From The Graveyards Of My Mind

From the Graveyards of my Mind...

Sixteen tons.... (8-22-2014 newsletter)

Sixteen tons and what do you get............ I remember listening to Tennessee Ernie Ford and singing Sixteen Tons in my parents' car on long trips....that song has always stuck with me....great song.....i even tried it .....in Germany i think.....or maybe it was here....can't quite remember. At any rate......Hope all is well with everybody.

Watched the Showtime INXS story and with Robin Williams and watching the story and tragic end to Michael Hutchence has me thinking about suicide a lot lately. There was…Read more

It's like your own reality show.... (7-26-14 newsletter)

Wishing that everybody is having a good summer- I know that there must be some of you out there struggling and I want you to know that you are not alone- not now, not ever- with the advent of Facebook and Twitter we present these idealized lives of how we want people to think we live- always smiling, witty, looking good-
It's like your own reality show where you do your own editing-
You leave out the bad stuff-
No one posts pictures of themselves crying-
Or scared
Or lonely
Or desperate
Or depressed
Or hopeless
…Read more

Hello...Storytellers, Southeast, Summer (6-24-2014 newsletter)

Friends, Nobles, Countrymen:

I bid you all hello. I hope your summer is off to a good start. I am here to bring you good news, good tidings, and good wishes.

'Twas fun to get the Duke Street Kings back together for Naper Nights. Such a treat. Here's a video from the show: http://youtu.be/0lYcqs8toR0

Passed the 5 month mark of being clean and sober, and I'm getting my footing more and more each day. On and off stage.

The Los Angeles show was a hoot, so great to see so many of you there. Felt like I knew…Read more

9-13-2013 Newsletter

Greetings and salutations!

As we stand on the precipice of another conflict (aka War) I wish you and your loved ones peace.

Two million people (one million children) are amassed at the border of Lebanon and Syria, without clean water or much food to speak of. A river of waste runs through the site, death is looming, hungry, desperate eyes of children stare out of cavernous skulls. Let's not forget, we are all in this together.

Peace be with you.

I read a quote on Facebook the other day from Pablo…

Midwestern Mornings Outside of Babylon

IN THE HEART of another drought filled midwestern summer, being committed to the house i thought i'd drop a line.

There has been an air of confusion it seems,.....around everything, maybe its the heat, the haze, the malaise of apartment bound days that seem to string together.

Maybe its yet another stage of grief. I read the other day there are 5........i think i'm hitting number four right about now with a bullet.......pun intended.

Plans for the rest of the year are shapping up nicely......3 weeks in Texas…Read more

easterly winds

Hey Everybody,

First off, wanted to thank all of you on the east for making this past 3 day run so great......it was our first run without Willie so it was a little weird, but i gotta say it was drastically easier. Word out from the East is that there is going to be extensive touring from September through the end of the year. So all of you who have written that i never make it to your town, i certainly hope to see you cuz i'm coming !!!! Sept 25th is official release date and i think i'm in Austin that…Read more

murder most foul

did you know there is no explanation for why a bumble bee can fly........the wingspan, the size of it......no one can explain why it has lift and can sustain flight......the theory is.......why can a bumble bee fly? Cuz it thinks it can.......

Its a beautiful thursday morning in Chicago,.....Cubs have lost 9 in a row,.....i slept well,for the first time in 3 nights, all is right with the world.

There's a been a good bit of activity with the album. Conference calls with the label and what seems to be an…

Murph, ...Get Up Murph !

Headed down to Nashville a couple weeks ago to play with some legends in the songwriting world. It was for a thing called Tin Pan South. I was scheduled to play with Larry Weiss, Peter Yarrow and Roger Cook. These guys had written some classic songs, Rhinestone Cowboy, Puff The Magic Dragon, I'd Like to Teach The World To Sing,....not to mention others that you would most certainly know. Was a great time...Peter Yarrow went first , then i went second and belted out my only pseudo hit " A Wall I Must Climb"…Read more

Spring Has Sprung

My sincere apologies that it has been this long. Everytime i write a blog, i'm always happy that i did and promise to do it more often. Kind of like therapy, but then months go by and i never do. I would always dread going to therapy, thinking of every excuse in the book to cancel or reschedule the appointment, but my fear of disappointing people would always outweigh my fear or dread of going and i'd end up going and be glad i did. Mind you, i haven't been to therapy in years.

I've stopped reading the…Read more

The Dream Of The Pink Rabbit

I play with my daughter and i think about ways to spark her synapsis.......so i take her pink rabbit and i pretend its alive.......staving off the idea that its an inantimate object......before she becomes disillusioned to realize the dream before her is an illusion.......i started thinking just today that my life is much like this exercise i do with my daughter,......my life is an illusion......i have kept myself at bay from my real dream,.....which to this day i'm not even sure what it is........i know…Read more

Old Journals

Found an old Diary that i hadn't made a post in since Dec 11th 2001. So i dont' feel so bad that i haven't blogged in a while. The old Journal had some great stuff in it as well as some pretty ugly stuff in it. It started with me going to Warner Bros in LA and playing for their entire building, had the release of Surf and Gethsemane come and go, all the while my worrying of what would ever become of my career. 20 Years later and i'm still wondering the same thing. As the old adage goes " the more things…Read more

The Angels

LA gets a bad rap. I like it there. I stay with my friend who used to work for my first manager back in 1990. She's great and takes great measures into assuring my comfort.! Getting out of Chicago the day before the 3rd largest blizzard in history was nice as well. Getting to LA and it was 70 and sunny, got upgraded in the rent a car by Enterprise Leasing......for free which was nice ( the reason is they saw our luggage and baby and said we wouldn't even fit into the car i had reserved) First night was…Read more

New Year indeed

Happy New Year everybody.......and welcome to what could turn out to be a most exciting new year. It certainly is starting off that way. I'll start with a bit of sad news but mananger Matt Suhar and i have parted ways after a good 4 year run. It was just time for both of us to try something different. As sad as that is i'm very excited about how this year has started. As most of you probably know by now we have launched a coffee line " Michael McDermott Legendary Coffee" We have our first signature blend…Read more

UK and JFK

Hey Everybody......
Just checking in......Willie just turned 9 weeks old and we are still doing our best to get some sleep. Getting about 6 hours a day but its broken up into series of two hours at a time it seems. I went to England a few weeks back thinking that i would actually catch up on my sleep but it was not to be. Greenbelt was great.....my first show at the Performance Cafe was packed.....heard something around 700 people. Was a short set./....40 mins....and was a very hurried soundcheck but the…Read more

17 days

Comrade's ,
I come to you with news of great joy......today in the city of David, a saviour was born unto us.........wait a minute, wait a minute......sorry that's from the bible......
So Rain, is just 17 days old and i'm happy to say its been smoother than i expected. ( sound of me knocking on wood 3 times) Despite interrupted sleep, she's been a real dream.....not much fussing.....no crying at all.....a couple squeaks......a great many diaper changes.....a couple smiles just to keep us…Read more

Somewhere On The Road To Waterford

author : Lance Northcutt

NOVEMBER 18, 2005 -- SOMEWHERE ON THE ROAD TO WATERFORD

I am driving. He is praying.

It’s the second day after our arrival, having spent the first night in a busy Dublin, and Michael has found religion anew. We make our way to the car hire and take out a small blue Micra that by the looks of it has absolutely no chance of fitting the two of us and our gear. With suitcases, CD boxes, guitars and drums packed to the ceiling of the back seat, I inch my way onto the…

Dreaming of Pharoh's Horses

Hey Everybody,

Well it appears that spring has sprung. This feels like the first week off i've had in quite some time. It worked out well because while playing basketball ten days ago....i came down on my nephew's foot and completely rolled my foot and on account of that have a grade 3 sprain which has left me fairly disabled. Just been starting to get into a good writing groove again so keep an eye out for some new new songs on Monday Morning Madness in the weeks to come. I'd like to thank all of those…Read more

Polly Wanna Cracker

Hey Y'all,
Getting ready, and weather permitting, to do a few shows with Cracker in DC, and OH.....they are expecting another 10 inches after getting dumped on for 32 inches last week. Should be fun, and even more fun is doing the east coast starting next week, Boston,NJ,NY,NYC and Philly. We are also going to be shooting a video for " Carry Your Cross " with Brian Fitzpatrick. He's currently shooting a lot of it now, to make my job very easy,( which i love).

5 Years of Monday Morning Madness. Amazing.…Read more

Keep On Keepin On

Hey Everybody,
Happy New Year to everybody. 2009 was actually pretty good. I can't believe i'm writing that. I've become so accustom to saying..." Maybe next year will be the year " it comes from a long history of being a Chicago Cubs fan. Slaid Cleeves says it best when he sings " Just give me one good year, to get my feet back on the ground. I've been chasin' grace, but grace aint' so easily found " Well put Slaid.
Things are getting pretty busy around here. Been writing like a feind. Recording a bunch…

Last Night In Nashville, For now.....

Packing my bags and bidding farewell to Music City, but this boy is Chicago through and through, i bleed Cubbie blue, i'm from the 312-
Had a good time down here, just never felt like home to me. Heading to Louisville tomorrow to do a radio appearance on WFPK 91.9 at 3:20 EDT my second such visit to that great station. Then home for the holidays. We got a bunch of new stuff up on the website that i hope you will find interesting.....got a new collection of previously unreleased live stuff, and the "…Read more

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