20 YEARS SINCE THE BERLIN WALL FELL AND I, TOO, AM A JELLY DOUGHNUT!

Today, marks 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell and it seems like yesterday.

I had been in Berlin a short time before that, busking around Europe, and marveled at how it was the only modern, walled city on Earth. I visited both the East and the West and was shocked, like countless others before me, at the stark differences between the two.

Several months after that, I met a couple named Rolf and Beate Sieker. They came over to Nashville and we made a bluegrass album together featuring our own original material and dobro wizard, Jerry Douglas, and we planned for me to come over weeks later to start playing some shows and touring Europe.

Between the time we finished the record and my arrival in Berlin, The Wall had fallen. November 9, 1989

After flying over there and settling in, I began to explore the city and found it already to be quite different. West Berlin was no longer an island. Scores of eastern immigrants and entrepeneurs had set up kiosks and were selling everything from ghetto blasters to West German Marks on the streets. The wall was coming down piece by piece as enterprising Turks were chiseling it down to small boulders, spray painting them and selling them to tourists as historical souvenirs. (I, myself, bought a hammer and chisel and sent home a bunch of the concrete chucks to friends and family and a large piece still rests on the bookshelf in my living room.)

Everyone loved everyone in those first brief months before the honeymoon had to come to an end. I met lots of Easterners including an American who had met a young East German and married her in 1961, taking up permanent residence in East Berlin and raising their daughter there. They were thrilled to have contact with westerners but were unsure about their future and what the new government and reunification would bring. (And, I must add, it was not entirely smooth sailing for them in the years that followed.)

But, I really had the time of my life and knew that history was being made and I, in my miniscule way, was getting to participate in it.

In a couple of months I will be returning to Berlin, after a 20 year absence, and I don't really know what to expect. I've seen photos of the glimmering new buildings which stand where the old wall once stood. I hear tales of the art scene and the culinary scene. I imagine what it's like and the changes that have occurred.

But today I marvel at the miracle that spontaneously happened two decades ago today and am reminded that people can do the right thing, go against the odds and bring real revolution not to mame or kill or seek power but to spread freedom and live their lives the way that they choose.

Even though John F. Kennedy's poorly translated cry to the Berliners, "Ich Benn Ein Berliner!", (which he thought meant "I am a Berliner," and actually means, "I am a jelly doughnut,") thundered through the assembled German crowd almost a half century ago, we can rally with JFK's sentiments and raise our glasses and our hearts to the fine, proud citizens of that capital and rejoice for what happened on that November night 20 years ago.

Today, in my heart, I am a Berliner!

But tomorrow I may be a jelly doughnut.

Auf wiedersehn!!!

Jefferson

WSM LAUNCHES FIRST NEW LIVE RADIO SHOW IN DECADES AND I WAS THERE TO COVER IT.

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I WAS ASKED TO WRITE A BIO FOR EACH SONG ON "AZALEA". HERE GOES!!!!

1. HORNET HAWKINS- This is the story of my grandfather, who was a moonshiner/bootlegger in Georgia in the depression and early years of World War II. One night when the Treasury Agent got too close to his still, he picked up a 50 pound bag of black market sugar, because he could not afford for it to be confiscated, hoisted it on his shoulder and out ran the law man on foot. He later ran more legitimate enterprises and died a wealthy man in 2000. No, his name was not really Hornet Hawkins. Names were changed to protect the guilty.

2. CHANGE- This was a song written with Boston native, Stan Swiniarski. The first time we got together to write we decided to just write a list of "There's a reason why...such and such happens". "There's a reason why this happens." "There's a reason why that happens. etc., etc." We didn't know what the song was about; we just had this list. The next time we got together we realized that list was all about change and how it is the primary force that drives us to do good things and bad things in our lives. The escape from inertia and boredom propels us in all kinds of directions.

3. I WAS HERE- This is a personal song and one that I didn't think would ever see the light of day but people seem to like it. I've been coming to Europe for over 25 years now and when I'd be walking the streets of Paris or London, this melody would go through me head, over and over, each time. It's the verse melody. When I was putting the songs together for the AZALEA album, I decided that it was finally time to use that melody that had been in my head for so long, and since I had so many sense memories that went along with it, I decided to make it a personal song about my travels and friends, etc. I wanted it to sound like neo-Don Williams. I think that it does, sort of.

4. THE PROPHET ELIJAH- When I was a child my grandmother had sister who lived 30 miles away and we would visit her from time to time. About halfway there, there stood an old shack on the side of the road and there sat an old African-American man who would tip his hat to every single car that would roll by. I often wondered who he was. 20 years later, I was writing with a co-writer and she said that she had had the same experience. So, in light of growing up during the Civil Rights Movement in the South in the '60s, this was just a take on who we thought that this man could be....who we hoped that he would be anyway.

5. AZALEA- My father died when I was two and I always had these fantasies about him coming back to look in us so this song is love song told from the point of view of a ghost who still love this woman named Azalea. He just looks in on her and assures her in some way that they'll be together some day. Also, I wanted the song to be lush with southern imagery. I'm a sucker for southern imagery. I chose the name Azalea but it is a very southern plant. My father's sister's name is actually Azalean and that is about as dixie fried as you can get.

6. FLIPPIN' THAT HOG- My grandfather used to love to have pig roasts and the best pig roaster in the county was an old man named Tinch Tutt. His mother had been a slave. He reached 103 years old and outlived 4 wives. The hog would show up at the house, very much alive and sassy, and then Tinch would go to work, if you know what I mean. We'd sit up all night long with him, helping him shovel hot coals and listening to his stories. He'd read our fortunes in the palms of our hands. By morning, the hog was cooked and ready for when the guests arrived after church to eat. This is my ode to him.

7. STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA- I got this idea washing dishes. It's about if you could stack up all of the regrets and hurtful that you've done in your life, then it could look like a mountain and every one could see what a selfish jerk you've been. It's a lament...an 'I'm sorry' letter to the one you love. George Strait came really close to recording this song this year.

8. HARD TO BE SO EASY- This song was not intended to go on the album. We had another song in mind but on the last day of my writing sessions before I was to take off to record AZALEA,

my friend, Lisa McCallum, and I got together and wrote this and we just felt like maybe a duet would be a nice breath of fresh air for the project. It is the story of two lovers who cannot let go of each other yet but know that they need to. They resent the other for still showing up in the middle of the night, needy for the other. There's an interesting tension in the song, I think. We've all been there and felt that magnetic, dysfunctional tug and it hurts.

9. REALITY- I wrote this with my good pal, Lisa Brokop. It's about how perception creates reality on so many levels. Van Gogh thought that he was a failure when he died yet his paintings are some of the most valuable in the world. The idea is, "don't let the media or other ignorant strangers dictate what you think about yourself. YOU create your world every single day'.

10. LUCKY NOW AND THEN- I love stories about lovable losers. Charlie Brown rocks, in my book! This is the story of a man who is unlucky on just about every count except for the fact that his woman loves him and wants him and thinks that he is great. I have a gal like that! I've lost on a number of occasions and she makes me feel like a winner all the same.

11. SCENIC ROUTE- My co-writer, Mary Ann Bernicky, was laughing at a co-writing session one day about this sign that she saw near her house west of Nashville. The sign read, "Live bait and soft serve ice cream sold here." We thought, now THAT'S the South for you. So we came up with this tune. I wanted it to feel like the middle of August, perhaps a Sunday, deep down in the Southland. HOT and SLOW. I think that we nailed that feeling.

12. THE LAST SONG- This is another song co-written with Brokop. It's a whimsical anthem. If this were the last song that I could possibly sing while on this Earth, what would it be? Gardens and dogs are the best therapy. Bacon and eggs are not heroin. Relax. Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't lie to anyone. Don't lie to yourself. That's it!

I AM NOW A MUSIC JOURNALIST, PART 2.

FOGERTY PLAYS "SECRET" SHOW IN NASHVILLE
>
>
> Last night, CMR's Jefferson Ross enjoyed a "secret" concert featuring
> roots music legend John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
> fame. Nashville's Mercy Lounge was packed with attendees of the 10th
> Annual Americana Music Association's annual convention and festival
> and only the press was in on the secret that the night's special
> guest was the great Fogerty.
>
> The crowd went wild as Fogerty was introduced and took the stage in a
> black cowboy hat and deep blue sequined shirt made by Manuel of
> Nashville. Immediately he and his stellar band tore into The Everly
> Brothers', "When Will I Be Loved" and then, without missing a beat,
> directly into John Prine's "Muhlenberg County". CCR's "Born On The
> Bayou" followed, trailed by almost every Creedence hit that ever
> topped the charts.
>
> The stellar band showcased such roots royalty as Kenny Aranoff(John
> Mellencamp), Billy Burnette(Fleetwood Mac), James Pennebaker(Lee Roy
> Parnell, Bob Dylan) and, for most of the set, last year's AMA
> Musician Of The Year, Buddy Miller(Emmylou Harris).
>
> Along with the CCR hits, Fogerty also showcased songs from his new
> album, "The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again". Standards like Rick
> Nelson's "Garden Party" and "John Denver's "Back Home Again" were
> highlights of the evening.
>
> Of course, the third act smoldered with "Proud Mary", "Who Stop The
> Rain", "Lodi" and an onslaught of Creedence monster smashes. The
> star studded audience was humbled and awed as the good natured
> Fogerty delivered one of the best shows that this writer has seen.
>

---

I AM NOW A MUSIC JOURNALIST. CHECK OUT MY NEW PIECE FOR EUROPE!

BUDDY MILLER TAKES TOP PRIZE PLUS LOTS MORE AT AMERICANA MUSIC AWARDS

No one could have guessed when Buddy Miller took the stage of the Ryman Auditorium last night, with Jim Lauderdale, at the beginning of the Americana Music Awards that he would practically sweep the prizes along with his wife, Julie. Lauderdale, dressed in a black western style suit with white piping hosted the show and Miller was at his side as band leader.

The program was broadcast live on Sirius, BBC, Voice of America and, locally in Nashville, on WSM, the radio home of the Grand Old Opry since the 1920's. Former Opry members like Hank Williams were mentioned with reverence throughout the evening by many of the nominees and recipients.

Scores of stellar performances were featured including Asleep At The Wheel, 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award winner-Rodney Crowell-who announced that this date would have been the 86th birthday of Hank Williams, and Jerry Douglas, the dobro legend, played a moving medley of songs that culminated with The Allman Brothers' instrumental, "Little Martha".

John Prine and Nanci Griffith were on hand to present the Lifetime Achievement Award For Producer to their pal, guru and producer, Jim Rooney. Prine told the crowd that when he first met Rooney, he turned to his drummer and said, "I think I just met Huckleberry Finn." After a lengthy speech describing his journey from a Boston folk musician to his present status, Mr. Rooney announced that Prine and Griffith would sing a poignant version of Mr. Prine's "Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness"; that they did with the legendary producer joining in on the last chorus.

Best New Emerging Artist nod went to Justin Townes Earle, who clad in wine-red, crushed velour tuxedo blew the crowd away with his gritty, personal song, "My Mama's Eyes". Earle, son of Americana icon, Steve Earle, began the song with the lyric, "I am my father's son...I've never known when to shut up...We don't see eye to eye....." He then dedicated the song and award to his mother.

But Buddy Miller was the big winner.

He and Julie took home Duo Of The Year, Album Of The Year for "Written In Chalk", The Songwriter's Award and, for himself alone, Performer Of The Year. After receiving the last prize, he remarked that it must be a sympathy vote, referring to his grave health problems over the last year.

John Fogerty stole the show with his new version of Rick Nelson's, "Garden Party" and his own, "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", popularized by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival.

This was the tenth anniversary of the AMA and the eighth anniversary of the awards program.

EXCITING TIMES AT RANCHO DEL ROSSO

What a month!

We sure had a big time down in Savannah and Tybee Island this month. Shot a video of our single, THE LAST SONG, with John Baer, in Monterrey Square, my favorite square in Savannah, and in Bonaventure Cemetery. Johnny Mercer's grave made a cameo appearance and I left him a few pennies, which I'm sure is below union scale. Anyway the video turned out great and you can just go to You Tube and type in Jefferson Ross. THE LAST SONG will be the FIRST song that you see.

We also got a really nice write up in CONNECT SAVANNAH, their free weekly arts and entertainment newspaper. You can find it on the home page of our website www.jeffersonross.com .

Played a super gig with Stan Ray at Cha Bella in Savannah and tasted some mighty fine wines there as well. Thanks to Stan for setting all of that up!

What else? Oh, yeah, just got a message from my European manager extraordinaire, Lee Williams, and he has invited me to host a weekly, hour long radio show on Europe's CMR Nashville featuring singer/songwriters. Can't WAIT to get cracking on that! I have such a heart for singer/songwriters and I'm really thrilled to be able to showcase some super talent. Details will follow.

AZALEA received a four star review in COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE, a top magazine in Britain. A big muchas gracias to Jon Philibert, who is a mighty fine writer himself and deemed us worthy of pretty high praise. It made my whole week!

Our 'HotDisc' single in Europe, THE LAST SONG, is sitting at #19 this week on their main chart and at #14 on their independent chart. Fingers crossed please!

More gigs are coming in for the U.S. and we're starting the planning stages of our 2010 European tour. So far we have gigs in Germany and Britain and more are to follow. We'll be posting those on our site as they are confirmed. I'm really looking forward to playing my tunes in Europe! Yeah, baby! We're also going to be doing more of the wine tasting/ music show packages in the future too so stay tuned for those.

So, stuff is a-bubblin' in the cosmic kettle and I'm just trying not to stir it too much.

Peace, love and home grown tomatoes-

Jefferson

NEW VIDEO...NEW SINGLE IN ENGLAND!!!

Hi gang!

There is fun stuff afoot in Jefferson World. (Sounds like a theme park for children who love The Declaration of Independence.) We are shooting a video in Savannah, Georgia, on, Sunday, August 2nd to support a single (THE LAST SONG) that we are releasing in Great Britain on, Saturday, August 1st. Confusing? Well, WELCOME TO JEFFERSON WORLD.

Our Savannah friend and musical soul brother, the most talented Stan Ray, has booked us all a gig at Cha-Bella Restaurant in the historic district of that hauntingly, charming city. Cha-Bella is fab. They are all-organic. They even have their own farm and the employees all chip in to harvest the herbs, fruits and vegetables. If I ever have my own restaurant, we'll all be digging in the dirt together like the sweet folks at Cha-Bella.

Anyhoo, Stan is hosting a wonderful wine tasting/songwriters' show, featuring STAN THE MAN and yours truly, Cousin Jeffy, on, Friday, August 7th. The wine tasting compares 'The Old World' with 'The New World' and that is a very trendy yet much needed comparison that most wine lovers need to experience. OLD WORLD (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, and The Planet Tralfamadore, etc.) meets NEW WORLD (The U.S., Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Kix Brooks and, probably, Rush Limbaugh before long. Too bad that Michael Jackson's "JESUS JUICE" did not take off before he did.)

So, we'll be comparing, spitting };~) , slurping, etc., around 7PM on August 7th and the singing and bellering shall commence around 8-ish.

We're also shooting a video on Sunday, August 2nd, with Savannah auteur, Jim Baers...at o-dark-thirty in the morning for God's sake. Looking forward to that. I might even look my age at that hour. Stan set that up too so his bottom must be kissed. You go ahead and do that.

We're releasing a single in Ye Olde England, as aforementioned, this coming weekend...cross your fingers or speak in tongues........we'll take whatever goodness you're sending. Hugs, free t-shirts and decades out of purgatory coming your way...at a serious discount!!!!!!

What else, oh YEAH! We got another 4 star review today. Country Music People, the venerable hillbilly publication from Great Britain went fairly bonkers concerning our dear AZALEA. Buy a number of copies of their latest August issue and send them to all of your favorite grandmothers. Google those rascals and tell them that we love 'em over here in Deep Dixie.

Cheers, y'all and BOOGIE ON!

Your old cousin-

Jefferson

JEFFERSON ROSS

The Album Zone

This week our album, AZALEA, will be featured on Colin Roke's The Album Zone on CMR Nashville, a 24/7 internet radio network based in England. Just go to www.cmrnashville.net or www.cmrnashville.com and check us out. There is a tab for schedule listings and just look for Colin Roke's schedule. Please remember that these are on British time so just calculate 5 hours later than Eastern time.

Plans are in the works to do a European tour next spring. I'm definitely playing the Country Music Messe in Berlin from March 12th through 14th. The Messe is the largest Country Music festival in northern Germany and it's a real honor to be asked to play there. We're also working on setting up dates for the UK and, hopefully, Holland, Ireland and/or France. Please come see us! We'd love to meet you!!!

Stateside, I'm playing a few dates in August. We'll be doing a showcase with Stan Ray at Cha-Bella restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, on August 8th, the open mic at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta on August 10th and a one man show at the Bell Buckle Cafe in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, on August 20th. Sure would like to see y'all there!

So, good things are happening. We're very excited about how far we've come in such a short time. The record is only a few months old and with no promotion or marketing budget, we've managed to get in places that we wouldn't have dreamed of a year ago.

Thank you, everyone, for your continued support and interest in AZALEA. We're having a blast with it.

Boogie on!

January 24th 2009

2009 IS GONNA SHINE!

We only have a couple of weeks until the official release of Azalea, even though we've been selling on-line for a couple of months, and we're already getting some very good press. It's an exciting time! have come in and, we think, some local
Everybody seems to comment on how good the record makes them feel and we couldn't be happier about that. That's why we made it in the first place. The making of Azalea was a labor of love and now the promotion of it feels the same way. We're making new friends daily and folks that we'd never thought would hear it are sending us comments about how much they like it.
We're being played on a number of podcasts and indie radio stations across the country. If you happen to know of any folky/rootsy stations in your area, please call them up and request Azalea. One podcast that is regularly playing us is The Acoustic Diner. Google them. It's a GREAT show!
So, let's have us a big old fun-filled year! The stock market may be down but good, homemade art and music are ours for the making and enjoying.
Peace, love and pot likker-
Jefferson

December 21st 2008

Had a great time at the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival in Florida in November. 350 writers this year!!! Many thanks to Joe Gilchrist, owner of the Flora-Bama, for hosting all of us this year. I got to play seven rounds and this was my first year. Lucky boy am I!
I couldn't have done it without my Gomer cousin, Ken "Bullit" Hart, who set me up with lodgings and laughter. He is a true buddy and I love him even if his taste in mayonnaise is weak and tame. Otherwise, he is a go-getter and salty somebody; a lover of language who likes loafing and libation. We co-habitated with the venerable and always suave, Rock Killough, who, in my mind, should be in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. He is beloved by all who know him even though he tried to kill Dr. Ralph Stanley and many of his closest friends witnessed this near crime. Rock always carries a very sharp knife and an even sharper mind. He is the only old man I know who can sleep until noon.
Got some great oysters down there. Try Wintzell's Oyster House whenever you are in the greater Alabama area...they have several locations all over the state but the best is in downtown Mobile...the original location. Those baked things that they do with the jalapenos blow my mind. And, the fresh shucked ones are, in the words of Pat Conroy, "the sea made flesh". De-LISHHHH.
Can't wait for next November! If they'll have me back down there, I'll be thanking my lucky stars, Bullit Hart and Joe Gilchrist.
Hoo-hoo!
Love y'all!!!!
Jefferson

November 9th 2008

JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF FAULKNER

Well, this past weekend, the brisk autumn breezes blew me down yonder to the Oxford, Mississippi, area (Home of Nobel Laureate William Faulkner, with whom I share a birthday, September 25th) to render up a set or two of original songs to delight the local music absorbers. At the generous invitation of fellow troubadour Ken Hart, I gladly packed up the old D-18 and, armed with nothing but a pack of pork rinds and a pint of Knob Creek, I shot out of The Music City Friday afternoon and arrived at Ken's just in time for cold PBRs and hot catfish.Before I knew how it happened we found ourselves sitting in on Nancy Apple's third set over at Taylor Grocery. Nancy is an amazing singer/songwriter and plays a wicked snare part with a set of brushes and a Dukes Of Hazard lunchbox. She really lays down the law with that thing. Luke Duke has been beaten unrecognizable, virtually erased by constant 4/4 slapping. She is also quite salty on the accordian.Don't recall our full repertoire that set but I seem to have a foggy recollection of me singing a vowel heavy rendition of "Stormy Monday Blues" while a middle aged couple was groping each other, slow dancing right in front of us, and Ole Miss debutantes were screaming like raging bats for us to play Earth, Wind and Fire. I managed to rip through an impromptu intro to Sweet Home Alabama causing my jam partners' eyeballs to roll to the backs of their heads and debs to squeal with Red State delight.The next night, Ken drove Travis Lamb and me down to Carrollton, Mississippi, to play our paying gig, The Carroll County Market. Conceived, owned and run by the stellar Cecil Abels, musician extraordinaire himself, CCM is a fine eating place and VERY vibey music venue. If you're ever down there, the steaks, pizzas and bbq are fantastic and the music is always good. Friendly staff and the customers are all home folks and lovers of good tunes.Anyway, we had a ball! Can't wait to do it again!Now I'm back in The Volunteer State for a few days before I head down to perform at The Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival on the Gulf coast. Come see us down there next week. Lots of legends will be serenading the flip flopped masses with their chestnuts of gold.Until next time this is Old Cousin Jefferson saying peace, love and cornbread. Happy Trails!