’ve received from various folks and publications I follow that may be valuable to my readers.

Also, some of these links may be repeats…..sorry, but not really that sorry….

*“Concupiscent” means “vigorously passionate” - Yeah, I didn’t know either, but I use it here in the most platonic way, ya filthy animals… Hat tip to “GoryJory’s $10 Words” at Vocabulary.com

**A group of moles is a “labor” - “Moles are small, subterranean mammals. They have cylindrical bodies, velvety fur, very small, inconspicuous eyes and ears, reduced hindlimbs, and short, powerful forelimbs with large paws adapted for digging”. - Thanks, Wikipedia…

A compendium of names for groups of animals (or links…):

From The Editor:

A busy week - mostly more or less good… so I’ll just thank all of my subscribers and followers; in particular the impressive number of new folks who arrive here often referred by Dave The Scholarship Coach - give his Substack a follow, you won’t be sorry! - Thanks, Dave!

Speaking of other Substack Writers - don’t miss these great “friends of Michael Acoustic”:

Paul Macko at:

Ellen From Endwell at

David Perlmutter at:

Brad Kyle at

Andres at:

Some Links To Click On:

From Carvin Audio:

How To Use A Preamp Pedal In Your Rig - Ya gotta have the “rig” first for this one…

The Right PA - You won’t be surprised to learn that Carvin sells “the right” PA systems. I like their stuff, so….

Running Sound And Playing A Gig At The Same Time - I saw a guy doing this at a lounge one night. It was impressive….

From Mastering The Mix

How To Punch Your Mix - You don’t have to wrap your wrists first for this….just sayin…

From Berklee: Space And Dimension - Kinda sounds like a 70s TV space opera but it’s not…

From American Songwriter Magazine

Keith Richards - Superhero - Not your ordinary story about Mr. Richards, but…

From CD Baby

How To Write A Press Release - Putting out a new track? Let folks know where to find it!

From Speed Songwriting

Songwriting Deadlines - Set a deadline. Meet the deadline. PROFIT!

Thank You To All Of Our Subscribers and Followers!!

Recipe for Hot Honey Sauce... For some reason recommendations for this stuff were popping up all over my X feed all week. Have fun!

A Small Drowsy Album With Mikeneko, and Kageneko, The Cats:

Ed. Mika appropriated a spare laundry basket I left laying around, Kage appropriated my chair…..

They’re quiet when napping. When not napping, less so….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:00:43 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Ed. - Hat tip to our good friend Brad Kyle, Substack writer at the Front Row and Backstage page. Brad featured the Austin, Texas based group, The Reivers, a couple of weeks ago, and I thought this song would be a fabulous song to learn. Find Brad’s post at his Audio Autopsy (link) feature, and while you’re there, check out the other cool stuff on his ‘stack….

Last week’s rando lyric: “There’s something in my hat” is from the song “In Your Eyes” written by Reivers members John Croslin (listed on Spotify as the “Composer”) and Kim Longacre (listed on Spotify as the “Lyricist”) and performed by The Reivers. It was released in 1987 as Track 5 on the album “Saturday” by Capitol Records (re-released 2002 by Dualtone).

Produced by Don Dixon

From Wikipedia: Link: Saturday The Reivers album

From AllMusic Link: Saturday The Reivers

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Some Stuff:

A Song To Play:

Key of GMajor, 4/4 common time, a very, very quick 150 Beats Per Minute - it’s a challenging banger!!! One spot where Chordify hears a Bm, just play the Bm7, another spot where it hears Cm, again just play the open C - at this pace no one’s gonna hear the difference…

From Chordify Link: In Your Eyes

From SONGLYRICS Link: In Your Eyes

The Reivers - In Your Eyes Lyrics

There’s something in my hat
There’s something in my stereo
But I can’t stop it
Stop it from happening
There’s something in my hat
There’s something in my stereo
But I can’t stop it
Stop it from happening
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh
It’s just a little fear
And I see myself in your eyes.
And it looks so nice.
And it looks so nice.
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh
It’s just a little fear
And I see myself in your eyes.
And it looks so nice.
And it looks so nice.
It could be the lights
You could call it poetry
But I can’t hear you
Spin above my record player.
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh
It’s just a little fear
And I see myself in your eyes.
And it looks so nice.
And it looks so nice.
And I see myself in your eyes.
And it looks so nice.
And it looks so nice.

The “ME!” Section…..

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This Week’s Conversation With Mikeneko and Kageneko:

Ed. The relationship has evolved from growling and whatnot to laying down and merely staring at each other until they just sort of wander off.

Non-violent though, so that’s an improvement…

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:02:42 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Last week’s rando lyric: “No, you don’t fool me” is from the song “In The Air Tonight” written and performed by Phil Collins. It was recorded in 1980 and released as a single in January 1981 and in February 1981 on the album “Face Value”. The song is Track 1 on Side 1 on the album. It was released by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and Atlantic Records in North America.

Produced by Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham

From Wikipedia: Link: Face Value (album)

Note: This is probably the single version at 4 minutes 54 seconds. The album version is listed as 5 minutes, 34 seconds. The single version, according to some, featured “real” drums up to the point of the “magic break”, where the album utilized a drum machine until the magic break.

Real or Machine?

What is the “magic break”? For us non-drummers (they’re “special”), it’s when the quiet drums in the background stop and the solo drumming across the different drums in the drum set happens. Here’s how that came to be:

The Magic Break

Also, my very favorite version….Miami Vice

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

[Chorus]
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight? Oh Lord, oh Lord

[Verse 1]
Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I’ve seen your face before, my friend
But I don’t know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you’ve been
It’s all been a pack of lies

[Chorus]
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

[Verse 2]
Well, I remember, I remember, don’t worry
How could I ever forget?
It’s the first time, the last time
We ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up
No, you don’t fool me
Well, the hurt doesn’t show, but the pain still grows
It’s no stranger to you and me

Some Stuff:

That recipe is a life saver if, like me, you’ve been battling sniffles, chills, sneezing and whatnot…just sayin’…

A Song To Play: Key of Dminor

(relative minor of the Key of FMajor - See Circle Of Fifths above)

4/4 common time, a moderate 94 BPM. I haven’t played along with this chord chart in awhile - I thinks the magic break happens around measure 18., don’t remember for sure.

From Chordify Link: In The Air Tonight

From Genius Link: In The Air Tonight Lyrics

[Drum Solo] (Ed. “The Magic Break”!)

[Chorus]
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well, I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight ‎

The “ME!” Section…..

This week’s Spotify playlist - don’t have one - sorry, cold taking its toll this week…

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This Week’s Conversation With Mikeneko and Kageneko:

Pretty tame really. Lots of lengthy stare-downs and a few growling matches.

Meh, cats….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

An Egalitarian Michael Acoustic "Links" Post!

Michael — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 12:02:05 GMT

Today, I’m proud to present a romp of links to articles and posts that I’ve received from various folks and publications I follow that may be valuable to my readers. Also, some of these links may be repeats…..sorry, but* not really that sorry….

*A group of otters is a romp…

Oh, Yeah….And Happy Valentine’s Day….

A compendium of names for groups of animals (or links…):

From The Editor:

Not going to whine about Apple jackassery this week, so I’ll just thank all of my subscribers and followers, in particular the impressive number of new folks who are here, many referred by Dave The Scholarship Coach - give his Substack a follow, you won’t be sorry! - Thanks, Dave!

Some Links To Click On:

From Zager Guitars:

Artists Who Have Zager Guitars - I found this really interesting. I own a Zager, it’s well made, a great guitar and most importantly to me, it fits and feels right in my hand. I kinda thought it was a bit niche, but this very impressive list of artists makes clear it is a favorite of many. Admittedly, not everyone on this list is still with us, but..damn…

From Acoustic Guitar Magazine:

Fretboard Radius.... Who knew? Interesting stuff that you’ll know if you read this…

From Carvin Audio:

Re-Amping - I kinda knew a bit of this, but now I know a lot more. Click on it and you will too.

From Mastering The Mix

Mix To Master - How to do it and make it great!

Spot Problems In Your Mix - It won’t be great unless you do!

Control Low End Distortion - Ya won’t get the first two if you don’t do this…just sayin..

From American Songwriter Magazine

Dean Fields Interviews Adam Duritz - Dean Fields is our favorite dude, Round Here. See what I did there?

From CD Baby

5000 Streams? - Yep, how to get ‘em on that one streaming service….

From Speed Songwriting

Chord Progressions - Here’s 4 of them, and they all have cool names!

Thank You To All Of Our Subscribers and Followers!!

**A Small Egalitarian* Album With Mikeneko, and Kageneko, The Cats:**

*Egalitarian in the sense that they each get a picture this week…

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:00:35 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Last week’s rando lyric: “It’s no earthly good to me” is from the song “Early Morning Rain” written and performed by Gordon Lightfoot. It is Track 7 on Side 1 of the Album “Lightfoot”, recorded in 1964 and released in 1966 on the United Artists label.

Produced by John Court

From Genius: Link: Early Morning Rain

“This is a first person story about being far from home, hard-up and lonely as can be. First made popular by Judy Collins, Lightfoot released his version in 1966 and it was his first real hit song. In some ways, it’s a modern day allegory of the original hobo songs that came before. Instead of an airport, they hung around railroad yards, looking for a chance to hop a freight to anywhere but here. Here’s 1928 example by Sam McGee called “Railroad Blues”, and a much newer song by Keb Mo called “Standin’ at the Station”.”

From Wikipedia: Link: Early Morning Rain

“Early Morning Rain”, sometimes styled as “Early Mornin’ Rain”, is a song written, composed, and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The song appears on his 1966 debut album Lightfoot! and, in a re-recorded version, on the 1975 compilation Gord’s Gold.”

From Wikipedia, “Lightfoot!” Album Link: Lightfoot!

“Lightfoot! is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Although it was recorded in December 1964, the album was not released until January 1966 on the United Artists label.”

Ed: The Wikipedia fragment above is from the Wikipedia page for the song by Gordon Lightfoot. As the Wikipedia article elaborates, the song was covered by numerous artists, including:

Ian & Sylvia, Peter Paul and Mary, George Hamilton IV, Oliver, Paul Weller, Elvis Presley (Ed:!), Bob Dylan, and “The Warlocks” (the precursor to the Grateful Dead - Ed: Yikes!!!)

From Wikipedia: Link: Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, he had numerous gold and platinum albums, and his songs have been covered by many of the world's most renowned musical artists.

*Editors note: I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Lightfoot in concert. To paraphrase Mr. Don McLean, that was: “A long, long time ago”…

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Some Stuff:

Ed: Named the cat: “Kage” - pronounced sorta“Ka ghe” - means “shadow” in Japanese, so full name Kageneko - Shadow Cat. Which she certainly is - she’s very quiet, stays hidden unless there are treats at stake and sort of just appears out of the darkness. She and Mika play-fight a lot - growling, hissing, chasing - but no bloodletting. Pretty entertaining at times…annoying at other times….

…

A Song To Play:

From Chordify Link:

From Genius Link: Early Morning Rain

Ed. No chorus, no bridge, no frickin’ rules - Mr. Lightfoot did things his way - outstanding!

[Verse 1]
In the early morning rain
With a dollar in my hand
With an aching in my heart
And my pockets full of sand
I'm a long way from home
Lord, I miss my loved ones so
In the early morning rain
With no place to go

[Verse 2]
Out on runway number nine
Big 707's set to go
And I'm stuck here in the grass
With a pain that ever grows
Now the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
Well, there she goes, my friend
She'll be rolling down at last

[Verse 3]
Hear the mighty engines roar
See the silver wing on high
She's away and westward bound
Far above the clouds she'll fly
Where the morning rain don't fall
And the sun always shines
She'll be flying o'er my home
In about three hours time

[Verse 4]
This old airport’s got me down
It’s no earthly good to me
And I’m stuck here on the ground
As cold and drunk as I can be
You can’t jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I’d best be on my way
In the early morning rain
You can’t jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I’d best be on my way
In the early morning rain

The “ME!” Section…..

This week’s Spotify playlist -

Have fun - you know who to blame…

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This Week’s Conversation With Mikeneko and Kageneko:

Me: “Who’s winning…?”

……silence……

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:02:12 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

First, as we (usually) always do around this time of year, we remember February 3rd, 1959 as “The Day The Music Died”. Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson), and pilot Roger Peterson died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa shortly after takeoff, bound for Fargo, North Dakota. From Fargo, they had a gig scheduled in nearby Moorhead, Minnesota where the rest of the performers were to join them.

Link (Wikipedia): The Day The Music Died

Last week’s rando lyric: “Thought I heard you talking softly” is from the song “Ordinary World” written and performed by Duran Duran (John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon & Warren Cuccurullo). It was Track 2 on Side 1 of the self titled album “Duran Duran” which became known as “The Wedding Album”. The album was released in December of 1992 on the Parlophone record label (Ed. Click on the Parlophone link for an interesting history of the brand).

From Genius:

“Ordinary World” is the second track off of Duran Duran’s 1993 self titled album, known as “The Wedding Album.“ It was a big comeback single for the band, and is one of the two singles that made Duran Duran relevant again; Simon LeBon says he was inspired to write it after not being recognized in the supermarket after a long period of sustained fame, hence being once again part of an "ordinary world.” Link: Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)

Produced by Duran Duran & John Jones.

YouTube link: Ordinary World

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Some Stuff:

A Song To Play:

From Chordify Link: Ordinary World

4/4 Common time, Key of EMaj (note the D, played as a DMajor chord, and the D#7 chord as well, are non-diatonic to the Key of EMajor - the diatonic chord would be a D#diminished - which would sound distinctly non melodic - it’s not illegal, just different…), at a sprightly 143 BPM. Coupled with interesting lyrics, it was a great song for this popular period of MTV (you know, when they still played music….), with emotionally interesting lyrics, more or less in the “lost love” genre, but maybe a sorta oblique reference to lost star power in a decidedly fast moving pop music era.

Or not, it’s not like I know….

From Genius Link: Ordinary World

[Verse 1]
Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV, and the radio
Still, I can't escape the ghost of you

[Pre-Chorus]
What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is the life that I recognize?
(Gone away)

[Chorus]
But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world
Somehow, I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

[Verse 2]
Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well, now, pride's gone out the window, 'cross the rooftops, run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart

[Pre-Chorus]
What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
(Gone away)

[Chorus]
But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world
Somehow, I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

[Guitar Solo]
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, Ah-uh-huh
Ayy, ay-ay, ay-ay, uh-uh-uh, huh

[Verse 3]
Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
Fear today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here beside the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk

[Guitar Solo]
(Just blown away)

[Chorus]
And I don't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world
Somehow, I have to find
And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

[Outro]
Every world is my world (I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world (I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world
Every world is my world
Every world...

The “ME!” Section

A playlist of (more or less) rando songs that I like (or in this case liked back in those first years of MTV)…

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This Week’s Conversation With Mika, The Cat and The Other Cat

(I was kinda thinking of Mayonaka, meaning “middle of the night” or “midnight”, but if I shortened it to Mayo it would remind me of a Richard Gere movie, so….)

Mika: “Yeah - call her Mayonnaise just like Lou Gossett, Jr did in that movie…”

The Other Cat: “Rename Mika ‘Spiteful Bitch’, please… “

Me: “Both of you shut up…”

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

The Regular Friday Post

Michael — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 12:02:55 GMT

Welcome to The Regular Friday post!

Okay! Another week in January behind us! Here in the upper left corner this hasn’t been a terribly difficult winter (so far…), but our hearts go out to our friends in those parts of the country where severe weather has been a burden with unfortunately more to come. Stay safe!!

Last week’s rando lyric: The lyric, “I never could see past yesterday” is from the song “Not Alone Anymore”, written and performed by The Traveling Wilburys. (Ed. You are forgiven if you perhaps thought the song was the Jelly Roll/Skylar Grey song “Past Yesterday”) Not Alone Anymore was Track 5 on Side 1 of the album The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. and was released in October of 1988 on the Warner Brothers records label.

From Genius: Not Alone Anymore” by Traveling Wilburys was written by Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan & Roy Orbison. (Ed. Yep, all the Wilbury’s collaborated apparently…Lotta talent there…)

Produced by George Harrison and Jeff Lynne

From Wikipedia: Link: The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

“The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is the debut studio album by the English-American supergroup Traveling Wilburys, comprising George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. It was released in October 1988 to commercial success and critical acclaim.^[3] Although Harrison had long planned to start such a band, the project came about through happenstance. Harrison was in Los Angeles and in need of a B-side for a single from his album Cloud Nine, which resulted in the participants collaborating informally on the song "Handle with Care" at Dylan's home.”

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Some Stuff:

Cat names: Not quite there yet, but I’m leaning toward (Thank you to “M”…) some version of Mayonaka no neko which means “midnight cat” in Japanese according to the website “Word Hippo”, though that may be a rough translation. Dunno. I like the idea of midnight for her. Maybe “Mayonaka-go” meaning “After Midnight” - sort of an homage to JJ Cale (yes, Clapton made it famous, but JJ Cale wrote it…). We’ll see. She’s slowly getting used to things around here, even playing with Mika a bit….

Check out the HubPages website for lots of cool stuff…

Made me laugh…

A Song To Play:

From Chordify Link: Not Alone Anymore

From Genius Link: Not Alone Anymore

[Verse 1: Roy Orbison]
You always said that I'd be back again
That I'd come running to you in the end
I thought that you were on your own
And now I find you're not alone

[Chorus]
(Not alone) I'll see you through the rain
(Not alone) Through the heartache and pain
(Not alone) It hurts like never before
You're not alone anymore

[Verse 2: Roy Orbison]
You always said that I would know someday
Just how it feels when your love walks away
I let you down, I let you go
I lost you how was I to know?

[Chorus]
(Not alone) I'll see you through the rain
(Not alone) Through the heartache and pain
(Not alone) It hurts like never before
You're not alone anymore

[Verse 3: Roy Orbison]
I never knew I could feel this way
I never could see past yesterday
You feel that everything is gone
I feel it too, you’re not alone

[Chorus]
(Not alone) I’ll see you through the rain
(Not alone) Every heartache and pain
(Not alone) It hurts like never before

[Outro]
You’re not alone, you’re not alone
You’re not alone anymore
Anymore
Anymore

The “ME!” Section…..

This week’s Spotify playlist - MishMash I Was Makin' A Splash

Have fun - it’s all over the place…

My song is out- Link: “>Long Road Back<”click on this link for streaming options, then scroll down for links (or just click on these links) to Amazon, Apple, Pandora, iTunes and even Spotify

If you’re enjoying our content, please let your friends and musician acquaintances know about us!!! Thanks for supporting this free newsletter!

Disclaimer Section

-Michael Acoustic

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support this newsletter.

Thank You To Our New Subscribers and Followers!!

This Week’s Conversation With Mika, and The Other Cat:

Ed. There are actually 2 cats in this picture, one is hidden, tho…..

Me: “Let her out….”

Mika: “She’s fine….”

Other Cat: “I’m not fine!!”

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”

Thank you for reading Michael Acoustic. This post is public so feel free to share it.

An Iridescent Michael Acoustic "Links" Post!

Michael — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 12:02:19 GMT

Today, I’m proud to present a scurry of links to articles and posts that I’ve received from various folks and publications I follow that may be valuable to my readers. Also, some of these links may be repeats…..sorry, but* not really that sorry….

*A group of squirrels is a scurry…

A compendium of names for groups of animals (or links…):

From The Editor:

Once again - To the brainiacs at Apple: Thanks for making simple tasks that I’ve been doing all by myself for years, completely stupid because you thought you were “helping” me by making dipshit changes to stuff that was easy before you changed it to completely stupid. That should be your new catch phrase:

“Apple…Now With Enough Extra Stupid To Be Completely Stupid!”

Dumbasses….

Thus endeth the rant…sarcasm off….

Some Links To Click On:

From Acoustic Guitar Magazine:

A Vintage Saga - this is sooo cool!

Identifying Different Acoustic Guitar Shapes - Don’t try this with electric guitars. You’ve been warned…

From Carvin Audio:

Pedals - Using them for stuff they weren’t meant for, but it works anyway…

Succeed In A Small Venue - If you dare!

From Mastering The Mix

Is Your Mix Really That Bad? - It might be…or maybe not…

From American Songwriter Magazine

Did They Really Mean That? - 3 songs that maybe didn’t mean that. Or did…whatever.

From CD Baby

What To Do On Release Day - No, getting drunk and starting bar fights isn’t listed here. Who knew? Anyway, I checked for you…

Tips To Succeed - And who doesn’t need those…?

From Speed Songwriting

Frustrated and angry? - Who cares? Apple doesn’t, but I do, and your friends at Speed Songwriting have some answers for you….

Thank You To All Of Our Subscribers and Followers!!

A Brief Conversation With Mika, The Cat and The Other Cat:

Mika: “Yeah, fetching my slippers was a task for today, new cat…..”

Other Cat: “You don’t even have slippers…”

Mika: “You won’t know until you start looking, will you, cat with no name yet?”

Other Cat: “Your name is bossy bitch…”

Brief cat fight sounds, snarling and hissing….but neither is ever injured…at least 10 times a day….

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic

“It’s never really final - you just run out of things you can bear to change…”