My latest composition is called “I Think I’ll Buy Some Land in Colorado.”

I kind of like the way the guitar came out on this. Nice tone, I think. I recorded it by using both a sound-hole pickup and a mic. I’ve found the pickup by itself tends to be a little tinny. This helped me grab the bass a little better.

The initial inspiration for the lyric came from the fact that at one time I was in line to inherit some family land near Walsenberg, Colorado. It doesn’t have much going for it, as waterless, flat land goes, but I figure if I ever became so broke and unemployed, I could at least move a trailer there and have some place to stay. The land was sold recently, but listening to a Jerry Jeff Walker song the other day made me think of it, and the chorus pretty much burst full bloom into my mind. The verses were a little harder to come by.

You can decide for yourself if the song is really about Colorado or Los Angeles.

Recording it was difficult because I wanted to stay in time as well as possible (playing with a click track is a new experience for me) and since the finger picking pattern is not straight eighths or anything like that, it was easy for me to lose my place, and because there’s so many open strings ringing throughout, recording it in sections was out. It had to be one take or not at all. A couple of times you’ll hear where I wait just a smidgen for the first beat to come around, but mostly I think I stay in time.

Those who have listened to my previous songs will know that I’ve been doing most of my singing in a lower register. Initially, I recorded this vocal singing low, but I found it hard to stay in tune (some would argue on hearing this version, I still have a bit of trouble), so I redid the vocal today to sing in a what I would call a more natural style.

Again, here’s the song. Give it a listen, and critique the writing, not the performance, please.