We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Where We We? (for John Prine)

by John Train

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Purchasable with gift card

     

1.

about

In March 2020, just as John Train was wrapping up its usual Winter residency at Fergie’s Pub, we began making plans to record a new album called Cowboy Dreams. The idea was to record it live in the hayloft over at Belmont Stables on Martin Luther King Drive, right here in Philadelphia. The genesis of this project was my wife Jodi’s interest in horses which led her to several Philadelphia barns including Belmont where she share-boarded a gelding named “Twister”, owned by Misty Godfrey, the barn manager and Director of the Bill Pickett Riding Academy. I spent a fair amount of time at the stables with Jodi, trying not to make a nuisance of myself. They called me “Squire John” which was fine by me. I’ve been called a lot worse. I often walked alongside Jodi and Twister as they navigated the trails around the barn, sometimes leading to a trot across the Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park. I enjoyed getting to know some of the riders at Belmont and was delighted when Idris Elba put together a Netflix movie loosely based on Philadelphia’s Black Cowboy tradition. We were all crushed on Christmas Day a few years back when Twister suddenly colicked and had to be put down. I wrote up a song about him, trying to capture what he meant to Jodi and also including a nod to Misty and the black cowboys and cowgirls I’d met at the barn.

Philadelphia Urban Riding Academy’s Executive Director Erin Brown ( www.thepura.org ) boarded several of her horses at Belmont Stables. She was recently featured in an Inky story www.inquirer.com/entertainment/concrete-cowboy-fletcher-street-gofundme-20210402.html and is also the subject of an ad campaign for Redwing Shoes. www.redwingshoes.com/oof/concretecowgirl.html Erin brought a foal to Belmont named “Dream” who inspired me to write another “cowboy” song. Pre-Covid, John Train began showcasing “Dream Waltz” in live performance but somehow whenever I tried to sing this number about Belmont’s foal, I became a little hoarse. Cue groans from the audience!

Then COVID hit. Plans for Live at Belmont Stables were scuttled. Frankly, as it seems to have been the case for so many, I found myself in a rather dark mood and an upbeat record inspired by horses fell off my radar. Of course, recording in a hayloft with a live audience had also become impossible. When early in the pandemic COVID took the life of John Prine, I began to wonder if things would ever be the same. A song I wrote called “Where Were We?” and an accompanying video reflected that feeling. youtu.be/f9mY08C2jwU

Jon Houlon, May 2021

credits

released May 12, 2021

Jon Houlon - vocals, acoustic guitar
Mike Slo-Mo Brenner - lap steel guitar
Bill Fergusson - mandolin, bouzouki
Mark Tucker - electric, acoustic and pedal steel guitars
Mike Frank - bass
Mark Schreiber - drums, percussion, harmony vocals

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

John Train Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

It's a band, not a person. Country-folk-roots sextet led by Philadelphia singer-songwriter Jon Houlon.

Jon Houlon - vocal, acoustic guitar
Mike Brenner - steel guitar, dobro
Mike Frank - bass
Bill Fergusson - mandolin, bouzouki
Mark Tucker - lap steel,various guitars, piano
Mark Schreiber - drums, shaky things
Steve Demarest - Bass (1997-2013)
... more

contact / help

Contact John Train

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like John Train, you may also like: