See the video here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFQBfI4ZPEk
Ehresman tells us: "Since I moved to San MIguel de Allende, I've been hearing some of my fellow ex-pat musicians here in town performing a wide variety of John Prine songs......I had not been that familiar with Prine's catalogue, but I've really now been struck by all the sensitive, insightful vignettes about forgotten older people.....I really haven't done of a lot of 'character study' songwriting in the past, but always wanted to get further into it......And so, with all those thoughts in my head, I dreamed this song."
"And, it being...well, 'me'...I tied in the backstory of the song's titular character, Charlie, to the ever-downward spiraling right wing nightmare in the US these days.......As soon as I'd written the song, I knew I wanted to do two versions of it, with the second one featuring local singer-songwriter John Jessup's expressive baritone vocals and his Prine-like acoustic fingerpicked guitar.......Luckily, he was excited about the idea, and now you have the final results."
The album contains two different treatments of the song (which was the first written for this album).
The first version features Ehresman on lead vocals, flatpicked acoustic guitar, keyboards and synth bass (stand-up bass patch), and electric guitar, with John Jessup singing background vocals and playing fingerpicked acoustic guitar.
The second version (included as a bonus track here) features Jessup on lead and background vocals, and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, with Ehresman backing on keyboard (bowed arco bass) as well as 6-string banjo and acoustic mandolin.
Both versions ache with a wistful melancholy that really reflects the song's lyrics, and shine with an understated, timeless poignancy. This one stands right up there with Prine's "Sam Stone" in terms of drawing tears from the listener. Just gut-wrenching.
from
Cassandra, Cursed,
released October 17, 2023
Walter Ehresman: lead vocals; flatpicked acoustic guitar; keyboards & synth bass (stand-up bass); electric guitar. Special Guest--John Jessup: background vocals; fingerpicked acoustic guitar.
Produced & engineered by Walter Ehresman at Snipe Bog Studios, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
p. 2023 Walter Ehresman. All rights reserved. Snipe Bog Records.