Every time I have relocated, I've held the image in my mind of a tree uprooted and being transplanted. It takes time for young roots to find their way in new soil. Time to begin feeling down in the dark and taking in nourishment. It takes stillness and relative quiet. Relative I say because I have traveled a bunch away from Asheville this last month, but I've always come home to spend the middle part of the week.

During the week I've had the opportunity to attend open mics and see some concerts. I tell you, Asheville is true to its reputation as a music mecca. Just downtown there are a dozen places to go see live music - and it's a pretty small downtown! My favorites have been the Grey Eagle Music Hall for the Tuesday open mic, and Wednesdays, Jack Of The Woods Tavern for the old time music. There are so many musicians at this one that they have to play in shifts of about an hour each! Thursdays, I've been going to the open mic at Beanstreets, an espresso shop on Broadway that's got a really great vibe where everyone really listens and participates. At Stella Blue's one night, I went to see a great local band called Scrappy Hamilton. Then at The Asheville Music Zone a couple weeks ago I went to see Buddy & Julie Miller. Those two are absolutely amazing! Julies songs and Buddy's sound. I sat in the front row about 15 feet from Buddy's Vox amp and spent the entire night in a state of bliss.

There's also getting to know the other songwriters in town. Chuck Brodsky, has been totally welcoming to me. He says Asheville is about the closest thing to Ireland musically as he's found in the states. There's a sense of innate respect here for the ballad tradition and music in general. There's David LaMotte, and Chris Rosser, and Josh Lamkin, and Billy Jonas, and that's just the songwriters I know from touring. The oldtimey scene is another animal in itself. Folks who play for and with each other, just as natural as breathing. There always seems to be a pot luck or party at someone's home.

For about a year now I've thought I should write a talking blues. Then since last falls Midwest tour I've figured it should be about the ditch weed (hemp, marijuana) that grows wild along highways, farm fences, and railroad tracks from Ohio to Arizona, and Minnesota to Texas. Someone told me that the hemp plants are remnant from the 1940's when the government subsidized America's farmers to grow tens of thousands acres of hemp during WW2. All this got me thinking about its prohibition versus the potential uses for the plant. I began talking about my song idea at some concerts, and a fellow in Colorado directed me to a particular book called, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, by Jack Herer. After spending the rest of my tour listening to some of Woody Guthrie's talking blues I figured I might take a stab at writing "Talking Ditch Weed".

What follows is really the tip of the iceberg. There was so much incredible information in the book that I had no idea of previously. Now, I've never felt like I've had activist leanings, but what our government and a small handful of higher-ups in big corporations have done to effect, basically, the balance of our planets well being, not to mention thousands of innocent lives, has got me really pissed off. Sort of reminds me of this whole Enron thing going down. This is my own modest attempt to sing about what I've learned and hopefully educate some people about what's really going on regarding hemp. I figure I'll still be editing and moving some words around as I just finished this last night. Anyway, enjoy -

Talking Ditch Weed
One September day a couple years ago
On a rural route in Ohio
Out of the corner of my eye
Something took me by surprise
It was tall and green
It had a nice shape, and it was quite illegal

Later that week in Wisconsin
I Saw it again and I had to grin
It was those serrated leaves from high school days
That put me in a purple haze
I was getting curious
I wondered what if…then I thought, no don't go there.....bad idea!

Well, the spirit is strong but the flesh is weak
I couldn't help but to take a peek
I pulled the car over to the ditch I went
Toward that vision that was heaven sent
Looked over my shoulder, nobody's around
Oh what the hell…

Well I broke off a bud, but it took awhile
Those fibers are tough, but it made me smile
It smelt all right, kind of sweet
I hung it from my visor for about a week
I was patient, just waiting for it to dry
It made a nice air freshener!

It finally dried out and I rolled it up
I sat right back and I took a puff
Oh it made me cough and it made me wheeze
Made me retch and it made me sneeze
God it tasted bad, I got a horrible headache
And stayed stone cold sober

Well I swore I'd never do that again
but it made me think so I asked a friend
how this stuff all came to be
and why it grows so prolifically
you mean ditch weed, he said
why the government put it there in the 1940's
encouraged the farmers to grow it
Hemp for the war effort!

Then I got interested in the history
Learned how important it was to the economy
of every nation that ever was
because of all the things that hemp does.
Makes cheap renewable fuel, irreplaceable medicines
the most nutritious foods, the finest clothing,
cosmetics, building materials,
plastics, paints, and recreation!

Our founding fathers all planted weed
why Henry Ford even sewed the seed
He built a car from hemp and wheat
the chassis, fuel, paint and seats.
Why the first draft of our Declaration of Independence
was written on paper made of hemp fiber
And our very first flag, where do you think Betsy Ross got the cloth for that, huh!

From the invent of the wheel to the 1930's
hemp was everywhere, it was no big deal
Hemp ain't never hurt no one, we just leave that to folks with guns
Mmm… and the tobacco and alcohol companies,
Munitions industries - they'd like to keep hemp illegal  that's for sure!

Right around nineteen thirty
came came a growth in hemp technology
DuPont feared they'd lose all profits
and Timber companies all'd go bankrupt
so they send some of thier CEO's around to visit our dear
Congressmen and Senators and slipped 'em a some cash and got the
laws changed real slow behind peoples backs so no one would notice
and that just reminds me of Enron!

Enter William Randolph Hearst
and his yellow journalism at it's worst
and Harry Anslinger's bigotry and lies
they put refer madness in the publics eye
They created a smear campaign
that effectively sent knowledge of the uses of hemp
into the dark ages- until now

So here I state without exception
hemp can be the earths salvation
as the single source of renewable fuel
that would make the oil companies look like fools
You see, hemp is the only biomass source available
that is capable of making the United States 100%
energy-independent.

So come on people it's time to see
those laws are based on fallacies
Based on shortsightedness and greed,
deception and hypocrisy
Now we may be small, but we be mighty
and we've got our votes - the ones that matter the most
in our billfolds!

So we can vote and we can run
for local office when the days begun.
If this world all goes to hell
we'll have ourselves to blame as well.
Meanwhile, buy yourselves some nice hemp hand lotion,
a cool hemp suit, some hemp granola
and send some high protein, no THC, hemp seed cookies
to your congressman!

Asheville, NC January 2002

So there you have it. I'll be spending the next month memorizing this monster, and seeing what public reaction to it is. I've got a very quiet month coming up in February with just a handful of concerts in various places. Please come on out if you can. Take a look at my schedule for details. In the meantime, click on the hemp link provided here, and learn more for yourself about the history and uses of hemp, and how simple it is to make a difference yourself.

Thanks for reading - keep in touch!

Peace! Dana