Tropical Troubadour by Loren Davidson

The songs chronicle moments in my life, some of the places and people I’ve known, but more importantly, the songs on this CD are about learning how to see the world from a “paradise state of mind” – finding the joy, the humor, and the insights in daily life, because when you learn to laugh at the world, it can’t really hurt you or stress you out.

About the songs:

Key West Habit:

A few years ago, my head full of Jimmy Buffett songs, I decided to visit Key West and see what all the buzz was about. Just getting there required that I overcome some of the “I can’t” tapes I had about taking long trips to places I’d never been before. And while Key West isn’t quite the mythical Paradise, I was rewarded for my efforts by one of the most wonderful weeks of my life, and I didn’t really want to leave.

I arrived home in Oakland on a grey, cold, drizzly day in early November, and immediately wanted to get right back on the plane. I go back about once a year, when the withdrawal symptoms get to me.

Can I Give it Up Yet:

I don’t know many people who haven’t at least fantasized once about telling their boss to take a hike. I don’t know anyone who keeps pictures of their cubicle on the desk at home. While my current day gig is pretty decent, I’ve had my share of crummy hours, insufficient pay, abusive and dysfunctional bosses, and insane commutes. This song is dedicated to every last blessed one of them.

Little Parasol:

At one of my first solo shows, one of my friends brought a box of little tropical drink parasols, which we used to decorate our drinks. The sight of one of these in a pint glass of beer was so incongruous that I had to write a song and come up with a story around it. To me, it’s about the little ways in which we sometimes rebel against life and circumstance – maybe you can’t move out of your cold, dismal climate today, but you can *always* stick a little parasol in your beer.

Hopeful Romantic:

I got the title from Romancing the Stone. I believe that our dreams and our hopes are what define us as human, and while “happily ever after” has been way oversimplified in our culture, it remains something worth pursuing. Even, or perhaps especially, in those times when nobody’s returning your calls or emails, your blind dates are disasters on the same scale as Three Mile Island, and you check the want ads for openings in the Foreign Legion. I like to believe that no matter what’s going wrong now, it may eventually all work out.

Angel in the Morning:

Romantic dinners and love notes are beautiful things. But so are the moments when you look into each other’s eyes, see the spark, and call in sick so you can spend the whole day in bed acting very healthy indeed. This song was inspired by all of the devilish angels that it’s been my privilege to know.

Wednesday Night Regatta:

My first sailing experiences were in something called the "Wet Wednesday Races," out of Channel Islands Harbor in southern California. These were basically an excuse to get people into their boats, and a few beers into them, in the middle of the week. This song captures the spirit of those races in a very upbeat, nautical, Celtic dance music sort of way.

White Trash Opera:

A couple of years back, I heard on the news that someone had made an opera out of the Jerry Springer show. No kidding! After thinking about it for a while, I came up with this song, drawing way too heavily from American pop TV culture.

Jolly Mon Sing:

This has always been one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett songs. It’s about a musician, and it involves magic and mythology in a very special sort of way.

Two-Hour Boyfriend:

This is another of those true stories. I was out at a local bar one night, out on the dance floor feeling friendly. I said hello to this one woman dancing near me, and she threw her arms around me and leaned into me in the amiable yet unsteady manner of someone under the influence of too many Tequila Fanny Bangers. I introduced myself, she introduced herself, and then she indicated this young man standing nearby, introducing him as her “new boyfriend.” “New boyfriend?” I replied. “How long have you known each other?” “Two hours.” ‘Nuff said. I wrote the first draft on my way home that night.

Sunsets on the Road:

Who doesn’t love watching a beautiful sunset? Once upon a time, I lived with someone, and we spent a lot of time out driving together. Quite often, this was happening around the end of the day, and we joked about how many sunsets we had watched from the road. Well, relationships sometimes end when you least expect it, and while the healing took a while, it was definitely helped by having those sunsets there to inspire and cleanse me.

Here are some of the more technical details about the album, for the curious:

Recorded at the world-famous Parlor Studio in Nashville TN and at David Freiberg's Freemountain Studio in Novato, CA, this CD takes Loren's music to a new level.

Produced by Grammy nominee Roberta Donnay, _Tropical Troubadour_ features such talented musicians as Robin Ruddy (Ray Stevens, Shania Twain, Terri Clark) on acoustic guitar, mandolin, and banjo, Kent Wells (Dolly Parton) on lead guitar, Barry Walsh on keyboards, and Jeff Cox (Billy Ray Cyrus) on bass.

Loren has appeared at numerous northern California venues including the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, Espresso Garden in San Jose, the San Mateo County Fair, Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, and songwriter showcases in San Francisco and Sacramento. He has also performed in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Key West.

Loren currently lives, works, and plays in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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