Music
I’ve been an avid folk and blues guitarist since my uncle showed me the basics when I was a teenager. This collection samples some of the songs and tunes I wrote along the way.
Laura B
The isles of repose that dot our hectic lives beckon us.
When We Meet Again
A lamentation for a painful breakup with the hope, perhaps illusory, of reuniting someday.
The Rock
The loss of my steadfast father left me shaken, but drawing on his strength, undaunted.
Jenny’s Song
I channeled these words from our daughter the night she was born, or so it felt.
Maggie
A toddler on a trip to LA longs for her beloved dog who awaits her return to New York City.
Master of the Holy Blues
A paean to virtuoso guitarist Reverend Gary Davis, whose inventive licks and soulful songs have been a lifelong inspiration.
Heroes
Exemplars like my namesake, Paul Robeson, once expressed our collective hope for a better future. When will we see their ilk again?
The Guru
The 1970s anti-war leader Rennie Davis inspired this parody when he abandoned the movement to become a devotee of 15-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji.
Saint Joan
The helpless anguish of losing someone you love to zealotry.
Fortune Lost
A young wanderer hears life-changing advice from a remorseful elder vagabond.
Poet of the Storm
Phil Ochs was as troubled as the times he lived in, yet his songs soared on a whirlwind of social change.
Chincoteague
These memories of a shared adventure came galloping back like wild ponies on a sandy beach.
Traveling Lady
The lady is an angelic singer, a barrel of laughs, and a restless seeker of transcendence.
Summer Farewell
A song about that wistful time of year when the season shifts, friends move on, and uncertainty looms.
Falling Gull
I swam out from Boston’s rocky North Shore to rescue a seagull caught in a metal mesh, brought him in and tried to free him, but it was hopeless. So I towed him back out to sea to die in peace.
No Greater Love
Tragically, the daughter of a friend was born blind and nearly deaf. Yet, thanks to her plucky spirit and her mother’s devotion she became a fine jazz pianist.
World Goes Round
A children’s song for living in an intertwined world.
The Gift (Dick’s Song)
A Nepali farmer pays tribute to the optometrist who came from afar to bestow the gift of sight.
Oldest Friend
A valentine to my wonderful sister, a sparkling dynamo who cared and remembered.
Menshevik Rag
One summer long ago, a group of NYC radicals shared a decrepit Russian hunting lodge in the Catskills called the Tsarina, where a doctrinaire housemate snarled “Menshivik!” at me during a political debate, prompting this tune.
Sailor’s Dilemma
At an uncertain moment in my life, it felt like I was sailing against turbulent headwinds, unsure of how to proceed.