Howlin’ at My Door

I wrote Howlin' At My Door during the Polar Vortex. It was a cold winter. I was newly disabled. I wasn't going anywhere. I stumbled upon a songwriting contest for the John Hartford Memorial Festival in Bean Blossom Indiana. The rule was your song had to include a lyric from a Hartford tune. When I saw the title, I thought about how winter was keeping my life restricted. I took the song in that direction. In the contest the song received an honorable mention. I was invited to go down and play my song. While there, I got to hang out with my friend Kevin who was playing bass for Billy Strings at the time. Maybe 50 of us watched the trio play. That kid is playing to much bigger crowds today.

I also did a show in Metamora Indiana that weekend. My friend Gail set me up with a local coffee shop. I left town with a bowler derby. The man who ran the place had a collection of bowlers and Top Hats. Coming from a Hartford festival, the bowler seemed like a good choice. The weekend wrapped up at Leo's Coffeehouse in Cincinnati.

The song was recorded for A Time Long Gone. The track includes an amazing guitar part by Bill Lestock, who Ironically was scheduled to perform our Folknet concert, but we postponed due to a snowstorm. Cindy Langmack joins me on vocals. You can hear that version here.