Boondock Blues by Shawn Mercer

I could create guitar parts that I liked and lyrics that were OK, but the melodies were always terrible. I was still learning a lot, and having fun though.

I had my first performance experience after I had been playing for about three years. I played at an open mic in Bar Harbor with a friend I worked with there. We played and sang ‘Plush’ by the Stone Temple Pilots and ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd. It was probably awful to listen to, but folks applauded and I loved it. After that night I continued to look for chances to play open mics. Some were better than others, but they were all fun.

Over the years I developed enough of a song list to start playing out in the local pubs. I played covers of Alice in Chains, Radio Head, Mad Season, Blind Melon, and many others. I added a few originals that weren’t completely awful. I even played in a heavy metal band during one spring semester at the University of Maine. My vocal work improved, but I was still not happy with the songs I was writing.

After I had been playing for over ten years I finally had a breakthrough. I had several life changing events happen all within a relatively short time. I got a divorce, I saw Greg Brown perform, and I met my second wife, and I had my first child. Suddenly, through the emotional turmoil, the stress, the joy, the excitement, and after discovering music that was simple truth and story telling in Greg Brown, I started writing songs I was proud of.

These songs were simpler, and more honest. These songs were true to what I knew from my life experiences. Within a year I penned over a dozen songs. Some were all new, where others were created using guitar parts I had never been able to do anything with. I kept writing, and I started playing them more at gigs.

About this same time I teamed up with a harmonica player named Bruce McKeen. We formed a duo called Jeezum Crowe. We played mostly my original work with a few classic blues and folk tunes thrown in. We had a lot of fun, and we played some very respectable venues in our area. But after about two years we went our separate ways.

Last winter (’05-’06) I finally reached the point where, thanks to support from my wife Molly, I could afford to record my first album. I called on Justin Ward. He is a good friend, and an excellent percussionist. Justin has jammed with Ray LaMontagne, and he recorded for Red Kite Records with Kreg Viesselman. Justin brought in his friend Steve Pullan. Steve plays banjo, mandolin, slide guitar, harmonica, jaw harp, and even a little fiddle. We got together for three days in December at Studio E Z in Freedom, Maine. Ezra Rugg did the recording, added the bass, then mixed, and mastered the CD. I had it duplicated at Five Masks Multimedia in Portland. Now it’s finally here and ready for sale. Please let me know what you think of it.

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