7/7/18 A little over 20 years ago Cari encouraged me to take a String Band Class at Carroll Community College. And ever since Common Ground on the Hill (CGOTH) has changed my life for the better. This year at the Big Song Swap on July 3rd Bill Vanaver, one of our instructors, said we should have an 'Immigrant Day' and that it should be on the day the Statue of Liberty was dedicated. I was inspired to check out Wikipedia and learned a few things including that the dedication date was October 28, 1886. And then I was inspired to write 'Immigrant Day' (first song on the music player). I played it on the 5th for the class and got a very positive response. And I just recorded it and copyrighted it today. Thank You Bill. And thanks to the other instructors, my awesome classmates and all the other members of the CGOTH Family for inspiring me to not only to write this Song and several others, but for lifting my Spirit.

Please join the first 'Immigrant Day' Celebration on October 28, 2018.

Immigrant Day video with lyrics

click on 'Lyrics' for lyrics to Immigrant Day and other songs

click here for your free Immigrant Day mp3 - limited time offer

Heyoka's Maple Syrup Song with lyrics

                      FREE DOWNLOAD

                 click here for WAV files

            click here for mp3 files

Rockets for Peace - Chris Marks

Jim Buckley

PurpleJimProductions

ASCAP Member

Enjoy Every Sandwich

1 Enjoy Every Sandwich          9 the Stand

2 Don't Give In                       10 the Ballad of 2 Kids

3 Devil                                     11 Party Time

4 Beltway of Life                    12 Common Ground

5 the Amazing Zelda              13 Heyoka's Maple Syrup Song 

6 Rainbow Bridge                   14 Peace for Christmas

7 Living in a Country Song    15 Pearl's Lullabye

8 10,000 Pictures

After "Pearl's Lullabye", which is the last song on 'Enjoy Every Sandwich', there is a Live version of "Enjoy Every Sandwich" from Common Ground 2017. Thanks Josh Hisle for asking me to play "your Sandwich Song" and thanks Josh and Dan Collins for inviting me up to play."I Used to Be Dreamer" is a song I wrote last year during Common Ground. It was inspired by my life-changing Common Ground experience.  "Road of Life" and "Kinda Like an Automobile" are from my 'Road of Life' album. Thanks to Cari Watrous and Chris Marks for singing along on "Road of Life" and to Chris for playing lead guitar on both tunes. And thanks fo Chris' brother Erik for playing bass on "Kinda Like an Automobile". "Rockets for Peace" is a song I Love written by my Dear Friend Chris Marks. This version is Chris singing and playing with Cari and me singing along. and there's a couple of Bill Murry clips thrown in Thanks for listening and Enjoy Every Sandwich.

link to Common Ground info

7/15/18 I just completed my 2 weeks of the Big Song Swap; and like every time I've attended, whether as a volunteer, a student or a performer, I experienced more magical moments. Common Ground on the Hill is like Summer Camp. You get to unite with old friends and make new ones every year. It's an Island of Encouragement. A few of my highlights from this year: being inspired by Bill Vanaver to write "Immigrant Day". Getting to perform it and receiving a very positive response. And now one of folks I met this year says she's going to do a version of it. (another first for me). I was asked to sing "Heyoka's Maple Syrup Song" at the Veteran's Initiative by Pun, the storyteller who inspired me to write it. One of my classmates used her turn to perform to request that I play my song 'Common Ground'. I got to sing songs with Sparky Rucker and his wife Rhonda. Sparky was the first performer I did sound for when I volunteered 21 years ago and Cari and I have seen him/them over 20 times. And just like Summer Camp it's time to take that good feeling back to everyday life and spread it around. Hope you have a Great Day.

7/4/2018 After having a magical time at Common Ground last year, and with my Soulmate Cari's encouragement, I decided to record a new album. Something I hadn't done in many years. Happy to say I finished 'Enjoy Every Sandwich' on 6-28 and copyrighted it yesterday just in time for Common Ground this year. It's a collection of songs I wrote  from 1975 to the present including the first song I wrote "the Ballad of 2 Kids" ( after being arrested) and "Rainbow Bridge" (based on the Rainbow Bridge Poem) which I wrote a couple of months ago. Though I've recorded many of the 15 songs before, I only included 2 cuts from my Road of Life album ( Pearl's Lullabye & Party Time). The other 13 were recorded in June 2018 in the Tune Room in Eldersburg MD. Kind of a Audio Scrapbook of my life. I've been having a Great time at this year's Common Ground Big Song Swap. Lots of wonderful folks playing and singing an eclectic selection of songs. We're in a Church and the acoustics are awesome. It's cool to get to play original tunes for an attentive audience including professional musicians. It's nice to be able to spread Good News. Have a Great Day.

7/13/17 My 2 weeks of Common Ground on the Hill (CGOTH) was Life Changing. Being around a community of folks who create a Safe and Nurturing Environment is Amazing. Received so many kind comments about my songs. Josh Hisle liked my 'Enjoy Every Sandwich' song during our Big Song Swap that he asked me to play it 7/1 @ the Veteran's Initiative Event and again 7/8 at the Common Ground Roots Festival. So nice of him and his partner Dan Collins to share their hour set with me a few other students. I've added the 7/8 version with Josh's kind introduction. Also added a song I wrote on 7/4 and played that afternoon 'I Used to Be a Dreamer'. I was inspired by the CD Caleb Stine gave me 'maybe god is lonely too'. Thanks to Caleb and everyone else at Common Ground for inspiring it. We also had a Native American Story Teller tell us about Heyoka and what he did to Maple Syrup to make maple sap. He said he wished someone would write a tune so here's mine. It's also about making maple syrup with Dad. the other song I added is for my Good Friend Stan da Man Gibson. He tells great tales about Verdell Katmandu which inspired the parody 'the Ballad of Verdell Katmandu'. btw: I highly recommend checking out Josh Hisle, Dan Collins and Caleb Stine's music. Also check out Josh and Dan's documentary 'War to Wisdom'. It's both powerful and impactful. Peace & Love.

7/1/17 Been Enjoying my Time at Common Ground on the Hill participating in the Big Song Swap. One week over and one to go. We're coming up on the 4th of July so it's time for Rockets for Peace, written and performed by my Dear Friend Chris Marks. Happy Fourth & Enjoy Every Sandwich.

20/2017 added: Baby I Know.  Thanks to Cari for inspiring this song and for your sage advice.  And Thanks to Chris Marks for his wonderful Guitar Playing.

2/10/2017  added: Don't Give In / the Happy Song / Under Pressure

2/4/17  just added these songs to the music player:
What you gonna do when the Devil comes to buy your soul?  (new original)
Common Ground (new version - original)  for words and chords click here
the Amazing Zelda (new version - original)
Perhaps Love (Rick Leach & Rick Augustine live at my cousin Jim's Wedding)
for complete playlist click here
 

You can fast forward thru the play list by using the 'site-wide player' controls at bottom left.

Thanks to Cari and Chris Marks for their vocal contributions and to Chris for his wonderful guitar playing.  For more songs, please visit the music page which includes tunes by some of my musical friends Susan Savia , Chris Hurley, Dave Weiner and many more.  From time to time I add and delete songs, so if you’re looking for a song you’ve heard in the past, please email me purplejim13@yahoo.com and I’ll add it to the play list.