Rocky Road

MUSIC:  This song is not about the ice cream flavor. The first version of this song I was exposed to was on one of Peter, Paul and Mary’s early albums. I was probably in the 8th grade and I remember loving the guitar part(s). I kept playing the song over and over with guitar in hand. Pick the needle up. Put in down. Try to play it. Repeat. Eventually someone told me about a thing called the capo and that there were two guitar parts I was trying to play at once.

This is closer to Dave Van Ronk’s version. The song was collected from the children of Lilly Chapel School in York, Alabama and is found in “Negro Songs From Alabama” by Harold Courlander. I played the guitar parts the same way I’ve always played it. I added some midi parts and apple loops and some touches of mandolin and autoharp.

Any proceeds or tips from this song will benefit the good work of the Huntington’s Disease program at the University of Connecticut Health Center where my wife Kathy gets treatment and I get support. UConn is doing stem cell research and helping patients and families like ours. Huntington’s Disease is the genetic disease that took the life of Woody Guthrie. It is neurodegenerative disorder that causes problems with emotional control, memory and movement, and eventually leads to death.